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runwayrunway · 11 months

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Hello my fellow resident of the world! How did you get into planes, if you don't mind my asking? I've just started my interest in aviation (thank you Admiral Cloudberg) and would love to know how you went about learning what you know. (Also, converted all my friends to PSA lovers this afternoon. I am still a JetBlue stan for the airplane names.)

Joke answer 1: I generally board planes through the aerobridge just like everyone else.

Joke answer 2: When they give you your autism diagnosis they tell you to pick a vehicle.

Real answer: is going to be under a cut, for length (seriously, it's long) and for rambling (seriously, it's incoherent) and also for being my life story rather than blog content proper (seriously, I talk about my grandparents) and also for discussing morbid things like plane crashes, so be advised.

I'm not totally sure. I mean, I moved across an ocean as a young child, my grandfather was a microelectronics engineer who worked in aerospace, I've spent most of my life living directly nearby an airport, but I don't think any of that is it?

I think it's a combination of factors. A major one was my first flight in a propeller plane and realizing that I really enjoyed it. Also major was an interest in air disasters. I'm a huge enjoyer of the Admiral's work as well, I think she has among the best coverage of air disasters out there (definitely in terms of narrative content, at least) and I find her writing style in general very inspirational, but I didn't discover air disasters through any specific media. Rather, I actually was very struck by certain crashes in the news (particularly the 2011 Lokomotiv crash, which I heard a lot about because my family are Russian expats).

I was a morbid kid. I've just sort of always been like that. I'm a second-generation goth who lives across the street from a cemetery with immediate family members who've survived some pretty awful things and aren't shy about it, it might be weirder if I wasn't kind of curious about mass casualty events. Like, one of the earliest things I remember is the Columbia disaster. For a long time I thought I had a weirdly specific and irrational fear of tsunami, nightmares and all, and then I remembered that I lived in Japan until the tail end of 2004. Also, my grandfather thought war stories were appropriate for three-year-olds. So I heard 'awful plane crash' and went 'oh cool. Let's look up what happened'. And then my family got talked to because I didn't own a computer and thus had no choice but to frantically search "Air France 447 CVR" in my school computer lab.

And then I got older than my nebulous age at the time of "child" and became a far different type of person and learned about politics and human people and the like. Frankly, if I were more of an active member of general avgeek communities I would probably spend literally all of my time yelling at people because of my very strong feelings about the callous ways people discuss these crashes, the uselessness of the concept of "pilot error", and pop coverage and 'memeification' of air disasters (again, another reason I enjoy the Admiral's work is that she does not do this). Discussion of air disasters is frequently done by a type of person I will describe, bluntly, as smug racists too afraid to admit that human nature is fucking up and that means they might have crashed the plane too if they were put in that situation.

While I consumed the normal air crash media (Macarthur Job's books, Air Crash Investigations (very hit or miss depending on the episode), Mentour Pilot (recommend) and the like) I'm actually a history student with a focus in archival science, so I like to do these dramatic dives into researching specific things and a lot of the most formative media to me is individual documentaries and books about specific crashes that probably isn't worth listing out unless someone wants a source about something specific, and the same sort of thing about specific models of planes and airlines. My point is that I kind of started just getting wrapped up in it, and it's been an on-and-off fixation ever since.

Like I said, though, I'm a history student, so I wasn't going to limit myself to one area of aviation. Like I mentioned, air disasters are a focus of mine, as are, obviously, liveries and branding, but neither of those are enough on their own to understand aviation as a field, the way it evolved - all of these things, wake-up calls to industries, changes in regulation, the evolution of airline marketing and structure over time, shifts in technology, they're all part of the same broader story. So while I have things I know more about than other aspects, I like to understand at least a little about everything. I like pulling these threads out of the cloud of information I don't know until I've unravelled it as much as possible.

At this point I have a solid working understanding of the physics of flight (though I'm also very interested in astrophysics so I expect that played a part), the history of airlines, the way they developed in the US and in Europe and also in other places that didn't start out with the same infrastructure, the role they play in society and propaganda and the avenues they open. I have a lot of blind spots. I don't really know how engines work and I think it's unlikely I ever will. But I'm always learning and I like that about aviation. It's just a gigantic field. You never run out of reading material. And that's even despite the fact that I simply do not care for military aviation (unless it's really strange/niche things like the SR-71, but I just don't really care about how many missiles you can strap to the Boeing Foreignguyblaster 9000 or the like).

I also sort of have an advantage over most people in that Soviet aviation is an entirely separate and deeply interesting subject that often gets reduced to jokes or 'well isn't that weird' and I have a secret weapon for researching it called "my first language is Russian" and a second secret weapon called "I can ask my grandmother and she'll just tell me about how she remembers the Miracle on the Neva happening and walking past the plane before they got it out of the river because she lived right nearby".

I also just like planes. I think they're pretty. I think it's incredible that they're real machines that humans invented. I don't know anything about computers and I never will so this is sort of the main avenue I have to be awed by the scale of human engineering. We put a giant metal thing in the air and then we painted a smiley face on her nose.

