#holloway beach

[swiftwice]

[mmoosen]

Nolan drags Brett along to his yearly trip to Mexico to see his extended family. They spent a lot of time shirtless at the beach, swimming around, and soaking in the sun.

[alicetallula]

A Stranger Summer 2024 - June - Week 1 : Ice Cream + Stranger Things Sapphic Summer 2024 - Bikini and Ice Cream - 09.06.2024

I was inspired to combine both the @astrangersummer and @sapphicstevents's prompts for one drawing of our girls having a good time at the beach and enjoying some ice cream :3

Bikini + Ice Cream - Chronanceway - 09.06.2024

Done using watercolors, ink pens, gel pens, colored pencils, graphite pencils, alcohol markers and acrylic paint pens

AO3 post 1 / AO3 post 2 / DeviantArt post / Instagram post / Pillowfort post / Twitter post

[allstaircaseandjoinery1]

End of lease cleaning in Worse-End of lease cleaning in Cairns

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Don't waste any more of your precious time cleaning your home. Let our professional cleaners take care of it for you. Contact us today to schedule your first cleaning and experience the joy of a spotless home.

[suxxesphoto]

Landscape Photography Review October 2024

As October unfolded, so did the rich colors and shifting light that make autumn one of the most captivating seasons for landscape photography. This month’s adventures took me through misty valleys, ancient woodland, and scenic coastlines across the High Weald and South Downs. From early morning sunrises over quiet villages to hidden paths lined with centuries-old trees, October offered a wealth…

[glimmerlofsea]

Billy Hargrove x Reader

MASTERLIST

NIGHTMARE

Warning : nothing... I guess.

WC; 1k

#TALKISSA; Maybe it's like, Billy survived the Starcourt incident, he had a lot of nightmares after that incident and you were always beside him to calm him down.

Ever since the incident at Starcourt Billy couldn't stop having nightmares. After he underwent some kind of therapy the doctor said that he was post-traumatic, Billy didn't talk much and he really wasn't the Billy The Asshole that Max knew. This made you worried, the host transfer happened suddenly to Heather Holloway, you didn't know the rest of the story but you were worried about Billy's changes.

Max was a little surprised but nothing serious since she told you she had it once last year. What you're worried about is Billy.

You had no one in Hawkins because both of your parents had died, so you lived at the Mayfield or Hargrove residences. Apart from accompanying Billy and helping him through his therapy— Billy's father, Neil, didn't seem upset, perhaps because Billy's quiet attitude made him look like he was obeying his father's rules so Neil didn't interfere too much in the matter.

And now you wake up in the night,

02:00 A.M

You turned to your side where Billy was already sweating all over his face, he was pronouncing words that you couldn't digest properly and his whole body was shaking. You really don't know what to do since Doctor Kelly— Billy's therapist didn't mention anything about this.

So, you decided to gently touch his chest to wake him up, you knew he was having a nightmare again,

"Billy," you called softly while stroking his chest.

He didn't wake up, making you move your body closer to him and caress his sweaty face, "Billy, wake up."

"Billy—"

Your words were cut off by Billy's irregular breathing, he suddenly woke up, surprising you because of his aggressive reaction when he got out of bed.

"Hey, hey, it's just me." You said gently stroking his back and tucking his curly hair behind his ear, "It's okay. It was just a bad dream, we know it's not real, Billy. You've been through it, you've almost been through it all. Everything will be fine, you'll be fine and I—"

Billy immediately hugged you, buried his head on your shoulder and he started crying because you felt the wet water on the shoulder of your shirt. You just stay silent, of course he had nightmares many times, but he was never like this, he would just smile faintly and say that he was okay then you both went back to sleep.

But this time? This is something different.

You put your hands around his neck and gently stroked the rest of his hair that was hanging around his neck.

"It's okay. It'll be okay. I'm sorry."

Sorry. That's all you can say because he had to go through something this horrible. Seeing him like this... It will only make your heart split into several parts. He always makes you happy in his own way, maybe from his efforts that will get a doll in the toy park that you want, and he will study diligently so he can go to the same university as you. But you are not sure whether your affection for him can be felt by him.

You keep stroking his hair,

The sound of the door creaking, you looked to see who it was, and only found Max with a worried look on her face, you nodded to tell her that everything was fine.

Not long after, you take Billy into the kitchen for a glass of water to win him over.

As soon as he gulped down the water, you continued to look at him, waiting for him to tell you what made him cry so hard.

"I'm sorry."

You grabbed his hand, "For what?"

"Your clothes are wet because of me."

You smiled slightly and stood in front of him to stroke his hair and kiss his forehead, "There's nothing to apologize for."

Billy locked you between his legs, wrapped his arms around your waist and buried his head in your chest. You continued running your fingers through his hair, he once said that what you did to his hair made him relax for a moment. Accompanied by the lullaby that your mother used to sing when you were little, there is nothing more soothing than your melodious voice to his ears.

"I had a nightmare." Billy said then looked up to look at you. You nodded, "Mhm, are you ready to tell me about them?"

"It's about you."

You nodded and paid close attention to his words,

"Instead of Heather being stabbed by that big giant monster, it's you. I was there and couldn't do anything watching you slowly being swallowed by that monster. That voice kept coming back to me, saying I wasn't completely free from it and it would continue after you until its really gets you." Billy said, followed by him taking a breath, you continued to calm him by stroking his back, "I'm scared. I'm scared of losing you, I don't want to lose you, I can't."

