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bradshawssugarbaby · 5 months

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Uptown Girl - Bradley Bradshaw x Reader

summary: Bradley is in love with the admiral's daughter. He needs to win her heart the best way he knows how - serenading her with the help of his friends.

pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x reader

warnings: swearing, Jake teasing Bradley about being old.

word count: 2k

“Man, I can’t just go talk to her.”

Bradley put his head in his hands as he sat at the back of the Hard Deck with his friends. Running his long fingers through his short, golden-brown curls, he sighed before looking up, his hazel eyes full of anxiety and frustration. He’d been pining after a girl who’d become a regular at the local bar for a while - the first day he’d seen her, he was smitten.

She’d come in with her long hair pulled back into a sleek, high ponytail, a warm, friendly smile on her features as she spoke with a few others in the bar. Bradley had wondered who she was, and where she’d come from, a question none of his squadron seemed to know the answer to. That was, until their team lead, and Bradley’s surrogate father of sorts, piped up with an explanation, having heard Bradley audibly swooning over how great she was to everyone in earshot.

“That’s Admiral Simpson’s daughter. I wouldn’t try your luck there, if I were you, Bradley,” Maverick had warned, smirking as he took a sip from his beer glass as he looked over between Bradley and his mystery girl.

Bradley had gone quiet upon learning this information, unable to even fire back at his friend Jake’s retorts and quips about how Bradley was punching above his weight on this one, even as a skilled aviator. In a way, Jake was right, no amount of skill or experience in the air, no number of awards for his service, or medals of honor could put him in the same league as the Admiral’s daughter. Her father had recently become the commander of the entire Pacific fleet, and Bradley was just a lieutenant, serving as an aviator for the past 19 years, his entire naval career.

At nearly 40, Bradley was beginning to consider retirement, weighing his options between becoming a flight instructor for Top Gun, the very flight academy program that he’d graduated from himself, or, ending his naval career to enter civilian life happily. With the exception of Maverick, the rest of his team were considerably younger than he was, the next oldest being Jake, at barely 35. Admiral Simpson’s daughter was easily a decade younger than him, if not more, and probably accustomed to much more in life than anything Bradley could offer her. Naval rank aside, she was likely much more used to living the life of luxury, where as Bradley had never really experienced it, outside of the odd frivolous purchase here or there, like his 1972 Ford Bronco, custom painted bright blue to restore it to its former glory when he purchased it.

Despite all these reasons why Bradley should just forget this juvenile feeling crush he’d developed on her, he couldn’t shake it. Every time he caught a glimpse of her stunning smile, or heard her infectious laugh, the sweetest sound his ears had ever come across, he couldn’t help but fall right back into it again, like a trap that was set perfectly for him. Bradley was head over heels, but worst of all,

“You’re fucked, man. You can’t win here.”

Bradley sighed again as he shook his head, bringing himself back to the present moment. He looked up at Jake, who, upon seeing the confused look on Bradley’s face, laughed and repeated himself.

“I said, you’re fucked, man. There’s no winning here, you either go in there, you say hi to this girl and you ask her out, her dad finds out and you get your ass shipped out to another base faster than you can salute, or you ask her out and she turns your old ass down, either way, you’re going to end up unhappy and not with her,” Jake shrugged as he sipped his beer, leaning on his pool cue.

Bob, the more shy, reserved of Bradley’s team, shook his head. He pushed his glasses up on the end of his nose, adjusting them as he set his plastic cup down on the bar counter, shrugging his shoulders as he interjected, a rare occurrence for Bob, most of the time.

“I mean…Bradley could probably win her over,” He said quietly, nodding his head, “It wouldn’t be hard, I mean, he has an impressive career record, he’s a nice guy, he’s not bad to look at,” Bob shrugged, “I think he could pull it off. It’s her dad I’d be worried about. But, maybe he wouldn’t care so much? It’s not like Bradley’s gonna – what’s that term again? Hump and go? Surf and turf?”

“You mean hump and dump?” Jake snickered, shaking his head, “I think Brad here’s a bit old to pull off the hump and dump nowadays anyways. Maybe 20 years ago.”

“Easy, I only just turned 39 in June, thanks.”

“39 is practically old enough to be a grandfather, Bradley,”

“Oh come on, it is not,” Bradley frowned as he looked at his friends. Bob fiddled with his glasses nervously, avoiding eye contact, Jake smirked as he held back a laugh, and Reuben and Mickey pretended they didn’t hear the conversation, focusing instead on their game of darts taking place a couple of feet away, “Is it?”

“How many years older than you is Mav, man?”

“I dunno,” Bradley shrugged his shoulders, “22, maybe? 23?”

“Right, so when he was 39, you were…?”

“Uh,” Bradley looks up at the ceiling as he counts in his head, trying to work out the math, “16?”

“Right…you see where I’m going with this?”

“Fuck, you’re right, I could be someone’s grandfather. Jesus Christ,” Bradley frowned, shaking his head as he sipped his beer again.

“Relax, you’d have to had a kid at like, 23 or earlier, who also had a kid young for it to work, but it’s not impossible, is all,” Jake nodded matter of factly as he sipped his drink. Jake grinned as he spotted the girl in question walking by their seats, his elbow sharply poking Bradley in the ribcage as he nodded his head slightly in her direction.

“Now’s your chance, loverboy. Take it now if you’re gonna shoot your shot,” Jake whispered with a smirk on his lips.

Bradley nodded his head once and took a deep breath as he set his beer bottle down on the table. With a nervous smile, he put his aviators down over his eyes to hide their anxious gaze before heading over to the piano. If there was one thing Bradley could do to win her over, it’d be serenading the bar with a fun, classic upbeat tune. Normally, he’d go for his favourite, Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lewis, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Bradley put a hand on Jake’s shoulder, his grip firm as he leaned in to whisper to him.

“How confidently can you sing Uptown Girl?”

“You mean like, “uptown girl, she’s been living in her uptown world, I bet she’s never had a backstreet guy…?” Jake laughed as he cocked his eyebrow, singing the chorus of the song in his slightly off key baritone, “Oh, you’re not seriously doing this, are you?” He drawled, shaking his head before shooting Bob, Reuben and Mickey a look of disbelief.

“I love that song!” Bob said enthusiastically as he stood to his feet, “We’ve got your back, buddy, let’s go win her heart!”

Jake rolled his eyes and laughed before following Bradley and his friends to the piano. Bradley took his seat on the piano bench, lowering his sunglasses to make eye contact with his dream girl’s gaze, a confident smirk on his face as he winked at her before putting his glasses back on. He wasn’t sure if it was the beer coursing through his veins or the sheer smitten head over heels side of him taking over, but his new found confidence had Bradley playing the opening bars of the 80s hit on the piano, his friends offering nothing but encouragement for his somewhat ridiculous idea. It wasn’t the smoothest way to get a girl’s attention, but, it was different, and would almost certainly stand out in her mind, he reasoned with himself.

“Uptown girl, she’s been living in her uptown world. I bet she’s never had a backstreet guy, I bet her momma’s never told her why,”

Bradley sang out, his deep, gravelly voice ringing out as he carried each note perfectly in tune as he played the song’s melody on the piano.

“And now she’s looking for a downtown man, that’s what I am,”

Bradley’s eyes met with hers as he sang, unable to stop himself from smiling wider than he probably should have as he belted the song out, making it clear that out of the crowd of people around them singing along, his full intent was just to get her attention on him.

“And when she knows what she wants from her time, and when she wakes up and makes up her mind,”

Bob, Jake, Reuben and Mickey harmonized alongside Bradley, making for a perfectly imperfect set of backing vocals. While none of the four of Bradley’s backup singers were particularly great singers, their harmonies were enough support for Bradley to carry his way through the song without looking like he’d just lost his mind and started breaking out into song.

“She’ll see I’m not so tough, just because, I’m in love with an uptown girl, you know I’ve seen her in her uptown world. She’s getting tired of her high class toys, and all her presents from her uptown boys, she’s got a choice,”

As Bradley continued to sing it out, with his friends as moral and vocal support, he noticed that his mystery girl was making her way closer to the piano, seemingly leaving behind whoever she had arrived with as she inched her way towards the man who was apparently serenading her in the middle of a crowded bar near a naval base. She flashed him a smile, her cheeks a soft blush as she raised an eyebrow at him. Bradley couldn’t tell if the blush in her features was from embarrassment or flattery, but he hoped it was the latter of the two.

“And when she’s walking, she’s looking so fine, and when she’s talking, she’ll say that she’s mine,”

Bob and Jake began dramatically singing with one another, using Jake’s empty beer bottle as a makeshift microphone, while Mickey excitedly drummed along with his hands on the wooden top of the piano. Reuben began dancing slightly as he sang along to the words, all four men now completely immersing themselves in their performance with Bradley, and all four likely contemplating how they’d get Bradley to repay them for their public humiliation in the name of getting him a potential date.

Bradley grinned as she approached the piano, her hands resting on the wooden top as he played the last few notes of the song, his eyes completely fixated on hers. To him, at that moment, she was the only person in the room. The only face he cared about in the crowded bar was hers, and now, it was right here, standing in front of him.

“You’ve got quite the talent,” She curled her sheer, gloss-coated lips up into a grin as she leaned on the top of the piano, looking directly at Bradley.

“I’m a man of many talents, this was just a couple of them on display,” He nodded his head once, trying to keep his composure as she leaned towards him, willing his eyes to not wander down her body, “I’m Bradley. Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw, US Naval Air Force,” He said his title with a sense of pride that he hoped didn’t come off as bragging.

“Nice to meet you, Lieutenant,” She grinned, pointing to his empty beer bottle that sat atop the piano beside her, “Care to grab another one of those with me?”

“Absolutely,” Bradley said as he hopped off the piano bench at an almost breakneck pace, leaving Jake, Bob, Reuben and Mickey fighting off fits of laughter at Bradley’s eagerness.

#bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw #bradley bradshaw fic #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x you #bradley rooster bradshaw x reader #bradley rooster bradshaw x you

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probablyasocialecologist · 10 months

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The comprehensive study, conducted by researchers from Linköping University in Sweden, the European University Institute in Italy and the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, analyzed data from 59,400 Swedish men who took a military conscription test when they were young adults. The researchers then meticulously tracked their career trajectories, earnings and job prestige for over a decade, from when they were 35 until they turned 45. The results showed a strong relationship between intelligence and earning potential until the figure exceeded $64,000 a year. Beyond this point, the correlation became almost negligible. And at the highest pay scales, intelligence plateaued, suggesting that other factors, such as socioeconomic background, culture, personality traits and luck, became more significant. The study also found that job prestige didn't increase with cognitive ability at higher pay scales. In professions such as medicine, law and academia, more prestige didn't seem directly related to more income. The findings challenge the idea that success and higher levels of income are earned by superior intellect and talent. Instead, the researchers suggest that small initial success differences between individuals can grow into extreme inequalities over time. The study has limitations. It focused only on men, limiting its generalizability to the wider population. But it still provides a relatively large sample across a variety of pay levels and occupations. In a world where the ultra-rich continue to get richer and have more influence over global political, social and economic landscapes, the study's findings are significant. The argument that those taking home the most pay deserve it the most is one that needs to be challenged, the researchers point out — especially at the highest end of the scale.

#billionaires #sociology #cognitive abilities #intelligence #the whole idea of 'intelligence' is iffy but this isn't surprising

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chimcess · 1 year

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A Picture’s Worth || jjk (teaser)

Pairings: Jungkook x Reader Other Tags: Ex-Art Thief!Reader, Ex-Assassin!Reader, Ex-Gang member!Reader, Gang member!Jungkook, Assassin!Jungkook, Hitman!Jungkook, Thief!Jungkook Genre: Strangers to lovers, gang AU, mafia AU, Fluff, Angst, Smut Estimated Release Date: 07/2023 Est. Word Count: ~35-40k+ Summary: After pulling off the largest art heist of her career, Y/N has put that life behind her. However, after 4 years out of the business, she comes home to find a stranger in her house. Warnings: violence, blood, gang activity, mafia activity, mentions of death, crime, robberies, graphic depictions of injuries, guns, knives, major character(s) injured, police corruption, I’m not a gang member or anything so I could be wrong about that stuff, bad Russian, I tried my best; tbd... Author’s Note: It’s been a while since I’ve written a one-shot- especially something this long. So, I thought “why not?” I’ve already gotten A TON written, but still going. Editing will be... fun, to say the least. This has been really exciting to write so far, though :)

I knew something was off when a new motorcycle was parked out front. Briefly checking the plates, I was even more weary when they were from Jersey. I knew far too many people in that corner of the US. Still, I told myself that it could be anybody. Perhaps one of my new neighbors was from Hoboken. That was highly unlikely, though. Eyeing the red leather jacket hanging from one of the handles, I only knew one person who owned something like that. I guess I will be seeing Jimin tonight. The thought bothered me far more than I thought it would.

Taking my time going up the stairs, I considered calling Hoseok and demanding to know why Park was sniffing around my apartment. I knew I should have moved out, should have tried something new, but the thought of leaving the only home I ever knew bothered me. Using the time climbing to my advantage, I slowly steeled myself. Jimin could smell weakness from a mile away. He was also one person who could convince me to do bad things.

The excitement that ran through me at the idea sickened me.

Starting at the 4 on the door, I braced myself. When I walked into that hallway all traces of the new me had to disappear. There can be no laughter, no crying, and no open hostility. I would have to be a blank slate. With one small breath, I pulled the door and went into the hall.

There wasn’t a body in sight, but I knew better than to go off of that. Jimin could get into my apartment with relative ease. No one would notice either. Everyone else that lived was too busy making ends meet to pay attention to the stranger sneaking into my house.

Taking my keys out of my purse, I unlocked the door and walked inside. I could smell him. It was, however, not Jimin. Jimin only wore Orange Blossom by Jo Malone. Whoever this was smelled like baby powder and flowers. My guard completely up now, I continued further into the studio and kicked the door closed behind me. Whoever it was, I knew had been standing behind the door. The smell was not as potent as it had been before.

Going into the kitchen, I shrugged my coat off before throwing it behind me. I heard it hit something and it was a blur after that. I quickly snatched a kitchen knife from the drying rack and threw myself to the ground. The man grabbed my hands. Kicking his inner thigh, I rolled from underneath him and shot up. He threw his arms up.

“Stop!”

Ignoring him, I threw the knife. The man reacted quickly, catching the blade in between his hands before throwing it down on the floor. While he was distracted, I slid on the floor and grabbed the pistol from under my bed. Pointing it at the man, he rolled his eyes dramatically.

“What are you going to do? Shoot me?”

To join the taglist, ask, message, or check out my FAQ page in my bio!

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lovelyleclercs · 1 year

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Home for the Holidays- SV5

Sebastian Vettel x Fem!Reader

-> coming straight off of retirement, Seb is able to spend his holidays at home for the first time since your children were born.

word count: 1052

warnings: none, soft, fluffy seb content!

