#merlin is his radio engineer

[marcskywalker]

F1 AU

Ferrari's golden boy. The people's Prince. World Champion. Arthur Pendragon.

Bringing the promised golden age to Maranello.

[cbk1000]

Anyway, here's some more of the sequel to the vet fic, because the world is hard and mean, and one overly long fic about two gays driving around the countryside helping sick animals wasn't enough:

The wedding was at Ripley Castle near Harrogate, and featured a cousin with whom Arthur was just close enough not to blow off the ceremony; though he wouldn’t have minded simply popping in for the vows, and the requisite after-vow pleasantries. But he had seen the opportunity to pry Merlin away for a holiday, on an estate large enough to avoid most of his family; and so Saturday they had put their rucksacks, their suits, and themselves, into the car, and were now going at a decent clip down the B6265, though Merlin thought it was codgerly.

“Does Gaius know to put the wet food on top of the dry food for Tessa, and not to mix it all together?”

“Yes, you mentioned it in the instructions we left.”

“And that Mixer can only go into the outdoor pens with George? And if he can’t find Cian, to check under the sofa?”

“Arthur, we are not leaving our infant child for the first time whilst we take our first holiday since we became new dads, we are leaving our four adult cats to be checked in on by a veterinarian who’s been practising about as long as either of us has been alive. I think he can handle feeding a finicky arshole.”

“I’m not sure if I remembered to mention George’s eye drops, though. Will you text Gaius?”

“You wrote six fucking pages on how to care for four cats for two days. You mentioned it.”

“Just text him, you knob.”

“Uncle Gaius,” Merlin sounded out obnoxiously as he typed. “Arthur thinks you are a helpless, blind old useless bat, and would like to reiterate how to feed a cat and administer eye drops.”

Arthur swiped blindly at his head with one hand, whilst the other he left planted on the wheel. “Should I text Morgana too, and have her check in on Gaius checking in on the cats?”

“Piss off.”

“Too bad she was too sick to come; I’d love to see Gwaine mixing it up with your relatives. Nobody would even notice you’re gay if Morgana had brought him.”

“Yes, I’m sure that would have gone well for everyone.”

Then Merlin changed the radio station, and they had a friendly dust-up, most of the remaining drive to Ripley, over the other’s objectively inferior taste in music; so that when they pulled up at The Boar’s Head where they would be staying, Arthur had almost forgot he was inevitably to see his father. Now the courtyard full of Pendragons brought it surging down on him, and he felt suddenly as overwhelmed as if they had converged on instead of glancingly glanced at the car. His whole body tightened; and the dread clash was in his chest, that brutal striving for life which in a fit man at an elevation the same as his native seems to herald the onset of death. He felt in the car in the middle of the day with no threat present but the threat of unpleasantness that he was carrying his doom. It was in his chest, where his breath had shortened, and quickened; all those impulses of the lizard brain which kept the cave dweller from being no more than some leftovers in his loincloth now were telling him that he would need to flee some pensioners in some church wear. His father was nowhere amongst them; but the possibility of him, the infinite possibility of if, was all round the car and beyond the car, where anything might happen to his heart.

And then Merlin said in the same voice he used with the animals, “Tell me five things you can see right now.”

“The steering wheel. My hand on the steering wheel. The door handle. The chip in the windshield. Your knee.”

“Five things you can feel?”

“The steering wheel under my hand. The seat under my legs. The air from the vents. The seat against my back. The steering wheel under my hand.”

“Five things you can hear?”

“Your breathing, your abysmal taste in music, the car engine, faint music outside the car, talking outside the car.”

“Four things you can see?”

And he walked him through the exercise like that, till they had got down to one item for each, and Arthur’s breathing was calmer. He flexed his stiff fingers on the steering wheel.

“It’ll be ok, Arthur. And if it’s not, I’ll headbutt some people, and we’ll leave.”

“Ok.” Arthur wiped his palms on his jeans.

Then they were out of the car, and Merlin said to the few friendly guests who found their arrival more interesting than their breakfast, “Hey; nice to meet you. Merlin. Really sorry, we’ll be down in a few minutes, yeah, I just need the loo really badly. Down from Emberford, yeah,” ushering Arthur through the crowd and into the Inn as deftly as he had ever done anything requiring motor skills. He had got the suits and the rucksacks out of the backseat, and kept himself now with their luggage between Arthur and any intrusives, using his dimples to plough a kind of furrow through to reception, so that everyone in his wake felt that they had been charmed instead of slighted. 

In their room he threw down the suits and bags on the bed, and said, “It’s nice. Not very castle-y, though. Do you want me to make you some tea?”

“No. We should probably go back down and mingle for a bit before we need to change.”

“Do you want me to blow you?”

“That’s--” Arthur paused. He did not know what part of ‘go down and mingle’ Merlin had confused for a sex act; but now that he had Arthur’s brain had got just as muddled. He separated out, after a moment, what he wanted to say, from what his penis wanted him to say. “What part of ‘I probably shouldn’t pause long enough for tea’ suggested to you that I thought we had time for sex before going back down to visit with the other wedding guests?”

[iamthedukeofurl]

I think we should enter an era where everybody is inexplicably making genre-crossing Arthurian adaptations. We start out simple, A post-apocalyptic Mecha story where Arthur, guided over his radio by the mysterious Merlin, is able to activate a long-dormant mech left over from the war that destroyed the world. When that Mech is badly damaged, Merlin introduces him to somebody (Possibly a pre-war engineer who resides in a hidden bunker under a lake and refuses to come out, possibly an AI CLAIMING to be an engineer), who provides him with a new one. This new mech, Excalibur, would have been the ultimate cutting-edge weapon during the war had it been finished. While the mech itself is a potent weapon, what makes it truly special is it's extended self-repair abilities. Arthur assembles the Round Table, recruiting the most skilled and noblest Mech Pilots from across the wasteland to bring order and justice to the world.

So, after various groups have put out a handful of stories in that vein, with straightforward analogues for swords and knights, we start getting a little more abstract. A Mafia Epic. The underworld is in chaos after the previous respected don was killed with no apparent heirs. Merlin, the old Don's trusted friend, finds a young orphan boy who sings a song he claims his mother taught him. This song contains the password to the old Don's vaults, revealing Arthur to be the Don's grandson, raised by his daughter who left the underworld. With the Legitimacy of his family name established, and access to his Grandfather's Vault, young Arthur must unify the warring cartels and assemble a gang of trusted lieutenants. Then, once we've spent a few years redefining what "Noble King assembles an order of Knights" means while getting away from classic heroic archetypes, we can start getting Weird with it. Aspiring Singer Martha Pend manages to extend an old telescoping mic-stand that had been stuck for years. Mert, the sound guy who agreed to let her use the studio space at 2AM when nobody else wanted it because she begged him and he needed to be there anyway cleaning up after the place got trashed by some big-name band from a major label, proclaims that she will be the greatest musician of her generation, IF she can assemble a band. After successfully handling the high-profile, and deeply contested, divorce of Grant Stone and Caroline Sword, young lawyer Arthur Pendragon is promoted to Senior Partner just as the rest of the prestigious Firm of Camelot&Anglia dissolves. Can he keep the Firm alive with a fresh crop of recent law-school graduates? Arthur is prcolaimed the Greatest Fisherman Alive after catching a Swordfish in Stonewater Bay. Something something has to win a big fishing competition in order to save his small fishing town from getting bulldozed to build a resort.

Keep this nonsense going until people are sick of Arthurian Retellings. Then start the whole thing over again with The Count of Monte Cristo.

[shipsgaysfordays]

What? (Mary and Sirius POV)

Links to the other chapters here

I’m updating this fic again, I know it’s a shocker. I’m really hoping to get this done over the summer. Also, if you haven’t read any of this fic, I’ll be honest that I think it is totally possible to just jump in in this chapter. Like some shit might not make as much sense, but I’m happy if anyone gets into the fic at any point please.

“There’s a lovin’ in your eyes, all the way. If I listen to your lies would you say, I’m a man, without conviction? I’m a man who doesn’t know how to make a decision. You come and go, you come and go-o-o-o.” 

Mary’s portable radio emits Boy George’s voice, as Harry and her listen along. A stuffed bear in the boys hands, crochet together, sewn up in spots, thin with years of love causing stuffing to spew out.

As the chorus begins and the “karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon” is repeated over and over on the radio, Harry’s leg shakes with excitement and he flops the bear (Mr. Beary) ‘s arms around. 

 Sitting on the couch, Mary hears the sound of a car engine running, driving closer and closer. She grins from ear to ear at Harry, both gitty that his parents would be home in just a few moments. 

The door bangs into the wall with momentum, as Lily bolts inside, running into the living room, and wraps her son in her arms. Kissing him all over, Harry giggles. 

“See, I told you she would be home soon,” Mary smiled.

James walked in to find this scene, his wife and son together, and Mary just kind of there. 

“Well, I was going to ask if I could have my son, but he seems a bit preoccupied. How did things go with babysitting, Mary?” He turned to face her. 

“No fires, accidents, or pranks–so better than babysitting a drunk 16-year-old you,” she remarked. 

“Give him time, greatness wasn’t made in a day.”

“It’s Rome wasn't built in a day,” Lily corrects, brushing her hand in Harry’s hair,“and you better not be insulting this sweet boy, trying to make him a troublemaker like you.”

“Nothing of the sort, just leaving options open,” James grins. 

“Sure James, sure,” Mary winked. 

“I don’t believe McGonagall would appreciate ANOTHER POTTER terrorizing the school with mischief.”

“And I don’t believe Harry should have his head glued to a textbook for his whole schooling experience.”

James picked up a magazine, flipped to a random page and placed it down on his son's head. Harry held onto his new hat, making sure to keep it on as his mother incessantly began swatting it off.

“I’m not saying that–” Lily interjected.

“But it’s his decision.”

“What would you like to do Harry?” Mary cut in, “when you finally go to Hogwarts?”

The kid thought for a moment, his hand on his chin in an adorable yet deep in thought expression, he glanced at his mother and father, “Don’t know…”

“Nothing comes to mind?”

“It’s a secret.”

“A secret?” the three adults spoke in unison.

“Can we know the secret?” James asked as Lily let Harry down, him having gotten a bit too big to be held for super long. 

“You’ll find out later.”

Things went silent for a moment, until the little boy said, “Miss Mary can know.”

The husband and wife made an amused smirk as Harry waddled over and whispered in Mary’s ear, “Magic.”

Mary couldn’t help laughing, “Yeah, I think you’ll get plenty of opportunities to do that there.”

Harry leaned back over, “and quidditch!” He spoke just a bit too loud for the poor woman’s ear drums and for the secret status of the words.

Mary got up and tapped James on the shoulder, “He’s your son alright.”

“I’ve never felt the need to question the paternity of my child, but thank you for letting us know,” Lily quipped. 