"Sshhh," You shook your head and cupped his cheeks, "You won't lose me, you won't lose anyone. Remember what Doctor Kelly said? They're just traces left behind. You'll be fine, I'll be fine. I'll stay by your side as long as you need me, Billy."

"I will always need you."

You chuckled, "I'm glad you're starting to open up about your dreams. Can we do them more often? It'll make things better for you. How does that sound?"

Billy nodded, "I like it."

"Good. Want to go back to bed?"

Billy nodded again.

After that, Billy and you went back to his room to continue sleeping. Billy didn't let you escape from his grasp, he buried you in his chest so you couldn't go anywhere, or more precisely, no one could take you from him. Since right now you are the safest place he has, he will protect you under any circumstances. Even though he should be the one who needs to be protected.

His life is filled with the fragility he experiences, he feels like he is not alive, and only you are able to make him feel alive and feel like he is being treated properly. He loves you with all the strengths and weaknesses that you have— even though he himself is not sure that you have any weaknesses.

Author Note : HE'S BEEN THROUGH A LOT. MY BABY NEEDS THE LOVE AND HUGS HE DESERVES, AGHHH, AND WHAT HE GETS IS DEATH? /sobbed

[afewproblems]

Difficult Days Part One

Even at ten years old Shawn knew he was different. 

It didn’t take a genius to notice, and Shawn was certainly good at noticing things --observing, his dad would be quick to say, correcting him as usual. 

His dad did that a lot, correcting, insisting there was a right way to do things; there was a right way to play hide and seek, there was a right way to camp, to relax, and more often than not it was the opposite of what Shawn was doing. 

While other kids learned how to play baseball and spent their loose change at the arcade, Shawn was instead learning how to navigate through the woods without a compass, escape from the trunk of a car, and how to spot a squeaky floorboard from four paces. 

While his classmates were at the beach, searching for jellyfish in the low tide pools, Shawn would memorize the layout of restaurants and describe the last three patrons to walk through the door in the time it took him and his dad to get their drink orders. 

‘You can’t skate through life Shawn,’ his dad would tell him, breathing the words out sharply, ‘you have skills others don’t and you need to use them the right way, I don’t get why you can’t see that’.

It was exhausting. 

Why was the right way only his dad’s way? It had never been very clearly explained to Shawn, other than how great of a cop he could be -maybe even a detective. But why couldn't he use his observation skills the way he wanted to? This grownup stuff was years away!  It wasn’t like it was something he could turn off, so what was the big deal?

Like Mr. Cooper’s homework spot checks. 

None of the other kids had managed to figure out his system, the pattern to the days when their teacher would ask for their math homework.

Tommy Decker insisted it was completely random, that the man asked for it on a whim -just to torture them all. 

Mandy Holloway on the other hand, whose sister had Mr. Cooper for math the previous year, argued that it was based on the moon cycle and every second new moon the pattern would change - you just have to track it Tommy.

But somehow Shawn always, always, seemed to know without fail the day that Mr. Cooper would ask them all to pass their work to the front of each row.

It wasn’t Shawn’s fault that Mr. Cooper was incredibly obvious, so why shouldn't he take advantage of it? Besides, it was almost mind boggling how the other kids in his class couldn’t see the many, many, tells their teacher had. 

First, there were the heavy purple bags under Mr. Cooper's eyes that would tend to show up a few days before the homework check. 

Mr. Cooper would also become noticeably agitated over the smallest of incidents in the classroom, whether a student was running late or even opened their book bags a little too loudly - it didn’t matter, detention was in their future. 

That coupled with the noticeable creases in Mr. Cooper’s shirts, unironed, and lacking the normal meticulous care --probably on the outs with his wife based on the intermittent wearing of his large gold wedding band.

Finally, and honestly how no one else in his class seemed to see this one, if Mr. Cooper brought in a gas station paper coffee cup as he walked into the classroom -instead of his usual metal thermos from home, that was the nail in the coffin. The final sign that Mr. Cooper would be demanding their homework the very next day. 

It was so, so obvious, at least to Shawn.

But then, so too was Shawns ability to avoid the seemingly random spot checks.

“How do you always know?” Tommy whispers to Shawn near the end of the school year, his voice quiet to avoid Mr. Cooper’s notice as the man wanders up and down the rows of desks.

“Know what?” Shawn says, his voice equally soft as he turns towards Tommy, whose face twists into a sneer at the question.

Tommy scoffs with narrowed blue eyes, “Duh, Cooper’s homework checks, you’ve never not handed it in - what are you some kind of nerd?” 

Shawn blinks, the way Tommy spits out the word, nerd, can’t bode well for him. He remembers just the previous year, how Tommy and a few of the other boys in their grade had given Gus a hard time, even going so far to give his best friend a swirly. Shawn shivers at the memory and shakes his head rapidly, he opens his mouth to argue when suddenly a shadow appears over his desk. 

He manages to quickly turn back to his paper, away from Tommy’s glare, and writes down an answer to question seven from their textbook. It’s not the right answer, he knows that already, but it’s enough to throw Mr. Cooper off his scent.

Their teacher shifts away from Shawn, seemingly satisfied, and looks at Tommy who isn’t quite fast enough.