A/N: I loved writing this so much

For the past couple of years, the holidays have been both your favorite and least favorite time of the year.

You loved decorating your home with all of the cozy christmas decor, allowing your three children to add their own special touches here and there.

You loved sitting on the couch, all three kids piled in your lap as you watched the grinch, which was by far your children’s favorite holiday movie.

You loved watching the way your children’s faces light up as they watched the snow fall, each of them growing eager to get outside to build snowmen and make snow angels in the soft snow.

You loved buying all of the gifts for your children, knowing how much they would love each and every gift as they unwrapped it.

However, every year without fail, there was always one thing missing- Seb.

With a busy career in Formula 1, Seb was hardly ever home. It was probably partially your fault, you had wanted to remain living in Switzerland, even though the Aston Martin factory was in the UK. This made it incredibly difficult for Seb to come home in between races, as he oftentimes had to go straight to the factory and then right to the next race shortly after that.

This season in particular had been extra tough. With Aston Martin building a horrible car- one that barely made it past p15 on a good weekend- it meant more debriefs, more nights in the garage trying to find areas to improve, and more time away from home.

Your children had noticed Sebastian’s absence, your oldest specifically. In previous years, seb had usually come home for at least a night or two a week, but this year he would go weeks without coming home for a visit.

By the seventh race of the season, Seb had very quickly lost the desire to be in the race car. He hated being away from you and the kids, missing out on all of the little things in their lives. He hated how much of a struggle it was to even get the car to the finish line most weekends. He hated the embarrassment that came with bad result after bad result, feeling as though maybe he had lost his talent, even though everyone knew it was in fact his car that was the problem.

When Sebastian had called you randomly one night and mentioned the desire to retire, you were a bit shocked. Sebastian had only turned 35 the week prior, which was still considerably young in the formula 1 world.

Sebastian had assured you that it was what he wanted, but even after hanging up the phone, you were sure it was just a spur of the moment idea after a bad result.

When Sebastian had finally announced his retirement from Formula 1, you still hadn’t believed him. How could he so easily just walk away from something that he had spent his entire life doing- with seemingly no emotion about leaving the sport.

But after seeing him come through the front door after being away from home for two months, you had very quickly realized the toll it had taken on your husband.

His last race was incredible- he had an excellent qualifying run, somehow finding pace in his tractor of a car. He had a pretty simple race, battling it out with a few of the other cars on track, but not really having to put up a fight for the most part.

When he crossed the line tenth, you couldn’t help but feel relieved that he was able to score his last point in his last race in the sport. It was a great weekend all in all.

Flash forward almost a month later and for the first time since meeting Seb, he was home for the entire holiday season.

Sebastian had helped you and the kids decorate the house for Christmas for the first time, watching as the kids put their ornaments on their tree.

Sebastian had cuddled up on the couch with the four of you, watching the grinch way past the children’s bed time.

For the first time, Sebastian had seen the glow of the children’s faces as they saw snow fall from the grey clouded sky, your two daughters practically begging seb to build snowmen with them- which he in fact did.

Sebastian helped you pick out the presents, he even helped you wrap all of them too- something that you had previously done completely alone.

Christmas morning had rolled around, the kids had finished opening all of their gifts, your son needing help to do so as he was only two years old and didn’t fully understand the concept of unwrapping presents.

As you sat back on the couch, your legs resting in Sebastian’s lap while you sipped on your cup of coffee, you watched the three children play with their new toys, getting along quite well while doing so.

“I think retiring was the best decision I could have possibly made. Part of me wishes I would have done it sooner” Seb whispered, his hand rubbing your shoulder gently.

“Why is that?” you asked, turning your attention from the children on the floor over to seb.

“I missed out on this so many years in a row. I mean, I was here for christmas day, but never for the entire process that goes into christmas, you know? I can’t believe I never got to watch the kids do the simplest thing like decorate christmas cookies or build snowmen.. I just feel like I've missed out on so much..”

You placed your hand on seb’s cheek and nodded. “I know. But you’re here now, that’s all that matters.”

Seb smiled a little and looked up at you, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that”

“Well… we could have another… then I can be here for every single first…”

You laughed and rolled your eyes, taking another sip of your coffee. “Yeah but what if you decide to pull a Michael Schumacher and go back?”

“Oh that won’t be happening”

“Michael said the same thing, you know”

“Yes but I’m not Michael. Will you at least consider it?”

You laughed and kissed his cheek. “Sure, i’ll consider it”

tag list- @hammick @majkaftorek @Lizziebitch33 @viktorie16 @Jamieeboulos @Southernprincess1997 @Myescapefromthislife @F1andbookslover

#sebastian vettel imagine #sebastian vettel fluff #sebastian vettel fanfic #sebastian vettel x reader #sebastian vettel x you #f1 pov #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #formula 1 pov #formula one #lovelyleclercs christmas

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lanabenikosdoormat · 17 days

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JED MASTERPOST

Fast on his feet with an even sharper mind, Jed worked as a cipher agent for the Galactic Empire. Under the alias Cipher Nine - he was a prodigal secret weapon for the Empire's goals. As time passed, so did the stakes. When Imperial Intelligence disbanded, Jed found himself pursuing more independent ventures, outsourcing his work to broader horizons. He garnered quite a lofty reputation.

Through his extraordinary acts, Jed rose through the ranks, becoming a leading figure in the war that later broke out between the two superpowers. He would eventually become known as the Outlander and later, The Alliance Commander and serves as my main OC, not just for SWTOR - but my artist career as a whole.

MOST OF THIS IS PULLED DIRECTLY FROM HIS TOYHOUSE, WHICH CAN BE FOUND BELOW AND IS MORE COMPREHESIVE

BIO BELOW THE CUT!

Overview:

Full Name: Jedidiah Solaris

Alias: Cipher Nine, Commander Solaris, The Outlander, "The Ginger" (belovingly by friends)

Age: 35 around Onslaught

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Gay, Biromantic

Mental Conditions: OCD, PTSD

Birthday: March 20th, 11 BTC

Birthplace: Sacorria, Corellian Sector

Species/Race: Human - Augmented with cybernetics

Occupation: Alliance Commander

Status: Engaged (Theron Shan)

Design:

Height: 6'0

Weight: 168 lbs

Body Type: Athletic, inverted triangle

Eye Color: Medium Brown (right eye is a prosthetic and is red)

Cybernetics: Mostly internal but there are two peaking out from the side of his head, just above the top of his ears.

Features: High cheekbones, scar through right eyebrow, clean shaven, well groomed, handsome. Personal hygiene is a high priority.

Markings: Various scars, faint freckles in summer seasons, bruised knuckles

Relationships:

Family: Deceased. KIA on Sacorria during the skirmish.

Love Interests: Hunter ✞ (Enemies to lovers, enemies with benefits type situationship), Theron Shan (Fiancé)

Friends/Allies: Closest friend is Lana Beniko. Additionally close with various others including Vector Hyllus, Koth Vortena, Arcann Tiral and the Them Group (OC group consisting of four of my irl friends ocs and my own sith warrior as follows: Verity Dante, Exxus Gun, LIX, and Obi-Two)

Personality:

He is both practical and visionary as well as a staunch realist. He is imaginative and eloquent, able to problem solve and get himself and his team out of tight situations.

As a leader, he is disciplined and thorough, leaving no stone unturned. Jed is strongly independent and is opposed to authority that he doesn't respect.

Background (pre-imp agent campaign and expacs):

As a young child, Jedidiah came from a tiny community of modest agriculturalists. For the first seven years of his life, he lived fair off. However, war struck and their little slice of the galaxy was caught in the crossfire. Jed was struck by blaster fire, directly in his right side of his skull. The wound was lethal and desperately his mother took a final stand to carry him to the Imperial outpost stationed on the planet. Because of his late uncle's contributions to the Empire, Jed was able to be taken into Imperial custody on one condition: he was never to return home again.

For the next 12 or so years, Jed was stationed on Ziost and Dromound Kaas interchangeably as he completed his initiation and mandatory military training. His superiors noticed he had a natural affinity for sneaking around in the shadows, as well as persuasion and ruthlessness. As such, at the age of just 14, he was transferred to the Imperial Intelligence division where he would begin training as an agent of the Empire.

Other Information:

Likes:

Killing Time

Sharpshooting

Revenge

Physical Touch

Dislikes:

Sucking Up

Unwarranted violence

The Sith

Helplessness

Hobbies:

Dejarik

Target Practice

Reading

Binge watching holo-dramas

Gambling

Social Drinking

Habits: Finger flexing, Pacing

Trivia:

He is ambidextrous, and uses a variety of different weapons depending on the given scenario.

Jed is excellent with kids and animals, he gets very soft and sweet and knows just what to say to them, especially in times of distress.

His favorite color used to be navy, and he'd wear it a lot in his downtime. However, these days its the red color of Theron's jacket as seeing it always reminds Jed of him.

#star wars the old republic #swtor #imperial agent #jed solaris #oc: jed solaris #swtor art #swtor imperial agent #character template ib my mootie vexa-legacy

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driftwithme · 8 months

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According to the pacrim wiki, Coyote Tango was the first jaeger the program lost. By that time, Pentecost and Tamsin were not piloting anymore. It was June, 2016.

The order of pre-knifehead fallen jaegers is:

- Coyote Tango. Destroyed in combat against Itak. On its second set of pilots. June, 2016.

- Victory Alpha. Destroyed in combat against Raganarok. The pilots survived. July, 2016.

- Tacit Ronin. Abandoned because its pilots died of neural overload. July, 2016.

- Lucky Seven. Abandoned because one of its pilots was decommissioned. 2019.

Following this pic from the wiki:

We know that the first jaeger was launched in 2015 (Brawler Yukon) and the last in 2019 (Striker Eureka).

The golden age of the jeager program was from 2017 to 2019, three years of gaining more than they were losing. The peak was in 2019, with 20 active jaegers. The bottom was in 2025, with no jaegers left.

2024 was the year with more deaths, with 8 j-pilots going KIA. Then 2025, with 7 deaths between the Double Event that killed both Cherno and Crimson, and Operation Pitfall, who claimed Pentecost and Chuck.

Between 2019 and 2023 there were 9 KIAs.

Which means Yancy was the first jaeger pilot to die on combat. It makes sense, given the reaction of Penecost to hearing that they had lost Gipsy's signal (and Yancy was dead).

It marks:

- 2019-20: 1 lost jaeger, 1 pilot KIA.

The list of fallen jaegers Post-Knifehead:

- 2020-21: 2 lost jaeger, 1 pilot KIA.

- 2021-22: 3 lost jaegers, 2 pilots KIA.

- 2022-23: 2 lost jaegers, 3 pilots KIA.

- 2023-24: 8 lost jaegers, 2 pilots KIA.

- 2024-25: 0 lost jaegers, 8 pilots KIA.

- 2025: 4 lost jaegers, 7 pilots KIA.

Let's compare all this info with the following Kaiju War Timeline from the wiki:

A) 2013-2014: The Feral Burst. There were no jaegers yet to defend humanity against the 3 kaijus that invaded the world.

B) 2015-2019: The Long Game, Part I. There were 24 jargers up around this period, with a total of 13 kaijus making contact.

Special mention to the Beckets, who got an impressive mark of 5 kills during those years. It means they helped killed more than a 1/3 of those bastards during the golden era of the jaeger program. For what I see, Raleigh is the only pilot who had ever abandoned the jaeger program because he wanted to, not because he was hurt or kicked out.

C) 2020-2023: The Long Game, Part II. The amount of kaijus who invaded in those three years equals the amount of kaijus who made contact within the first 6 years of the war. It means the precursos sent as many kaijus in half the time. Humanity went into this phase with 19 jaegers. By the end they had 4.

2024 reports 13 kaiju attacks. It makes sense that they lost 8 jaegers and 10 pilots more or less in that year. With 12 jaegers active, it is more than a 1vs1 situation. Something tells me that most of Striker Eureka's kills were during this phase.

Special mention to the Hansen, btw. *During Chuck active years, he participated in almost third of the kaiju killings that happened then. I don't know Lucky Seven's score in this race, but *Herc's win amount to a 1/4 of the whole kaiju fights during his active time.

*The count stops at Mutavore. It does not include the Double Event or Pitfall.

If we include Post-Mutavore but not their participation/assistant at killing Leatherback:

- Chuck: 11 kills, 35 kaiju appereances during his active career (almost a 1/3).

- Herc: 12 kills, 44 kaiju appearances (not counting 2016 and adding at least 2 kills of the Lucky Seven era; around a 1/4).

Yet again, if by statistics alone, Mako is the most winning jaeger pilot of the movie. In her active years there had been 5 kaijus and she has helped kill 4. It's worth mentioning that her debut was on a double event followed by a triple event, with the only Category-5 ever saw. Impressive, to say the least.

On the other hand, Raleigh has helped kill or killed himself almost half of the kaijus that had appear on his active years.

Here: (ratio is 19-20 kaijus, 9 kills).

- 2025: 6 kaijus, 4 kills.

- 2015-2019: 13-14 kaijus, 5 kills.

The Hansens record is impressive just in the sheer size of their killing count, which is still not complete given I don't have the info on Lucky Seven. Meanwhile, Raleigh and Mako are impressive for the efficiency record.

Of the 51 kaijus that invaded the Earth, Gipsy and Striker combine to 20 kills. That means 2/5 of the total.

The last three j-pilots hold the best or most insane records of the program. Herc with the most wins, Mako with the best efficiency and Raleigh fucking Becket who had solo piloted twice and explode a jaeger in another world.

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witchthewriter · 26 days

Text

𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐞 '𝐆𝐚𝐳' 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤

ISFP

Gryffindor

Chaotic Good

Gemini Sun, Virgo Moon, Cancer Rising

The fact that Kyle Garrick doesn't have as much popularity as some of the other characters in the Call of Duty world. is sinful. It's blasphemy.

Look, at first I was one of those people who didn't like Gaz as much as the rest of the Task Force, but now, NOW, I see him as such a valuable member. This is my formal apology to thy beautiful god of a man, Gaz.

And also a post so those that say, 'they don't know anything about Gaz so they cannot include him' - well here's your info babes!

"𝑳𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒉?" — 𝖪𝗒𝗅𝖾 𝖦𝖺𝗋𝗋𝗂𝖼𝗄

Alias(es)

Sabre 2-6

Bravo 0-5

Bravo 2-6

Bravo 6-2

Bravo 6-1

Gaz

Nationality: British

Rank: Sergeant Sergeant is a senior role of responsibility, promotion to which typically takes place after 12 years of service, depending on ability. Sergeants typically are second in command of a troop or platoon of up to 35 soldiers, with the important responsibility for advising and assisting junior officers.

Birth: 1993 However, he is older than Soap.

