#Allie Duff

[zonetrente-trois]

[screenspeck]

Screen Speck's Top TV Episodes of 2022

Screen Speck’s Top TV Episodes of 2022

2022 gave us a stunning amount of brilliant television. Somehow, Severance and Abbott Elementary Season 2 (and most of Season 1!) aired in the exact same year, even though it feels like they aired in two different eras. With the recent merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ into an unnamed and definitely worse streaming service, we fear that 2022 may have been not only the very peak of Peak TV, but the…

[raffe156]

@shuttlelauncher81

Well…The twins were 100% a surprise Tank found out while out on a recon mission with Soap….

*Mentions of pregnancy*

“Why are you breathing so heavy?…”

“Im nah” Soap looked at you puzzled. He was you could hear it over the aircon in the shitty motel room.

“You are…stop it” you kicked his chair with your boot. The last few weeks you have been totally off kilter, everything annoyed you an the last few days holed up with Soap in Sudan had been challenging to say the least. The heat was biting and the dry air cling to you throat.

~please keep the channel clear~ Price grumbled over the comms

“Shall I just nah breath? Would you prefer that?” Soap slapped your hand away from the scope, he had it in the wrong setting an it was irritating you…again.

“Actually yes please, also can please please stop dowsing yourself in whatever body spray you are using…smells like it’s called mud and mints” you shifted in your seat. Your combat pants were digging into your stomach. Another irritation to add to the list.

“I’m nah wearing any body spray?! Or aftershave?” Soap shook his head.

You looked at him in shock, why was he lying?

~Tank…Johnny doesn’t wear body spray? I’ve tried to make him trust me…~ Ghost patched in

Soap looked at you triumphantly, not something he should be proud of…

~I’m not going to say it again keep the channel clear~ Price sounded pissed off now.

“You’ve been ratty all week lass, haha super hearing, super smell, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you was up the duff haha….” His face dropped when he realised he did know better…shit. You couldn’t be? Could you? You an Price had been abit careless…but you had the implant in? That expired a year and a half ago….shit.

The silence was deafening….

~Can we refocus please…~ Price warned down the comms.

***********

Back at the base Ghost looked at Price his face stone, but Ghost could see a small crack…he was worried, it was bad enough you were sat smack bang in the middle of a major conflict zone, but now there was the possibility of you being pregnant with no doubt his baby?

It was a 6 hour drive to you an Soap, no air evac allowed and you still had another day of recon to do Price was racking his brain, he was in a room full of allied troops, none had access to the team channel but he couldn’t be seen losing it, even though inside his mind was screaming, the mix of emotions fighting inside his chest he was over the moon at the possibility of you being pregnant, but the overwhelming need tto protect you had just doubled. He looked at Ghost.

“Ghost how fast can we get to their location?”

“It’s a 6 hour drive…I can do it in 3 tops” Ghost looked at the map.

“Good lad…”

[theseattleheadfanclub]

If I didn't know any better I would think Slash and Duff were boyfriends. They may not be an item, but they are incredible allies to the LGBTQ+ community who have never been afraid to show the comfortable and intimate relationship they have with each other. 🏳️‍🌈🌈

[ginsengkitten]

Nightfall: Chapter 6

⛧☾༺♰༻☽⛧

You had thrown on clothes and jump on slashes bike. He sped through the night streets, to a rural wooded area just outside of the city. The moonlight casted fully upon the two of you as he parked in a grove of trees. A beautiful moss covered meadow sat in the moonlight. You realize it's a cemetery. "What is this?" You questioned confused.

"That one there." He pointed to a smaller older headstone engraved with roses and moss. You read the name. "Samantha..?"

"Our beautiful daughter who loved to paint. We love you." You read the engraving.

"1934" slash answered. He pointed over to another one nearby.

"Hattie Reynolds. Our dearest angel.."

"1951" he added.

As you walk through the graveyard, you see gravestones near and far all the way up to 1972.

"What is all this? Why are you showing me this?" You ask confused.

"This is what happens when the churches find out you're an ally to vampires.." he answered solemnly, coldly.

Your heart sank. "They...they killed them? All of them?"

"Very few have survived, and it's only because they've told no one." He said, he looked to you with a desperate look in his eye. He approached you closely now. He towered over you, his smooth skin reflecting moonlight. He gripped your arm lightly. "You can't let anyone know what you've seen. Ever." He warned.

A new layer of fear swelled inside you. You lose yourself in thought as you stare off for a moment. What a lonely secret to keep.

"All these people, died so long ago..." you look to slash again. "...how old are you?" You ask. You can tell he didn't want to answer that. He sat on the ground next to a headstone. "Old enough..." he said lowly, sorrowfully. You sit next to him and read the headstone.

"Clarissa Rose...- there's no death date." You say confused.

"I never met her myself." Slash said. "But Axl, he refused to put a death date. Crazy bastard thinks she'll still come back one day.."

"Axl-......he's the clan master, isn't he? This is Clarissa, his wife..." You piece it together. Slash nodded.

"We've been alive...for far too long." Slash said quietly. He looked at the ground.

"Can I ask how..-" you start.

"It was duff. He uh-saved me." He hesitated to use the word save. "My mom and I moved out here in 44, for her new job as a seamstress. She uh- she was really really good. Talented. And uh, one night, our store was attacked by the northern clan. I was bitten by a northern vampire but he fled, and I started bleeding out. I had cried out to my mom- that I didn't want to die. That I wasn't ready.." he chuckled slightly to himself.

"And duff heard my cry and came. He was new at being a vampire. Thinking he had to answer that plea with an eternal solution, some sort of moral obligation I guess.

By the time he reached us, Cyrus had ripped my mom's head from her body. He was gone. So was she. But he changed me. Took me home, and healed me. Been with him ever since."