“Eyes on your own paper Thomas, I don’t want to have to tell you again,” Mr. Cooper says sternly, but his voice is tired at the edges. Whatever fight the Coopers had must have been a real doozy this time. Shawn tries not to think about his own parents' fights and the silence that would drift through the house for days afterwards. Did Mrs. Cooper shut down the way Shawn's mom so often did? Maybe Mr. Cooper yelled, like Shawn's dad. It seemed likely given the number of detentions the man had assigned their class this year. 

Mr.Cooper waits for another beat between their desks until Tommy finally shifts in his chair and lowers his face to his desk, the tips of his ears quickly flushing pink beneath curly blond hair. 

“Yes Mr. Cooper,” Tommy mumbles into his desk. 

Their teacher nods and leaves, making his way over to a pair of girls on the far side of the room hiding a magazine under the desk - or trying to. 

“You did that on purpose,” Tommy hisses, shooting a withering glare at Shawn, “you knew he was there-”

“What am I psychic?” Shawn huffs with a roll of his eyes, “how was I supposed to know he was there, huh?”

Tommy turns away again, glaring at the paper on his desk. Shawn watches as Tommy catches the eye of Marcus Boon across the classroom.

Shawn stifles a low groan as the other boy's eyes flick between him and Tommy; Marcus levels him with a sneer to rival Tommy’s own and lifts a finger to his throat before dragging it across in one smooth motion. 

Well, shit. 

So much for making it through at least one school year without getting into a fight. 

***

“You should’a just told him,” Gus breathes out, his chest heaving as he and Shawn scramble over the fence of the Spencer front yard. Both boys make a beeline for the porch, Gus keeps watch while Shawn stops first at the small garden to grab the spare hide-a-key out from the fake rock beside his mom’s hydrangeas.

Shawn is lucky that Gus had been with him on the way home from school, not that it had stopped Tommy Decker and Marcus Boon from making good on their threat from math class, chasing Shawn down the road to the boardwalk.

Shawn winces as his fingers grip the key, his hands hurt from where he had managed to stop himself from falling face first into the gravel after being shoved by Marcus. 

Thankfully Gus had managed to distract the pair of boys long enough for them to make a run for it. 

“Tommy’s an asshole, they both are, why should I tell them anything,” Shawn mutters, wincing as his split lip opens again, the smell of copper invades his nose, making him nauseous. 

He gets the key in the door and opens it, bringing in the fake rock with him. He’ll have to explain to his dad that he ‘lost’ his house key again, knowing that Tommy and Marcus had taken it from him and thrown it into the trees off the side of the road. One more thing for his dad to lecture him over.

Shawn can feel Gus staring as he brings the hide-a-key with him into the kitchen, but says nothing as the pair make their way through the quiet house. 

He places the rock on the counter with the spare key beside it. Gus opens the pantry door and takes a pair of Wagon Wheels out of the already open box, the cellophane crinkles as Gus tosses one to Shawn. 

“All I'm saying is you might get beat up less,” Gus says before taking a large bite of the chocolate snack cake, he wipes the mess of crumbs from his cheeks onto the floor and shoots Shawn a grin at the mess.

“And I'm saying, they don't need much of an excuse,” Shawn counters, matching Gus’ grin as he watches the collection of crumbs grow on the kitchen tile floor.

Shawn chews on his lip, playing with the thin cellophane around his snack cake, “It’s…it's weird, right?”

Gus blinks, his lips quirk into a half frown as he takes another pensive bite of his cake before finally shrugging. 

“Well, who cares? I think we're cool so if that's weird, then we're weird together”.

Shawn lets a groan out and shakes his hands so hard his own snack cake goes flying onto the counter with a soft thunk.

“No!” He breathes out sharply, “I mean, it's weird being able to know things about people without trying, I don’t want to know them, I don't want to be in this situation, it’s weird and it sucks and dad thinks its so great but--”

Shawn stops speaking as the last of Gus’ chocolate cake is suddenly smushed into the side of his face. Crumbs and icing litter the tile around them, some has smeared from Gus's shoes in his haste to dart out of the line of fire. The previously spotless kitchen is now completely filthy in just a matter of seconds.

Shawn slowly looks at Gus, who has the widest grin on his face, and breathes out a startled laugh.

“Dad is going to kill you,” he says, wiping cake and icing from his cheek. 

“He's not my dad,” Gus snorts as he tries to dodge Shawn's swipe of cake hands.

He might as well be, Shawn thinks to himself as he reaches for more cake crumbs from the floor and manages to smear them onto Gus’ face. 

At least one upside to Shawn’s memory is he’ll be able to hold onto this, their laughter in the afternoon sun, the smell of chocolate, for a really really long time.

Wrestling in the kitchen with his best friend, previous hurts forgotten for now and with chocolate smeared all over their clothes, their faces, and the floor, Shawn had never felt less like an only child. 