I not only am not a pilot, but cannot be a pilot. I have a seizure disorder and also the potential to get very lightheaded very suddenly, so I cannot fly and that's fine. A lot of people hear this and try to argue with me about how I could get an exemption or find a loophole and I get the idea but it's very misguided. Some people shouldn't be pilots. Causing plane crashes is bad and the reason aviation is so safe is because it refuses to take risks. The thing about being disabled is that you aren't able to do things. And that's fine, I have no choice but to be fine with it. But it gives me a lot more incentive to research and to planespot and to discuss aviation with other people, and I think paradoxically I would probably not know or care as much about the history of airlines if I were spending all this time out there doing figure-eights in a Cessna Whatever.

And I just sort of don't have the capacity to like something a little. I either don't care or I've looked into it enough that I could run some sort of blog about it. Aviation is important to me even though I can't directly participate in it. And I wanted to write about it. And, to be honest, not only is this a niche that's not often covered, but the backstory to this blog is exactly what my intro post is. I was at the airport with a friend and we had this conversation:

Me: oh my gosh, look at that Lufthansa plane. It's basically white. Him: yeah Me: why are all airlines painting their planes such boring things nowadays. This sucks. They're bereft of both whimsy and character Him: yeah Me: I feel like I could complain about this for years Him: yeah Me: has anyone written a blog about this Him: probably not Me: would you like someone to?

Is it the most elegant genesis out there? No. And I'm sorry I don't have a more coherent explanation for how I got super into planes than "I have access to a large library and also an autism diagnosis", but I'm sort of an earnest person and I like thoroughly answering questions.

If you want general recommendations for informative civil aviation content I recommend the youtube channels Mentour Pilot and 74gear, which are both run by actual pilots, and also just digging around at any libraries near you and seeing what you can find. You might be surprised by the depth of the research people have done into very specific topics, and also because you can find some good overviews written by very passionate people. If you want specific recommendations about any defunct airlines or old planes or major historical events, shoot me a DM. Also, if you know any pilots, ask them, because pilots are the only people worse at shutting up about planes than me.

Sorry this got so long. Much like my inability to hold a tepid interest in a subject, I am very bad at answering questions in a way that's not perhaps too forthcoming and thorough. I hope at least some of this feels like a satisfactory answer to some of your questions, though. Thank you as always for reading my silly little blog about airplane outfits.

#off-duty #transmissions #the man behind the cockpit door

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sentinelchicken · 2 years

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Here's a real avgeek treat, only one of two Martin AM-1 Mauler attack aircraft on display in the world- this is the Mauler at the Erickson Aircraft Collection in Oregon, the other one is only display at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. ⁣ ⁣ Only 154 Maulers were built and served on a limited operational basis 1948-1953. ⁣ ⁣ Powered by a massive Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial engine, the Mauler was developed as a back up to the more complex Curtiss BTC-2 which was the planned successor to the problematic Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. Originally designated the BTM-1, 750 were ordered for the upcoming invasion of the Japanese Home Islands but with the surrender in August 1945, the order was reduced to just 99 examples. ⁣ ⁣ In April 1946, the Navy had consolidated the scout bomber (SB), torpedo bomber (TB) and bomber torpedo (BT) roles into a single “A for Attack” designation. The Mauler's designation changed from BTM-1 to AM-1 and found itself in the shadow of a far more reliable and well-liked piston attack design- the Douglas AD Skyraider. ⁣ ⁣ One of the interesting features of the AM-1 Mauler was its combination landing flaps/dive brakes- the upper and lower dive brakes had intermeshing fingers that formed a solid flap when closed. As opposed to perforated dive brakes which had the many holes to reduce buffeting in a steep dive, the Mauler's dive brakes did the same thing but with the fingers exposed when the upper and lower dive brakes opened. ⁣ ⁣ I'll be posting a bit more about the AM-1 Mauler on our La Jetee Press feed as it's a fascinating story of aircraft not meant to compete with the Skyraider, but in the post-WW2 drawdown, found itself constantly compared with the Skyraider. ⁣ ⁣ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #MDJ #Madras #Oregon #airport #planespotting ⁣ #EricksonAircraftCollection #Martin #AM1 #Mauler #instagramaviation ⁣ #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight⁣ #AvGeekNation #AvGeekSchoolofKnowledge (at Erickson Aircraft Collection) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf2E1rEuZz7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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penname-artist · 2 years

Text

Okay I know I'm spam posting again today (legitimately, when am I not) but I want to like, give some kind of story and shit to the PPAA characters that I DON'T use. So basically, all of the Smokejumpers, Dipper, Patch who everyone seems to forget, and [fucking] Cabbie. Technically I have given Maru a backstory so I don't really need to do his as badly as the others.

I actually have had a vague story idea for Cabbie and the Children, but unfortunately, the story is loose-ended right now and missing a few key things to really make it appealing for me to write. I'm probably going to have to cut it into one-shots that string together because while it explains how they all ended up on Piston Peak, it also goes into their backstories and how a lot of then knew each other for reasons long before Piston Peak. If and when I get the energy to make it it'll likely be full of poor life choices, alcohol, bar fights (just guess who that is) and a group of kiddos trying to make it through a hard-knock life together.

Dipper I'm still trying to get some stuff going on. In an old headcanons chapter I explained why and how she ended up at the park, and how her and Blade are in terms of friendship. I'm hoping to go back to that and delve a little deeper into it storywise because I have some really close to home ideas for Dipper...

