#bagman bros

[theanoninyourinbox]

How my DnD group is doing in Chult (I'm the Goliath having a Time)

[blueberryghost24]

This is the bag man. He lives in the Bag of Holding. He is very kind so long as you don’t abuse the Bag.

[eternalsams]

Southern Nights ⇴ M.Garcia

pairing: Mickey Garcia x fem!reader

warning/content: protective big bro energy, recomposed family, smitten Fanboy as we love him

summary: your boyfriend is finally meeting your family but it doesn't go as he planned it.

word count: 1.7k

a/n: English isn't my mother tongue, please take that into consideration.

masterlist

"What about you, Fanboy? Doing anything special for the holidays?" Rooster asked the younger man as he took a sip from his beer. Mickey couldn't contain the smile that appeared on his lips and raised his chin, a proud look in his eyes. "I do, actually. Meeting my girl's family for the first time." All his friends howled and cheered him on, making him slightly blush. "This is getting serious, Garcia. Make sure to compliment the mama and stay away from the pop's shotguns." Hangman clapped his hand on Mickey's shoulder with a sneer. "Not everyone keeps shotguns to terrorize their daughter's boyfriend, Bagman." Phoenix slapped the blonde's hand from Fanboy's shoulder before turning to the WSO. "Don't worry, I'm sure they're gonna love you. If your girl's as wonderful as you say, her parents must be amazing people too." She reassured him. "You seem pretty in love, where did you hide the ring?" Payback teased his WSO. "In my gym bag." He admitted, not ashamed of how smitten he is for his girl. "What did you say her name was again?" Hangman's voice teased again. Mickey turned to him with a fake-smile. "Not your business, Bagman."

You were practically jumping at the sight of your childhood house. It's been so long. Your hand holding his, you were pulling him toward the big house. You both walked up the few steps on the porch and before you could knock at the door, Mickey dropped the bags he had in other hand and pulled up against him before kissing you deeply. You were surprised but didn't complain. You pulled away, your cheeks flushed and looked at him. "What was that for, Mister Garcia?" You ran your fingers on his shoulders, inspecting his button-up shirt. "I don't think your parents will allow me to kiss you that way for the next week." He then pecked your lips and smiled down at you when you giggled. "You're a dork..." He bent down to grab the two bags and you went to knock on the front door. An elder woman was quick to open it and you threw yourself in her arms, wrapping your arms around her. Mickey smiled softly and locked eyes with the woman holding you close. Your mom quickly released you from the hug and she looked at you surprised. "Oh My! He's even more handsome than on the pictures you sent me!" Mickey smiled wildly at the compliment and wrap an arm around the woman who hugged him. You watched them with a loving smile and waited for them to separate to go into the house.

Mickey was met by an incredible smell and he already felt like home. "It smells amazing, Mrs Y/L/N." Mickey held onto the bags, not really sure where to put them. "Oh, you can call me Kate, sweetie. And I hope you're hungry!" She reached for your jacket to put it in the closet. "She cooked enough to feed the whole town!" A masculine voice joined the discussion. A wide grin took place on your face and you went to hug an elder man, your father, Mickey guessed. Your dad pulled away from you and straightened up to make himself taller to face Fanboy. Kind as he was, Mickey smiled at the man and extended his hand with genuine interest. "It's very nice to meet you, Sir. Y/N can't stop talking about you, both of you actually." He quickly glanced at your mom who slightly blushed and waved it off. Your father turned towards you as he shook Mickey's hand. "Did you tell him to say that?" You simply shrug and smile at him. "Maybe." Your father laughed a bit and turned back to Mickey. "It's okay, at ease, Lieutenant. And you can call me Jacob." He tapped Mickey's shoulder before taking the bags from his hand and leaving for the rooms to drop them in your room for the holidays. "Did you bring anything else with you, darling?" Your mom asked you. "Yeah, the rest is in the car." You smiled at her and she took Mickey's hand to lead him in the kitchen so he could help her setting the table. Mickey looked back at you and you waved your fingers at him with a soft smile. Your dad came back and walked to the french doors leading to the backyard. "Hey, Junior! Come help me with your sister's bags!" He called loudly to be heard over the children's screams.

"Aunt Y/N is here?" You could hear a little boy's voice ask before you were tackled by your sister's 5 year old son, and your godson. "Hey there..." You crouched down to scoop him in your arms. "I missed you. How is California?" He held you close, tightening his little arms around your shoulders. "It's amazing. It's hot, you'd love the beach. And I brought home someone I'd like for you to meet." You stroked his back and scratched the back of his head to draw his attention. He pulled back from your neck and looked at you with a frown. You said nothing and simply smiled, walking to the kitchen where your mom and Mickey were chatting. When you passed the doors, your boyfriend looked over at you and an excited grin took place on his face when he saw the child in your arms. "Noah... This is Mickey, he's my boyfriend. Mickey, this is my first love, Noah." You kissed your godson's cheek, making him giggle. Mickey walked up to you and shook Noah's hand. "It's really nice to meet you Noah, I've heard a lot about you. Wow, you really got a firm grip!" He exclaimed as he pretended to painfully rub his hand, earning a giggle from the boy. From the corner of your eye, you could see your dad and your brother walk up to your car and get everything out. Noah got shy as Mickey kept softly smiling at him and he buried his nose in your neck. "Are you in love?" He whispered in your ear, but loud enough because you could see Mickey smile even more. "We are." You answered as you rubbed his back. "Are you gonna get married and have kids?" He then asked in your ear. You smiled even more and turned your head so you could whisper back in his ear. "I hope so. I'm just waiting for him to be ready and pop the question down on one knee." The little boy laughed and squirmed in your arms. You crouched down and let him go back outside to play with his sister. The front door opened again and you could see Mickey frown when he heard your dad and your brother talk. He walked out of the kitchen and froze.

"Bagman?!" The latter froze in turn and looked at your boyfriend then looked at you. "You gotta be kidding me..." He sighed before dropping the bags he was holding. Mickey turned to you with a shocked expression and pointed at your brother. "You didn't tell me your brother was Hangman! Why isn't your name Seresin then!" The annoyed expression on Jake's face changed to a protective one when he heard your boyfriend raising his voice while talking to you. You simply chuckled and shrugged. "Because I'm not a Seresin, Jake's dad met my mom after I was born, we don't have the same dad. They got married when I was six and I got used to calling him dad." Mickey turned back to Jake who was looking between you and your boyfriend. "Everything good, Y/N?" The blonde asked. "Everything's good, Jake. Don't worry, I should've told you guys, I knew you worked together for a while and I thought it would be fun to keep this for me until your met. And it was fun." You chuckled and took your boyfriend's hand before leading him to the backyard to greet your niece and your sister and her husband. You heard Jake groaning behind you and turned back to throw him a glare, asking him silently to behave and not cause a scene. You wanted these vacations to be perfect for everyone. Jake sighed and rolled his eyes before grabbing your bags and following his dad to your room. He dropped the bags on your bed and stopped in his track and he saw Fanboy's gym bag. The ring. He quickly checked if anyone was coming in the hallway but he only heard chatting in the backyard. He opened the bag and searched for a little satin bag, a black velvety box, anything. He stopped his research when his hand touched something that had no reason to be in a gym bag. An envelop. He took it out of the bag and read your name in Fanboy's handwriting. He felt the envelop between his fingers and recognized the shape of a ring with a stone one one side. A big one, that is. He decided he knew enough and put the envelop where it was and put everything back how it was before closing the gym bag and leaving the room.

Jake joined everyone outside in the backyard, still deep in his thoughts, and was surprised when his niece threw herself in his arms, screaming and laughing, oh so happy to have her entire family reunited for the holidays. He looked up and saw you perched on Mickey's lap, laughing at something his dad said. He locked eyes with the WSO and walked up to them, dropping off the little girl so she could go play with her brother. "I saw you brought your gym bag." He said directly to Fanboy who froze and widened his eyes. All colors left his face and he realized Jake knew about the ring and that he planned to propose. To Jake's sister. You turned to your boyfriend and furrowed your frows, feeling there was a silent discussion between the two men. "I know a good place for a good run, I'll show you tomorrow morning if you want." The blonde pilot tapped Mickey's shoulder who seemed to breathe for the first time since his colleague opened his mouth. His grip on your hips loosened and he wrapped his arms around you, holding you closer and resting his chin on your shoulder. "Thanks, man." He only said before turning his attention back to the two children trying to show him what they learned in gym class.

[growup-thatbeautiful]

Pretty Girl | 3. been on my mind

1. pretty girl | 2. lover, you should’ve come over | 3. been on my mind | 4. last goodbye | 5. hold my hand

Warnings: explicit language

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Instagram

liked by y/n.username, roo_bradshaw, thereal_javy, and 980,828 more

hangman.jake i’m their cool uncle

view 67,892 comments

delilah.seresin they only have one uncle

-> jake.seresin unrelated

bob.bob.floyd i find that hard to believe

jakeysgirl he loves his family so much awwww

thereal_javy true

thereal_javy only because i’m not blood related though

tasha.trace if by cool you mean lame then yes

-> hangman.jake ouch

y/nislife i need to know if y/n was there

-> y/nfanpage fr me too

r_paybackfinch aw cute

-> r_paybackfinch ^ them not you

y/n.username best uncle ever

-> halo_cal_bass he paid you to say that didn’t he

-> halo_cal_bass i know you’re scheming

penny_benny A lovely family!

-> hangman.jake thank you for commenting nicely

-> y/n.username hey :(

-> hangman.jake you too <3

-> y/n.username mhm

-> y/n.username you’re on thin ice buddy

——————————————————————————

Messages

roo: if there’s nothing to tell then what is this

*roo sent a screenshot*

tash: literally </3

roo: flirting in instagram comments is not a joke

you: guys

you: you’re acting like you didn’t do the exact same thing

tash: i-

tash: how could you use that against me?

tash: when i’ve been so supportive

you: 🙃

roo: where’s hangman

you: he’s reading all these messages over my shoulder

tash: hi bagman

you: he says hi :)

jakey: that is not what i said

you: i may have changed the words a little

jakey: you changed everything

you: i like positivity

tash: anyway

tash: now that bagman decided to join us

tash: spill

roo: what she said

jakey: whatever are you talking about

you: i know nothing

tash: LIARS

roo: unacceptable answer

roo: …

tash: i know you’re sitting there talking about this

tash: you’re not smooth

roo: just tell us

jakey: since when are you so fucking nosy rooster

roo: when you started keeping secrets

you: jake and i

tash: FINALLY

you: are telling you that

roo: this better fucking be real

jakey: 🖕

you: we’re together

you: good teamwork jake

you: way to keep the vibe

jakey: anytime baby

tash: ew stop

you: this is what you wanted??

roo: no go back

roo: i thought about it and i don’t like it

you: impossible.

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Instagram

y/n.username added to their story

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Messages

you: how would you feel if i told you i could come to san diego again

tash: i would feel honored

you: i might have a short job there

tash: now?

you: yeah they had a cancellation and called me to fill in

you: and that way i can fly with jake instead of alone to ny

tash: smart

tash: when do you leave?

you: …30 minutes

tash: GIRL

tash: text me when you’re getting on the plane

tash: and when you land

you: got it

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Instagram

liked by thereal_javy, y/n.fan, hangmanswife, and 394,1039 more

enews Are we dreaming? I hope not!

Model Y/n Y/L/N and Jake “Hangman” Seresin were seen together in the San Diego Airport. According to sources, they’ve been spending the past few weeks in each other’s company, as shown by their recent, frequent social media posts together.