Your heart wrenched. The pain in his voice was numb. "Slash....Im so sorry..."

The silence lasted long, the two of you sat in silence until you felt to move the conversation.

"1944...so you're, old, very old..." You mumbled. "72." He answered. You looked at him shocked.

"Well...you look pretty good for 72. I always had a thing for older men." You admit a joke hoping to lift his spirit. He laughs slightly.

"And you laughed at my joke...so you don't hate me after all." You say. Slashes head lifts up and he looks at you. The moonlight glimmers in his eyes. "I don't hate you.." he says. He resumes that similar haunting stare. His eyes washing over you. "I'm sorry if I made you think that I- from the first moment I saw you. I sensed you. And your presence is-so strong. It's like I couldn't think. And it frustrated me . And then- and then you touched me, when I took you home. And when you touched me- I don't know it was like I had blood in my veins again. It was this warmth rushed inside me under my skin-it was the most human I've felt since I changed..." he trailed off. You completely softened to his candid vulnerability. Your cheeks flushed red. He snapped out of his trance and looked at the ground embarrassed. "Uh- sorry I- that was probably weird to hear." He apologized. You took his hand in yours, making him ignite to your touch. "No, it wasn't, it was wonderful." You soothed. His eyes met yours again.

Slash watched you in the moonlight.  As it dripped down your skin and hair. The way it illuminated your bright eyes. From the moment he laid eyes on you, he had been completely taken by you. Your energy, your beauty. It was impossible to look away. You were something so different than anything he'd felt in decades and it shook him to his core. He studied you. He wanted to figure out why he couldn't figure you out. It puzzled him. His eyes scanned down your lips and then back to your eyes. Your hand still touching his. He felt your warm touch, buzz into his skin and he leaned forward into you. You leaned to meet him. The two of you tiptoeing into a kiss. Both pulling away hesitantly for a second, and then slash grabbed your face in his large hands and pressed his lips against yours gently. You dissolve into his lips. Your lips brush lightly against his fangs. Your tongue reminding you of his vampiric form, but it didn't phase you, you wanted him and he craved you. Surpassing your previous notion of hatred, and now to this, passionate kiss under the silver glow of the full moon.

He pulled away for a moment to study you. The time which he had suffered alone all these years, the lonely sorrow melted away with something warm in its place. He had brief encounters with meaningless women. None had ignited this feeling in him. None had made him feel alive again, not until now. Until you. You were changing everything so quickly.

"I've never thought I'd feel alive again.." He whispered as he caressed your face.

You resume a kiss, which now drifted from gentle passion to a buzz of fierce intensity that you want to try to match but he begins overpowering you, which you initially take a liking to at first. Then his grip on you firms. You feel on your tongue, his fangs grow out further. His kiss becoming more ravenous and animalistic. He released low growls through increasing pants. You feel something sharp pierce your wrist from his grip and yelp in pain. Slash pulls away immediately and you see his face. His face was slightly transformed. His mouth not only had fangs, but all of the teeth came to a sharper point. His eyes are extremely dark and glossed over. You hold your wrist in pain, claws had grown out of his fingers, accidentally cutting you. You held your wrist and looked at him in fear and shock. Slash completely paused and drew himself back. He looked at your expression and glanced from his extended claws to your now bloodied wrist. The both of you panting. Everything escalating so fast. "Y/N- I'm so sorry." He said. His apology was earnest and real, but his appearance and sudden depraved mannerisms made you second guess him. "I- I don't know what took over me Y/N I'm-" he breathes frustrated with himself. You see his eyes continue to pace from your face to the dripping blood. Your blood, the red spillage, drifted sweetly in his face. He pauses for a moment, trying to gain control over himself. He knows the danger of the situation. He had never craved human blood so badly before. He practically licked his lips. Seconds felt like eternity. He struggles to wrangle his control. Vampires- do they all have claws like this? And teeth like that? His appearance was huskier and larger than it was before. Something about his body was formed differently than before. Like he grew more muscular, his hair, longer and more unkempt. You watch him pant for control as he shrinks back to his initial normal human size. "We have to go. Now." He stands up and rushes you back to the lair where Izzy could tend to your wound. Slash said nothing the whole way home.

-

Izzy carefully stitched up your small puncture wound. You winced. Slash couldn't let himself watch what he had done to you. He had fled the lair and disappeared.

"He'll be back." Izzy consoled you.

"It was so weird...it was like he was more than just a vampire. Like some sort of beast. Izzy calmly kept his eyes on the wound. "Well slash is what we call a morph." . "A morph?" You questioned. "The northern vampire that had first bit him, was part vampire, part werewolf. Up in the north, they bred with werewolves for stronger vampires, essentially. But this act is considered illegal in our world- morphs are especially dangerous and unpredictable.

But when duff halted the northern bite with his own strain, it cut off the full infection, but enough had entered his body to alter him into a morph. They are...especially difficult to deal with." He explained with a sigh.

"Couldn't stay away huh?" Duff teases you as he leans against the doorway. "More like slash couldn't.." you mumble. Duffs expression goes more serious. "Be careful around him, Y/N. He's not like the rest of us. He's stronger, more aggressive. He hasn't been changed for very long. He still doesn't have full control of his form. Morphs are bred for violence. While I changed him yes, the dna is still there inside of him."

"I remember the early days after he first changed. Changing into a morph is different. It's more painful. More intense. I spent a lot of time researching them so I could learn how to take care of him better, after all, I was the one that damned him to eternal suffering.

He was ravenous then. Extremely dangerous." He continued. "How did he get better?"

"Time- and patience...and regret. He accidentally killed someone. He lost control and tore a girl apart in the woods. He went missing for days until I found him hiding out in the mountains. It shocked him so badly. I don't think he's forgiven himself for that still. I don't think he ever will. "

Your throat was dry and you completely lost focus of the pain.

