#army navy surplus

[fuckyeahcourtneylove]

photographed by taryn simon. 2001.

[aziraphales-library]

Hello! Thank you for the role you play in this fandom, I don't know what we would do without Aziraphale's fic library

Today I wanted to ask if you knew fics where Aziraphale and Crowley are bitter exes who end up realizing later that they haven't stopped loving the other.

Thank you 💛

Hi! We have #getting back together and #reunion tags you can check for plenty more fics like this. Here are more to add...

Even Now, I Still Love You by Zakani_Donovan (T)

It had been 6 years since Crowley had last spoken to Aziraphale, and considering their nasty little breakup, he hadn't expected their next conversation to start with them suddenly being neighbors.

Down to the River by CemeteryAngel725 (E)

Twenty-five years ago, Tony Crowley walked out of Azi’s life and broke both of their hearts. Since then, Azi has been living in suspended animation, working in the army/navy surplus booth he inherited from his dad and writing horror novels. Now Tony is back from the city, flush with success and wanting to catch up with Azi. Should Azi risk his heart and try to reclaim what they’ve lost? Or is it too late to start over?

Reason Enough by ffonippop (E)

Crowley and Aziraphale’s entire relationship spanned just a little under eleven months. If dissected, the entire affair can be categorized very neatly into three parts: a rocky beginning, a rocky middle, and a rocky end. It devastates Crowley, how something that was so promising and held so much potential could end in such a shitstorm. Diminished to nothing but a hungover, sad, and lonely stain on his couch, Crowley is left to wonder if it was always going to end this way— or if it’s ended yet at all.

Like a Martyr, Not Enough (The Decoy Bride) by vines_and_vellichor (M)

Author Aziraphale Eastlowe had been a dutiful son for the entirety of his life… mostly. After a bout of teenage rebellion, he learnt that disobedience only brings misery and heartbreak to those he cares about; it’s better for everyone to toe the line and make the most out of the plan that has been laid out for you by your family and God. When a courtship with the famous Christian singer Gabriella Archer presented an opportunity to exit the dog-eat-dog world of city life, the last thing he expected was an existence plagued by writer’s block and a wedding so enticing to the British press that the privilege of a private ceremony was tantamount to successfully teaching a duck to play the accordion. In desperation, they turn to Taddesfild, a remote island in the Outer Hebrides, to marry. Things go south when a convoluted plan by Gabriella’s agents culminates in hiring local resident Anthony J Crowley as a decoy bride to put the paparazzi off the scent. The very person Aziraphale distinctly remembered dumping nineteen years ago. The situation is less than ideal: his fiancee is missing, the island is infested with bloodthirsty photographers and he has just accidentally gotten married to his ex.

Borrowed Words by sunrisesinthesuburbs (M)

Anthony J. Crowley, best selling author, has writer's block. He could blame the Accident, but deep down he knows his block started way before. He hasn't written anything in too long, if we choose to ignore the dozens of unsent letters addressed to the angel he lost two decades ago, when he moved to New York City. When his best (and only) friend convinces him to take a little vacation in a small town in Connecticut, he expects peace and quiet. He doesn't expect to see the smile that still haunts his dreams again. Apparently, small towns are full of surprises, and how late is too late? The world stops spinning on its axis or, at the very least, Crowley stops breathing. This is absolutely impossible. He forces himself to swallow, to take a deep breath, as he doesn’t want to scare this girl off. Muriel, who is still smiling, all bright and wide and just like- Oh, God. “A bookshop, you said?” He chokes out. This is impossible, and he’s being ridiculous. He is in London, this is just a sick coincidence and his stupid brain playing stupid games. “Yes, you can see it if you turn around.” Crowley doesn’t move. “It’s called A. Z. Fell Books.” Now, the world definitely stops spinning.

Sinking Ships by AppleSeeds (E)

The world is practically on fire and it feels like nobody's doing anything about it, but Crowley's outlook brightens considerably when a new member arrives at his local climate action committee. Crowley is immediately smitten, and is thrilled when he and Aziraphale become fast friends, although he can't help but hope they might one day become something more. When all of his wishes come true, Crowley starts to feel like life couldn't possibly get any better. He can picture exactly what his future is going to look like, until something happens that feels like a powerful bolt of lightning has struck and split Crowley's life right down the middle, with everything before that moment on one side, and everything that is to come - scorched, lifeless and devastated - on the other. With the help of a counsellor, Crowley begins the difficult journey of picking up the pieces and working through what's happened. When Aziraphale unexpectedly comes back into his life, Crowley finally has the chance to get some answers, revealing that the truth is very different from what he was led to believe. Now he just needs to figure out whether that changes anything.