Patch is just like. The other one. Idk. I've seen folks depict Patch pretty young though, and I'm thinking the contrary. She's gotta be at least mid 40s or more. I think she's themed pretty oldschool as well, very classy gal, so I need to build up something around that idea. Not sure what yet but I'm kinda throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks.

And speaking of which, that's actually how I'm trying to do Cabbie's story too. I mentioned the Smokejumpers thing and he is in it, but I don't want him to be the focus, that really is just a Smokejumpers story. Cabbie needs his own damn thing, and thats gonna be...well okay, that's hard for several reasons right now, the biggest thing being I have to build a backstory without risking my mental health (thank you triggers, yaaaay). But also, I know fuck all about military anything. Theres a reason I avoid him, Skipper, Sparky, Bravo and Echo, and like any other military character ever. Like fuck man, I don't know this shit, I really don't care that much for the most part. My plan if and when I do anything for him is literally just to cleanly avoid the military parts unless absolutely necessary. I am not subjecting myself to nitpicking from the avgeeks, love y'all but I ain't touching that with a ten-foot pole. For Cabbie I literally just need to do a family backstory and how he lost his hand. That's it. That's my list. If I can do those two things we will be golden.

Otherwise I could maybe do Cad but again, o don't really care, and honestly he really doesn't need it? I have no plan to use him at all, not even in background, so like. He's just fine as the asshole he is. Ol Jammer and the Secretary of the Interior are the same, as are the other Lodge Dudes. I just have no desire to even use them.

Okay that's probably my last shitpost of the morning, byeeee

#disney planes #disneyplanes #planes fire and rescue #disney planes 2 #I am not tagging everybody go find it yourself

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oh-great-authoress · 1 year

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🌹🌹🌹tell me of your wips dear

@batmantaking-hobbits2gallifrey

Ohhhh, Elli, you do not know what you have asked for.

I now unleash Silmarillion-esque deep dives upon you!!!!

Three Roses, three WIPs…

So you will get information about three of my WIPs, and here we go!

I’m so happy to talk about these.

Benjamin Solo and the Shadow of Death

This is a Reylo and Gingerrose (Armitage Hux/Rose Tico) Grantchester/1950s AU where Ben and Armitage, formerly Kylo Ren and The General, the most feared enforcers of the Knights of Ren, are now Church of England priests after a St. Paul-esque come-to-Jesus moment.

However, their past is coming back to bite them in the ass, throwing a wrench, or rather, a spanner, into every aspect of their lives.

In this story, Rey is the vicarage’s industrious housekeeper, and Rose is the town mechanic’s daughter, a mechanic herself, while Ben is the Vicar and Armitage the Curate.

This story started as an imagine I sent to @galacticidiots, but then I couldn’t shake the idea, and it percolated for nearly two years, until I decided that, like Gandhi said, I had to “Be the change [I] wish to see in the world”, and write the darn thing.

This was/is a passion project for me, and there were moments that I was so worried I’d end up abandoning this story, but luckily, I’m stubborn as all heck, so I plowed on through months of writer’s block.

But despite all the frustration this story gave and still gives me, this story has also given me so much joy, especially when the scene bits (both for Armitage, actually) which I was so proud of and came up with in the two years where the idea lay percolating, made it in the story, which literally made me do a little happy dance in my chair.

Those bits would be the scene where Armitage gets engine oil on his shirt, and Rose tells him to take it off so that she can soak it in her family’s secret formula of stain remover (*snort* yeah, I went here), in this chapter, and the scene where Armitage kicks the town drunk’s ass after he shoves Rose to the ground, in this chapter.

And while this story is still very PG-13, at the end, this is going to be the steamiest thing I have ever written, with use of very, very tasteful fade-to-blacks.

I actually have one of the two fade-to-blacks written (it’s so romantic), with the other one a problem-for-future-Nadia, though the idea is nebulously present in the electric meat.

I am personally so proud of my characterization in this story, and I think that this story was key to my growth as a writer.

It forced me to stretch both my research skills, with the 1950s setting, and my writing skills, as it made me write scenes which I never thought I would ever be able to pull off.

And it still is stretching my writing skills, because I have some very tricky scenes to work through in the upcoming chapters, which will have elements that I do not think are my specialty.

But when this is over, this will be, I think, one of my most favorite stories I’ve written.

I’d like to think that this story has everything, with romance, action, snappy dialogue (I think this story has some of the best dialogue I’ve ever written), comedy, and drama.

(Divider via @delishlydelightfuldividers)

Okay, let me preface the next two WIPs with saying that I never thought I’d end up writing them.

But honestly?

I probably should have seen it coming.

Almost two months ago, I watched “Top Gun: Maverick”, and I absolutely loved it.

And I tried not to devolve into a hyperfixation, but… I just couldn’t.

I mean, for me, the movie had everything; found family feels, dysfunctional father-son road trip vibes, Pathetic™ men ready to be Blorbo-fied, action, comedy, and impressive visuals.

(Am I counting the shirtless beach dogfight football scene as part of the impressive visuals?

I’ll leave that up to you.)

And with me already being an aviation enthusiast, or avgeek, this was bound to happen.

Anyway, this stupid plane movie (affectionate) has had a chokehold on me for the last nearly two months, and I managed to keep it mostly tamped down here on the hellsite, because I was a little ashamed of how easily my brain plunged into a hyperfixation—hypocritical, I know, on the hyperfixation site—but now, the dam has burst, and I’m just going to own it from here on out.