Most know Seresin to be part of the self-titled “Maverick’s” group, made up of Pete Mitchell, Bradley Bradshaw, Natasha Trace, and more. Y/n, Trace’s long-term friend, and Jake met years ago, but have remained just friends for that time. Could things have finally changed? We say yes!

view 87,920 comments

y/nfanpage no way

y/nfanpage this better be true

ellieslip bro not her going through guys like that 🫰

phoenixislife i liked her with davey better tbh

jakeysgirl wait they’re actually so cute

models.page i thought she lived in new york?? why is she always in san diego 😭

-> bobby_pins she goes there because her friends are there and because of jake apparently

y/n.fan not javy liking this 😭 he knows something we don’t

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Messages

you: they’re onto us

jakey: i’m going to need some more information than that sweetheart

jakey: who’s onto us? what are they onto?

you: you’re a dick

jakey: yeah, and?

you: the media is figuring things out

you: connecting the dots

jakey: we haven’t exactly been subtle

you: i mean technically i’ve been soft launching a bf

you: so i can announce you

jakey: wtf

jakey: is this a legal thing?

jakey: do i need to do this?

you: how do you not know what this is

you: it’s like a teaser

you: for a relationship

you: and no it’s definitely not legally required

jakey: but why

you: for funzies

jakey: strange

jakey: so do you want to post first?

you: i would like to, pls?

jakey: of course, baby

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Instagram

liked by tasha.trace, halo_cal_bass, hangman.jake, and 1,007,357 more

y/n.username my ☀️, 🌙, and ⭐️

view 98,382 comments

thereal_javy they told me first

thereal_javy i’m their favorite

-> tasha.trace debatable

roo_bradshaw FINALLY

roo_bradsahw i’m so bad at keeping secrets this is a relief

-> y/n.username glad we could help you out bud

jakeyswife yet another boy for her to ruin…

amelia.a.benjamin HA I KNEW IT

penny.benny Called it! Someone’s gotta keep Jake in line 😉

y/n.fan OMG ITS HAPPENING

y/n.fan FRIENDS TO LOVERS FR

bob.bob.floyd “nothings going on bobby” LIARS

bob.bob.floyd you will be hearing from my lawyer about this

-> picsofmodels real

halo_cal_bass i think you added pictures of jake instead of pictures of me…

-> y/n.username you’re right, what a silly mistake

hangman.jake now i can call you sweetheart in public without you glaring!

-> y/n.username maybe…

-> tasha.trace nothing ever stopped you before

hangjake damn she’s gonna run out of guys to date

r_paybackfinch how did this even happen

r_paybackfinch the world is upside down cause i could have sworn you told us nothing was going on…

r_paybackfinch JK HAPPY FOR YOUUU

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Messages

jakey: do you have plans tonight?

you: no

you: i should finish the shoot around 2 though

jakey: okay

jakey: i have tickets to an event that i wasn’t planning on going to

you: okay?

you: is this you inviting me or?

jakey: do you want to go?

jakey: it could be our first public couple thing

jakey: we can be infuriatingly cute the whole time

you: yes please

jakey: consider it done

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liked by tasha.trace, bob.bob.floyd, thereal_javy, and 789,031 more

hangman.jake had the absolute best night with my lovely girl

view 56,394 comments

tasha.trace she’s really my girl but okay

tasha.trace need more pics of the yellow dress immediately

-> y/n.username of course babe

fanforhangman mom and dad fr

y/n.username hi babyyy

y/n.username he means me guys 😁

roo_bradshaw shame we couldn’t go and do a double date

-> y/n.username we missed you and tash :((

thereal_javy good night, bud!

thereal_javy go to sleep it’s 3 am

-> hangman.jake ok

y/ndaily he looks so good in that second pic

-> seresin.hubby he really does

-> picsy/n it’s the y/n effect

penny.benny All the love for my favorite couple!

-> amelia.a.benjamin mom ew

amelia.a.benjamin looks like fun! invite me next time

-> y/n.username you’re 12

-> amelia.a.benjamin 16

halo_cal_bass my fav girl and my second fav cowboy

-> hangman.jake i don’t know how to react to that

delilah.seresin you better have bought her those shoes

-> hangman.jake ….i will now

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you: darling

you: lovely

you: <33

jakey: sweetheart

you: can you open my melatonin bottle pls

jakey: …

jakey: i feel used

you: simply don’t

you: i need helppp

jakey: it’s a child proof bottle

jakey: are you a child?

you: people have different strengths and weaknesses

you: do you want me to be more sleep deprived than i already am??

jakey: no

jakey: if you’re sleep deprived i want to be the reason why

you: so you’ll help?

jakey: yes

——————————————————————————

Instagram

y/n.username added to their story

——————————————————————————

Messages

tash: i tried to call jake but he didn’t answer

tash: i wanted to warn you

you: jake’s at the gym, what’s up?

you: it must be bad if you willingly almost talked to jake

tash: first off he’s not that bad, you know i can’t help making fun of him

tash: he makes it too easy

you: i know <3

tash: second off

tash: dave did an interview with vouge

tash: and it’s pretty bad

you: shit

you: bad bad?

tash: yeah

tash: idk how much of it is true

you: things got pretty fucked up

you: so it could be true

tash: fuck.

you: fuck.

——————————————————————————

A/n who’s dave? why is that so bad? do i have a plan? find all of this out and more in the next part lol

taglist lovelies: @rosiahills22 @fangirlvibez @djs8891

[blackwidownat2814]

Pride & Prejudice & Partridges (J.Seresin)

Pairing: Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x plus size!reader, Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x librarian!reader, Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x Garcia!reader, Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x latina!reader

Word Count: 4580

A/N: Written for @jupitercomet's 12 Days of Christmas Challenge. I had Day 1-Secret Santa. This is also my first Top Gun Maverick fic, so go easy on me! I want to thank the wonderful and amazing @jobean12-blog for letting me bounce ideas off of her and helping me break through my writer's block. Also, many, many thanks to @navybrat817, for her firsthand knowledge of Navy life and for answering my countless questions. You two rock!

Triggers: Death of parents (just mentioned, no specifics), negative talk about self, body image issues. Angst with a happy ending.

‼️⚠️I do not give permission for any of my work to be copied, translated or reposted anywhere else but on my own blog.⚠️‼️

Masterlist

You were content with the quiet life you led.  Working as a librarian on a US Navy installation allowed you that freedom.  NAS Miramar wasn’t small, but it wasn’t huge either.  When you worked in the public library system, you were busy quite often…and it was starting to wreak havoc on your mental health.  Luckily, around the time you were trying to decide what to do with your career, your brother, Mickey ‘Fanboy’ Garcia, called you to let you know he was going to be stationed at NAS Miramar for the foreseeable future to be part of the now permanent Dagger Squad.

So, you moved to San Diego and onto the installation with Mickey, leaving your hometown behind (it didn’t really bother you to leave because your parents had been gone for several years and your introverted nature didn’t grant you close friends).  He helped you get the job at the library and that was that. 

The day you finished unpacking your things, Mickey told you he was going to take you out to meet the rest of the squad because the only person you knew was Reuben and you needed to meet some new people in your new home:

“Are you sure that’s okay?  I don’t want to invade your group or anyth--"

“Sis…really?  This night is for you!  I’ve told them all about you and how excited I am to have you with me again.”  You smiled big and giggled.

“Aw, you’re such a sweetheart, aren’t ya little bro?”

“Shut up”, pouted Mickey.  You grabbed his hand and pulled him to you.

“Thanks.  Te quiero, hermanito.”

“I love you too.”

When you and Mickey arrived at the local watering hole, The Hard Deck, you were instantly greeted by Reuben.  He pulled you into a tight hug, calling you Little Garcia (which was a ridiculous nickname, seeing as how you were older than Mickey by a year).  Shortly after that, Bob, Rooster, Phoenix, and Coyote showed up.  You were all sitting around one of the pool tables, drinking beers (in your case, it was an ice cold Dr. Pepper because you weren’t big on drinking) when you heard the most suave and cocky sounding, Texas accent ever:

“What do we have here?”  You saw Phoenix roll her eyes and smile.

“Little Garcia, this here is Bagman.”

“Hangman.”

“Whatever.”  Hangman laughed and pulled Phoenix into a hug.  When she let him go, he turned to look at you.

“So, you’re Fanboy’s sister.”  You nodded.

“Y-yes.  That’d, uh, that’d be me.”

“Well m’dear, we’re all really happy that Fanboy has you close by again.”

“I’m glad to be here Hangman.”  He smiles big and sits on the barstool next to you.

“Please, call me Jake.”

“Okay, Jake.”  If this man keeps looking at you with those gorgeous green eyes, you were going to melt.

“So, tell me Little Garcia, what do you do?”

“I’m a librarian.  I’m going to be working on base and living with Mickey”, you replied.  “Since I was moving down here, he managed to get out of the barracks and into a small house on base.”  Jake clapped his hands together and looked around at the group.

“You’re going to be living on the base?  That means you deserve your own callsign!”  The rest of the squad voiced their agreement.  “The question is, what do we call you?”

“How about Libby?” suggested Bob.  He made a face when everyone groaned.  “I know, I know.”  A few of the others made their own suggestions of library related callsigns before Jake stood from his spot next to you.

“I’ve got it!”  Jake turned back to you with a huge smile on his face, “How about…Dewey?”  

You felt heat crawling up your neck because of the way he was looking at you, like you were the only woman in the room.  You knew that that wasn’t possible, that someone as good looking and amazingly talented and a hero like Jake would never look at someone like you that way.  Why would a man who looked like he was crafted by Zeus himself look at a chubby librarian twice, when he could have women like Phoenix, or your cousin Isabella (who stole the first boy you ever really had a chance with, away)?

“I like it.  Thanks, Jake.”  He pulled you into a hug, squeezing you tight.

Oh Lord.  You were in trouble.

That was a year ago.  Over the last year, it was like you became an honorary member of the Dagger Squad.  They became the family you and Mickey were missing.  Most of them came to visit you at work.  One of those people was Jake.  The first time he came by, a month after the two of you met, you were shelving books and he’d snuck up on you, giving you a moment worthy of fan fiction itself.

You stepped up onto the plastic footstool and filed the book in its spot, on the topmost shelf.  You had an earbud in and were singing quietly along to “Remember Me” from Coco since you very rarely ever got someone in the library this early in the day, which meant you didn’t hear the door open, and you didn’t hear footsteps coming towards you.  You felt something tap you on the shoulder and you let out a scream, feeling yourself tilt backwards.  You squeezed your eyes shut and braced yourself for the inevitable pain, but it never came.  Instead, you felt the warm embrace of familiar arms.

“You can open your eyes now, darlin’.”  Opening one eye, you saw Jake smiling at you.  “Sorry I scared you, Dewey.”

“Oh, it’s not a problem.  I should’ve been paying more attention and–” It was then that you realized Jake was holding you bridal style.  “Oh my God!  Jake!  Put me down!  You’re going to hurt your back or something and I’m going to get in trouble for breaking government property.  I’m way too hea–”  

You would’ve rambled on had Jake not stopped you.

“Dewey.  I’m going to need you to relax.  You’re not going to mess up my back and you’re not going to get in trouble.  I have trained a long time and I don’t want to sound like a cocky bastard–”  You gave him a judgmental eyebrow raise and a Look.  “Okay, you have a point.”

“Seriously Jake, I don’t want to hurt you!”  Jake rolled his eyes but put you down carefully.  “Thank you.  I know you work out..I mean look at you, of course you do.  I just-lifting weights and doing bench presses is one thing, Jake…”

“Dewey…”

“Thank you for saving me from getting hurt”, you say before Jake can continue with whatever platitudes someone as good looking, built, and thin as him can come up with.  You smooth out the skirt of your bright red button front chiffon dress and look up at him since he has at least half a foot on you.  “Is there something I can help you find today, Lt. Seresin?”

Jake’s jaw clenched and you could tell he wanted to say more.  What you couldn’t figure out was why he seemed to care this much about how you thought of yourself.  He was just a friend.

“Uh, no…no.”  He ran a hand through his light brown hair.  “My sister is coming to visit next week with my nieces for Family Weekend.  Are y’all doing anything special?”

“Of course!”  You gave him a big smile and proceeded to run through the activities that were planned.

The following week, you got to meet Jesse and Isla Seresin.  The bonus was getting to see ‘Uncle Jake’ in action first hand and you hated it because every minute you spent in his presence was making you fall in love with him.  This was something you didn’t want because you knew you couldn’t afford a broken heart.  Not again.  You’d only recently been able to put your heart back together finally coming to term with the loss of your parents.  You weren’t going to let a crush derail that progress.

Over the next 10 months, Jake visited you at the base library often, acting like that first conversation between you two never happened.  You’d ask after Isla and Jesse, how school was going and when they’d be back to visit again.  Jake would even bring you gifts from the girls for their ‘favorite librarian’ when he’d come back from visiting them.

