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xpeachesncream · 3 years

Text

bands | thirteen

[ series masterlist ]

summary: jeon jungkook has it all: the looks, the fame, the money, the women. being considered the sexiest man in the industry, he finds no complaints about the way his life is going nor does he find any reason to apologize for the way he approaches it. he is a force to be reckoned with - until he meets you.

pairing: stripper!reader x idol!jjk

genre: (18+) strip club/nightlife au, post grad au | fluff, angst, smut

words: 3.9k

warnings: cussing, mature language/implied sexual content, slight degradation, trouble stirring behind the scenes if you squint, yeonjun and soobin (txt) make an appearance but also as reg 18 yr olds lol

tags: @brightcolorsoffendme @min-nicoleee @eggbutnotyolk @ra-mun-e @miinoongi @jimidol @ppeachyttae @thebeebi @bluesharksandfish @kooafraid @liriaus @thisartemisnevermisses @ggukkieland @preciouschimine @sunniejinnie @cypheruby @cyb3rbab3 @masterlists101 @awhnamjoon @redhedhoseok @wooya1224 @taeismydeath @jikookiekosmos @un2-verse @aynsx @wearenot7withu (please message me if you would like to be added to the taglist!)

"BTS' Jeon Jungkook rumored to be dating stripper from nightclub!"

"Jungkook is no longer single, ladies!"

"Jeon Jungkook is dating a stripper? Why the hell is he doing that?"

"Who the hell does she think she is? I bet she's not even pretty."

"Jungkook fell for a stripper? Out of all people? Damn, and I thought he was better than that."

Jungkook has been tired, the rumors constantly being spread day in and day out. But, it still didn't mean he was gonna say shit to prove himself to people out there. He didn't need to give anybody answers. Hell, this was strictly between you and him and that's how he wants to keep it.

Fuck every single one of you who didn't wanna be behind him and support him. Don't even think about calling yourself a fan of his if that's your mindset.

He could truly care less. He was happy and he felt ten times better than he has in a really long time. It's unfortunate how people love to stay narrow minded. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that it was so unfair for you - how they stuck to that stripper image, rather than really getting to know you beneath the surface.

But it's not like anyone else deserved to know the real you, not after all this shit. And he was gonna keep it that way, and protect you.

"Hey, don't listen to any of that shit, okay?" Jungkook says as he meets you in your car in the BigHit building garage. "None of that matters to me."

"I know, but Kook." You look at him. "Your career, BigHit literally might not even want me here and-and—"

"Then I'll make sure they understand it's not an issue, because it's really fucking not." He says, getting irritated only at the thought of the company giving him issues over you. He watches as you slightly frown, causing him to sigh and soften his own facial expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get worked up like that. It's just annoying how people are narrow-minded. This has absolutely nothing to do with you." You give him a small smile. "Come on, I'll walk you." You silently nod and hop out of your car. You follow beside him, your stomach in knots having to meet with their performance director. This meant you'd also most likely run into the rest of Bangtan.

In which happens to turn true pretty quickly.

"Jungkookie!" Hoseok says loudly down the hallway as he approaches the both of you. He does nothing besides smile, curiosity definitely filling his eyes.

"This is Y/N. Y/N, Hoseok hyung." He holds out his hand for you to shake, his head tilting ever so slightly because you know he's familiar with your face. He's just trying to remember from where. Or, he has recognized you, but he's trying his hardest not to say anything.

Cause they have seen all of you, especially in that fishnet bodysuit.

"Hi! Nice to meet you! You can call me Hobi for short. Are you meeting with someone?" You nod.

"Yeah." Is all you can reply with as you shyly tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

"Nice, goodluck!"

"Is everyone else here?" Jungkook asks, making Hobi nod.

"Yeah, but they're still running through some stuff in the dance studio. I just ran off to take a break."

"Okay." Jungkook looks at you. "Follow me, he's in one of the private studio rooms." You both part ways from Hoseok, the need to clutch onto Jungkook's arm immensely strong right now. You hold yourself off though, because even with passing a few female staff members, you catch them looking at you oddly with the way you're walking side by side with Jungkook.

Nope. Don't even think about it, Y/N. It doesn't matter.

Jungkook knocks softly on a door, the middle of it being made up of entirely frosted glass so it's difficult to see inside. Their performance director opens the door swiftly and welcomes you in with a warm smile, stepping aside to let you in.

"I've got it from here, Jungkookie. Thank you." Jungkook nods but tries to peek through the door to get one last glimpse of your face before he shuts it fully. "How are you doing, Y/N?" He sits in front of you, leaning onto his knees with his hands fully clasped together.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Good, tired." He chuckles. "Thanks for taking my call earlier and for meeting at such short notice on a weekend. I had a couple of things come up and didn't want to push things off until later." You smile.

"It's no problem."

"Jungkook tells me a lot about you."

"Does he now?" You chuckle and tilt your head to the side.

"Says you're a really good person. Super hardworking. Told me a little bit about your situation with your brother."

"Mmyeah, it's a little complicated."

"It's alright, no need to get into the details." He smiles before letting out a small sigh. "It's incredibly rare for me to hear Jungkook speak like that. In general. He's usually very closed off, doesn't like to let people in much. He really respects you, you know? Cares about you a whole lot." You slightly blush.

"I'm still getting used to it." He chuckled.

"Look, I know you've been worrying because of where you've been and all that, but I want to reassure you that none of it matters. I don't like to focus on all that. You're here as you, not her." He says, putting another pronoun to your stripper persona.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." He nods. There's a small pause before he begins to speak again.

"I could really use some help around here if you're still interested? The boys are becoming a lot for me to handle."

"Ah-uh, yeah! Of course I am." You found yourself stuttering at the sudden offer. Was this fucking real?! "But, you are aware of where me and Jungkook are at, right?" You ask, trying to be completely transparent and honest about their relationship. He nods and waves his hand out.

"As long as you keep it professional here, right?" You nod.

"Right."

"Come, let me show you around really quickly and have you formally meet the boys." You swallowed the lump in your throat. Fucking great. He definitely didn't know they've all seen your titties and pussy out during Yoongi's birthday, and now here you were - about to meet them again in this environment. Hobi was awkward enough even though he tried not to be.

Surprisingly, Jungkook wasn't waiting outside in the hallway like you thought he would be, but the tour commences and the PD is taking you around pretty quickly. You feel even more awkward and somewhat alone [even though you weren't] without Jungkook nearby, but you chug along and say your hello's to the people you're introduced to. He finally brings you into the dance studio, where there's loud ass music blasting, Jungkook, the boys and some backup dancers in front of the mirrors fooling around.

"Aye boys, come here real quick." You and Jimin lock eyes and your body suddenly gets tense. The room feels 10x hotter than it already is, especially when he slowly walks over and clenches his jaw. He is literally seeping with hate right now, maybe actually disgust, and he doesn't even try to hide it. Most of them for sure recognize you, but they seem to brush it off and give you a big wave/smile anyway.

"Last, that's Jimin - Jimin, Y/N." You give Jimin a fake smile, and the only thing his ass can reciprocate is the smallest, tight-lipped smile you have ever seen. You've never even seen your mom do that when she got mad or upset with you.

"Hi." Is all you can say.

"Sup." He looks at you before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Ooookay?" Namjoon furrows his brows as he watches Jimin walk away so rudely. "The hell was that about?"

"I knew that was Kookie's girlfriend! Maybe Jiminie remembers seeing her titties and shit too, needs to walk away before he gets his ass beat by him." Yoongi says lowly behind Namjoon.

"Yeah, like you're any better." Namjoon says, looking at Yoongi weirdly.

"I mean, we did see her practically naked." Jin says, chiming into the discussion.

"I touched her." Yoongi's mouth slightly hangs down. "I touched her."

"Go ahead, say it louder so Kookie can hear you." Jin nods sarcastically. "Go, say it!"

"No, stop." Yoongi's cheeks turn red while shaking his head and laughing. "He'll literally launch me out the window with one hand."

"Good."

"You asked for her to sit on your lap too, bro!"

"I was joking, and it's not like she did it anyway!"

"Whatever, I'm keeping my birthday deep in my memory storage."

"Clean slate for her so it should be for you too, my guy." Namjoon says as he has enough of their conversation.

You look at Jungkook who is silently standing there, looking like a big dork with a huge smile on his face and his thumbs up. You give him the tiniest nod before proceeding to follow the PD out.

"So?!" Jungkook dashes to meet you in their waiting room area, where an abnormally large picture of Jimin posing oddly hung up.

"He said he'll send me all the info and papers and stuff!" You respond excitedly as Kook hugs you and quickly swings you around.

"See, I knew it would work out!" He puts you down. "Are you gonna tell Kai?" You shook your head.

"Not today at least, it's his birthday and I don't wanna take away from that. It's his day." Jungkook smiles at you.

"Text me when you've picked him up? I should be home by then."

"Okay." You blush and back away, making Jungkook look at you with confusion. "I have to keep it professional here, duh."

"Ah I see." He chuckles. "That won't last very long."

"Jungkook." You whine.

"There's a lot of private rooms here and—"

"I'm not listening, sorry. I think Kai is suddenly calling me." You cover your ears as you begin to walk away, giving him one last smile before leaving him to the rest of rehearsals and whatever else they're doing. He laughs to himself as he waves you off, excited to get through the day so he can just spend time with you and Kai.

As the hours go on and it's about time for you to pick Kai up, you quickly stop by the store because you're a procrastinator and didn't buy Kai's birthday gift any earlier. You felt bad you weren't able to find the shoes he wanted, but you at least snagged the video game he had been talking about for a couple of days now. Before walking into the arcade, you made sure to write your birthday card and slip some more money into it before shoving it in your bag to give to him later.

"Your pretty sister is here." Yeonjun grabs Kai by the shoulder as he finishes up a game.

"Yeah, and you're too young for her."

"Age is nothing but a number. It's only like.. 6 years apart."

"Besides, she's taken, dude. Sorry." Kai snorts as he watches Yeonjun's smile fade. "You would have never had the chance."

"You're mean."

"I'm mean, or you just have really high, unrealistic expectations?" The rest of their friends laugh as they follow Kai over to you.

"Hey!" You smile at all his friends.

"Hiiiiii Y/N." They all say in unison, some waving in awe, while the others shyly dug their hands into their pockets. "Birthday boy, you all good to go? Got some good Loco Moco waiting for you."

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Happy birthday again, Kai! Get online later!" Soobin yells out.

"Yeah, yeah." He says, waving them off as he follows you out to your car.

"You guys run through the entire arcade?" Kai laughs.

"Pretty much." He sinks into his seat, legs damn near touching the glove compartment with how long he is. "I'm honestly so excited for Loco Moco. It's been years!"

"It has not been that long." You laughed.

"You're right, it's been months." Kai looks out the window. "Wait, you're passing the road to get to our go-to shop though?"

"Cause I found a better place."

"How is there a better place when that one was already supreme?!"

"Hey, trust me on this okay?" You laugh. Kai starts telling you about his day and how so many people he knew from school had been messaging him happy birthday. He truly looked his happiest today and it was all you could ask for. Though at the same time, your heart slightly sank at the fact that he'd be going off to uni soon and staying at the dorms. He was just growing up way too fast, and you wanted to spend as much time as you could with him now before he was too occupied being a college boy.

You slipped yourself past Jungkook's security, parking in the one guest spot they have in the garage that's closest to the elevator. Kai doesn't really question it and hops out anyway, his hands in his pockets as he follows you into the elevator and onto Jungkook's floor.

"You ready, kid?"

"Is this some like, Michelin Star Loco Moco restaurant?"

"Ah, I guess you could say that." You knocked on the door, hearing music playing in the background. Jungkook opens the door and Kai's eyes widen.

"Oh shit, that's Jungkook?" Kook laughs and steps aside to let you both in. "Sis why—what—how come you didn't tell me we were seeing your boyfriend? I look like a mess!" He says lowly.

"You don't!"

"Hey Kai! Happy Birthday!" Jungkook says smiling, making Kai actually blush. He's cheeks are tinted with a rosy color and he suddenly gets all shy.

"Thanks."

"Your brother's tall." Jungkook looks at him up and down.

"Looking at an 18 year old 6 footer."

"Must be nice."

"Go sit." Kai silently nods as he sits awkwardly on Kook's couch, while you go and check in on him in the kitchen.

"Is he always that shy?"

"No. Just with you, apparently. He's not even that shy around girls." You chuckle as he places a quick kiss on your head. "Need my help?" You still ask even though the plates are neatly prepared already.

"Not really." He smiles down at you. "You hungry though?"

"Starving, actually." Your eyes light up at the plates. "Ouuuuuu, yum."

"Honestly, I think this batch might be better than my first."

"Still honored to be your guinea pig." You carry a plate over to Jungkook's coffee table in the living room.

"Oh shit, that looks amazing." Kai says, slipping himself down from the couch to the floor so he could get a good whiff of the plate. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jungkook hands you the remote before walking into his room. "Pick something."

"Here, birthday boy. Help me choose."

"Let's watch Soul on Disney+." At this point, Jungkook comes out of his room with a wrapped present, his eyes locked on the TV.

"Ooh, I keep seeing this everywhere! Niceeeee." Jungkook says, smiling with Kai nodding and already digging into his plate. "By the way, this is for you." You shoot him a look as he sits on the floor by you, watching as Kai unwraps the present. Kai's eyes light up as he sees a shoebox underneath the wrapping, quickly flipping the lid open to reveal those blue Air Jordans he wanted.

"Kook?!" You say lowly, making him smile at you and gently pinch your side.

"Holy shit!" He holds out a shoe, only for him to immediately shake his head and close the box again. "Jungkook, I can't take this." Kai says.

"No, it's your birthday."

"Yeah, but isn't this expensive? You've already done so much for me and my sister, I-I don't want to—"

"Kai, it's cool. If it's one thing you can do to repay me, it's to take my present." You literally want to cry at how sweet Jungkook is being with your brother. He had been good to you, no doubt, but this was one thing you didn't expect from him at all. Quite frankly, you had forgotten you mentioned the shoes to him. The fact that he actually remembered and kept his word.

"Okay." Kai says, gently setting the box down aside before looking at Jungkook with a small smile on his face. "Thank you. I really appreciate it. Like, even with the food and everything. It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome." You give him a soft smile before digging into your food while Soul was already off to a start. Kai and Jungkook devour their food together, with you following shortly behind as Jungkook brings over a small ice cream cake from his fridge for Kai to blow his candles on. After the boys had helped themselves to a good serving of the cake, they started getting hyper and pulled up Smash Bros on Kook's Nintendo Switch [as if Kai hadn't played enough games today]. It started to get intense; the boys jumping and yelling everywhere, bouncing off of the walls, with you getting pulled into the competition every now and then. Even though you knew you'd lost over and over again, you happily joined in anyway, seeing how excited your brother was - plus, it was always a bonus to hear Jungkook's loudly obnoxious, nerdy laugh.

"I WIN!"

"Hey, hey, hey. I let you win because it's your birthday." Jungkook said, making Kai laugh as he crashed to the floor.

"Sure." Kai huffed and puffed. "Crap, I'm tired. What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. We should start heading out, bubba." You patted Kai's chest gently.

"What? No, it's late. Why don't you two just stay here?" You suddenly remembered you've had Kai's shit in your trunk since you dropped him off at Yeonjun's this morning. You didn't have any change of clothes, but that could easily be fixed with Jungkook's closet.

"Only if the queen wants, she's driving."

"It's late, baby." Jungkook says to you softly. "No way I'm letting you two head out there."

"Okay." You give him a small smile before handing your keys. "Can you do me a favor?" He chuckles.

"What is it?"

"Kai's duffle bag is in my trunk." He nods and takes your keys.

"I got it. Kai, you can take the guest room or my office room." Jungkook says with his 3-bedroom apartment having ass. "I have my computer in my office room though, and a pull out bed. I don't know how comfy you'll be."

"It's cool, I'll just take your guest room. I always bring my laptop and switch whenever I sleep at my sister's." Kai says getting up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jungkook says, toothlessly smiling at the both of you, completely endeared at how alike you two were - even down to the fact that you both said thank you for every little thing. If this was a result of Kai being close to you and having you as pretty much his mother figure, then Jungkook wouldn't know what to do with his feelings. He felt butterflies every time he thought about how cute and sweet you were, and he was always excited to be around you.

Jungkook does a quick jog to your car, grabbing Kai's Nike duffle from your trunk before jogging back to the elevator and back to his apartment. He walks in to see Kai helping you clean up the remaining dishes in the sink, tidying the rest of the things in his kitchen.

"Thank you." Jungkook says himself, a little unfamiliar with saying such a thing to be completely honest.

"You're welcome." You say softly, wiping your hands on his hand towel. "Off to bed, or are you gonna go online with your friends?"