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Kyle Garrick enlisted in the British Army in 2008, serving in the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, spending four years participating in test flights, jump competition and marksmanship before passing selection for Her Majesty's elite Special Air Service (SAS), where he is currently serving as a Sergeant for his sixth year.

Tasked to Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Garrick has spent the better part of his career hunting terrorist fighters.

Kyle earned the U.S. Marine Corps Gold Parachute Wings at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina whilst on an exchange attachment and routinely cross-loads on operations with the SAS' American counterparts, the Navy SEALs.

Required to undergo resistance to interrogation (RTI) testing, Kyle was the only candidate in his class to escape the facility and evade capture.

Routinely subjected to physically and mentally uncomfortable scenarios, Kyle prides himself on high tolerance and tactical awareness.

Sergeant Garrick was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal and the General Service Medal for both covert and overt counter-terrorism operations in the Middle East, disrupting opium supply lines and poppy production, a major source of terrorist financing.

With expertise in prime target elimination, demolitions, weapons tactics, covert surveillance and VIP protection, Kyle currently serves on the SAS domestic counter-terror program, executing homefield missions with metropolitan police forces on European soil.

Challenging duty, due to civilian and collateral damage issues, Kyle seeks the opportunity to serve abroad again, and make a real difference combating the threat of terror.

Quotes

" Fuck off, shit pouch."

"It shouldn't have happened in the first place sir."

"They sent us in half assed, so everyone can just keep pretending we're not at war."

"I'm not dead, Nik. I'm hanging from a bloody rope!"

Personality

Very rarely does Kyle demand attention. He's observant problem-solving and bases his decisions on his instincts and values, and focuses on enjoying the present.

However, with the line of work he's in. Kyle has had to change the way he reacts to things. One really obvious scene between him and Cpt Price shows how this job is changing Kyle e.g,. Price’s quote about bloodying your hands after taking the gloves off.

Even so, I do think he's the most gentle of the four men, the kindest - almost like he's clung to his humanity with everything he's got.

sources: @mockerycrow. callofdutyfandom.com.

#kyle garrick #kyle garrick moodboard #gaz garrick moodboard #moodboard #aesthetic #witch the writer's moodboards #witchthewriter #cod moodboard #cod aesthetic #kyle gaz garrick #kyle garrick x you #gaz garrick #gaz cod #sergeant kyle gaz garrick #cod gaz #kyle garrick character profile #kyle garrick profile

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dre6ming · 2 years

Text

𐬺𐬻𐬼Masterlist𐬼𐬻𐬺

༻Tag list༺

⇧ If you want to be tagged click ⇧

Fluff ♥︎

Angst ♠︎

Smut ♣︎

If the links in the post don’t work try #dre6ming writes elvis / #dre6ming writes austin/ #the I stayed there series/ #the delicate beginning rush

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𐎼my imagination & me𐎿

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Austin Butler

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Series

~completed

You and Austin broke up three years ago and now fate has it that you two meet again, when you move back from college. He’s sorry for how things ended and you were never really able to get over him. So what happens?

I stayed there

Untitled chapter- coming soon

You are a 19 year old actress, on the way to success after an Oscar nomination and as you plan to take another step in your career by launching yourself into the music industry, you meet HIM, Austin Butler.

The delicate beginning rush

More in the series:

Introducing the reader

Teaser~ reader’s instagram profile

Fake news article about readers dating life

Headcanons: Austin x reader fight / Austin x reader dealing w/ paparazzi / Austin x reader relationship leaked / Austin x reader at the beach / Austin x reader cooking on live / How Austin and reader kiss

New articles:

- sparkling dating rumors

- Austin x Y/n headlines

- Austin x Y/n top 10 paparazzi stills

Imagines Masterlist - short stories in the universe

Actors on Actors - y/n x Austin interview

Instagram photo dump -instagram story following the series

⋘Playing for keeps⋙

Austin is the next in line for the throne, but he can’t be king if he doesn’t have a wife. In your country tradition says that a selection formed of 35 young women must be formed for the prince to find a wife. You are obligated by circumstances to participate against your will. What are the chances that you might be the next queen? None right? Right?

Stand alones

Just us two, even in a crowded room ♥︎♠︎♣︎

you are invited to the met gala and meet with an old costar, something lights up between the two of you and it starts the rest of your lives.

Have some respect ♥︎♠︎♣︎

you played Priscilla in the Elvis movie, but because you’re socially awkward you rarely interact with Austin and after a very intrusive interviewer asks a inappropriate question you two find comfort with each other.

Our very last kiss (part I) ♥︎♠︎♣︎

you’re a 21 year old actress and you get casted to play Priscilla in the new Elvis biopic. You fall for Austin, but it ends up that he only thought you were going method with him, so when filming ends so does your relationship. For him at least.

I’m a soldier who’s returning half her weight(part II) ♥︎♠︎

life isn’t just pain and unfairness, you just needed someone to show you that.

Starry eyes sparkling up my darkest night ♥︎♠︎

you are over at Austin’s house waiting for him to come home, when the storm outside causes a power outage. Austin helps you through your anxiety of the dark when he gets home

Help him shave -the delicate beginning rush imagine ♥︎♠︎

Austin comes to visit you, while you’re filming in Canada and you have a nice morning waking up next to him.

Out on a snowy night -the delicate beginning rush imagine ♥︎♠︎

You and Austin enjoy a nice walk out in the snow, cracking jokes and laughing, then all of a sudden Austin decides it would be a great idea to throw you in the snow.

Austin paints your nails -tdbr imagine ♥︎♠︎

Austin decides he wants to try and paint your nails, trying his best to do a good job, during this time he actually falls in love with one of your nail polishes and he lets you paint his nails as well

Bubbles & Bubbly ♥︎♠︎♣︎

Both you and Austin had a horrible day and he comes home with a small surprise for you. Then to relax you both enjoy a steamy bubble bath

Unconditionally and irrevocably in love with her- tdbr imagine ♥︎♠︎

Austin’s reaction to your surprise performance at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Elvis

A thousand flowers- tdbr imagine ♥︎♠︎ ♣︎

Austin is over, visiting you while you’re filming and he takes you out on a walk only for you to return to the perfect ‘at home’ date.

The Oscars- tdbr imagine ♥︎♠︎

After Austin wins his Oscar you go to the bathroom only to bump into his ex girlfriend, how will that talk go?

Kissing in the rain - tdbr imagine ♥︎♠︎ ♣︎

Austin wakes you up in the middle of the night to take you out on a rainy adventure that ends in a steamy way in the car

A ménage a trois - threesome w Olivia ♣︎

On set of dune II ♥︎♠︎ ♣︎

You go visit Austin on set of dune two and he gets a little shy about acting as a villain, but that is all forgotten once you work your magic

Kiss it better ♥︎♠︎

On the set of his new movie the bike riders, something bad happens and Austin gets protective of you

Be mine forever? ♥︎♠︎

How would Austin propose to you?

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Elvis Presley ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Series

-completed-

Stage fright ♥︎♠︎♣︎

Bed fright ♥︎♠︎♣︎

Elvis met you working on his ‘68 comeback show, he feel for you instantly, at a celebratory party for the special he makes a move and you 2 become a thing. Later he shows you the Vegas stage and gives you and unforgettable orgasm to help ease his nerves

Stand alones

Angels like you ♥︎♠︎

you can’t stand to play the colonel’s fantasy and you can’t stand to see it destroy the man you love, so you run away. But years later you’re still caught up in the past, even as you are living a completely new life.

Lullaby ♥︎

no mater how tired you are, your brain won’t shut up and let you go to sleep, so Elvis helps you out

A dream ♣︎

Must listen songs

A well curated collection of Elvis songs that need more attention and recognition

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Timothee Chalamet ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Stand alones

I’m a soldier who’s returning half her weight ♥︎♠︎

Series

Chapter list up ⇧

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ohtobeleah · 1 year

Note

I’ve already submitted one request but I have like 8 of these bad boys in my notes so here are two more if any tickle your fancy. Happy 4K!

#PL2

14-Stuck together for a long period of time and 28- “If I kissed you right now, what would you do?”

3-The aftermath of a bad fight and 35 “You wanna bet?”

I really liked this pairing and I noticed there wasn’t a specific request for a certain character so we just rolled with it: it’s Payback angst time.

Warnings: Reader Insert Death. F-18 crash. Crush related injuries.

You and Reuben probably hadn’t had a conversation in the last six months that ended well. All the conversations you’d tried to have all ended with someone in tears or threatening to take the kids or the house or file for half of everything the other owned. In all honesty, all communication between you and your husband, well—soon to be ex-husband, had broken down over a period of about a year and nothing, including couples therapy, seemed to help.

But that didn’t mean you still didn’t love him with all your heart.

There was no one more a fault in your complete marriage breakdown, but it was clear that when Reuben finally took the plunge and moved in with Hangman, he got to keep your kids. Not your actual kids, Kip and Sidy—your five year old twin girls got to see their daddy whenever the hell they wanted, he lived just down the street now. But Payback got the kids, the dagger kids. That was clear as day.

So it made it harder to love the man when all he did was look at you like you were the last person on earth he wanted to talk to let alone work with.

“Absolutely not Sir—“ Reuben stood with his arms crossed over his chest as he stood his ground. “I’d rather take the write up for insubordination than fly with—“ Before Reuben could even spit out your callsign, Maverick was stepping in to defend you as you stood by with your helmet slung under your arm resting on your hip.

“Then with your wife?”

“Ex wife—“ You mumbled under your breath but just loud enough for Reuben to still hear you. “The Navy doesn’t allow partners to fly with one another.” You looked to your husband who you couldn’t recognise anymore as he scoffed at your insight. “They’ll allow us to fly together now because I filed our separation papers in the clerk's office just last week.”

“Fanboys out on paternity leave for the next few weeks.” Maverick turned his attention back to Payback who looked like he was ready to up and walk away from his entire career. “And Omaha is out sick so it makes perfect sense to pair the two of you up.”

“In what world?” Reuben scoffed as he took it upon himself to walk away, leaving you and Maverick to stand in the silence of your broken marriage.

“He’s fine.” You smiled softly, hiding your own heartache. “I’m sure if he just removed the stick from his ass he’d feel a hell of a lot better.”

“You two gonna be alright?” You didn’t know how to answer as you turned to look at Reuben over your shoulder, just how the hell the two of you ended up so cold and distant you’d never know. “Because if it’s really that big of an issue I can put you with Phoenix and Payback can I have Bob?”

“Uh—“ You shook it off, not wanting to not be professional—that was the main priority right now. Being a professional when all your husband wanted to be was a child. “No, we’ll be fine Mav, promise.”

“Good, alright then.” He smiled, tapping your shoulder as you pressed your lips together and nodded. “Wheels up in ten.”

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~

“I hope you know that I hate this just as much as you do.” You settled into the back seat of Paybacks double seater fighter jet. Mickey—bless his soul, had three Polaroids of him and his wife Macy tapped to his control panel. It just served as a reminder that although you loved Reuben with all your heart, it wasn’t enough to salvage the shipwreck your marriage had become. “But I’ve got your back.”

“Let’s just get this over with—“ Payback groaned. “Ready when you are Looney—“

“Luna.” Correcting Reuben as you shot him a death glare that was unparalleled to any other look you ever gave him, you hissed with intent to kill. “It’s Luna you jackass—“

“Copy that Lieutenant.” Payback replied as he maintained a steady altitude waiting for his green like to be given for the course the two of you were about to run through. “You know this is your fault right?” There was a reason the navy didn’t allow married couples to fly with one another. “If you hadn’t filed that paperwork with the clerk's office—“ It was because they knew that the likelihood of children being involved was about ten times higher. “Then we wouldn’t have been paired together.” But with a shortage of people on deck and with new assignments bordering upon the horizon, it was inevitable that your and your soon to be ex husband would be paired up for today's flights. “If you hadda just waited like I said then maybe—“

“Reuben! Can we not do this right now!” You hissed back as you tried your best to remain as focused and as professional as you could be. “There’s no point arguing about what could have and what should have been done or not done because we can’t change it now.”

“You wanna bet?” Reuben snapped. “All of this could have been avoided if you didn’t file that paperwork!” Payback wasn’t mad that he was flying with you, he wasn’t mad that you were his WSO because he knew he was in good hands, but he was mad about the fact you filed the paperwork so soon.

“Why are you so mad about me filing our legal separation papers!”

“Because it just proved that you’re done trying to figure this out!” You didn’t have an answer and the cockpit you shared went completely silent. Oh.

So even though Reuben signed the separation agreement and signed the papers that said you were in the process of divorce and even though Reuben was the one who moved out into Jake Seresins bachelor pad and although Reuben was the one who initially brought up separation in an argument late one night before, he was mad at you for giving up. “You never wanted to try for us!”

“I can’t do this with you here—“ You held back your tears as you shook your head. “I’m not going to do this with you here so either you treat me like a colleague or we ground so I can tell Mav I overestimated your ability to handle this situation professionally.” Payback went silent as he tossed up the options you had given him. Choosing to continue on and fly the damn course.

It was, as it turned out—the wrong choice. It was as if fate had other plans for you and your soon to be ex-husband. It was like death himself had loomed over the pair of you and strategically lined up all the steps to have your husband’s Super Hornet turning into a flaming beast that was out of control and hurtling back towards earth at a steep that was unmanageable in a situation that was unforgiving—a bird strike to the right engine that totally wiped you both out.

“Shitting off left engine!” Payback exclaimed as he relayed to you and to whoever was still live on coms what he was doing. As dark smoke plumes streamed out from the right engine you felt yourself choking up. What about your beautiful babies?

“Reuben we have to eject, we can’t save it!”

You snapped out of your trance-like state to speak sense into the father of your children as he did everything he’d been trained and told to do in an event like this. “Please, we have to eject it’s the only way! We’re in hydraulic failure! There’s nothing left to save!”

“Payback, Luna—you can’t save it, punch out!” It was ultimately Mavericks' voice that spoke enough sense about the chaos unfolding around you that your husband listened and finally gave into the fact that he couldn’t save his F-18. “Eject eject eject!”

“Luna, we gotta punch out.” Payback confirmed. “You first!” You listened and followed every protocol and did all the steps in order which should have seen you ejecting from the cockpit as it barreled towards the ground at an immense pace. “Y/n! I said eject!” Reuben shouted as he began to panic, watching the altitude fall every passing second. “Y/N!”

“It’s not working, it's not working!” You cried as you tugged and tugged and tugged on the yellow and black striped handle between your legs. “It’s not working oh my god—oh my—!” Within a few seconds of disaster, the ejection handle finally sent you flying—tumbling freestyle through the sky as you reached for your chute, pulling it as you pointed your feet towards the ground and felt the tug of the chute filling with air.

Fuck that was close.

“Payback!” You shouted as you watched your husband float down in his own parachute, sending him a thumbs up and he gave you one back.