Sometimes Jake would come to the library because he needed to research something for a mission or because he needed to develop some sort of lesson plan now that he was an instructor at TOPGUN.  Sometimes he’d come by just to chat.  During those chats, you found yourself opening up to him.  One day in October, almost a year after you moved to San Diego, Jake and some of the squad were at the library helping with the Halloween Festival for the kids the library staff was throwing in the parking lot.  You and Jake were manning the ‘Balloon Dart’ booth, chatting away the time while waiting for some new challengers.

“You know Dewey, in all the time I’ve known you, I don’t think I’ve ever asked you what your favorite book is”, said Jake.

“Is this you asking?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Pride & Prejudice”, you replied, keeping your eyes on your feet.  “I know, you don’t have to say it.  It’s totally cliché.”

“It’s not cliché at all.  It’s a good book.”  You looked up at Jake’s comment.

“You like Pride & Prejudice?”

“Your Lizzie Bennett is showing, you know.”

“Sorry.”

“No worries.  I read it for school, and I just really liked it”, said Jake.  “So, why is it your favorite?”

“It’s one of the first books my mom and I read together”, you replied.  Smiling sadly, you continue.  “She’d read me a chapter a night.  It took a while, but we finally finished it.  Afterwards, we borrowed the six-disc BBC mini-series from our local library and watched it all in one day.  Colin Firth was so handsome and a perfect Mr. Darcy.  Then in 2005, she surprised me with tickets to the movie as a late birthday gift and I just adored Matthew MacFadyen’s version of Darcy.  It fed my love of reading, which then inspired my choice in career.  Before they died, mom and I had been looking for the ‘Peacock edition’ of the book that was released in 1894.  It’s one of the most valuable and gorgeous versions because of the cover and illustrations by Hugh Thomson.  I had almost tracked one down, but then…”  

You looked away, not wanting to let Jake see you cry, but were unsuccessful.  Jake reached over and tipped your face up so he could look you in the eye, and wrapped his free hand around your ample waist, pulling you closer.

“I’m sorry about your parents.  It can’t have been easy for you and Fanboy.”  He placed the hand he’d had under your chin on your cheek and wiped away the few tears that escaped.

“It wasn’t.  He hides it better than I do, but he was just as broken.  It’s why I’m so thankful for Reuben and the rest of you.  When I couldn’t be there for him, all of you were…so, thank you, Jake.”

The way he was looking at you made you weak in the knees, and you saw him leaning towards you.  Was Jake Seresin about to kiss you?  Unfortunately, you wouldn’t find out because as he got closer, one of the kids ran up to the booth and you two jumped apart.

You watched him closely, out of the corner of your eye, the rest of the night.  You made sure you were always busy with the kids or whatever else was needed at the booth so that you weren’t available to talk with Jake.  You could tell he wanted to say something about what happened, but you really didn’t want to deal with the rejection and the explanation that it was a mistake.

As Jake was explaining the rules to one of the kids, you saw her mother fluffing her hair and adjusting her ‘assets’.  She put on the biggest (fakest) smile she could when Jake turned his attention to her. You rolled your eyes as you eyeballed the diamond on her left hand.  Did she think that he would just ignore that she was married and fall into her bed?  You knew Jake was imperfect, but he would never stoop that low.

You loved him.  You knew that now, because you gave up on trying to not fall in love with him months ago.  You hoped it wasn’t obvious because you didn’t want to be that chubby girl who was in love with the hot guy and acted like a stalker.  Becoming that stereotype was not going to happen.

Over the next month, you did absolutely everything in your power to avoid Jake Seresin.  You changed your shifts at work as much as you could so you wouldn’t be there when you knew he had free time and if he came in when you were there, you made sure you were busy or your coworkers would take care of him for you.  You didn’t go out to the Hard Deck on the weekends or anytime you knew he’d be there.

The week before Thanksgiving, you were at work when you received a visitor.

“Dewey?”  You looked up from your work to see Phoenix in the doorway of your office.

“Hey Phe!  Come on in.”  She stepped into your office and took a seat across from you.  “So, what brings you by?”

“We’ve missed you”, she said.  “All of us.”  The underlying meaning in her words didn’t skate past your understanding.

“I-I just can’t Phe.  I won’t be able to get over him if I’m around him constantly.  And I have to get over him because when he eventually finds someone–”

“Dewey, he doesn’t want to find anyone else.”

“Nat, I’m going to explain something to you, okay?”  You took a deep breath and continued, “Men as good looking as Jake or Rooster or any of them don’t go for women like me.  I know I’m not ugly, I never said that, but I am fat.  It’s just a fact.  Someone who takes care of himself like Jake is expected to be with a woman who looks like you.  Like the high school trope, the quarterback and the cheerleader.  I’m just the nerd who helps tutor the quarterback.  Who, like an idiot, falls for him and thinks that because he was so nice to me, maybe I should tell him how I feel.  When I do, he goes and laughs about it with his cheerleader girlfriend and all the other jocks.

I reached too far Nat.  Like I said, I need to get over him because I need to be able to be around him when he finds his cheerleader.”

Phoenix huffed.

“I didn’t know you felt like this.”

“I’ve been dealing with this since I was a kid.  I was compared to my cousin and how she looked.”

“Why didn’t you come talk to me?”  Phoenix leaned forward and took your hand.

“Phe, you’ve got enough on your plate, enough to deal with”, you reply.  “Besides, you’re not my therapist.  I didn’t want to burden you with my problems.  I’m already enough of a burden to Mickey.  I’m his older sister and he thinks he has to take care of me.”

“Can I say something now?” she asked, and you nodded.  “You are not a burden.  Not to me, not to Jake, and especially not to Fanboy.  He’s your brother and he loves you.  Before you moved here, he may have smiled and joked around, but it never really meant much.  He was just okay.  After you let him know you were coming to San Diego, you should’ve seen how happy he was.  His smile was huge, and his eyes didn’t look empty.  You’ve made all of our lives better.”

By the time she finished, tears fell silently down your cheeks.

“Thank you, Phe.  I love you, you know.”

“I love you too, Dewey.”  Phoenix came around the desk and pulled you into a tight hug.  “Believe it or not, this wasn’t the only reason I came to see you.”  You pulled away and wiped your cheeks.

“What can I help you with?”

“Some of us are having a Friendsgiving thing next week.  I wanted to know if you and Fanboy wanted to join us.”

“Um…”

“He’s going to Texas to see his family.”

“Okay then.”

Friendsgiving with Rooster, Phoenix, Reuben, and Mickey was one of the happiest times you had.  After dinner, Phoenix brought out a small basket with several small pieces of paper.

“What’s this?”  You looked over at your brother with a questioning look.

“Last Christmas, we all decided that a Secret Santa with the squad would be fun.  Since it was a hit, we’re doing it again.”  He took the basket from Phoenix and held it out to you, “It’s your first time, so you get the first draw.  No take backsies, unless you get your own name.”

“Got it.”  You closed your eyes and shoved your hand in the basket, rooting around for a few seconds before finally grabbing a paper.  You unfolded it, shielding the paper from prying eyes.  You smiled at the ‘Bob’ written on the paper.  You were close enough with Bob and knew the perfect gift for him.

“When do we have to have the gifts ready?” you asked the group.

“Penny’s having a Christmas party at The Hard Deck next month on the 15th”, said Rooster.  You felt your stomach drop.  You weren’t making any progress in getting over the feelings you had for Jake, and you didn’t think you were ready to see him again.

“Awesome.  Can’t wait.”  Bob came in for Book Club all the time, so you could slip him his gift then and not have to worry about being at the party.  Everyone would be so busy enjoying it, they probably wouldn’t even notice you weren’t there.  How wrong you were.

Now.

Sure enough, the day before Penny’s Christmas party, Bob stopped by the library.  He loved his gift; you’d gotten him a cookie decorating class that was online and prerecorded so he wouldn’t miss any of the days because of work and emphasized intricate decorating techniques.

He gave you a kiss on the cheek and a big hug in thanks, promising you the first batch of cookies he made with his newfound knowledge.  Before leaving, he asked if he’d see you the next day at The Hard Deck.  You felt bad about lying but told him no because you had to take care of something important.  In reality, you were going to hide out at the library for a few hours and then go home.

So, you did.  Your phone started going off only a few minutes after everyone was supposed to be arriving at The Hard Deck.  You ignored the texts from Phoenix, Mickey, Bob, and Reuben and were about to shut your phone off when a call from Mickey came through.

“What?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m busy.”

“You’re a bad liar, you know, hermanita.”  You rolled your eyes.

“Is there a reason you’re calling Mickey?”

“Everyone is wondering where you are.”  You could hear voices and the jukebox going in the background; it sounded like a good time.  “And I mean everyone.”

“Mickey…I can’t, okay?  I won’t be a novelty or something he bides his time with until he finds someone better, someone prettier.  Someone thinner and more appropriate for him.”

“That’s complete bullshit.  And Hangman is a lot of things, but that isn’t something he’d ever do.  Please believe me.  When I met him, I thought he was a complete dick.  The only one who didn’t was Coyote, and that’s only because they’ve been friends for years, so he knows how much of a good man Jake is.”

Mickey went on about Jake’s pros and as you were about to cut him off and hang up, you heard another voice.

“Fanboy, who are you talking to?”  Jake.  He’d seen your brother having a heated discussion while on the phone, and since he hadn’t seen you yet, he put two and two together.

“Don’t you say a word Mickey.  Don’t you do it.”

“Um…”

“Fanboy, is it Dewey?  Where is she?”

“I’m under orders to not say anything.”

“Bullshit.  Tell me.  Now.  I need to talk to her.”

“No.”  You knew your brother and you could hear his resolve weakening in his voice.  Suddenly, you heard what sounded like a scuffle on the other end and shouts of Give it back Hangman! before another voice came on the line.

“Dewey?  Dewey, please, tell me where you are.  I need to talk to you.”  You pressed ‘mute’, so he wouldn’t hear you starting to cry.  “Please darlin’.  Tell me where you are.”

You almost broke at the pleading in his voice.  You didn’t understand why he was so determined about seeing you.  You were just friends.  You took a deep breath and unmuted the call.

“I’m sorry Jake, but I’m not going to do that.”

“Darlin’, pl–”

“Goodnight Jake.”  You hung up and put your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’, so you could listen to music while you did some shifting and didn’t have to worry about phone calls interrupting you.

You were in a Metallica-type of mood, so you chose the correct playlist and put in your earbuds.  ‘All Nightmare Long’ transitioned in to ‘Master of Puppets’ (your favorite song), and you shimmied along the aisles, shifting books around so they weren’t so tightly packed together.

Once again, you were so distracted by your task and the music, you didn’t hear someone knocking on the front door of the building or even walking in.  He heard you, though.  Jake called out for you, but when he didn’t get a response, he went to check your office.  Seeing your things still there, he was dead quiet to find out where you were...until he heard you singing.

‘Come crawling faster (faster)

Obey your master (master)

Your life burns faster (faster)

Obey your master

Master!

Master!’

Jake took the stairs two at a time, finding you in the graphic novel section.  You had your back to him, and he knew you were going to be mad, but he just had to.  Unbeknownst to you, he tiptoed up to you and tapped you on the shoulder.

You let out an almighty shriek and spun around, your feet getting tangled together.  Jake launched himself forward and caught you before you could fall and get hurt.

“You okay Dewey?”  You smacked him on the chest and pushed him away.

“Jake Seresin!  How could you do that to me?!”  You pulled your earbuds out and pocketed them.  You looked over at Jake and were glad to see he was looking slightly ashamed.

“I’m sorry darlin’.”

“What are you doing here Jake?  I wanted to be alone.”

“I needed to see you.”

“Why?  What could you possibly have to say to me right now?  There’s a party with everyone there and yet you’re here, wasting your time with me.”  You crossed your arms and leaned against the shelf.

“First of all, you’re not there, so not everyone is there.”  Jake reached behind him and pulled a wrapped, rectangular something he’d tucked into his back pocket.  “Secondly, I needed to give you this.  I’m your Secret Santa.’

“You could’ve just given it to Mickey to give to me.”

“Dewey, just take it, please.”

“Fine.”  You reached over and took the package from Jake’s hands.  You were carefully unwrapping the gift when Jake spoke up.

“Why have you been avoiding me?”

“I haven’t b–”

“Don’t lie to me.  I may act like an idiot, but I’m not one.  Anytime I go to visit you, either you’re not there because you changed your schedule, or you get one of the others to deal with me.  When we all get together at the Hard Deck, you never show.  Fanboy feeds us whatever lie you tell him, but I know better.  I know you, something happened to make you avoid me and the others.”