“So,” Lily taps the seat on the couch next to her, staring into Mary’s soul while in mom mode, “how did things go while we were away?”

“They went fine, again, he’s eaten and slept, he’s alive and you’re happy, right Harry?”

Harry laid on the floor, playing dead. 

“Oh Merlin, we’ve lost him, noooooooo,” James played, shaking his son, “how could you do this Mary?”

“What did he eat?”  Lily rolled her eyes at the antics.

“Cheese on toast for dinner, some yogurt and fruit for breakfast, and we haven’t eaten lunch just yet but he’s stolen quite a few of my biscuits as a snack so he may not want lunch too soon.”

“How much sleep did he get?”

“We went to bed around…8,” Mary lied.

“Lily, stop trying to interrogate her,” James interjected as he shook Harry’s arms about, still trying to get him up and alive.

“I’m not–”

“You are, lying doesn’t look good on you dear, either of you,” he winks at Mary.

Harry giggles as James begins tickling his stomach. 

“HE’S ALIVE!” Mary gasps. 

“I think I may need to get some tools and experiment on this great discovery of necromancy, if you need me or patient zero, we’ll be up in his room,” James holds Harry’s hand and leads him out the room, turning to Lily and winking before heading up the stairs.

“What was the wink about? Are you guys gonna get into some…interesting stuff of your own later?” Mary smirks.

Lily’s face is redder than her hair. “What? Heh, no, ummm, actually….oh, how do I say this?”

“Probably verbally, you could try sign though, I’m still pretty new to learning it though so I may not get it.”

“You’re learning sign language?”

“Here and there, but that’s beside the point.” Mary leans in holding Lily’s warm cheeks with her hands, “What’s your secret? Would it be better to whisper in my ear like the kid did?”

Lily smiles, “James and I aren’t in a romantic relationship anymore.”

Mary’s eyes go as wide as the world, scratch that, the galaxy. 

“And that’s���okay, that’s good? You’re smiling about it, so…”

“Yes, it’s good, Mary.”

“So, you’re just fucking no strings attached…with a kid?”

“What? No,” Lily laughed, “I don’t–we just don’t feel that way about each other, we’re mates, and despite a long time of both of us denying it, we’re not really into each other.”

“Then why?” Mary asked, sounding as though a rock shattered her glass heart. 

“It made his parents happy, it made my parents happy, everyone expected it. It was some fated love, something that was bound to happen, but when it came down to it there wasn’t much there. James is amazing, he’s the best father any kid could have, but I never really wanted a husband and he never truly wanted a wife.”

“So, no more marriage for Madame Lily?” Mary plastered a smile onto her face.

“Maybe someday, if Harry’s fine with it and it’s not too awkward for all of us. Not to a man though, I’m…a lesbian.” 

“Oh…..did you find some gal here?”

“Sort of, she’s a lot more nearby than you would expect,” Lily leaned in. 

She’s not, she cannot be saying, no.

“Oh,” the sound came out of Mary’s mouth without her even thinking of it, not even knowing as the neurotransmitters had sent signals from her brain right through the larynx and the sound landed out of her lips. 

“I missed you, more than anything else in the world, I missed you,” Lily’s eyes were like moss, beautiful clumps of colors, begging to be seen, to be known, to be loved once more by this viewer of the earth. 

“I missed you too, but–” Mary started.

Rudely she was interrupted by the sound of a loud thud and crackle of wall by the garage entrance followed by a quite loud “DAMN IT.”

(Changing to Sirius’ POV for a bit because it’s necessary for the story)

At  the scene of the destruction as James is transfiguring the wall to be fixed with Sirius next to him, a little bit of blood on zer knuckles. 

“I know that they are hurting and I need to give him time, but I am hurting too. And I love Moony, but…I am hurting too and I want to help him but I’m not even whole. How can I give myself when all that’s left are broken pieces and parts and screams and breaking walls and–” Sirius’ hands moved wildly as ze spoke, all culminating in zer sitting in the fetal position. 

“Sirius,” James interrupted, “you’re fine to give yourself time, we could play some quidditch or do something else that you love, your world doesn’t have to revolve around Moony.”

Sirius stared off.

“I don’t know how to be with them anymore, still I don’t know how to live without them. They’re everything to me, and just yesterday they were trying to kill me.”

“Give yourself space.”

“But he needs–”

“He needs to figure themself out, just the same as you, you need to figure out whether it’s more beneficial to figure yourselves out together or apart.”

“I’ve been away from them for years, I don’t want to waste whatever time…” Sirius started to tear up.

“It’s not wasting time to get out, Sirius, but the decision is up to you.” James held zer hand up and examined it, “episkey,” he mutters softly. 

There’s a moment of silence as the two men look at each other, the years wearing on both of them though more visibly obvious in Sirius, as though ze had been in Azkaban for 12 years rather than simply 3. Bandages still on zer neck. Hair long and knotted. Eyes having lost so much of the light and joy that James loved to see in his friend. 

Their silence was interrupted by an only slightly muffled “FUCK” coming from outside. 

Sirius had been staring off, in a bit of a trance. 

“I’m going to go…check on them, can I? Will you be fine?” James touched zeir shoulder to get zer attention. 

Ze nodded, “Just fine Prongs, just fine.”

(Mary POV once more)

When the women arrived at the sight of Sirius sitting on the ground and staring into space, Lily slowly slipped away as Mary turned to her and made a face. James looked at Mary and waved her off, mouthing “I’ve got this.” And despite Mary’s constant desire to interject, she too backed out of the situation knowing that her presence may make things too much for Sirius. 

“I’m gonna make some tea, and maybe some sweets to go along with it. That would convince Remus, they always loved sweets, right?” Lily looked to Mary for assurance after they were out of earshot from James and Sirius. 

“Yeah…” Mary stared back, are we gonna talk about, her mind wandered. 

Flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, salt, everything that could get on the counters and their clothes somehow did get on the counters and their clothes. Finger sandwiches being made and cut. Store bought croissants being placed on a pan to be warmed up to hopefully fool Sirius into believing they homemade them. Gooey brownies leaving a sweet scent through the room. 

As things were coming out of the oven and cooling off, Lily placed a pot of water to boil and stood next to Mary, both women stacking goodies onto plates. 

“I really did miss you,” Lily said, looking down. 

Unsure of what to say, Mary let the silence afterwards continue. 

“Through all of it, honestly…”

“I missed you too,” Mary finally responded, “but–”

Lily closed the little distance that was between them, her warm breath tingling on Mary’s skin, “but?” she taunted. 

“I–I don’t know if this is right,” Mary’s face was as hot as a furnace, “I don’t know if I can trust you anymore or love you that way anymore after everything.”

“Just be with me now, please, you’re everything to me,” Lily held Mary up against the fridge, and snogged her.

What about James? What about Harry? You have a family that I am not a part of. But Mary doesn’t say the quiet part out loud because she honestly did miss this.

[alexthegamingboy]

Toonami Weekly Recap 06/17/2023

Dr. Stone: New World (Age of Exploration Arc) EP#38 (03) - First Contact: Despite the aerial photographs the oil field remains hidden. Autumn arrives so the wheat is harvested. Francois plans a gourmet celebration dinner, so Kohaku gathers boar piglets to raise on the farm for meat and while searching the photographs for a good spot to forage truffles, she accidentally locates the general location of the oil field. When they still cannot locate the oil Senku remembers the Sagara oil field was originally discovered by pigs bathing in oil-soaked mud. Managing to stop Francois in time they instead use the boars as sniffer-boars who lead them directly to the oil. Suika adopts a boar as a pet, naming it Sagara. After processing oil into gasoline Senku builds a rudimentary engine powered speedboat, allowing them to visit the ocean. Chrome begins to realise just how big the world is. Senku announces his next goal, to create a GPS powered by a massive radio tower and Senku’s wireless telephone. At Ginro’s urging Ruri almost uses the system to confess to Chrome but is interrupted by another signal. With his enhanced hearing Ukyo confirms the signal is coming from a second, functional radio tower, meaning other humans are alive somewhere on the planet, endlessly broadcasting the question "WHY?".

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal EP#08 - Darkness Before the Dawn: While they are on the train, Edred is still upset that he can't go home again and his own body is no longer with him. He begins to question what will happen to them once they successfully destroy the Evil. They suddenly hear a commotion and they run to see an attack by a werewolf, who is revealed to be Winston. Melinda accuses Edred who left him stranded instead of placing him to safety. Winston tells them what happened and is now cursed to be a werewolf, Winston says this is a good thing as he is part of the group so he can be with Emma. Merlin arrives and tells them the Evil is Otto and they go to the jungle, Merlin informed them as he continues his search, he joins up with the guardian spirit Rakshasa and destroys Otto's ship by which he didn't mention what happened to them in the end. Merlin decides to splits the group up to investigate the wreckage. As Edred and Winston go together, Winston confronts Edred of his actions but because of Edred he has become one of them now, Edred then tells him once they leave their hosts Emma becomes normal again while Winston has his curse, their arguing leads them to a fight. Seng and Copernicus discovers the deceased bodies of Rakshasa and Otto, which the Rakshasa's soul reveals to Seng not everything is as it seem. Melinda asks Merlin to remove Winston's curse for Emma's sake. However, Merlin has been possessed by the Evil and begins attacking Melinda causing Winston and Edred's to stop their fight and regroup with Seng and Copernicus.

Food Wars: The Fifth Plate (The BLUE Arc) EP#86 (13) Finale - Food Wars: Soma sets about making a new version of the egg tempura bowl he first served to Erina during his entrance exam, having incorporated techniques he learned during his time at Totsuki. Both Mana and Erina are caught off guard by how well it is cooked, which causes Erina to release the most powerful version of the Gifting seen yet. However, Erina still refuses to acknowledge the dish as delicious, since she will cook an even better dish. As Mana observes, she realizes that Soma's refusal to quit and his dedication to cook for someone he truly cares about are the elements needed to satisfy the God Tongue. Erina manages to present a dish that defeats Soma's, making her the winner of BLUE. At Soma's 2nd place victory party, the rest of the current and former Elite 10 reveal that they had been quietly dismantling the entire Noir organization while its leadership was distracted at BLUE. Frustrated at having lost to Erina, Soma decides to go on a world tour to improve his cooking. Meanwhile, Erina welcomes Mana home. Azami also returns and admits that Asahi is actually his illegitimate son, making him Erina's half-brother. Erina invites Asahi into the Nakiri family so she can finally fulfill her wish of having the entire family eat a meal together. Six months later, Soma returns to the Yukihira diner, inviting Erina and all of his friends and classmates. Erina arrives first and quietly realizes she has feelings for Soma just as the rest of the guests arrive to celebrate Soma's return.

[vehicle-research]

Viking I, out at the WWSC cabin.

Originally, Viking I was to have a rotary engine since the MIT contest it was built for was more about urban design and emissions than fuel economy. For simplicity, a Toyota 2-litre was used from the Toyota-provided doner "roller" car. Viking IV would be the first rotary-powered Viking car in the series.