"Tracii and his crew got word that a westerner had killed a human and began pursuing slash. They believe he's one of the strongest morphs still alive so They tried to recruit him to the north. They are convinced still he's one of them and belongs up there with those savages. It was a mistake. "

"He's not one of them. I know it." You blurt confidently.

Izzy wrapped your wrist up. "But he's still dangerous." Izzy added.

[usafphantom2]

Canada selects Boeing's P-8A Poseidon as its new multi-mission aircraft

The partnership with Canadian industry will provide long-term economic prosperity to Canada 🇨🇦

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 11/30/2023 - 18:52 in Military

With the P-8, Canada guarantees the interchangeability of allies NORAD and FIVE EYES.

The government of Canada signed a letter of offer and acceptance of foreign military sales for up to 16 Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft, as part of the Canadian Multimission Aircraft Project (CMMA).

Canada joins eight defense partners, including all allies of FIVE EYES, the intelligence alliance that also includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and becomes the fifth NATO nation to have selected the P-8 as its multi-mission aircraft. The first delivery is scheduled for 2026.

“The P-8 will strengthen Canada's defense capability and readiness, and we look forward to delivering that capability to the Royal Canadian Air Force,” said Heidi Grant, president of Business Development at Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “Together with our Canadian partners, we will deliver a strong package of industrial and technological benefits that will ensure continued prosperity for Canada's aerospace and defense industry.”

The P-8 is the only proven in-service and production solution that meets all CMMA requirements, including range, speed, strength and payload capacity. This decision will benefit hundreds of Canadian companies and bring decades of prosperity to Canada through the support of the platform provided by our Canadian industrial partners.

The acquisition of P-8 will generate benefits of almost 3,000 jobs and $358 million annually in economic output for Canada, according to a 2023 independent study by Ottawa-based Doyletech Corporation.

“This is a very important day for the Royal Canadian Air Force and Boeing,” said Charles 'Duff Sullivan, managing director of Boeing Canada. "The P-8 offers unparalleled capabilities and is the most affordable solution for acquisition and life cycle maintenance costs. There is no doubt that the P-8 will protect Canada's oceans and borders for future generations."

The partnership with Canadian industry will provide long-term economic prosperity to Canada.

The Poseidon Team is the cornerstone of Boeing's Canadian P-8 industrial partnership, composed of CAE, GE Aviation Canada, IMP Aerospace & Defense, KF Aerospace, Honeywell Aerospace Canada, Raytheon Canada and StandardAero. The team is based on the 81 existing Canadian suppliers for the P-8 platform and more than 550 Boeing suppliers in all provinces, contributing to the company's annual economic benefit of approximately CAD$ 4 billion for Canada, supporting more than 14,000 Canadian jobs.

With more than 160 aircraft delivered or in service and 560,000 collective flight hours, the P-8 has proven capabilities for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief response.

Tags: Military AviationBoeingP-8A PoseidonRCAF - Royal Canadian Air Force/Canada Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has work published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[somfte]

Every instance of “Flint” in Treasure Island

If I don’t have a dram o’ rum, Jim, I’ll have the horrors; I seen some on ‘em already. I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as plain as print, I seen him; and if I get the horrors, I’m a man that has lived rough, and I’ll raise Cain.

---

Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to—well, yes, I will!—to that eternal doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all hands—magistrates and sich—and he’ll lay ‘em aboard at the Admiral Benbow—all old Flint’s crew, man and boy, all on ‘em that’s left. I was first mate, I was, old Flint’s first mate, and I’m the on’y one as knows the place.

---

The name of Captain Flint, thought it was strange to me, was well enough known to some there and carried a great weight of terror.

---

The blind man cursed the money. “Flint’s fist, I mean,” he cried.

---

“You have heard of this Flint, I suppose?"

“Heard of him!” cried the squire. “Heard of him, you say! He was the bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed. Blackbeard was a child to Flint. The Spaniards were so prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, I was sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I’ve seen his top-sails with these eyes, off Trinidad, and the cowardly son of a rum-puncheon that I sailed with put back—put back, sir, into Port of Spain.”

“Well, I’ve heard of him myself, in England,” said the doctor. “But the point is, had he money?”

---

“[...] What I want to know is this: Supposing that I have here in my pocket some clue to where Flint buried his treasure, will that treasure amount to much?”

---

"Come away, Hawkins," he would say; "come and have a yarn with John. Nobody more welcome than yourself, my son. Sit you down and hear the news. Here's Cap'n Flint—I calls my parrot Cap'n Flint, after the famous buccaneer—here's Cap'n Flint predicting success to our v'yage. Wasn't you, cap'n?"

---

"O, not I," said Silver. "Flint was cap'n; I was quartermaster, along of my timber leg."

---

"[...] so it was with the old Walrus, Flint's old ship, as I've seen amuck with the red blood and fit to sink with gold."

---

"Ah!" cried another voice, that of the youngest hand on board, and evidently full of admiration. "He was the flower of the flock, was Flint!"

---

"Davis was a man too, by all accounts," said Silver. "I never sailed along of him; first with England, then with Flint, that's my story; and now here on my own account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine hundred safe, from England, and two thousand after Flint. That ain't bad for a man before the mast—all safe in bank. 'Tain't earning now, it's saving does it, you may lay to that. Where's all England's men now? I dunno. Where's Flint's? Why, most on 'em aboard here, and glad to get the duff—been begging before that, some on 'em."

---

"[...] There was some that was feared of Pew, and some that was feared of Flint; but Flint his own self was feared of me. Feared he was, and proud. They was the roughest crew afloat, was Flint's; the devil himself would have been feared to go to sea with them. Well now, I tell you, I'm not a boasting man, and you seen yourself how easy I keep company, but when I was quartermaster, lambs wasn't the word for Flint's old buccaneers. Ah, you may be sure of yourself in old John's ship."