- Mod D

[iamnotthere-idonotdie]

i saw a youtube comment today on a video essay about the batman (2022) and i just felt the need to screenshot and share some things on it:

i’ve had thoughts about this for a while.

i wrote in a draft a while ago about how i love the costume design in the batman because it made each character feel like real people and i decided i might as well share those thoughts now.

the costume design in the batman was one of the key elements that drove this film home for me. it made it so much more gripping, because it humanized these characters we’ve grown to see as just drawings on a page. these aren’t superheroes and supervillains. they don’t have powers, they don’t live in a fantasy world. they’re people who wear combat boots with their capes and cut holes out of their cat-eared ski masks and wrap cellophane under their army/navy-surplus store hoods. they’re just people with skills and agendas and trauma who are just trying to fight their way through life in whatever way they think is necessary and right.

they don’t rely on their suits as their strength.

and to touch on the point the commenter made in the first part, about how bruce wouldn’t be a “master of dual lives”: i think that’s a perfect way to sum up this character at this point in his life. he’s only been the batman for two years. and during these two years he’s been acting as vengeance. he still harbors a lot of anger in him and it’s been radiating through the batman. he hasn’t learned how to compartmentalize those two sides of himself, if he ever will.

we’ve seen a little bit of this in other batman movies and other media, but not to this extent, in my opinion; not so that it is defining him as a character in this significant of a way. it adds so much more complexity and depth to bruce wayne and it makes it so much more realistic and believable.

one thing i think shows this really well is how bruce and batman ride the same bike throughout the film. it’s not an expensive bike. it’s not specially made with gadgets and a bat symbol, we don’t see a new bike for batman until the very end of the film.

the batman is no longer vengeance, he’s hope. and hope doesn’t hide in the shadows. hope isn’t waiting to find a fight. hope is a beacon, not a warning.

the dark knight trilogy was a turning point for superhero movies. it showed that they didn’t have to be campy and comic book-y. it showed that they can be gritty and poignant and cinematic. the batman just took that thought and elevated it to an even higher level by making these characters feel like real people. by adding even more complexity, more richness, more gravity to these characters we all know and love. and in a market as over saturated as batman, this take on the story was like taking a sip of water when you wake up in the middle of the night at three am: refreshing as hell.

i don’t know, maybe i’m rambling and maybe this is kind of all over the place. but i just love the symbolism in this film and i literally cannot wait to see what more incredible and genius moves matt reeves and the rest of the cast and crew make in part two.

[fatehbaz]

The link between warfare and technological innovation has been well documented [...]. World War II was a particularly intense crucible of technological change, and the repurposing of military technologies and industries in the forging of a new post-war consumer [economy] is crucial [...]. Processes of technological bricolage turned the machines of war onto the natural world as global powers competed to cement their economic and imperial hegemony. In Great Britain’s post-war “groundnut scheme” in its East African territories (1946-51), this collision of nature, military hardware, and technical expertise was part of efforts to both produce more fats for the British diet and to demonstrate to the world (most importantly the United States) that, through a newly energized science-led developmentalism, British colonialism still had a “progressive” role to play in the postwar world.

The aim was to produce millions of tons of peanuts across Tanganyika using the latest methods of advanced scientific agriculture. The environmental conditions in the north, where the scheme was to begin, were known to be especially trying, not least the dry climate [...]. But faith in the power of mechanized agriculture was such that any natural limits were thought to be readily surmountable.

The groundnut scheme was to be, as its Director put it in an interview with the Tanganyika Standard, a “war” with nature, and an “economic Battle of Alamein” waged over some three million acres by an army of colonial technicians - many recruited from military ranks - and local laborers, for many of whom the scheme represented their first entry into the wage labor market.

But it wasn’t just the rhetoric of war that was repurposed.

Lancaster bombers were kitted out to survey and discover “new country” in East Africa for agricultural development. [...] [T]ractors and bulldozers from military surplus stores in Egypt proved unable to tackle the hard ground and tough vegetation, so the planners turned to a novel solution: repurposing surplus Sherman M4A2 tanks. The Vickers-Armstrong factory in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne set about rearranging key elements of the tanks’ construction [...]. The tractors, christened “Shervicks” for their hybrid origins, were [...] thought to be particularly suited to large-scale earth-moving and to the kind of heavy duty “bush clearing” that was required in Tanganyika.

