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katiesharms · 2 years

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if you got feelings for me, you just gotta speak honestly

summary: “I love you,” she tells him plainly and waits.

a/n: here is the last part of the series! it was also written to fulfill the august prompt 'love'. even though the series is over, i welcome prompts in the universe! title from 'what's it gonna be?' by shura, like every part of this universe

The first bump in the road comes about two months into their first deployment post-Mission. It’s honestly surprising to Nat, that it takes that long. But their relationship comes so naturally, to both of them. Sure, there are arguments and misunderstandings, but the two of them figure it out easily together. She’s mostly just happy.

Two months after deploying, they get their first shore leave. It’s three nights docked in Hawaii, a true luxury. Since they’re pilots, their shore duties are slim to nonexistent, so Natasha is looking forward to letting loose in paradise. She and Jake are even getting a hotel room in town, just somewhere for them to go where they’re not sharing space with other officers. It feels like the first real test of their relationship outside of the walls of the carrier and the forced proximity of deployment. Sure, they had that week after the mission before they redeployed, but that was influenced by the adrenaline high of being alive against all odds and the honeymoon phase of their relationship. Ashore, it’ll just be the two of them, no distractions of work or other pilots.

Nat’s not worried, not really. She knows they love each other. It feels obvious when they’re together, even if they haven’t said it in so many words. Neither of them is very good with their words, preferring to show rather than tell, and that’s fine by her. Or, it has been. Something in her is telling her it’s time to say it, to voice these feelings out loud. If they love each other, they should tell each other. Share it so they can share it with the world. Her mom used to say that when you’re in love, you want to shout it from the rooftops. She’s never felt that way before, until now. Now, she wants people to see her and just know. Know that she’s in love and is loved in return.

When they get to the hotel room, Jake finds her lips immediately, pulling her into a deep kiss and backing her towards the bed. She giggles when it hits the back of her knees, and she lays back on it and lets Jake climb over her.

“Wait, wait,” she says as he starts snaking a hand up her shirt.

“I’ve been waiting,” he practically growls into her neck.

Laughing softly, she pushes at Jake’s chest until he pulls away. She cups a hand to his cheek, running her thumb along his cheek.

“I love you,” she tells him plainly and waits.

Waits for too long. He doesn’t say a word, just watches her, an unreadable expression on his face. It’s an uncomfortable silence, and when she realizes he won’t be breaking it, she feels like a fool.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” She pulls herself out from under him and swings her legs off the bed to perch on the edge. Jake just settles quietly next to her.

“What do you want me to say?” he asks quietly, and she can hear the earnestness in his voice.

“Well, when someone tells you they love you, there’s usually a pretty acceptable response to that.” She pushes off the bed, full of frantic energy all of a sudden, and stands in front of Jake to watch him, arms crossed over her chest.

He looks distressed, as if he truly is lost, floating through murky waters. She wants to scream; this should be the easiest thing in the world for them.

“I just,” he starts, scratching his cheek nervously, “I don’t know if I can say the words.”

“You don’t know if you can say the words,” she repeats flatly. “That’s bullshit, Jake. If you don’t love me, just say it. Don’t dance around it.”

“Baby, you know how I feel about you. How I’ve always felt about you.”

“Do I? Why don’t you spell it out for me, make sure I understand?”

“I, I,” Hangman starts stammering and Phoenix can’t take it. Her jaw is clenched so tight it’s starting to hurt, and her eyes are hard as she watches Jake stumble through whatever bullshit he’s trying to pull.

“You’re such a fucking child,” Nat spits out and turns to leave. “Talk to me when you can communicate like an adult,” she throws over her shoulder as she storms out. Spending the night on the carrier is preferable to this.

It turns out her roommate is off on land with someone, so Natasha has the room to herself. She’s halfway to a fitful sleep when an aggressive banging jolts her up.

What the fuck, she thinks as the bangs on the door start to lose steam and coordination.

“Babe,” comes a slurred call from the other side, and of course, it’s her boyfriend, drunk. “Just open up. Wanna talk.”