These stories will not make sense at all if you haven’t seen the movie, so here’s the link to the Wikipedia page, so you can get an idea of what I’m talking about.

I also highly recommend looking on YouTube for clips of the movie, because… okay, yeah, I’m trying to drag you down with me, I’ll be honest.

(Sharing is caring?)

So here we have two of my Top Gun: Maverick WIPs…

Prank War

This is the tentative synopsis: “It was getting a little bit chummy here at NAS North Island, so Jake had a genius idea.”

Basically, Jake “Hangman” Seresin, reformed jerk extraordinaire, has the genius idea to start a prank war between him and Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, which does not go well at all.

One thing leads to another, and someone ends up strung up by the Naval Air Station’s flagpole, in a coup de grace.

This is pure crack, and even I burst into laughter when I read my own opening scene, because it’s just so hilarious, and, in my opinion, perfectly in character.

Here’s the opening scene:

(Warning: a little cursey)

“Fuck my life.

Fuck my fucking life,” Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson muttered to himself, as he stared at the report before him in despair.

“Become an Admiral, they said—it’ll be fun, they said,” he continued, aware he was sounding like he was a few screws short of an F-18.

But in his opinion, it was completely acceptable—he had to get it out somehow.

“You’ll just have to sign a few things here and there, but you’ll be able to have more time to yourself.

Meanwhile, I’m here, dealing with fucking infants when I could’ve been flying still, exactly like Maverick.

Well—maybe not exactly like Maverick, I have some sense of self-preservation—but anyway.

‘Best aviators the US Navy has to offer’, my ass—more like two-year-olds, all of them.”

From there, we flashback to all the pranks, until we end up back with Admiral Simpson.

I still, sadly, have to figure out how to properly end it, but I’m still waiting to finish my Grantchester/1950s AU to really work on this and the next story anyway, so I’m not rushing myself…

Finally, the piece I am most excited and embarrassed to talk about:

What Am I Doing

That’s literally the working title, because I was working on Benjamin Solo and the Shadow of Death, when this idea barged in like this:

So thusly the name.

I am actually actively trying to come up with an actual title for this that is not borne out of my frustration at myself for acquiring another WIP.

However, the subtitle, which is actually going to be put on the fic title or the synopsis, is: “It’s the Great Karmic Bitchslap, Jake Seresin!”

Which is a play on “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”.

I honestly have no idea how I ended up with this, but I think, to my knowledge, it was born out of a desire (as these things often are) to torture and torment Jake Seresin.

Because, other than Bradley, and Maverick, to some extent, we don’t know anything about the families of the other pilots of Dagger Squadron.

So I thought, what if Jake had a twin sister?

And what if she ends up falling in love with Bradley Bradshaw?

“Jake would absolutely hate that,” I thought. “I love it.”

But since I’m not entirely heartless, I give Jake his very own romance plot, with Natasha “Phoenix” Trace.

(Hannix shippers, this one’s for you)

So, here’s the plot.

In the middle of the night, Jake wakes up to a call from base gate security: it’s his older twin sister, Anastasia, and his nephew, Lucas.

They’re on the run from Anastasia’s ex-husband, whom she divorced and had her marriage annulled a year ago.

However, her ex is an A-grade crazy psycho, who stalks and follows her and her son no matter where they go.

So she goes to her brother, figuring that since he lives on base, she and her son would be safe.

Here, she meets Maverick and the rest of Dagger Squadron (now a permanent squadron based out of North Island, thanks to the success of the uranium mission), including one Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw.

Circumstance then throws the two even further together when a regulation indicates that she and Lucas cannot stay with Jake.

(Hand wavey contrivance, I know)

So out of the goodness of his heart, Maverick offers to put up the mother and son at his large house behind his hangar (which is widely accepted fanon, since we did not see anything of the sort in the movie), which is sort of off the grid, where—wouldn’t you know it—Bradley is also living, so he and Mav can spend more time together; after all, they have fifteen years to make up for.

Bradley and Anastasia soon grow close, much to her brother’s chagrin, all while Natasha is laughing her head off, as she fills in as said brother’s voice of reason, because this is karmic justice for all the women Jake’s picked up in bars.

There’s a scene I wrote last week which I am already in LOVE with, and I—it’s just so sweet and romantic—it’s EVERYTHING.

I couldn’t even believe my luck when I remembered the PERFECT song for said scene—I mean, the lyrics are just EXACTLY what the scene needed, and the lyrics are just SPOT-ON.

I tell you, it felt/feels inspired.

And I am so grateful that I know/grew up listening to old songs, because this song would never have occurred to me otherwise.

Some background on this scene: it’s the day of the Navy Gala, and Anastasia is supposed to go as her brother’s plus one, she even bought a dress and everything.

But then, just before she was going to get ready, her son had an accident and broke his arm, which meant that she had to take him to the hospital, and she was unable to go.

(Which will end up being good for Jake and Natasha)

This scene takes place at the end of the night, after Bradley returns home.

(I have yet to decide if Mav and Bradley will go home at the same time.)

As a side note, Bradley will be wearing dress whites, not blues, because… well, just because, “cover” is the fancy military term for the uniform cap, and I see Anastasia, or, as Bradley calls her, Ana, as Leelee Sobieski in my head.