It was learned what a "roller" was when the University of Michigan in Kalamazoo was visited during the Sea to Sea Econorally. A "roller" is industry slang for a new car that is damaged loading or unloading from a delivery vehicle hauler. Car companies are self-insured, so these go back to the manufacturer to be destroyed.

The U of Michigan vehicle lab was full of current-year full size rear drive GM models, cut off just behind the driver seat (with the top/windshield removed at the A-pillar). A castor arrangement held the now truncated chassis off the floor in the rear. The result is an easy-to-roll-around "instrumented engine fixture" with that new car smell!

We were extremely jealous. Hop in, turn the key and you have a classroom-friendly CLEAN(!) car engine fixture, ready to begin work on. Complete with air conditioning and radio. A few safety modes were required - a cage was built around the output of the shaft drive from the transmission and the exhaust/catalytic converter was truncated to fit. Students could roll them by a lab garage bay door, hook up a hose to the exhaust to route out of the lab, and then fiddle and play to their heart's delight.

Apparently, GM and Ford gave the U of M a dozen of these a year with the stipulation that they never operated as "cars" (front-wheel drive versions had their axles pulled for obvious reasons).

Pays to be an engineering school just down the road from Detroit.

The best runner-up story to this free-to-education tale was told by Dr. Seal. When he was a high school shop teacher early in his career, he heard about a donor program by the Canadian government for schools for mothballed military engines. He recalled narrowing a pickup truck, going to an old warehouse somewhere in rural BC and driving in. Inside were hundreds(!) of crates containing Rolls Royce Merlin aero-engines! He tried to take two, but the pickup would only hold one without collapsing the springs. So his auto shop program students learned their chops on a state-of-the-art, historic aero V-12. He tried to get another the next year but the response came back - all were scrapped.

Imagine - enough new RR Merlins, still in their original crates and wrapped in cosmoline, to support unlimited hydroplane racing until, say 2050!?!

[dutchcallihan]

Medals: (Highest Rank to Lowest) Medal of Honor, Victorian Cross x2, Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit, Order of Merlin - First Class x2, Bronze Star Medal, Atlantic Campaign Medal - Bronze oak leaf device, European Campaign Medal,

It's February 14th, 1975. A dark glimpse night on Valentine’s day in Arnhem, Holland. Members of the Order of the Phoenix fighting Death Eaters in the streets along with members of the Danish Auros, up in the night skies, both sides took a moment to look up in the clouds, all they hear the engine sound of a Bristol Pegasus 30 from a Swordfish MK II chasing after Death Eaters in attempting to shoot it down. A black and dark blue coating can be seen on the bird as it swoops down to the building’s top-level as it continues the chase. Dogging charms, jinxes, and curses in the attempt of hitting the bird down, from both grounds and behind, was surpassed by the tail gunner’s dual 30 cal. Her name inspired the admiration of dread, and it’s heard on everyone’s lips. A name that holds as much fame and respect from the Order of the Phoenix. She was an ace beater of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, rejected joining the Order ten times, descendent from a military family, and was among the highly decorated daredevil pilots of the 101st Bomber Regiment earning a Medal of Honor. Her name was Diana “Kelly” Tim.

Born on July 10th, 1960, in Ottawa, Canada, she was raised in a middle household. Her real name wasn’t Diana; it was Madeline Karmigel. Her father, Stijn Karmigel, was a veteran pilot for the RAF, joined the Dutch Air Force at the age of seventeen and a half while lying about being the age of eighteen, he was able to pass flight school on his first try having a passion of flying the new monoplanes the Hawker Hurricanes and the Supermarine Spitfires; instead he was placed in gunner of a B-17 the “Flying Fortress” part of an exchange program he volunteered to be sent over to the RAF in the upcoming bombing to support the landing of Normandy. After the war, he oversaw the Berlin Airlift operation of ensuring no cargo was left behind before take-off and had enough fuel to make the entire trip back. During the war, he met and married a radio operator Annabella James. They both met in a bar in London while Stijn was on leave; they both got along very well after Annabella found Stijn drunk and passed out at the bar table after drinking just one bottle of spirits. She took him to her house for the night; the following day, Stijn woke up on the couch as Annabella came over to feed him breakfast. They got married on December 24th, 1944, in Ottawa, Canada, where they both stayed there for the rest of their life. Annabella had a miscarriage at the age of twenty-two; she didn’t get pregnant again till in her mid-thirties; she gave birth to Madeline Karmigel on July 10th, 1960. That date was referenced to the first day of the Battle of Britain. And a year later, have a sister named Isabella Karmigel on December 7th, 1961.

Throughout her childhood, the parents decided to move back into London when Madeline was just five years old, by the time she reached the age of six; she attended St Michael’s Primary School throughout her childhood; teachers described her as “Too over-eager and aren’t very ladylike” Madeline would show off her acrobatic skills on the playground one her stunts was balancing herself on top of the monkeys’ bars on the sides, when the teachers confront her, she front flip on the ground in front of them, and was later taken to the deans and have her parents called which they didn’t seemed to mind. Madeline started to develop strange feelings; she began to pick up objects with just her index finger and turn her mom’s water into red wine from red wine to a rabbit; it was then she was approached by Dumbeldore and told her that she was preselected of becoming a Witch and attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In her first year at Hogwarts, she was sorted into Ravenclaw, where she met Amelie Lacroix and Rachel McCaffrey. She took up Potion and Flying Lessons, taking on deadly stunts when she was told not to, “apparently” knocked out a Slytherin boy after calling one of her classmates a “Mudblood'' on her broomstick; she was noticed by Madam Hooch of trying out for Ravenclaw Quidditch Team as a Beater, being the first youngest Beater to be part of the Quidditch team. She was given the nickname “Hitter Helen'' by her team, known for beating her opponent with a quick dive with a blunt to the head, making them have a head concession. A year later, she was able to pull some strings from her couch of letting her sister become a beater. Still, Madam Hooch insists on having Isabella join after Isabella showed off her standing on her broomstick as if she was surfing on it and dodging pixies fairies at her by her classmates. Within two weeks before Madeline and Isabella’s first Quidditch match with the Ravenclaws faced Gryfindore resulted in a defeat after Amelie broke her arm after James Potter forced her broom to crash to get the golden snitch. The three girls stayed up all night watching and reading up on WW2 fighter tactics that involved using Basic Fighter Maneuvers, training their minds on situational awareness for incoming Bludgers or Quaffle balls by renting the Quidditch Stadium for practices every Friday after school.

In their fifth year at Hogwarts. During their Quidditch match. A tampered Bludger knocked Isabella off her broom, aiming for her head and falling to her death. Madeline was shedding tears as she hugged her dead sister into her arms Dumbeldore and McGonagle tried to calm her down, but they didn’t want to provoke her. The entire school shared their condolences to Madeline with a wreath on her casket inscribed in “To our gallant and worthy Beater.” James, Remus, Seirus, and Peter came up to Amelie, McCaffrey, Elizabeth, Cathrine, and Madeline two weeks after the funeral. James told Madeline that he wanted to “clear” the air and wanted to go on a date with her; Amelie snapped and slapped him across the face. The girl walks away. In the following months, Madeline developed deep depression by going to the Three Broomsticks every Friday to get drunk on butterbeer, staying up late during curfew on a Sunday, two sudicel attempts were made yet failed after McCaffrey was able to come to her senses.

The following fall, Woodrood has sent an Aide-De-Camp at Hogwarts to recruit potential JOCS Candidates; Woodrood picked their loyal officer for the job, Lieutenant William Tim, a Senior Guardsmen of the 229th Royal Guard, and soon to be war hero of the Devil’s Brigades, known for his leadership and being the 7th Generation to become an Officer. He was looked upon dimly by the schoolgirls in his Class A in his crusher caps. Despite all the girls asking him to go on a date, William kindly accepts every gift and love letter yet discards the letters into the fire, taking it as hospitality from them. But one letter he kept was from Madeline:

“With my regard, Lieutenant. Most of my classmates when they first laid eyes on you in your Class As it reminds me of my parents, during their time in the Second World War, father was a RAF bomber crew, yet had experience flying Spitfires during the Battle of Britain, me mom was a radio operator. Though she may have “kidnapped” my father when they first met (story for another time) I've been through hell and still am after the death of my little sister during Quidditch and decided to write a narrative, still haven't worked on a title yet. I'll send you a copy, if I can come up with a title… Best wishes, Madeline Karmigel.”

Touched by William, he decided to write her back by setting up a meeting in his office next to the staircase leading up to Dumbledore’s office. Amelie and McCaffrey had her dress picked out, but Madeline didn’t want to be fancy, so she wore her regular Ravenclaw school uniform. Madeline and William had a good time talking about the Royal Guard histories from the beginning, even the Royal Guards defeating Durmstrang in 1912 with the help of the 17th Royal Hussars, led by Captain Erika Von Miller. The following months. William called Amelie, Madeline, and McCaffrey to Dumbledore’s office.

William asked the three if they wanted to enlist as a commissioned officer, McCaffrey objected as she pursued becoming a potion specialist, Amelie and Madeline signed up for three months of JOCS courses the following summer. After graduation out of the 88th Cadet Corp in 1975 she decided to try out the Royal Guards as Lieutenant in the 17th Royal Hussars, being fitted in cavalry uniform, she enjoyed her time in office, change of pace from Hogwarts and getting to know Prince Connie on her off-duty and made her a member into the Royal Household, an honorary tile in Canada.

On October 1st, 1975, Queen Jessica declared war on Voldemort after an incident on the UoM campus triggered a lockdown and captured the suspect of a Death Eater spy as a Muggle college student attempting to kill the Muggle governor of Minnesota Wendell R. Anderson. Colonel Silaeva Vadimovna founded the first All Women 101st Bomber Regiment to carry out night raids attack in Swordfish MK II; she didn’t hesitate and signed up after being requested an transfer from the Guards to honor her father's time as an fighter pilot. With the control and stealth tactics she was made Wing Leader of the 401st, during her first mission on a night raid assault on Fjeld Consultant dock she was to lead her wings to staff the dock with rockets and machine guns. She didn't see this as a raid operation; it was vengeance. Flying at high speed, her wing women swoop down onto the dock targeting the docked ships and dock workers of Death Eaters and elves unloading stolen cargos. Madeline’s navigator spots an oil spill that leads to an oil tanker refueling on one of the docked ships. Madeline hands her a flare gun and aims at it with a precise shot setting it on fire; her spotter and gunner were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on that day. Madeline and William continued their relationship while at Hogwarts while on leaves grew even closer than before, continuing writing her legacy with a fitting title of her memoir and members of the 101st: No Bullets Fly.