Phoenix allows herself one small scream into her pillow before opening the door for him. He practically stumbles into her room, pushing himself up against the door frame.

“What do you want, Jake?” She’s exhausted and wants to get this over with so she can just go to sleep.

“Why don’t you believe me? Why can’t you see how I feel?”

“I know you love me.” His face visibly relaxes at that, a grin starting to form. When he leans forward, she holds up a hand to stop him, causing the grin to turn into a pout. He’s adorably expressive when drunk. “I still need to hear it, though.”

“Why?” he practically whines. “If you know, why?”

Why indeed. She knows he loves her, she’s known since they got together. His love is a constant presence, ensconcing her even when she’s alone. She can feel it, always, Jake’s love for her. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to hear it.

“I don’t want to spend my life never hearing ‘I love you’.” It’s honest, raw in a way she’s not used to communicating. “Maybe you need to think about why you can’t say it.”

“You want to spend your life with me?” It’s so hopeful, and of course, that’s what Jake took from what she said.

“I want to spend my life with someone who can express their feelings.”

“I can do that for you. I promise I can.” He’s looking at her so eagerly that she’s actually starting to believe it.

“Look, Jake,” she pulls him fully into her room. She doesn’t want him heading back to the hotel like this, already worried about how he even made it to her room. “You’re drunk, so just sleep here tonight. We’ll figure this out at another time.”

She gives him her bed and crashes on her roommate’s, ignoring Hangman’s pout as she makes her way to the top bunk. When she wakes up, at sunrise, he’s still snoring below her, so she sneaks her way out quietly. She’s not quite ready for the conversation.

She spends the day mostly alone, exploring the port town they’re docked in. The weather is lovely and even if she would rather be doing this with someone, she still enjoys her day.

He finds her in the late afternoon, sipping a fancy juice on the beach.

“How’d you find me?” she asks as he sits down next to her.

“I, uh, called your sister. You share your location with her.”

“Remind me to kill Elena. That’s for emergencies only.”

“It was Julia, actually.” And damn, both her sisters can be so annoying.

“I called my brother this morning,” Jake starts, when it’s been silent for a good stretch. “I figured if anyone understands, he does.”

He pauses, so she looks over at him and finds him already watching her, gauging her reaction. She nods for him to continue.

“Growing up, I never heard someone tell someone else they loved them. Maybe my grandparents to us, a few times. But never my parents, or my siblings. When my high school girlfriend told me she loved me, I sprinted in the other direction.

“Those words have always felt fake, wrong. My parents don’t need to tell me they love me because they show me. Same with my siblings. We all love each so loudly, so obviously, that the words are redundant. So they became this, like, mythical thing, this specter over all my relationships. I mean, if I can’t tell my family I love them, how can I tell someone else?

“My brother said he had the same problem, early on, with his wife. But, he told me it’s normal, to want to be told someone loves you. To hear the words. So, Natasha Trace, I love you.”

It’s like a weight has been lifted off her chest. She's beaming, can feel it at the corners of her mouth. She feels as though the love that follows her around has doubled in size. Jake is smiling, too, watching her react with a soft expression.

“Now that I’ve said it, I’m never going to stop,” he continues. “I love you, I love you, I fucking love you. Nat, I lov-”

She cuts him off by practically jumping him, kissing him with so much passion that it’s probably inappropriate for this public beach. She can feel him, against her lips, still whispering, I love you, I love you, I love you.

“Jake,” she huffs out when they break apart, “I love you, too.”

“I’ll never get tired of hearing that.” She rolls her eyes but leaves it be. She’ll never get tired of hearing it, either.

#top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick #hannix #phoenix x hangman #natasha phoenix trace #jake hangman seresin #topgunprompts2022 #topgunflightschool #my writing

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tinyhousegirl · 2 years

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The Day the Music Died

Characters/Pairings: Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw, Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw x Carole Bradshaw, Mentions of Natasha 'Phoenix' Trace x Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw, Mentions of Penny Benjamin x Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell

Synopsis: Bradley's love for the piano matched his father's passion. Inspired by the Don McLean song, American Pie.