Here’s the scene:

(Warning: 100% fluff)

“How’s Lucas?” Bradley asked, setting his cover onto the kitchen island.

“He’s sleeping—they gave him the good stuff at the hospital.

Thanks for asking.”

He nodded. “That’s good.”

“How was the gala?”

He cringed slightly. “Ehh—the usual—lots of boring self-congratulatory speeches before we get to what people actually came for; the open bar and the free food.”

“Was it any good?”

“Yeah, it always is, though I think it’s pretty hard to screw up pasta.”

“You’d be surprised,” Ana smiled.

“Jake?”

“Me, actually, the first time I tried to cook spaghetti and meatballs.”

He frowned, “I don’t believe that, you’ve been spoiling Mav and me the whole time you’ve been here.”

“Believe it, Lieutenant.”

Something almost vaguely familiar briefly clouded his expression, before it cleared, and he continued, “Yeah, anyway, the food was good, though it wasn’t a patch on what you dish out, and… Jake missed you, said he was hoping the two of you could’ve had a night out.”

“Jake, huh?”

Bradley rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, he pissed Nat off enough to make her drag him to the dance floor herself.”

Ana looked down, her hair falling into her face, “To be honest, I was actually hoping to go tonight.

It’s been… a while since I went to a party.”

“Gala, actually—the Navy’s quite particular about not calling it a party.

Got to be respectable and all that,” he grinned.

“Oh, sorry—gala,” she laughed. “Anyway, it would’ve been nice to dress up, and—” she sighed, “this is going to sound so stupid.”

“Tell me anyway?” he earnestly asked.

“I… I’m feeling bad that I wasted all that money on a dress I didn’t even end up wearing, and—God—I wanted to dance.”

Ana looked down embarrassedly, running a hand through her hair.

“That’s not stupid.

That’s normal.”

She looked up at him, a little startled.

Bradley worried his lower lip between his teeth before she saw an idea literally occur to him, the only thing missing, the lightbulb over his head. “It doesn’t have to be wasted.

Go put that dress on, and meet me down here.”

“What are you planning, Bradley?” Ana shook her head.

“Since you couldn’t go to the Navy Gala, the Navy Gala comes to you.”

An incredulous gasp escaped her. “You going to ask me to dance, Lieutenant Bradshaw?” she asked, a stupid smile on her lips, tears in her eyes.

“Well, I am still in uniform, and… yeah, I am.”

“Are you sure?”

“Go—I’ll be waiting,” he nodded encouragingly.

She couldn’t keep the smile from widening to a grin as she went upstairs, pulling the box from the dresser.

She quickly washed her face, before putting on mascara and lipstick, and slipping into the dress.

When she looked in the mirror, even though she wasn’t wearing anything close to the full makeup look she had planned to if she’d gotten to go to the gala, she felt beautiful in a way she hadn’t in a very long time, and tears threatened, but she ruthlessly pushed them back, as she gathered her hair into a loose bun, and stepped into her well-worn black heels.

She crept out of her room and made her way downstairs, where, true to his word, Bradley was waiting, at the foot of the stairs, cover tucked under his right arm, looking every inch the dashing naval aviator and officer he was, in his dress whites.

He looked up at the sound of her heels on the stairs, and an awed expression came over his face.

“Wow,” he breathed when she was a step away from him. “You look amazing.”

Ana sheepishly smoothed the deep green silk with her palms, as she stepped down the final step. “The makeup and hair’s not what I was planning for tonight if I got to go, but I didn’t want to keep you waiting too long.”

“I’d have waited if you wanted to do all that.”

Ana’s jaw slacked a bit, and he continued, “But you—you look stunning.”

“Thank you,” she replied.

Bradley offered his arm, with a “Shall we?”

She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm, and they moved out to the backyard, Bradley even bothering to wear his cover for the short walk to the pergola a ways from the back door.

“I’m going to be the envy of everyone at the gala,” he proudly murmured as they walked.

“It’s only the two of us,” Ana shook her head.

“Still,” he breathed, with an honesty she hadn’t heard from a man in years.

Once they were under the string lights, he stepped away from her to place his cover on the patio table which had been pushed to the side, along with the chairs, to create a makeshift dance floor.

Bradley pulled his phone out from his pocket and fiddled with it for a beat, looking for something.

Eventually, he found what he was searching for, and with a final tap, he set the device down beside his cover.

The strains of Orleans’ “Dance With Me” filled the air, and Ana smiled for what felt like the thousandth time that night.

He turned to her, hand extended. “Will you do me the honor of this dance, Miss Seresin?”

“I will, Lieutenant Bradshaw.”

She placed her hand in his, and he took her in his arms, as they began to sway slowly on the floor.

I still have to write basically 98% of this story, but this scene, and a couple of other bits and pieces, including the opening scene, and Bradley’s first glimpse of Anastasia, are written out.

However, while I always tend to give myself room to change things, I am absolutely certain that this dance scene is going to make its way into the final product hook or by crook, darn it.

It’s just… GAH, I love this scene so much.

I was grinning like an idiot while I wrote it, and I still do, when I read it.

I’m truly sorry if that comes off as narcissistic, I just—AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the look into my WIP folder, and all the word-vomit, Elli!!!

Thank you and God bless you if you managed to read all this, truly—I know it’s a LOT!!!