Officials sought to dismiss concerns that large-scale bush clearing would have wider environmental consequences, using the well-worn colonial trope that any observed changes in local climate or erosion patterns were due to the “primitive” agricultural practices of the locals, not to the earth-moving practices of the colonists.  [...] As the plants continued to wilt in the sun, [...] [t]he stakes were high. As [J.R.] of the Colonial Development Corporation put it in a letter: “Our standing as an Imperial power in Africa is to a substantial extent bound up with the future of this scheme. To abandon it would be a humiliating blow to our prestige everywhere.” The only option left was to try and bend the weather itself to the scheme’s will, by seeding the clouds for rain. [...] “Balloon bombs” (photographic film canisters tethered to weather balloons) and a repurposed Royal Navy flare gun were used to target individual clouds [...]. The scheme itself has survived as a cautionary tale of governmental hubris, but it is instructive too as a case study of how technologies of war have been turned against other foes.

---

All text above by: Martin Mahony. “The Enemy is Nature: Military Machines and Technological Bricolage in Britain’s ‘Great Agricultural Experiment.’“ Environment and Society Portal, Arcadia (Spring 2021), no. 11. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. doi:10.5282/rcc/9191. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Images and their captions are shown unaltered as they originally appear in Mahony's article. Public Domain Mark 1.0 License for images: creativecommons dot org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/]

[stuffaboutminneapolis]

Christmas Shopping at the North Star Army & Navy Surplus Store, Downtown Minneapolis (1946) via HCLIB

[cemeteryangel725]

My Good Omens fics

Hi, I'm CemeteryAngel725, and I write Good Omens fanfiction, mostly smutty, and mostly human AU, although I do branch out from time to time. I also make weird little collages. You can find me on AO3 here.

My completed works (updated 7/23/2024):

More of a Comment Than a Question (E, 1,381 words, 1/1 chapters): Dr. Aziraphale Fell and Dr. Anthony Crowley are both architectural historians in the same department. You would think they would have a lot in common, but it's the exact opposite - from the day they met, Crowley has done everything in his power to annoy Aziraphale. But now they're being forced to share a hotel room at an academic conference, and Aziraphale is worried. Will they survive the weekend?

Over the Rainbow (E, 10,259 words, 1/1 chapters): Fresh out of college, Aziraphale and Crowley are roommates, marching in NYC Pride with their best friends Eric and Beez. Aziraphale has had feelings for Crowley for a long time, but will he ever work up the courage to tell him?

Special Guest Stars (E, 7,668 words, 1/1 chapters): After the Catskill Mountains Renaissance Faire finishes for the day, Crowley and Aziraphale meet a pair of Doctor Who cosplayers in a local tavern. They soon learn that they all have a lot in common.

Down to the River (E, 30,365 words, 8/8 chapters): Twenty-five years ago, Tony Crowley walked out of Azi’s life and broke both of their hearts. Since then, Azi has been living in suspended animation, working in the army/navy surplus booth he inherited from his dad and writing horror novels. Now Tony is back from the city, flush with success and wanting to catch up with Azi. Should Azi risk his heart and try to reclaim what they’ve lost? Or is it too late to start over?

Control (E, 2,142 words, 1/1 chapters): After a dismal opening weekend at their local Renaissance Faire, Crowley asks Aziraphale for some help with letting it all go. Aziraphale gives it to him in the best way he knows how.

Even Bound as We Are (E, 12,266 words, 2/2 chapters): Left on his own after the death of his mother, Aziraphale of Eastgate Hall is under the thumb of his cruel stepfather, Lord Gabriel. Alone in the forest one day, Aziraphale casts a spell to summon fae, taught to him by his mother. He’s not expecting it to work, but when a sarcastic, red-headed faery steps into the clearing before him, his life is changed forever.

Reviewing the Armies (E, 5,573 words, 1/1 chapters): It is May of 1865 and the war is over, or nearly over. Aziraphale has relocated to Washington, DC, and he is counting down the hours until he can be reunited with Anthony. When they meet again, sparks fly.

Folding the Laundry (E, 6,817 words, 1/1 chapters): Two single moms, one basket of laundry, and a bottle of wine. Azira and Toni have been best friends since middle school, but they’re about to find out that they don’t know every single thing about each other, at least not just yet.

After the Fight (E, 2,776 words, 1/1 chapters): In the wake of battle, Anthony returns to Aziraphale's tent completely distraught. Aziraphale is there to help him pick up the pieces.

Dough (E, 673 words, 1/1 chapters): Crowley and Aziraphale argue about how to knead pizza dough. Aziraphale shows Crowley how to do it properly.

Coming into Focus (E, 6,721 words, 1/1 chapters): It is the summer of 1864, and Aziraphale is an itinerant photographer set up behind Union lines outside Petersburg, Virginia. He’s no stranger to pleasure, but he has always protected his heart. But when the redheaded colonel of the 5th New Jersey walks into his tent, he begins to wonder whether it’s time to rethink his stance on love.