She was approached by Lily Potter asking her to join D.A, “Like hell, I’d join.” She said, calmly rejecting her. Sirius Black later asked her, same response but throwing oil grease at him, gets court martialed for getting into a fight with the first two got cleared thanks to Amber being her lawyer, James Potter tried to apologize to her for the second time and asked her to join the D.A, she asked him to go on “recon” out in the city later taking James on a dangerous stunt by flying upside down causing James to pass out and dropping him safely out her plane over London on top of Big Ben. She adopted and changed her name to Diana, meaning beautiful, known for wearing her Class As off-duty. Later, she found out having quarter-veela attracting men on base, Silaeva punished them by working overtime for flirting with her ace pilot.

Amélie received a letter from her boyfriend at Hogwarts; Gérard, after finding out who’s behind her sister’s death. Lucius Malfoy. She was enraged, which fueled her to kill every Death Eaters she sees in every sortie from Norway to northern France racking up kills, 18 Death Eaters, 21 Snatchers, in total of 39 confirmed kills but this changed on her leave in France till she drove passed down Death Eater. Still in anger, she gets out, pulls out her pistol and aims at the wounded with a pistol in her hand as she walks up to the injured, the Death Eater took off her mask revealing a resemblance of her dead sister. They both have their moment. The Death Eater reaches into her pocket while Diana pulls the hammer back of her pistol till she pulls out a photo of herself before she becomes a Death Eater. She was a dropout at Durmstrang Institute and made a horrible mistake joining Voldemort’s cause; she was fifteen at the time. Helped her by getting her into a nearby town. She checked the Death Eater into a Muggle hospital and stayed by her side till she recovered. A few weeks went by as they played chess by her side, yet never exchanged their names once; she was already in trouble with Colonel Silaeva Vadimovna forgoing over her leave; she replied, saying, “Aiding a downed foe and a friend.” Silaeva kept it a secret from the other pilots. Madeline checked herself out, leaving the Death Eater asleep to rest. Returned to base where Mad-Eye Moody approached her; he inferious with her of aiding a “thug” and should be punished to Azaband. She shouted back, saying, “What if she and I have something in common? We could’ve had things for sewing, talking about boys, and marriages. You DA are nothing but a damn fool!” Followed by some “colorful language” she gets slapped by Moody and leaves the base by flying on his broomstick. At least she did the right thing. Flying after sorties after sorties she racked up more victories for her plane. Totaling to 10 victories, 80 Death Eaters and 65 Snatchers on Broomsticks with some being shared from her tail gunner’s.

After the war, she got a job at the Ministry in the Statue of Secrecy, working with the Canadian Secret Service and the Office of Strategic Service on a fourteen-year investigation regarding Project Tears, Catherine, and the possible scandal has been set from the Ministry and at Hogwarts. During her time, Diana and William got married and gave birth to a boy named Charlie Tim. William thought it'd be best to give their son what he wanted, but she kindly objected to him because they didn’t want to raise a spoiled baby in later life. They move onto 4th Privat Drive, about behind the backyard of the Dursley, William starts getting to know them, what they didn’t know, William and Diana were tasked by Dumbledore to keep an eye on them. They continue taking part in Canada's winter offensive in Europe, while Gerard and Amelie babysit Charlie while taking care of their own daughter, Gretchen. After a security breach in the 2nd Wizarding Republic, the OSS and the CSS lead by Director Amber Markle, launched an operation of finding and killing Corban Yaxley and Travis, both double agents for Voldemort who has fully blended in working as an Operative in the CSS. Yaxley fed the information to Lucius about Project Tear, a project that can give Witches and Wizards the ability to open a portal to spawn or go into from anywhere at any time beyond their dreams. Lucius decided to go after both Charlie and Gretchen because both Diana and Amelie were the people that were tested during the war. McCaffrey did more tests on both Charlie and Gretchen till she realized, Gretchen may have the ability to open Tears but Charlie dosne’t as part of the DNA were genetically modified that only can see the Tears but can’t open, she figured out it has to be from Project Tears, she came to the conclusion that if the opposite sex loved one of another, granting them immortality meaning Charlie or Gretchen have to be in a relationship with each other.

McCaffrey informed Amber about Project Tears that they need Charlie and Gretchen alive, she agreed to help and dispatched her own bodyguards of 1SSF and 1st Raider Detachments. William and Diana went to Gerard and Amelie’s house to find them both almost broken and the crib were empty, both Charlie and Gretchen were missing. Diana took out her anger on Bellatrix after Elizabeth and Cole told them that Alice and Frank’s house were being attacked by Death Eaters. The kids were found unharmed, the stressed mothers and legendary pilots can lay rest After many days of disappearance.

Every year, on her dead sister’s birthday, she visits the grave of Isabella to lay a poppy flower and would spend the whole day grieving and wanting to be by her side when it is time; she’d continued visiting her grave since Charlie started Hogwart. She began to wonder what happened to the Death Eater that she saved all those years ago as a Night Bomber; during her search, Diana was diagnosed with Tuberculosis after showing symptoms of coughing out a lot of blood, passing out during court hearings and some of the official meetings to the point she had to be taken to St Mungo's Hospital for her treatment, it became contagious the nurses didn’t have enough resources to contain it. Still, they had McCaffrey giving her a serum to make her life just a bit longer before it wears off. In 1994 Diana received a letter from a Witch named Lyudmila Kaloyanova Ileva. She explained that she was the Death Eater that Diana saved. They met on the same day as Woodrood’s unofficial arrival at Hogwarts after Durmstarng and Beubaxtion arrived two weeks earlier, soon the stories of their encounter grew that caught attention of the Daily Prophet and the Daily Bulges were going head to head, which they wanted to have a chance to get a slice of the interview. Lyudmila and Diana decided to have both of them do the discussion but on one condition. It has to be a truthful and not a fake story about their meeting. They all went down to the Three Broomsticks to their discussions; everything was going well till Rita Skeeter asked Diana, “What made you think making friends with a Death Eater was a good idea?” Diana snapped, got up, grabbed Rita by the hair, and threw her into the snow leaving just the Daily Bulges; prior to the interview, Gretchen already had blackmail on Rita and wouldn't hesitate to expose her as an unregistered Animagus to the Daily Bulges, which Rita of course being Rita she is. Goes on slandering Diana's exploit. After the interview the Daily Bulges would publish both Diana and Lyudmila's story to the world, the Daily Prophet would get slander letters not just from their own people but also got the American, Canadian even the Queen of Wizarding Prussia got involved calling Fudge "Fat walrus taking the fame and respects for the respected pilots of doing the right thing" followed by letters of hateful language and even one letters was sent to the Head of the Daily Prophet with a mustard gas also in a package which was sent by both Julia and Cindy in retaliation but they were never traced back to them. Minister officials even Fudge himself battered Diana for making friends with a Death Eater calling her out as a “Traitor.”

Diana shot back with similarities of Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler’s encounters. Fudge had a reality check afterward and went to the Three Broomsticks to get drunk. After the backlash, Diana gave Lyudmuial her finished book with an special inscription that said: “In 1975, I lost my only sister during a Quidditch match, but during my leave. I have a chance to save a down Death Eater resembling my dead sister. I may not earn a Prefect or become Head Girl. I got something even better. Your sister, Diana.” The following day, she, Amelie, Charlie, William, Princess Connie, and now retired Silaeva Vadimovna presented her the Medal of Honor in front of the whole school during dinner at the Grand Hall. What happened, during the last day of the war, she stopped a hijacked train in Holland carrying the Muggle Prime Minister by firing her plane at the engine boiler, forcing it to stop and strafing the Death Eaters, knowing it was a suicide run might potentially hit the Prime Minister. She and Lyudmila were invited back into Holland for a memorial ceremony of the 101st Bomber Regiment in Arnhem, Holland, the exact spot where both DA, 101st Bomber Regiments, and the Danish Auro fought Voldemort’s Followers in a deadly four weeks of hell. But most of the credits went to the 101st for being forgotten of the heroes of the Wizarding World.

In 1995 both firm now friends went on their final flight just months before the Second Wizarding War broke out, she fought a woman named Bellatrix Lestrange at the Department of Mysteries; before the fight, she became very sick as she went over to her desk to take out her service pistol, Kingsley tells Diana to stand down and stay behind but she said that'll be her last fight and ready to die, during the fight, she was coughing till she sees Charlie was about to be hit with the killing curse, she threw herself in front of Charlie and fell into the portal. Diana Tim died at the age of thirty-six. Amelie, Gretchen, and Charlie go to Lyudmila’s house and tell her that Diana’s life is taken away. She snaps and goes after Igor for being a death eater by suffocating him in his sleep. Lyudmila cornered Bellatrix in an alleyway at Knockturn Alley, raised her wand, and then a flashing green light can be seen reflected in the sky. Lyudmila became the next victim to die. Lyudmila was also thirty-six.

[blazingstar29]

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane - Chapter 1

Pairing: Iceman/Maverick

Summary: Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is confident in his ability to fly Tomcats and seduce women. Top Gun changes both of those things

Warnings: Self-esteem issues

Wordcount: 1. 9 K

“Maverick.” The name hangs from Iceman’s tongue in a way that makes his skin crawl.  “I’m curious. Who was covering Cougar while you were showboating with this MiG?”

A smile stretches unashamedly exposing his misaligned teeth, a trait that only a few years ago began to become less noticeable.  “Cougar was doing just fine.”

“Uh-huh.”

He misses the contemptuous stare that follows his retreating form. God, what was up that guy’s ass? Worse yet, if he’s as good as Goose says, Maverick really has to up his game. And he’s not losing to someone as arrogant as Iceman. Merlin and Cougar, he could cope with coming second place too. Not this guy. It’s like he has something to prove, thinks Maverick. Maybe he can see that Maverick might really best them all. That knowledge alone makes anyone facing second place itch for their triggers. Wouldn't be the first time the Mitchell name has made people restless. 

Everywhere Maverick has gone, Navy families avoid him like the plague. His fellow aviators often opt to sneer but it’s the families, the older generations, that blank him. It’s almost like they’re worried he’s going to ask them something, or bring up the past. Maverick decided a long time ago the past is none of his concern. He can’t change it so there’s no point dwelling on his rejection from Annapolis. All he can do now is get as far in the Navy as he can, even if his non-Annapolis education shuts doors he wouldn’t want to open in the first place. 

Goose senses his shifted mood in pre-flight but stays silent. He is already strapped in and waiting with the ground crew as Maverick does a quick walk around. Strapping himself in and fixing his hard hat, they wait for the go-ahead for the flight line as Goose rattles off pre-flight. 

“Brakes – brakes okay, accumulator pressure up. Fuel – normal, auto-trans dump off…” It all fades into the background as Maverick runs through the hop ahead of them. Hard deck of ten thousand, it’s just them and Jester. One on one for the first round. “Compass and standby gyro – compass synched, standby gyro set!”

With the affirmation from Goose that everything was in order, Maverick nudges the throttle. Setting the brakes, they go to Zone Two afterburner and he releases the brakes. The Zone Five afterburner slams their internal organs against the back of their bodies as the F-14 ascends with pace. After less than five hundred metres of runway they’re airborne and climb at one hundred knots. 