---

"So?" says Silver. "Well, and where are they now? Pew was that sort, and he died a beggar-man. Flint was, and he died of rum at Savannah. [...]"

---

"That's what I call business. Well, what would you think? put 'em ashore like maroons? That would have been England's way. Or cut 'em down like that much pork? That would have been Flint's or Billy Bones's."

---

[...] one after another of the trio took the pannikin and drank—one "To luck," another with a "Here's to old Flint," [...]

---

"Now, Jim, you tell me true: that ain't Flint's ship?" he asked.

At this I had a happy inspiration. I began to believe that I had found an ally, and I answered him at once.

"It's not Flint's ship, and Flint is dead; but I'll tell you true, as you ask me—there are some of Flint's hands aboard; worse luck for the rest of us."

---

"So much I'll tell you, and no more. I were in Flint's ship when he buried the treasure; he and six along—six strong seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us standing off and on in the old Walrus. One fine day up went the signal, and here come Flint by himself in a little boat, and his head done up in a blue scarf. The sun was getting up, and mortal white he looked about the cutwater. But, there he was, you mind, and the six all dead—dead and buried. How he done it, not a man aboard us could make out. It was battle, murder, and sudden death, leastways—him against six. Billy Bones was the mate; Long John, he was quartermaster; and they asked him where the treasure was. 'Ah,' says he, 'you can go ashore, if you like, and stay,' he says; 'but as for the ship, she'll beat up for more, by thunder!' That's what he said.

"Well, I was in another ship three years back, and we sighted this island. 'Boys,' said I, 'here's Flint's treasure; let's land and find it.' The cap'n was displeased at that, but my messmates were all of a mind and landed. Twelve days they looked for it, and every day they had the worse word for me, until one fine morning all hands went aboard. 'As for you, Benjamin Gunn,' says they, 'here's a musket,' they says, 'and a spade, and pick-axe. You can stay here and find Flint's money for yourself,' they says. [...]"

---

"Israel was Flint's gunner," said Gray hoarsely.

---

"[...] and here they are ashore in the old stockade, as was made years and years ago by Flint. Ah, he was the man to have a headpiece, was Flint! Barring rum, his match were never seen. He were afraid of none, not he; on'y Silver—Silver was that genteel."

---

All at once there began the most horrid, unearthly screaming, which at first startled me badly, though I had soon remembered the voice of Captain Flint and even thought I could make out the bird by her bright plumage as she sat perched upon her master's wrist.

---

One I recognized for the coxswain's, Israel Hands, that had been Flint's gunner in former days.

---

Silver's green parrot, Captain Flint! It was she whom I had heard pecking at a piece of bark; [...]

---

"Yes," said one, "that's Flint, sure enough. J. F., and a score below, with a clove hitch to it; so he done ever."

---

Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his shoulder, had not a word of blame for their recklessness.

---

To complete his strange appearance, Captain Flint sat perched upon his shoulder and gabbling odds and ends of purposeless sea-talk.

---

Every here and there, one of a different species rose forty or fifty feet clear above its neighbours, and which of these was the particular "tall tree" of Captain Flint could only be decided on the spot, and by the readings of the compass.

---

"[...] But, by thunder! If it don't make me cold inside to think of Flint. This is one of his jokes, and no mistake. Him and these six was alone here; he killed 'em, every man; and this one he hauled here and laid down by compass, shiver my timbers! [...]"

---

"Speaking of knives," said another, "why don't we find his'n lying round? Flint warn't the man to pick a seaman's pocket; and the birds, I guess, would leave it be."

---

"No, by gum, it don't," agree Silver; "not nat'ral, nor not nice, says you. Great guns! Messmates, but if Flint was living, this would be a hot spot for you and me. Six they were, and six are we; and bones is what they are now."

"I saw him dead with these here deadlights," said Morgan. "Billy took me in. There he laid, with penny-pieces on his eyes."

"Dead—aye, sure enough he's dead and gone below," said the fellow with the bandage; "but if ever sperrit walked, it would be Flint's. Dear heart, but he died bad, did Flint!"

"Aye, that he did," observed another; "now he raged, and now he hollered for the rum, and now he sang. 'Fifteen Men' were his only song, mates; and I tell you true, I never rightly like to hear it since. It was main hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that old song comin' out as clear as clear—and the death-haul on the man already."

"Come, come," said Silver; "stow this talk. He's dead, and he don't walk. that I know; leastways, he won't walk by day, and you may lay to that. Care killed a cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons."

---

"I don't feel sharp," growled Morgan. "Thinkin' o' Flint—I think it were—as done me."

"Ah, well, my son, you praise your stars he's dead," said Silver.

"He were an ugly devil" cried a third pirate with a shudder; "that blue in the face too!"

"That was how the rum took him," added Merry. "Blue! Well, I reckon he was blue. That's a true word."

---

"It's Flint, by ———!" cried Merry.

---

"Shipmates," he cried, "I'm here to get that stuff, and I'll not be beat by man or devil. I never was feared of Flint in his life, and, by the powers, I'll face him dead. [...]"

---

"[...] And come to think on it, it was like Flint's voice, I grant you, but not just clear-away like it, after all. [...]"

---

"It don't make much odds, do it, now?" asked Dick. "Ben Gunn's not here in the body any more'n Flint."

---

One one of these boards I saw, branded with a hot iron, the name Walrus—the name of Flint's ship.

---

That was Flint's treasure that we had come so far to seek and that had cost already the lives of seventeen men from the Hispaniola. How many it had cost in the amassing, what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell.