“Jake…”  Before you could continue, you pushed the wrapping paper of the gift to reveal a book.  A copy of the ‘Peacock Edition’ of Pride & Prejudice, originally published in 1894, making this a first printing.  You carefully opened the book to look through it.  No creases, the spine was perfect for a book that was almost 130 years old, and it was beautiful.

“Do you like it?”  In your astonishment, you’d forgotten he was standing there.

“Jake, Jake, I-I-I can’t believe you remembered?”

“I did.”  You felt tears starting to form and threatened to fall down your cheeks.

“Jake, I c-can’t accept this. It-It’s too much.”

“It’s not too much darlin’.  I just hope it makes you feel closer to your mom.”  The tears fell in a steady flow now.  Jake rushed forward and took your face in your hands.  “Please don’t cry baby.”

You shut your eyes and basked in the feeling of his hands on your cheeks.

“Why did you do this Jake?  This isn’t something you do for a friend for a Secret Santa gift.”  You hear Jake chuckle.

“Open your eyes darlin’.”  You took a deep breath and slowly opened your eyes to look into green ones.  “You know why, Dewey.”

“I need you to say it.  I won’t believe it unless you do.”

“I love you, Miss Garcia.”

“Jake…”  You gave him a big watery smile.

“I know you have your reservations because of some weird reason that you think you don’t deserve me just because of the way you look.  Baby, that can’t be further from the truth.  I love you because of who you are, of what you’ve overcome, of what you’ve done–”

“I’m just a librarian, Jake.  I’m not anyone special.  But you, you’re a literal hero.  I read, you fly planes and save the world…how could I ever measure up?”

“Darlin’, you’re a hero too, to the girls.  I can never talk with Isla and Jesse without hearing Miss Garcia this and Miss Garcia that and When can we see Miss Garcia again, Uncle Jake?  They were both having trouble with their reading, but after meeting you, they’re the top readers in each of their classes.”

“I–” Before you could say anything else, Jake surged forward and kissed you. You’d only ever been kissed a few times in your life, but this blew the other kisses out of the water, it obliterated them. It reminded you of The Princess Bride, and the thought brought a smile to your face.

When the lack of air finally became an issue, you pulled away and leaned your forehead against Jake’s.

“I love you too, Jake, so much.”

Jake smiled that perfect smile of his and kissed you again. So focused on the kiss, neither of you heard the footsteps up the stairs, and didn’t know Reuben, Mickey, Rooster, Coyote, Phoenix, and Bob were watching the two of you make out until Coyote spoke up.

“Yeah buddy! Get your girl!” You and Jake broke apart in surprise.

“What the hell guys?!”

[at-thestillpoint]

OMG the other FWB fic is so good! Sneak peek of what happens in the second half I’m begging you??! 🙏🏻😍

Thank you so much! Almost everything I could snippet from the second part of love you like a lover should is too spoilery, because we really jump right back in, but here's something from the very beginning of the next chapter:

When Javy’s next argument—bottle service with bottle blondes—is met with similar disinterest from Hangman, Coyote’s eyes narrow suspiciously. His gaze swings to Natasha and then back to Hangman, and the two dumbasses have an entire conversation about her—she assumes—with subtle dilations of their pupils and odd inflections of their eyebrows. She has zero desire to understand this secret bro code and hangs back, tapping her fingers against her opposite elbow, though she does wish Hangman would try a little harder to make the decision between the beach with her or Vegas with Javy and a gaggle of women seem a little more difficult to make. Coyote ends the standoff with a disappointed shake of his head, slamming the door of his truck behind him so loudly it sends a swarm of birds in the tree across the street flying.  “‘Corn dog’ wasn’t a euphemism, Bagman,” she tells him as they watch Coyote drive off, turning her head to look at him. Hangman’s eyes swing to her, flashing briefly with something she can’t quite read, before his mouth quirks up into a lecherous grin. “You sure about that?” “If you want an easy lay, you should go with Coyote.” “When,” he sighs, “Have I ever been interested in easy?”

[dreamsallalongthewatchtower]

CH 1. Sin City

Summary: The daggers arrive in Las Vegas and it's just the beginning. Jake sets his sights on a girl he has to get know. Natasha meets an old friend and catches up.

Notes: Mentions of Alcohol, nothing too bad 18+ MINORS DNI

Word Count: 2.3k

Bradley, Jake and Bob were starting to get antsy. Knowing they should wait for the rest of the squad to join, the excitement of Vegas was starting to seep its way into the minds of Jake and Bradley. “We know where we’re all going to end up tonight so we might as well get a jump on the fun and go somewhere. It’s pointless to wait for the other three.” Jake suggested from the bathroom. “For once you are absolutely right Bagman. I heard this place called House of Blues is supposed to be a cool place, let’s start there and see where we are before we meet up with everyone else.” Bradley added. “I don’t know guys it would be fun to get out of the room, but shouldn’t we wait?” Bob asked cautiously. “Come on Floyd, I bet even you get laid this trip, the sooner we start the better chances you have.” Jake quipped. “Yeah Bob, and it’s not like we are going to go score drugs or head to a strip club, it’s the House of Blues, we’ll listen to some music and figure the rest out.” Bradley added. “I guess there is no harm in getting out onto the strip. Alright let’s go” Bob said putting on his shirt “Whoo!” Both Rooster and Hangman cried out. After five minutes the trio headed to The House of Blues.

After finding open seats at the bar the three men settle on a corner that faced the stage. While waiting for the next act Jake ordered beers for himself and Bradley and a ginger ale for Bob. “Here ya go boys,” the bartender said to them “First one is on the house for our fine military men.” the lady said as she walked away. “Looks like our luck has just started boys.” Bradley let out. “Please welcome to the stage long time favorite Maya Atwell.” A voice over the speakers announced. A tall slender women walked out onto the stage. Her unruly hair tucked into a ball cap that was placed backwards on her head let the crowd see her soft features and her blue eyes. “Hi everyone, how’s everyone’s night going?” The sultry voice asked. The crowd responded with a chorus of woos, whistles and hands clapping. “Those of you who are new, I’m Maya and I can play just about any song, for those of you who know the drill welcome on back. Let’s give a huge round of applause to Mike the owner slash manager and to the fine ladies you see around here serving.” Maya waited for the crowd to follow her orders and for the cheering to die down. “Normally I take requests, but I have plans later tonight so I’m going to be doing a short set of covers tonight. This first one” She continues as she tuned her guitar “Is by my favorite man in black. As always if you know it sing along and if you don’t I want you on your feet dancing. This is Walk the Line by Johnny Cash.” The sultry voice that was speaking to the crowd was not the same powerhouse voice that started on the song. Jake, Bradley, and Bob were all amazed. They stood in front of their stools and sang along with Maya. When the song finished the crowd erupted into applause. “I can’t believe a girl like that knows Johnny Cash” Jakes yelled to his counterparts. “Yeah, she’s something.” Bob added. “Alright this next one is one I love listening to growing up, this is for all of you who are infected with Beatlemania.” The singer started playing Hey Jude. “Damn bro, she is versatile. Who goes from Cash to The Beatles!” Bradley asked his friends. By the end of the song the singer had stopped playing and let the crowd finish out the song. “Okay” Coaxed the singer. “Last one for the night, this is one that I hold dear to my heart it was the first one I learned to play, and I hope I do it justice.” As soon as she started the first notes Jake recognized the song right away “Now she’s playing Nirvana! I have to meet this girl!” As Maya finished Come As You Are, everyone was on their feet applauding her. “Thank You House of Blues! Don’t forget to tip your waitresses.”

The singer exited the stage and appeared on the other side of the bar. “Let’s go meet her.” Jake suggested. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to go talk to the girl who can command the whole place like that.” Bob interjected. “Come on Bob, what kind of wing man are you?” Jake asked “I’m not a wing man I’m a weapons system operator” Bob responded dryly. “Look do me this favor and I can owe you anything, anywhere, any time. Okay?” Jake added. “Okay, let’s go talk to her.” Bob said in a defeated tone. The three men approached the singer and watched her finish a bottle of water. “Excuse me ma’am can I get the lady a glass of whatever wine she prefers?” Jake asked the bartender. The bartender looked at Maya, and back at Jake and let out a little chuckle. “This gentleman wants to buy you a glass of wine.” The bartender repeated to Maya. Maya smirked before she responded. “No thanks, I’ll take my usual Lola.” Maya said turning her back to the three men. Lola poured a double neat of Eagle Rare into a glass for Maya. This choice of drink made even Jake blush. A woman who knows her liquor. Jake stepped to the other side of her to talk with her more. “You like whiskey, I like that in a woman. I’m lieutenant Jake Seresin.” Jake said, putting his hand out to shake Maya’s hand. “Well lieutenant, I’m Maya, and Eagle Rare is actually a bourbon and I dont just like it, I love it. Best drink to have after a show.” Bradley let out a cough causing both Jake and Maya to whip their heads in his direction. “How rude of me, this is lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw and lieutenant Robert Floyd.” Jake said as Maya waved to the two other men. “Nice to meet you.” At that moment Maya felt her phone buzz in her pocket. It was a text from her friend that she is ready to meet for dinner. “Looks like that’s my cue. Thanks for coming and seeing the show, hope you boys have fun in Vegas.” Maya said as she threw back her drink. “See you later Lola.” “Wait can I get your number?” Jake asked, blocking her path from the door. “Maybe some other time Ken doll.” Maya side-stepped Jake and left through the front door. Bob and Bradley erupted in laughter. “Oh man, that was almost worth coming over here. So glad you owe me.” Bob said in between his laughs. “Shut up. Who knows maybe we’ll run into each other this week.” Jake said with a hint of hope. “Hey, I just got a text from the others they are at the hotel and want to meet up on the strip.” Bradley said. Silencing anymore laughter him or Bob had left. The three men left the House of Blues and headed back to the hotel.

Maya walked into Bubbas Gump’s Shrimp Co. looking for her friend. The hostess asked if she was looking for someone. Before Maya could respond a pair of hands were spinning her around and embracing her tightly. “Oh Ashes, I can’t believe it’s been three years!” a familiar voice squealed in Maya’s ear. When the girl pulled away, Maya saw her best friend. “Natasha! I can’t believe you’re here.” Maya responded. When the reunion of friends ended the two women were shown to a table on the upper patio. “So, how has Vegas been since the last time I saw you?” Phoenix asked. “It’s been good, still working off a couple of debts but I’m so close to being a free woman.” Maya said looking over the strip. “How has the navy been?” Maya asked, turning her full attention to her friend. “It’s been good to me, I got called back to Top Gun. A special priority mission, the best of the best.” Phoenix said puffing her chest and flexing her biceps. “You’ll never guess who else they called back.” Phoenix started. “Fucking Rooster.” Phoenix finished. “For as much as you talk about him, you either want to be with him or you truly hate him, so, which is it?” Maya asked her friend. Before Phoenix got a chance to answer a waiter came by to take their drink order. “Okay, so what have you got planned for this week?” Phoenix asked curiously about her friend’s plans. “Well first and foremost we’ll have VIP bottle service everywhere we go. But I have a couple nights planned on the strip to keep your buddies happy, then a few dinners, a day at the Bellagio cypress pool bar. I made an appointment for us with a special someone for tattoos and we have the Florida Georgia Line Concert tomorrow night.” Maya finished. “I can’t believe you are opening for them; how did you land that gig?” Natasha asked. Maya looked at her friend and looked out over the strip once more. “Oh, you know me Nix, I have my ways. Besides, the owner couldn’t find someone who was willing to be paid so little. I figured I could just have him put it towards what I owe.” Maya responded as the waiter came back over with their drinks. “What can I get ya’ll started with?” The waiter asked. The two women ordered a few appetizers and a couple cocktails. “What do you plan on doing after you have paid your debt?” Natasha asked, trying to meet her friend’s gaze. Maya looked down trying to search her head for an answer. She already knew what she was going to do. She was going to get the hell out of Las Vegas and never look back. But she didn’t want to let her friend in on the last surprise of her birth week. “Ashes, you know you are always welcomed at my house and I’m sure your aunt would love to see you.” Natasha added when her friend didn’t respond. “HA! The only time she calls is when she wants to update her friends on her pathetic niece.” Maya responded sharply. “Hey! You are not pathetic! You would be pathetic if you stayed with Elijah and kept doing drugs. But you chose to get better, and you chose to make a better life for yourself. The first call I got from you when you got here sounded like you were in your favorite book. Living like Hunter S. Thompson, I was truly worried. But you got help and you are paying back your debt. I couldn’t be prouder. I’m sure your aunt is just worried.” Natasha finished. “Yeah, well you don’t know her like I do, and you definitely don’t want to hear our conversations. But I digress. I might bounce around New York or go visit some friends in Tucson.  I’m not sure yet.” Maya said with a smirk, knowing she would be hounded until she gave her friend a real answer. The food and drinks came, and the two women sat reminiscing about their friendship and catching each other up on their current situations.