Of Fire and Falcons (E, 54,201 words, 15/15 chapters): Since they met at a Florida Renaissance faire a year and a half ago, fire spinner Crowley and falconer Aziraphale have been a great deal more than friends, but they've never quite admitted what they really feel about each other. Now Crowley has fallen in love, and he has five weeks at the Catskill Mountains Renaissance Faire during the most romantic season of the year to convince Aziraphale to see the light.

Hold the Lift (T, 5,621 words, 1/1 chapters): Crowley just wants to get to work on time, but when he gets stuck in a lift with new guy Aziraphale, he ends up with a lot more than he bargained for. See, Aziraphale has this list of 36 questions…

Beyond the Barricade (E, 29,854 words, 10/10 chapters): Az Eastgate and AJ Crowley are American college students in a production of Les Miserables. Will Az work up the courage to tell AJ how he feels about him?

Catching the Light (E, 3,994 words, 1/1 chapters): Azira Fell and Antoinette Crowley are American sculptors living their best lives in Rome in the 1860s. Toni has a commission to finish before Anathema’s wedding, and Azira offers to model for her.

Christmas is Definitely Not a Humbug (E, 3,071 words, 1/1 chapters): It is 1843, and Crowley brings home a brand-new copy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol as a gift for Aziraphale. Aziraphale shows his gratitude in the best way he knows how.

[booteddaily]

Another outing to the theatre this afternoon. Justin is joining me. 🖤 I bought this pair about 30 years ago on a visit to New York City. There used to be an Army/Navy surplus store midtown near Broadway. Always such great price on boots. I wonder if they are still there. Make it a great day, bootmen. 👊

[americanssweetheart]

1960's Fashion

The 60s made a lasting impact on every generation after it, whether for the progressive change or their taste for the time. From movies like Hairspray to visuals by modern pop stars like Sabrina Carpenter and Lana Del Rey to girl advice. One thing I find myself constantly coming across is an excellent eye for fashion in the 60's. Here are some of the most compelling looks from the 60's.

During the early years of the decade, 1950s fashion was emphasized while the decades were transitioning. Fashion icon First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy incorporated these looks during her husband's presidential campaign and presidency. Jacqueline was adored around the globe for her put-together and lady-like preference for clothing. In Figure 1, she displayed this characteristic with the navy boxy skirt-suit by Givenchy. Typically, if former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was not wearing a boxy skirt suit, she was wearing a flattering dress. In Figure 2, Jacqueline is modeling a sheath and A-line dress that she paired with an elegant coat and accessorized with pearls, white gloves, and a matching hat! Typically, classic looks like this were produced by Hubert de Givenchy and Balenciaga. However, as the decade progressed, a new kind of designer took the stage in the 1960s.

(Figure 1)

(Figure 2)

In the mid-sixties, youthful designs swept the feet of many when they became popularized by Swinging London. The cultural phenomenon term Swinging London was developed in 1955 but reached its prime in the mid-1960s. This era of fashion focused on youth and integrating music and fashion. New boutiques began popping up around town, such as Bazaar, founded by Mary Quant in Chelsea, London. Boutiques created a frenetic atmosphere, as seen in Figure 3. Newly designed materials such as acrylics, polyesters, and shiny PVC were utilized in women's apparel, while designers used inspiration from pop art and space. This new sense of inspiration invented the miniskirt in Figure 4 and the dress in Figure 5. Pierre Cardin and André Courrèges debuted the space-inspired designs in several shades of white and silver.

(Figure 3)

(Figure 4)

(Figure 5)

As for men, they too participated in the Swinging London. They began wearing brighter colors and patterns, a striking change due to menswear having little to no movement over a hundred years beforehand.

Towards the beginning of the sixties, men liked Italian-style suits with narrow ties. As seen in Figure 6, men went from typical suits to Figure 7, wearing a bright pattern George Harrison wore. Honorary mention, rock stars like The Beatles and Mick Jagger (Figure 8) inspired men's sense of fashion change. Towards the end of the sixties, men's fashion began incorporating military elements, as seen in Mick Jagger (Figure 8.)  Partially thanks to this style, army-and-navy surplus clothing and secondhand stores became popularized in the late 1960s.

(Figure 6)

(Figure 7)

(Figure 8)

Thank you so much for reading! Follow me for more content just like this. Credit to @dollywons for the borders!

[realmoftheacornking]

DROP AND GIVE ME FIFTY

Kev and I are too old now to play "Drill Sergeant and the Recruit," but you younger men still are. Swing by your local Army-Navy Surplus store and let your sick imagination run wild.

[theknitpotato]

Pollepel Island /pɒlɪˈpɛl/ is a 6.5-acre (26,000 m2) uninhabited island in the Hudson River in New York, United States. The principal feature on the island is Bannerman's Castle, an abandoned military surplus warehouse.