The inertia generated by the engines behind them holds Goose and Maverick against their seats until they level out. 

“Gentlemen, this is your first hop. The jets you are flying against are smaller, faster and more manoeuvrable. Just like the enemy MiGs.”

Maverick grins into his oxygen mask. “Fight’s on.” 

—

“You won? That’s bullshit,” Wolfman complains good naturedly. 

“What didn’t everyone? Goose asks knowing full well the answer. Maverick smiles to himself as he shimmies from his G-Suit. 

“Hell no!” Wolf complains lying back on the bench. “We got our asses kicked. Thirty seconds. We went like this, he went like that.” 

The locker room is full of flat palms and flying elbows debriefing their own flights. It confirms something that Maverick has been certain of. The class may be the top one-percenters, but him? He’s the best of all of them. No one had been able to beat Jester on the first hop but he and Goose had.

In his peripheral vision he sees the Iceman and Slider walk in.

“He’s laughing at us,” says Hollywood with a hint of bitterness. “Right on the radio, he’s laughing at us.”

“No it’s me laughing, dickhead,” Slider sneers. “We won.” 

The room erupts in cheers and congratulations. Goose shakes Slider’s hand and Maverick can’t help the hint of betrayal that sneaks into his chest. He shakes it off. Goose and Slider go way back. Besides, Slider may be Ice’s RIO but he’s nothing without the Iceman. He’s just the dog that gets dragged along on a leash. All bark and no bite. Iceman has the bite and Maverick resolves to see how hard he can — and show that he will always bite harder.

“They won too, man,” Hollywood points at Maverick’s back. He can feel Iceman turn to look at him.

Iceman pulls off his shades, not even bothering to talk to Maverick’s face. “That’s not what I heard,” he goads.

“No, we did. We got Jester.” Maverick’s wretched feeling of betrayal turns into pride as Goose holds his ground against their win. They got Jester, no two ways about it.

“No, no. Below the hard deck doesn’t count.” Slider even has the audacity to hold his hand out flat as if to demonstrate what the hard deck is. Finally Maverick turns around to face the others, a slight smile on his face half way between amused and pissed. 

“Hard deck, my ass. We nailed that son of a bitch.”

He high fives Goose as Iceman turns around as if the scene causes him immense pain. 

“You guys really are cowboys,” he spits.

Cowboys? God what is his problem? Maverick has run into old Navy names before but none of them are like Tom Kazansky. Not once has he commented on the Mitchell name and they’ve never met before. So for the life of him, Maverick can’t figure out what his problem is and he’s about to find out. Stiffening his shoulders Maverick leans forward. 

“What is your problem, Kazansky,” he asks. Because now he wants to know. 

Iceman turns slowly chewing on that irritating gum as if he has all the time in the world. “You’re everyone's problem.” The locker room goes quiet waiting to see if this is what gets the best pilots in Top Gun thrown out on their asses. “That’s because everytime you go up in the air you’re unsafe.”

He enunciates every word with a flash of his broad, white teeth. Maverick watches him with a growing smirk. “I don’t like you because you’re dangerous.” 

Raising his fist, Maverick rushes forward a step. A manic tinge in his wide eyes. “That’s right, Ice…Man,” he pauses, ignoring the urge to say Iceboy, deciding faltering on ‘man’ just adds greater insult to injury. “I am dangerous.”

Iceman snaps his teeth. The post-flight adrenaline crash is starting to swirl with their heads. Maverick leans back with a smile. Gnashing his teeth like that, who does he think he is? It’s hilarious but before Maverick can even utter some scathing review of Iceman’s display of dominance his callsign rings loud and clear. 

“Maverick.”

Fuck it’s Jester.

“You and Goose get your butts out of that flight gear and up to Viper’s office, now.”

Unlike Slider, Jester operates of his own free will alongside Viper. There’s danger in his voice. It makes Maverick certain of the type of pilot he wants to be, feared. There is nothing more he wants than for someone to hear his name and think of the MiG spotter, one day killer. The pilot who takes risks that pay off in rich rewards. Iceman might not like that but that says more about him, Maverick reckons. If he’s afraid of danger he’s got no business playing pilot. 

The tense mood dissipates into a sombre one as the other aviators come back to reality. Goose rubs his brow regretfully but all Mav can think is how he’s going to wipe the smile off of Iceman’s face when he wins the trophy. 

“Remember,  boys,” Slider interjects Maverick’s thoughts. “There’s no points for second place.”

Evidently at the end of his tether, Goose waves a finger at Slider. “You’re a lot brighter than you look.”

“Oh you just shut up,” Slider snaps. Realising the RIO’s are just as much of a fight risk as themselves, Maverick pulls Goose back from the edge with a smile.

“Goose, don’t worry,” he laughs. 

—

Viper doesn’t hold back. But it’s not his words that float in his head hours later, it’s Goose’s. 

“Thanks a lot Mav, I really enjoyed that.”

“I gotta be straight Mav, right now I just hope to graduate.”

Graduate. God how could he be so stupid? Goose ain’t got no controls back there but they’ll both go down if he doesn’t start playing the game right. The family card. Goose doesn’t play that often. Mostly because he considers Maverick his family. But Carol and Bradley are his dependents. Every cent Goose gets out of the Navy goes directly to his wife. 

“Yeah I guess that flyby wasn’t such a big hit, huh?”

Goose’s sympathetic tone clouds in his ears like cotton wool. 

“Look man. I know it’s tough for you.” He’d almost wanted to lash out then. What the hell did Goose know? But he didn’t because Goose does know. He’s seen the doors shut in Maverick’s face, he’s been offered to switch pilots because no matter how well Maverick flies, the Navy will shut a door in his face. And if Goose isn’t careful they’ll shut a door in his face too. “It makes me nervous.”

That’s what scares Maverick. It’s in no interest for the Navy to send RIO’s up with pilots they don’t trust. Exchanges are done without many questions and there would be even less for Goose. A RIO escaping the tag-along ghost of Duke Mithchell, who could blame him? 

—

Iceman’s really done it this time. There’s nothing Maverick wants more than to bash him into the hot dry sand. 

Chicken shit runs in the Mithchell family. I’d rather have a hereditary disease. 

He’s angry, so angry. But there’s no way to retaliate other than through volleyball. If he actually fought Iceman, Maverick would be escorted straight to the front gate. He can’t do that to Goose. What he can do is set the damn ball right into Iceman’s face. It seems Slider and Goose have their own little engagement going on as well. But from the second Goose detoured Mav from his date with Charlie there was a vendetta to complete. 

It’s been a long time coming. Iceman had to make a dig at his name at some point. That’s what Maverick doesn’t understand. Why hadn’t he done it yet? 

The other players retire, preferring to spectate the rivalry. There’s only ever a point between them. But when Maverick checks his watch as Iceman and Slider confer, he comes crashing back to reality.

5:30 SHARP

That boat has well and truly sailed. 

“C’mon Mav there’s six dollars, American on the line here!” Goose complains but Maverick doesn’t stop as he shrugs his shirt back on. His jacket is uncomfortably hot and sticky but he’ll deal with it. There’s a girl he needs to apologise to. 

—

Maverick’s never lost interest in a girl so fast. It’s true that Charlie is bright yet enigmatic but not even the prospect of sex could rekindle his interest.. She’s good fun, obviously smarter than he is but the idea of sleeping with her seems a redundant use of time. Not that the dinner was bad, he reflects. Something about listening to music, lulled into a doze by wine and warm sun was oddly refreshing. But sex is well and truly off the cards now, hell Maverick wouldn’t mind if henever saw her again outside of work. Why, though? It seems everything today is sending him for a spin. 

He still can't wrap his head around Iceman. At this point Mav can only think he’s just intimidated by him. The Top Gun trophy is his. Nothing and no one can stand in his way.

[inlovewithmoony]

a remus lupin fanfiction by inlovewithmoony

CHAPTER LIST || CHARACTERS || MOODBOARD || PLAYLIST

SUMMARY: CARINA OCTAVIA is a muggle-born witch studying her last year of Hogwarts when her eyes land on the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. It’s wrong, and she knows, but something about him just can’t keep her away.

WORD COUNT: 1.6k

WARNINGS: smoking, implied emotional abuse

CHAPTER ONE: A Visit to Diagon Alley

Carina smiled at her reflection in the slightly dusty mirror— she looked pretty. She had no intention of dressing up when she awoke this morning but when her parents told her they were going to Diagon Alley, she thought she'd at least make an effort for once. A cute, black dress sat on her body; mid-thigh in length and an adorable white lace around the neckline. She had accompanied the dress with a pair of Mary-Jane's and a thick, black cardigan— her hair put up in a ponytail, leaving two strands hanging beside her ears.

With minimalistic makeup, just some mascara and a touch of rouge, she looked her best. Her face wasn't suited for heavy makeup, it itritated her most of the time and Carina couldn't fathem how most girls her age wore layers of cakey product on their face everyday. Nonetheless, she looked pretty and that was all that mattered to her at that moment.

"Carina, darling, are you ready to leave?" Her mother called out from behind her bedroom door. Taking one last glance in the mirror, she told her mother she'd be with her in a minute and hastily grabbed all the things she needed for the trip. With her wand placed in her pocket, and a handy packet of muggle cigarettes in the other, she left her bedroom.

"You look fantastic," her mother greeted her with a smile, "Your father's waiting in the car, we best get going, you know how impatient he can be,"

Carina's mother wasn't wrong, her father got irritated easily and by the most little things. One time, he had a full-blown meltdown because Carina had forgotten to fully seal the cheese in the fridge; It was safe to say that the girl always triple checked the packet from then on.

After making sure she definately had everything she needed, Carina made her way to the silver BMW parked in the driveway— the engine humming being the only sound they could hear as the pair climbed into the car. Carina never really spoke much in front of her father, she was way too frightened of saying the wrong thing and making him upset, which was never wise whilst they were in a moving vehicle. She instead pulled out a cigarette, rolling the window down, and placed it inbetween her teeth before lighting it with her wand.

"It's bloody crazy how you— witches— can do that with that stick," her father mumbled, eyes still focused on the road as he spoke. Carina didn't reply, just nodding her head slightly and taking a deep drag of the cig before exhalling. The rest of the car ride was quite quiet, the silence only being interrupted with the low sound of the radio and her father's angry shouts to bad drivers on the road.

Soon enough, they had arrived at the Leaky Cauldron and Carina's father let her and her mother out of the car before driving away. He didn't like magic, or anything associated with it, so he had decided to skip out on the visit to Diagon Alley. Carina was quite relieved since she had avoided the possibility of her father having one of his meltdowns in front of everybody.