"I'll see what they're up to, but I'm pretty beat. Today was fun." Kai smiles at the both of you. "I really appreciate it." You ruffle his hair a bit before gently pushing him towards his bedroom for the night.

"Bathroom's right over there, help yourself to anything you need."

"Don't stay up too late."

"Only if you aren't too loud." You gasp while Jungkook laughs out loud.

"Kai!"

"Hey, I'm just being honest. Please remember that I'm right in this room."

"Oh my god, go to bed." You shove him inside the room and shut his door. "Don't even say a word." You look at Jungkook shyly as you hurriedly brush past him to get into his room - even though Jungkook is literally right behind you with those long ass legs of his, making every stride so much easier for him to catch up to you.

"What's your outfit of choice tonight, pretty lady?" He shuts his door behind him as you start to make your way into his closet.

"Hm, I'll just wear this plain black--" You unfold it. "Balenciaga? Okay, I definitely can't just wear this to sleep."

"Why not?"

"Because this is like, name brand and everything."

"So?" He shrugs. "Just wear it, babygirl. It's not gonna make much of a difference, you're wearing it either way." You do a slight pout before you start to slip out of your clothes to get into his shirt. You make his way to his bathroom to take a little tinkle when you notice another toothbrush sitting next to his. A pink toothbrush, next to his blue one.

"Why do you have two toothbrushes?" You wash your hands as he comes in to the bathroom to start getting ready for bed.

"That's yours." Your eyes light up at his statement.

"Mine?"

"I figured since you'd be over more, it'd be easier for you." He furrows his brows lightly. "Unless.. you didn't want--" You press a kiss against his lips, his hands resting on your arms to keep you close.

"No, I did want that. Thank you."

"Of course, baby." He pecks your forehead.

"By the way, way to make me look like such a bad sister!" You say as you start getting your toothbrush ready.

"Why? The shoes?"

"The shoes, the Loco Moco, the games, the ice cream cake." You laughed. "I literally got him a video game and some money."

"I mean, he is turning 18. I wanted to help make it as memorable as possible."

"I appreciate you a lot. Really."

"I appreciate you too." Your eyes widen as you brush your teeth.

"Waaaaow, say thaht wun mohr tiyme." You say, pulling a Jungkook while brushing your teeth.

"Eye apprushiate yoh toh." You giggle. The both of you finish getting ready for bed before slipping into his warm sheets. Jungkook never goes to sleep early, however, he makes sure all the lights are off and that the show he's watching isn't too loud. You have no idea what's going on in his show, but you lay on his chest to watch for a little bit until you feel yourself getting a little more sleepy. He's holding you close, his hand brushing through your hair softly, causing tingles to ripple through your body.

"Kook."

"Yes, baby?"

"You make me happy." You say sleepily as you hung him tighter. He smiles down at you, your eyes now shut close as you slowly start to drift into a deep sleep. He presses a light kiss against your head, fingers still in your hair.

"You make me happy too, sweetheart."

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babyjamiebarnes · 3 years

Text

Build-A-Bear

Part Twelve

Featuring: Bucky x Stark!reader, dad!Tony, Steve, Sam, bff!Peter Parker

Warnings: language, mentions of smut/sex tapes, blackmail/threatening

Summary: With Tony now on your side, you and Bucky are able to take steps toward stopping your blackmailer — until things take a dark turn.

Author’s Note: Ugh, it’s not as long as I’d like it to be but it’s a good lead-up to the final chapter and I won’t feel so bad about taking forever if I finally get something out there 😖 I haven’t been in the best headspace lately but things are kind of looking up so hopefully I get the conclusion out faster 😞

Series Masterlist

Tags: @amourmarvel @fangirlvoice @kennedywxlsh @devilswaldorf @what-the-hap-is-fuckning @alyispunk @fredweasleysbitchh @wearegroot @sunflowerbebe107 @prestigious-tea @brckenmemories @angelbabymed @charmedbysarge @cruelsummer-s @fandomlovver @ahahafudge @thebivirgin

You thanked every deity in existence that there wasn’t enough room for you and four grown men in the Jeep because your dad had to drive separately from you, Bucky, Steve, and Sam. Once the doors shut, however, there was one question lingering in the air.

“So… how’d it go?” Sam asked.

Bucky let out a sigh.

“I’m still alive,” he deadpanned.

“Are you gonna… you know… stay that way?” Sam asked slowly.

You couldn’t help the giggle that escaped your lips at the question. And when Bucky glanced over at you, he laughed quietly too. Which led to Steve chuckling at him and Sam smiling at the way he (unintentionally) relieved some of the gravity of the situation.

Bucky’s shoulders relaxed a bit for the rest of the drive, but you caught him growing tense again when you all met your dad in the underground parking garage. It was the only place in your apartment building with no windows and no audio, but you knew there was video surveillance. There was a chance your stalker had access to the video, most likely through hacking the system, but they wouldn’t know what was being said. As you approached your father, he pulled what looked like two sniper rifles out of the backseat.

“Barnes, Wilson. You’re coming with me,” he said.

“Dad,” you chastised, assuming he was only taking Bucky with him to keep him from you.

“He was a World War II sniper, [Y/N]. It makes sense to have him using a scope to check where this psycho was watching you.”

You were silent in response, mostly because you knew he was right. And you’d still have Steve with you in your apartment, so it’s not like you’d be left alone.

Bucky immediately checked the safety and pulled back the bolt handle to make sure it was fully unloaded. He didn’t expect it to have anything in the chamber since there was no magazine, but he learned to take extra precaution. And just like when he cleared your apartment all those months ago, something about seeing him wield the power of a firearm made you shiver. How very American of you.

“These are all connected to a secure line,” Tony continued as he handed everyone the type of flip phone you had in middle school. “I hope you all remember how to text the old fashioned way because we’re not calling unless absolutely necessary. Considering what was in the video,” his jaw clenched as his eyes shot daggers at Bucky, “there are probably audio and video devices all over the apartment.”

“We scanned for that when we first started staying with her,” Sam said. “I just figured the video was taken before her identity was released.”

What he said just solidified Steve’s assumption. You definitely knew who was blackmailing you.

“It was after,” you said. “It was… that night was shortly after the…” you hesitated. Everyone looked at you patiently, but you could see Bucky take a subtle step away from your dad. He knew when the video was taken. “Um, it was shortly after the, uh, the pregnancy scare.”

All eyes moved to Bucky and Tony. The emotions that flickered across your dad’s face clearly showed his thoughts: shock, confusion, realization... You wouldn’t be surprised if this was the straw that broke the camel’s back; Bucky must’ve had the same thought as he darted to stand behind you.

“The what?!” Tony barked. “You — Barnes! I’m gonna —” He cut himself off and just huffed out a heavy breath, his hands curled into fists by his side and his jaw tight in an attempt to calm himself down.

“Not to make things worse but it takes two,” you said. “I was a willing participant.”

“But did it have to be with him?!”

“Dad!”

“I’m just saying, pumpkin, it could’ve been Parker!”

“He’s a kid!”

“And he,” your dad countered, pointing at Bucky, “is a senior citizen!”

“Oh my god,” you groaned. “I’m not having this conversation now. We’ll argue about my taste in men later. Go check out the buildings.”

You twisted on your heel and pulled Bucky down for a very unnecessary kiss. You knew it pissed your dad off, but he was being so frustrating! With a snap of his fingers, Tony got Sam and Bucky to follow him out the doors to the street where they would split up and check out the buildings within view of your kitchen and bedroom to see which one the photos were taken from.

Steve led you up to your apartment so you two could stand in the kitchen for everyone to look for from their respective buildings. You hopped up onto the counter while Steve leaned against the fridge across from you, arms crossed and brow furrowed as your eyes met.

“I think you’re right,” you said plainly. Steve held his finger up to his lips and pulled out the flip phone. You were kind of shocked he knew how pre-smart phone texting worked, but he continued to surprise you.

What makes you say that?

It’s not easy to get in this building. It’s even harder to get in my apartment.

Right as you hit send, a familiar jolt of realization shot up your spine. There was one major thing all of you were forgetting. You leaped off the counter and ran to your bedroom with Steve hot on your heels. In your earlier panic, none of you thought to look for a camera in the bedroom. There’s only one angle that video could’ve been taken from and it would’ve had to be inside your room.

If your memory served you correctly, the camera would’ve been set up somewhere on or near your bookshelf. Steve stood in the doorway while you scanned through all your books. You practically knew your setup by heart, so catching the skinny book that was out of place didn’t take long.

You turned to face Steve as you said, “I don’t have a hard cover copy of ‘Romeo and Juliet.’” You turned back to glare at the book and mumbled, “I actually hate ‘Romeo and Juliet’.”

The book was pretty thin, making it stand out even more in your extensive collection, but the title was written in a clear, elegant script along the spine. It almost made you question your own memory — until you noticed the ballpoint-sized hole near the bottom. The black background made it almost indistinguishable, but when you pulled it from the shelf, the hole was evident. And when you pulled it open, you found wires inside the cut-out pages and a small camera tucked against the hole in the spine.

“That fucker didn’t even clean up after himself,” you spat, throwing the pseudo-book onto your mattress. Steve picked it up and checked it out before calling Peter.

“Hey, if I send you a camera, can you see if it’s being wirelessly streamed to a separate device?” Your head snapped back to Steve at those words. When did the old man become so well-versed with tech? The last you knew, he struggled to take an iPhone video. Just a few months ago, he asked what the difference was between a flash drive and a hard drive.

While Steve talked to Peter, you walked back to the kitchen to see if the other boys were all in place. You didn’t have the scopes and binoculars they did, but you could still take a guess at which building your stalker took the photos from.

There weren’t many buildings high and close enough for that kind of angle and clarity, but the one you eyed most was just a bit to your left and a couple stories above where your apartment sat in your building. It wouldn’t be cheap to get a place like that, which made you start to doubt Steve’s assumption.

As you stood in the floor-to-ceiling window frame of your kitchen, your flip phone started buzzing in your hand.

“Yeah?” you answered.

“Don’t say anything that might give us away, in case there’s a recording device in your apartment,” Tony said. “I’m in the building right across from you but the angle doesn’t feel right. I think your boy toy is in the right place.”

As if on cue, Steve stepped beside you and answered his phone.

“Hey, Buck.”

“Sounds like you’re right,” you said to your dad. “He just called Steve.”

“We’ll meet you in the parking garage.” With that, your line went dead.

“Okay, meet us downstairs,” Steve said before ending his own call. “Buck’s pretty sure he found the apartment the photos were taken from. Sent the address to Parker so we should get contact info soon.”

You just nodded and headed downstairs again. Things were finally starting to look up. You had two new leads on top of anything Peter, Pepper, and Happy had found and prayed they somehow linked back to Steve’s accused.

Unfortunately, your optimism was shattered when everyone met back up in the garage. Before anyone could say a word, your personal cell started ringing, but the caller ID was... Bucky.

No one said a word as you all met beside the Jeep and you showed everyone the “James 🐻” ringing on your screen, resulting in a lot of confused looks. Bucky pulled his phone out of his pocket and proved he wasn’t accidentally butt-dialing you, freezing your blood in your veins.

“They’re spoofing,” Tony concluded.

“Answer it,” Steve said.

“Put it on speaker,” Sam added quickly.

You nodded as you pressed “accept,” doing your best to keep your voice steady and unbothered.

“Hello?”

“You’ve really done it now, [Y/N].” The voice on the other end said slowly. They were clearly distorting the sound and you’d bet they couldn’t be traced. They’d never be that stupid. “Have your boyfriend search your name.”

You looked up at Bucky who was scrambling to search your name on his phone… and immediately paled. He almost looked like he had seen a ghost, though you’d argue what he actually saw was so much worse.

“They released the video.”

Your throat constricted as you tried to not literally throw up at those four words. And when Bucky shuffled beside you to show you the top results under your name, you weren’t sure how long you could hold it back. The first page of results was just news articles about your sex tape even though it had been released only 20 minutes ago. You snatched Bucky’s phone and clicked the link to the video and sure enough, it was you and Bucky. Two hours of you and Bucky.

“You son of a bitch,” you practically growled into the phone. “That wasn’t part of your fucking deal.”

“You took away my first bargaining chip so I played my second. And believe me, I’ve got plenty more videos. You two are quite the pair,” the unnaturally deep voice snarked. “But now you also know lives will be lost if you don’t listen. You now have three days or that man and his family die.”

The line cut out then, leaving everyone standing in stunned silence.

“I’ll get Pep on taking down the video,” Tony muttered before pulling his phone out to text Pepper. “We’ll have to swing by a couple banks and pull out the money.”

“Dad, I don’t want you to bail me out,” you practically whined.

“We don’t have any other option, [Y/N],” he snapped. “You don’t have to give a shit about him releasing sex tapes of you and the Vibranium Vibrator,” Bucky cringed at that nickname, “but I know you won’t let that other kid’s family die. We’ll keep trying to track them down, but we have to be prepared.”

You sighed. You knew he was right. If you ended up finding the culprit, if Steve was right, you could just put the money back. Plus, two million out of your father’s billions wasn’t enough to break him.

“Okay, fine. Let’s get ready,” you mumbled.

Steve interjected before anyone moved too far.

“I have a plan.”

#bucky x stark!reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x stark!reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes series #Stark!reader

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astralaffairs · 4 years

Note

okay okay i was brainstorming a fotp verse drabble request and i got to thinking... if thomas ever got asked about y/n and her articles on him at like a press conference or something, what would he say? obviously he isn't going to reveal... whatever their relationship is but would he praise her writing? or would he crack a few (more lighthearted) jokes at her expense? u don't have to drabble this or anything i was just curious 🥺

I LOVE IT he'd totally be trying to tread lightly like u just KNOW she's there in the audience watching him like 🤨 but he absolutely wouldn't be able to keep himself from making fun of her j a lil. that man is ultimately just a big softie tho

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The room he'd rented out for his press conference had been far from spacious -- it couldn't have been more than twenty rows of metal chairs which sat before where he stood at a podium at the front of the room. The event had been limited; reporters could only be sent from approved publications (a restriction that, in Y/N's opinion, was just another way of saying they were aiming for as much confirmation bias as possible), and as the primaries had made it abundantly clear who would end up as the Republican presidential nominee, everyone had been clamoring for spots.

Not being even close to a senior reporter, Y/N hadn't expected to be sent. Her original plan for the evening included watching the live stream on her laptop and texting the keynote speaker all the mockery she'd be able to offer for his answers. However, her history with Jefferson -- that is, the Jefferson campaign, of course -- had apparently granted her a sharp, glossy lanyard and a seat in the second row. She'd neglected to mention that small detail to him, though.

His eyes had found hers almost immediately when he took his place before the rows of journalists, all chomping at the bit to have the most exclusive information they could get out of him as quickly as they could get him to speak. However, he continued scanning the crowd, not missing a beat. If not for the wry, surprised smile that'd broken into his front of relaxed professionalism, she'd have almost thought he didn't see her.

But that was all more than twenty questions ago, before he'd fallen into the swing of his public persona, before she'd all but disregarded their prior connection; when her focus was on typing at over 80 words per minute, desperate not to miss a single detail, she couldn't spare a moment to reminisce on having been pinned to his wall the night prior, couldn't think about the bruises littered across her thighs.

She was fully immersed in fact-checking his last response about drone strikes in Afghanistan, because there was no way those empirics were correct; she'd definitely read somewhere that--

"Secretary Jefferson, I'm sure you're aware by now of the series of articles covering your campaign attributed to a Y/N L/N."

Her fingers froze. A small, entertained smile graced her lips, and her head slowly rose from her laptop to find Thomas with his lips pursed, his gaze trained on the reporter still speaking. She could tell by the tension in his shoulders that it was all he could do to control his expression.

"It's been on my radar," he answered mildly, and the reporter continued.

"Considering how prominent they've become in the public eye, what do you think of the writing?" A beat passed; Y/N folded her arms, sat back in her chair, rather enjoying watching the scene before her play out. "Ms. L/N has covered everything from the day you announced that you'd decided to run, but you've never addressed any of the conclusions she draws. Is it simply because she's correct? Or would you like to respond to any of her judgments?"

Thomas looked conflicted where he stood at the front of the room. His gaze flickered over to Y/N, for only a fleeting moment, and she raised an eyebrow. When he looked back at the other reporter, his jaw was tense, tongue in cheek, but she could still see the mischievous glint to his gaze.

"Well, I'll try to keep this brief, since there's too much writin' there to cover in the next couple of minutes," he said, and his controlled expression was gradually easing into entertainment. "I can't tell you she's been makin' up any of the info about my time as the Secretary of State. That's all public knowledge, no matter how much fun Ms. L/N's been having paintin' me as some kinda covert international miscreant."