#thank you so much for playing elli!#ask game #ask games #ask nadia

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jet-teeth · 4 years

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Managed to scribble up this guy’s robot mode today, so I can post him along with his altmode study sketch! (Kaman SH-2.)

His name is “Seasprite” - yes, that’s pretty much the actual helo’s name, but I liked it. It sounded TF enough! It might be a nickname he ended up taking up, if anything, based on his backstory.

Also wow it’s about time I posted some OC stuff. I know I started out with a lot of fan art stuff around here, but at some point I want to add original designs too!

This nerd ended up getting his alt mode from an aircraft carrier museum (Specifically, the USS Midway,) thinking it was an active duty warship at the time. (He was not yet briefed on How Things Work on this planet.) Shenanigans ensue!

Seasprite ends up keeping the SH-2 mode, and just chills part-time as a museum display as a disguise, befriending a few members of the volunteer crew who end up finding out the truth! (I had a story in mind for this which I should write sometime, if I can find the patience.)

He’s a super chill mech, who would rather just fly around and listen to the sounds of the ocean via his sonar buoys than fight anyone (he enjoys oceanography and is really interested in Earth’s marine life...!)

I could probably have him upgrade to a, SH-2G “Super Seasprite” at some point, but since these machines are no longer in service in the US either way, it wouldn’t exactly matter. At most - if he just paints himself the same grey as a UH-1Y, he could loosely pass as one, I doubt anyone (except avgeeks and some military folks) would even notice, ha!

Edit: added some face doodles I forgot earlier:

#transformers #TFOC #Seasprite #Kaman #SH-2 #mecha #robots #sketches #jet art #I am tired and have a headache today so pardon the sloppy colors

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missdc10-avgeek · 9 months

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Just DC-10 humour!!

#avgeek #aviation #planes #aircraft #airplane #vintage aviation #vintage planes #aviation history #just Avgeek things #aviation humour #avgeek lol #macdonnell douglas dc 10 #dc10 #everybody's gangsta til the dc-10's door comes off #concorde killer #finally a use for that broken cargo door #just dc10 things #just for fun #just for laughs

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theresa-of-liechtenstein · 3 years

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missed abu dhabi so here are some Unsolicited Boston Thoughts. no nuance november isn’t over yet ig

carolyn in the opening....that was one of the things i used to loop over and over again, it’s just so much fun

i find it hilarious how this is one of only two episodes featuring a place presently claimed by the usa. idk why, i just think it’s funny

so funny how martin thinks he can get in with easyjet when he can’t make a single decision, even with a life hanging in the balance

apart, mr finnemore really went there in lampooning american mannerisms. especially through mr L (leeman? lehman? idkman). i have DEFINITELY seen mr Ls in my daily life

tangentially, wasn’t this from 2008? long before the whole ‘Karen’ euphemism became a real cultural phenomenon.

so mr L is a ‘karen’...

anyway carolyn swooping in after arthur’s attempt at confronting mr L is just. chef’s kiss.

ok but mr L’s whole spiel at martin when martin tries to confront him. “you need my business more than i need you.” just...yikes...peak ‘karen’

and “you’re a little guy who can’t get with the big boys and wears a rear admiral’s uniform to make up the fact that he’s just a flying cabbie.” BIG OOF.

martin can’t defend himself after that (not that he could defend himself before tho) because it’s a confirmation of his biggest insecurity. for all his insufferable pomposity, martin is keenly aware of the fact that he’s a loser, in so many ways and all the ones that matter.

yeah he’s annoying in these first episodes but. wow. i can’t help but pity him.

although imagine telling that to my fourteen year old self like come ON i would flip,,,,

anyway arthur really indirectly caused mr L’s death and said “now that we’re done with that, wanna see my renegade?”

on a similar tangent, umm gerti isn’t that big,,, wouldn’t that mean everyone on board,,, saw everything that happened??

no but imagine sitting on this little plane with other bizjet passengers and you just see one of your fellow passengers get taken out by a young steward with a fire extinguisher. i would never fly bizjet again

shanwick sounds....very familiar..................... 😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏

some fun facts about shanwick because cabin pressure made me an avgeek and i spent most of 2017-2018 convinced i was going to become a pilot before i actually went into a flightdeck and realized i would never be tall enough to see over the controls—long story very embarrassing don’t ask

shanwick refers to an air control area overseeing the eastern region of the north atlantic tracks, beginning at 30 W longitude and going eastward. it’s not referential to a real place, but joint management. the high frequency radios are located in SHANnon and the actual air traffic controllers (including the very familiar-sounding one martin talks to) are located in prestWICK.

since mjn is flying westward, they would have switched communications and selcal operations to gander radio in canada (come from away, anyone?) after 30 West.

however, martin continues to talk to shanwick throughout the episode, and douglas mentions that they are “twenty minutes to midway,” which would mean they are relatively close to switching to gander communications.

when shanwick tells martin the directions to reykjavik, she is telling him how to leave the designated track at the altitude that gerti is currently flying at. the north atlantic tracks are set up so that each are all parallel, but the aircraft are spaced at different altitudes and put farther north or south due to weather conditions; it’s gander and shanwick’s jobs to direct aircraft into the different tracks. if you go on flightradar24 and check out the north atlantic, you should be able to see aircraft marching across in an orderly fashion, which is super freaking neat!

which all sounded very cool in my head but has absolutely nothing to do with the actual episode. if you want to read more about the north atlantic tracks, this blog from a ups captain is incredibly lovely. again totally unrelated but in 2018 he shut down someone who was trying to mansplain spoilers to me after i made a post on twitter and then encouraged me to consider flying as a profession. i have never forgotten that act of virtual kindness.