“So, my place is a little ways outside of town but it’s huge. It’s on loan from a friend of mine who won’t be back until winter. She is this really cool old lady. I wish you could meet her. She would love all the soldiers staying in her house.” Maya said as the two women waited for the bill. When the waiter put the little black checkbook on the table Natasha reached for it. “Um what do you think you are doing?” Maya asked. Snatching the book from her friends grasp. “I want to pay, plus I can get a discount.” Natasha responded. “No let me get this, okay?” Maya asked but was more or less telling her friend she had the bill. “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you there was this guy earlier. He tried to buy me a glass of wine and wanted my number.” Maya started. “Was he cute?” Natasha asked. “I mean yeah, he wasn’t horribly disfigured, but he was so cocky and kind of had this fuck boy vibe. The type for hooking up and not anything serious. But him and his buddies looked like they were here for a bachelor party, not the type to come to Vegas to gamble and see the sights.” Maya responded. “Did you give him your number?” Natasha inquired. “Yeah right. No, I told him some other time, then I called him Ken doll!” Maya said laughing. “Poor guy, had no clue he was finished before he even started.” Natasha said. The two women left the restaurant, stepping out into the cool Nevada air. “Text your buddies to meet us at On The Record, by the time they get there they we'll be able to start the birth week.” Maya said, leading Phoenix to her car. After a quick trip to the parking garage behind the nightclub the two women’s spirits were high and ready to party.

[sweetwhispersofchaos]

Eject Chapter 8

Story Summary: Ejecting from your plane in the face of danger? Expected. Forbidden love amongst pilots? Not so much. Will they bond or will this break them for good?

Chapter Summary: Swim call, tough talk with Mav, and vacay plans

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Natasha "Phoenix" Trace All the Daggers, Mav x Penny, Amelia, OC's

Warnings: Language. Assault (not by a major character). Injury. Eventual smut. Alcohol consumption. Smoking. Discussions of mental health. (It's a rollercoaster. You've been warned!) Chapter

Word Count: 4272

Eject Masterlist

I do not own anything except the original characters.

Swim calls weren’t an often occurrence, but they were very much appreciated when they happened. They were also like a coordinated dance, with safety of the swimmers being the top priority. Regulations required two sharp shooters from above to watch for sharks and one safety swimmer in the ocean with the sailors, who wore diving gear and watched for unwelcome guests as well. Sometimes a smaller rescue boat would launch to watch and help evacuate, if need be, but with only 12 swimmers today, it was just a safety swimmer and the sharp shooters.

When the four pilots reached the aircraft hangar on the starboard side of the ship most of the other pilots were already waiting in line on the aircraft elevator.

“Bradshaw, how’s the battle wound? Soldiers take bullets. Bradshaw takes a tree branch. Now there’s a story for the grandkids.” Hangman drawled with a shit eating grin.

Rooster just shook his head with a grin and gave the other pilot a bro shake. “Well someone around here has to give you more material to work with. Glad I could oblige asshole.”

Phoenix walked past Hangman and smacked his chiseled abs with the back of her hand before stopping next to Bob. Hangman feigned injury then let out a loud laugh.

Maverick walked up at that moment with Hondo, smiling at the scene in front of him.

Rooster nodded his head but didn’t get enthusiastic about the elder pilots’ appearance, unlike the rest of his crew mates.

“Coming to watch the fun Pops?” Hangman blurted out, laughter from a few and gasps from others for his boldness to a commanding officer. Maverick, however, just smiled and shot back “That’s Captain Pops to you.” And everyone laughed emphatically. “And no, I’ve come to join you. I’ve done plenty of these things in my time and they’re always worth the hard work it takes to earn them.”

Payback let out an enthusiastic “Hooyah” and smacked Fanboy on the shoulder. Fanboy didn’t smile though, visibly nervous. Rooster gave him a supportive look and fist bump.

“We ready to get this party started?” Maverick asked as he walked out onto the elevator. Cheers and whoops surrounded him as several deck crew prepped them with the rules. The more they spoke, the more Fanboy looked ready to barf. Bradley leaned over and asked, “You going to be ok, man?”

“I’m scared of heights dude. And yes, I know how dumb that sounds. The planes go too fast to think about it.”

“Whatever you say. Trust me, you’re going to appreciate this. The jump is a rush, but the swim is fun and relaxing after the hell your body just went through with those G’s. If I could I’d be the first one in.”

“Ok, ok. You don’t have to sell me on it. I’m going. I wouldn’t dare chicken out now.” Fanboy shook his head and moved closer to the railing.

Unbeknownst to Bradley, Nat had moved in closer to him and heard the entire exchange.

“That was a nice thing you did, encouraging him. I’m glad Bagman didn’t hear him though.”

Rooster looked down at her and winked from behind his aviators. She grinned in response then turned her attention back to the deck hand giving the rules. Once the instructions were given, everyone began removing shirts and shoes. Rooster moved to the railing and turned to lean on it, ready to watch everyone take their plunge. Nat stood in the hangar door, talking to bob as she slid her sandals off. Then she removed her t shirt and shorts to reveal a simple black bathing suit. It took everything Bradley had in him not to fall backwards over the railing. Of course he had seen her in bathing suits before for swim tests and at the beach. But somehow, he felt like this striptease was intentional and just for him. The smirk on her face she was giving him as she did it helped fuel his thoughts. He finally had to look away otherwise he would have a rising issue.

The pilots began lining up in two rows and Hondo came to stand next to Rooster, leaning over and placing his elbows on the railing.

“Sorry about the injury Rooster.”

“It’s no biggie. Just annoying at this point. But thank you. Are you going swimming?”

“Oh nooo. No siree.” The man replied shaking his head. “I don’t do sharks unless I have to. So unless some random enemy missile finds us, I am staying put right here.”

The men shared a chuckle and Rooster said “understood” before turning his attention back to the line. The first two jumpers would be Hangman and Phoenix. Of course.

She wasn’t going to let Hangman have all the glory. That woman was bound and determined to be the best and he loved her for it. Her determination to make her gender proud really did something for him. Nat’s ability to be a role model to other young women and girls touched his heart. This wasn’t just a job to her, and she didn’t do it just because it was fun. The feeling of deep gratitude for her presence in his life was overwhelming.

The deck hand told the first two to step to the edge and cross their arms over their chest. Hangman looked over at Phoenix as he crossed his arms “First one to the water has to wash the others laundry tonight?” he asked smugly.

“You are so on.” She shot back, looking over her shoulder with a smile at Bradley. He shook his head with a smile. Those two were going to be a blast in Tahoe. If they didn’t kill each other in the water today.

An officer did a count down from three and the pilots leapt off the deck. It was a tight race down, but Phoenix splashed in first, barely. When they made it to the surface Hangman looked pissed and Phoenix raised her arms over her head triumphantly as everyone on the elevator erupted in cheers and hollers of congratulations.

She looked at Hangman and splashed him then took off swimming, Hangman chasing after her, no doubt to dunk her. Roosters heart felt a small pain. He wished like hell it was him after her right now. Fucking Dickman getting to play with his girl.

Each paired up pilots jumped in one after the other until the only ones left on deck were Bob, Fanboy, Payback, and Maverick.

Rooster called out “Fanboy, watch the horizon. You’re not gonna want to miss the view.” Fanboy nodded but looked ghastly pale. Poor guy. Hopefully he found the experience fun after the fall.

Maverick stepped over to Roosters perch and watched Payback and Fanboy jump off. Fanboy screamed all the way down and came back up still screaming. But his screams after the fact were joyful and everyone cheered again. Maverick chuckled then turned to Bob. “Gimme just a sec Bob?” he asked.

“Sure sir.” Bob replied and then stepped up to the edge to wait.

“Bradley, I was wondering if I could have a word with you afterwhile?”

Rooster contemplated this. He figured they would have to talk eventually, although he wasn’t entirely looking forward to hashing out a decade of pain and crap. He crossed his arms to his chest and nodded finally. Maverick nodded back then turned to take his place on the edge. After the last two pilots leapt to the water below, Rooster walked to the hangar door to grab his food then returned to take a seat on the edge to watch the festivities.

For an hour his friends splashed in the water, joking around, singing songs, and in general acting like a group of fourth graders at the neighborhood pool on spring break. Rooster let his feet swing in the breeze while eating some cold chicken and rice. He was thankful for his sunglasses because it was incredibly hard to keep his eyes off his gorgeous fire bird. Her smile was blinding, even from 50 feet away. She waved up to him at one point and he smiled and waved back with his fork hand. For now no one knew anything was different. But he wondered what it would be like in these situations if their relationship were to take a drastic change.

They could never be stationed in the same unit again. No more being each other’s wingman. More time apart due to differing stations and deployment schedules. It would be nothing but emails, facetime, and when out to sea, months without contact at all. He realized that maybe he was being a little unfair to her. She knew all too well the same things he was thinking and maybe that was part of her fear to concede to whatever was happening. Keep quiet and still be in each other’s life. It was a tough line of thinking, and his heart began to hurt again as he watched her splash in the water.

All too soon the hour was up, and the swimmers began climbing the cargo nets back into the ship. Bradley watched the small, perfectly curved frame in the black swimsuit shimmy up the net and he realized he had stopped breathing. She really was perfect, in every way possible. He made a mental note to compliment her on her looks later. As a female pilot he wasn’t sure if she heard how beautiful she was nearly enough in the sea of testosterone she lived in day in and day out.

Rooster tossed his trash in a can inside the hangar and waited for the pilots to return to gather their towels and clothing items. They trailed in laughing and high fiving each other. Bradley was leaning against a plane wheel near Phoenix and Bobs pile of clothing and towels. Bob walked up first, grinning ear to ear.

“I’m so sorry you didn’t get to join in buddy. Gosh that is such a rush.”

“Yeah, it is. Next time.” Rooster replied and Bob gave him a pat on the arm as he placed his glasses on his face and toweled off.

Bradley looked up at that moment and saw Nat slinking towards him, dripping wet in her skin hugging bathing suit, a huge smile on her face. He smiled back but then realized there was something wicked behind her smile. Before he could stop it, she slung her hair around and wrung it out on his feet, giggling as she did.

He jumped up from his leaning position and made a scoffing noise, with a smile on his face.

“Just thought you deserved a little bit of the ocean in your life after the torture of having to watch us.”

“Gee thanks” he said in feigned exasperation.

He watched her from behind his shades as she rubbed her body with the towel and internally groaned. She was doing this on purpose just to get under his skin and it was working. Little minx, he thought. He had always been a hopeless flirt, but he was discovering that two could play that game, and hers was so stealthy you would almost miss it. Damn she was good.

Maverick walked up, blocking Roosters view of Phoenix, and placing his hand on Roosters shoulder.

“What do you say we go up on deck after I dry off and take a walk?” he asked.

“Sure” was Roosters only response, and it was said with no emotion.

*****

Rooster bid farewell to the other pilots as they all ran off to shower, popping towels at each other along the way. The squadron agreed to meet for chow later in their ready room and discuss plans for their trip to Tahoe. Phoenix held back as the group dispersed. Bob walked about 3 feet away and stopped, his back to the couple, fidgeting with his towel.

“I’m going to get a shower. What are you going to do until chow?” she asked.

“Mav asked me to meet him on deck to take a walk. Wants to talk to me.”

“Hmm” she said in deep contemplation. “You ok with that?”

“It needs to be done. I’m not looking forward to it. But we can’t leave things like this, at least for our professional relationship. Not after what went down here.”

“That’s true. Go. Talk to him. I bet you will feel better after. He’s too important in your life to keep him at arm’s length forever.” She said and reached out with her right hand to touch his forearm. “His heart was in the right place. Doesn’t make what he did right, but maybe he’s finally earned the right to some forgiveness. For your parents’ sake?”