"Where do you wanna go to first?" Her mother asked her when they had stepped onto the quite busy street. Carina thought for a moment, her eyes scanning the rows of shops, "I would like to nip into Flourish and Blotts to see if I can find any new fiction to read, but I would really appreciate it if you went and picked up Ghost's food, I cannot stand the smell of that place,"

Ghost was Carina's cat. He was a white and grey Siberian and merlin was he clingy; Carina was quite lucky he didn't claw at her to accompany her on the trip. "Of course, it's the chicken one he likes, right?" her mother asked, thinking it's best to make sure she didn't pick up the wrong food because Ghost had quite a temper at times.

"Yeah, thank you," Carina gave her mother a smile before heading towards the fading blue bookshop. The familiar smell of old books and vanilla hit her like a slap when she opened the front door. It was quite comforting, really.

"Ah, Miss Octavia! I was wondering when you would show up," the manager of the shop, a young wizard by the name of Arthur Ghoul, had spoken when he saw the brunette enter the shop, "Please come, I have so many new fiction books for you— even some muggle ones!"

Carina gave him a wide grin, making her way up to the desk where he was stood, "Oh, Arthur, you shouldn't have!" she exclaimed when he had placed a pile of at least 10 books on the counter. He waved off her comment, "Of course I should have, Carina, I couldn't resist picking them up when I came across them,"

As her hands skimmed across the covers one by one, she smiled, "Thank you so very much, how much do I owe?"

"Nothing at all, dear," Arthur had said, "Consider it a birthday present since I won't be seeing you when the day actually comes around,"

After thanking the man many times, Carina left the shop with a pile of books in her arms and a happy glint in her eyes. The books were quite thick, however, and piled together they made it quite difficult to see what was in front of her and so when she had stepped outside the door, she bumped into something. Or more likely, someone.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't see you there," Carina flushed as she scrambled to pick up some of the books that had fallen. However, before she could pick up the last book, the person she had bumped into picked it up for her. It was then that she took a look at the man she had so clumsily walked straight into.

He was quite tall, around 6"2, and had slightly messy brown hair that had flecks of grey. He was rather handsome, despite the almost-silver scars that ran along his face, and his eyes shone amber. "Oh not to worry," he said, "I'm sure it's quite hard to see with this many books,"

The man handed the book to Carina, who hastily popped it on top of the others. "Thank you, uh?"

"Remus," he smiled, holding out a hand, "Remus Lupin," The witch shook his hand, blushing slightly as her skin made contact with his, "Carina Octavia,"

"Such a pretty name," Remus spoke, letting his hand go back into his pocket, "It was lovely to meet you, Carina,"

"Likewise," she replied, red still tinting her cheeks. And as quick as the interaction had begun, it was over, and Carina walked off towards the direction of where her mother was. "What's got you blushing, love?" her mother asked when she saw her. Carina didn't answer, just looked down at her feet with a grin— he was so lovely.

"C'mon then, dear, your father should be waiting for us now,"

A couple of days had passed since her trip to Diagon Alley, and Carina was getting together the last few things she needed for Hogwarts. After hastily shoving a few bottles of Firewhisky and cigarette packets under spare robes in her trunk, she was finally fully packed. She ran a hairbrush through her brunette hair, making it look at least presentable, before collecting her trunk and Ghost's pet carrier and leaving the room.

"All ready to go?" her father asked, tapping his foot unpatiently on the floor, "Lucky if you don't miss the bleeding train,"

"We have plenty of time, Paul," her mother spoke, but soon went quiet when her father shot her an unimpressed glare. The three of them left the house, Carina double-checking she had everything, before climbing into the silver BMW. “You looking forward to your last year, love?” her mother made small talk, trying to difuse the obvious tension in the car.

“Yeah and no,” Carina replied, a cigarette between her lips, “I’m not happy to be leaving— I love that place,”

“Well I’m bloody glad you’re leaving,” her father huffed, “Then you can go to a normal school and live a normal life,” Carina just sighed in reponse, taking a deep drag of her tab and blowing the smoke out of the window, her eyes watching the trees zoom past the window.

What she told her mother wasn’t wrong, she was absolutely dreading leaving the castle. Carina had no idea what to do when she left Hogwarts, she had considered becoming an Auror at one point but when she revieved an EE in Potions instead of an O, that was completely blown out of the window.

Pushing the thought into the back of her mind, she decided to focus on what she wanted to do when she arrived. Obviously, the first thing on her to-do list was gush to her best friend, Celeste, about the man she had bumped into earlier that week; Remus Lupin. Her and Celeste were very close, having been the only people there for eachother in their first year at the school.

Carina wouldnt wait to see her, the pair had barely spoken all summer.

Before long, they had arrived at King’s Cross station and Carina’s father had decided to stay in the car rather than see her off so it was just her and her mother stood on the platform. “I’ll write to you once a week, darling, promise me you’ll be safe— and good luck with your exams, I know you can do it,” her mother spoke to her as they stood infront of the scarlet train.

“Thanks mum,” Carina replied, pulling her mother into one last hug, “Tell dad I said goodbye and all that gushy stuff, I’ll see you next summer,”

With her school trunk in one hand and Ghost in his pet carrier in the other, Celeste waved goodbye to her mother and climbed onto the train. She was ready for her final year.

[tennesseebedward]

I got a request

Write me the smexiest smex scene imaginable, coward

Tom Riddle double checked the address listed on the receipt. He had worked as a pizza delivery driver for years at that point -- he picked up the job while still studying at university, just so he could eat more than ramen each week. The job went from "temporary until I finally finish uni" to "temporary until I can jumpstart my career" to "temporary until the economy isn't as shite" to, finally, "I don't want to think about how long I need to work here anymore."

As bad as the job was, though, Tom thought he could no longer be surprised by customers. Evidently, that was not the case. Because now his car sat idling in front of an impressively impractical mansion. No -- he re-read the delivery address again -- an impressively impractical manor. Only someone obscenely rich would care about the correct terminology between "mansion" and "manor", to the point they wanted it clarified to a lowly delivery driver.

The manor towered over Tom. It had to have been power washed recently, as the white marble columns lining the entrance were entirely free from dirt and grime. His headlights, aimed at the double doors, revealed the intricate, gold detailing lining the wood. He couldn't see into the manor itself, as the windows on the double doors were made out of custom made stained glass. (Granted, Tom was assuming the stained glass was custom made. But why else would there be peacocks on there, arched and reflected to create a perfect "M"?)

Tom sighed as he lowered the receipt. He put it on top of the large pizza sitting in his passenger side seat, taking a quick glance at his car radio's clock. It was almost one in the morning. Honestly, now that he saw where (another quick glance at the receipt, now turning damp due to steam escaping the pizza box) Abraxas Malfoy lived, Tom could absolutely see why he decided to order pizza at the most impractical possible hour. Impracticality had to be baked into his DNA.

Tom killed his car's engine, making sure to turn off his headlights before unbuckling his seatbelt. He opened up his door with one hand and carefully grabbed the pizza with the other. The sooner he finished this delivery, the sooner he could clock out, and the sooner he could fail to fall asleep in his crummy flat.

It didn't take long for Tom to leave his car and climb to the top of the manor's front steps. He walked to the front door and knocked a few times. Through the stained glass, he could see a blob of movement enter into one of the side hallways. Said blob, after checking its reflection in a stray mirror, walked into the foyer and opened the door, revealing a man around Tom's age.

Abraxas Malfoy was naked. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Abraxas did have a robe on, also adorned with patterns and feathers from peacocks. But said robe was silk and very, very form fitting. It left absolutely no room to the imagination. Tom could see everything.

Tom forced himself to look at Abraxas's chest -- no, fuck, wait. The robe purposefully revealed Abraxas's chest. He was ripped. Holy shite, was he an athlete? Tom forced himself to look at Abraxas's face, framed with platinum, almost white, hair. Abraxas looked back at Tom with a wry smile.

Tom immediately held the pizza up, a not-so-subtle reminder of why he was here at all. "Did someone order a baked sausage pizza?"

"I did." Abraxas then abruptly arched his back to dramatically press his hand to his forehead. The entire left side of his robe pulled up with his arm. Now Tom absolutely refused to look down. "Oh, but mon Merlin! It appears as though I do not have any money!"

Abraxas, thankfully, lowered his hand to his chin, but Tom was not going to check to see if the robe also fell back into place. "Hm. How can I possibly pay for a sausage of this size?"

Abraxas once again turned to look at Tom directly, tapping the end of his chin with his finger as he pretended to think. "Hmm."

Tom stared back.

Abraxas wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. He posed against the manor's front door, trying to get Tom to look down again. "Hmmm."

Tom did not look down again. He just kept staring forward.

Abraxas, in turn, kept wiggling his eyebrows. "Hmmmm."

No one said anything for what felt like minutes. The wind began to creep into the manor. Abraxas, though still trying his best to look seductive, also looked notably uncomfortable in the cold.

Tom finally decided to break the stalemate. He looked into Abraxas's eyes, pools of melted silver, and asked exactly what anyone in his place would have asked: "Why the fuck would you order a pizza then?"

With that, Tom turned on his heel and left the premises, pizza still in hand. He was not paid enough for this shite.

[yellowmagicalgirl]

Hi! Never wrote an ask to someone before so I hope I'm doing this right... If you'd like, for kissing prompt, 32 or 17, krexie? Pretty please?

Don’t worry, you did perfectly re: requesting via an ask, and I’m honored to be your first ask.

17. Tucking their hands beneath the other person’s shirt, just to watch them break the kiss and gasp in surprise at the sensation of cold/warm hands on their skin.

from 50 Types of Kisses - Writing Prompts

I actually did something similar a year ago, in my not-at-all-Wizards compliant fic A Touch of Cold, which is a sequel to my fic Destiny's Pawn. This fic is gonna be an alternate point of view for A Touch of Cold.

CW: past mind control

AO3 (If you have an account, let me know and I’ll gift this to you)

FFN

Winter had been Mordred’s favorite season once. He had adored snow and the way it had covered Camelot in a beautiful white blanket. He had liked the way his breath would come out as puffs of fog, a type of magic that wizardry couldn’t quite mimic.

It isn’t his favorite season, not anymore. Maybe it’s the fact that winters in Southern California only bring harsh and bitter winds, pouring rain, and on rare occasion hail, but never snow. He’s heard from coworkers who have family from out-of-state that even though it doesn’t snow in SoCal, it’s colder here than in areas with snow. Snow is an insulator, no matter if you’re in a sixth century semi-magical castle or a twenty-first century office building. It keeps away the worst of the cold.

Except for Douxie, the worst of the cold may not even be the external cold, but rather the cold’s horrible connotation. Every time Merlin had controlled Mordred with his magic, Mordred had felt cold and numbness flooding through his body. Worse, being cold is Douxie’s most common PTSD trigger, one that even well into adulthood would drag him back to being a teenager with no choice but to do Merlin’s bidding. At least he now knows it’s a trigger, though. In his freshman year of high school, the first winter Douxie had experienced since Camlann, he had nearly destroyed his friendships because he hadn’t realized just how bad of a mental state the constant cold had put him in.