Again, she caught his stare, now wearing a deep-set scowl, and the amusement in his words was gradually pushing toward the surface. "Of course there are some things I've done that I regret, but I think my time as... what'd she call me, an 'agent of antagonism?'"

"I believe her words were an 'envoy of enmity.'"

"That's the one." He was grinning outright, by then, though her gaze was deadpanned when it met his. His enjoyment of the situation was clear to her. "Anyway, I think havin' made the mistakes I did earlier on in my career's taught me how to avoid 'em in the future, and my field experience has positioned me well for understandin' the role the president's gotta take on in such a turbulent international community. That said, I have... a high level of respect for Ms. L/N."

The irony in his tone had dropped off with his final sentences. His eyes found hers, and she was wearing an easy smile. The teasing spark in his gaze hadn't faded, but it was mingled with a warmth she hadn't noticed just seconds before. That time, he didn't look back to the other reporter.

"Now, you won't catch me pretendin' she hasn't been a bit of a pain along the way--"

Y/N rolled her eyes.

"--and I can't say her Twitter's been all that flatterin' to me--" Scattered, quiet laughter came from the crowd collected in the room. Y/N's glare was present but weak; his tone was too lighthearted for any of the journalists to take his words all that seriously, and his gaze was far too playful for her to maintain any front of offense. "--but if anyone was gonna make a whole career outta writin' about me, I guess I gotta consider myself lucky it wasn't someone who came in with a misconception of me as some power-hungry corporate sellout, or anything."

He raised an eyebrow for just a moment, and though she was shaking her head, somewhere between exasperated and amused, heat rose in the back of Y/N's neck at his words. A twinge of embarrassment and regret dimmed her smile, but she knew his sentiment wasn't resentful.

"She's offered some tough feedback, but her writin' about my platform's been pretty nuanced, 'n I can appreciate a reporter who's willin' to come around to my way of thinkin' on a couple of things." His wink was short, sly, and from the disparate chuckles throughout the room, those around her seemed to think there was some joke they all believed to be in on. (All the better for Y/N, anyway. She didn't need anyone noticing Thomas Jefferson eyeing her in the middle of his own press conference -- really, that was something she'd much rather have kept for her own.)

"Hearin' what she has to say has made me reflect on a couple of things, and I think knowin' so much about one person's opinion of me made me re-evaluate some of the things I took for granted." His words were gentle, though the brazen confidence he still held himself with wouldn't have given off the impression that they might've been. Y/N's gaze was soft, and she was taken ever-so-slightly aback -- as per usual -- by his compassion.

"Dealin' with her opinions has been a bit of a ride, but I like to think I'm a better person for it. She's added a lot of value to my... campaign, and at the end of the day, I really do appreciate her havin' been around all this time." His pause after that went on just a bit too long. She didn't break his stare; the look in his eyes was absent, preoccupied if only for a second, but when she offered him a grateful smile, he was right there with her. The teasing in his demeanor had been overshadowed by a fondness that, had she not known better (much like everyone sitting to her left and right), she might've mistaken for polite cordiality, a front plastered on to mask some sort of animosity toward her published appraisal of him.

When the silence stretched on, she finally raised her eyebrows at him, nodding back toward the reporter who'd asked the question, and he seemed to have broken from a trance, giving her a smile as warm as her own before he turned back to address the room.

"Other questions?"

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ninjakasuga · 4 years

Text

Sonal Celebration: Day 5

Day 5 of the Sonic & Sally celebration hosted by @boundforfreedomsonsal and here is my contribution to the ‘Alternative Universe’ prompt, ENJOY!!

Alternative Universe:

[Author’s notes: Gonna be using the Reboot Archive-verse for this one; hopefully, you all will find it as good as my preSGW Archive-verse stuff. Minus one or two bits of altered history, there’s very little changed compared to my compulsion to exceedingly alter things in the preSGW timeline. Also, this one will push the PG-13 a bit (mostly due to constant nudity and implications), but I promise to keep it as tasteful as possible but the set up for this is too good to pass up.]

The first rays of sunlight managed to cut through the drawn white almost-see through curtains of the room. Small sunbeams touching a large bed in the middle of a moderately high-end hotel. The rays of light finally touched the face of a blue sleeping hedgehog, whose soft snoring slowly came to a halt as the light was enough to make his eyelid twitch and then finally open. The single eye narrowed before a hand reached from under the covers, and fumbled around at the nightstand, looking for something. Finding the object, a remote; a push of the button caused a thicker curtain to slowly draw close via a mechanical track system. Thus quashing the annoying light rays of the sun. Satisfied, Sonic placed the remote back on the nightstand and curled back into a comfortable position and tried to return to dreamland.

Yet a new sensation prevented sleep from returning to him. His sleepy brain at first had trouble deducing what was going on, he just knew his left ear felt wet- wait a minute. Blinking his eyes open, Sonic craned his head and glanced upward, finding a familiar chipmunk nibbling his ear gently. “Good morning Sal, must you do that every morning?” He softly grumbled in his greeting of the one sharing his bed.

The Princess softly giggled and merely began to ‘groom’ the fur around his ear. “I’m just indulging an innate urge native to my chipmunk and squirrel heritage.” Her playful tone oozed a mix of sass and snark, but also a tenderness only he and one other got to hear. “Is it wrong of me to love on or groom my boyfriend?”

With a sleepy yawn, Sonic managed a smile, “No, nothing wrong there, but can’t you do it when I’m not sleepy?”

The sassy Princess just smirked back, not backing down, and in retaliation, just held his ear between her teeth, causing him to shudder. “I can’t help it, it’s fun to tease you, plus it is almost noon.”

The blue hedgehog reached back his hand bumping her hip as he tried to reach for her fluffy tail but Sally angled her body so it was out of reach. “D-dirty pool Sal!” He squirmed as she started to chew on his ear again. “R-really dirty, didn’t you get enough lovin’ last night?”

Sally was not relenting and slid her arms around his chest, keeping him pinned as she held his very chewable and cute ear hostage. “I diiiiid, but that doesn’t mean I can’t just do this because I love you and I ca-aaaaaaaaaaaaaannn!!” She suddenly yelped and released his ear as she felt a hand grasp her fluffy tail and squeeze softly. Her yelp transforming into a partial moan as the hand continued squeezing and playfully toying with her fluffy appendage. “Aaah! N-Nicole?”

At her name, a third party in the bed slid up from her ‘hiding spot’ in the covers, appearing behind Sally. As if to mimic Sally, Nicole softly nipped at one of her ears, while still keeping a hand on her tail. “You rang Sally-sweetie? Sorry, but I saw you harassing my main Hog’ and I had to save him.” After a slight pause, she playfully added with a crooked smile. “Also this tail was wagging in my face, bad Princess. You know it makes Hedgehog’s and Lynx’s pounce Chipmunk’s.”

Pumping a fist, and now free of Sally’s nibbling, Sonic rolls onto his other side to face the two, smirking as he holds up his hand in the air. “Nicole my sweet cyber-lady gimme some love!”

“Always my main man’.” She happily returned the high five with a free hand, before their fingers latched together in a handhold.

Feigning hurt, Sally pouted with a quibble of her lip. “Et tu Nicole? I thought you were my girlfriend?”

Releasing Sally’s tail and bringing that arm around to tilt her chin, the Lynx leaned in to kiss her lips. “I am, but I’m also his girlfriend, and you were being a Princess bully.” The matter-of-fact way the line was delivered, made Sonic snicker and Sally roll her eyes.

“I am not a Princess bully, and I’ll remember this next time he picks on you.” Arms crossed, Sally huffed, but a quiver of her lip hinted she was being playful and barely held back snickering at her own BS.

After releasing Nicole’s hand, Sonic put that hand to his chest as he sat up in bed. “Moi? Pick on Nicole? For shame Sally, why would I do that? She’s still getting used to her bio-nanite body, I’d be cruel to use my advanced knowledge of pranking on her.”

Both females stared at him with raised eyebrows and expressions unique to each other, that spoke volumes of how much they did not believe him. After a few moments of staring, the trio breaks out into sputters and then full-blown laughter. As their laughter died down, the three gave each other a hug, a kiss and then climbed out of bed.

Stretching, Sonic picked up the remote and had the thick curtain drawn to let sunlight in and so they could see the view outside. As he started to do a few post-wake-up stretches his mind wandered a bit, musing on recent events. After the Dark Gaia/Planet Break incident had been dealt with; the United Federation and other agencies against Eggman, helped the Freedom Fighters tow the Freedom Stormer to a coastal city where a G.U.N. controlled harbor and shipyard were stationed. As a thank you, for their efforts in helping fix the planet and stop Dark Gaia; G.U.N. offered the use of the shipyard to repair the Freedom Stormer. In the meantime, they would be set up at a hotel, on the U.F. 's tab with meals comped on top. Rather generous but none of the Freedom Fighters saw a reason to turn down the offer.

Tails and Rotor often would go to the shipyard to continue repairs, either by themselves or with Nicole or in some cases, help from the shipyard staff depending on what part of the flying vessel was being worked on. For the two tech-savvy inventors repairing the Stormer WAS a vacation, especially as they could get parts to do upgrades they had been pondering installing for a time. Oh, they still took some time to relax at the resort, but they were very content working at their craft.

Bunnie and Antoine decided to use the free time to have as they put it ‘extended honeymoon’ as their original one got cut short thanks to Eggman’s scheme of the week at the time. A sentiment everyone supported and so the two were spending most of this ‘mini-vacation’ by themselves for obvious reasons.

Big simply enjoyed being able to fish from the docks or the local beach. Give the big guy a chance to fulfill his pastime and he was content.

Amy went to visit her cousin who they found out was in the next town over. Some guy named Rob whose wife had just delivered their firstborn and Amy was keen to see the new baby. Cream and Cheese went with her, the young rabbit eager to see the newborn herself and enjoy the free time with one of her favorite people.

As for the three of them; well they would help with the Freedom Stormer repairs sometimes; especially Nicole as she would download herself back into the Stormer’s systems and help figure out what still needed fixing or simply help. Other times she would be helping Sally with her workload.

Speaking of Sally, she did what Sally did best when she wasn’t helping with getting the Stormer up and running, she was multitasking. Updating her Father, the King on what was going on, hosting holo-calls with allied leaders to discuss how to deal with Eggman while he was licking his wounds from this recent defeat. While Sonic usually found the ‘diplomacy’ a snore-feast he had to admit he enjoyed seeing Sally fired up and showing she had the chops as future Queen. Heck, she’d been pushing for the alliances to all really start some ‘info campaign’ to make sure the world knew just how far Dr. Eggman went since he was behind the whole planet breaking apart. Some stuff about ‘weakening his supporters' faith in him’ and stuff about ‘getting those still apathetic to the cause to see what will happen if they don’t all unite to stop the Eggman Empire’, etc, etc.

As for Sonic himself, when he wasn’t running, or doing what little grunt work he was capable of with the ongoing Freedom Stormer repairs; he was enjoying some needed downtime with Sally and Nicole. Especially since the three of them were keeping their ‘more than friends’ relations on the mum. Looking back at the two women who were gathering their discarded clothing items, he felt his cheeks redden at how things changed last night. In a really nice way, but well after focusing on saving the world and not being a werehog at night anymore, Sonic had not given things getting more intimate a thought, and they didn’t even go all the way last night. Just a lot of touching, kissing, and sleeping together without pajamas.

Then again when you nearly die for the umpteenth time and given how ‘close’ this last adventure was; in a way, he understood the need for something more. Whether or not they might cross the ‘next threshold’ anytime soon he didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to rush things. Some things were better taken the ‘slo-mo route’. Yet he doubted he would deny either of them if they sought more and everyone was in agreement. It was just one of those, see what may come situations with this three-way relationship.

Moving towards the window, he stared out at the lovely view facing the beach and a small stretch of beachside near the resort. The sun was up, and the world looked at peace, at least for the time being. One wouldn’t think the planet was in pieces last week. His smile slowly eased into a frown as a forlorn expression washed over his face as he recalled the ‘sacrifice’ made to fix everything. Okay maybe sacrifice was overkill, Chip wasn’t dead, he was just stuck inside the planet. Even with his assurances he could ‘feel and see’ them through the planet itself, it didn’t remove the sense of loss Sonic felt since the spirit returned to his duties. It hadn’t been that long Chip had been with them, but he left an impact and he’d become fond of the little guy.

“You gals think Chip’s okay? That he ain’t alone where he is?” He spoke suddenly, as he stared out the window. His words causing both Sally and Nicole to turn his way, their expressions almost mirroring Sonic’s as the loss of their friend hit them. Yet they each also carried concern for the blue hedgehog, since he was the one taking Chip’s return to the planet hardest. “I know he said he could, ‘feel’ through the world now that the Light and Dark Gaia were in balance and harmony was restored; that he wouldn’t be lonely like he was before; but… I worry he just said that to make it easier for us.”

He felt two pairs of arms wrap around him from behind, not an easy task with his quills, but Sally and Nicole seemed to have picked up the best way to go for a double hug without any quills jabbing into him. After a sigh exhaled from his throat, he rested a hand on each of theirs. “Sorry, don’t mean to be a downer, I just miss the little guy.”

Placing a kiss to his right cheek, Sally warmly nuzzled him as she craned her head so their eyes met. “It’s okay to feel that way Sonic, we all miss him in our own ways, and out of all of us you bonded to him the most.”

“You got him excited to see the world to understand the planet he was meant to protect and serve in his role. Not unlike how two certain someone’s did so for me.” Murmured Nicole as she rested her chin on Sonic’s shoulder, her fingers curling in his chest fur, a habit Sonic noticed that the lynx had picked up. “You inspired him to be the best he could, to find the courage inside he felt he lacked. Take it from me Sonic, even if he’s stuck within the planet, he knows he’s not alone and that he has you, and the rest of us as his friends.”

“I hope so, I really hope so Nicole.” As another sigh left him, the hedgehog slowly began to smile again as he leaned against the two women in his life. “Then all the more reason to kick Eggman’s keister so Chip doesn’t have to fret about some other horror being unleashed, and maybe, when all’s clear we can see him again.”

“That’s the spirit Sonic.” Cheered Sally as she squeezed him before taking his right arm and nudging him to follow. “Come on, the three of us should clean up, and that shower should easily handle three Mobian’s given it’s designed with humans in mind as well.” Her blue eyes twinkle with a bit of mischief as she smiled more. “I wash your back, you wash mine?”

“I call dibs on the tail!”

Laughing at Nicole’s outburst, Sonic shook his head, before giving the lynx a grin. “Fine you get the tail I’ll get the top!”

“Deal!” The lynx clasped hands with Sonic, a deal was struck.

Feeling a bead of sweat start to roll down the side of her face, Sally suddenly started to regret her suggestion. “Uh guys, WHA-?!” She cried out as she was lifted up into the air, Nicole holding her up by her feet, while Sonic held her up with his hands grasping under her arms. “N-now we shouldn’t get crazy the others will start to wonder if we’re late-.”

“Assuming they ain’t sleeping in themselves after all this is a vacation as much as recuperation from all the fighting.” The lynx sing-songed with a cheerful hum as she helped Sonic carry Sally to the bathroom. “We’ll behave and stick to just washing.”

“Maybe.” Sonic mused, earning a giggle from Nicole while Sally rolled her eyes, but smiled warmly.

“I love you goofs, and since you’re adamant, very well your Princess awaits her washing!”

The three share a laugh as Sonic uses his foot to kick the bathroom door shut. The worries of the future put aside as the three opted to share what time they could in this sort of blissful state. At any moment Eggman or his Egg Bosses could start a new incident and put their moment of peace out of commission. Sometimes, you just had to live a little.

[Author notes: Not very originally using the Post-SGW Reboot setting; but every time I tried to create some new alt-verse or one something of the prior ones; it just… Wasn’t working. So I decided to give this a go and rather enjoy it.

Also, I shamelessly do not regret my Sally/Nicole/Sonic shipping of the Reboot verse. So I decided to use it; and while in-story I didn’t explain it as to avoid killing the pacing here’s the 411 on Nicole having a ‘bio-nanite body’.

After restoring her hand-held, learning of her origins and stopping Phage, Dr. Ellidy before the crew left his lab revealed he had one other project that was to coincide with Nicole’s original purpose of being the digital repository of his daughter Nikki’s mind and memories. A pod containing a cluster of bio-nanites coded with Mobian Lynx DNA, that when given a brain to link with, could create a solid, actual living form. Granted it would still be a blend of natural and artificial but you’d have a living being able to experience the majority of the living experience. While still at odds with his feelings for Nicole; he feels Nikki would want Nicole to have all the chances to ‘have a full, and wonderful life and experiences’. So he gave the pod to the FF, and after some tinkering, Nicole downloaded herself into it and later emerged. Nicole was herself still but now with a body beyond hard light holograms. Yet she was still able to digitize herself and return to cyberspace and come back. Cue all the happiness.