It all seemed to have gone according to plan. You were alright, Reuben was alright from what you could gather—your kids still had their mother and father. As you headed towards the ground, controlling your chute, a major gust of wind picked you up and carried you through the gully—sending you flying into the side of one of the rocky mountains at a force that was unforgiving in its very nature. “Fuck!”

With a *oof* On impact you crashed against the rocky exterior and fell a few stories to the ground below, catching sharp edges along the way that would surely leave bruises for days if not weeks to come before you hit the deck hard. “Oh yeah, yeah that’s gonna hurt for a few days.” You seemed fine as you rolled over, looking up at the sky to see if you could find Reuben in the clouds.

But all you saw instead was a boulder hurtling down towards you, before the pain took you out.

***~***~***~***~****~***~***~***~

Reuben Payback Fitch was a lot of things. But a good husband was not even close to being on that listen. The two of you had married young, had gone through all the trials and tribulations of the Naval Academy together, had gone through separate postings and long distance. You’d gone through flight school and ranking’s together. Had two beautiful twin girls together.

You were Reubens best friend and he was yours, and in that very moment when he saw you lying unconscious on the ground with a bolder crushing your legs? Payback thought he’d lost you forever before he had a chance to say he was sorry. For everything. Sorry for how much he’d hurt you. Sorry for how much he wished he could have been the man you deserved and not got stuck with. Sorry he wasn’t able to give you the love you deserved, the life you deserved or the attention and admiration and support you deserved.

“Y/n!?” He called out as he landed slightly rocky. “You alright?” It was probably a stupid question, but as Reuben ditched his chute and ran over to where you were trapped, he felt his stomach drop. “Oh god—“ Kneeling down beside you, Payback tapped your cheek. “Baby, hey you gotta wake up for me.” He cooed softly, trying to mask his own panic. “Come on, Lieutenant Fitch wake up for me.”

At the sound of your husband’s gentle voice coaxing you back to reality, a floodgate of pain overcame your nervous system as you groaned and screamed out in unimaginable pain.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, easy—“ Payback accessed the situation and boy was it not good. Your legs had been entirely crushed by the weight of the boulder rock that had fallen after your impact with the side of the cliff face. “I’ve got you—“

“I really don’t feel good.” You cried as you tried to free yourself. “Ahhh!”

“Stop, stop, here, I got you.” Payback cooed as he situated himself behind where you laid. Placing your head in his lap as he held your hand for support. “Search and rescue are probably out looking for us as we speak.”

“What if I don’t have that much time?” You said as you coughed up a little blood that panicked Reuben to new heights. No—you couldn’t die right? No, you wouldn’t leave him like this? He was supposed to try and get you back. He thought he still had time. “Reu I don’t feel good.”

“I know, I know but you’ve gotta stay with me alright, you’ve gotta stay strong because you can’t leave me here.”

“Oh please—“ You sighed as your eyes felt heavy and your arms felt weak, you were losing so much blood, Reuben could see it leaking up your thighs, soaked into the Normex of your flight suit. “This is cheaper than divorce right?” You tried to chuckle softly but it turned into a full bloodied cough.

Fuck.

“No baby, I never wanted to divorce you.” Payback tried his best to keep his cool as he leaned down over you to kiss your forehead, he took notice of how cold you were. “I’m just a fool who should’ve worked harder to show you how much I love you.”

“Reuben—“ You coughed again as your legs grew weaker and weaker under the pressure of the rock trapping you. “Please don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not.” He was quick to say. “I’m not lying to you Y/n, if I could take it all back, these last few months, I would in a single heartbeat.”

There was a momentary pause on your behalf as you mulled over your next step.

“Okay—“ You leaned into your husband, knowing that you wouldn’t fear death if he took you now. “Here’s what we’re gonna do.” You thought that if you were going to die here that you may as well be reminded how much you were really loved. “You’re gonna tell me three, no five—no.” You coughed up a little more blood as Reuben held your hand a little tighter as tears began to stream effortlessly down his cheeks. “Seven things, you’re gonna tell me seven things that you love about me, seven reasons why this is all worthwhile. You and me.”

There was a momentary pause on Reubens behalf as he mulled over if this would be his last chance to tell you how much he loved you—his last chance to apologise.

“I—I love how your neck smells in the morning.” He began as he cried and felt you in his arms. Shaking as the reality of the situation began to settle. How was he gonna tell your baby girls that’s you weren’t coming home.

“Okay.” You sighed, trying to focus on his voice and not the pain. “That’s one.”

“I love how every one of your toes looks like it came from another person's food.”

“Oh my god—“ You laughed out in pain as you gritted your teeth.

“And I love how you’re so honest and fearless and—“ Payback paused, really thinking about the things he wanted you to know he was grateful for. “And I love how when I’m sick you take care of me like I’m on my deathbed.”

“Okay—that last one counts for two.” You smiled softly up at your husband. “You’ve got three more.” He didn’t hesitate to keep going. Seeing the search and rescue efforts coming your way. “I can tell you I just adore this.” You added, reaching up to touch the worry lines on Paybacks forehead. “When your forehead gets all wrinkly when you’re worried.”

“I love the way you cut your crust of your toast even though you end up eating them both!” You and Payback both chuckled as you looked up at him and he looked down at you, your head still resting in his lap as his legs fell on either side of your body.

“I love your loyalty and your kindness to the girls.” You cooed. “They love you so much.” You paused for a moment until. “And I love how you still suck in your gut when I walk in the room.” That got Rueben as he laughed softly and kissed your forehead. You were much colder than a few minutes ago.

“I love how you didn’t dump me when you found out I was so in love with you.” Everything felt like it was fading, but you heard your husband loud and clear.

“And I love that you still married me even after you met my parents.” There was nothing more Payback wished he could do with you right now, than to go back to the night that he first met you. The love of his life, his best friend, the mother of his children.

“Please don’t leave me Y/n—“ You wanted to respond but you didn’t know how. It was like all of your abilities had been taken away. “No—no darling you stay here with me, with the girls, no no no—“

“Take care of our girls.” Oh take him back to the night you met. You’d been stuck here together for a long period of time but there was no way in hell Payback was leaving you. “I love you.”

“If I kissed you right now, what would you do?” You just looked at your husband and he knew, he knew this was it as medics ascended onto the scene. So he kissed you softly and ever so gently. As Reuben pulled back he saw your eyes were closed. And he knew—

He knew he just lost the better half of him.

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~*

Leahs 4k celebration 🎊

#Leah’s 4k celebration 🎊#payback #reuben payback fitch #reuben fitch #Reuben TopGun #top gun maverick imagine #top gun x reader #reuben fitch x reader #Reuben fitch x female reader

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found-family-tournament · 1 year

Text

Found Family Tournament Round 1 Part 7 Group 35

Propaganda and further pictures under the cut

The Golden Deer: Claude Von Reigan, Hilda Valentine Goneril, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, Raphael Kirsten, Ignatz Victor, Marianne Von Edmund, Lysithea Von Ordelia, Leonie Pinelli

Mikazuki Villa: Iroha Tamaki, Yachiyo Nanami, Tsuruno Yui, Felicia Mitsuki, Sana Futaba & Ui Tamaki

Submissions are still open!

The Golden Deer:

You could technically submit any of the three houses and have them fit but I feel like none of them quite embody the spirit of found family like the Golden Deer. Other than being from the same place, there's nothing that inherently connects them to each other. There are a lot of barriers between them, class, upbringing, trauma. But despite all that they manage to come together in their own messy way. Their route is all about the importance of unity and coming together despite any differences that might exist and they show the strength that comes from embracing diversity.

Mikazuki Villa:

Mikazuki Villa is a boarding house owned by Yachiyo, and previously Yachiyo's grandmother. Yachiyo is a magical girl veteran of 7 years. Over those years, there had always been a group of magical girls staying at the house, whether it be just hanging out or living there. The first person was Mifuyu Azusa, another magical girl veteran who's been a magical girl the same amount of time as Yachiyo. Then Kanae joined them, although she died to a witch sometime after. The next to join were Momoko and Meru. Tsuruno joined after them. The group went out to hunt a witch one day, but Tsuruno couldn't make it. Meru ended up dying that day, but this time she had turned into a witch. Yachiyo started suspecting whether her friend's deaths were her fault becuase of her wish. Since her wish was "to survive" (in refrence to her career as a model) she wondered if her friends has died so that she could survive. Since both Meru and Kanae died protecting her. And then Mifuyu disappeared (she joined a magical girl cult, but Yachiyo doesn't know that), which was the final straw for Yachiyo. She ended up pushing Momoko and Tsuruno away. It stayed that way until Iroha arrived at the city, searching for her little sister, Ui, who she had forgotten about, as all evidence of Ui's existence had inexplicably disappeared. Yachiyo ended up helping her, along with Tsuruno. Yachiyo kept both of them at arm's length though. During the search for Ui they picked up Felicia and then Sana. Felicia was an orphan who's family was "killed by a witch" (she actually killed them by accident and wished to forget it happened, thats a whole other story tho) and would kill any witch in her path out of rage, hoping that she'll eventually find and kill the witch that took her family away from her. She lived as a magical girl mercenary before she was basically adopted by the others so that she wouldn't starve. She loves Dragon Ball (or the pmmm equivalent of it) and cows. That doesn't relate to anything, but I think it's cute.

And then there's Sana, who wished to become invisible. She was always a disappointment in her family, and eventually they disowned her because of it. Her family went on with life as if she never existed, ignoring her. She felt that it would be better off if she just disappeared, so that's why she wished what she did. Iroha and the group found her in the rumor of the Endless Solitude, where she lived with an AI called, uhm, Ai. Ai actually contacted Iroha to save Sana because she knew that she wouldn't be able to stay with her forever. Iroha was the first person to ever say she needed Sana, and after they destroyed Ai, Sana went with them. It seems a itty bit cruel to destroy Ai but it was necessary since her barrier was literally being used as a storage site for witches (thnx Alina. I love her though, Alina is my favorite Magireco character apart from Karin). Sana starts to warm up to the rest of them, and realizes this is what family is supposed to feel like. And then ummmm... Felicia, Tsuruno, and Sana get brainwashed and recruited into the cult by Mifuyu!! Yachiyo, who had started to let her guard down, decides to break up the team. She tries to push Iroha away just like she did the other group. But Iroha pushes back, and promises Yachiyo that she won't die. The two work together to find the others after that. They find Sana and Felicia, whose brainwashing had worn off (Mifuyu has actually helped them escape, as the brainwashing hadn't been her idea), but not Tsuruno. Tsuruno had actually been fused with a Rumor (thnx Alina) and was going to be forced to commit mass murder! Average Tuesday. They eventually find Tsuruno but realize somethings wrong with her. They were told by Mifuyu that, to free Tsuruno from the Rumor, they had to "connect hearts" with her (I forget the exact wording, but basically they had to fully understand her and then connect with her using their magic. "Connect" is actually a game mechanic that lets magical girls combine their magic). But, when Yachiyo tried to do that, it didn't work. https://youtu.be/Hc4ED9TBX18 (watch this) You see, Tsuruno on the surface is very energetic and happy and sunny all the time. She titles herself "The Mightiest Magical Girl" and has the power to back that claim. She's basically a straight A student at school with perfect attendance (until the brainwashing). And shes just a very kind person in general. Except she has a habit of bottling up her feeling and masking her worries. Meru's death actually affected her quite a lot. She blames herself for it, since she wasn't there. She feels pressured to keep up her appearance as "The Mightiest". Yachiyo even fed into it, though it was accidentally (she was going through some shit after Meru died as well). Yachiyo realized this after she recognized Tsuruno's expression as the one she wore after visiting an amusement park with Yachiyo and Momoko sometime after Meru's death. She was able to truly connect with Tsuruno after that realisation. And after that incident, the whole group made sure to support her so she didn't have to deal with everything on her own anymore. Ui was the last addition to the group after Iroha saved her from her state as a "half-witch". I'm not going to try to explain that here as it's unrelated.

Long story short, her best friends from the hospital (she had a heart disease, and Iroha's wish cured her from it) stopped her from turning fully into a witch, but to do that one of them had to erase all memories of her with a rumor. Yeah, her best friend was creating the rumors. The rumor implanted false memories of Touka and Nemu (her friends) trying to save all magical girls along with Alina, an artistic prodigy who was staying at the hospital after to a failed suicide attempt. Their key to saving magical girls was Ui's half formed witch. Which they formed the cult around. Ui got saved though! :D Buttttt her half witch broke into some peices scattered around, which the collection of is basically the main plot of arc 2. They made a home for each other and stuck together through the trials and tribulations of arc 1, even putting their life on the line for eachtoher. And all of this, is why Mikazuki Villa is THE BEST found family. I hope you've watched Madoka Magica before, because if not, this would make zero sense. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BOTH MADOKA MAGICA AND MAGIA RECORD!! Magireco is a lil harder to find, but you find it on youtube at Magia Union Translations. Don't watch the Magireco anime, it sucks.

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In Another's Eyes: Garth & Trisha, Part 2

Following Trisha's second divorce, tabloids run wild with stories about her and Garth. Their longtime friendship, recent collaborations, and the shakiness of Garth's own marriage do nothing but lend credence to these rumors in people's minds.

It won't be long before Garth eventually files for divorce himself, making way for the formation of one of country music's most powerful and long-awaited couples.

1999

Fall 1999

Tabloids like Star and the National Enquirer waste no time printing stories about Garth and Trisha in the midst of her divorce.