Tag List: @adaed5 @drakkywolf

[quixtrix]

let's talk BL manga lore; on grooming, identity, and racism

spoilers for the official captain laserhawk bl manga ofc, plus brief discussion of grooming I've refrained from speaking about it because of spoilers, but it's been well over a month and I believe that it's time to openly discuss it. if you would still like to read the manga before reading this discussion, here's the link to buy a physical copy and you can search up 'Captain Laserhawk: Crushing Love' in your digital book store for it. okay time to talk about two, basically three subjects; racism, identity, and grooming. i'm starting with the grooming first, because that's the main focus of this manga. i would have to preface this by saying i've already discussed this topic in an earlier post (albeit it is a prediction, but it is a spot on prediction.) i'll briefly elaborate on it right now with what we know.

dolph's very first day with alex was carefully calculated to where dolph would be exposed to the world, but heavily rely on alex. he is shown around to alex's friends and is able to buy his own clothes, but it is under the heavy scrutiny of alex. alex ultimately decides what dolph wears, alex decides how the day goes, alex leads dolph. even when they have a beach day, take note of how alex holds dolph, dragging him around.

even the romance and the events leading up to when alex takes dolph's virginity are calculated. note how alex grasps dolph's hand, grabbing on tight enough to almost press down on his knuckles, loosening his hand, making dolph relinquish control. the context for the fight page is that after their sweet lil beach day, alex takes dolph down an alley where alex knows that he'll come across people who aren't the fondest of him. this event was calculated, alex knew it was going to happen, and he used it to test out his new lil boytoy.

also, alex taking dolph out to fight isn't just so he can get in the pants of a barely 18 year old. while holloway notes during this flashback that adrenaline is the greatest aphrodisiac, this is a test to see how good the new weapon he picked up is. how the new boy works, to see how eden's boy robot can benefit his group, not just him. its literally in the morning panels we get where alex talks with that woman, anna. they're talking about how loaded he is with tech, and while alex does consider that, he still actively thirsts over dolph.

also im jus saying if i personally was talking with one of my greatest confidants and they refer to someone i'm thirsting over as KID, i would personally be icked out. i would have a conscious and not do some weird shit, like literally refer to dolph in passing as kid in the next page. dolph aint even the first one who alex has done this shit to, as evident by this line by one of his friends, grace.

alex is a groomer and groomed dolph, case closed.

anyways! time to get on with what i really wanted to talk about, how racism and loss of idenity ties into dolph's character!

in this manga, during pillow talk between dolph and alex, we get dolph's backstory. dolph literally has only known this man for a day and he's giving him lore because alex treats him more normal than eden did. god. ANYWAYS ENOUGH DWELLING ON DOLPH BEING A VICTIM IN ALL WAYS INCLUDING BEING ONE OF THE OXFORD STUDY, we get to know about his brief life before eden took him in.

now let me turn for a moment to the show, and how we were told about dolph's backstory. this is VASTLY different than what we got in the show, with it being implied that dolph's parents were a white prostitute and a darkskinned immigrant man. this adds onto the idea that this supposedly impoverished, crack addicted boy came into this world not as an act of love, but as a mistake. not just a mistake though, his parents are supposedly the epitome of immoral, a prostitute and a criminal. not to mention that this also ties into the idea of the uncultured brown man and pure white woman, basically a racist idea that the scary immigrants who aren't like us good white christian americans (and honestly jus any homogenous group in general, though in america its ofc more applicable to white people), are corrupting our mother marys, our women. eden takes on this perspective in order to subconsciously frame in the minds of post american viewers the idea of this man as an other that they are helping and didn't at all snatch up from his mother for child experimentation. the concept of other is something that finds it's origins in fascism, and in order to mask the presence of said fascism, someone who is seen as apart of the other is given a seat at the table with the collective us, (as in the majority, or the ones that are supposedly superior), and will ultimately serve as an example of why the other are labelled as such. i go into this more with my rayman analysis. I brought up the specific portrayal of dolph's backstory from eden's documentary to showcase how eden has manipulated the view people have of this man. eden has not only manipulated the view of the in universe audience, but eden has manipulated our view.

in the propaganda documentary, we are shown photos of this man being a captain, someone of relatively high rank in the military. you can't even normally earn that through having an education, you'd have to have years of experience. he's portrayed as older than he is.

another thing, dolph fans, let's be honest with ourselves; before the manga, it was not uncommon to headcanon that man as a FREAK. with both the supposed images of dolph at a nightclub and the flashback of alex and dolph meeting outside a club, it wasn't too hard to think that the hottest man alive in that show who was fully born human was a freak. a sexual deviant. someone that a christian mother would be horrified enough by that she faints. the manga however, shows us that dolph really isn't any of that. hell, he didn't even get to go to a club before he met alex. in reality, he's around 18 years and his only sexual experience is his groomer.

say that again with me, he's around 18. he's just around 18, he's a young adult, and the environment he's grown up in has stunted him by treating him as a subject, a thing, cutting him off from anything that would humanise this child by not allowing him to see his mother. hell, even his childhood best friend serves eden by being the one in his ear, having him at her beck and call all in the name of eden.

we get none of dolph's true backstory in the show for any number of reasons. maybe it's on purpose, maybe it's a result of having to possibly cut down episodes, who knows? what matters though is that this adds a layer to the core problem defining dolph's life; the perspective others have on him warping who he is.

back to the pages with dolph's memories of his mother, we see dolph as he was when he was just a boy. he's his mama's boy, her son, a child. even when eden takes him in, he stubbornly clings to that bit of him that's pure, untainted by the idea of him being an experiment, a tool. this bit of him, this hint towards who he is supposed to be as a person, is something he clings to desperately. it leads him to follow eden's orders again because they promise that they've found his mother.

and yknow what happened with who dolph was told was supposedly his mother?

she was just a random ass indian woman.

wasn't even the right woman. they just used his identity issues because he's indian, and she was indian and in a cult that eden needed to take care of.

this, while admittedly is kind of funny, (like the confusion is funny in the moment look at ts) is actually fucked up crazy racism. they literally said that this random ass woman who happened to be indian was his mother like HELL!?!??!?!?