As for the menage a trio, I may….revisit this and give them a fuller story and explanation. Hope it was good and sorry for the fatty A/N I just felt having to go over all this in-story would kill the pace.]

#Sonal #Sonally #boundingforfreedom #boundingforfreedomsonal #Fanfiction #Sonic the Hedgehog #Sally Acorn #Nicole the Lynx #PostSGW Reboot #romance #poly #sonsal week #sonsal celebration #boundforfreedom year two

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anotheronechicagobog · 4 years

Text

Advil and Water (Cause Goodwin Ain’t No Schmuck) 1 - You’re An Idiot Part 1

written by: @anotheronechicagobog

A/N: THIS IS A MANSTEAD FIC - you have been warned

A/N 2: Okay, so I have not seen season four or the majority of season five (partly because I didn’t have access for a while and partly because now I’m a bit nervous to), so I’ve been a little hesitant about starting up this series even though I’ve been working on Volomag and Vodka for Chicago PD, and Tylenol and Tequila for Chicago Fire for a little while now because of how pairings have been written in the show, both that I have and have not watched, and the state that all the characters were left in at the end of season five. So, I’ll try to watch season four and five (despite the anxiety I have because I know how things end up), but I’ll probably just act like neither of those seasons ever happened except for Marcel being added to the cast and Maggie getting ahppily married. Please comment your thoughts on this, I’m curious to see how it will be recieved.

Warnings: some swearing, I haven’t actually watched the season all this happened in so I’m kinda just working off of clips from youtube and info from some other fanfics that may not be entirely accurate, the Hippocratic oath, Will Halstead is slightly less idiotic than usual in this

“You’re an idiot.”

“Why this time?”

“You’re lying to Natalie. Everyone knows that you are, just not what about. And I suggest you tell her before everyone else finds out first.”

“Ms. Goodwin-”

“Don’t you ‘Ms. Goodwin’ me, not only are the two of you doctors in one of the city’s most frequented and respected emergency departments where you both play crucial roles in how said emergency department functions, I consider Natalie to be a treasured friend, and you are her fiance who gives me migraines. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I’m serious, William. I don’t know what you’re keeping from Natalie, but you need to tell her.” She levelled the ginger with a ‘do as I say or else’ look before sashaying down the hall to return to her office with Dr. Halstead unable to do anything but contemplate her words.

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Well, he told her. And now she wasn’t speaking to him. And kicked him out. So here he was, getting a sore back from Jay’s shit couch, trying to figure out what went wrong. If Goodwin hadn’t stuck her nose where it didn’t belong, I wouldn’t have told Nat, and I wouldn’t be here right now. I would be at home cuddling the love of my life with my son down the hall.

Calling Owen his son wasn’t something that shocked him anymore. It had been a little trying at first, Owen clearly did not like him, but they bonded. Neither had been consciously aware of that for a while, but one day after a really long shift filled with blood, and crying, and death, and Will really just wanted some food loaded with butter and carbs and to go to sleep. But Natalie had caught a double, and Helen had plans to go on a cruise. So once Will had gotten to Nat’s place (now their home) he was left alone with Owen by an exuberant Helen. At first, Owen threw things, and cried, and pouted. Will was close to tears, why did Owen hate him so much? So Will grabbed the backpack Nat kept stocked with everything Owen could need on a day out, a red-faced Owen, and got in his car. Truthfully he hadn’t been sure where he was going at first. Just somewhere kid-friendly where Owen could spend his energy in a way that didn’t involve hitting him with blocks. They ended up at the Kohl’s Children’s Museum. A fussy Owen was lead through the exhibits, slowly calming down and enjoying himself. When they got to the turtle room, Owen grabbed his hand and tugged him along as he tried to find all the turtles. Will was shocked. They spent the rest of the day together, after the museum they went home and laughed over grilled cheese and The Lion King. The perfect day ended with Owen shyly requesting a story. Unfortunately, Will was not good at reading stories. He made up for it by singing a song in Gaelic. Owen was out before the last verse. He kissed Owen on the forehead before heading to bed himself.

And now he was here, driving into work alone, not even getting a good morning text from Natalie. He saw her get out of her car and walk inside, not even sparing him a glance. Goodwin glared at him once he walked in. Seriously? I did what you told me to and I still ended up in the dog house!

Will was grumpy all day, he missed Natalie and Owen. It had become a tradition to sing Owen to sleep and he really missed it. Will could acknowledge that he should have told her. He’d been subpoenaed into going along with everything. He didn’t want to do it, he knew how dangerous the Burke family was, he knew that they would not hesitate to go after Natalie and Owen. Or him, but that wasn’t his main concern if he was being honest. Natalie and Owen, God, they had become his whole world. Bile rose in his throat and tears painfully prickled his eyes as he thought about losing them.

She was alone in the doctor’s lounge. Her hair was mussed after running around all shift, her eyebrows were pinched together, and she looked like her limbs were being weighed down by cinderblocks. “Can we talk? After shift? Please?”

“Okay, Will.”

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

They sat across from each other awkwardly. The tightness in his chest only got worse and Will could feel his heart fragmenting into microscopic pieces. “I’m sorry. I should have told you what was going on much sooner. I... I don’t quite know how to explain what I was thinking. I didn’t even want to be doing it, the feds subpoenaed me, and I grew up a few blocks away from these guys, I know how they work. They’re dangerous men. And if they wanted to hurt me, they wouldn’t lay a finger on me... They’d hurt you and Owen. And somehow keeping you in the dark, it just- It made it a little easier to pretend that wasn’t a stake. That if you didn’t know, they wouldn’t touch you. It was wrong. I was wrong. You and Owen mean everything to me Nat, I can’t- I can’t lose you. I love you”

“I love you too. But Will, do you not trust me? Why didn’t you just tell me? I’m your fiance, how can you love me and want to spend your life with me if you couldn’t tell me this huge secret?”

“I thought I was keeping you safe.”

“Tell me everything, Will.”

“Okay.”

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

So Natalie hadn’t left him. And he was forever thankful. Owen had probably been the most excited that Will and Natalie were back on good footing. His first day back Owen ran into his arms and wouldn’t let go so Will had to eat his pancakes with a small child curled up in his lap. The day had ended pretty similarly, too. They didn’t even get halfway through the movie before, nestled in Will’s lap again, Owen was sound asleep. Despite their troubles, neither Will or Nat could pretend that they didn’t feel wholly and utterly content.

Their peace and progress in couple’s counselling was interrupted two months later when Burke needed to be admitted to the hospital. It called more than his undercover skills into question. His ethics, and his doctoral oath. It didn’t matter what Will thought was right or not, when he became a doctor he took an oath to treat people, and if he didn’t bring Burke in he’d be violating his oath which was a serious legal document, regardless of whether the feds tried to give him a pass or not. Will was caught a bullet and two dreadful bodybags. The feds were close but not close enough. Will asked Ingrid, his ‘handler’, to meet with him and Natalie. Ingrid was not happy that he’d told Natalie, but Will just scoffed and told her to shove it.

“Look, Will’s right. He has to take Burke to the hospital-”

“Oh get off your high horse Ms. Manning, this is a serious-”

“Okay, first of all, it’s Dr. Manning, and second of all, do not. Interrupt. Me. Ever. Again. Third, both Will and I, as doctors, have a legal obligation give proper medical attention to everyone and anyone. You or your boss, or any other federal agent can’t tell Will just not to do it, because Will is liable for Burke’s health.”

“I’ve already called him to come down to MED. This meeting wasn’t to ask for your permission, it was to inform you of what’s going to happen.”

#One Chicago #chicago med #Natalie Manning #will halstead #will halstead x natalie manning #manstead #sharon goodwin

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haynr · 5 years

Text

all blog info below the cut,

apologies now to my mobile users

RULES

Before we interact you must…

have a properly displayed muse

have easily accessible posted information regarding your muse in a section or page

have easily accessible posted rules / guidelines in a section or page

for AU’s, you must have posted information regarding your muse within the fandom universe in its own section or page

make sure I am following you

cut threads

I Won’t

roleplay sex, generally. there may be a few exceptions, but keep the standard that i probably won’t. sexual content, perhaps, if all muns involved are over 18. If we do, it is with the understanding muses involved will be aged up appropriately.

tolerate any sexual advances toward myself ooc

roleplay inserts

always follow back, nor will I follow personals

tolerate pressuring, be it to rp in general or consistent pestering to answer threads

answer everything in my inbox. It’s not often I ignore asks, but I won’t answer something if it violates my rules. If I have difficulty answering something, I will privately message senders or make public inquires about anonymous messages.

follow everyone back / interact with everyone, even if you technically follow all my rules. i’m selective.

Please Don’t:

reblog meme asks. I don’t mind this so much, but it keeps things cleaner when they’re moved to a new post.

reblog inbox answers for non starter memes. examples would be mun opinions and the like but extend to headcanons and other writing. violators will be asked to delete the post and may be blocked.

reblog threads you are not a part of. warnings will be given to violating rp blogs, but personals will be instantly blocked.

reblog personal posts, especial images of myself. violators will be instantly blocked. this means anything tagged ooc.

force ships with me. I am a p easy going shipper, but I will be a bit more restrictive with Hayner. most of it has to do with his muse in general. he’s not thinking about romance atm. if it comes up in plot, great. if it doesn’t, you’re more than welcome to put it forward, but please do not expect me to go along with it. on that note, don’t expect me to always agree with your interpretations of my muse in ships. ideas and suggestions are fine, your own take is fine, but i cannot stress enough, please do not push hcs.

I am open to

multiple threads

duplicates of other muses (i do not rp duplicates of my own muse, but I usually have other muses in the fandom which I will be more than happy to interact with there, no twins etc)

shipping, though I will be highly selective, possibly exclusive. I will not instant ship, but I don’t mind developing our muses’ relationship privately over DMs.

mutli verse and/or polyshipping as befits all the muses and muns involved

rping toxic relationships of any sort, will be tagged accordingly and placed under cuts.

angst and/or triggering threads, though I would prefer to discuss the thread and tagging beforehand

crack threads

select AUs

ask/tagged initiated threads/starters but I ask for some warning if they are not from a meme or other prompt

responses of any length, so long as it is enough to reasonably work with for the pace of our thread

group threads

generally questionable plots. regardless of whether or not I approve of such practices ooc isn’t usually relevant. this is fictional, exploration of an idea– not a real-world execution of that idea. Feel free to DM for details.

Please Also Note:

I do not require length to be matched and may not always match partner’s length. I will respond as much as I feel I am able to or that I feel is necessary.

If my response is inadequate, difficult to respond to, or otherwise distasteful, FEEL FREE to ask me to redo my response.

Understand that my selectivity will depend on my comfort level and that I am not obligated to explain myself.

I tag all my threads as “thread”

I tag my partner’s url

if partner’s url changes, I will tag both old and new urls for the first response then only the new url going forward.

I generally tag triggers as “trigger tw”. same with general cw’s. i’m not the best with tagging, so let me know if I should watch for stuff in particular

my activity is generally a joke, but I’m constantly lurking, so feel free to drop a message

I am incredibly anxious. It doesn’t matter if we have late night conversations for like a month straight i will still be afraid to talk to you every. single. time. so always feel free to come whack me on the head or smth

while I can be very laid back / crack-ish, I do prefer to explore darker themes and my thread responses are much more serious than I come off as.

Blacklisted / Ask to Tag:

food

nsfw (for general safe scrolling, just let me know what your tag is since t simply wont show not safe for wombats content anymore)

“little space” related

“daddy,” “mommy,” etc

literally anything in this vein. in the vaguest, most removed sense. idc what you tag it. either let me know or just tag it “jade don’t look” whatever.

in fact feel free to tag any and all of these as just “jade don’t look” or some variant.

a/o/b related

anything pregnancy related

vivid depiction of sensory / memory alteration (particularly in images, but not excluded to)

unreality (also especially, but not limited to, images)

Of course I can’t require people tag these, but I will most likely not follow you if your post these regularly and do not have some warning which will be picked up by blacklist applications.

In regards to the sensory alteration, I mean things like seeing/hearing/etc things that aren’t there, mis-remembering or outright tampering with memory, etc. It’s kind of situation to situation on what gets me, but when it does it tends to hit me pretty hard. If you have any questions about it, fire away! [ example text post ]

On unreality, this somewhat relates to the above, I use this as a catch all phrase for images, vivid descriptions, and most especially videos/gifs of things that basically don’t behave or seem to behave as they should. Sometimes, I’ve seen these things tagged as “trippy” and the like, but they those posts tend to be too…idk how to put it. Extra? What tends to get me is when things are going fairly linear and then suddenly go for a loop. That’s not the greatest description, but here’s a few posts that have triggered me the worst that I’ve slowly gotten used to. There are also things which should seem fine or normal but aren’t. If anyone has a better description for this, by all means let me know! example posts [ one ] / [ two ] / [ three ] + a weird image that also gets me for some reason. hmvent is actually a blog I use to store things that trigger me so I can slowly get used to them or try and figure out what it is / why these things get to me.

META

Hayner is a young lad who resides in the sleepy Twilight Town. He is described as “impulsive and determined, and is always looking for a new adventure. He is bold to the point of recklessness…He gets bored easily during uneventful times… also easily angered/irked…thirsts for some kind of recognition…” During the events of KHII, he is 15, the same as Roxas/Sora. He has deep brown eyes, dirty blond hair and is a bit tall and, while still skinny, muscular for his age. He is the leader of his quartet trio including Pence, Olette and Roxas himself.

While he does have parents, he’s rather distant from them. While he does receive support from his folks, they were just never really there. Because of this, his loyalties lie greatly with his chosen family, his friends. He considers it his duty to help, lead and, if needed, protect them, even if he’d never admit as much even to himself. If any of his actions or ideas end up hurting someone he cares about, he takes it very much to heart, often beating himself up about it for weeks and weeks after.

Hayner, despite his hotheadedness and brashness, is a very observant leader. His tough guy act, while not entirely based on this, is partially to build himself up, make other less inclined to pick fights with him and his friends. Whether or not this works out, however, is certainly debatable. He also does his best to incorporate his friends’ wants and needs– or at least what he perceives these as– into his plans.

As oblivious as he may seem, he is quite mindful of the people around him. Whether it’s picking out the shady figure on that street corner or this one, or noticing some random kid’s not having a good day - he sees a lot of it, but often it doesn’t strike as a huge priority. He thinks things through a lot more than he’s credited for, but unfortunately, he doesn’t go through the whole process before starting his plan of action.

Hayner also isn’t exactly the most social person. He is outgoing and nice to people out of politeness and giving people the benefit of the doubt, but as a whole he’d much rather just stick with his friends. The only exception to this has been Sora, as he feels a “familiar vibe” about him, and therefore is also open to his circle of friends.

A couple more misc hcs below:

Is a very exceptional swordsman (at least with the training swords). However, his skills do not seem as outstanding compared to that of Roxas and other more major characters.

As much as he hates school, his best subject science. And although one would think he’d be a good athlete because he is competitive, he actually doesn’t have good PE grades because he doesn’t try if he doesn’t have to. The only way to get him to really participate is to make it a competition.

MORE WILL BE ADDED MARCH, 2019 TO INCLUDE SPOILERS FOR KH3

AU Info will be added shortly.

#mobile rules #about blog #psa

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natasha-cole · 6 years

Note

Hey Sweetie, could I request maybe a little something where Rob likes the reader but thinks she has a thing for Rich because he makes her laugh more and really she likes Rob and it all comes out in a drunken game of truth or dare with whoever you wanna involve? Thank you xxx

Say You Love Me

Rob Benedict x Reader

I was inspired by Say You Love Me by Fleetwood Mac. Not my best work, but it at least made me write something in the midst of this writer’s block.

Summary: Rob is really into the Reader, but she and Rich are so obviously crazy about each other. Will a game of Truth or Dare reveal something else?

Word Count: 1942

Warnings: drinking

Rob really hated watching the two of them together. The way Rich never failed with her; somehow always managing to bring out that amazing smile and that obnoxiously loud laugh that only she could give over one of his stupid jokes. He noticed now, as Rich tormented everyone, especially Rob, with Dickchat this weekend. His last Dickchat had been at Rob’s expense as usual, and he had to witness the way she grabbed a hold of Rich’s bicep as she watched the playback, laughing uncontrollably. Rich had thrown his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his body as they shared what seemed to be a moment between them. Meanwhile, Rob stood aside, fuming. Not so much angry about the fact that Rich had targeted him again, but more over the way Rich seemed to be moving in on the girl that Rob had harbored a secret crush on for a long time.

When she first began the con circuit, Rob had immediately worked so hard at making her feel welcome. She was beautiful and funny and he had fallen for her quickly. It was Rich, however, who she seemed to click with more.