From Star Magazine:

Trisha Yearwood has called it quits on her five-year marriage — and STAR can now reveal it was her special relationship with superstar Garth Brooks that did the damage. Insiders say that Brooks' incessant late night calls, secret codes and his onstage crooning with Yearwood drove her husband Robert Reynolds, bass guitarist for the country-rock group The Mavericks, to issue Trisha an ultimatum — and she walked out the door. "Robert was going crazy over the late-night phone calls Garth made to Trisha and how much he seemed to occupy her thoughts and her time," says an insider. "To make matters worse, Trisha has been telling people that Garth was the love of her life and that if he had been single when they first met they might have married. "Robert really isn't the jealous type, but the closeness between his wife and Garth Brooks made him uneasy. If you see them on stage, no one can doubt the chemistry between them." Now, Nashville is waiting for the other shoe to drop. The country music capital is abuzz with talk that Sandy Brooks intends to end her 13-year marriage to Garth because the singer pays too little attention to his family — and too much attention to his old friend Trisha. "Garth and Trisha have known each other a long time and have looked for excuses throughout their careers to spend time together," says the source. "They may not be having an affair, but it's clear they have strong feelings for one another. A lot of people think they may wind up together, eventually." (October 19, 1999)

From the National Enquirer:

Trisha Yearwood's divorce suit has set tongues wagging that she's carrying on a secret affair with superstar Garth Brooks! The country songbird cited "irreconcilable differences" when she filed legal papers to end her five-year marriage to musician Robert Reynolds of The Mavericks. But there'd been talk for months their marriage was collapsing — and that 35-year-old Trisha was involved with Garth, sources say. Speculation started when Trisha and Garth teamed up for a passionate duet at the American Music Awards show earlier this year. Then rumblings of trouble hit Garth's marriage. Garth, who has three young daughters with wife Sandy, strongly denies any trouble in paradise. But then Trisha showed up at the Academy of Country Music Awards show in May without her wedding ring. Garth himself has been seen recently not wearing his wedding band. That added more fuel to the fire, even though Trisha later explained she'd left the ring on a dressing room table. "Robert really thinks Trisha and Garth were up to something," says an insider. "After all, Trisha would be on the road with Garth or she'd fly in to one of Garth's concerts or she'd be on 'Hollywood Squares' with Garth or she'd join Garth in Ireland to sing a love song on his TV special. It was all Trisha and Garth. Together. All over the place. "Garth has gone to great lengths to deny any involvement with other women and to say he loves his wife and he's staying with her. "But Robert is convinced Trisha and Garth were having an affair and she's divorcing him so she'll finally be free for Garth." (October 19, 1999)

And another from the National Enquirer:

Garth Brooks was so obsessed with fellow country star Trisha Yearwood that he walked out on his wife in a desperate bid to win Trisha's heart! But even though Trisha's marriage was collapsing, she turned him down flat. "Garth left his wife Sandy during the summer for one reason only -- to try to make Trisha a permanent part of his life," a close source told The ENQUIRER. "Garth told Trisha, 'I've loved you ever since we started working together.' He even told Trisha he'd left Sandy for her." But Garth, 37, was stunned when Trisha told him, "I'm sorry, it's not going to happen. I love you as a friend — that's all." While friends insist that Brooks was just one factor in the couple's split, the billionaire country star has haunted the marriage of Trisha and Robert for more than a year, the close source revealed. "Garth bombarded her with gifts and cards and left romantic messages on her answering machine, not caring that Bobby or guests could hear the messages. "A friend who visited the house last Christmas told me, 'Trisha had a card from Garth openly displayed. On the front were flowers, and inside was a very romantic message that practically amounted to a love letter.' It was there for anyone to read — and Trisha didn't seem to care." "Bobby was so angry he told friends, 'I feel like punching the guy out.' But in the end he never even talked to Garth about it. "Trisha's been quite open with Bobby about Garth. She told him that Garth is obsessed with her. But she insisted that although they became close from touring together, she doesn't share his romantic feelings. "Soon after Trisha turned Garth down, he got back together with Sandy and the kids. (November 9, 1999)

Though immediate attention is on Garth possibly being involved in or responsible for Trisha's divorce, comments on the Usenet groups at the time have fan talk of Robert being unfaithful on the road, with claims from posters such as this one:

"I *do* know that Robert is a sweet man, but I also know for a fact that he had a roving eye. He tried to put the make on one of my best friends (I saw and heard it all), not knowing that her fiance was standing about 6 or 7 feet away from us. I remember being very angry afterwards about it....I really like both Robert and Trisha. Who knows why the marriage ended? I imagine that "roving eye" had something to do with it though. Too bad."

Another poster claimed:

"I find it most amusing that the tabs are recycling this ancient garbage while ignoring the *real* reason behind the split - Robert's philandering on the road."

December 1999

On December 15, during an interview with The Nashville Network's Crook & Chase Show, Garth reveals he is planning to possibly retire in the next year.

Garth Brooks, the biggest-selling act in country music history, said Wednesday that he “probably” will retire next year to spend more time with his three young daughters. “I never ever though in my life I’d say this, but music is not the first thing in my life anymore,” Brooks said. “Those girls somehow came along and they just take your energy and all of a sudden all you want to do is you want to do things that make them smile.” Brooks, whose daughters with wife, Sandy, are 3, 5, and 7, said he will “lay low” for nine or 10 months, plan a big party and “probably announce our retirement at the end of the year.” (Associated Press)

2000

January

Garth talks about his marriage struggles while accepting an award for Artist of the Decade at the American Music Awards on January 17:

"To my wife Sandy, it's no mystery that our future, we don't know what's going to happen, but you can't deny that the last decade has been because of God and you."

“Sandy and my relationship deserves the time to be worked on, and right now we’re doing that and trying real hard, and that’s it.” Though there have been rumblings about the breakup of Brooks and his wife, Sandy, she accompanied him to the show and even came backstage with him, smiling on the sidelines while he talked to the press. (Press of Atlantic)

Garth also addresses his marriage issues in an interview with Good Morning American on January 20.

Several of you were quite miffed that I didn’t tell you what Garth Brooks said about his “troubled marriage” Thursday on Good Morning America. Well, excuuuuuse me! Garth, in short, said that his marriage is troubled. Well, actually, his exact words were that it’s “not in a good place” right now. He had some rambling quotes about respect and whether he and Sandy made each other like themselves, and… Oy. In yesterday’s USA Today, Sandy and the kids took out a half-page ad congratulating Garth on all his accomplishments. So who knows? (The Tennessean, “Brad About You” column)

February 2000

Garth plays a surprise set at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville on February 11, and according to The Tennessean, Sandy is there with him.

April 2000

In an interview with the Calgary Sun, Trisha denies the tabloid rumors about her and Garth and seems very irritated about them.

Everybody knows the rumours! Apparently Trisha Yearwood was putting a wrench in Garth Brooks' marriage. Yearwood and Brooks were recording and touring together, and when she and Mavericks' bass player Robert Reynolds called it quits last fall after more than five years of marriage, the rumour mill went into high gear, linking the two country stars. Yearwood and Brooks have denied any romance and it's not one of Yearwood's favourite topics. "People who want to talk about that kind of stuff, they must not realize what it would be like to be in my shoes, and to have a family and parents that you love and want to protect," Yearwood tells the Sun during a phone interview to promote her new album Real Live Woman. "It's gotten to be such an ugly society. I know the truth and I know who I am, so I don't care what people think." So when these stories come out, do you feel like calling up Sandy (Mrs. Garth Brooks) to explain yourself? "I know Sandy well and I see her and it's not an issue," Yearwood replies flatly. Well, then, can you two joke about it? "It's not worth talking about," she says, closing the door on that subject. (Calgary Sun)

May 2000

A report in The Tennessean douses hopes that Garth and Trisha will ever release the duets album that they have previously teased.

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood have talked for several years about making a duet album. It appears, however, that that's all it will amount to. If they were going to do it, Trisha said, they should have had it in release when they toured together in 1998. "I feel like the golden opportunity was then, and it passed," she said. While the two are friends, they have some distinct musical differences, and finding 10 songs they could agree on, she says, would be close to impossible. "The things we have in common are really in common, and the things we don't have in common are really not in common, and so with music, that means there are some songs that we just totally get, that both of us get. "And there are songs on my albums that he totally doesn't get, and there are songs on his albums that I totally don't get. Then there are the few that come together, and to find a whole album of those, someone would probably either be injured or killed in the process."

October 2000

Garth tells Billboard magazine and his rep confirms October 7, 2000, that he and Sandy are planning to divorce.

In addition to taking the year off to think about your career, you repeatedly said you were taking the time off to spend with your family and work on your marriage. How is that going? As for my personal life, Sandy and I both agree that we need to get divorced. We just don't know... Right now, we're focusing on the impact it will have on the children and how to handle that best, to remain parents even if we don't remain husband and wife. When I think about how hard a year this has been, you always have this thing in the back of your mind going, "Pfft, you don't know what hard is." I've been very fortunate. The people have taken care of me. I've never wanted for anything. But personally, the loss of my mother [in August 1999], compiled with coming off tour for the first time in 11 years — compiled with coming home to a woman where you two seem to get along better when you're apart and facing that and facing up to that — have been the highlights as far as the hard times. But the trade that I made [is that] I am an infinite number of times closer to my children than I've been the entire seven years of their lives before [this year off]. And I can't help but think when I lie down at night and say my prayers that that in itself to me is worth the trade I've made to get here.

A few weeks later, Garth confirms his intent to enter retirement in order to spend more time with his children:

Citing family and career concerns, country music star Garth Brooks said Thursday he plans to retire after releasing and promoting one more album. "I'm here to announce my retirement," Brooks said at a news conference before a gala to celebrate 100 million album sales. "I've done my career with the old saying, 'Burn bright, burn fast,' " he said. "I wasn't going to be somebody that we could come to really appreciate, like Billy Joel and James Taylor, and know that their stuff was timeless." Brooks, 38, said he didn't want the new album, scheduled for release next summer, to be tagged a "farewell" project. At some point, he also may record a duet album with Trisha Yearwood and make a soundtrack album to accompany a film project from his production company in Los Angeles. "My children and I are together every day," Brooks said, "and every night I tuck those children in, and I'm responsible for their safety. I feel good about that. I have asked my wife to be father and mother long enough. It's time for me to accept my responsibilities, and accept the true rewards that come with being a father." (Source)

2001

Garth and Sandy continue to live near each other as they co-parent their daughters. According to Garth's documentary, the two would make sure their daughters saw both of them every single day.

After the divorce, Brooks built a new house across the road from Mahl, and the two shared custody of their daughters. They decided not to hire nannies. For Brooks, who was used to spending much of the year on the road, this was a big transition. “I was living with three strange women that I did not know. They were 8, 6 and 4,” he remembered. “I was about to get a crash course in females … and my best friend showed up.” That best friend was Trisha Yearwood—“Ms. Yearwood,” as Brooks still refers to her.

June 2001

It is not clear when Garth and Trisha actually began embarking on a true relationship after his divorce filing.

Eight months after Garth's divorce announcement, in a June 2001 interview with Billboard magazine, Trisha laments being unable thus far to balance her career with her personal life, and says she needs time on her own but still wants a family:

How do you balance your personal and professional lives? Do you feel you've made sacrifices for your career? Looking back, I have sacrificed my personal life because it's impossible—I thought it was possible—but it's been impossible for me to have success in both areas, especially being married to another artist when you are both gone all the time. Why do you get married to be apart? It just doesn't work. I've had a lot of time this year to think. I need to be on my own for a while. I've never been alone. I've always been in relationships. It's been a really hard year, but really good for me to learn how to do that. I think I'll be a better partner to somebody by learning how to be OK on my own. But, the other side of it, I could definitely see myself waking up in 10 years, in a blink of an eye, and I'm 46 years old: I'm still single, and I don't have any children. I can see how it can happen, and I don't want that for myself. I don't think I'm a loner. I'm a family-oriented person. While I'm sitting here making records and doing this and this and this, everybody else in my life is having their children, going to soccer games, going to church on Sundays and having families for dinner, which is the way I grew up. It's what I want for myself. I know the danger for me is to be right where I am in the next 10 years, unless I make a conscious effort to not have that kind of life.

July 2001

Trisha talks about her divorce from Robert Reynolds and insists that it wasn't his jealousy of her that caused their problems.

Country music star Trisha Yearwood says her divorce from musician Robert Reynolds did not have anything to do with the fact that she's had more commercial success than he has had. The couple, who had no children, married in 1994 and split five years later. Reynolds is a member of the country-rock band the Mavericks. "They sold four million albums. I think they did really good!" Yearwood, 36, said in the July 21 issue of TV Guide. "It's hard to go through something like (divorce), and everyone has written their take," she added. "There's no way that I could possibly set every person in America straight about how all that went down."

November 2001

Garth's Coast to Coast concert special for CBS airs on TV. Trisha makes an appearance during his concert and they sing "Squeeze Me In," which is their duet on Garth's new album, Scarecrow.

December 2001

Garth and Sandy's divorce is finalized and reported on December 17, 2001. Sandy reportedly gets a $125 million settlement.

The divorce is final for Garth Brooks and his wife of nearly 15 years, Sandy. The 39-year-old country singer cited irreconcilable differences in a complaint filed in November 2000 in Davidson County Circuit Court. The couple had been separated since March 1999, according to court papers. Karen Byrd, spokeswoman for Brooks, would not comment Monday beyond confirming that the singer's divorce is final.

2002

I think it is safe to say that Garth and Trisha are officially together by early 2002 at the latest.

Garth doesn't specify the timing, but says in his 2019 documentary that after "thirteen, fourteen years [of saying] 'It can't be,'" one particular occurrence prompted him to finally initiate something more with Trisha:

"I heard someone tell me that Trisha’s mother, Gwen, had said she would be proud if Garth Brooks was her son-in-law, and I think that’s what gave me the courage to pursue her daughter."

Trisha: I always say I thought I was happy in my life and I just think I didn’t understand that this is what love is really is, and I just had no idea. It’s a ton of bricks that lands on you and you have no choice. So I’m terrified, but I also had spent how many years avoiding it that I finally decided to just run on toward it.

January 2002

Garth, Trisha, Chely Wright, and “Australian newcomer Keith Urban” host an invite-only show the weekend of January 5, 2002, to benefit the Nashville Songwriters International’s battle to protect songwriter copyrights.

Per The Tennessean, Trisha was initially slated to host the event but had to back out due to illness. So who should fly in for the event from New York City in order to be her replacement on short notice? Her good friend Garth. Trisha still attends the event to introduce Garth and show her support.

February 2002

Garth visits several schools as part of a Read Across America campaign at the end of February, and Trisha joins in for a few of his stops.

March 2002

Garth and Trisha are reported to be an official couple after they are seen holding hands at songwriter Harlan Howard's funeral on March 19, 2002.

The paper reports Brooks had his arm around Yearwood, and observers said the two were seen holding hands several times that day, in the seats and backstage. Brooks and Yearwood have been seen together at various restaurants and social functions. Reports even say the two have told friends they're dating. Brooks and Yearwood have been friends and have recorded multiple duets together. Neither artist could be reached for a comment. (Source)

Pictured above: Garth and Trisha make their red carpet debut in June 2002, three months after the first report about them being a couple.

June 2002

On June 13, 2002, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood make their first red carpet appearance together at a Songwriters Hall of Fame event in New York.

May 2005

Garth says in "The Road I'm On" that when he decided to propose to Trisha, he sat down with the girls and Sandy to let them know ahead of time. In response, Sandy said:

“I think this is a really good move for you, and I think this is a really good move for our children.”

On May 25, 2005, Garth proposes to Trisha on stage in front of thousands of people at a special event unveiling bronze statues of Brooks and other country music legends in Bakersfield, California.

Country music icon Garth Brooks proposed marriage to longtime girlfriend and music star Trisha Yearwood on stage Wednesday night. The proposal was made in front of more than 7,000 screaming fans at the Legends In Bronze concert and dedication at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace. Brooks got on one knee and asked a teary-eyed Yearwood to be his wife. She smiled and nodded in acceptance, then they kissed in front of a sold-out audience, which went wild.