this insane fr. lucy didn't even double check LIKE GIRL THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR FRIEND'S MOTHER WHO HE HASNT SEEN SINCE HE WAS LIKE 6 AND YOU DIDNT EVEN DOUBLE CHECK IF SHE'S THE RIGHT PERSON?!?!?!?

moving on from that, this actually brings up a deeper layer of dolph's identity issues; the lack of cultural identity.

i want to preface this by saying that i am not entirely sure if this is the right term for this identity issue nor am i claiming to be an expert on the type of identity crisis that i am about to discuss. that being said, this specific disconnect of cultural identity that dolph has is actually reminiscent of those adopted from other countries, or transnational adoptees. there seems to be a need within these adoptees to find out more about their own heritage or their own mothers and families that they now struggle to find. while dolph does not actively go out to reconnect with his heritage, he does exhibit desires to find his birth mother. this type of identity issue seems to ask the question of 'what could I have been if...?,' and it tends to mess with the idea of the self. adoptees that struggle with this question hold a desire to go back, to almost reclaim what would have been. yes, dolph is not adopted into a family, but he is still a child under the care of eden, which became like his family, which is why i believe that this kind of identity issue could reasonably be applied to dolph. it explains why he does what he does in the manga, and how it's ultimately wrapped up by him losing this desire and moving forward. albeit he moves forward by alex instead becoming his main purpose, but this serves as the first chain of the past that he leaves behind. with this, he severs a tie that would have made him continue to be stuck under eden's control, and possibly find himself. he answers the question of what could have been with 'it doesn't matter anymore.'

but actually, he doesn't answer that question. he leaves it be.

i am reading way too into this tho lol. i would say that he doesn't explicitly say it, and that we do see a lack of dolph's past being used against him in that way because dolph has freed himself from that part, but in reality, it's because eden can't pull the same trick twice. im aware that the manga focuses HARD on dolph's grooming, but i feel like they really could have properly wrapped up dolph's identity arc with his mother if it was acknowledged at the end, but i fear we are left unsatisfied. that's one of my gripes with the manga. it gives us things that tie up loose ends, but some of these ties have entirely missed the holes they were supposed to secure. but what is done is what's done, and here we are.

tl;dr, dolph was groomed by alex. dolph's identity has also been warped by eden heavily, by how they dehumanised him as a child to be a weapon internally, to how he's shown to the public to be a case that they've saved, and yet he still becomes something that is "disgraceful." textbook example of this poor boy that we have saved that is actually jus like all the others that we know. dolph also suffers under similar identity issues as adopted children do, and this specific issue of his is let go in order to allow him to begin moving on and finding himself.

as always, im open to discussion and critique! my askbox is open as well if you want me to yap abt smth else in the show :P

[raygirlramblings]

oh look it’s another Captain Laserhawk discussion, who’d have thunk it.

This time I want to go into detail about something which has been bugging me for a while and which I’ve yet to get a decent explanation for. The eternal question of WHO WAS PHONE?

More specifically, who was it who messaged Rayman to direct him to seek out Bullfrog at the courthouse?

Spoilers and discussion under the cut:

So, the general consensus amongst fans and viewers falls into 2 camps of who the mysterious voice was. People seem to think it was either the board of Directors who control Rayman and Eden (who we will call The Templars here just because it fits in universe), and the other half say it was The Warden aka Sarah Fisher acting on her own volition without the knowledge of her fellow Templars. People base this seemingly on the fact the call seemed to come from the Directors based on the image we see on Rayman’s screen matching those from his precious conversations.

Personally, I think neither of these options make any sense.

Firstly the Templars. Their plan seems to be (from the view of people who assume the message is from them) is that it’s a trap to lure Rayman to Red so they can capture him. This is RIDICULOUS and such a convoluted and messy plan. If the Templars wanted to capture Rayman they didn’t need to lure him out of his apartment with some vague message. He was alone and vulnerable in his apartment wasting away on booze and cocaine. And you know FOR SURE Eden has cameras trained on their mascot boy at all times of the day. The idea they would need some ridiculous trap to capture him is ludicrous.

Moreover I don’t believe the Templars even knew where Rayman was going when he went to see Bullfrog. When Red arrives he says ‘I've been looking everywhere for you’. Why would he say this if luring Rayman to Bullfrog was the Templar’s plan? If it was their plan why wasn’t Red in the room with Bullfrog to capture Rayman immediately? They didn’t need to leave him to have some long, mind opening convo with Bullfrog; if anything that made things exponentially worse for them as it was the straw that broke Rayman enough to become Ramon and kill them all (which again, the Templars are SURPRISED BY).

So no, I don’t believe the ‘seek the frog’ message came from the Templars.

But what about Sarah Fisher?

Again we have to think what her motivation is for pointing Rayman in the direction of Bullfrog. What does she have to gain from doing this? Sarah wanted access to the Wasteland VR setup, and if Eden launches its attack on the Wasteland it could destroy that. She wanted to get to Marcus Holloway and seize control of the system.

Rayman does not factor into her plan in any way. Neither did Bullfrog. She had Laserhawk and that was part of her key to get to Holloway. Everyone else was expendable.

‘But maybe she wanted Rayman to take out the rest of the Templars!’