It was relentless, the two of them. Rich and Y/N. They were attached at the hip most of the time, and no matter how much Rob tried to be a part of whatever it was that they had, he failed miserably.

It was the end of a long Saturday, which meant they were all preparing for Saturday Night Special. Everyone who would perform tonight was here in the green room. Everyone was talking and laughing among themselves; well, everyone but Rob. He knew he had no right to be jealous. He never let it be known that he was interested in Y/N, mostly because she made him a nervous wreck. They got along well, but he was awkward around her and always managed to make himself look like an idiot. Besides, Rob knew it was only a matter of time before his best friend and the girl he loved finally realized how perfect they were for each other. Sometimes, he was sure they were already in a secret relationship.

He often questioned Rich about it; noticing the way they were together, the way they would go off and have dinner together, and the strange inside jokes they often shared. It was hell on his heart to see them like that, and even worse when he pressed Rich for more info on their relationship. Rich, of course, insisted they were friends; but Rob couldn’t help his jealousy.

Tonight, the band moved through the set flawlessly. Everyone was giving dynamic performances and the crowd was amazing. Rob felt happier now that his mind was taken away from how extra friendly Rich and Y/N had been this weekend. It wasn’t until Rich joined the band on stage, taking over on bass as Mike moved to the keyboard, as Y/N took the stage to sing.

Rob felt his heart drop, realizing he would have to sing this song with her yet again. A song that they had decided to cover when they first met. It was always a duet, and Rob had gotten to a point where the song probably meant more to him than it did to her.

“Hi guys!” Y/N said enthusiastically as she approached the microphone. “We’re gonna play ‘Say You Love Me’ by Fleetwood Mac.” The crowd applauded her. It was always a treat for them to hear her and Rob sing this one.

The band began to play and Y/N moved right into the song. God, Rob loved her voice and the way she carried herself on stage. She was so good, and even he couldn’t deny the way their voices worked so well together, especially on this song. Rob joined her; and they took turns with the verses, voices blending through each chorus.

Y/N was full of energy tonight, and Rob watched her with a smile. He couldn’t get over how beautiful she looked, how amazing she was. Halfway through the song, she got really into it; moving next to Rob and sharing his mic with him as they sang together. Having her so close to him made him nervous and he definitely fumbled some of the notes on his guitar, hoping he recovered without anyone noticing. He had never smiled to hard in his life; watching her so closely as she looked into his eyes, singing their hearts out.

Before he could get to comfortable with her like this, she had moved away, grabbing her own mic before making her way directly to Rich. Rob watched the two of them. The way she seemed to be serenading him as he played. Both smiling and winking at each other now.

For a brief moment, he had thought that he had shared a moment with Y/N, they way she looked at him had him feeling like maybe he had been wrong about the way she really felt about him. Now, seeing those two, he realized he was wrong. It would always be Rich and Y/N. They were perfect for each other, and nothing would change that.

After the show, everyone went back to Briana’s hotel room; ready to party the night away as they usually did after each SNS. Rob trudged slowly behind everyone, watching as Rich helped a really tipsy Y/N walk. He could feel the jealousy again, and he didn’t like it. He should be happy for his best friend. He obviously cared for Y/N and the feelings seemed to be mutual. He knew that he needed to get over her, but he didn’t know if he could.

“Are you ready for Truth or Dare?” Kim teased as everyone grabbed drinks and situated themselves around the room.

There was a chorus of groans, because this game always went badly when they played. But, eventually everyone gave in because it really was a lot of fun.

Rob was sitting across from Rich and Y/N and he kept glancing up at how Rich hadn’t removed his arm from her the entire time. Y/N was smiling and swaying in her seat, Rich holding her protectively. His attention only shifted as the game started.

The game started out innocently, everyone choosing truth; which only led to a few minorly embarrassing revelations. Bri had picked Dare and was dared to kiss Y/N, which she did. It wasn’t really anything overly crazy to be honest. It mostly ended with a very drunk and loud Y/N jokingly confessing her love to Bri. Next, Rich chose Dare.

“I dare you to kiss Y/N, since the two of you are always so cozy together,” Bri said with a smirk, “I want to see if you’ve got chemistry.”

Rich laughed, turning to Y/N with a grin on his face.

“I will not kiss her,” Rich replied. “I refuse to kiss her.”

“It’s a dare, you have to,” Osric added, “don’t act like the two of you have never kissed before.”

“We haven’t,” Rich replied, “and we’re not about to go there.”

“You’re lame,” Briana said, “that’s not how you play.”

“Hey,” Y/N began. She stood up, stumbling slightly and Rich moved to steady her. She got very close to Briana, pointing a finger at her in what looked like anger. “Don’t make him kiss me,” she slurred, “d-you really want for me to kiss my friend in front of the man that I love? I didn’t think so.“

“Oh-okay,” Rich laughed, pulling Y/N down to sit next to him. “You sure you wanna say all that right now, sweetheart?”

“Yes I do,” she argued, “because I am in love and I have been in love for a long time.”

“Moving on,” Rich said, trying to stop her from talking any more. “It’s your turn to pick someone Y/N.”

“Rob!” She shouted, pointing over to him. “D-you love me too? Because I love you so much.”

“I-I didn’t even pick…”

“You pick truth!” Y/N cut him off. “I’m telling you the truth, now’s your turn.”

“Y/N, honey, this is a bad time to do this,” Rich began, trying to stop her.

“I thought you and Rich had a thing-” Rob started.

“Ew!” She exclaimed, cutting him off again.

“Hey, not ew!” Rich shouted, looking hurt, “I’m sitting right here!”

“You’re ew,” Y/N said, pointing at Rich, “but Robbie is not ew. I like Robbie very much.”

“Okay, maybe it’s time for bed,” Rich said as he helped her stand again. She was very drunk and Rob wasn’t sure what was going on exactly. He was embarrassed and confused as he watched his friend carry Y/N from the room, probably going to put her in bed so she could sober up. Rob left shortly after; replaying it all in his head and wondering if she may have meant what she said.

The next morning, Rob decided to go check on Y/N. He showed up at her door with coffee in hand and knocked quietly. It took her a few minutes, but she finally opened the door. She looked pretty terrible and Rob flinched when he saw her.

“Oh god, I feel like death,” she muttered as she stepped aside to let Rob in.

“You had a lot to drink,” he chuckled.

“Never again.”

“Are you okay at least?”

“I’ll live, I think.”

Rob stood there nervously as Y/N plopped back down on her bed. He couldn’t stop thinking about what she had said last night, even if she had been really drunk. He wanted to know if she was being honest or if she had just really been that wasted.

“Rob, I need to apologize,” she began, almost as if she had read his mind, “I know I said some stuff last night, and I’m so sorry…”

“Oh yeah,” Rob replied, now feeling like an idiot for even thinking she may have meant it, “you were drunk and didn’t know what you were doing. Of course you don’t really love me. I mean, you’re into Rich.”

“Ew,” she responded, cringing as her head pounded, “ I do not have a thing for Rich, nor will I ever have a thing for Rich.”

“Oh?”

“I’m apologizing because what I said was the truth, I just shouldn’t have said it like that. Not when I was so drunk and such a mess.”

“Wait, what?”

“I do love you Robbie,” she said as she squinted at him, still in pain, “I have for such a long time. I shouldn’t have finally been honest with you when I was so messed up.”

“You - you love me?”

“Of course I do,” she chuckled softly, “I mean, I picked “Say You Love Me’ for SNS in hopes that you felt the same way and would take a hint.”

“I do feel the same way,” Rob said quickly, “but I thought you and Rich-”

“Not me and Rich,” she corrected him, “he’s my friend and there’s nothing there. It’s you I’m crazy about.”

“I’ve been crazy about you too, for so long.”

Y/N chuckled again, looking up at him from the bed, “we’re really bad at this, aren’t we?”

“Yeah we are,” Rob replied with a laugh.

“Maybe we should go on a date, since we both like each other so much,” Y/N offered, smiling at him.

“I think that’s a great idea.”

“Can we do it when my head stops pounding though?”

“Sure, and maybe we can avoid alcohol altogether.”

“Sounds like a plan,” She laughed.

Forever Tags: @destielschild @sorenmarie87 @smoothdogsgirl @kocswain @culturebay @itsfunnierin-enochian @typicalweirdbookworm @angelsandhuntersgalore @riversong-sam @emoryhemsworth @hunterpuff @camelotandastronauts @laffytaffyhumor @cyrilconnelly @jpadjackles

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bobbystompy · 4 years

Text

My Top 75 Songs Of 2019

Previously: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

First time going below 100 songs since 2015, and I cannot wait. Giving this extra juice already.

As always, criteria and info:

This is a list of what I personally like, not ones I’m saying are the “best” from the year; more subjective than objective

No artist is featured more than once

If it comes down to choosing between two songs, I try to give more weight to a single or featured track

Each song on the list is linked in the title if you wanna check them out for yourself; there is also a Spotify playlist at the bottom that includes the majority of the songs

This is usually the part where I put up a pump up video, but we are going with something a little different this year.

youtube

(It was stuck my head. Blame Blink-155.)

75) YG - “In The Dark”

The video begins with YG chugging a full tequila bottle -- sure. This song is very bad. It’s like he’s in a competition to make the verse lyrics worse than the chorus lyrics (spoiler alert: the verses “win”); not even satanic imagery can save this.

74) Solange - “Stay Flo”

Here’s a weird take: wouldn’t Solange’s career be way more fun if everyone slept on her? Instead, it’s hype on hype -- plus being Beyoncé’s sister -- which makes it nearly impossible to deliver. This has a fun beat/vibe but is kinda boring... and was still easily my favorite off her album.

73) Art Alexakis - “The Hot Water Test”

My doctors told me that I had a disease / I will slowly fall apart until there’s nothing left that looks like me

This song makes the stakes clear immediately. It was released a few months after I saw Art play in June 2019 on my birthday. At the intimate show, he revealed his multiple sclerosis diagnosis as if we were all his closest friends. Something like this is never easy to deal with -- a similar announcement by the Lucky Boys Confusion singer did not help matters -- but music can help such a painful situation, and it’s clearly Alexakis’ exile here.

72) The Cranberries - “In The End”

A very suitable sendoff for the band following the passing of singer Dolores O’Riordan. The recording story (via NPR):

O'Riordan died suddenly in January 2018 at 46 years old and left behind the vocal tracks to what was intended to be the band's latest album. Now, O'Riordan's bandmates have decided to complete that album, In The End — the last album the band will release — in her memory.

[...]

In June 2017, O'Riordan and Hogan started emailing album ideas and demos back and forth to each other. O'Riordan had been very open about her struggles with mental health and addiction, which would affect the band at times, but they wanted to make a new album. Hogan says that when they were emailing those demos, she was in a good place. They started laying down her demos.

"All of that was kind of behind her," Hogan says. "She's kind of found a way to cope with the mental health thing. That's why she wanted to write so much. That's what she kept saying, 'I have so much to say, I just need the music to put it to.' "

Hogan says O'Riordan's apparent stability is what made her death even more tragic and devastating. (Officials ruled O'Riordan's cause of death to be accidental drowning due to alcohol intoxication.) But after a period of mourning, the remaining band members remembered they still had O'Riordan's demos. As Hogan remembers, they finally had the courage to start listening to them again in late February and, with her family's permission, started recording in April. "We spoke to her family and said, 'Look, how do you feel about us finishing the album?' And they were really supportive," Lawler says. "They were delighted, actually. They gave us their blessing."

Hogan says, in a sense, they were used to O'Riordan not being in the studio when they recorded — "Dolores hated hanging around the studio once we worked on our parts" — but, of course, this time was different.

71) Raleigh Ritchie - “Time In A Tree”

Exercise time. Play the first minute or so of this song without looking at any YouTube visuals.

/waits for you

OK, who are you picturing singing this? Got your image?

Well, whatever it was, you’re wrong -- it’s GREY WORM HIMSELF.

This was the best thing about “Game of Thrones” in 2019, sadly.

70) Culture Abuse - “Goo”

Simple, effective, gets out before you can dislike much.

69) Lil Pump f/ Lil Wayne - “Be Like Me”

Sometimes, a song starts, and you can just tell it’s going to be ignorant. Even before the vocals kick in. This was probably our moment here:

Between that and the beat, it’s like the only thing you can think is “Ohhhh, he’s about to say some horrible things about women.”

Other choice lines:

- “Yes, I’m hella ignorant, I don’t give a fuck” (he even says it in the song)

- “I take drugs like it’s Vitamin C / I’m a millionaire, but I don’t know how to read”

This song almost feels like it existed already.

68) The Get Up Kids - “Satellite”

Finally, our first rock song with some punch. This probably takes the crown from both DMB and P.O.D.

67) Bad Religion - “My Sanity”

BR is historically my favorite band, so it is rather deflating to see them so far back on this list. That said, it is Year 40 (!!!) of their existence, so some can be forgiven. Yet... we’ve never needed them more, you know? It’s this weird mixture of resentment but understanding.

66) Billy Liar - “The Righteous & The Rats”

Gonna see him (them?) open for The Bombpops in March; looks quite promising. Has an old school Brit punk feel.

65) Beach Slang - “AAA”

Beach Slang never lets you forget they love -- no, like, LOVE -- The Replacements. When this cover dropped, I googled “replacements AAA”, and, surprisingly, nothing came up.

Ohhh, what I fool I was. After more digging, I discovered a band called Grandpaboy who performed “AAA”.

“Oh, damn -- he finally went outside the box with this pick.”

No. Grandpaboy is fronted by Paul Westerberg. Singer of, you guessed it, The Replacements.

James Alex wears his heart on his sleeve so hard, he might as well give the heart a little jacket so his heart can wear its own heart on its sleeve.

HE DID THAT TOO?!

You can’t even make jokes about this band; they live in the jokes with their damn earnestness.

64) Gesaffelstein & The Weeknd - “Lost In The Fire”

Even lesser known Weeknd-involved tracks sound like they could lead a soundtrack or close out a festival. Are you familiar with this one at all? It has 87 million views on YouTube. Abel is never not not playing.

63) FIDLAR - “By Myself”

Started from the bottom and I’m still at the bottom

Falling apart never felt so carefree and burdenless.

62) Constant Elevation - “Fuck Runnin”

As hardcore punk as this list is gonna get. All glory to Vinnie Caruana. Though none of his solo tracks from 2019 made it, this has an undeniable energy and confidence. Plus probably the best song title of the year.

61) Maren Morris f/ Brandi Carlile - “Common”

A focused duet that drills into relationship dynamics before throwing a personal theology wrench in the middle of the chorus.

60) Anti-Flag - “Christian Nationalist”

AF going in on the white, religious right. This is like throwing a 50 mph pitch to -- /looks up good baseball players -- Pete Alonso.

59) Cokie The Clown - “Punk Rock Saved My Life”

This is less of a song and more of a confessional essay, and it gets harder and harder to look away with every revealing detail. If NOFX’s Fat Mike needed this character as a vehicle to get all of these autobiographical details off his chest, hopefully it’s a helpful therapy.

58) White Reaper - “Might Be Right”

“Judy French” is such an untoppable song, but “Might Be Right” has a similar dynamic.

57) Denzel Curry - “RICKY”

Denzel Curry as a rap moniker is such a slam dunk.

/looks up actual name

!!!

56) Ariana Grande - “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored”

It takes a special kind of hot girl twisted to issue this unflinching request while totally pulling it off.

55) Goody Grace f/ blink-182 - “Scumbag”

Not sure if Goody is a Soundcloud rapper, punk rocker, or some kinda emo hybrid of both.

A few asides:

- Have we ever -- ever -- heard Travis Barker this subdued on drums?

- On the Blink-155 podcast, Goody said he gave Tom from the Plain White T’s a songwriting credit because he unintentionally lifted some melodies from “Hey There Delilah”, but... I really don’t hear it at all; like, it sounds maybe in the same key but not much else?

54) Jonas Brothers - “Sucker”

Despite their popularity in the past, I do not think I could name a single JoBros song. That changed in 2019 with this poppy, light, clappy, Maroon 5-style single.

53) Goo Goo Dolls - “Money, Fame & Fortune”

Someone -- coulda sworn it was Brendan Kelly -- said this was Goo Goo Dolls sounding like Fake Problems, and that is spot on.

52) AJJ - “A Poem”

A poem is song that no one cares about

This short, folky tune led to one of my favorite Twitter exchanges of the year, when I reached out to a music journalist with a question and AJJ came flying off the top rope.

51) DaBaby - “Suge”

This song is fun, but I really don’t get it. Beat is cool, flow is fine... this is the new face of hip-hop? His name is DaBaby! What are we doing here?!

50) Laura Stevenson - “Jesus, Etc.”

Taking a classic and doing it full justice/adding some harmonies.