Pollepel Island has been called many different names, including Pollopel Island, Pollopel's Island, Bannerman's Island, and Bannermans' Island. Pollepel is a Dutch word meaning "(pot) ladle"

The island is about 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City and about 1,000 feet (300 m) from the Hudson River's eastern bank. It covers about 6.5 acres (26,000 m2), most of it rock.

Francis Bannerman VI was born on March 24, 1851, in Scotland, and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1854. His grandfather was from Dundee, Scotland where he worked as a 'linenman'. The family moved to Brooklyn in 1858 and began a military surplus business near the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1865 purchasing surplus military equipment at the close of the American Civil War.

In 1867 the business occupied a ship chandlery on Atlantic Avenue engaged in the purchase of worn rope for papermaking. The store on the 500-block of Broadway opened in 1897 to outfit volunteers for the Spanish–American War. The business bought weapons directly from the Spanish government before it evacuated Cuba; and then purchased over 90 percent of the Spanish guns, ammunition, and equipment captured by the United States military and auctioned off by the United States government. Bannerman's illustrated mail order catalog expanded to 300 pages; and became a reference for collectors of antique military equipment.

Bannerman purchased Pollepel island in November 1900, for use as a storage facility for his growing surplus business. Because his storeroom in New York City was not large enough to provide a safe location to store thirty million surplus munitions cartridges,

In the spring of 1901 he began to build an arsenal on Pollepel. Bannerman designed the buildings himself and let the constructors interpret the designs on their own.

Most of the building was devoted to the stores of army surplus but Bannerman built another castle in a smaller scale on top of the island near the main structure as a residence, often using items from his surplus collection for decorative touches.

The castle, clearly visible from the shore of the river, served as a giant advertisement for his business. On the side of the castle facing the western bank of the Hudson, Bannerman cast the legend "Bannerman's Island Arsenal" into the wall.

[alchemisland]

Crust Punk Scene

Thinking back to my days as a crust punk

It was cans everyday before I smoked skunk

Looking back can’t imagine what she thought, mum

I smoked, screamed, pierced myself and battered drums

All my mates over all the time doing what they couldn’t

At home, always people explored shadows they normally wouldn’t

Around me, in this sense I am satan’s sudden student

Said don’t need no education but I’m not the type to bunk

In Ireland we call it mitching, tell you true I never played truant

That game I never played through it, I did do it though

Leaving school, true to my word there, they’re all fools

Drooling on desks, whole thing an out of control April Fool

I rue a man to put a rule on me, do one man, judge ruling on me

Midway through fifth year I elected to leave, selected my reprieve and none could refuse me

I worked in my dad’s while my mates went to school, few quid for the pocket, mostly for booze

The rest I spent on looking punk as fuck, bulletbelts getting delivered bulk

I had more anger in me, and more rips in my clothes, than incredible Hulk

Carry No Banners from Galway became Cut The Reins, went Galway a lot 

Lovely spot but cut the rains

At the Spanish Arch drinking cans all day

They call this place ambition’s grave

Nightlife to rave about, suddenly you’re fifty and never got out

Use the old sessioners as a lesson on what not to be, less than pensioners but close

These licentionnaires with greying hair at college parties plying wares

Only kiss they get result of double dares.

Spent plenty hard cash perfecting my look

Moon in Leo outlook, out with the old room for my new look

Never out unless looking good, flooded with looks my bulk

Onlookers audibly say fuckkkkkkk, like The Wire’s Bunk 

I only cared about being the punkest punk, no giving fucks

More binfrequenting than local fox

Some shouldn’thavesent in sentbox.