A/N: Day One of the August Prompt Month run by @topgunfighterpilot. Today's prompt is MUSIC. Like what you're reading? Buy me a brick!

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I can't remember if I cried

When I read about his widowed bride

But something touched me deep inside

The day the music died

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Bradley clung to the fading memories he had of his father. He doesn’t remember the man’s face outside of the photos he keeps of him, but he will never forget the music.

Before Bradley could even crawl, Nick had bought him one of those tiny toy pianos that were so out of tune, you couldn’t even recognize the keys being played. But that blond little baby adored that thing. Goose did his best to teach him what each key was, but all the small baby would do was smash his fist against the keys, laughing contently as the piano rattled off pitch.

When Bradley was crawling, barely able to stand on his two chubby legs, he would bounce lightly against the piano seat at their house in Virginia while his dad would play at his own piano that Carole had bought him as a wedding gift. Nick had been craving one for years, and she did everything she could to save up for it. The look on his face when he came home from a deployment and saw the bright red bow on top would forever be ingrained in her memory.

On sleepless nights, or the nights before he would deploy, Goose would wrap the toddler gently in his lap, playing songs late into the night until Bradley would fall asleep. Carole filmed a few of those nights, and Bradley was forever grateful to have digitized copies of his life with them when he needed to hear their voices the most.

Bradley does remember flying to Miramar at four to visit his dad. He remembers Maverick and mom, and the other blonde lady, hanging out at the bar while his dad attacked the keys of the piano with grace. He didn’t know the song very well, but bounced along to his dad and uncle yelling the lyrics as he sat atop the piano. They looked so goofy singing at the top of their lungs in public, but it was something the little boy was used to at that point.

The funeral is nothing much more than a few sounds left in his memory. He wore headphones to protect his little ears, but the bugle and gunshots won’t leave him alone in the quiet of the night even to this day.

After Goose died, and they flew home to Virginia, and Bradley got older, he found his safe spot on the piano bench. Carole’s heart clenched when he came home from school with a Beginner’s Guide to Piano book that he found at his school library. The little boy was determined to learn his dad’s favorite song. He was still too little to understand that death was permanent, very much unlike deployments where his father would scoop him up and sit beside him when he would get home so he could show him that he learned the song, too.

(Carole called Maverick sobbing the first time she heard Bradley play the opening chords to Great Balls of Fire. Maverick cried too.)

Carole enrolled Bradley into piano classes as soon as he was old enough, and he took to it like a spark on a dry day. Most of the Top Gun class of 1986 flew out to watch his first group recital - a bunch of six year olds playing songs together - it was a train wreck but oh boy, was it cute.

As Bradley grew up, he continued to play. He started playing baseball and other sports to keep up his physique for boot camp once he graduated high school, but his biggest passion was still those black and white keys that tied him to his dad. It was his party trick, his comfort zone, the thing the bullies teased him for before his growth spurt at 13. The passion never faded, even as the memory of his dad did.

He didn’t play for a long time after Carole died. He couldn’t. Her spot on the bench had grown too cold and it sunk his soul into the ground when they lowered her casket next to her husbands. And then his papers were pulled, and he took his anger out of the keys, breaking a few off in the rage. As soon as one key snapped, the rage turned into unbridled sobbing; he was completely alone and orphaned at 17.

He took a few music classes at UAV towards the end of his college career - his girlfriend at the time had convinced him slowly to get back into something he was clearly passionate about, even if he never told her why he was so timid when it came to the instrument.

He fell back in love with the sound of music at his fingertips, even as he fell out of love with her and more in love with the Navy. The four years of college were met with his acceptance into the Naval Academy and an invite to their band. He accepted the former invite, but denied the latter - playing alone was his favorite form.

The first time he met Natasha Trace, he was halfway into his regular rendition of Great Balls of Fire. She sidled up to the side of the piano at the Hard Deck with some of her friends and sang along. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her as she belted the lyrics.

(He would go on to teach her the notes in the coming years while she taught him to open his heart back up to the world.)