49) blink-182 - “Not Another Christmas Song”

Blink’s 2019 album “Nine” was very, very bad because it tried too hard and was not good. This song, released later in the year, takes an opposite approach and actually works. We get lyrics that are discontent, even clumsy at times -- the “I miss fucking in the rain” line is so out of place/cringe-y but actually feels real and not workshopped by 10 producers. The trio can hopefully use this better b-side to figure out the best songwriting should flow out of you without having to go through multiple stations on a conveyor belt first.

48) Dave Hause - “Eye Aye I”

This song has a lot I love (catchy chorus, wistful thoughts, hairline analyses) and a lot I don’t (genuine use of the word “old bores”, Van Halen getting respect), but one thing is clear: Dave Hause is in complete control.

47) Beck - “Up All Night”

I’ve casually followed Beck’s entire career and would not have guessed this was him if given 100 chances. As an exercise, I’m going to pull up the 2020 Coachella lineup and randomly point to an artist.

/pulls up lineup and points

I got Daniel Caesar. If you told me this was Daniel Caesar, that would probably make more sense here.

46) Shawn Mendes - “If I Can’t Have You”

Randomly came into Shawn Mendes tickets in 2019, and good gracious, that was something. Other than parents, we were the oldest people there by a lot. Getting to watch thousands of teens and preteens legitimately having the best moment of their lives was downright inspiring. When you’re that young, it’s not even hyperbole. Phones were flagrantly out; I’m talking 20+ minutes of straight video being filmed. I wanted to judge so badly, but if you gave me an iPhone at my first concert when I was 14, who the hell knows how egregious my behavior would’ve been. As fun as the whole experience was, I never wanted to be in a grimy punk club more. Sometimes, leaving your comfort zone makes you appreciate your home base more.

This is a rock solid pop song, but there are way too many you/you rhymes to not penalize it some.

45) Big Thief - “Cattails”

The whitest song you will ever hear that isn’t written by Vampire Weekend.

44) Bayside - “Prayers”

Bayside went super metal with their 2019 release “Interrobang” (such a sick name). So yes, the guitars are a touch harder than you might be used to, but the chorus soars; a great hook transcends genre.

43) Naughty Boy & Mike Posner - “Live Before I Die”

Few had as interesting of a year as Mike Posner. Following a breakup, the death of his father, and the death of Avicii, he decided to walk across the United States of America. He legit became Forrest Gump, right down to the beard and grown out hair.

In the video, you can see how a snakebite hospitalized him and almost derailed the whole trek. After a rehabilitation period where he almost lost his leg, our man finally makes it to the Pacific Ocean. If nothing else, watch for the ending -- it’s exhilarating.

42) Post Malone - “Wow.”

Post is flexing in this one; we’ve got slow motion jamming with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, international flights, a dancing beard guy, and a Fall Out Boy name check which really makes them sound cooler than they are now.

41) Bryce Vine f/ YG - “La La Land”

Sometimes, these summertime Cali songs write themselves. That is until YG comes in and flips over the board before you can finish the game. By the time the Coachella reference is dropped when Bryce comes back in, you realize 1:47 may have actually been a better endpoint for the song than its 2:47 length.

40) David Rokos - “Backseat Drives”

It’s winter in Chicago, again and until forever. If you haven’t been to the Jewel in the South Loop or Marshall Field’s before they changed it, just listen to this so you don’t actually have to.

39) Simple Creatures - “Drug”

Mark Hoppus and the dude from All Time Low give us this synth-pop bop that feels like the duo shooting their shot at a real mainstream pop hits. It didn’t quite get there, but they should feel OK about where it landed.

38) Chris Cresswell - “To The Wind”

My interest in The Flatliners ramped up considerably in 2019, as their near decade old record “Cavalcade” got plenty of spins (peep “Filthy Habits”; just stunningly incredible punk). Though they did not release anything this year, their singer put out “To The Wind”, a longing song about missing someone.

37) Kesha f/ Big Freedia - “Raising Hell”

Kesha, with the help of New Orleans’ Big Freedia, gives us another one. I’ve personally dug Kesha for a while now, but when is it time for us as a society to put her into the all-time conversation for pop artists? She has at least, like, seven HOF certifiable bangers. Plus she kills a guy in this music video.

In conclusion, I think this could translate to a country song very easily.

36) No Lenox - “Marquee”

Illinois/Japan’s No Lenox are back with Reuben Baird on the mixer and legendary masterer Collin Jordan (of The Boiler Room) on the, well, master, and the fullness in sound leads to the assault that is the “I saw your name on the marquee / Your friends were milling around outside” part. They only play it once, but I really could’ve gone for closer to five.

35) Red City Radio - “Love A Liar”

Rapid fire Red City Radio gets this one done in exactly 120 seconds.

34) Barely March - “Lead Single”

This sounds like Joyce Manor turned up to a 17 out of 10 before unexpectedly turning into a hellogoodbye song.

33) New Lenox - “Old Words”

Not a typo from two songs ago -- legitimately a different band. This one was written by your boy. The first 15 seconds were from a demo recorded 1/2/16 before developing the rest in 2019 (after some encouragement). We have Dave Rokos on guitar/bass, Dave Hernandez on hums, and Brian Bedford on some very temporary sleigh bells. Themes: online dating, resolutions, exes, currents, Black Wednesday, hope, and Carly Rae Jepsen stage banter.

32) MakeWar - “Sails”

Honey, I can’t make it on my own

You might get some Gaslight Anthem vibes as the vocals come in, but by the time the song ends, MakeWar leaves their own imprint on this impassioned ballad.

31) Sheryl Crow & Johnny Cash - “Redemption Day”

Was gonna say Johnny’s voice could move mountains before realizing no, Johnny’s voice is the mountains.

30) American Football f/ Hayley Williams - “Uncomfortably Numb”

Sensitivity deprived I can't feel a thing inside I blamed my father in my youth Now as a father, I blame the booze

An unlikely collaboration that makes you forget about its unlikeliness by the two minute mark. The two voices trade spots, mesh, harmonize, and weave throughout this beautiful song.

Asides:

- Blake from “Workaholics” in the video?!

- Choose to interpret this song’s title as a Pink Floyd diss

- “I’ll make new friends in the ambulance” should be a 2005-level emo lyric that we all mock, yet it’s somehow one of the most stunningly appropriate closers of the entire year

- I wish my friend Luke was with us to hear it

29) Stuck Out Here - “Embarrass You”

Stuck Out Here got onto my radar with 2014′s amazingly named “Getting Used To Feeling Like Shit”. Five years later, they’re back -- and not feeling much better. The Toronto quartet’s Bandcamp describes the song like this:

They’re fucking up, but unlike previous releases, they’re finally holding themselves accountable.

You can even kinda hear their Canadian accents in the “I’m sorry I embarrass you...” part.

28) The Weeknd - “Heartless”

The Weeknd will be on these lists as long as he continues to make music even 1/8th as good as this.

27) The Chainsmokers f/ blink-182 - “P.S. I Hope You’re Happy”

A simple song that’s a touch more clever than you first realize. The Chainsmokers guy is giving me some real Owl City vibes. Also, how airtight of an apology is the line “I blame myself for when I was someone else”. It’s like the modern way of saying “When I was a child, I spoke like a child”.

Also also, the “I will find a way somehow...” harmony in the pre-chorus is as pretty as music got in 2019. The Chainsmokers are so sonically pleasing, whether you end up liking the music or not.

26) Vampire Weekend - “Harmony Hall”

ooooooooh, that crisp guitar in the intro

25) Alex Lahey - “Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself”

If Carly Rae Jepsen can get a sword, why can’t Alex Lahey get a god damn saxophone? HIT ME.

That solo, combined with the “Mighty Ducks” reference in the chorus, make this song untouchable.

24) Lizzo - “Truth Hurts”

Let’s be clear: this did drop in 2017 but was technically re-released in 2019, so it does qualify for our list despite the criteria threatening timeline. Anyway.

The walking piano part, the iconic intro line (with a lawsuit!), the Minnesota Vikings reference (causing a Green Bay radio edit), and all of the damn positivity. Lizzo was among music’s big winners this year, and her success made you wonder how the hell someone this talented was slept on for those two years.

Let’s end with the purse.

23) An Horse - “Ship Of Fools”

Awkward band name, but a song that makes you pay attention. Kinda like Tegan and Sara, had they stayed more rock. So much urgency in the vocals and lyrics.

22) Charli XCX f/ Lizzo - “Blame It On Your Love”

Trippy vid; Charli continues to give us anthems. Wasn’t super high on the Lizzo cameo, but it somehow made more sense in the context of said video.

21) Sincere Engineer - “Dragged Across The Finish Line”

Sincere Engineer is back -- you can tell from the second those guitar leads get goin’. Drums from 1:19 to 1:36 = /heart eyes emoji. My buddy Cox said his next tattoo very well could be the outro lyric “Too dumb to succeed, too honest to cheat”.

(Bonus fact: they did a beer collaboration/show with Pollyanna Brewing Company in 2019.)

20) Lil Nas X - “Old Town Road”

Was unwilling to listen when this first dropped solely because of how horrible Lil Nas X’s name is (”What if a rapper came out named ‘Lil Jay-Z X’?!”)... what a foolish notion. One billion streams and a Billy Cyrus cameo later, I wouldn’t have been able to miss out on the Song of the Summer (and year) if I tried. More notes:

- Picked this because I had to, but “Panini” is legit good (200+ million streams)

- Went with the original (sorry, Billy), which is a beautiful 1:53 long (brevity, brevity, brevity)

- Did you know: Lil Nas X uses a Nine Inch Nails sample on the beat? This Rolling Stone interview with Trent Reznor is super interesting

Reznor calls “Old Town Road” “undeniably hooky,” but once it exploded, he took a back seat to the phenomenon. “The reason I haven’t stepped in to comment anything about it is, I don’t feel it’s my place to play any kind of social critic to that,” he says. “It was a material that was used in a significant way and it turned into something that became something else, and those guys should be the ones the spotlight is on…. They asked if I wanted to do a cameo in the video, and it was flattering, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I don’t feel like it’s my place to shine a light on me for that. I say that with complete respect.”

Still, Reznor is amazed at how the song became a juggernaut. “Having been listed on the credits of the all-time, Number One whatever-the-fuck-it-is wasn’t something…I didn’t see that one coming,” he says. “But the world is full of weird things that happen like that. It’s flattering. But I don’t feel it’s for me to step in there and pat myself on the back for that.”

19) Gryffin & Carly Rae Jepsen - “OMG”

What doesn’t this little bop have? It’s kinda Chainsmoker-y and tingles like cool breath hitting the back of your neck.

18) Craig Finn - “Blankets”

You travel your whole life just to get out to the place you’re gonna die

I love everything about this song: the artwork, the intro, the climax, the command Craig Finn has from start to finish -- with such a payoff. Now several albums in, the greatest compliment we can give is that his solo stuff now feels more essential than Hold Steady releases*. You can even hear it in this line: “When we got to the Twin Cities / I said ‘Man, I know some songs about this place’”. Another life.

17) Carly Rae Jepsen - “Now That I Found You”

Carly always keeps us in the sky; picking one song was difficult because the album is even more fulfilling as you get to put the pieces together.

16) Billie Eilish - “Bad Guy”

Different genres*, but Billie Eilish lived up to her hype in the exact same way Lana Del Rey did in the earlier part of the decade. Lana said she was the gangster Nancy Sinatra and totally fucking was. Billie feels like something potentially even bigger. Nearly everything about her aura lets you project (or even second guess, if you’re a skeptic). Is she dead-eyed because she’s high or disaffected? Or just Aubrey Plaza? Is it her or her brother that’s pulling the strings? How can someone so young be so good already? In the skinny fashion era of All Achilles Everything, how is she rocking such loose fits?

“I never want the world to know everything about me. I mean that’s why I wear big baggy clothes,” she said. “Nobody can have an opinion because they haven’t seen what’s underneath.”

“Nobody can be like ‘Oh, she’s slim-thick, she’s not slim-thick, she’s got a flat ass, she’s got a fat ass,’” she continued. “No one can say any of that because they don’t know.”

It almost seems too easy, but how much sense does that make to you?

Great jokes aside, I have so much anticipation for what’s next, with assured belief in its potential. Pitchfork:

In 10 years, she will still be well under 30. Let’s hope the planet survives that long.

Yes.

(* - though not totally)

15) Ben Gibbard - “Filler”

Before you check Gibbard’s, please listen to the original by Minor Threat. That’s what he had to work with. From there, a total transformation while doing the near impossible -- keeping its beating heart.

14) Martha - “Wrestlemania VIII”

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Third favorite song title of the year/favorite music video of the year. This is energetic, bratty punk at its finest; also surprised to find out it was British, but, based on the upcoming tour dates and YouTube description...

This is a silly & frankly quite rubbish video but when you are a band trapped within surveillance capitalism's endless hunger for content trying to promote a tour sometimes things will be a silly & frankly quite rubbish.

I love them. Seriously didn’t even notice the accents in the singing until I knew to look for them; now, it’s all I can hear. Also, the part in the video where they finally show someone with an instrument, only he stops playing guitar halfway into the solo (/crying emoji).

THEY SAY ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDA

13) Chance The Rapper f/ Ben Gibbard - “Do You Remember”

Chance The Rapper dropped a one hour and 17 minute album in 2019 because he is a monster. I could not name three songs on it, but this one stood out big. It’s Chano doing what he does best: reminiscing and evoking summer in his city. Gibbard on the hook gives it that 2005 nostalgia while also making you say “Damn, it’s been nearly 15 years since 2005?!”

Fav two lines:

1) “Used to have obsession with the ‘27 Club’ / Now I'm turning 27, wanna make it to the 2070 club / Put the 27's down, Lord, give me a clean lung / Took the ring up out the box, I know this ain't no brief love”

2) “That summer left a couple tan lines / I love my city, they let me cut the line on the Dan Ryan”

(If you know, you know.)

Two more asides:

- If you Google “death cab for cutie”, the next autofill from there is “do you remember”. Rough for the legacy.

- “My daughter on the swing like the 2017 Cubs” is a line that confused me, but here’s how Genius explained it:

Chance is talking about a memorable summer and the things that made him happy. This line continues that theme when he raps about his daughter happily on a swing and how that’s similar to the 2017 Cubs. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016; therefore, the 2017 season was one of celebration and relaxation as the pressure of the 108 year drought was over.

12) Lana Del Rey - “The Greatest”

I miss Long Beach, and I miss you...

Listening to this song feels like watching the cement dry on a classic in real time. Lana Del Rey’s galactic “Norman Fucking Rockwell!” dominated lists at the end of 2019, and she -- to borrow her word -- fucking deserved it.

- The Beach Boys line is so god damn perfect

- The guitar solo (soooo sick)

- The breathy singing; the crooning; the notes that go up and then down until you’re surrounded by melody

- The perfection of this album name (minus the very iffy exclamation point) will have me comparing nearly any other all-time album title for probably the rest of our lives

- Tried playing this album during my Monday night pickup basketball run, and it very much failed... but that’s about the only thing it couldn’t do

- I’m told the dude with her on the album cover is Jack Nicholson’s grandson (named Duke Nicholson, because of course)

11) Off With Their Heads - “No Love”

If you do not like punk rock, this will be unlistenable. If you do, what a treat! I love how dissatisfied and put off he sounds, and, while there are a few more lively songs remaining on the list, none in 2019 got fast-tracked to my workout/pump up playlist at this speed.

Factoring in the band’s van accident (occurred after the release of this song), the “There’s nothing I could say that’s ever gonna make it right” outro becomes hauntingly clairvoyant.

10) Drake f/ Rick Ross - “Money In The Grave”

We need to face facts: it was a down year for stadium hip-hop. Nowhere on this list do you see Jay, Em, Kendrick, or Kanye (rest in peace). This was my favorite rap song of the year, and it couldn’t even crack the Top 5. Similar to his beloved Raptors -- who are being celebrated here -- it’s almost as if Drake needed some injuries outside his own locker room to get the crown. But I’m done being bummed, let’s focus on the good:

- Ohhhh, the intro (”I mean where. the fuck. should I. really even start?”)

- The way he says “grave” in the hook like he can barely contain

- The hook itself -- read it out loud: “When I die, put my money in the grave”

- How cool Ross sounds when he breaks in

- The Zion reference

The bad:

- Rarely take this angle, but really wouldn’t mind if it were longer

- Misogyny

9) PUP - “Bloody Mary, Kate And Ashley”

Second favorite song title of the year, 6/8 time signature, satanic references, drugs, hallucinations (maybe), and, yes, the Olsen twins.

8) Better Oblivion Community Center - “Sleepwalkin’”

“It’s impossible to count...”