Rooster took a deep breath and looked up over her head. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go. But I make no promises.” And he lowered his gaze back to her beautiful, tanned face.

“I would never expect you to in this set of circumstances.” She spoke. Nat squeezed his arm then reached down to grab her towel. “I’ll see you later at chow?” she asked.

Knowing they had a lookout, bless that man, Rooster bent down and placed a quick peck on her check and replied quietly in her ear, “I’ll be there. And just so you know, you look gorgeous.”

She looked up at him confused at first, then smirked. She winked at him then turned to her WSO “Ready friend?” Bob looked cautiously over his shoulder and gave a small knowing grin to Rooster, before looping arm with Phoenix and walking off. Rooster just chuckled to himself and shook his head before making his way to the deck stairs. Time to face the inevitable, whether he liked it or not.

*****

Once on deck, Rooster didn’t immediately see Maverick. The sun was very bright this afternoon and there was quite a bit of noise coming from working deck hands. He stood at the top of the stairs with his hand over his glasses to shield the glare, searching around for the man. He finally saw an arm waving from across the landing strip and waved his hand back in recognition.

Rooster crossed to the older man, coming to a stop just feet from the edge of the ship, facing him. They stood in silence for a few moments then Maverick spoke, holding out a hand.

“Let’s walk, yeah?”

“After you old man.” Rooster said with a smirk.

Maverick chuckled as he began to walk next to Rooster. “After those G’s and the swim I’m definitely starting to feel my age.”

Rooster snorted in response, placing his hands in his pocket as they walked.

“So, you wanted to talk to me?”

“I do. We need to hash some things out. I hurt you and I think you deserve an honest explanation from me.”

“Fair enough.” Was Roosters only response as they continued to wander down the air strip.

“I don’t know that this will come as a huge surprise to you, but I was only half truthful with you. I didn’t think you were ready. You had a chip on your shoulder from the loss of your dad and wanted to prove something. To me. To yourself. To his ghost. Am I right?”

Rooster only shrugged his shoulders as he walked. He was not going to make this easy on the man.

“Well there was another part to it. Your mom, “but Rooster cut in. “Mom didn’t want me to fly, did she?”

Maverick stopped, causing Rooster to put on the brakes and turn to face him. Mav removed his shades to look at Rooster. “You knew?” he asked.

“Not for sure. But I sort of figured it out eventually. Guess this confirms it.”

Mav huffed and squeezed the bridge of his nose before continuing. “Just before she died, she made me promise. I knew you would be angry, but I couldn’t let you be angry at her.”

Rooster nodded, “I guess I can understand that. I’m sure she was appreciative?” he asked.

“Very. She knew she was sick and, other than me, she was worried about you being left alone. But she just couldn’t stand the thought of you going out like your dad. The end of the Bradshaw line.”

“Guess I disappointed her.”

“Nah kid. I think deep down she knew you would end up doing it anyway. You just needed some more time to grow up. And she would have been damn proud of you. Just like I am.”

Rooster looked out at the ocean and spoke into the wind. “Thanks for telling me this. And, uh, look” he turned back to Maverick “I can’t guarantee that things will ever go back to the way they were. I’m trying really hard not to harbor resentment here. You’re obviously important to me. But I’m going to need some time to work through this. I’ve got a lot going on right now and it’ll take some time. But I’d like to try to fix some of this.”

“That’s fair kid.” Mav replied. “Tell you what. Why don’t you come out to my hangar, see the P-52, hang out for a few days on your leave?”

“Uhhh maybe.” Rooster replied hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m going to Tahoe with some of the squad for a week but maybe after we get back. Got any Turkey Day plans?”

Maverick chuckled, “As a matter of fact I don’t. So the offer stands. Just, uh, let me know. Tahoe huh?”

Rooster smiled a crooked smile “Uh, yeah. Should be fun.”

Mav placed his shades back on his face, smiling wide. “Oh no doubt. Just don’t have too much fun. I’ll see you later.” And Mav patted his arm before turning on his heel and wandering off towards some deck hands working on a plane.

Rooster stood facing the ocean for a while, watching the waves lap and the sun begin to sink. That wasn’t so bad. Not nearly as painful as he thought it would be. Deep down he loved Mav. He was the only Dad he really remembered having and he knew that Mav loved him in return. He really was his kid. Maybe he shouldn’t be so hard on him? Mav was the only family he had left, and with the thought of keeping Nat in his life, he was going to need help treading these unknown waters.

****

By the time Rooster made his way through the chow line and down to the ready room, the group was already digging into their meals and rowdy as ever. As he entered the room, a wadded-up paper towel smacked him in the side of the face.

“About time you showed up!” Coyote called out, laughter ringing from around the room.

Rooster just shot him a dirty look while maneuvering his stuff to the table at the end of the room where Fritz was sitting.

“What have I missed?” he asked the other pilot as he took a bite of his baked potato.

“So far there has been discussion about a pool tournament, the game not the swimming apparatus. Apparently, the winner gets to choose one person to dive into the snow in the nude.”

Rooster sucked air between his teeth. “Ouch”

“Yeah man. That one is still under debate.” Rooster just nodded his head.

“Also, Thanksgiving dinner, Dagger style, will be Saturday. Menu includes Turkey, fixins, and copious amounts of alcohol.”

“Is there any other way to have a holiday with this crowd?” Rooster asked through a deadpan expression.

Fritz just said “nope” then returned to eating his meal.

After wiping his mouth, Rooster took a look around the room. His eyes landed on Natasha, seated across from him on one of the small couches, this time her back to Bob, leaning against his shoulder with her legs over the arm of the couch. He was eating and they were chatting. She glanced over to Rooster while speaking to Bob, the corner of her mouth turning up ever so slightly, then she turned around in her seat to face Bob, continuing their discussion. Sneaky little thing.

Just then Hangman jumped up on the bench and raised his hands “Alrighty gang, this is your Captain speaking.” At that several groans crossed the room, and a few napkins flew at his head. “Thought yall would like that. First of all, you’re welcome. For saving this mission and your leave from disappearing before your eyes.”

Fanboy let out a long “booooo” and others giggled, but Hangman ignored him and continued.

“We’ll caravan up there Thursday morning. It’ll take almost all day so no pussy footin around that morning. Get your shit and let’s get out of dodge.”

No one spoke so he moved on to the next matter at hand. “Let’s talk cars. Who all has one in North Island?”

Rooster, Bob, Fanboy, and Fritz raised their hands.

“Perfect.” Hangman said “Yall talk amongst yourselves and figure out who is riding with who. Being that I prefer not riding in cheap death traps, Rooster, you’re on your own. I’ll take shotgun with Fritz. Nice truck man.”

Fritz rolled his eyes and let out a “gee thanks”. It was true though. Fritz had a nice, extended cab brand new F350. It had plenty of room to tote bodies and a bed full of stuff.

“Well I’m riding shotgun with Bob. It’s about time we switch roles.” Phoenix announced and Roosters heart sank a little. He had hoped they would have the drive up to talk.

Coyote and Omaha decided to ride in the truck with Fritz and Hangman. Fanboy told Rooster he would ride with him and that was settled.

“Now that we figured that all out, one last thing. Rooms. Now I have my own room on the second floor. I think it’s only fair, being the only female on this little excursion, that Phoenix gets the master.”

“Well isn’t that nice of you, douche man.”

“You’re welcome” he said with a wink. “There are four other rooms with two beds in each and six of yall. I am automatically bequeathing the room next to me to Coyote because I like him more than the rest of yall.” And he smiled while more napkins flew across the room.

“That leaves five of yall and three rooms. So who is going to be the other Lone Ranger?”

Fanboy cleared his throat and spoke up, “Bob and I already agreed we would share a room.”

“Ok, the nerds are taking their own room.” Fanboy and Bob just rolled their eyes. “That leaves Omaha, Fritz, and Big Bird.”

Rooster flipped the bird at Hangman but before he could say anything Omaha spoke up “Rooster, it’s cool with us if you take the room to yourself. We don’t mind rooming, right Fritz?”

Several suspicious looks went between the two pilots and Fritz nonchalantly said “Sure, sounds good.” Without looking up from his book. Rooster and Bob made eye contact, Roosters eyebrow raised, Bobs shoulder shrugging.

“That was way too easy. I was expecting some bloodshed. Yall better get more fun on this trip.” Hangman said.

“It’s not our level of fun anyone is worried about.” Phoenix mused and several agreed.

Ignoring her, Hangman spoke again “Last thing. Ground rules, per my mother.”

“Oooo Hangmans a Mama’s boy.” Fanboy cooed to chuckles around the room.

“Damn straight. Anyways. Ground rules. We have to keep it tidy and leave the place just as clean, if not more so than how we found it since we have renters coming after us. No sex on the pool table. Or in the pool. You know what, no sex.”

“Well now who’s raining on the fun parade?” Fritz scoffed.

“Ok ok, since I can’t promise to follow that rule,” he wagged his eyebrows “if you bring someone back to the house, just keep it in your room so the rest of us don’t have to suffer.” He paused and when no one else argued he continued. “We have to provide our own food and beverages, so I figured several of us can go to the store once we get up there. Pool our money and just make one big shopping trip. Sound good?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“My mama would have my ass if I did anything too stupid in her house. I promise to be on my best behavior so yall better be too” he said as he stepped down from his perch. To which several groaned and Phoenix rolled her eyes.

“Back to shore tomorrow gentlemen, oh, and lady” Coyote said to which Phoenix middle finger shot up. “I’m going to hit the hay.”

“Yeah, me too, I’m sore from that swim.” Phoenix said as she stood, Bob standing with her.

Everyone began to disperse slowly, Rooster still sitting in his chair finishing his food. After everyone had left, he realized someone was still in the room. He looked over to see Phoenix rummaging in her locker. Was she actually looking for something or stalling? Once the coast was clear she closed her locker and walked over to the table where he sat, resting her arms on the back of one of the tall chairs.

“Ready to be on dry land again?” she asked.

“I’m ready to be in Tahoe. With you.” Was his reply.

“I’m ready to be in Tahoe with you too.” She said with a smirk. Phoenix came around behind his chair, reached up, and kissed his cheek.

“Night Old Bird.”

“Night Fire Bird.”

And he watched her walk out of the room, visions of bedroom assignments dancing in his head.

Chapter 9 ->

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

I know you're a Barty Jr fan but is one subplot being omitted really enough to kill an entire film?

*cracks knuckles*

The answer is yes, my good anon. A thousand times yes.

Because here's the thing. The Crouch family's story-line, in GOF, is not a subplot by any means. That term does not properly outline how important The Crouches are. Hermione's campaign for Elf Rights is a subplot. Ron's feud with Harry is a subplot. The Blast Ended Skrewts are a subplot.

The Crouch family, on the other hand, is a through-line that connects everything together, and the plot of the book simply does not work without it. Voldemort's plan to place Harry in the Triwizard Tournament and ultimately use his blood for the Revival potion...none of this works without Crouch Jr, and his story is completely backwards. Because of this, the movie is fundamentally broken. Supposedly the idea was to omit everything that wasn't directly relevant to Harry's story. But in GOF, Harry's story can only happen because of the Crouch family. He is a puppet, dancing on strings, and Crouch Jr is the Puppet-Master.

The tragedy of The Crouches was completely butchered, and as a result, the movie lacks any real soul, and it's story is confused, rushed, and full of holes. Why is Crouch Jr. revealed to the audience from the beginning? He's supposed to be dead. Why is Crouch Sr's character completely rewritten to make him into a kind, sympathetic old man? (Did they just want to combine him with Bagman to save time? Because those two characters are literally foils...) Doing this ruins Crouch Jr's entire development. Oh, and where the hell is Winkie? (I know, I know, the Elves were a pain to animate. Suck it up Warner Bros, the HP films made ridiculous amounts of money, you can afford it.)

Every single moment that could have fleshed Crouch Jr out or explained his motivations is changed or cut, and the film suffers for it in other ways too. Cutting Winkie removes Hermione's storyline, like I said, and by extension, it gets rid of Dobby. Changing the hate crime at The World Cup to just being a #DeathEaterMarch takes away Crouch Jr's motivation for casting The Mark. Squishing all the Trial scenes together into one, makes his backstory extremely hard to follow. Omitting everything about his enslavement under the Imperius Curse...well, among other things, it weakens his motive to kill his father. But I also don't believe for one second that Azkaban wouldn't have noticed he was gone. Not the year after Sirius escaped. And while we're on the subject, why did they cut his ultimate fate? It just leaves film viewers wondering where he is when Azkaban has a mass Death Eater breakout in the very next movie.