Brooks was on hand to see a bronze statue built in his likeness unveiled along with nine other statues of country music greats at Owens' popular steakhouse. Honorees included Brooks, Owens, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, George Strait, George Jones, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Sr., Bob Wills and Johnny Cash. The statues were made by sculptor Bill Rains, who had made the statues of Owens and Cash already on display at the Crystal Palace. The project took him two years. The proposal came as a surprise at the event where Owens, Brooks, Jones and Haggard were to be honored for their vast contributions to country music.

With Brooks as the most contemporary artist honored, his statue was unfurled last. After a video tribute to Brooks, the country hit-maker came out with Yearwood to take a closer look at the statue. Yearwood appeared to be straying off with Brooks to look at a statue of Bob Wills when suddenly Brooks got down on one knee, causing the audible gasps of Yearwood and the thousands in attendance. Owens congratulated the couple after Yearwood accepted Brooks' ring. "This is one of the greatest days of my life. Thank God!" shouted Brooks after Yearwood accepted. (Source)

December 2005

They marry in a private ceremony at home in Oklahoma on December 10, 2005.

“They said it is the perfect Christmas gift to each other, and they couldn’t be happier,” said Nancy Seltzer, a publicist for the couple.

2006

February 2006

In an interview with PARADE Magazine, Garth proclaims that he always loved Trisha, but that they did not have an affair.

“I think I was always in love with Trisha,” he said, “even when I was a boy, before I ever knew her. She was always the woman I loved.” “The minute I met her, I felt she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. When she walked into that room, all the air went out of me, and all I could breathe in was the way this woman smelled. When you’re with her, she makes you feel amazing! … The moment I saw her, the place where I was standing became Wonderland.” In all that time, Brooks told me, he and Yearwood were not intimate. “She was married or I was, or we both were,” he said. “I wouldn’t screw up her life, and she wouldn’t hurt someone else.” “I had no idea we’d ever be together,” Yearwood said. “It was something we never discussed. For years, I couldn’t tell Garth, ‘I have a crush on you.’ In both our lives, we traveled a lot because of our careers. We both thought, ‘Why be in another relationship just to be apart?’” “When we got married, I knew it was because I wanted to be with him forever,” said Trisha, 41. “I was willing to compromise. I moved here to his town, where his ex-wife is. Seeing him with his kids makes me love him even more. I get it now. I am here because I love this man. He’s a great dad.”

Stepmom

Trisha will say in the years after their marriage that it took an adjustment period for both her and Garth's daughters when she came into their lives.

The country singer admits that at first, she wasn’t sure what to do or how to be around Garth’s daughters. The couple split visitation with Garth’s ex-wife Sandy Mahl, and had the kids every other day until 6 p.m. Said Trisha, "I would be sitting there thinking, ‘What do we do until 6 o’clock? I don’t know what to do with children.’" However, those feelings didn’t last long for the 43-year-old, who says she now thinks of herself as a "Bonus Mom" for the girls. "It became, ‘Okay, I’m still scared, but it’s not as bad,’ and then it became, ‘I love having them all the time.’ You fall in love with them. You learn why people have kids." Trisha added that each of the kids have "distinctively different personalities." "We’ve all got a different relationship, and we just kind of [take it] day by day…I sort of earned my way, and I continue to earn my way, with each of them." (Source)

When Trisha Yearwood wed fellow country star Garth Brooks in 2005, she married into a blended family. It was uncharted territory for Yearwood, who never had kids of her own. “When you don’t have children, you have the luxury of being selfish because it’s just about you,” Yearwood, 57, told SheKnows. “You don’t have to think about somebody else first. And as an artist, it’s easy to be really egocentric because your job is to be thinking about your career, what you have to do next, how you’re going to take yourself to the next level.” Yearwood acknowledged there were challenges in the beginning. The Grammy-winning singer had never parented before and had to find her footing. But she has since formed an unbreakable bond with Brooks’ three daughters... “It was a gift that I received from Garth and the girls of having them in a life that I didn’t know I was missing,” she said. “I can’t imagine my life without them.” (Source)

In the 2019 documentary "The Road I'm On," Garth's eldest daughter Taylor admits she did not handle Trisha's entrance into their lives that well at first.

Taylor: "I wasn’t the nicest to Trisha when she first came. We would go out in the backyard, and I would catch tarantulas in Ziploc bags, and I’d put them in the freezer so that way, when Trisha would open the freezer, a tarantula would fall out. Just terrible things."

But, Taylor says she now sometimes will affectionately call Trisha "Mama T," same as her sisters. As middle daughter August said: "I have my mom and my Mama T and my dad."

Trisha: "They never made me feel like the evil stepmother; they might have thought it, [laughs] but they never said it."

And Garth's ex-wife, Sandy, also voiced her approval of her kids' bonus mom:

"We enjoy our kids together. I love and appreciate Trisha. It’s good."

Since their wedding, Garth and Trisha make the effort to spend time together, something that wasn't always the case in their previous marriages.

Trisha: We made a conscious effort when we got married not to be apart. Garth was retired but I wasn’t. So when I moved to Oklahoma I cut my tour dates way down. Then I eventually didn’t tour. That’s how my cookbook began. It was something to do creatively that I could do at home, never dreaming it would turn into all this other stuff. [Yearwood hosts her own Emmy-winning Food Network cooking show, Trisha’s Southern Southern Kitchen and wrote three cookbooks.] 99 percent of the time we’re together. We don’t spend very many nights apart. (Source)

Looking back on the road that led them to each other, Garth said it was for the best that he and Trisha weren't able to get together when they first met in 1987.

“If we’d gotten married then, either the career wouldn’t have been what it was in the ’90s or our marriage wouldn’t have lasted. So I have to believe that things happen when they happen," Brooks observes. "I feel very lucky right now where I’m at. So even if I did have regrets, I wouldn’t change anything in fear of changing where I’m at right now.”

#Trisha Yearwood #garth brooks

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ukrfeminism · 1 month

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Imagine chasing top medals and trophies for Great Britain while earning less than the minimum wage.

That might sound surprising yet it appears to be the reality for some women competing at the highest levels of sport.

More than a third of 143 respondents in a BBC study of elite British sportswomen said they have considered giving up sport because of the cost of living crisis.

More than three-quarters said they earn less than £30,000 a year from sport - with more than four in 10 earning less than £10,000 and six in 10 earning less than £20,000.

According to Office for National Statistics data, the average salary in the United Kingdom was £34,963 in April 2023. The national living wage for someone aged over 23 working a 35-hour week would be up to £18,964 a year.

The BBC study, released on Monday, covered a wide range of issues affecting sportswomen, which we will be covering in a series of stories this week.

Respondents were asked to fill in an anonymous questionnaire. It was sent to 615 athletes across 28 sports and 143 responses were submitted.

The questionnaire was sent to British sportswomen above the age of 16 who compete for their country in senior sport, or at the highest level in their sport at top club level.

It is the fourth time the BBC has conducted research on elite British sportswomen, having previously done so in 2013, 2015 and 2020.

Below are some of the experiences athletes shared with the BBC about the impact of the cost of living crisis, social media trolling, sexism and maternity in sport.

Chasing medals on 'less than minimum wage'

One athlete, who is aiming to qualify for the 2028 Olympics and has won junior world titles, told BBC Sport she had "thought about" quitting sport because of cost but is "not ready to".

She says the starting salary for a job in the field she has studied at university would be more than double what she currently receives in funding for her sport.

"You'd never think I'd be on less than minimum wage," said the athlete, who receives funding of £16,000 a year.

She added that while she should probably get a job on the side to support herself, it simply was not practical because of training times.

"I'd have to work night shifts - you're not going to get international medals if you've got to do that," she said.

She added that the current economic climate made it "hard" to get sponsorship and that her male counterparts seemed to get more sponsorship than women "even though their achievements are the same".

Her views were echoed by others, with one respondent writing: "As much as the profile of women's sport is on the rise, in the smaller sports, sponsorship is decreasing and making it harder to survive even with world-class results and world top-10 rankings."

Another sportswoman spoke of working five jobs to fund her sport, and another said she had struggled to get sponsorship early in her career because she did not have the right body for "bikini modelling".

Six respondents said their income was between £100,000 and £500,000, two put theirs at more than £500,000 but none made more than £1m.

According to the study, more than three-quarters of respondents felt sportswomen are not paid enough compared with sportsmen.

"If a female sportsperson is doing exactly the same training as their male counterpart, but they get paid less, then it will always mean that women are underpaid compared to men, but I do believe it is all going in the right direction," another anonymous response read.

'Requests for naked pictures' and 'I know where you live'

More than a third of respondents said they had been trolled on social media and a quarter had received social media abuse of a sexual nature.

One athlete was trolled after what she said was a result of people betting on her matches.

"Some matches, if it was a big win or big loss, I'd get 15-20 people messaging me on Instagram or commenting all sorts of things," she said.

"A lot of it was about weight, sometimes people would comment on my upper body being leaner than my lower body.

"Some of it was, 'I'm going to find your mum and do x, y and z. Some of it was, 'I know where you live.'"

Another anonymous athlete said they "receive an influx of sexual abuse" after winning medals and another said they had received "requests for naked pictures" and "offers of sponsorship or funding in return for a relationship".

While not directly comparable, a BBC questionnaire in 2020 found 30% of elite British sportswomen had been trolled on social media, a figure that had doubled since a previous questionnaire in 2015.

'I was told my award was for best bum'

Sexism offline is still a concern for sportswomen too, with almost three quarters of respondents saying they had experienced sexism in their sport.

"I'm just so shocked, I'm just on the edge of tears," one athlete told BBC Sport when recounting the time in the past few years that she had gone up on stage to receive a top award for performance and the presenter had announced it was for having the "best bum" in her sport.

"[It was] in front of a room of all the people that I looked up to and aspired to as a young female," she said. "[I wanted to] just get it over with, just let me get off the stage. Now I know what to say. But then I definitely didn't."

The study also found sportswomen felt they were being treated differently to men in terms of coaching.

A third said they did not get enough coaching support compared with men, and a third said their governing body does not support them equally compared with male colleagues.

More than four in 10 said they had experienced another form of discrimination.

Maternity 'feels taboo'

More than a third of respondents said they do not feel supported by their club/governing body to have a baby and continue to compete.

Almost two-thirds do not know what their club/governing body's parental leave policy would be.

One sportswoman said the topic of maternity "feels taboo", another felt their career might be "in doubt" if they brought up the issue, and another said their governing body "has repeatedly put off signing our maternity policy".

A third have delayed starting a family because of their sporting career. Six women said they had had an abortion because they felt a baby would impact their sporting career.

One athlete said she was returning to sport a year after giving birth and had been "severely let down" by her governing body, which had "not been willing to compromise" or understand her needs.

Another said her decisions around maternity were based on "fear of time out of sport and fear of not returning", and another said theirs were around the cost of childcare she would need to continue training.

However, one anonymous response came from a mother back in full-time training after having a baby.

"There is a very good balance to allow me to train a week full-time in the environment and a week training at home, which helps with being an athlete and mum," she wrote.

There was another example of a national team saying they would support athletes wanting to give birth and "return to sport in the quickest and healthiest way possible".

Is any progress being made?

Sportswomen highlighted many challenges in their responses, but several pointed to the success of the Lionesses' high-profile Euro 2022 win as a sign of progress.

When it comes to media coverage, three-quarters do not believe the media does enough to promote women's sport, but more than nine in 10 think media coverage of women's sport has improved over the past five years.

Sports minister Stuart Andrew said he would be convening the first Board of Women's Sport later this month, where "former sportspeople, industry experts and academics come together to explore opportunities and best practice" for women's elite sport.

"We are at a defining moment for women's elite sport in this country," he said. "I want to see it continue to go from strength to strength, with a collective drive to deliver positive change."

Triathlete Laura Siddall spoke of an expectation of women's sport to "be grateful for where you are now".

"I think we can be grateful, but that doesn't mean we're satisfied," she continued.

"We are super thankful that we've made huge progress and super thankful and grateful that we are here now, but does that mean we should be settling? Because there's still a disparity."

#articles

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faorism · 1 year

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thinking about @bisexual-enby-jellyfish talking about the lack of time travel fic in the fandom, and got me thinking that since canon is satisfying, instead of fix its, we gotta have break its.

BITTERSWEET CANON COMPLIANT PONDERINGS AHEAD

canon lev:red era and pardison is out on a mission for alecs non-leverage side hustle, and they are going to a specific town which they remember distantly eliot talking about it, from years back, how that was a moment of decision for him early in his military career. it was there—eliot admitted when he was feeling especially vulnerable, with a smile that was supposed to be funny but really wasnt—it was there that put him on the path that lost his soul. that comment has a lot more weight now, after eliot saying he has lonely he has been for years (which still haunts parker), and how apparently he told sophie he cannot be redeemed (which is now haunting hardison), and because of all the hitting eliots body is starting to betray him (which scares them both). maybe before they left, they had a tense argument. eliot wanted to go with them, but pardison was like?? you legit told us this is #trauma for you, no. and eliots shrug of a response to what it would put him through sat ill with them.

the memories of eliots unhappiness gives pardison the willies but they try to move on, but something feels... off? anyway MAGIC the resonances of eliot's soul-ache draw the two in to a long abandoned military coup base and they get sent back to around 20/21ish eliot (with alec around 35, the age difference between them but reverse in of s1).

they dont meet right the second they land, but its close: eliot finds pardison in the active base, and he rescues them because he thinks hardison and parker are his retrieval targets. (parker... was under the impression eliot wasn't able to get in time to save the real target in his timeline?? hardison just grumbles uhh.... multiple universes are a headfck irl.)

eliot is on an extended mission, one of his first serious solo ones, one that is clearly testing him out for recruitment for special ops. so hardison and parker can't be whisked away and has to stick around eliot For Reasons with an assumed identity. pardison realizes that eliot's mission can be better resolved (aka little/no bloodshed) with a con, and they convince eliot to go along. they aren't there long per se, but there is a lot of thrills and suspense and tension and idk plot stuff, i hate plot stuff so imagine that's happening in the background.

throughout it all, hardison and parker treat eliot like they normally would... which is utterly familiar and intimate, which throws young eliot. and by throws i mean seduces accidentally. eliot gets all heart-eyed, which hardison and parker don't notice right away because they miss their home time, but also eliot just always kinda acts like that. eliot is falling so hard but he tries to be respectful because obviously pardison is together, but a man can dream...

hardison and parker have Talks about how important it is to not change the past, as much as their presence undoubtedly has changed something. but as much as hardison is genre aware, it's harder for him. the rawness of eliot's confession—that he doesn't think he can ever be redeemed—sits heavily on hardison. and he also is like... why are we here, why were brought back? maybe we are supposed to heal a hurt, right a wrong, maybe... parker just wants to go home.