Everyday in full costume like an habitual monk

The way you do when you’re young

I wrote punk’s dead in marker on my sleeveless parka shirt from army surplus

I had a navy nike hat with an immortal patch on, buckle had rust

Never saw it again when I left it on a Greyhound Galwaybound GoBus

Frayed with wearing, greyed with caring, grade unerring it was my A hat

I had studs and metal bits glued onto all my jackets

Nothing flair lacking

Nothing’s fair that age

Started using red dax wax to sculpt my hair into liberty spikes

Until my top tips signalled to the rising moon like IRA pikes

No rules except what to think, wear, listen to and how to act

Didn’t realise I was signing a pact, I’m listening to Filthpact

Crusties barely wash after enacting the No Showers Act of 10 years back

Their baggy clothes are filth packed

Like wallowing pigs they’re filth backed

At crust gigs no pints are sold

It’s bold but might get one water to pour in a six pack

Posh father daughters playing at homeless, LATFO lmao

Caught between a rock and NWOBHM, more piss smell than OTO

Bake sale

Pit hair like lichens sprouting my cut off Amebix merchandise

Dreads dirt-caked, Latvian army boots in bad shape, looking like piltdown man

They shout crust as fuck existence in can-strewn Cabra kitchens

They form bands called Nuclear Axe Wound or Mandatory Deexistence

No distance between bands, scene is small and incestuous 

Every second punk kid here attended Wesley, half played rugby

Dad’s in the ministry like Weasleys, but they’re punx see

Purposely didn’t take their pocket money, funds beneath their dignity

Rather play for beers, be dirty and have nits, playing on the streets

Dirty knees kid calls himself a magpie, watches train hopping documentaries

A total crock those demo tracks you sent to me, 4 track ra-punk 

Shit be the scent of me, all kak perfume, two birds and eighty blokes per show

Lops off locks and let grease wind dreadlocks, acquire shocking forehead stick and pokes

Squat the world, he jokes, his dad’s place is on millionaire’s row

Fucked up at the front of the show, milling elbows

Dreadlocks like a dingleberry lasso 

Buckfast purple lips and unwashed teeth on show

Your uncle has a spare rolex, everything gold like butter

Your patch says train robber, another says cradle2gutter

You all absolutely deserve each other.

Hanging around the closest we have to train tracks

Pretending you’re leatherclad raiders outta Mad Max

Spent my inheritance on cans, family won’t see me again

Until I’m in dire need of a lend, I also attend Christmas and holidays

Driving mammy around the bend, arrived for Thanksgiving dressed like a Fallout raider

They have saved up but secluded my money until I grow up, few years finding myself

Finally settle into a position at Dad’s firm, dad’s firm on this decision, I’m binding myself

To his millions.

Yes me boys that’s me gone, striking out west goodbye Muirsin Durkin.

[aziraphales-library]

Hello amazing people! I wonder if you have any recs for human aus where the boys are like teen or uni aged? Like cute young love story. Maybe spicy. Thank you! <3

Hi! Tags you'll want to take a look at are: #childhood friends, #high school au, #college au, and #university au. Here are some more to add...

Vignettes of a Life Together by Busy24_7 (E)

Crowley, botany student and professional worrier, is harboring a massive, secret crush on his new roommate. Aziraphale, on the other hand, is more clueless than he is given credit for. Will these two ever figure it out, or is Crowley doomed to a life of pining? A 5+1-style fic with a whole lot of fluff and intentionally minimal angst. Rated M for the first few chapters, but will be upgraded to E if Crowley ever gets his way…

The End is Where We Start From by Optimistic Starlight (E)

“Aziraphale, hello. It’s er, been a long time.” “Yes, dreadfully long. You look different.” He immediately coloured in evident embarrassment. “I mean, of course you look different, as do I of course, I didn’t mean bad different, that is to say…” Something inside of Crowley, something that had been in a deep freeze for several eons, was starting to thaw. It was letting little bits and pieces of familiarity break loose to float back into their rightful places in his soul. One of those pieces, those round, blue eyes, suddenly snapped into place, and he felt a corresponding wave of long-forgotten feeling wash through him. Aziraphale is anxious. Make Aziraphale happy. “Yeah,” he interrupted. “D’you wanna… get a coffee or something?” *** Crowley and Aziraphale meet by chance on the street. They've met before, in their youth, in a different life. Some difficult things have happened since then. Will they be able to find their way back to each other and to themselves?

Down to the River by CemeteryAngel725 (E)

Twenty-five years ago, Tony Crowley walked out of Azi’s life and broke both of their hearts. Since then, Azi has been living in suspended animation, working in the army/navy surplus booth he inherited from his dad and writing horror novels. Now Tony is back from the city, flush with success and wanting to catch up with Azi. Should Azi risk his heart and try to reclaim what they’ve lost? Or is it too late to start over? A Good Omens human AU inspired by Bruce Springsteen.

Against All Odds by GroovyNightStrawberry (E)

How can you just walk away from me? When all I can do is watch you leave 'Cos we've shared the laughter and the pain and even shared the tears You're the only one who really knew me at all Az is eleven, and his world is falling apart. His best friend is walking away from him, and Az can't find a way to make him stay. Thirty-five years later, there's a familiar face at Aziraphale's new job, and it threatens to break his heart all over again. Can they do it better this time?

Opposites Attract by Pal456 (M)

The Eastgate family hated the Crowley family. Hated them so much, that their children were not to spend any time together. That never stopped Aziraphale and Crowley being drawn to one another time and time again even though their families would pull them apart. As years go by, Aziraphale tries to do right by his parents in order to take over the family business one day, but it seems like the Almighty might have a different, ineffable, plan that brings the two together every chance they get.