This movie all but surgically removes the spine of it's antagonist, leaving him flat and one note with absolutely no real explanation. There's nothing left, certainly nothing compelling. This is a serious problem because, again, this was his story. He is the one moving all the pieces on the game-board, and the Veritaserum sequence explains this rather succinctly. Crouch Jr's tale goes back over a decade and affects so much of the story. But his tale couldn't have happened the way it did without Crouch Sr. and Winkie. They matter too. Crouch Sr. made his son into who he is, and with Winkie came the domino effect that led to his escape.

The Crouch Family are what made GOF. Without them, none of it would have happened. So for them to be mishandled this badly...yes, it affects the film. It affects everything about the film. Nothing good can come of it, and nothing does.

[literallyabagman]

where: Otto’s place

who: Ludo ( @xavecamour )

Otto took a tupperware of leftovers out of his fridge, opened it and gave it a cautious sniff. He couldn’t remember what it was, or how long it had been there. 

With a shrug, he decided to dig in - and immediately grimaced.

“Aw, that’s minging,” he muttered, and continued to eat.

“So, t’what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked around a mouthful of food, taking a seat next to his brother on the couch. Ludo had shown up unannounced minutes prior. Otto supposed it was for the usual reason - checking to see if he was still in one piece and hadn’t blown anything up, and then reporting back to mum and dad. 

“Oh I know,” he grinned and pointed in Ludo’s direction, “You’ve finally come to recruit me for the team. If so, the answer’s yes.” 

Otto was useless at Quidditch; he made this joke every time.

[leogichidaa]

What if I took a hard left and transitioned from writing exclusively Regulus content to writing exclusively Ludo Bagman content?

[allkinds-oftrash]

Hangman: The first girl *looks at Phoenix* I ever slept with came out while I was inside her.

Coyote: Babe, I hate to be the one that has to explain this. That's actually how sex works -

Phoenix: That's not what he's talking about, bro

Hangman: She came out as a lesbian

Coyote: *While* you were inside her?

Phoenix: Yeah, you know, it's kinda like you don't really know until you've tried it...And then once I tried it with Bagman here, I really knew *she nudges Hangman playfully*

[I was talking to Rad @rad-topgunn about this dynamic and honestly this is the vibe Hannix gives off to me lmao - they hooked up once when they were in the Academy and she came out while he was inside her lmao]

[boasamishipper]

yes hi hello I would like to kindly request a dagger squad excerpt please, if you're offering 🤲💜

i am indeed offering! excerpt below the cut:

Phoenix Trace has changed the name of this conversation to ‘if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it 💍😍😎’.

Rooster: (sent an image)

Rooster: And I DID

Halo: Oh my god!!!!!!! 

Halo: Guysssssss I’m so happy for you!!!!!!

Bob: Congratulations you two!

Yale: 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Harvard: Congrats! 🍾🎉🎊 

Hangman: Fucking FINALLY

Hangman: Who else here is surprised Bradshaw proposes about as fast as he flies

Rooster: (disliked a message)

Hangman: Oh whatever

Bob: Ignore him Bradley, he’s just upset because he had a hundred bucks riding on you proposing back in July.

Hangman: Yeah and now that YOU won the pool I expect to be alcoholically compensated for my services

Hangman: Or financially, I'm not picky

Fritz: You set up a separate group chat bro it’s not like you cured cancer

Halo: Oooooh got ‘em 🔥

Fritz: (liked a message)

Fritz: Have you guys set a date yet?

Phoenix: Right now it’s looking like sometime next May! Still talking venues though. 

Phoenix: And of course you guys are all invited ❤️

Payback: HELL yes

Payback: I’ll be there like swimwear

Payback: Congrats you guys!! FB’s sleeping but he says congrats too

Payback: I’ll find a way to let Omaha know later, I heard he dropped his phone off the side of the carrier a while back

Halo: Ooh RIP

Halo: That explains why he left me hanging on Words with Friends…

Harvard: Bassett 2013 called they want their apps back

Halo: Fuck off Princeton

Yale: GOTTEM

Harvard: Bro whose side are you on here

Yale: See it WOULD be yours if you hadn’t told Ranger that Wesleyan was the Yale of central Connecticut

Harvard: It is the Yale of central Connecticut!!!

Yale: YALE IS THE YALE OF CENTRAL CONNECTICUT

Halo: (sent ginger-get-the-popcorn.gif)

Hangman: Fight fight fight

Rooster: Seriously? Right in front of our engagement announcement?

Harvard: Sorry you guys

Harvard: TBC Yale

Coyote: Goddamn it I keep missing all the fun

Coyote: Phoenix Rooster congrats!!!! Couldn’t be happier for y’all right now ❤️

Phoenix: (loved a message)

Phoenix: Thanks Coyote!

Coyote: Hey baby wanna be my plus-one to the lovebirds’ wedding

Rooster: Coyote for the eleventh time this is STILL THE GROUP CHAT

Coyote: Shit sorry

Halo: Aww come on that was cute

Payback: Better than the dick pic fiasco of 2020

Hangman: Oh for fuck’s sake HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY SORRY FOR THAT

Phoenix: Sorries don’t pay our therapy bills Bagman

Coyote: I liked the photo 😏

Payback: (sent uh-yeah-i-sure-hope-it-does.jpg)

[greaseonmymouth]

I am late to the party but I have finally watched top gun: maverick (I also rewatched top gun before I did) and I have thoughts

I really liked that Iceman and Maverick became livelong close friends - it would've been so easy to force a continued rivalry and turn this movie into a bad rehash of that, but it isn't! they're friends!

related, I liked that this didn't in any way diminish Maverick's friendship with Goose and that he still thinks of him and that Goose is still his anchor

ALSO that bit towards the end where Rooster says 'talk to me dad' ? very strongly implies that Maverick has at some point in the past told him about his own 'talk to me Goose' thing. It's obvious that they were close, that they knew each other as he grew up, and I figure, maybe at some point little Bradley was missing his dad and Maverick told him about how he still talks to him and that he can do the same? my heart

follow-up point: the fact Maverick and Rooster are close! It would've been so easy to make their animosity about Goose's death, but it seems like that was never an issue? They only fell out because Maverick pulled his application, and when Bagman Hangman was riling Rooster up about Goose, it seemed clear to me Rooster wasn't upset about it because of Maverick (I mean, Hangman probably thought he was revealing some earth shattering secret which just shows he's an arrogant asshole who knows nothing) but because Rooster didn't want his dad talked about in that way and especially not be the guy who'd been a dick to him

I'm gonna have to say it but: I was a lot apprehensive about Miles Teller in this film because everything else I've seen him in he's been an absolute dickhead to the point that when I see a pic of him I just want to punch him in the face. and I didn't want Goose's kid to be another Miles Teller dickhead, for starters, but also I was worried that even if he wasn't a dickhead character, I wouldn't be able to see past it. HOWEVER, Miles Teller was amazing, can we stop typecasting him now please

watching top gun and top gun: maverick back to back was. an experience. yes tom cruise no longer has plump early 20yo baby cheeks. why does he look like a man in his forties when he must be pushing 60 at this point. did he drink some of that Ralph Macchio cool-aid (I'm joking, I know it's hair dye and Sc13nt0l0gy sauce.)

I'm sorry to make this about Karate Kid/Cobra Kai but look, part of my motivation for watching these was Cobra Kai. can we all take a moment to consider the parallels here. Johnny has cast himself as Iceman which makes Daniel Maverick by default. What does it say about them that Iceman and Maverick got over themselves and became friends right out of high school top gun but Johnny and Daniel, uhm, did not. And the homoerotic tension between them? Johnny, Johnny Johnny.

listen I know Hangman was designed to be an unlikeable dickhead and I think the casting worked extremely well because (I'm sorry bro) the guy has one of those punchable faces. I'm sure he has a normal face when he's not smirking like that, but the cubic shape of his head paired with that tiny mouth and then that smirk, he just. god. he's like a caricature of an asshole, he's that big an asshole. AND YET I SOMEHOW LIKE HIM? the moment he did not get selected to go on the mission he had a genuine Emotion and I was like, oh.

that bit at the end, though, I wanted to punch him again. and then buy him a drink (from a distance)

I just want to say again that I loved basically everything to do with Rooster and Maverick, it was great

I'm sure other people have gone into the parallels between top gun and top gun: maverick so I won't rehash them but suffice to say I noticed them

overall verdict: top gun: maverick is the perfect sequel and I will hear no slander

MOST IMPORTANTLY THOUGH: has anybody drawn fanart of Maverick with his students as if he's mama duck and they are his ducklings? please, I need it

[latinnerdcosplayer]

Spider verse hits the city ready to take over huge shout out to my bro @thatonen3rddcosplay and @11bc91 for organizing the shoot had a huge blast Boombastic Bagman @thatonen3rddcosplay Cyber spiderman @latinnerdcosplayer Spiderpool @harlem_wan_kenobi Gwenom @barbiechulanyc Tom hardy Venom @danny_k00 The perfect spiderman @boostergoldny Gwenage @carnagely_chaotic_cosplay Gwenage @foxtailzz Deadpool @kawaii_deadpool Ultimate spider @gokusupersaiyangod26 Ps4 spiderman Neeko Spider phantom @11bc91 Spider storm @sunflowerchild_de Spider girl @alonslay_cosplay Far from home spidey @triforcedelgeezy_cosplay Causal street spidey @kjnice90 Pic taken by @louie_jr_nerdy_photographer @cosvoid @cosvoid_globeltm_ @8excile_creation2s #cosplay #malecosplay #femalecosplay #cosplayers #marvel #marvelcosplay #marvelcomics #SpiderMan #spidermancosplay #ultimatespiderman #cyberspiderman #boombasticbagman #spidermanfarfromhome #insomniacspiderman #Venom #EddieBrock #carnage #spidergirl #spidergwen #gwenom #gwenage #deadpool #Spiderpool #perfectspiderman #spiderphantom #spiderverse #spiderstorm #storm #dannyphantom #unionsquare (at Union Square Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFMxKz6DKX0/?igshid=o79wcmk8ut3n

[imagitory]

Tory Ranks the HP Films! [review]

Hi everybody! So I was chatting with a good friend of mine the other day about our favorite films in the Harry Potter series, and...well, the whole discussion got me thinking, so I decided to jot down my personal rankings!

I’ll just discuss the eight films based on the original books for this, but if you want my thoughts on the Fantastic Beasts series so far, you can read this FB-centric response and this review for CoG! These rankings are unique to me, but will be affected both by how much I personally enjoy the movie as well as how well it adapted its respective book. Hope you enjoy -- if you want, feel free to like and reblog, and of course reply/reblog with your own thoughts about the HP films!

8) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I’ll be honest, I was torn between this film and the one just before it as my personal worst, but in the end, I had to acknowledge that this one, out of all of the films, was just the least interesting of the lot, not just from a story perspective but also in the visuals and music. Everything was so gray and murky and dark: the only faintly creative visuals I really remember from this film were the inky effects in the Pensieve scenes (which didn’t match up with the established continuity of previous Pensive scenes) and the juxtaposition of a bird’s cage in the corner of a shot where Draco is walking down the hallway, and the only music track I remember liking at all was the choral piece In Noctem. Plus the plot itself was pretty tedious, as the filmmakers apparently decided that the book’s romantic side-stories were more worthy of focus than the main villain’s entire backstory. I mean, come on -- Harry making goo-goo eyes at Ginny and Ron being a complete idiot when it comes to the girls in his life is somehow more interesting than Dumbledore and Harry learning about the Gaunt family, Tom Riddle’s past as a neglected, but vindictive bully, and Riddle turning objects that meant something to him into Horcruxes, which sets up the Golden Trio’s quest to find them in the next book/movie? Good call on that one. Speaking of Riddle, the two new actors that were cast to portray him in this movie are also easily the worst performers in the entire series, and the completely unsubtle, black-and-white characterization of Riddle in the script didn’t do them any favors. After how much Voldemort was built up in the films, Riddle being so ridiculously obvious in how evil he is makes everyone around him (like Dumbledore and Slughorn) look like an idiot for not seeing he was bad news from the start. This film makes me a lot less angry than the #7 slot, partly because HBP is my least favorite of the books, but it also prompts just about no positive feelings either, and if there’s anything Harry Potter has never been, it’s “boring.”

7) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

*dodges knives* LOOK. I know this is a lot of people’s favorite HP film, and I understand why. From a cinematography perspective, it’s easily one of the best. It’s very pretty to look at. The shot composition is excellent. The visuals are creative and striking. But all of that beauty is at the cost of the story and characters. Not only does Hermione become even more of an idealized Action Girl, losing even more of her wonderful, three-dimensional book characterization and flaws -- not only does the film break away from every bit of continuity established from the previous installments or even within its own film, from changing the layout of Hogwarts and the students’ uniforms to having Harry constantly light up his wand with magic no problem only ONE SCENE before getting punished for using magic outside of school -- not only does it make no sense unless you’ve read the book, given that the script just assumes that you’ll remember details like Lupin and Snape having seen the Marauder’s Map, which explains how they knew Sirius and the Golden Trio were in the Shrieking Shack -- not only does it add things that I don’t like and really don’t think fit in the established Wizarding World like the shrunken heads and a slide projector being used in Snape’s DADA class -- not only did this film depict its characters blatantly showing off their supposedly “secret” magical artifacts with no repercussions, such as Harry under his Invisibility Cloak stealing a lollypop from Neville and whamming through a crowd of people and Hermione not even trying to hide the Time Turner around her neck -- not only did Ron lose one of his best scenes in the entire series, where he stands on his broken leg yelling at Sirius that he’d have to kill him and Hermione to get to Harry, and was downgraded to the point that he pretty much became dead weight -- not only did Lupin’s werewolf form look more like a half-bald monkey than the hulking, terrifying mass I’d wanted to see -- not only did Lupin and Sirius talk to Harry about Lily almost exclusively and barely mention their best friend James -- not only was everything Crookshanks did except him chasing Scabbers left out -- not only did the script never explain that Lupin, Pettigrew, Sirius, and James were the Marauders and the reason behind the pen-names -- not only did the film originally MISSPELL “MOONY” WHEN IT WAS WRITTEN DOWN IN THE FRIGGIN’ BOOK -- but this film ruined the best part of the entire story. The descent into the Shrieking Shack and the revelation of who really betrayed the Potters took three whole chapters to unravel because of how much information was revealed and how many emotions were packed into it...yet the film decided to spend less than TEN MINUTES on that three-chapter-long plot twist. TEN. And most of the exposition dialogue was shouted haphazardly across the room in about five minutes of that time. It’s honestly little wonder to me that director Alfonso Cuaron originally hadn’t wanted to read the book before making the film and had to be convinced to do so -- he clearly was more interested in putting his own stamp on the story than respecting what was already there in the books or even in the previous films, and although yes, the darker tone and more unique visual style did help the series in the long run, I just wish that it hadn’t been done in the adaptation of my favorite book in the series. Azkaban deserved a more faithful adaptation than this.

6) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

In a way I almost feel bad for the filmmakers trying to adapt this book. GoF is the longest in the entire series and arguably has the most subplots and tiny important details casually slipped into the text out of all of them, which would be difficult to adapt in a three-act feature film. I can’t help but feel it should’ve gotten the halfsies treatment the way Hallows did, given that it would’ve been difficult to fit every little important thing into one movie, even a long one. That being said, though...yeah, this film really is incoherent unless you’ve read the books. How do you even try to tell Goblet’s story if you’re going to cut out all of the Crouch family’s backstory? Answer: by revealing the twist ending in the first ten minutes by showing Crouch, Jr. is alive and turning him into an uninteresting, one-dimensional character, I guess. David Tenant is a wonderful actor and he could’ve been a wonderful Crouch, Jr., but in this adaptation he had just about nothing to work with. Then of course they also cut out Winky, Dobby, Hermione’s SPEW movement, the Quidditch World Cup game, Bertha Jorkins, Ludo Bagman, Percy Weasley joining the Ministry, the Weasley twins and Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, Rita Skeeter getting her comeuppance, and Crouch, Jr. getting Kissed by dementors before Fudge could hear his testimony about Voldemort’s return. I also wish they hadn’t turned Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur into such one-note, one-dimensional characters either -- Robert Pattinson got the most to work with out of the three actors, but the characters still seem very shallow compared to their book-originals, and considering Viktor and Fleur get no further development in later films, their characters pretty much start and end with the little material their actors get in this movie. Even Voldemort’s depiction I’m somewhat torn about: I like Ralph Fiennes as an actor, but I had sort of hoped he’d look a little scarier and that he’d have red eyes the way he had when he was attached to Quirrel’s head in Sorcerer/Philosopher and as described in the book. As much as I sympathize with how difficult the task was to adapt this story, Warner Bros. still could’ve made a longer movie and kept in more of the stuff needed to understand what was going on. Still, there are some good visuals in this film and I like a lot of the new music tracks, too.

5) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

The Hallows films overall I sort of just see as “okay,” mainly because they and Prince’s adaptation are so dark that at some points I think they forget what made the stories so likable in the first place -- namely, the characters. Sure, we can’t have as much humor here, but where’s the love? Where are the distinct personalities, where’s the friendship? And really, one of the few answers this film gave was in that OOC Harmione dance scene, which...yeah, not only did it have no romantic chemistry (which I suppose I should be glad of, as that would be even more OOC than the scene already is), but it also had very little friendship chemistry too. It was just awkward and stilted to watch. Even Ron’s return wasn’t as strong because the film adaptations went so far out of their way to marginalize Ron and not make him an important part of the trio...so yeah, contrasted to the book where Harry and Hermione mourned Ron’s absence, the awkward dance scene attempting joy and failing miserably just falls even more flat. There are some good moments, like Luna and Harry interacting at the wedding and the break-in at the Ministry, and there’s a lot less stuff cut from this film than in others, but there’s also a lot less that I can say I loved in this film than in others.

4) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Part 2 is pretty even with Part 1 for me, as it doesn’t cut as much out but also left a lot to be desired. Because of the lack of explanation about what things Voldemort would turn his Horcruxes into, Harry has to rely solely on deux-ex-machina visions to tell him what to do next, Harry breaking the Elder Wand felt like such a cop-out, and the Battle of Hogwarts, although not bad exactly, really never showed off the scale of the damage and loss the way it could’ve. Fred’s death isn’t even given its proper screen time! But at the same time, I found more memorable scenes in this movie -- the Room of Requirement confrontation, McGonagall taking charge before the Battle of Hogwarts, the ending at Platform 9 3/4 that actually used the Leaving Hogwarts track from the first movie the way I’d dreamed that they would when I first read the book -- and of course every moment of Alan Rickman as Severus Snape. Yes, Rickman portrayed Snape as a much more likable, much less gray character than he was in the books, but he was still wonderful to watch every second he was on screen.

3) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone

I acknowledge nostalgia might play more of a role in my judgement of the first two films, given that I was a young teenager when they first came out...but I’m sorry, aesthetically, Columbus’s films were the most true to their source material. The darkness didn’t really start in the books until GoF, and since Cuaron jumped the gun on the darkness in Azkaban, we lost that gradual fading of the light from the original novels. And really, the Wizarding World was charming! It still is! And with the departure of Columbus, we kind of lost that charm in future films, even during the parts that were supposed to be less dark and gritty. We never got it back, and yes, one could see that as somewhat reminiscent of childhood innocence -- but I disagree, charm can be appreciated at any age. Even in my darkest days, I still could appreciate it. If anything, charm in the midst of despair and gloom became all the more precious. But regardless...Sorcerer/Philosopher is one of the most true to its subject matter -- it really does depict things almost exactly the way I’d imagined them while reading the book. The score John Williams wrote for the first two films in particular made everything feel just as magical as when I was first reading the first two books, and as the films went on, we lost that recurring score that favored the reuse of certain themes to instill various emotions: instead we just got individual themes for each film that were rarely used outside of that particular film. But I acknowledge Sorcerer/Philosopher doesn’t take nearly enough risks, the details cut so as to compress scenes sometimes create plot holes (like Snape protecting the Stone and supposedly bullying Quirrell to find out how to get past his defense, even though both their challenges were not included in the film), the CGI is pretty outdated, and a lot of the child actors were at the beginning of their learning curve. Really, the only stand-out performances among the child actors in my opinion were Tom Felton and Rupert Grint -- Dan had his moments, but Emma and a lot of the more minor actors like Devon Murray as Seamus at points sounded like they were acting in a school play. And when you placed those kids alongside great adult actors like Robbie Coltrane and Richard Harris, it could be a bit jarring. Still, I’d be lying if I said I don’t really enjoy watching this movie, almost as much as I did when I watched it as a kid so many times that after a while I could recite the entire script from memory.

2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I was fortunate enough to see this film opening night with my mum and best friend at the time, and really, Chamber just built on Sorcerer/Philosopher’s cheesy yet charming, book-loyal formula. Like the previous film, there are some important details cut and not that many risks taken from a visual or film-making perspective and the CGI often doesn’t look that great (Dobby in particular hasn’t aged that well), plus some of the scenes aren’t that well-directed (i.e. the fight between the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams lacked any real anger or energy, and even the Dueling Club scene was oddly slow and lacked excitement)...but even so, I think the child performances are better here, and we got a lot more scenes with excellent adult actors like Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, and Kenneth Branagh as Lockhart. I also laugh a lot watching this one! Lockhart gets a lot of his great, funny lines from the book, but young Rupert Grint also shows a great talent for comedy that, I must be honest, is kind of lost after Chamber, as he becomes less of a distinct character who happens to say funny things and more of just a wimpy, tag-along sidekick who’s often made the butt of a joke. Even now, my mum and I smile at the memory of watching the film in theaters and laughing and cheering with the rest of the audience when Lockhart cries, “Amazing! This is just like MAGIC!”

1) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This film adaptation is based off my second favorite book in the series, and as much as it cut from that book, I think it overall captured the spirit of the book the best out of the series while also making a visually distinctive film. Yes, it cut out Marietta Edgecombe and the moral grayness her inclusion represented, Sirius’s passive-aggressiveness, pettiness, and cruelty toward Kreacher and the depth that it gave him as a flawed father figure, Harry’s lashing out at Dumbledore and how real it made both Sirius’s loss and Harry’s grief, Percy’s alienation of his family and the exploration of the cost of standing by one’s ideals, Neville and his family at St. Mungo’s and the pathos and complexity it gave his character, Umbridge running Hagrid out of Hogwarts and McGonagall being injured and how much that cut Harry off from the Order, and Umbridge’s revelation that she’d sent the dementors after Harry and how neatly it tied up all the loose ends. But at the same time, I hated Umbridge in this film just as much as I did in the books. I felt the sorrow of Sirius’s loss just as much as I did in the books. I felt the satisfaction at seeing Neville grow through joining the D.A. and becoming a more three-dimensional, heroic character despite his shortcomings just as I did in the books. I felt for Trelawney when she was being forcibly evicted from Hogwarts just as much as I had in the books. I felt the triumph of the Weasley twins’ rebellion against Umbridge just as much as I did in the books. I felt the camaraderie of Dumbledore’s Army just as much as I did in the books. I felt the love that Harry had for his friends and believed in both his hopelessness and his desire to fight for them just as much as I did in the books. And yet there were also film-only additions that I really liked -- the emphasis on Harry’s friends being the reason he resists Voldemort’s control, the montage of Umbridge sinking her Inquisitorial claws into Hogwarts, the music written to accompany the scenes at the Ministry and featuring Umbridge, Sirius punching Lucius Malfoy in the face and calling Harry “James” by accident. Even in a visual sense, it wasn’t too dark and gritty, but not too rosy and colorful either. Yes, this film had dark moments, but it never lost sight of what the original book series was about -- not the doom and gloom, not the action and thrills, not the drama and intrigue, not even the flights of fancy, but the love. What even are our heroes fighting for, if not the ones and things they love? Why do we even care? Why would we even watch any of these films at all, if not because of the love? In Order, I never forgot what Harry was fighting for. It balanced out the doubt and fear with kinship and nobility, just as I felt the books always had and the films often didn’t. So as many important details are shaved off, it at least still felt like Harry Potter. Not perfect, but hey, what adaptation is?