How would she be able to predict that?! She would have had to know EXACTLY what Bullfrog was going to say to Rayman, how it would affect Ray’s psyche, assume Red would blow his mission to capture Rayman, and assume Rayman had access to enough firepower and skill to get to the Templars and kill them. THERE WAS LITERALLY NO WAY SHE COULD PREDICT ANY OF THAT.

Hell, she got LUCKY that Dolph had a change of heart and attempted to return to the city to save Bullfrog, and in turn he ran into the army heading to the Wasteland and wrecked them all in spite of her attempts to sabotage his robot parts. If he had stayed in the VR beach paradise or had died being crushed by Red in his mech the army would have swarmed the facility and EVERYONE WOULD HAVE PROBABLY DIED.

Sarah’s plan is purely based on luck and the fact that Marcus showed mercy to her. The idea she was a puppet master for a completely random set of events surrounding her goal is ridiculous. Sure it worked out perfectly for her in the end as the only surviving Templar but I still refuse to believe she planned for that. Her ultimate end goal was the VR facility, not power over the Templars. Once she had the VR facility she would have found a way to take out her fellow Templars without Ramon's help.

So if it wasn’t Sarah Fisher or the Templars then WHO WAS PHONE?

Thankfully we have some suggestions which actually make sense in the grander scheme of the world, but they do rely on a little theory crafting which sets up for S2.

For me there are 3 possible people who could have been on that call posing as the Templars.

1 - Marcus Holloway

2 - Sam Fisher

3 - Alex Taylor

Marcus Holloway is an easy one. As a master Hacker who has been breaking into Eden’s systems for decades I can imagine he has some methods of getting into the systems and pretending to be whoever he wants to be. The only reason he didn't do it sooner is that Rayman was constantly protected by Eden so any attempts to get to him would have been pointless. But after his TV freakout and being replaced it's a perfect time for Marcus to get to him and try and undermine the Templar's control.

'Oh but how would Marcus know about any of what happened with Rayman if the Templars just replaced him?'.

How would Marcus know about anything that happened with Dolph, Alex, Sarah, the Ghosts or anything else the happened in Eden if he wasn't there? He's a master Hacker, we can assume he has ways.

But why? I'm assuming primarily because using Eden's own propaganda pawn to undermine them is wildly poetic to Marcus. Maybe there is some empathy for Rayman here but much like Sarah he had no idea to what lengths Rayman/Ramon's mental breakdown would go. It worked out for him in the end though with the Templars being massacred.

Sam Fisher relies a little more on speculation. In the post credits scene of the final episode we see Dolph chatting to Sam in a digital void. There is some suggestion that the world we are seeing is not real. A Matrix world with reset abilities. This would explain a lot of things which could easily have been deaths turning out to be fine (Red being a clear example, also Dolph being shot at point blank range by Alex and surviving).

If Sam does have some kind of 'overseer' position this gives him access to far more information than anyone else. He could foresee the only way out for Bullfrog being at Rayman/Ramon's hands as Dolph was too far away and everyone else was dead. A little bit of manipulation of Rayman's fragile psyche in this matrix world would be easy for someone with a birds eye view that Sam could have.

But this is PURE SPECULATION.

As is the idea that Alex Taylor is responsible...seeing as he's dead. But before he died he took over most of Pagan Min's men and their connections. Either he set up the plan to be enacted in the event of his death or he has some similar kind of setup Sam has. After all, Alex's opening of the dimension X portal allowing the Rabbids in is what lead to Rayman's freak out at Red on TV, leading to his replacement. Alex seems to have some grander picture in mind for Eden before his death, and as violent and ridiculous as it is it does tie into his desire for chaos. The shaking up of the entire Eden system seems to reach beyond just screwing with the populace. Much like Marcus, the concept of using Rayman against the Templars would be part of the complete chaos Alex is looking for. With the Templars dead there is a power vacuum.

I know this one is a bit of a stretch but to be brutally honest I'll accept Alex toying with things from beyond the grave before I accept that the Templars sent Rayman to Bullfrog in an attempt to contain him XD

So yeah, those are my ridiculously long thoughts regarding the WHO WAS PHONE mystery. You are welcome to wildly disagree with me or point out my lack of logic as you see fit XD Also point out if I missed some important plotpoint :3

Heck there's an argument to be made that the message came from someone we've not met yet, or another member of the Templars working alone, but we have nothing to confirm this yet. Hopefully if we get a season 2 all will be revealed!

[stereax]

offer sheets in the year 2024?! according to the athletic armstrong is besties with ken holland too so there is a fun interpersonal element as well… please drop your thoughts on this if so inclined

Hi anon!!! (Other anons I'm still workin on it sob)

For those who haven't seen yet: STL offersheeted Holloway and Broberg from EDM perfectly. Killer contracts. One dollar more and the compensation changes perfection. Edmonton will likely have to LTIR Kane for the year and then cap dump Ceci to keep both. I suspect they keep Holloway and let Broberg go tbh.

I think a lot of GMs don't like Bowman very much. Not only because of the Beach scandal but also. He's a bad GM. So Armstrong saw an opportunity and took it, with Dubas's blessing.

Honestly, fuckin' rights to them. Screw Standard Oil. Can't WAIT to see what happens here.

[mmoosen]

Olympic archer Nolan Holloway is known for his intense stare during matches, but when cameras catch the stare pointed at US Beach Volleyball player, Brett Talbot, will-they-won't-they rumors spread quickly.

[paranatura-verse]

✨ Welcome to the Paranaturaverse! ✨

A universe where folklore, myths, urban legends and everything inbetween is reality. Across two timelines, two planets, multiple dimensions and outside the universe, many stories from throughout history are ready to be told.