One and the Same Fall by ElliottRook (E)

Aziraphale Fell is a UK student attending an American Catholic school on exchange, an escape from a strict, conservative family. Anthony Crowley is a juvenile delinquent on his last chance, sent to live with his uncle and attend a school that promises to shape him up. When they cross paths at St. Bernadette's, they nearly instantly become friends, and nobody likes it--not the teachers, not the old-money students, not Aziraphale's family--but it's the best thing that's ever happened to either of them. Hanging over their heads, though, is Crowley's plan to flee the moment he comes of age, and what will happen after they're no longer trapped in the same gilded cage.

- Mod D

[agentgrange]

I tried to ask this in the Delta Green Reddit but it was extremely unhelpful! What do you think is the difference gameplay wise between Delta Green 2017 and Fall of Delta Green. Besides being different systems do you think there is a different style of play? What is stopping someone using Gumshoe for a modern day game and 2017 for a game set in 1969? Thanks!

I love this question, I'd actually love to do a full breakdown of these two editions someday the same way AlfaBusa broke down the different editions of World of Darkness. I actually wrote *so much* the first time I got this question my phone died while I was editing it down and I lost all of it. So here's my second attempt. Bare with me:

I prefer GUMSHOE, regardless of time period. A lot of my players though like the classic D100 system. I think that mostly comes down to chance and progression. Classic Delta Green actually rewards you for fucking around and testing fate by granting you one or two percentage points every time you fail a role. I can understand why it feels like it encourages you to take more risks and play outside your characters comfort zone, and unlike GUMSHOEs point spends there's no reason not to try something you're bad at every time. You aren't going to run out of spends, and baring an alien parasite feasting on your brain your skills can only go up. Sure, you might fumble so bad that you blew yourself up with a claymore but... at least it'll be funny, right?

To most people GUMSHOE / Fall of Delta Green is the much more grounded hardboiled version of the two. You aren't a bunch of cowboy murderhobos, you're professional murderers. Your character knows their strengths and weakness, and they're one of the best in the world at what they do. Skills aren't so much how probable a character is to succeed at a task but "what skill does your character use to succeed." They have a tool belt of experience to fall back on, and they really are that good. But while most investigations will never leave your character at zero spends left, I can understand why people don't like the idea that your character can theoretically just run out ideas and use up that tool belt or point progression being something given out by the Handler in between sessions rather than something that can be earned in the moment to moment gameplay. Broadly though, on the surface Fall of Delta Green agents seem much more buttoned up (and, dare I say, flat) than their roudy D100 siblings who act like they just fell ass-over-teakettle into a Mi Go hive. And for some people thats not as fun.

EXCEPT THEY ARE TOTALLY WRONG BECAUSE GUMSHOE CAN BECOME 🤡 CLOWNSHOES 🤡 WITH THIS ONE WEIRD TRICK.

The best addition to Fall of Delta Green is actually Nights Black Agents. Here's four things from Nights Black Agents you can add to FoDG to COMPLETELY change how you play the game, give it a tier one operator high speed low drag coat of paint for any era, and WELL OUTWEIGH the perceived benefits of d100 DG:

Preparedness and Bureaucracy Rework-- Preparedness alone in Fall of Delta Green is a game changer by answering the dilemma of "man every time I need a new gun I need to roleplay going to the Gun-Carry, Gun-Ross army-navy surplus store and counting out our petty cash fund to determine exactly how many bullets I have. What if I just had an Uzi under my jacket with enough ammo to wipe out this entire bowling alley?"... or you know boring shit like "man I wish I had a crowbar RIGHT NOW, hey DM do I have one?" NBA has optional rules to take the same rules that govern Preparedness and apply them to Bureaucracy. Instead of a numerical value of "how good am I at arguing with my parent agency about the collateral I need to requisition the communal AC130" you can instead skip the arguing and treat it like an elevated preparedness role. Your character works within the system offscreen to retroactively get access to privileges only afforded to members of your organization. Simply think "boy I wish we had gunship cover right now" and with an appropriate Bureaucracy roll your character already filed the mission paperwork three weeks ago. Your patron organization is only going to stick their neck out for you so many times though, so unlike other stats Bureaucracy doesn't replenish at the end of a mission. Your character will have to invest progression points into Bureaucracy if they want to keep dipping into it, and can expect to get shit-canned if it hits zero.

Network-- What if you need something done off the books? What if you really wish you had a guy who knows a guy who's willing to move an ungodly amount of Crank no questions asked, and you need them right now without having to consult your character's tragic backstory? Wonder no more, by letting Agents put points into Network they can create Brampton the Hells Angel Biker on the spot for all their black budget needs. Like Beurocracy, Network doesn't replenish on its own but players are allowed to keep the contacts they spend points on between missions to create a web of off-the-books contacts, informants, and assets.