---

Of Silver we have heard no more. That formidable seafaring man with one leg has at last gone clean out of my life; but I dare say he met his old Negress, and perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain Flint. It is to be hoped so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in another world are very small.

The bar silver and the arms still lie, for all that I know, where Flint buried them; and certainly they shall lie there for me. Oxen and wain-ropes would not bring me back again to that accursed island; and the worst dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf booming about its coasts or start upright in bed with the sharp voice of Captain Flint still ringing in my ears: "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!"

[danglovely]

Question: Who approached whom for the villain team-up in Sitch in Time?

Monkey Fist obviously provided the Tempus Simia intel, but it's difficult to imagine him approaching the other two with it rather than just pursuing it on his own (like he does with the Yono). Additionally, we never really see him ally himself with anybody before or after this (Fukushima and Bates strike me as subordinates).

We know Duff is open to collaborating with others (Sick Day, October 31st) and he's honestly so ancillary that it might be reasonable to assume that the only reason he would be here if he was the one who pitched the idea.

Still, Drakken strikes me as the most likely candidate to have approached the other two. The plot here begins with destroying Kim, which is mostly Drakken's M.O. He also regularly seeks help for achieving his goals through outside sources (and has some co-dependent tendencies).

My guess:

Drakken put together some sort of conference/mixer about destroying Kim Possible.

Monkey Fist and Duff were the two that answered the call.

Drakken took pitches and "Time Monkey" was what prevailed.

[trinity-mia]

a story as endless as the ocean

the sea of monsters

1.9 red sky in morning

warnings : none ( lmk if that isn't actually true )

word count : 2.5k

1.9 The King of the Titans Installs His Back-Up Plan Just in Case He Can't Manipulate Me or I Die (Whichever Comes First)

That afternoon was one of the happiest I'd ever spent at camp, which probably goes to show, you never know when your world is about to be rocked to pieces.

Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer with us before resuming his quest for Pan. His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two-month furlough and a new set of reed pipes.

The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn't improved much. He played "YMCA," and the strawberry plants started going crazy, wrapping around our feet like they were trying to strangle us. I guess I couldn't blame them, seeing as I wanted to strangle his 'music' too. However illogically that was phrased. But, because I was a good friend, I managed to restrain myself and not break them. Though, I wasn't about to make any promises if he started on Hilary Duff again.

Grover told me he could dissolve the empathy link between us, now that we were face to face, but I had simply rolled my eyes and told him not to be an idiot. He put down his reed pipes and stared at me. "But, if I get in trouble again, you'll be in danger, Allie! You could die!"

"I'm a demigod, Grover," I scoffed back. "Dying's in the job description." I gave him a stern, unyielding look that said I wasn't going to back down on this. "If you get in trouble again, I want to know about it. And I'll come to help you again, Grover. I wouldn't have it any other way."

In the end, he agreed not to break the link. He went back to playing "YMCA" for the strawberry plants. I didn't need an empathy link with the plants to know how they felt about it. I suspect I did everyone a favor when I confiscated the reeds and rapped him around the head with them. 

As for Tyson, the campers treated him like a hero. I would've been happy to have him as my cabin mate forever, but that evening, as we were sitting on a sand dune overlooking the Long Island Sound, he made an announcement that completely took me by surprise.

"Dream came from Daddy last night," he said. "He wants me to visit."

I wondered if he was kidding, but Tyson really didn't know how to kid. "Poseidon sent you a dream message?"

Tyson nodded. "Wants me to go underwater for the rest of the summer. Learn to work at Cyclopes' forges. He called it an inter— an intern—"

"An internship?"

"Yes." I let that sink in. I'll admit, I felt a little bitter. Poseidon did seem to actually care about Tyson. But me? He said to my face that I was a mistake. Who wouldn't feel a bit resentful at hearing their parent say that, no matter how they felt about the parent themselves? Then I realized, Tyson was going? Just like that?

"When would you leave?" I asked.

"Now."

"Now. Like... right now?"

"Now."

"Oh." I stared out at the waves of Long Island Sound. The water was glistening red in the sunset. I could feel tears pricking my eyelids. "I'm happy for you, bub," I managed. "Seriously."

"Hard to leave my new sister," he said with a tremble in his voice. "But I want to make things. Weapons for the camp. You will need them."

Unfortunately, I knew he was right. The Fleece hadn't solved all the camp's problems. Annabeth and Cody were both still out there, gathering an army aboard the Princess Andromeda. Kronos was still re-forming in his golden coffin. Eventually, we would have to fight them. War was inevitable, and the Great Prophecy loomed over my head like a Sword of Damocles. I would turn nineteen in a little over three weeks, meaning I would be exactly two years away from my much-dreaded twenty-first birthday.

"You'll make the best weapons ever," I told Tyson. I held up my bracelet proudly. "The best. No contest."

Tyson sniffled. "Brothers and sisters help each other."

"You're my brother," I vowed. "No doubt about it."

He patted me on the back so hard he almost knocked me down the sand dune. Then he wiped a tear from his cheek and stood to go. "Use the shield well."

"I will, bub."

"Save your life someday."

The way he said it, so matter-of-fact, I wondered if that Cyclops eye of his could see into the future.

"Just like its creator," I answered softly as he headed down to the beach and whistled, the way I'd taught him. Rainbow, the hippocampus, burst out of the waves. I watched the two of them ride off together into the realm of Poseidon.

Once they were gone, I looked down at my new bracelet. I pressed the sapphire and the shield spiraled out to full size. Hammered into the bronze were pictures in Ancient Greek style, scenes from our adventures this summer. There was me slaying a Laistrygonian dodgeball player, Luke fighting the bronze bulls on Half-Blood Hill, Tyson riding Rainbow toward the Princess Andromeda, the CSS Birmingham blasting its cannons at Charybdis. I ran my hand across a picture of Tyson, battling the Hydra as he held aloft a box of Monster Donuts.