but she is the one who breaks. eliot is shot at and hurt while protecting them, and the screams from parker and hardison are just... gut wrenching. and as hardison is patching eliot's shoulder up and parker is wiping down eliot's dirt and sweat-drenched face, eliot is like... something aint right with you two. hardison tries to deflect with a joke, but eliot is like, no. you... know me. you care about me. please—he interrupts, when hardison is about to deny harder—the truth. and hardison and parker look at each other. she nods so hardison tells him. some of it, but enough. he tells eliot that they know him from the future. they work together, but it's more than that. parker and hardison arent sure how they came back, but they know some of the why. maybe. they are gonna help eliot, and maybe they get back to their time. maybe not. but they aren't gonna abandon eliot here if they can help it.

eliot gets quiet and is like... do you... are we... and hardison furrows his brows. eliot decides to be brave, braver than he may have ever felt before (and thats saying something) and he asks, are we together? and parker is like, yeah he just told you, we are a team, have been for years, we're family and eliot is like no not... hardison and parker are like what?? and eliot just shakes his head and is like, when you say family, you mean...?

hardison pauses from his stitching to say, you two have a permanent kill switch for my computers in case i go evil mad scientist. and parker says only you and alec can look over my harnesses before i jump. i don't double check your work anymore. hardison says you... and what can he say that would make sense to this eliot? what would have the weight? you let us take care of you.

eliot's eyes go wide, hardison's observation landing just right, and here is where parker meets her limit. dont enlist, she says

and eliot, stunned, tries to make a joke to cut the tension choking him: he looks over his gear and is like, little late for that, darlin'.

and parker is like, don't join black ops. go to aimee back as soon as you can.

parker breaks because... parker sees this eliot, this softer version of himself and parker loves eliot, her eliot, but also this one. she didnt know what eliot had lost but now she knows. she knows and she has the power to do something. she can't hoard eliot away when things can. be. better. for. him. she knows what make us us, but...... us is a lonely eliot. us is an eliot that feels damned. us is an eliot who deserves so much more, everything, anything. they can promise him robot bodies, but there's something else they can give him. a life beyond what he... what he had to make with them. a life with whatever eliot calls a soul.

hardison gasps parker but doesn't disagree with her, and if eliot had doubts they were from the future or had some special knowledge about him, this was proof enough.

and what'll happen if i dont?

parker hugs herself tight: you can have a good life, el. the one you want.

what do you know what i want? and god, he sounds so much like their eliot but also so much his twenty/twenty-one years.

it's what you've told us, hardison says.

and what about what we got? parker and hardison don't say anything. i don't think its enough? i ever say that? exactly that?

parker and hardison want to say yes, but they can't. they also cant quite say no. both hurt. the lack of clarity burns.

as parker and hardison try to find the words to convince him, eliot just sighs. in your time, did i even tell you i love y'all two?

and parker... okay, look there's a lot going on and she is very very sad and she is always very very shocked. so she responds, you don't love us.

eliot gets that... that fucking martyr smile of his: the way you treat me? respect me? and... you two are gorgeous. funny. smart. there's no way i aint in love.

and parker is like. you can't know that.

eliot is like, i can because im halfway there myself. more than halfway, if im honest.

and parker and hardison are... floored. no, you can't love us, hardison repeats. he is sure of this. he has to be.

eliot: future me or now?

hardison: either. both. eliot, you can't love us. eliot can't. that... that doesn't make sense. no. god, what have they been doing for fifteen years if... no. god no. if eliot loved them, he would have said something. they would be together. no. this eliot is so green and young and unbroken and... this eliot doesn't know their eliot. he's wrong. he... has to be.

eliot frowns. so i trust you with everything i am but i aint in love, you aren't enough, and... and you want me to take a different path. away from y'all

hardison: it sounds awful when you say it like that.

eliot: it doesn't sound like a good situation, from where im sitting

parker: we just want you happy, eliot. even if it means we cant have you.

eliot sobers. nods. i won't promise you i will. but... i will consider it.

and that's what parker and hardison want but they are just… spooked. but so is eliot. he withdraws and says he has it from here. hardison and parker try to insist they need to help, but eliot gives them a stare down until they take the out.

after that... things are heavy. but the con is rolling along fine, and above all else, they are professionals. as the con is wrapping up, parker is planning out the last details about the gloat and she's like, we won't be there but you should... and they are like oh. yes. that.... that's gonna happen. that will be when they leave.

the con goes well until inevitably they hit a snag, so when they are gonna break up for separate parts of the con, the departure is on a much more sudden time frame than they expected. they three look at each other because they know they won't see each other again, not like this. maybe not ever again.

as parker and hardison try to find the words to leave eliot behind, eliot just sighs. i told you i would consider leaving the army but you gotta answer me and don't lie.

parker: anything

eliot: is there a time you are alive now because i was there? not... not any hitter. specifically me.

oh. tear well up in parker's eyes. not fair.

because parker thinks about a sunken cavern of ice. that one shouldn't even count, any other hitter would probably have just told her to leave the body from the beginning. parker does not care. eliot saved her in more ways than just convincing her to climb out of the cave in the end.

and hardison thinks of that second day, technically the first twenty-four hours.... thinks of eliot pulling hardison up before the warehouse blows up. maybe the choreography of the day would have meant hardison didn't fall, or maybe he did live but was injured, or maybe a million things. eliot steadied hardison, was his friend, his confidante, the one who held him first when hardison came up from the ground.

so the answer yes then?

parker: it's not that simple

eliot: why can't it be?

parker makes an unhappy sound. the time is running out. they need to get to position. now. but...

hardison holds eliot by the neck, as eliot once did him, and says. you once told me all i had to do was to show you the way and you would save the world for us. we want to show you the way to save your soul, whatever it takes, whatever happens to us, because... that's what love can look like, too. we just want what's best for you, whatever that looks like. just think about it. okay?

eliot looks like he wants to resist, but hardison squeezes desperately, trembling.

okay. i'll think about it.

hardison draws eliot close, into a hug. thank you.

eliot clutches him back. goddammit, he whispers, no explanation.

parker is there when hardison pulls back an inch. eliot hugs her too, and says into her ear, make sure he doesnt get into too much trouble without me, alright?

parker does not say anything at first. says, goodbye, eliot, with their cheeks squeezed together, that's how hard she's hugging him.

bye, park.

and so.

they part.

they finish the con, and parker and hardison are so incredibly anxious about what the repercussions are gonna be (they are willing to take them, for eliot) and also are already like, mourning eliots place in their lives because they love him

they finish out the con and they feel the tug and they get back to the present. its done. they did it.

parker and hardison are shaking and things seem similar enough, that means eliot had to have chosen them.... no, no, they can't get their hopes up.

......they had to have found a way without him. they had to, because that's what eliot would have wanted from them in exchange for his soul.

but just as they get their bearings, there's a sound just a little away. they stiffen; parker gets ready to fight. but it's...

oh.

eliot holds them close and he's like, god, it's been weeks i've been checking every day

you can't be here, hardison says

you promised you would consider it, parker says, distressed

and eliot... doesnt respond with confusion, i... knew it had to be around now if it really was you but i was never sure it was real before

parker, face tucked squarely into eliot's neck: you remember us?

i didn't or... i didn't include you in my mission report. there was no proof yall existed and then the next deployment, the very next one, they... they got me. held me for months. i was convinced yall were a fantasy to give me hope. over the years, i thought maybe, maybe it was... but no, it couldnt be. but since y'all vanished, it's been coming back. eliot's fingers dig into them where he's holding them. its been coming back, ive been remembering, and ive been here, waiting

hardison, tears flowing: we told you to go home. we warned you. you could have been okay.

eliot pulls back to meet hardison's eyes: when you left, i imagined my life if i went back. it... wouldve been nice. married to aimee, likely, but that would've never lasted. not forever. too the same, all passion and no patience. mightve gone to work for my dad. itd be comfortable. a decent life.

parker: it would have been good. safe. you would have been happy.

eliot shakes his head: i chose the army first, before you showed up. it was always gonna be what i did. i was stubborn, then, and i didnt understand the scope but i was following it to its ends.

hardison: so it was all for nothing.

eliot: no, fuck. no. you showed me a way to keep my soul, but whatever happened to it, a way i couldnt take, but i at least knew, somewhere deep inside... eliot stops, tries to untangle them.

hardison: what did you know?

eliot: i'm here that's what matters

parker: please

eliot: even then, i knew at least... my soul might be lost but i would always know where my heart was

parker: oh. you love us

of course, darlin'. eliot swallows.

you never told us

you never told me

hardison: we didnt want you to leave

eliot: i never wanted to give you a reason to push me away

parker: we're so stupid.

hardison puts his forehead to eliots. like really really stupid. you said you liked us because we are smart, but we're so dumb, man

theres so much to resolve. so much doubt, so many feelings to untangle, too many misunderstandings to air... but for now, when eliot laughs and says at least youre still pretty, and hardison huffs offended before trying to tickle eliot saying oh did you say petty? i heard petty did you hear petty parker? and parker is like, oh i think i did and they overpower eliot with tickles and ninja attacks that lead to cuddles and kisses.

and the soul-pain will always linger for eliot, that won't ever go away. not quite. but in the warmth of their silliness on a spot that once hurt so bad, there... their laughter brings something that has been there longer than eliot knew to look: a heartsong of devotion, of care, of love... and that? that wont ever go away

#eliot spencer #parker leverage #alec hardison #leverage #faorism fic #faorism work #leverage ot3 #thiefsome #whoops wrote a very rushed fic draft #posting because i wont ever clean this up so here it is #leverage redemption spoilers #leverage redemption #the crown achievement job

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homomenhommes · 3 months

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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … January 15

1622 – On this date the French playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, better known as Molière was born (d.1673). Considered the greatest writer of French comedy, among Molière's best-known works are Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope), L'École des femmes (The School for Wives), Tartuffe ou L'Imposteur, (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite), L'Avare (The Miser), Le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman), and many other masterpieces of Commedia dell'arte.

Martin Greif writes that when Molière was in his late forties he fell in love with Michel Baron and brought him home to live with him. When the playwright's wife protested Baron moved out till Molière ordered him back. When his wife made an ultimatum that the playwright choose between her or Baron, Molière chose. Three years later in 1673, when Molière died, Michel Baron was at his side.

1893 – On this date British musical comedy performer David Ivor Davies, better known as Ivor Novello was born in Cardiff, Wales (d.1951). He became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century.

Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter. He served in World War I, first as an entertainer in France, then as a pilot in the Royal Naval Air Service. During the war he composed scores for several musical comedies, but his biggest hit came with the patriotic song "Keep the Home Fires Burning" (1914).

After the war, Novello contributed numbers to several successful musical comedies and was eventually commissioned to write the scores of complete shows. In the 1920s, he turned to acting, first in films and then on stage, with considerable success in both.

Novello debuted on stage in London in Deburau (1921). He then starred on screen in Carnival (1921), The Bohemian Girl (1922), The Man Without Desire (1923), and D. W. Griffith's The White Rose (1923).

A homosexual with no desire to become a family man, Novello thrived professionally in multiple careers. His stint as playwright, and frequent actor of his own words, took off in 1924 when he wrote and performed in The Rat. Back on screen, he acted against type, playing a psychopath in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger (1926).

Other screen credits include The Vortex (1927), from a Noël Coward play; Downhill (1927), again for Hitchcock; and The Constant Nymph (1928). These were followed by stage runs of Symphony in Two Flats (1930), The Truth Game (1930), and I Lived with You (1932).

The press linked him romantically to Bohemian Girl co-star Gladys Cooper, but the real love of his life was actor Robert "Bobbie" Andrews, with whom he lived from 1917 until his death in 1951.

It seems everyone except the millions of women who swooned over the star knew he was gay. Novello was well-known for some of his more glamorous gay affairs. For 35 years, he was the lover of Bobbie Andrews, and he had an affair with the British poet and writer Siegfried Sassoon. Winston Churchill has admitted having a one night stand with Novello.

His sophisticated and urbane social circle was peopled with leading homosexuals in the arts, including Noël Coward, Clifton Webb, and Somerset Maugham.

It is likely that the open secret of Novello's homosexuality played a part when a notoriously homophobic judge sentenced him to a month's imprisonment during World War II for evading wartime restrictions on the use of gasoline.

In 1931, Novello went to Hollywood and co-wrote several film scripts, including Mata Hari (1931) and Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932), but he preferred the theater to movies.

Ivor Novello died on March 6, 1951 from coronary thrombosis in London just four hours after appearing in a performance of The King's Rhapsody, a play he wrote. He was 58.

1929 – On this date in 1929 Martin Luther King, Jr was born in Atlanta, Georgia (d.1968). As an African American civil rights leader he spoke eloquently and stressed nonviolent methods to achieve equality. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. In 1983, the third Monday in January was designated a legal holiday in the U.S. to celebrate his birthday. King's message was a catalyst for many in the gay rights movement and continues to be an inspiration for the GLBT community today.

African American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who had studied Gandhi's teachings, counseled King to dedicate himself to the principles of non-violence, and served as King's main advisor and mentor throughout his early activism, and was the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin's open homosexuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin. When Congressman Adam Clayton Powell threatened to accuse Rustin and King of having a homosexual affair. King gave in to Powell, and Rustin resigned from King's staff. Rustin was devastated by Powell's ruthlessness and by what he saw as King's betrayal, though he continued to advise King, and they rmained friends and allies until King's assassination.

Zak Spears Then

1965 – Zak Spears is an American gay pornographic film actor. Spears appeared in the feature film The Doom Generation (1995) using his real name, Khristofor Rossianov.

Spears was born Khristofor Lawl Rossianov in Chicago, but his German Catholic family also lived in Rochester and Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has two older brothers, one younger brother, and two older sisters. He came out to his family when he was 12, and at school when he was 16. He was constantly ridiculed with gay epithets as a result, and so he withdrew from all social circles.

After school, Spears worked as a diesel mechanic in Chicago and Minneapolis, and caught flak from the blue-collar men he worked with for being gay.

A friend took Spears to a bar called The Saloon in Minneapolis where Chi Chi LaRue was doing a show, and introduced them. Spears and LaRue became fast friends, and LaRue used him for a video called Handjobs 3 (1993). From there, Spears took off in the gay adult industry.In 1996 Spears retired from the gay adult industry after falling in love with Matthew Rush, who would also go on to star in gay adult films. Spears had hoped the relationship would be long-term, but after they broke up, he bulked up with a lot more muscle and returned to the industry in 2004.

Initially retiring from the industry in 1996, he made a return in 2004 in the film Zak Attack, sporting a dramatic image change which included a shaved head and a much bulkier build.

Zak Spears Now

Spears also appeared in the black comedy feature film Forgiving the Franklins (2006) under the name Khris Scaramanga. The film's director, Jay Floyd, said that having Spears in his film helped raise its profile. "I have one star in my movie," Floyd told The Los Angeles Times. "He just happens to be a porn star."

1968 – The Virginia Supreme Court rules that merely placing the mouth on a penis does not violate the state's sodomy law.