Cover-- Did one of your Agents get caught in a C O M P R O M I S I N G position? No they didn't! With Cover, that State Trooper didn't stop Agent Yancy Grange. They stopped Rusty Sheckleford, beloved member of the Galveston Texas community with the IDs and paper trail to prove it! There's no limit to the amount of aliases you have, but like Bureaucracy and Network Cover doesn't replenish on its own. Once you hit zero your covers blown-- someone somewhere put the pieces together and any future attempts at using your alias will get you recognized.

Roleplay based skill feats like TECHNOTHRILLER MONOLOGUE-- NBA is filled with a ton of these and I encourage handlers to pick and chose which ones to offer to their players to dial in the exact level of pulp they want in their campaign setting, and Technothriller Monologue is my favorite. With a sufficiently high Firearms skill Agents can get the equivalent of an Action Surge by describing in Tom Clancy-esque detail exactly how they squeezed the trigger before canoe-ing a cultist so badly they blow out their brains through the back of their neck.

[pattern-recognition]

I was thinking about getting something from varusteleka :( whats a better place to get military surplus?

90% of my acquisitions have been things i’ve found irl, exclusively in antique stores or vintage shops because even if you can find a brick and mortar surplus store it’s simply not worth your time. Football season is over; it’s not that surplus is drying up like you hear people say, the wells have been empty for years now. Places like Varusteleka, American Pipedream, and Kommando Store still receive the odd shipment of miscellanea now and again, but warehouses full of the articles that are most prototypical of what people want from milsurp (N-1 deck jackets, M43s, M65s, fishtail parkas, strichtarn coats, bomber jackets, etc) are an anachronism in the 21st century. You can see it written all over the marketing of the popular milsurp retailers; it’s not possible to keep a business afloat with used tableware from the Italian Airforce or a random smattering of SADF web gear, so they’ve pivoted to structuring their brands around niche internet demographics that they can outsource new-production commodities to cater towards. It can’t feasibly be just about the militaria anymore, so they have to build up a recognizable brand around themselves hence all the shop specific t-shirts and paraphernalia. The new wave is far flung from the ad-hoc bargain basement nature of Army Navy stores of yore. Like with everything post the rise of e-consumerism the market has been rationalized, the prices standardized, and everyone is a collector now. To actually answer your question though, I recommend just getting an idea of what you want and then getting it from ebay or an equivalent, or finding a dedicated curated vintage shop nearby. The prices won’t be dirt cheap, but I think it’s more worthwhile to just get a quality garment where you know you can find it instead of wasting an indeterminate amount of time in vain trying to salvage from thrift stores.

[butchaholic]

play stupid games... win stupid prizes.

i was doing research on what the oldest straps look like so i could try to draw what Actual "surplus strap" would be (as in, what a hypothetical, industrially produced, ugly as sin, WWII era strapon would look like after 70 years rotting on a shelf in an army navy store) (don't judge me)

so i did the reasonable thing, googled "oldest strapon"

i don't think my eyes will recover from what the victorian heteros got up to

[cemeteryangel725]

Down to the River, a Good Omens Bruce Springsteen AU by CemeteryAngel725 - Chapter 1

This is a story that has been in my head for months, a love letter to Jersey shore culture and the music of Bruce Springsteen! I'll be posting one chapter a day until it's done, so this is going to be an exciting week for me. Can't wait to share this one with all of you! Graphics by me with a font assist from @shipper-of-all-things.

Rated E, Chapter 1/8

Read here on AO3!

Summary:

Twenty-five years ago, Tony Crowley walked out of Azi’s life and broke both of their hearts. Since then, Azi has been living in suspended animation, working in the army/navy surplus booth he inherited from his dad and writing horror novels.

Now Tony is back from the city, flush with success and wanting to catch up with Azi. Should Azi risk his heart and try to reclaim what they’ve lost? Or is it too late to start over?

A Good Omens human AU inspired by Bruce Springsteen.

Excerpt from Chapter 1:

It was while he was in front of the table, his back to the shop, absorbed in his work, that he heard it. Soft footfalls stopping just behind him. An intake of breath. And a voice.

“Azi Fell, as I live and breathe.”

He hadn’t heard that voice in twenty-five years. Azi squeezed his eyes shut and suddenly he was eighteen again, mooning over that shock of red hair, those honeyed eyes, that gravelly drawl falling out of a teasing mouth. They had been each other’s worlds once, long ago, and then it had all gone to shit.

He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and turned around.

Much love to everyone over at @goodomensafterdark!