I couldn't help feeling sad. I knew Tyson would have a fantastic time under the ocean. He would love his internship, of that I had no doubt, not to mention seeing Poseidon, whom he idolized. But I would miss everything about him— his fascination with horses, the way he could fix chariots or crumple metal with his bare hands, or tie our enemies into knots. I'd even miss him snoring like an earthquake in the next bunk all night.

"Hey, Allie."

I turned.

Luke and Grover were standing at the top of the sand dune. I wiped a few stay tears from my eyes. 

"Tyson..." I told them. "He had to..."

"We know," Luke replied softly, his expression gentle as he reached out to smooth down my curls. "Chiron told us."

"Cyclops forges." Grover shuddered. "I hear the cafeteria food there is terrible! Like, no enchiladas at all."

I let out a watery laugh, and he gained a pleased expression. Luke wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Come on, Angel. Time for dinner."

We walked back toward the dining pavilion together, just the three of us together, almost like old times.

A storm raged that night, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood as storms usually did (Thank Olympus for weather wards).

Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a drop fell in our valley. We were protected again, thanks to the Fleece, safely sealed inside our magical borders.

Still, my dreams were restless. I heard Kronos taunting me from the depths of Tartarus. 

Polyphemus sits blindly in his cave, young heroine, believing he has won a great victory. Are you any less deluded? The Titan's cold laughter filled the darkness of the cavern.

Then my dream changed. I was following Tyson to the bottom of the sea, into the court of Poseidon. It was a radiant hall filled with blue light, the floor cobbled with pearls. And there, on a throne of coral, sat my father, dressed like a simple fisherman in khaki shorts and a sun-bleached T-shirt. I looked up into his tan weathered face and sea-green eyes, all older, but still looking just like me, and he spoke two words: Brace yourself.

I woke with a start.

There was a banging on the door. Grover flew inside without waiting for permission. "Allie!" he stammered. "Luke... on the hill... he..."

The look in his eyes told me something was terribly wrong. Luke had been on guard duty that night, protecting the Fleece. If something had happened— I ripped off the covers, my blood like ice water in my veins. I grabbed a piece of Ambrosia from my secret stash, then threw on a hoodie over my sports bra and pajama pants and shoved on the closest pair of slip-on shoes (which happened to be Gucci slides), while Grover tried to make a complete sentence, but he was too stunned, too out of breath. He wasn't making any sense.

"She's lying there... just lying there..."

Who was she? The only thing I could think was that a new camper must have arrived, deathly injured by the sounds of it.

I ran outside and raced across the central yard, Grover right behind me. Dawn was just breaking, but the whole camp seemed to be stirring. Word was spreading. Something huge had happened. A few campers were already making their way toward the hill as fast as they could, satyrs and nymphs and heroes in a weird mix of armor and pajamas. I spotted Will and his younger sister Kayla Knowles, gripping a box of medical supplies and a quiver of arrows between them as they struggled up the slope.

I heard the clop of horse hooves, and Chiron galloped up behind us, looking grim.

"Is it true?" he asked Grover.

Grover could only nod, his expression dazed.

I tried to ask what was going on, but Chiron grabbed me by the arm and effortlessly lifted me onto his back. Together we thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd had started to gather.

I expected to see the Fleece missing from the pine tree, but it was still there, glittering in the first light of dawn. The storm had broken and the sky was bloodred from the rising sun. The color made me queasy, as I remembered an old phrase one of my directors had often spouted. Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's warning.

"Curse the titan lord," Chiron said. "He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy. He's given himself a backup plan."

"What do you mean?" I asked fearfully.

"The Fleece," he answered me in a grim tone of voice. "The Fleece did its work too well."

That was, as you may have guessed, completely unhelpful. We galloped forward, everyone moving out of our way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Luke was pale-faced and dressed in Greek armor as he knelt next to her. He didn't glance back as we cantered up to the group.

"My gods," he was muttering repeatedly. "My gods. My gods."

My instinctual fear caused blood to roar in my ears. I couldn't think straight. What had happened? Was Luke hurt? Was the Fleece still there? Still undamaged?

The tree itself looked perfectly fine, whole and healthy, suffused with the essence of the Golden Fleece.

"It healed the tree," Chiron said, his voice ragged. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."

Luke finally looked away from the girl at the sound of Chiron's voice. When he saw us, he ran to Chiron. "It... she... just suddenly there..."

His eyes were streaming with tears uncharacteristically, but I still didn't understand. I was too freaked out to make sense of it all. I leaped off Chiron's back and ran toward the unconscious girl. Chiron said: "Allie, wait!"

I knelt by her side. She had short black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and Goth— a black T-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons from a bunch of different bands.

She wasn't a camper. I didn't recognize her from any of the cabins. And yet I had the strangest feeling I'd seen her before...

"It's true," Grover said, panting from his run up the hill. "I can't believe..."

Nobody else came close to the girl.

I put my hand on her forehead, trying to use my rudimentary first-aid skills to assess her. Her skin was cold, but my fingertips tingled as if they were burning.

"She needs nectar and ambrosia," I said. She was clearly a half-blood, whether she was a camper or not. I could sense that just from one touch. I didn't understand why everyone was acting so scared. I shot a scathing look at the medics, who were as frozen as everyone else.

Breakdowns are for later people. Not when there's someone in desperate need of medical aid lying unconscious in front of you. Gods! Well, if none of them were going to help, I would.

I took her by the shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position, resting her head on my shoulder. Then I pulled out the small piece of ambrosia from my pocket. I pinched her nose to make her open her mouth, popped in the ambrosia, and massaged her throat to make her swallow. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the girl took a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes.