He is so thankful that Byqvist, his therapist, had survived Gunmar’s massacre of the Janus Order. He is so thankful that Strickler had reached out to Byqvist after seeing how much Jim, Douxie, and Claire had been struggling to find a therapist who actually knew how to work with victims of mind control and possession. He is so thankful that Byqvist had been willing to oblige Strickler’s request.

Douxie sighs as he parks his car in front of the house he shares with his husband. The heater is so nice in the car, and there’s a Papa Skull song playing on the radio. If he exits the car, he’s going to have neither of those things.

The song stops playing, giving way to an ad break. He sighs and turns off the engine. Time to brave the cold and all the horrors that it brings.

He walks as quickly as possible, squinting as the wind bites and batters his face and whips about his bangs. When he gets to the porch, he drops his keys and chooses to just use magic to pick up his keys and unlock the door.

Behind the door is a face that has always brought Mordred joy.

No, it hasn’t. That’s a lie and he can’t lie around Krel, whose face has brought forth other emotions. Anguish and despair upon first realizing that Krel is his soulmate, frustration whenever Krel steals the blankets (especially when he is sleeping in the form that doesn’t even feel temperature as extremely as humans do), and so many more emotions that are all worth having married Krel for.

“How was work?” Krel asks as Mordred hangs up his coat.

“Alright, though I think Gregory’s mad at me again.”

“Isn’t he always?”

“True.” Last week, it was because Douxie had fixed the printer in under ten minutes after Gregory had spent over an hour on it. And Douxie hadn’t even used magic on that fix, except pointing that out had made Gregory even more angry. “How was your day?”

“I should have made the final multiple choice. Then, I could just use campus’s scantron reader.”

“Don’t you hate using that thing? And multiple choice tests in general?” After all, every single time Krel had designed a multiple-choice test, he complained about how it told him absolutely nothing about his students aside from their guessing habits.

“But then I wouldn’t have to deal with undergrad tests.”

“Have you been grading the 225 final all day?”

“No, I caught up with the last of the homework for 476. But other than that, it’s just been 225. I didn’t expect so many of them to finish it.”

Mordred raises an eyebrow. While he trusts his husband, Douxie’s least favorite professors in college didn’t grade homework until after the exam. Hopefully Krel had at least gave his students the answer key to their homework before the final exam. Plus, what cruelty was Krel inflicting on his students, making a test too long to finish?

“I was going to curve it anyways,” Krel continues. “Given the time limit I thought they’d take their time on some problems and leave the others blank, not rush on everything.”

Krel  takes a step towards Douxie. Krel then leans his head so he can kiss Mordred. Douxie wraps his arms around Krel’s waist.

There are many things that Douxie loves about Krel’s human form. It was the first of Krel’s forms that Douxie had seen, and therefore the first form he had started crushing on. It also radiates heat instead of light. Mordred sneaks his hands underneath the hem of Krel’s shirt.

Krel yelps and pulls away. What a pity; that wasn’t the reaction Mordred had been hoping for.

“Do you,” Krel starts, then refrases.“Your hand is too cold.”

Hand. Singular.

“It can’t be that cold,” Douxie says as he moves to twist the amulet to change his prosthetic from a gauntlet to a glove. His eyes widen. “Oh. Cold. Very cold.”

Biting, burning cold. He very quickly changes it into a glove, and then stuffs the glove in his pocket. He certainly won’t be using that to stim any time soon.

“Is that my sock?” Krel asks.

“I need to run a load of laundry, so I improvised,” Douxie answers. To be fair, he doesn’t often use socks; they don’t fit properly. “I’m going to go run it before I forget; you have any darks for me to throw in?”

“I don’t think so; I made coffee. You want any?”

[magics-protector]

Mountain Sound

Soulmate AU: Soulmates have one song that connects them - when one soulmate listens to it, they both can see each other.

The Song: Mountain Sound - Of Monsters and Men

(which I think fits Merlin absolutely perfectly)

Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube

A small kind of crack fic from my Everlast series - which will start up sometime this week because it’s Reading Week and I finally have time to write it!

With a soft sigh leaving her lips, Y/N fell into her chair, dropping the books she carried down onto the table. A long start to an already long day, if you asked her. 

First, she had to help Jack get his hand out of a cookie jar (because apparently her adopted little brother couldn’t just ‘magic’ his way out of it). Then, her Uncle asked her to “help” with work on Baby’s engine - and by “help” she meant that he made her stand there while she held all his tools and wasn’t allowed to touch the engine itself. 

Not that she could complain. It was nice having everyone home for once - not that it was going to last long. Hence the reason for all the books. A new day would bring new cases and as always, Y/N was responsible for research - being her father’s daughter had it’s disadvantages in that way. 

Speaking of her dad, he sat across from her, eyes trained on the laptop in front of him as he searched and typed, falling into the same pattern quite easily. Pulling her knees up to her chest, Y/N opened the first book on her pile and began to research - so it seemed Dragons were the big enemy of the day. 

As she read, Y/N started to notice writing she hadn’t seen in over a year. Language she hadn’t seen since she disappeared. It was the old language of the Druid People. Something she had learned to read over the years. 

As she read on, Y/N noticed the old phrasing of the common Soulmate connection: “Songs and stories of different melodies and tunes. That is what shall lead thy heart to its destiny”. 

“Huh, well that kind of sucks.” She said, meaning to think it but it just came out. 

Sam pulled his head out of his computer and looked up. “What sucks?” 

Y/N looked up from the book, motioning to the page. “The language in this book. It talks about the soulmate connection. You’d expect it to rhyme, but it doesn’t.” 

A laugh like breath came from Sam as he shook his head. “Not all old texts have to rhyme, you know?” 

Y/N scoffed with a smile. “I know that. I just think it would have been funnier and more romantic if it did.” 

Then Y/N’s smile faded. “Hey, Dad?”

He hummed in acknowledgement as he looked down at his laptop again. 

“What was your song? You know, your song with Mom?”

Y/N could see Sam tense at the question. Y/N had known for so long that her parents were in fact soulmates, but Sam never talked about her. The memory of Will was almost to painful for him to remember. Not the relationship itself, but what happened to her. 

He shifted in his seat, looking down as he nodded before he stood up, moving around the table to sit next to Y/N, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “It was Rebel Rebel. That was our song.” 

Y/N turned her head, her face shocked. “Your song with Mom was Rebel Rebel? Dad, I did not take you as a David Bowie fan.” 

Sam chuckled, moving closer to the edge of the chair and placed Y/N’s head on his shoulder. “He grew on me, only because of your mother. She loved to listen to his stuff. Rebel Rebel may have been our song but I can still remember her screaming the words to Space Oddity like there was no tomorrow.” He moved his head to look down at her, placing a small kiss on her head. “You remind me of her. Everyday I can see her in everything that you do and I know how proud she’d been if she could see you.” 

Y/N smiled sadly. “Have you ever tried to see her again? Maybe if you listened to the song again you’d see her..” 

“It doesn’t work like that, Bug.” Sam chuckled sadly. “Your mother has been gone for a while. I don’t think it’s possible to see her again until I get to her myself.” 

Y/N could sense that the conversation was getting to him, so she stopped. She would have much gathered leaned in and enjoyed the moment, which is what she did. 

“Woah, didn’t realize we were interrupting a moment.” 

Sam and Y/N looked over to the archway of the library where Dean walked in, followed by Cas and Jack. 

“Where the hell have you been, Dean?” Sam shook his head. “I called you like an hour ago to help with research.” 

Dean scoffed, taking Sam’s old seat. “Yeah, well, I had to pick these two up from the Gas Station.” He pointed at Cas and Jack with his thumb. “And what’s this about research? You two obviously aren’t doing any - OW!” 

Cas whacked Dean across the back of his head. “Don’t be rude, Dean.” 

Dean didn’t argue, he couldn’t argue with Cas, so he just grumbled. 

Y/N giggled as she watched her Uncles interact - it was honestly so surprising how long it took for the both of them - well mainly Dean - to come to terms with their connection. 

“Hey, Dee?” 

Dean looked at Y/N with a hum. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your song?” 

Dean sat up, leaning back in his chair while Cas took a seat next to him. Cas had a smile on his face while Dean gave off a rare cross between a smirk and a smile. “Well, that’s easy. It’s --”

“You Shook Me All Night Long.” Both Dean and Cas said at the same time, which made the both of them smile at each other. 

Y/N nodded her head, almost as if in agreement. “How did I know?” She giggled. 

Jack smiled too - he hadn’t found his song yet, but he was waiting, knowing he’d find it one day. He looked over at his ‘sister’ with a curious face. “Why do you ask, Y/N? You’ve never been interested in Soulmate songs before.” 

Y/N felt all eyes on her. She thought for a moment, before she answered. “Well.... I kind of want to find my song.....” 

Dean looked at his niece with that bothersome uncle look. “I thought you had no interest in finding them.” 

Y/n looked down at her hands, rubbing them together. “But I did. At least, I’m 99% sure I found him.” 

Everyone’s faces erupting with smiles and cheers - Sam gripped her tight in a side hug. “That’s amazing, Y/N!” 

“What’s the kid’s name?” 

“Where’s he from?” 

“What’s your song?” 

Y/N put her hands up to stop them.”Woah! Woah! I never said I found my song. I just said I think I found him.” 

Cue the confusion. “But,” Jack tilted his head. “if you haven’t found your song, then how do you know?” 

Y/N took a breath before she stood up, walking towards a pillar of the archway and leaned against it. “I just feel it.” She laughed with a smile. “When I was with him, it was like.. nothing else mattered....” She shook her head. “What we went through was a lot for two people to handle, but with Merls, it was like.... it was like we could take on the whole world and no matter what the outcome was, as long as I had him, I won.” She seemed so lost in the memory, so lost that when she came back she went pink with embarrassment and she held her arms. “If that makes any sense....” 

Sam, Dean and Cas looked at each other with knowing looks. “Well then,” Dean said. “Looks like we have a song to find. After all,” Y/N looked at her uncle in confusion. “We don’t want to leave him waiting.” 

*******************************************************************************

“Ugh, this is hopeless!” 

Hours and hours of music and nothing. They tried it all - Bon Jovi, Hozier, My Chemical Romance, Lana Del Rey and countless other bands and still nothing. 

The team sat there for hours, playing music from Dean’s collection, random bands they found on YouTube, but nothing was working. 

Y/N slumped in her chair, defeated. She ran her hands over her face before she stopped and sat up quickly. “Wait!” She looked at her dad. “Dad, you said you weren’t very fond of Bowie but Rebel Rebel was your song with Mom. How did you find it?” 