The intro, as the tempo gets jarringly slower and slower, ironically helps you acclimate quicker. This Phoebe Bridgers/Conor Oberst collab was my No. 1 played track of 2019 (the album coming out in January definitely helped). The song builds to Phoebe’s solo part:

You like beer and chocolate I like setting off those bottle rockets We can never compromise But fighting 'til the death keeps us alive

It’s sung so well, you can almost feel the heat of the spotlight on her through the stereo. The lyrics could be anything.

The chill guitar solo takes us out.

7) AM Taxi - “Saint Jane”

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Adam Krier is such a rockstar, he had me shouting “I’m no hero, at best a zero!” within my fifth listen -- and I was skeptical as hell when I first heard the line. But that’s about where it stopped. You can tell this song is going to rip even before the vocals come in. When they do (”These fears don’t die, you get older and they multiply”), it’s just fucking time to go.

6) Taylor Swift - “Paper Rings”

My favorite pop song of 2019. Tay is firing on all cylinders; every lyric is exactly where it’s supposed to be; boppy and fun and sincere (while still being light-hearted). Still holding out minor hope it will be a single in 2020.

5) Pkew Pkew Pkew - “The Polynesian”

I’ve always said the best songs make you want to live the lyrics, whether they are positive or negative. This one had me researching “polynesian wisconsin” faster than I’m comfortable disclosing. And yes “bed bugs” and “needles” were both in the Top 7 recommended searches after those first two words.

Pkew Pkew Pkew collaborated with Craig Finn on some of their lyrics on 2019′s “Optimal Lifestyles”, and I’d be blown away if he doesn’t have fingerprints on this one -- the storytelling is pristine. Go into this open-minded, and I’d be shocked if you weren’t shouting the “Goatees, tall cans, camo pants, and Packers fans” mantra by the end.

Bonus story: this St. Patrick’s day in Chicago, I asked my friend Sara (Wisconsin native) if she’d ever stayed there, and she held up her elbow and showed me a scar from the hotel’s water slide. Your boy was over the moon.

4) Spanish Love Songs - “Losers”

It gets harder, doesn’t it?

Dylan Slocum has a way of not just writing depressing songs -- many lyricists are good at that -- but specifically depressing songs. This song contemplates death, homelessness, squandering your limited time on the planet, credit card debt, leeching off your parents because you have no other choice, crippling illness, and completely giving up because there genuinely is no other choice. The last lines are, without any hint of winking, “We’re mediocre. We’re losers. Forever.”

It’s wonderful.

Two straight Top 4 finishes for SLS; their 2020 album should be something special.

3) oso oso - “the view”

If Jade Lilitri is making personal progress in “microscopic strides”, you wouldn’t be able to tell by his songwriting. Every tune has a way of warming up your entire body and being. This grabs you, whether it’s the laid back guitar or the mismatched quick drums or the big ass chorus. While it came down to this one or “basking in the glow” (an actual single), the bridge here puts us over the top:

But not as much as the phone ringing Not as much playing my house Not as much as the way her goddamn voice sounds It's like taking in sun And then taking it back I fall into old habits I'm stepping over your cracks again

Her voice? This song.

2) The Menzingers - “Strangers Forever”

This song makes me want to rip up walls, sprint through streets with no destination, shred my lungs screaming off rooftops, bash hands drumming the steering wheel until my sprained fingers beg me to stop. It is such a perfect encapsulation of my favorite band of the decade and possibly of all-time.

Scranton’s sons gave me everything and more from 2010 through 2019, so it’s fitting they end so high here. This is probably the most clownable sentence of them all, but I am so constantly thankful I am alive to experience Greg Barnett’s songwriting. What he creates, I can only compare to the best books or movies or athletes or even personal relationships.

The way the guitar alternates in the headphones to start, the drums that go big and push the song along, the reverb vox that certainly could have less reverb, the “it is what it is”-style lyric of “My miserable memory’s making me more miserable”, the oceanic imagery, the quiet bridge that explodes into a final chorus. Barnett said the overall theme was inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”.

In it, the character Darya Alexandrovna learns of her husbands infidelity and declares: “Even if we remain in the same house, we are strangers — strangers forever!” The idea of becoming a stranger to someone you so intimately know stuck with me, and became the overarching narrative to this song. Dolly’s statement is definitive, but she also realizes the trappings of 19th century patriarchal Russian society. It’s a complex conundrum, and while lyrically I speak in the first person, this song exists in a world outside of my own personal experiences. I wanted to write about the finality of relationships that need to end this way. Strangers Forever.

My only gripe is I wish there were more. But I’m the same person who never wants them to stop.

1) Signals Midwest f/ Sincere Engineer - “Your New Old Apartment”

Only one song could make me fear missing the chance to be with the love of my life the same year I married her. As discussed in “The Polynesian”, the best songs have the consistent ability to put you in someone else’s shoes. You are either reliving something you personally experienced or maybe taking it all in for the first time. And that can be powerful -- especially dealing with anything big picture.

“Your New Old Apartment” launches me into 2009 without ever asking. Age: 23. My life was transient, I had no career, I didn’t even believe in marriage. I left my retail job in the Chicago suburbs for an unpaid newspaper internship in New Jersey. When I saw the people I loved, I always tried to make it count. Still do.

The descriptors and feeling are suffocating, right from the jump:

I only saw you a couple times last year Once at a wedding, once at a funeral I wore the same clothes to both, and I was worried you would notice ‘cause yours were impeccable

That’s me, then. Not knowing how to dress but hoping to get by anyway. I remember talking to my buddy P before buying my “work clothes” and learning you needed to match your shoes with your belt. Boyish adulthood.

The song continues, and the narrator is filled in on 5-year plans. It may be cliche to speak, but every current moment is simultaneously your youngest and oldest. Being in my early 30s now, it is so easy to scoff at anyone’s best laid plans, but I’m also the same cat who thought The Wonder Years’ “Jesus Christ, I’m 26 / All the people I graduated with / All have kids, all have wives, all have people who care if they come home at night” was life-defining, because I was the same age when that dropped, and it always hits the hardest when it’s all around you.

What I love about these lyrics are the careful observation mixed with mature-behind-his-years restraint. For a very long time in my life, I did not think I would get to be with my wife as anything more than a friend. When you are forced to come to terms with those potential realities, you must make concessions and convince yourself they’re OK. So when it’s revealed the narrator’s muse is married, he resigns himself to hopefully seeing the person more and at least being adjacent to the life they are living. It is tragic but still something. It is alternate hope in the hopeless.

I can picture myself listening to this song that wasn’t yet written while leaving a 2009 or 2010 or 2013 wedding and wishing I told her everything. But I wouldn’t have -- not then. I would have poured my heart out into a diary and quoted a line or three from this at the bottom. But that was then, this is now.

In 2019, her new old apartment will be my new old apartment, and that will never be lost on me.

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* * *

Bonus coverage. Since we are at the end of the decade, I rounded up our No. 1 song from each year and have that below:

2010: The Menzingers - “Time Tables” 2011: Jay-Z & Kanye West - “Gotta Have It” 2012: Carly Rae Jepsen - “Call Me Maybe” 2013: Kanye West - “On Sight” 2014: The Menzingers - “Where Your Heartache Exists” 2015: Big Sean f/ Kanye West - “All Your Fault” 2016: The Menzingers - “Lookers” 2017: The Menzingers - “After The Party” 2018: Horror Squad - “I Smoke The Blood” 2019: Signals Midwest f/ Sincere Engineer - “Your New Old Apartment”

* * *

It’s time to stop writing. Thank you so much for reading.

Spotify playlist is here, featuring 70 of the 75.

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starryburglar-archive · 5 years

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Lily Info

Full name: Lily Kobayashi

Species: Human || A.I. ( verse dependant )

Age: 21

Sexuality: Pansexual

FC(s): Anarchy Panty ( Panty and Stocking ) // Hirai Momo

Bio: Miss Lily Kobayashi was born on a silver platter and blessed with good looks, with loving parents and never missing anything. She grew up assisting to the most prestigious institutions, with nothing but the best education to offer. One would think she never suffered bullying of any kind because of this, however, those factors are more of a curse than a blessing. Sure, she is known to be quite lazy and a party animal but that doesn’t completely define her, that doesn’t mean she’s a “dumb blonde” who cheated or bribed her professors to get good grades; not to mention the slight bullying tied into her heritage, as she isn’t 100% Japanese.

Lily knew she would never be taken seriously if she were to go to college, study hard and take over her father’s business at the given time. In other circumstances, she would’ve tried anyway just because that’s her life… but being constantly underestimated for many different factors is tiring and annoying. So while in the middle of her High School years, she went to the one industry where she wouldn’t be judged because of external factors.

Becoming an idol is hard, she was aware of it. It’s incredibly demanding but rewarding in so many ways. Thankfully, with the help of her father, she got in contact with one of the few (if not the only) modern Idol company who treats their stars like actual human beings: VOCALOID. And while Lily wasn’t lucky enough to be scouted by the Crypton wing, who has the biggest idol star of all time, Internet Co. was just as welcoming.

With the years of training she had to go through, Lily was thankful that her debut happened after High School -- just a year after her partner and good friend, Gumi. She was presented to Japan (and soon enough, the rest of the world) as a pop diva, but she tries to add a bit of sex appeal to her live performances.

Note: Heavily headcanon based.

[ MAIN || INBOX || HEADCANONS || VISAGE || MUSINGS ]

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V001: Pop Diva

Default main verse. One goal in her mind, to be a great idol. No, not just great... amazing, the best of the best. It would be ludicrous to say Lily wasn't the dictionary definition of a pop diva. Currently working for the VOCALOID company and firm, under the Internet Co umbrella, Lily is determined to stay always be the best, to always be on top.

V002: Almost a Real Seduction

Alternate main verse. A voice synthesizer developed (mainly) for computers but with the recently added AI functions, now it can work on any device. The program LILY can be activated on a mobile phone, a computer, or even the TV! With the right user, Lily can sing in Japanese, English and even Spanish; don't pressure her, however, she appreciates good communication with her user and if things get complicated she'll peace out for a couple of hours.

V003: Party Animal

High school verse. Known as the party girl, as the head cheerleader, as someone lazy but who always gets good grades. Nobody ever thinks her grades are a product of her own will, not because she studied or anything; oh no, I couldn't be that, not with her blonde hair, hourglass figure and rich background. Someone of her rank probably cheated her way to get good grades.

Kobayashi Lily knows that's what everybody thinks. All the time, for all of her life. Whenever she tries to be taken seriously, others dismiss it and laugh it off. Her background is something she's both proud and ashamed off... how does ti feel to live while everyone else doubts every little thing you do, just because of your background?

V004: Slowly Climbing to the Top

College verse. High School is part of the past. College is her present. Her future? Lily wasn't sure yet. There were many probabilities, so many things she wanted to do. Will she be taking seriously in the real world? It's uncertain, but at least Lily will try to make the most of it. One of her objectives is to travel around the world, see as many things as possible, and trying to learn from experiencing stuff.

V005: To be the Best Coordinator

A Pokemon verse. Lily Kobayashi's family is filled with Pokemon Coordinators. Both of her parents used to be famous at their prime time, winning contests and the like. No wonder she admired them so much; to Lily, they were amazing, the best of the best -- she wanted to be like them.

Now at the age of 21, her team isn't as large as of regular trainers, nor does she dedicate herself to capture as many Pokemon as possible. Lily did travel across the different regions like any other did at the age of ten, but was more focused on identifying the Pokemons who she would have the best compatibility.

CURRENT TEAM: Jolteon, Emolga, Pachirisu, Jigglypuff and Sylveon.

V006: Teasing Succubus

A Monster Prom verse. To find demons still in High School wasn't much of a surprise nowadays, not even the variety of different kinds of demons one could find. Who in their right mind would believe incubus and succubus don't have to study? Well, that doesn't mean all of them really care about going to class. Lily was one of those succubi, one who cared very little about grades and classes and would rather spend her hours partying and hanging out with Polly, Scott, Damien or Miranda.

V007: Honey Mics

An Eldarya verse. Far away from the mainlands of Eldarya, there was an island across the sea. This is the land of the Muses, magical humanoid beings that can live for a long time, with strong auras and connected to the arts. Their large island has a sub-country for each specific art, with the capital on the centre ruling them all.

Lily Kobayashi lived at the capital of this land, being one of the few rich families who do so. She’s a highly seductive muse with a hypnotic voice and a skilled ability to dance. Her aura is golden yellow, reflecting his high-class status.

V008: Hypnotic Voice

Lily Kobayashi was no unknown at the U.A. Academy. As the only daughter of a famous professional hero and an equally famous costume designer for all kinds of heroes and quirks. As third years go, she’s someone to not underestimate.

QUIRK: ENCHANTRESS. Much like a mermaid attracts pirates to their doom, Lily has a hypnotic voice that can put anyone within range in a trance. Once this happens, she can either have them as her puppets or leave them unconscious for a small amount of time. // Hero name: Syren.

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

CONNECTIONS

Hatsune Mikuo :: [ Bae ]

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Hatsune Mikuto :: [ Bae ]

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Jumin Han :: [ Bae ]

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soul-heart-and-beyond · 5 years

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Updating Stuff!

Yeah! About time I got back to updating this blog! I’ve added a few new rules or just extensions of previous ones, though I don’t think I could surpass the number I have now.

New promos are being made gradually over time, which kinda explains my delays and silent stretches of time over the past couple of weeks. I feel like the ones I was sending out with my muses were way too basic, so I decided to do some unique ones to give them some flair!

Headcanons are being updated too and I’ll post some on dash for their existence being known.

Also adding new verses that I have yet to actually talk about unless it was referenced like out of context or something, but here are the new verses!

Justice Fowls Universe: [Dewey, Duckworth, Fenton, and Negaduck] (I’m, real original aren’t I? Some of it is already on there, but it will get updated and expanded upon as time goes on to make things better and more comprehensive.)

Captain of the Clouds Universe: [Dewey] (I should have made this earlier, but I didn’t remember until I saw everyone else showing up.) A moment where Dewey would have continued on being the captain of the Iron Vulture and her crew instead of switching over to his family. This will follow his adventures, events, and interations of Dewey as he goes about his new life as a sky pirate, one that feels great for him as he gets to be free and do things his way for once, or as close to his way as a captain can get anyway.

Corrupted Cops Universe: [Huckleberry] (Because what’s better than a lovable cop turned bad?) When Huckleberry Hound is scheduled to be relocated to ToonTown’s precinct district to assist them with their lacking of manpower in the badge of duty department, he unknowingly becomes a part of ToonTown’s Toon Patrol (Well, he does it knowingly but doesn’t know that they are also a corrupt police force/gang), and in which, he too slowly starts to give into their ways. He may not be a weasel, but he sure knows how to imitate those around him, and with some fellas like the Toon Patrol, he’s bound to get some negative influence to dim on his good heart.

Alternate Apparitions Universe: [Roxas] A universe/pseudo canonical way of exploring Roxas without having to just be limited to his onscreen appearances inside the timeline of the Xehanort Saga (I swear his whole placement in the timeline and how long he gets to be him is so short and his character interactions are so few that he kinda feels underused by the later portion of games in KH.) To counter this idea and actually make it work within the own concept prompted by KH 1 and KH2, about whether reality is really reality or just an illusion, a far off dream, I thought of this.

When Roxas goes back/merges with Sora, he does complete Sora, but also he is sent into a parallel universe that allows for him to have his own adventures and connections to be forged, and therefore adding more weight to the idea that Sora’s heart touches more people than one, at least until before Roxas gets a body to place his heart in again and be brought back to the universe that Sora is in and such. Think of it like he’s in the Sleeping Worlds from Dream Drop Distance, where he can meet various incarnations of Mickeys, Donalds, Goofys, etc. and also venture of into the worlds like Jungle Book, Sword in the Stone, and those that haven’t been shown in KH yet, or Tarzan’s world for Pete’s sake! This could also allow for Roxas to gain understanding of himself, his connection to Sora, the keyblade, and further more how Nobodies to work and such.

Turtle Territory Universe: [Skunky] (More info later on this one too! It does stem off of a rp currently in progress, so that’s why the info will come later when it is finished.)

#(Yeah I've been meaning to update for a while but never could muster up the strength until now.)#(For some of these verses I feel pretty excited for and hopefully they turn out good!)#(These updates will never stop but they will probably just vary in depth and time from moment to moment.)#Out Of Soul (ooc)#From the Book of History (Mun Updates)

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mrcoreymonroe · 6 years

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The Joy Of ADF

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Like many of you, I bought my first airplane a long time ago, and the panel looked like something out of a South American locomotive. There was a very tired, crystal-controlled Narco VHT3 navcom that worked on alternate Thursdays when the moon was full. There was also an equally weary but still functional Bendix T12D ADF that looked as if it shouldn’t work but did.