Her irises were startlingly blue— electric blue.

The girl stared at me in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. "Who—"

"I'm Allie," I said, keeping my tone soothing like I was talking to Nessa's little half-brother, or one of the camp's younger kids (usually about five to seven, but there was a four-year-old son of Apollo who had come after his mother's death. I'll give Apollo this, he made certain that none of his children ended up in the foster system). "You're safe now."

"Strangest dream..."

"It's okay."

"Dying."

"No," I assured her. "You're okay. What's your name?" That's when I knew. Even before she said it. I had seen those eyes before, not just in a picture and I had heard that voice before too. "Wait."

The girl's blue eyes stared into mine, and I understood what the Golden Fleece quest had been about. The poisoning of the tree. Everything. Kronos had done it to bring another chess piece into play— another chance to control the prophecy. If I died or he couldn't find a way to control me, he had a backup plan.

Even Chiron, Luke, and Grover, who should've been celebrating this moment, were too shocked, thinking about what it might mean for the future, and the war. And I was holding someone who was supposed to have died seven years ago in my arms.

"I am Thalia," she said, unaware of the turmoil she was about to cause the world. "Daughter of Zeus."

*    *    *

previous | next

SERIES M.LIST | MAIN M.LIST | TIPS

[wearethekat]

January Book Reviews Overview

The Bone Doll's Twin (Lynn Flewelling)

Kiss Her Once For Me (Alison Cochrun)

The High King's Golden Tongue (Megan Derr)

Starcrossed (Allie Therin)

The Morning Gift (Eva Ibbotson)

Hidden Warrior (Lynn Flewelling)

Wonderstruck (Allie Therin)

Proper Scoundrels (Allie Therin)

Hell Bent (Leigh Bardugo)

1Q84 (Haruki Murakami)

The Oracle's Queen (Lynn Flewelling)

Plum Duff (Victoria Goddard)

Snowspelled (Stephanie Burgis)

Gentleman Jim (Mimi Matthews)

The Flowers of Vashnoi (Lois McMaster Bujold)

Daughter of the Serpentine (EE Knight)

Masquerade in Lodi (Lois McMaster Bujold)

The Lord of Stariel (AJ Lancaster)

Green Rider (Kristen Britain)

How Not To Marry A Prince (Megan Derr)

Magic Tides (Ilona Andrews)

Black Magic (Megan Derr)

The Ivory Tomb (Melissa Caruso)

Just Like Home (Sarah Gailey)

The Physicians of Vilnoc (Lois McMaster Bujold)

Widdershins (Jordan L Hawk)

Threshold (Jordan L Hawk)

The Dragon Waiting (John M Ford)

Prosperity (Alexis Hall)

[zonetrente-trois]

Allie Duff as Hela Ensom

[hollywoodbiz]

Hello there tags, I'll be around for a little while, so I'll leave you with some fc's that have been requested just yesterday: Tom Brady, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Derek Jeter, Denny Hamlin, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel Weisz, Orlando Bloom, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Kaley Cuoco, Minka Kelly, Carrie Underwood, Hilary Duff, Ciara, Christina Aguilera, Henry Cavill, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Shawn Mendes, Kevin Jonas, Selena Gomez, Kelley O'Hara, Sophia Bush, Megan Rapinoe, Crystal Dunn, Leah Williamson, Dylan O'Brien, Jake Gyllenhaal, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Ashlyn Harris, Demi Lovato, Halsey, Jesse Lingard, Natalie Portman, Taylor Lautner, Allie Long, Ali Krieger, Jason Kelce, Miley Cyrus and Austin Butler.

[magicaemaxima]

MUSE LIST

Maggie "Ma" Costa - ( Mother, Gyptian, protector ) His Dark Materials / fc Anne Marie Duff

Mary Malone - ( Scientist, doctor, ex-nun ) His Dark Materials / fc Simone Kirby

Adele Starminster - ( Journalist, social butterfly, writer ) His Dark Materials / fc Georgina Cambell

Zelda Spellman - ( Headmistress, aunt, witch ) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina / fc Miranda Otto

Zelda Spellman - ( Scientist, aunt, witch ) Sabrina the Teenage Witch / fc Gillian Anderson

Dr. Sharon Fieldstone - ( Therapist, loner, friend ) Ted Lasso / Sarah Niles

Keeley Jones - ( CEO, ex-model, the best hypewoman ) Ted Lasso / Juno Temple

Florence "Flo" "Sassy" Collins - ( Child psychologist, mother, ride-or-die friend ) Ted Lasso / fc Ellie Taylor

Mae Green - ( Pub owner, hardcore Richmond fan, everyone's mom ) Ted Lasso / fc Anette Badland

Nora Collins - ( teenager, daughter, lil badass ) Ted Lasso / fc Kiki May

Phoebe Sullivan - ( child, football player, you owe her a pound if you swear ) Ted Lasso / fc Elodie Blomfield

Mathilde Bond Swann - ( Spy, assassin, daughter ) James Bond / fc Lara Pulver

Bree Van de Kamp - ( Mother, celebrity chef, ride-or-die friend ) Desperate Housewives / fc Marcia Cross / alt fc Amy Adams

Semira - ( Vampire, coven leader, warrior ) Underworld / fc Lara Pulver

Catherine MacDiarmid - ( Mother, surgeon, ride-or-die friend )Maternal / fc Lara Pulver

Olivia Nevrakis - ( Duchess, soldier, bitch ) The Royal Romance / fc Amy Adams

Riley Brooks - ( Queen, mother, commoner ) The Royal Romance / fc Kaya Scodelario

Queen Amalas de Leon - ( Queen, spy, ally ) The Royal Heir / fc Salma Hayek

Elaine Thorne - ( Divorce lawyer, dominatrix, millionaire ) Surrender / fc Lara Pulver

Emily Charlton ( Fashionista, assistant, snarky ) The Devil Wears Prada / fc Emily Blunt

Andrea "Andy" Sachs ( Down-to earth, assistant, writer ) The Devil Wears Prada / fc Anne Hathaway

Alcina Shepard ( Spacer, commander, healthy combination of renegade/paragon ) Mass Effect / fc Emily Blunt

[author-a-holmes]

10 Songs Tag

Thank you @red-pen-ally for the Tag.