ANYWAY martin really is unbelievably bad at making decisions isn’t he

“he’s rich, he’ll have friends” JAHEHEHEHDHDHEJJESJSJ

i was listening to boston with my good buddy @shining-diamond9 (to whom i’m introducing cp so wish us luck), who guessed that dr price would be a dentist. which ended up being really funny that he turned out to be a civil engineer, as we’re both studying engineering (correct me if i’m wrong mate)

HMMMMM THE PARAMEDIC SOUNDS FAMILIAR TOO,,,,,,, 😏 see you in [redacted] ms ziegler....

NOT MR FINNEMORE HAVING THE TSA AGENT INVOKE THE STUPID PATRIOT ACT PLEAAAAAAAAASE DFJWJWIWOKWL

once had a mini swiss army knife confiscated by tsa bc it was in a carry-on. it hadn’t even been USED smh

arthur liking toblerone and it being a running thing in cp and the fandom is such a bittersweet thing for me because i have liked toblerone since i was 12, even before listening to cp, because a person i once thought i fancied brought in toblerone for the whole class as part of their presentation on switzerland, where their family came from, and i think i ate it over the course of a week?

i would gladly split a toblerone with arthur

ooh i got a six pack of toblerone from costco a few weeks ago and it’s sitting in my pantry. i can’t wait to eat some

man this was fun but i’m not sure how much i’ll be able to do of these, finals are this next fortnight and i won’t be able to give more of these broke takes until after those are done. i’d love to keep doing it though! i love to spout senseless drivel about my favorite show ❤️

#cabin pressure #mine #cabinpressurechallenge #cw long post

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whiskey-corridor · 4 years

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Strangereal is a unique sci-fi world and its genius is underestimated

To many newcomers to the Ace Combat series, many of them are all like "you play as an analogue for America and you fight an analogue for Russia/Germany. Why not just take place in the real world where you play as America and fight Russia?"

Like really nigga? You want another game where good old America fights those big meany Russians? No you don't because you were just bitching about how theres too many America v. Russia games and we need something new. That's what Ace Combat is, something new.

Now at first glance itll seem like you're playing Not-America and fighting Not-Russia, but if you look just slightly below the surface you'll see that's not the case. Let's take Ace Combat 7 for example, Osea seems like America, but it also has heavy Japanese influence too. Then Erusea seems like Russia because the main enemy squadron uses Flankers, but they're not socialist and their nation isn't Eastern European style at all. They actually closely resemble France in WWI, but transplanted into modern day. Not to mention Belka, who are like Nazi Germany (just less racist) put in modern times as well. You can't get factions like this on a game that takes place in our world.

Folks who are hardcore on worldbuilding would look at Strangereal and go "how do they have the same technology as us if the entire planet is completely different?" And if you're like that I'd say you're looking too far into it. Even though Strangereal's lore goes back to the middle aged (or technically thousand of years since they practice Abrahamic religions there too), it's not meant to be that deep. Strangereal is a playground for the writers to come up with epic war scenarios without being tied up in our worlds politics. It's like if Tom Clancy and Hideo Kojima made a world together, its awesome.

One more thing I really appreciate about Strangereal and the writers at Project Aces is they use a lot of airplanes that in our world were rarely used or weren't used at all. For example in Ace Combat 6 theres a mission where you shoot down XB-70s. If you're not an Avgeek then you probably wont care but if you are then you know how cool that is. Irl the Valkyrie never entered service, but it's nice seeing it come to life in a video game. I like the sci-fi mecha weapons in it too, but I greatly appreciate Project Aces love for aviation history.

#gaming #science fiction #scifi #mecha #ace combat #worldbuilding #world building

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sentinelchicken · 2 years

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I took this photo of N847AS, one of Alaska Airline's Boeing 737-900ERs, in the OneWorld colors just days after Alaska joined the OneWorld alliance. ⁣ ⁣ The vast majority of my work travel is on Alaska Airlines and I cannot say enough nice things about them and how they’ve responded to the pandemic from my perspective as a physician. When Alaska joined the #Oneworld alliance on 31 March 2021, it opened up more flexibility and travel options for me on my travels with the Indian Health Service. ⁣ ⁣ Right now I am MVP Gold with Alaska but since joining OneWorld, that translates to OneWorld Sapphire and Platinum on American Airlines. My perks on American are modest but useful to me as frequent traveler- no bag fees on the first two checked bags, I’m always in boarding group 3, and I can upgrade at no cost to Main Cabin Extra seats. And my flights on American count towards my Alaska miles. ⁣ ⁣ Alaska is the lone hold out among the full-service US airlines in awarding miles based on distance flown rather than ticket price. That’s fine by me as I am commuting between home in Dallas/Fort Worth and the Pacific Northwest, so you can imagine the air distances involved. ⁣ ⁣ Alaska is the 14th airline member of OneWorld and its membership was sponsored by American Airlines. Alaska and American have had codesharing over the last 40 years on certain flights, though there was much erosion in the partnership 2017-2019 following Alaska's acquisition of Virgin America that lessened Alaska's need to codeshare. Apparently both airlines have moved past that point, particularly with a strong Delta operation at Sea-Tac.⁣ ⁣ #avgeek #aviation #airlines #aircraft #planeporn #KSEA #SEA #Seattle #SeaTac #Washington #airport #planespotting #instaplane ⁣ ⁣ #Boeing #737 #Alaska #AlaskaAirlines #N487AS #OneWorld ⁣ ⁣ #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight ⁣ ⁣ #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation (at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport) https://www.instagram.com/sentinelchicken/p/CYT2iqOL9Nm/?utm_medium=tumblr