1973 – On this date Lance Loud came out on the PBS "series" An American Family. He bears the distinction of being the first person to come out on US national television.

1973 – The New York Division of Motor Vehicles banned "offensive" license plate combinations, including "DYK" and "FAG."

1975 – On this date The Vatican released its "Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics" which includes a definition of homosexuality as "a serious depravity."

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muniimyg · 1 year

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35 | do you even care

series m.list

taglist: @kakixaku @boraength @4ksj @pamzn @jinsearth @fancycollectormoon @weasleyswizarding-wheezes @fan-ati--c @kthlvr30 @ellesalazar @taeees-world @sukunasrealgf @firesighgirl @jeonninja @bloopkook @butterymin @pinkseokchim

Escaping the New Year party was not easy.

It took a lot of declining to stay the night, glares from Jungkook, and teasing noises from Jin’s friends. It was a lot.

But it didn’t matter.

You and Jin are together. Alone. Sitting on your couch, cuddled together and splitting a bottle of rosé. Your apartment has been empty for a while. If you weren’t home, you were at work or at Jin’s and Jungkook’s. Either taking care of Jungkook or sneaking a sleepover with Jin.

Everything feels the same but different.

So complicatedly mindless and achingly slow. Everything feels like it’s on the urge of being unraveled and that victory—happiness itself—isn’t too far away. It’s near. You hope it is.

You’re tired. So fucking tired of pretending yet you have no energy to face the truth. To put it simply, it’s like you’re walking on eggshells and there’s an audience. It wasn’t like this before.

It feels like everyone watching knows more than you.

It worries you.

It makes you anxious and almost angry that it feels fake. Like you have to put on a show that this isn’t destroying you from the inside. It feels like everyone judges and expects you to do the right thing—well, what even is the right thing?

All you know in this very moment is that talking helps process everything.

Talking is something you haven’t felt like you could do with Jungkook in a while. Aside from your latest meet up, it’s been a little weird between you two. Conversation didn’t flow as easy and words were being dissected. With Jin, it’s the complete opposite.

Perhaps because you two began with a rough start, it’s what makes talking about the hard things so easy now. It’s comforting feeling like you found a new friend. Though from the outside, there’s a lot of pressure with choosing Jin, you don’t feel it when you’re with him. If anything, your heart feels at ease.

It’s a comfort you can’t describe. It’s difficult to explain because it’s far from the kind of comfort Jungkook gives you. It’s different because you have feelings for Jin and that itself changes so much.

It’s different.

Jin is different.

As you two sit on your couch, Jin initiates asking about your new wishes and goals for the upcoming year. You two exchange answers and support one another, wishing each other more success and promises of being by each others side. You think to yourself, this is nice. Sex with Jin is nice, but this is just as good. If anything, it’s better.

At one point, you mention wanting to explore other career options. Though photography has always been a passion for you, it’s always been more of Jungkook’s than it has ever been yours.

When Jin asks you what you want to do, you answer with a shrug. You tell him simply that you’ve always been interested in the medical field. Not in the sense where you’d become like your doctor parents, but more like your grandmother. To one day take a hold of her foundations and carry on her legacy. You’d just have to go back to school and complete your Master of Public Health or something like that… You aren’t sure. You have the connections and you’re almost positive you can do it.. But something about venturing into this dream on your own makes you feel uneasy. Your entire life, you’ve always had your grandmother or Jungkook by your side.

It scares you that this dream may be the one shared with Jin.

It scares you that this could be the push toward becoming who you are.

It scares you that it may be Jin.

If it is, you have to be honest. You have to silence your confusion and constant back and forth. You have to choose—something you never expected or wanted to do. You never wanted to not choose Jungkook… But how do you keep Jin if you choose Jungkook? You can’t. It’s one or the other.

You grew up with Jungkook and have always seen him as honest as they come. Unexpectedly finding out about his feelings for you has completely changed that. You’ve always seen Jungkook present his best to you. He’s always been amazing at everything and never needed much help. He grew up well and if it weren’t for his temper, he’d be perfect.

In a sense, Jungkook was right.

If the timing was better between you two… Then maybe you two would have been together by now. But that’s just it—if the timing was better.

You’ve seen Seok Jin at his worst.

Not that he ever groveled and was completely broken, but you stood by him as he greeted coldly, miscommunicated, and mistreated you. In ways, some that felt more dramatic than others, he was difficult. Getting to know him beyond your initial crush and fuckbuddy has been nothing short of a surprise. Though he hasn’t come rushing in like prince charming, he has been more than a dream to you.

He has grown so much.

He has changed in ways that were a direct cause of you. He changed so much that he now remembers why love is sweet and why life—and the people in it—are worth fighting for. Though he still struggles to display so, you know it in your heart that he is more than capable of it all.

Warmth, patience, love.

Three aspects you never saw before, yet have been subconsciously hoping to arise from within him. You’re thankful it has because you truly have never felt the happiest unless you were in his arms. It’s a feeling so difficult to describe because it was so simple: you love him. You had loved him before you even knew yourself.

It’s in the little things he does.

It’s in the breakfast in bed. It’s in the goodnight and good morning phone calls. It’s in his camera roll, an album of pictures of things that remind him of you. It’s in his eyes when he smiles so deeply you tease him, poking his cheek for a hidden dimple. It’s in the talks of “we should go here next week,” and “one day, we should…” It’s in the way he holds you and let’s you touch his heart.

It’s love.

It must be.

These thoughts occupy your mind as your routine with Jin follows. It’s been more or less an hour since you two got up from the couch, tided around, showered, and now you’re brushing your teeth together.

“My parents want to meet you.”

You pause. Your body stiffens and you almost choke on the foaming toothpaste in your mouth. Jin briefly looks at you and wipes his mouth with his face towel. He smiles at the frozen you before kissing the top of your head.

“After you officially become my girlfriend, you know? Figured it would be too weird to introduce you to them as my kind-of-girlfriend.”

He wraps his arms around your waist as you bend over the sink and rinse your mouth. You stare at your reflections in the mirror. Jin kisses your shoulder and begins to sway you two back and forth. “We could have dinner at their home.. Maybe even at a restaurant if you want to be an easier escape—”

Say something.

Be honest!

“Jin—”

“Because I’m going to ask you, ___. I’m going to ask you eventually. When the whole Jungkook thing eases and I work on my communication a little more. It’s just… This is the year for us, ___. I know it and I’m so excited to spend it with you—to be with you.” Jin’s face brightens before he smushes his puffy lips onto the top of your head.

“Jin…” you speak softly. His gaze softens and his curved lips hesitate to maintain when he notices your change of mood. “I have something to tell you..”

“Okay,” he understands, already having an uneasy feeling settle in. “What is it?”

There are few moments in Jin’s life where he has felt surprised. The truth is, he knew this was coming. He knew that Jungkook would do this. He knew that the truth would eventually come out. There’s not much he can do but trust you and your blooming love for him.

“Jungkook confessed to me,” you begin. “At the hospital. When you briefly left, he took the opportunity to tell me about his feelings for me.. Ever since then, he’s just been a little more—”

“Obvious?”

“I guess I’ve been oblivious,” you laugh. Jin stays still. He doesn’t react. You continue, “yeah.. Okay. So, he keeps going on and on about how he did nothing wrong considering we’re not officially together. I don’t know! It really confuses me and I don’t know how to react whenever he suggests giving us a chance. Even called our celebratory coffee and cake run a date—”

Jin looks at you with a dull expression. Already feeling a little bitter, he chooses the latter. He’s been thinking this over for a while now. What would he say or do when this happens? It was going to happen. He’s always known that. Jungkook is a man of timing—of course, he would do this when things between you and Jin were going smoothly. It hurt, of course, it did. Yet, he couldn’t find it in himself to feel anger towards you or Jungkook. A part of Jin has already accepted the possibility of losing. The possibility of not being with you. The possibility of Jungkook being right the entire time.

“I think you should.”

“What?” Your voice drops, unable to comprehend his distance. He doesn’t even look fazed. This is news to you. You never pictured him to be the type to go crazy jealous, but you expected more than this. More than giving up in a split second—more than this. “You think I should date Jungkook?”

“I think you should do what you think you need to,” Jin elaborates. His advice catches you by surprise and you aren’t sure why you feel your heart begin to tug. You feel disappointed. Shouldn’t he be advising against this? Doesn’t he want you?

“Look,” he pauses, acknowledging your concerned expression. “I think you two have been friends for so long and Jungkook has tried to suppress his feelings forever. That’s it. If you’re curious too, I wouldn’t hold it against you if you decide to go out with him.”

“What?” Your heart continues to drop. It’s like he’s crazy! You can do crazy. You jump into conclusions. “Oh, so—what? We’re over? Do you understand what you’re saying? What I’ve said? Do you even care—”

“___, of course, I care! Do you think I want to say what I’m saying?” Jin’s patience fractures.

You look at him, eyes chasing his. “What are you saying?”

Jin sighs. A beat passes and you fight the tears that begin to form. “Do what you want,” Jin tells you. “I’ll do the same.”

“What does that mean?” you cry, feeling more confused than ever. It begins to burn. It feels like everything between you and Jin is being put on fire. You want to yell. You want to hit his chest and have him hold you tight—taking his words back. You want him to promise. You aren’t sure what, but you want him to promise something. Something that you can hold onto and fight for.

But he doesn’t say anything.

He exchanges a look with you before he feels your spirit die a little. You didn’t see this coming. You’ve always admired Jin’s patience and understanding.. His ability to disconnect when needed and his eagerness to unlearn his toxic ways for the better. You hate that he’s being selfless because it makes you feel like he doesn’t want you bad enough.

You want him to.

How could you not? Did you two not just spend the past two hours talking about each other's lives as if it’s meant to be spent together? How many more conversations do you two have to go through to finally grow up and just be together? This could be it. This could be that exact conversation you two need.

This chance.

This moment where he tells you to pick him—you will.

But he doesn’t, so you don’t.

“It means I won’t give up on us but I won’t stand in the way of you and Jungkook. This is on you, ___. You get to choose who to be with but you don’t get to tell either one of us who to love. I get that, don’t you? That’s why I can’t stop Jungkook if he has these unresolved feelings for you and why I can’t find it in me to just leave!”

“Do you love me?” you ask, heart wrenching with hope.

Jin hesitates. “If I say I do, would you have an easier time choosing between Jungkook and I?”

This time you hesitate.

Jin feels disappointed. He feels let down. He thought you were doing better, but this realization becomes more and more true every day. You were still a child, waiting to be loved by those who abandoned you. Though you rarely open up about your parents, it’s ridiculous and utterly heartbreaking how much they messed you up.

It sucks. It sucks so bad because this isn’t what you deserve. Parents aren’t supposed to walk out on you and friends shouldn’t kiss and complicate a stable relationship you shared all your life with. This is such a terrible position to be in. This spot in your life is unjust. He knows it. That’s why he can’t even blame you for being confusing. Why he can’t blame you for not knowing any better because you simply don’t.. However, to an extent, you need to do better.

“See, this is our issue, ___. You follow what others feel. Do you want to date Jungkook? Do you want me to love you? Do you want us? You’re so used to having decisions made for you. You’re so used to be taken care of, you don’t even know how to be yourself. I don’t know, ___. If I love you, who am I in love with? The collective decisions and pieces of others or you? The you that you’ve spent time building and understanding.. Do you love you?” Jin pushes himself to hold it together. “Every day, I try harder and harder to be the man for you. I do so because I care for you and I love—I love myself enough to be a better man. I owe it to myself to be a better man and to be loved the way I deserve to be. After Ari, fuck, I deserve better! You’re better,” Jin pauses.

“Do you know that you deserve the same as me? Because sometimes, it feels like you don’t.. Like you don’t even try. You’re a privilege to love, ___. Why don’t you know that?”

“I do try,” you whimper. “I don’t hate myself, Jin.” Your words slip out of your mouth so easily. You wonder if you answered too fast that it’s unconvincing. You wonder if you’ve just convinced yourself.

“But do you love yourself?” he asks sincerely. He wishes for you to nod and be confident with your answer. He wishes nothing but so much happiness for you and for all your complicated feelings to stop interfering with your functioning life.

He’s always known and understood it as much as he could. Which is why he never tried to ruin your friendship with Jungkook. Which is why he accepted and put himself in this position. Which is why he can’t tell you what to do. He knows your baggage and wants to carry it with you. What he can’t and won’t do is carry your baggage by himself. It’s something he noticed Jungkook has done for you over and over again. That’s the difference between the two; one shoulders all your pain so you don’t have to feel anything and the other shares it so it’s lighter for you.

“Do you love me?”

Jin bites his tongue.

That’s not the answer he was looking for.

He breathes, “no, don’t do that. We’re not talking about that now—“

“Jin—“

“—because you know I do.”

A beat.

“___, I’m just saying, it just so happens that we both love you.. Then, it is what it is. I’ll wait for you. I’ll leave. I’ll stay… But I’m not going to be the one to tell you to ignore Jungkook and his feelings for you.”

“Why not?” You begin to feel frustrated. “Why can’t you just tell me to—”

“Because as much as I’d love to, there is clearly a part of you that will hesitate if you fully came to me. I don’t know what it is but it remains unresolved. As long as nothing big happens between you two, I can stand my ground. I want you, and to have you… I need to have you entirely. I don’t think I have that from you right now. I don’t want half of your heart—I want all of it.”

“You do! You have it entirely—god, Jin! It feels like you aren’t even trying right now. All this bullshit about trying to make things work between us and you’re telling me to go to Jungkook?!”

“You asked.”

“Jin, do you want us to be together or not—”

“Do you?” he raises his tone. Not his voice, just his tone. Enough for you to shut up and gulp at his intensity. “___, if I do have you the way you’re insisting I do, then why are we having this conversation? If I really had you, you would’ve shut him down the moment he confessed. You would’ve left that room and came to find me. I would’ve took you home and we could’ve processed and worked on boundaries with Jungkook together. If I had you like you say I do; you would’ve told me earlier. You could’ve called and mentioned it on a random hour of the day and I would’ve felt better about it then than now. You wouldn’t have kept exchanging looks with him at the party tonight—you think I don’t see that shit?” Jin’s voice begins to break.

He takes a minute to calm himself before continuing. He’s afraid he’s overwhelming you but it’s too late. He needs to stand his ground.

“___, I think it’s great that you talked to him and sorted out your feelings to an extent. I think that it was good for you to get that clarity since you’re pretty dense, but how much of it was him convincing you to give him a chance? How much of it was Jungkook using your history to define your future together? How much of it was Jungkook telling you that you two belong together? In some ways, he’s right,” Jin concludes, “in the same sense, so am I.”

“What are you doing? Jin, please—” you sob, fighting the urge to crash your body onto his. Why isn’t he reaching out? Even just a hand would make you feel better.

“No,” he sighs, shifting away from you. Jin bites the insides of his cheeks before tilting his head. “___, what are you doing?”

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