After the nuclear mission, he rekindled slowly with Maverick over a few beers at his hangar in the Mojave. Maverick had a record player full of old tunes playing in the background as they worked on his plane. His eyes fell over the photos pinned to the workbench - a collection of Maverick’s world travels, photos of Bradley growing up, and some old photos of his parents. He didn’t remember his dad’s face anymore. His mother’s faded in and out.

The Hard Deck was rattling with energy. Most of their Top Gun detachment had flown in for Maverick’s official retirement ceremony and party, enjoying the afterparty way more as they didn’t have to dress up and could be as rowdy as they wanted. Hangman was doing his usual rounds of pool, destroying Coyote at every chance. Bob and Fanboy were off in a corner talking to other naval pilots. Halo and Yale were duking it out at the dart boards. Phoenix snuck up behind Bradley and wrapped her arm around his waist, pulling him out of his conversation with Mav and Penny. He knew that look on her face. Their crew settled around the caramel colored piano as he sat down, and instantly the gang burst into song.

You shake my nerve and you rattle my brain

Too much love drives a man insane

You broke my will

But what a thrill

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!

Natasha leaned down to kiss his cheek in between choruses. Bradley smiled throughout the entire song, swapping his gaze between her and the photo of his parents and Maverick that Penny had hung for him above the piano. He knew they were up there somewhere listening in, probably dancing along with his teammates. His parents' memory would never die so long as the music didn’t.

---

#topgunprompts2022 #topgunflightschool #bradley rooster bradshaw #nick goose bradshaw #carole bradshaw #pete maverick mitchell #carole x goose bradshaw #penny benjamin x pete mitchell #rooster x phoenix #bradley bradshaw x natasha trace #natasha trace #rooster #maverick #phoenix #goose #top gun: maverick #top gun

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topgunfighterpilot · 2 years

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Official Top Gun Prompt List for August!

Good morning Aviators! Welcome to the August class of Top Gun training. To celebrate the amazing movies that brought us this community, I am happy to announce the 2022 Top Gun Prompt Month! Here are your orders:

See below for the official list for the 2022 Top Gun Prompt Month! Each day in August will have a different prompt, ranging from fluff to angst to whatever your heart interprets it as. All forms of media are welcomed - fics, drabbles, art, playlists, etc. This can be for either movie!

How to submit: please follow this form to submit your own Tumblr post to be reblogged on @topgunfighterpilot. You don’t have to submit it, and it will not be reblogged on this page if it is not submitted. (emails will not be collected)

Rules are as follows:

Full deck: all characters, ships, topics are allowed.

Leave the dirty jokes for The Hard Deck: NSFW and 18+ fics will be allowed but please tag them properly. Please mute these tags if you do not want to see them. Any other content warnings are suggested, but not mandated.

The pattern is full: submit one link per submission.

Train as long as you need: you can submit as many submissions as you want, as long as it pertains to the day's prompt. Do NOT submit someone else’s work. This will not be tolerated.

Safe flying: Do not feel like you have to contribute to each day! Please take care of yourself!

Use the callsign: mention the prompt somewhere in the title or description. Feel free to use the hashtag #topgunflightschool or #topgunprompts2022

Support your wingman: like and reblog other posts to show support for our amazing community!

The Tower: join our Discord server! If you have questions, DM @allyxstebo on Tumblr or on Discord. Turn on post notifications for this account and don’t miss a thing!

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hangsterhell · 2 years

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watching, waiting, still anticipating love

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: M/M Fandom: Top Gun (Movies) Relationship: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw/Jake "Hangman" Seresin

Summary:

Bradley’s fingers caress the keys deftly, coaxing a bittersweet melody from the depths of the piano’s body.

Then, he starts singing, a few lines here and there, almost like an afterthought. His voice is low and husky, lends itself naturally to this sort of soppy and overly sentimental love song. He doesn’t seem to notice Jake being there at all.

Despite himself, Jake is transfixed.