At the time, I regarded the Bendix as a wonder box. It was the simplest possible form of radio navigation. The needle pointed at the station. End of directions.

Simplicity isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be. ADF offers no distance or altitude information and no internal heading info, though following the needle could provide a bearing to the station. If you could receive two strong signals with the proper geometry, you could switch back and forth and sometimes triangulate a rough position. Very rough.

ADF was simple and primitive, but it worked…most of the time.

Anyone who’s read Rod Machado, William Kershner or any of a dozen other aviation textbook authors can probably recite chapter and verse as to why ADF has been all but abandoned as a primary nav aid for VFR and IFR flight.

The system dates back to the 1920s, and no, this isn’t a historical dissertation on the superiority of ADF over today’s satellite-based, supremely accurate navigation technology.

ADF operates in the LF band that ranges from 200 to 415 kHz and the AM, commercial broadcast band that plays between 550 and 1600 kHz. Unlike some clear channel, AM broadcast stations that boast power up to 50,000 watts, dedicated aviation LF stations generally make do with 200 watts or less.

Of course, as everyone learned in flight school, the LF signal is notoriously unreliable in convective weather. Any electrical discharge, typically a thunderstorm, can drive the needle crazy, most often pointing at the nearest lightning flash. Terrain errors, common in mountainous areas, can induce erratic readings. Ionosphere error during sunrise and sunset also can cause fluctuations in the readout. Bank error can compromise the DF function when the aircraft is in a turn.

The former owner of my 1946 Swift had a directory of commercial AM broadcast stations that he carried with him everywhere he flew, and he bequeathed that book to me when I bought his airplane. The info in the directory and my Bendix ADF helped me travel to pretty much anyplace I wanted to go.

Blessed with undeserved courage and limited aviation brain cells, I flew the Swift from Southern California to practically everywhere in North America except Mexico. Though my directory provided the lat/long of the transmission source, it didn’t relate to the airports’ location. I could usually determine that info from Acc-U-Quik or by consulting the chart.

I was reminded of all this a few weeks back when Dan Neil, auto reviewer for the Wall Street Journal, wrote a story in his Rumble Seat column about driving coast-to-coast across the lower U.S.A. in his minivan.

Neil waxed poetic about the joy of driving at night when some AM broadcast stations could reach out and touch him from 2,000 miles away. Obviously, Neil had no DF capability in his van, but that barely mattered since he was forced to follow the interstate highway system anyway.

When I flew at night over Southern California, I was a little amazed to sometimes tune WABC in New York (770 kHz) and have the stations come booming into my headset as if they were on the phone.

Moot point. The Swift had a range of about 350 nm, so those far-flung stations were never my destinations. At least, the ADF could point out the proper direction to the station, sometimes even in daylight.

When I was learning to fly in Alaska, navigation was mostly by pilotage, dead reckoning or ADF. Few trainers had VOR receivers. Mountains are practically everywhere in the 49th state, so even when VORs finally became available, their application was limited.

When ADF worked, it was the closest thing we had to long-range nav. Fortunately, most general aviation aircraft came equipped with ADF in that era, and it seemed there were NDBs everywhere.

When I began delivering airplanes overseas in 1980, ADF became even more valuable. LF beacons are relatively inexpensive to buy and maintain, and they’re still used extensively all over the world, especially in Africa and on many remote Pacific islands.

The advent of GPS has eclipsed much of the NDB’s application in the U.S., and the FAA is slowly decommissioning more and more of those low-frequency stations.

LF beacons and four-course ranges were standard in many places until VHF/VORs began to supplant them in the early 1960s. The VOR network was good for short distances over land but not so good over the ocean.

On the standard, 1,800-nm leg from Gander, Newfoundland, to Shannon, Ireland, we used to tune a commercial broadcast station (Radio 2 – 566 kHz, I think) that happened to have its transmitter located directly east of Shannon.

If atmospheric conditions were good, we could track that signal all the way across the Atlantic. Sometimes, when conditions were optimum, we could pick up Radio 2 while sitting on the ramp at Gander.

If we homed on the station with the needle, we’d sometimes prescribe a slight arc across the ocean because of frequent, northwesterly crosswinds. Most of the time, the added distance was less than 5 percent of our total. If we “tracked” to the station, using a wind correction angle, we could often reduce or eliminate the error.

More importantly for pilots who were smarter than to overfly oceans, ADF allowed tuning LF frequencies at airports across the U.S. These stations weren’t always very strong, but some offered NDB approaches that allowed IFR procedures when weather was marginal.

Coincidentally, a non-directional beacon (CPM–378 kHz) was mounted on the side of my hangar in Compton, California until a few years ago. One joke around the airport during instrument weather was that if I could call ahead and have someone open my hangar door, I could fly right into my hangar. Not!

ADF was usually a good friend. I used it religiously, even after the VHF/VOR network was introduced. Every airplane I’ve owned has been equipped with ADF, and the system has been a valuable backup more times than I can count.

Once, back in the ‘80s, well before the introduction of GPS, I was flying a 36 Bonanza outbound from Honolulu, final destination—Perth, Australia. I was halfway out on the second, 2,000-nm Pacific leg toward Majuro in the Marshall Islands, still 1,100 miles distant.

The Majuro NDB was strong and pointing straight ahead when the needle lost lock and wandered slowly around to the 90-degree-right, park position. I tried to check the identifier, but there was nothing on the frequency. Majuro’s beacon had gone off the air.

No cause for panic. For what it was worth, I still had my dead reckoning flight plan, but that was based on best guess winds aloft in Honolulu, now far behind me. My chances of finding tiny Majuro, a half-moon coral atoll about three miles across counting the lagoon in the center and still 1,000 nm away, were marginal, at best.

I called up San Francisco long range on HF and asked if they could check with Majuro on the problem with the NDB.

San Francisco called back a few minutes later and said they were still trying to contact Majuro. Apparently, there’d been a major power outage, and even San Francisco couldn’t raise anyone at Majuro.

Meanwhile, with no better plan in place, I kept doing what I’d been doing, hoping that someone could get the NDB back on the air. Power failures are common on mid-Pacific atolls, and they usually don’t last long, I kept telling myself.

Sure enough, a half-hour later, the needle came back to life and rotated back to top center. At the same time, San Francisco called and said someone at Majuro had forgotten to refill the generator’s emergency fuel tank. When the power failed, the voltage drop was supposed to kick the generator back on and keep the NDB on the air. No gas, no signal.

Perhaps sadly, the advent of GPS has eclipsed ADF in both OEM and the aftermarket. Most aircraft manufacturers still offer ADF as an option, but many buyers don’t bother to check that box, because GPS is regarded as invincible.

Don’t believe it. I was flying a Cessna Grand Caravan from Guam to Seoul, Korea, on the last leg of a ferry delivery from Santa Barbara a decade after the Majuro incident and was treated to a GPS “blink,” a brief signal loss on both panel-mount GPSs and my two portables.

I was flying in strong headwinds toward Hiroshima, Japan, and the airplane was 1,700 pounds over gross with ferry fuel. Plus, with a cargo pod hanging down, the Caravan was about as aerodynamic as a stagecoach, so I was only grounding (watering?) 120 knots. Plus, Dumbo, the dancing bear in the left seat, hadn’t checked the ADF before departing from California. It turned out the ADF was stone cold dead.

Japan and Korea are hard targets to miss if you can merely read a compass, but I was still grateful the GPS signal came back online in about 20 minutes.

Before you sign on to your MacBook or Dell to ask, yes, I’m a big fan of GPS. I have two of them on my current Mooney’s panel, plus a semi-permanent Garmin backup on top of the dash, and they’re my primary nav sources. I also have a small Terra ADF tucked into the lower right corner of the panel, and it’s on most of the time during every flight, just in case GPS decides to blink at me again.

Check out more Cross-Country Log flying stories from ferry pilot and Senior Editor Bill Cox.

The post The Joy Of ADF appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

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daleisgreat · 6 years

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2017-18 TV Season Recap, Part One

Previous TV Season Recaps – (2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17) 2017-18 TV Season Recap - Part 2 (South Park, Roseanne, Evil Genius, Orville, Riverdale)

Greetings and welcome to my annual TV season recap! Enjoy as I ramble on about nearly a dozen of the TV shows I attempted to keep up with throughout the television year. Please check out the links above for past installments of my TV recaps. I am splitting this year’s installment into two parts for now. Part one here will feature my breakdowns of the six shows based on comic books I followed while part two will feature everything else! In a few months like last year I will add a bonus part covering three or four more shows I plan to binge throughout the summer. Enough with the intro, let us get onto the year of television that was 2017-18. Gotham – I have no idea where to begin on the fourth season of Gotham. Like I mentioned in past annual recaps, since season two Gotham went kind of bonkers and dove deep bringing in a wide array of vintage Batman villains. A lot of them you may have seen from prior cartoons and films, while many others are getting their on-screen debut in Gotham. Plenty of past recurring villains return along with some new ones to keep me on my toes for each episode. The primary villains this season after Gordon and Harvey put away early filler head villain ‘The Pyg’ in a enjoyable several episode arc early in the season are Ra’s al Ghul and the Jerome/Jeremiah brothers that many of us know better as The Joker, even though the show does not officially label them as such. Gordon’s old love interests Barb and Lee both get some sadistic twists this season with Barb getting some unexpected powers as she clashes with Ra’s and Lee becoming a crime lord of sorts when she teams up with The Riddler and becomes known as the ‘Queen of the Narrows.’

I will nitpick a little bit because season three ended with a tease of Bruce donning his first set of the classic caped crusader costume as he sought out vigilante justice. The fourth season quickly backtracks away from that within a couple episodes as Bruce realizes he is in over his head after some early failures and he winds up going on a depressing party binge for several episodes and betraying the love-able Alfred to go out and party before finally coming to his senses. That said I am amazed at how Gotham managed to juggle its mammoth ensemble cast with almost something to do for every character this season. On almost any other show I would be irate for the lame explanations for characters cheating death and constantly coming back. I can get on board with the unbelievable returns in Gotham due to how off the rails the show has become by this point. Only way a person stays dead in Gotham is via bazooka. I was disheartened to see FOX announce that Bruce Wayne’s version of Smallville will come to an end with this fall’s fifth season being the last, and being only a half season at that. At least that gives the writers several episodes to wrap up this insanely awesome Batman project. Grade: A- Arrow – Season six of The Arrow means it is time to rejoice since there are no longer any more flashback periphery story arcs. Since Oliver is now the mayor of Star City, that means there are numerous enemies constantly trying to frame him and remove him from office, and while they are at it continue the laughable annual trend of trying to expose Oliver as the Green Arrow. The season gets a little messy with the core of Team Arrow splitting up for more than half the season and constantly being at odds with each other while the primary antagonists have some surprising twists of their own. I will give my supporting character MVP this season to Quentin Lance as the only one who stood loyal to Oliver through thick and thin this season while nearly the rest of the entire cast was at odds with Olly at one point or another this season.

That is saying a ton too as Quentin has his own season-spanning arc where he encounters another Earth’s version of his daughter, Laurel and never gives up on her despite her sinister ways and it seems like a laughably lost cause from the get go, but Quentin’s resilience and perseverance paid off after many weeks of effort in a way I was not anticipating. Arrow featured a dramatic season finale which will surely have profound changes for the series going into next season. There were a few missteps during the course of this season, but it managed to find its footing by the end and got me back on board again. Grade: B+ The Flash – I hate to see this trend, but the fourth season of The Flash continues the downward trajectory of the series after an underwhelming third season. The problem here is with the season-spanning villain Clifford DeVoe, aka, The Thinker. Thinker is after the unique energy force from a group of metas that got their powers on a mysterious explosion on a bus. So the whole season sees Team Flash try to track down each ‘bus meta’ one-by-one, but only consistently fail to protect them and see them fall victim to having their life force harvested by The Thinker. Most of these battles that play out are depressing to watch to see the Flash regularly disposed of with ease. One of the bus metas, Ralph, winds up joining Team Flash, but his forced humor is cringe-inducing and his run on the show went far longer than it had any right to be. The only reason this managed to stay above the ‘D’ range is because the series continues one of its positive trends of a great Christmas party scene and an awesome wedding between Barry and Iris that was at the core of a fun four-part crossover event with all four CW DC shows. Grade:C-

Legends of Tomorrow – Legends of Tomorrow was the surprise hit of the DC Arrow-verse this year. Its first two seasons were decent with their fair share of highs and lows, but ultimately suffered with a huge cast that stretched episodes thin to cram everyone in. The team on Legends got it right for season three by dialing back the cast a little (which means some heartbreaking moments this season) and somehow achieving the impossible by making Steel marginally less of a dope and even having an episode he excelled in what was my favorite episode of the season with its take on the classic film, Groundhog’s Day. CW must have had a serious makeover to the writer staff this season because at first I grimaced when they added the insufferable Wally West from Flash to the Legends team halfway through the season, but his personality surprisingly meshed well with the team and he blended right in! Sarah Lance is also coming into her own now as the group leader, and the intentionally campy-yet-amazing Damien Darhk and his daughter are the perfect season-long foils for the legends. A throwaway gag in a midseason episode in the form of a cuddly stuffed animal called, Beebo, returns in a memorable way for a surprisingly awesome season finale! Having its season not as padded out and several episodes shorter compared to the other CW DC shows also significantly helps. Grade: A- Jessica Jones – The second season of JJ on Netflix was a surprise step down from its unforgettable debut season. It is still one of the stronger Marvel Netflix series, and a big step up from Defenders and Iron Fist. The second season starts out strong with Jess meeting some new neighborhood characters setting up the season and the affable Malcom stepping up his role as Jessica’s assistant. After a few episodes things start to gradually unravel though with Trish relapsing and her arc slowly evolving from curious to cringe-worthy by the end of the season. Jeri’s periphery arc is also frustratingly inconclusive and vague and seems to be there for more shock than substance. The season shapes up midway through when Jones reconnects with figures from her past that the show does not paint in a bright light. Jessica Jones does not seem to care to drive home the destination point of this season and I could not help but feel the undertones from the cast this season in their body language read something like, “you are not going to particularly care how this season wraps up, it is just going to be there.” And that is exactly what happened, with the show doubling down on new characters this season that are not fun to root for or against and are essentially a nonfactor by the end of the season.

One last nagging point I have to touch on is Jess is her usual badass self most of this season threatening to rip people’s spines out for not divulging her info. However, at a couple crisis points this season she uncharacteristically gets pouty when it comes time to walk past the metaphorical ‘line’ she bemoans “I’m not a killer” before offing some painfully stereotypical antagonizing prison guard in one of the low points of the season. The second season feels like a wash by the end to wipeout all the good momentum established in the first half, including an awesome prequel episode set several years before the first season that wound up as one of the season’s few saving graces combined with a few other strong early episodes to prevent this from hitting the C range. Grade: B- The Punisher - If you know me, I am a huge Punisher mark, so this summary is admittedly a bit biased. Season two of Daredevil was a great introduction of the character, but Punisher’s own self-titled Netflix exclusive series dives deep into his psyche. As expected, a lot about his origin is constantly referenced throughout for the impetus for him going on his crusade. The PMC group Punisher squares off against is a formidable foe for Frank to go to war with, and I also thought the producers managed to walk that fine line for a secondary villain this season who is a middle east veteran suffering from PTSD who gradually loses before taking matters into his own hands. Rest assured there is plenty of action in each episode, and easily more than any of the other Marvel Netflix series.

They still sprinkle in a good back story for some breathing room, and Franks does not waste a word of his intentional limited dialogue as every word he speaks means business. The person Frank interacts with for his tech-backup is a good sidekick, but not worthy of the Micro name as the Netflix version veers off in some significant ways than how he was portrayed in the comics, but they capture the core of Micro’s role providing tech support for Frank. Micro’s family played a little more into the overall plot than I thought they would, but by the end of the season I thought they all earned their spot on the show and I was invested in their arc. As a die-hard Punisher fan this is a near-flawless portrayal of him, and this debut season easily surpasses all prior on-screen representations of him and I loving the tease for the villain they have in store for Frank in season two. Grade: A Past TV/Web Series Blogs 2013-14 TV Season Recap 2014-15 TV Season Recap 2015-16 TV Season Recap 2016-17 TV Season Recap Adventures of Briscoe County Jr: The Complete Series Angry Videogame Nerd Volumes 7-9 Mortal Kombat: Legacy - Season 1 OJ: Made in America: 30 for 30 RedvsBlue - Seasons 1-13 Roseanne – Seasons 1-9 Seinfeld Final Season Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle Superheroes: Pioneers of Television The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series X-Men – The Animated Series: Volumes 4-5

#tv/web series #Gotham #The Flash #Flash #arrow #green arrow #legends of tomorrow #Jessica Jones #punisher #Stephen Amell #grant gustin

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