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cmwinternational · 5 years

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Standard Seat 2A // BSL to EDI // People like us can’t adopt whole theories, as you did. If we can do the next thing, and have an hour a day to think in, we can accomplish marvels, but as far as any high-handed scheme of blind dominance is concerned - we’d just make asses of ourselves - This Side Of Paradise - F. Scot Fitzgerald A few weeks ago I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting a British Lord with whom I’ve had a significant number of Drinks, Oban Highland Single Malt Whiskies to be more specific. When the bar tender hit us for the seventh time the Lord told me in other words pretty much exactly what Fitzgerald wrote in his debut novel. Still thinking about if he is a Fitzgerald enthusiast just like me or if it was purely coincidental.

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marie1-kersaint · 2 months

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THE ONLY REASON I EMAILED THE WRONG PLACE IS BECAUSE I COULD NOT FIND THE RIGHT CONTACT. THERE WAS A “good” THAT I ALWAYS CALLED AT THE WRONG TIME. AND NOW I AM NOT EVEN 🆎 TO REACH THAT ONE

If you appreciate me contacting you about my pains… FORWARD MY CONCERNS CONCERNING LISTERINE TO THE RIGHT DEPARTMENT🙏

UNLESS YOU’RE LIKE LEMON 🍋 FORD WHO DOES NOT HAVE THEIR DEALERSHIPS CONTACTS INFORMATION ℹ️

THANK GOD, MY TONGUE DOES NOT HURT 😔 😞 😔 😣 😖 😓 ANY MORE. I NEED TO KNOW IF THAT OLD BATCH OF LISTERINE IS OK TO USE

[email protected]

Known as Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health: Case Number- 005075411

ref:!00D580ZcdK.!5006N0t2tWL:ref

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 4, 2024, at 4:36 AM, Kenvue Consumer Care India <[email protected]> wrote:

ref:!00D580ZcdK.!5006N0t2tWL:ref Hi, my name is Marie K Demosthenes text me please Thursday night i used listerine 🆒 Mint Zero Alcohol Mouth Wash 500ml 1.05 pint

30035548

0377LZ

Bar code 312547428323

i woke up Friday morning my tongue felt like the tip was chopped into 2 pieces until today it still hurts when i try to eat.

THAT LISTERINE WAS THE ONLY DIFFERENT THING I DID

i never buy regular mouth wash. Always CAVITY 🦷 PROTECTION. i only used this because we bury Mom Marie Elia Rintuss Demosthenes Saturday 032324 i looked for expiration date. MAYBE TOO SMALL (i could not find it and small scan code would not work MEANWHILE i am worrying if the pain is from listerine or i twisted and bit my tongue right in the middle

Or acid reflux got the front tip of my tongue‼️⁉️

@listerine

#listerine

helpful, kind, generous K2.0respect to kersaint "Tell her (the teacher) to suck my 🏀 ⚽️ 🏈 "

"ijust took a dump"

"Why can't you just mind your own damned business" i try to keep away from bad words BECAUSE what you Put in is what will comes out

& Johnson Consumer Health: Case Number- 005075411

ref:!00D580ZcdK.!5006N0t2tWL:ref

😂💝🤸‍♂️🤸‍♀️🤸🏿💃🕺αγαπημενος του θεου 💘

#✝️💚u

#corvettemuseum 🎄✨

✝️💘u #Corvette @Microsoft @Twitter @facebook k#facebookmarketplaceproblems #nolanesforever

#hollywoodpap #tiktok #NBA #fbi #gab #nytimes #nytimesbestseller #mariekdemosthenes #presidentbiden #presidentobama #instagram #twitter #Linkedin

#SCIENCETIMES

#LORDandTAYLOR

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#✝️💘u +u💝✝️=0 L🔥 🌋 🔥♾️

#youtube #TUMBLR #aviation #boeing #delivery #avgeek

#mariekdemosthenes #BETHEREFORSERVICEMEMBERSANDVETERANS #plant4seedlingsifyoumurder1tree #fourseedingsfor1 #beautydemanDstrees

#gab

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STRENGTH4THE JOURNEY

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#✝️💜u

http://fellowshiptractleague.org/

http://mariekersaint.blogspot.com/2022/08/depressed-confusedu.html

#http://fellowshiptractleague.org/

http://mariekersaint.blogspot.com/2022/08/blessed-be-thou-o-lord.html

http://mariekersaint.blogspot.com/2022/08/strength4today.html

https://gab.com/Demosthenes100964outlookcom/posts/111641741922626049

https://www.facebook.com/share/KkkaAL1kZxN6GyyK/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Sent from my #iPhone 📲

#youtube #aviation #boeing #beautyangel #bethereforservicemembersandveterans #delivery #avgeek #tiktok #facebook

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