(Or, three distinct episodes in their lives where Bradley plays the piano and Jake listens.) read the completed fic here on ao3

#hangster #rooster x hangman #hangman x rooster #top gun maverick #top gun maverick fanfiction #sereshaw #bradley bradshaw x jake seresin #topgunflightschool #topgunprompts2022

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anadorablack · 2 years

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I give you... The Top Gun Prompt Month monster fic!!!

I hope you enjoy. The muse was on board with each prompt and decided it deserved a bit of a story. :)

@mary0409 this is for you honey. I know you'll like it. ;)

#hangster #top gun maverick #topgunprompts2022 #topgunflightschool

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bbr1 · 2 years

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Prompt day 12 - the hard deck

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Top Gun (Movies) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw/Jake "Hangman" Seresin Characters: Jake "Hangman" Seresin, Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw Series: Part 3 of 2022 Aug Top Gun Prompts Summary:

“Fuck,” Jake says. “This is so nice.”

#topgunprompts2022 #on the archive bc spicy #and stupid #hangster #fanfic #my writing #🤡#hangman/rooster #hangman x rooster #top gun: maverick #top gun mav #deffo 5/5 clowns

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topgunfighterpilot · 2 years

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Official Top Gun Prompt Month - Word Form!

Good morning Aviators! Welcome to the August class of Top Gun training. To celebrate the amazing movies that brought us this community, I am happy to announce the 2022 Top Gun Prompt Month! Here are your orders:

See below for the official list for the 2022 Top Gun Prompt Month! Each day in August will have a different prompt, ranging from fluff to angst to whatever your heart interprets it as. All forms of media are welcomed - fics, drabbles, art, playlists, etc. This can be for either movie!

How to submit: please follow this form to submit your own Tumblr post to be reblogged on @topgunfighterpilot. You don’t have to submit it, and it will not be reblogged on this page if it is not submitted. (emails will not be collected)

Rules are as follows:

Full deck: all characters, ships, topics are allowed.

Leave the dirty jokes for The Hard Deck: NSFW and 18+ fics will be allowed but please tag them properly. Please mute these tags if you do not want to see them. Any other content warnings are suggested, but not mandated.

The pattern is full: submit one link per submission.

Train as long as you need: you can submit as many submissions as you want, as long as it pertains to the day's prompt. Do NOT submit someone else’s work. This will not be tolerated.

Safe flying: Do not feel like you have to contribute to each day! Please take care of yourself!

Use the callsign: mention the prompt somewhere in the title or description. Feel free to use the hashtag #topgunflightschool or #topgunprompts2022

Support your wingman: like and reblog other posts to show support for our amazing community!

The Tower: join our Discord server! If you have questions, DM @allyxstebo on Tumblr or on Discord. Turn on post notifications for this account and don’t miss a thing!

August 1: Music

August 2: Laughter

August 3: Animals

August 4: Love

August 5: Color

August 6: Argument

August 7: Future

August 8: Prank War

August 9: Training or Mission

August 10: What If?

August 11: Background Character You Love

August 12: The Hard Deck

August 13: Late Night

August 14: Hurt

August 15: Your Favorite Character

August 16: A Scary Situation

August 17: "This was a dumb idea."

August 18: Callsign

August 19: Master Class

August 20: Surprise!

August 21: Hunger

August 22: "I hate you!"

August 23: Alternate Universe

August 24: Flight

August 25: Five Stages of Grief

August 26: Your Favorite Ship

August 27: First Kiss

August 28: Much Needed Vacation

August 29: Expand on a Line

August 30: (Found) Family

August 31: Throwback

Calendar Form Announcement Here!

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katiesharms · 2 years

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fandom: top gun: maverick, pairing: none, gen

a/n: this was written for the august prompt list - prompt was music!

Sometimes, Rooster thinks about what he would’ve done if he didn’t become a pilot.

It wasn’t a sure thing when he was a kid. He’d been interested in a lot of things, math, sports, music. But then flying, and the Navy, became something unavailable to him. He had to prove Maverick wrong, had to live up to and extend the Bradshaw legacy.