Tagging forward, with no pressure, to @acertainmoshke, @sleepyowlwrites, @afoolandathief, @minamoroz and @faelanvance. Also anyone else who wants to play.

There's no rules attached to this game, that I could see, so I've just shuffled my currently playlist and put down the first 10 songs that popped up <3

1. Satellite by Nickeback

Let's lock the door behind us They won't find us Make the whole world wait

While we dance around this bedroom Like we've only got tonight Not about to let you Go until the morning light

2. You're Not Sorry by Taylor Swift

You don't have to call anymore, I won't pick up the phone, This is the last straw, Don't wanna hurt anymore, And you can tell me that you're sorry, But I don't believe you baby, Like I did before, You're not sorry, no, no...

3. Cannonball by Avril Lavigne

You did me dirty, now I'm gone, I'm living life without you, I just wrote a song, it goes, "I don't give a fuck about ya"! And I'll be happy if we never speak again, I just deleted every memory from inside of my head!

4. Take Me or Leave Me by Glee (Rent/Idina Menzel Cover)

That's it! The straw that breaks my back I quit, unless you take it back Women, what is it about them? Can't live with them or without them!

5. Confident by Demi Lovato

I used to hold my freak back Now I'm letting go I make my own choice Bitch, I run this show So leave the lights on No, you can't make me behave

6. Rock Show by Halestorm

Little girl, you like it loud Come alive in the middle of a crowd You wanna scream, you wanna shout Get excited when the lights go down

At the rock show You'll be right in the front row Heart and soul, they both know It's where you gotta be

7. So Yesterday by Hilary Duff

If it's over let it go and Come tomorrow it will seem so yesterday, so yesterday I'm just a bird that's already flown away

Laugh it off and let it go and When you wake up it will seem so yesterday, so yesterday Haven't you heard that I'm gonna be okay?

8. Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson

How can I put it? You put me on I even fell for that stupid love song Yeah, yeah Since you been gone How come I'd never hear you say, "I just wanna be with you"? Guess you never felt that way

But since you been gone I can breathe for the first time[...]

9. All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor

Yeah, it's pretty clear, I ain't no size two But I can shake it, shake it, like I'm supposed to do 'Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase And all the right junk in all the right places

10. Death of Me by Daughtry

We're all under pressure Can't stand the weather For the worst and not for the better Please, this ain't the way to live Something's got to give We forgive but don't forget it, no

Another day, another battle We all have a cage to rattle This just might be the death of me Might be the death of me

[greyinthecolorprism]

Flight Over Mushroom Kingdom

"Can you hear it calling? Can you hear it in your soul? Can you trust this longing and take control?" - Fly (Hilary Duff)

Part 1: Sketch A commission in progress for my darling of 19 years. This is actually a redo of a picture I did for him a long time ago of his Parakoopa, Gabrielle. She is one of the few Koopas who actually work with Mario prior to Bowser becoming a part of the team and is the leader of the aviation scout team for Princess Peach's kingdom. Here we see her flying over grassland and heading over Iced Land on a quiet morning with no issues found so far. I really enjoyed working on the angle because I had to push myself out of my comfort zone to get it correct. Two things that always trip me up are straight lines and angles. I feel like I actually did this one pretty well since it's supposed to look like she's dipping down a little lower, possibly for a landing. Having her pigtails moving behind her helped add to the dimension because my girl actually has thick hair. I also have it in my head that she and her brother are distant relatives to Kylie Koopa. There was a feeling of freedom that I got from this picture, even though this lady made it very apparent early on that she's quite rebellious. Michael designed her to be the tomboy sister of his male Koopa, Pike, who is the lead guard for Bowser after he becomes an ally to Peach. When I was sketching her wings, I imagined her opening them and taking off and for a moment, I smelt the freshest air that I've ever breathed in my life. It was an exciting experience. Now the complaint. Do you know how hard it is to find a reference of Mushroom Kingdom from the air?! Seriously, there's none. I had to go off of memory of how the world layout from Mario 3 worked and go from there in my head. I feel like there's a missed opportunity here for someone to show the gorgeousness of Mushroom Kingdom by drawing it from an aireal point of view. I did, however, see some lovely pictures of the new movie that is coming out! I'm very curious to know how it will be and I refuse to see it if Luigi is not present lol. I have no shame. Hmm, maybe that's just something I will have to do in a future project. For now, I've got my hands quite full with this little miss.

[bonyassfish]

the wildest thing to me about the d’amelio sisters from tiktok is that nobody ever talks about their father being in one the weirdest scandals in recent connecticut history. (for more info: https://www.thehour.com/news/article/D-Amelio-blames-Democrats-after-drunken-driving-13267277.php)

basically, their father is marc d’amelio. in 2018 he was running as a republican for state senate against bob duff, a very popular incumbent and the current majority leader of the connecticut state senate. however, it was revealed that he was arrested in 2014 for driving drunk around the city of norwalk with charli in the backseat. he had just come from the mohegan sun casino and was handing out his cash winnings to people on the street. anyway, he concocted a whole conspiracy theory that bob duff and his allies released the police report, without any evidence. alas, he did not win. also as a side note bob duff is well known locally for 2 things: writing everyone who registers to vote in the district a formal letter of congratulations and having the world’s cheesiest political ads