Aliens, both hostile and harmless, make their way to Earth. Humans are genetically altered to grant them unnatural abilities, a gross mimicry of naturally-existing psychics. Fantastical beings and fae lurk in the forests, strange interdimensional beings flicker in and out of reality. A woman makes a choice that will split reality in two, and gods oversee all.

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Notable races

Humans: The most common sapient race on Earth. Two subspecies include Psi-Humans, humans born with psychic abilities, and Phenomenals, humans with already irregular genetic makeup that been enhanced through unnatural means.

Calcaniums: A empirical race of planet-conquering aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy. Originally from their home planet Calcania, their colonisation spreads throughout the galaxy, and they now have their sights set on the Milky Way.

Doggerlandians: Amphibious, finned humanoids who live in the North Sea. Typically asocial and wary of humans, they keep to themselves, although some sightings (and even attacks) have been reported. Often mistaken for mermaids in previous decades, recent theories hypothesise they were once humans that rapidly evolved to adapt in the now-sunken Doggerland.

Faefolk: An umbrella term for a wide variety of otherworldly creatures, such as elves, baobhan sith, changelings, irissids, and sprites. Although many reside in the human realm rather than Arcadia, they often keep out of sight from people. Some are benevolent, others malevolent.

///////////////

Notable locations

Bronze Bay: A seaside town in California, USA, named for the copper deposits that give the beaches a rich, rusty colour. Founded in the 1800s and formerly a mining town for the aforementioned copper, the town records claim giant lizards once roamed the deserts on the town outskirts.

Tag: #bronze bay

Ravenswood: A rural town in Kent, England, famous for the many supernatural rumours surrounding it. Home to an ancient forest that, if entered, you'll never leave quite the same way.

Tag: #ravenswood

Calcania: The home planet of the warmongering Calcanium race, located in the Andromeda Galaxy. The seat of the Almighty Leaders, they oversee their expanding empire, and crush all that stand in their way.

Tags: #calcaniums #calcania

Arcadia: The realm of the faefolk. At least three kingdoms are located in this realm; Rhyneris, the Seelie Court, and Unseelie Court. The prince of the Sun Elves attempts to make peace with the Moon Elves, whilst the two queens of Rhyneris attempt to co-exist with the fragmented aspects of their former god.

Tags: #rhyneris #seelie court #unseelie court

Numen Wight Laboratories: The biggest and most advanced laboratory in America, named after its founder. It has branches covering genetic engineering, robotics and curiously, paranormal studies. Rumours surround the company regarding unethical experimentations, but the current owners and employees deny any such knowledge. And anyone who goes snooping in the greenhouse never comes back out.

Tag: #numen wight labs

Holloway: A town in Colorado inhabited by crude copies of humans and the living dead, sealed off from the outside world. The Imitations rule the ruined town lawlessly, whilst Ghouls roam the streets seeking flesh to eat.

Tag: #dead town #holloway

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There is no set posting schedule (at least currently), mainly as posts are made as the project is developed and much as I love this universe, I have both other hobbies and work to attend to as well.

Posts that are not related to stories, timelines, art or characters will be posted under the tag "behind the scenes", this includes posts discussing the inspiration behind a character. All posts related to canon will be posted with relevant tags.

[allstaircaseandjoinery1]

residential cleaning in Edmonton-vacate cleaning in Redlynch

https://thesmurfscleaning.com.au/standard-cleaning/ residential cleaning in Edmonton-vacate cleaning in Redlynch We understand that bond cleaning can be a time-consuming and tedious task, which is why we offer flexible scheduling to accommodate your move-out date. Our team is committed to providing you with a stress-free experience and will work efficiently to get the job done in a timely and professional manner.

[chickensoupleg]

Silly thought but what if Billy's mom, in an attempt to save her son because she can't take him far without Neil tracking them down immediately, just fakes his death. She's trusted enough to take her son to the beach where it's just her and her little boy, and she can't take Neil's abuse anymore and a weird moment of understanding as she watches Billy ride waves with his giggles filling the air between the rushing of the water and the sounds of the seabirds that she won't leave him there either.

So she sets up something with relatives of hers where they'll take Billy temporarily and make it on the news that there was a freak accident and a mother is devastated because her son is gone, fashioned where no evidence could be pinned elsewhere. Times it so that yeah maybe a stronger wave or even a riptide caught the otherwise experienced but still a child surfer by surprise. Neil blames it on her because that was their son and how could she be so daft to not keep track of him. It gets pretty bad, but she knew it would, so not even a month later does she disappear as well.

She gets ahold of Billy again, but far away from where they used to be because Billy is supposed to be dead and Neil might find them if they stayed. They end up at Hawkins because it is a tiny little town and there was no way Neil would find them.

And then something happens to Billy's mum anyways because life just kind of hates him so he stays with the relatives which are the Holloways because why not, and they don't mind raising their nephew with their daughter who is about the same age. They get along great. He even gets along with the neighbourhood kids, even if they're also within that fairly wealthy attitude.

Cut to years later and Billy is a grown teen now, hanging out and doing great when a new family rolls into town and he catches a glimpse of a man he barely remembers anymore but still feels phantom chills run down his back.

Lucky for him, the man doesn't have any reason to randomly approach the teenager that echoes a family long gone.