It’s not like he doesn’t like flying. He loves it; it’s a feeling like no other, being up in the air. He can remember the first time Mav took him up, in a refurbished, dingy little plane, when Bradley was just 6. His stomach swooped every time Maverick made a turn and he felt like the king of the world. Or at least, the king of the Valley. It makes him feel closer to Mav. Closer to his dad. (It’s not the only thing, though. There’s the Hawaiian shirts, his aviators, the mustache that he gets more insults for than compliments. And there’s music.)

Rooster’s never thought too much about it, why he’s flying, what it means. Simply, he just hasn’t had the time to. He’s moved his career at a breakneck pace trying to catch up, trying to be the best. He hasn’t paused once.

Now, though, while he’s grounded indefinitely because his hands won’t stop shaking, he has endless time to think about it. For the first time since he started flying, Bradley doesn’t know what his future looks like. He’d always assumed, deep down, that he’d end his career like his father did: in a body bag. But he made it through a suicide mission alive, getting shot down in enemy territory and escaping in a museum piece. If that didn’t kill him, Rooster’s pretty sure that flying never will.

So that means there’s a life after flying, whether it’s once he retires or much sooner, if he can never get this shaking under control. Rooster’s scared of it, scared of what his life could look like without being a pilot. He knows, logically, that many people leave the Navy and have fulfilling lives after it. But what does he have outside of it? A patchwork relationship with Mav, a growing friendship with his fellow pilots. No family, really, no kids. And he’s worried, deep down, that if he stops flying, he’ll lose this connection to his father.

Everyone thinks Rooster’s memories of his dad are filled with flying. They’re not, though. How could they be when his dad died so young, so early into his career as an RIO, and Rooster never even saw him in the air? Instead, his memories of flying are all Mav. His dad is different; he exists in the corners of his mind in flashes of memory and warmth. A bear hug, a lullaby, sitting on his lap watching football. Feeling loved and safe. And music.

The only real memory he has of his dad is watching him play the piano. It’s the only one crisp in his mind, not surrounded by the haze of uncertainty, more a memory of a feeling than anything else. But he can remember this, can remember his dad plopping him down on top of the piano and banging out Great Balls of Fire while he and Mav sing along.

As soon as he was old enough, Bradley begged his mom to let him take piano lessons. He devoured them, a natural musician. Today, his retinue contains everything from classical pieces to 80s songs to modern ballads. But Great Balls of Fire remains his go-to. He can remember so vividly how happy it made him, how warm he felt watching his dad play it. He just wants to help other people feel that way, too.

So even though he was afraid that giving up flying meant he’d lose that connection to his father, Bradley knows that’s not true. He’s never felt closer to Goose than when he’s sitting in front of a piano. As he runs his fingers across the keys of the one at the Hard Deck, waiting for the crowd to calm down and get ready, his hands are steady, unshakable.

#is this long enough for a read more? idk #top gun maverick #topgunflightschool #topgunprompts2022 #bradley rooster bradshaw #top gun #top gun fanfiction #my writing #not gonna do every day i just had this one written already!

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topgunfighterpilot · 2 years

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Ally's Guide to Prep for Prompt Month

With one week left to go before Day One of the Top Gun Prompt Month, here are some of my most helpful tips to prepare! Share your own below!

Turn on Post Notifications to see all the posts shared here!

Watch Top Gun (1986) dir. Tony Scott

Stretch your fingers!

Watch Top Gun: Maverick (2022) dir. Joseph Kosinski

Save the Google Form submission as a bookmark for easier access!

Drink lots of water! Or caffeine because we may have a coffee addiction!

Become best friends with Google Docs!

Schedule your posts in advance! Don't know how to? I can help!

Hype up your Friends!

I can't wait to see everything this fandom has for this month!

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tinyhousegirl · 2 years

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hi! what is prompt month?

Hi anon! Prompt month is the one-a-day challenge we are doing in august! You can find more info on @topgunfighterpilot but basically there’s a one-two word prompt for each day and august and you write or doodle or make a playlist based on that prompt! Post it each day!

#top gun: maverick #top gun #topgunprompts2022 #topgunmonth2022 #ask me #ask me anything

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topgunfighterpilot · 2 years

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