[50calmadeuce]

Ch. 1: Coronado Beach

Summary:

You've moved to San Diego to pursue your aquatic veterinarian degree, but to pay for school, you got a job as a San Diego Lifeguard for the summer as you work on your residency in laboratory animal and comparative medicine.

After completing a day of training, you go for a run and meet a sexy pilot playing football on the beach. Will you have time for a relationship with all of your training and schooling?

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Top Gun: Maverick world, trademarked by Paramount Pictures Corporation. I do not claim ownership of the characters and the world that I am borrowing.

The story and situation I am creating are a work of my imagination and I do not ascribe them to official story canon. This work is for entertainment only and is not a part of the storyline.

I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story, but I do hope it gives you happy thoughts.

These stories are my own, so please do not take them and use them for yourself without my permission. If you see them somewhere else, please let me know. :)

*No smut. Just meeting a hot guy on the sunny Coronado beach.

The sun beat down on you as you and a group of fellow Coronado Beach lifeguards ran down the sandy Coronado beach.

Your hazel eyes squinted as you realized there were four other lifeguards in front of you and the finish line wasn't far ahead. You pushed yourself into high gear since you realized you were that close.

"Five!" one of the senior lifeguards yelled as you crossed the finish line. You slowed to a jog and then to a walk as you let your heart rate slowly get back down to its resting rate.

"Nice job," a muscular blond said to you with a nod.

"You too," you reply as you continue to walk around.

"Alright! Listen up!" one of the head lifeguards' yells. "All of you over here have made it to the next phase. We meet tomorrow back at the building for more training. Holloway! Where are you?"

You raise your hand. "Right here!"

"Stay where you are. The rest of you are dismissed."

The rest of the lifeguards start walking to the Coronado Fire and Lifeguard station as the head guard walks up to you.

Behind his dark sunglasses, he looks at the clip board and then back at you. "We got your information from your high school and college in Wisconsin. Captain of the swim team in high school and college. Master Diver, Search and Rescue Diver certified and an EMT?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you're attending the University of California San Diego?"

"Yes."

"What are you majoring in?"

"I'm working on my doctorate in aquatic veterinary medicine."

His eyes got wide. "Wow!" He uses the clip board to point towards the fire and lifeguard station. "Walk with me."

The two of you begin walking towards the building.

"I'm sure some of this will be boring to you, but you'll be a great asset to the station."

"Thank you, but I'll never be bored. I enjoy learning."

"Good to hear." He stopped and so did you. He looks at you over the top of his sunglasses and smiles. "Then let me be the first to welcome you to the San Diego Lifeguards."

You smile back. "Thank you, sir.

The next day after CPR and First Aid training, you headed up to the locker room to change into your swimsuit for an evening jog on beach.

When you reached your locker, you work the combination lock and open it. You grabbed your black TYR one piece and begin to change when two female lifeguards enter the locker room and stop when they see you.

"You're Y/N Holloway?" the blonde asks.

"I am," you respond as you continue to put on your swimsuit.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Chloe Matthews." She puts out her right hand for you to shake.

You finish putting on your suit, reach out with your right hand and shake it.

"I'm Jericho Adama," the red head says and puts out her hand. You shake that one as well.

"We've heard about you," Chloe says.

"Search and Rescue diver and working on your aquatic veterinary degree. Impressive," Jericho states.

"Thanks." You put your shoulder length, wavy brown hair up in a ponytail, close your locker and grab your sunglasses. "It was nice to meet you guys. I'm going for a jog, so I'll see you around." You walk by them and head out the locker room and down the stairs to the beach.

You put on your sunglasses, place your earbuds in your ears, set your apple watch, do a few stretches and then begin to jog down the beach.

"Not today, Hangman!" Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw yells as he held one of the two footballs required to play Dog Fight football.

"In your dreams, Rooster!" Jake 'Hangman' Seresin replies grinning.

"Don't let your head get too big, Hangman!" Natash 'Phoenix' Trace adds in to the conversation.

"Very funny, Phoenix!" Jake yells and throws the football, but he realizes he throws it too hard and far and it's going to hit the brunette running on the beach. "Watch out!"

You feel something hit your back and stop. You take out one of your earbuds as a dirty blond-haired guy in black board shorts Ray bans and muscular chest comes running over to you.

"Are you okay?" he asks, concern on his face.

You pick up the football and toss it to him. "I'm fine. I don't even think I'll bruise."

"Come on, Hangman!" someone yells from the group he separated from.

The guy throws the football to the group. "I'll be right there!" He turns back to you as you hear the others say: "Yeah, right."

"Hangman?" you ask as you raise an eyebrow.

"It's my call sign. I'm a naval aviator."

"A pilot."

"Yes. For the Navy."

"Oh. So, you go to Top Gun?"

A sexy grin shows up on his face. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Hangman." You start to put your earbud in when he stops you.

"Let me make it up to you."

"It's no big deal."

"The Hard Deck. Eight tonight."

You look at him. "I'll think about it," you say as you pop the ear bud in your ear and jog off.

Jake watches you as your run off and then turns around and heads back to his group.

"Did you get her number?" Rooster asks.

"No."

"What?" Rooster replies surprised.

"I didn't exactly have my phone and I didn't see one on her, but I invited her to The Hard Deck."

Rooster throws Hangman the football. "I got twenty bucks that says she doesn't show."

"Count me in," Phoenix says, her right arm resting on Rooster's shoulder.

Jake grins. "You're on."