Sam sat for a moment, his hand over his mouth as he thought, before his eyes went wide. “There was something that connected it to me. I would see the record or hear it faintly on the radio and that’s basically how I found it.” He leaned forward to pull his laptop towards him. “Is there any song that just stands out to you, Y/N? One that you can think of without hesitating? Like you’d see the album and feel a pull?” 

Y/N thought for a moment when her eyes went wide. She raised her head slightly and mumbled under her breath. 

“What?” 

She looked up at her family. “Mountain Sound. It’s a song by Of Monsters and Men. I’ve never really thought about it til now, but there’s something about it.” 

Sam quickly typed it into his search engine and pulled it up, handing it and the headphones over to Y/N. 

With shaky hands, Y/N put the headphones on and started the song and it was like the world had stopped. Swirls of gold filled the void in the archway capturing her gaze and she smiled. Those golden swirls soon started to form the shape of a man sitting with a book on his lap. That man, Y/N knew him better than anyone did. Tears pooled in her eyes as her smile grew wider. “I knew it.” 

Sam, Dean, Cas and Jack all smiled. They did it. 

As the swirls finished forming the boy, Y/N moved to the floor, carrying the laptop down with her as she moved closer to his form. The boy seemed to enticed by his book until he looked up and over her way. He looked around hearing the music himself and then he looked at Y/N and a smile broke out on his face, tears in his eyes. 

“Y/N?” His voice was eery, but that was normal for this kind of thing. 

Forgetting she was in the presence of her family, Y/N laughed, tears streaming down her face. “Hey, Merlin.” 

The young Warlock smiled, lunging forward to touch her, and through the power of their song, he hugged her for the first time in over a year. “I never thought I’d see you again, My Love....” He lamented. 

Y/N held him close. “Takes a lot more than a glassy portal to keep me away from you, you Cabbage head.”

Merlin pulled back, but made sure to keep a hand on her shoulders. “Where are you? We looked everywhere for you. I thought Arthur was going to take off my head if you weren’t found.” 

Y/N looked up at her soulmate and smiled. “How badly did you irritate him this time?”

With a look of pride, Merlin answered. “I going to be honest, I nearly had the Knights turn on him.” 

“Pft, hahaha! Merlin! You can’t just lead a coup against Arthur! That’s my job!”

Merlin laughed, he laughed so hard that he leaned forward and turned, resting his head on Y/N’s legs. “Honestly, to be fair, it wasn't his fault. All those Lords had been quite vocal about their disapproval over your rescue mission. I thought Gwaine was gonna tear off someone’s ear.” 

Y/N giggled, playing with Merlin’s blackish brown locks which had grown out since the last time she saw him while her other hand ran over his cheek, where a small stubble had grown as well. “I wouldn’t put it past him to do that.” 

“No. But I think the others would have let him if Arthur hadn’t been in the room.” 

Y/N looked down into his eyes and smiled. “It’s just nice to know I’ll have a huge welcoming when I get back.” 

Meanwhile, as Y/N and Merlin continued to ramble and talk away as the song repeated and repeated over and over again, Sam and the rest of Team Free Will decided to leave Y/N alone with her soulmate and as they left through the back door, Sam watched as Y/N smiled the brightest smile he’s ever seen. Silently, he vowed that he’d make sure Y/N got back to wherever she had disappeared to. 

[bebraveridethedragon]

I’ve Got No Fucking Clue

Chapter 1

Warning: I don’t think there’s any warnings for this chapter.

Chapter 2

Douxie had managed to fall asleep in the middle of the night, luckily with no nightmares. When he woke up he felt energetic, surprisingly.

It must be the thought of seeing Nat again, or meeting any of the new people. Archie stood up from where he was sleeping on Douxie’s chest before arching his back and stretching.

“You ready Arch?” Douxie asked after he had gotten dressed and brushed his teeth. He doesn’t eat breakfast.

“Yes, I’m quite excited to meet everybody and to see Nat again.” Archie said. He jumped up onto Douxie’s shoulders before he walked out of the room.

It wasn’t until mid day that people started arriving. First was Nat with Bruce, and shortly after that Rogers had shown up.

“Nat!” Douxie yelled as he ran over to give her a hug.

“Hey Doux, Arch, how’ve you been?” Nat asked as she hugged him back.

“I’ve been great, I actually have friends other than Archie now. Although most of them are still in high school. Archie’s also doing good.” Douxie said.

“Well that’s good, now let’s go meet the man out of time.” Nat said. She turned on her heel and walked towards a jet.

A blonde man that reminded Douxie of Steve walked down the ramp. This must be Steve Rogers, Douxie thought.

“Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers. Is that Hisirdoux?” Coulson introduced Nat and Steve.

“Hey Coulson, it’s great to see you.” Douxie hugged Coulson.

“Hey Archie.” Coulson scratched behind Archie’s ear.

“Ma’am, uh hi Hisirdoux?” Steve waved awkwardly.

“Please, call me Douxie.” Steve nodded before turning to Nat.

“Hi,” she turned to Coulson. “They need you on the bridge. Face time.” Coulson nodded before leaving.

“There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon.” Nat said.

“Has he asked you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?” Douxie asked.

“Trading cards?” Steve looked confused.

“They’re vintage, he’s very proud of them.” Nat said. They started walking towards Bruce Banner.

“Dr. Banner.” Steve walked up to Bruce and shook his hand.

“Oh yeah, hi. They told me you’d be coming. They didn’t tell me a kid was going to be here though.” Bruce turned his attention from Steve to Douxie.

“I’m 19, not a kid.” Douxie smiled. Bruce raised an eyebrow in a challenging way, suggesting that he still considered Douxie a kid.

“Word is you can find the cube.” Steve said.

“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce asked.

“Only word I care about.” Steve replied.

“Must be strange for you, all of this.” Bruce pointed to everything.

“Well, this is actually kind of familiar.” Steve said.

“Gentleman, you may want to step inside for a minute. It’s going to get a little hard to breath.” Natasha interrupted their conversation.

“Is this a submarine?” Steve asked.

Bruce looked skeptical, “Really, they wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?” Bruce and Steve move to the side of the helicarrier and look over.

“Oh no, this is much worse.” Bruce said when he saw the engines.

The helicarrier started rising, and they all walked inside to the bridge.

“Gentlemen.” Douxie heard Fury say. Steve handed a 10 dollar bill to Fury which confused Douxie. He’d have to ask about that later.

Fury walked over to Bruce, holding his hand out. “Doctor, thank you for coming.”

“Thanks for asking nicely. So uh... how long am I staying?” Bruce asked.

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you’re in the clear. You’ll also have Hisirdoux helping you look.” Fury told him.

“Who’s Hisirdoux?” Bruce looked around confused.

“That would be the kid, although he prefers Douxie.” Steve answered.

Douxie huffed, “I’m not a kid.”

“You look pretty young to me.” Nat said. Douxie glared at her, she knew his real age and still called him a kid.

“Where are you with finding the Tesseract?” Bruce asked, getting back on topic.

Fury looked at Coulson to explain. “We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us.”

“That’s still not going to find them in time.” Nat said. Only those close to her could tell she looked disappointed.

“That’s why Hisirdoux is helping.” Fury said.

“You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?” Bruce asked, getting back on topic.

“How many are there?” Fury asked.

“ Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?” Bruce asked.

“Agent Romanoff would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory please. And take Hisirdoux with you.” Fury said. Nat nodded before leading them down the hall.

“You’re gonna love it doc, it’s got all the toys. It also has extremely expensive stuff so try to keep an eye on Douxie.” Nat said. Douxie let out an offended huff.

Bruce chuckled, “Alright, I’ll babysit. Although I’m not promising I’ll be good at it.”

“Oh you don’t have to babysit him, just don’t let him break anything.” Nat laughed.

“I won’t break anything.” Douxie tried to defend himself.

“That’s what you say every time, right before you break something.” Nat said. Douxie huffed again before sitting down on a chair in the lab.

The chair broke right as he sat down.

“Fuzz buckets.” Nat and Bruce started laughing as Douxie groaned.

“Told you.” Nat said smugly.

“Haha, congratulations. You were right as always.” Douxie mock laughed.

“I’m going to leave you two now, see you later Doux.” Nat left the room.

“So how are you supposed to help me find the Tesseract?” Bruce asked.

“Oh I’m not looking for the Tesseract, I’m searching for Loki’s staff while you look for the Tesseract. But I can help you if you need help with anything.” Douxie responded.

“How are you supposed to find the staff?” Bruce asked, looking genuinely interested.

“Magic.” Douxie said while waggling his fingers. Bruce looked at him in disbelief.

“We’ve got a hit, doc your staying here but Fury wants Douxie to come with us.” Steve came running in saying. He looked confused as to why Fury could want a kid to fight a god but he wasn’t going to question it.

Douxie jogged out to where the jets were and saw Nat boarding one. He entered behind her and she smiled at him and Archie as she sat in the pilot seat. She told them where they were going and then started preparing for takeoff.

Steve joined them after a few minutes, wearing his Captain America get up. His helmet was off though, so it didn’t look too weird.

“Hey Spangles nice of you to join us.” Douxie said, smiling widely at Steve. He glanced at Douxie with a face that said I don’t know why your here but don’t mess anything up.

Douxie got that face a lot. He got it a lot from Morgana when he first started being Merlin’s apprentice. She never really liked him, she thought he was a screw up that didn’t deserve to be Merlin’s apprentice.

Yeah well, jokes on her Douxie thought. The flight to Germany was a long one, but not as long as it would have been on a normal plane. It was a few hours at most.

When they got there they heard Loki making a speech with everybody kneeling before him

“Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.” Loki said, his arms thrust out.

One old man stands up. “Oh fuzz buckets.” Mutters Douxie.

“Not to men like you.” The old man says.

“There are no men like me.” Loki says.

“There are always men like you.” The old man argues.

“Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example.” Loki points his staff at the old man. Steve jumps from the plane at the same time. Steve lands in front of the old man and uses his shield to deflect the blast from Loki’s staff.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.” Steve says.

Douxie laughs from where he’s standing in the jet.

“The soldier. A man out of time.” Loki mocks.

“I’m not the one out of time.” Steve retorts.

The jet starts moving and Nat points a machine gun at Loki. “Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.” Nat demands.

“Your puny guns are no match for me.” Loki says before shooting a blast at the jet. Nat moves out of the way while Douxie jumps from the jet.

“They might not be but we are.” Douxie says. He’s in a crouching position with Archie flying right behind him.

“You’re a wizard.” Loki states. Douxie can see a flash of fear before it’s replaced by a determined look.

He shoots a blast at Douxie but Douxie summons his staff and brings up a shield.

“Our turn.” Douxie says before Archie shoots fire out of his mouth and Douxie warps it to surround Loki. Loki desperately starts to put out the fire. He manages to get out and he summons more of himself.

AC-DC starts blaring over the radio on the jet and everybody looks up in confusion. Iron Man blasts the real Loki back before landing on the ground and pointing all of his weapons at Loki.

Steve, Douxie, and Tony surround Loki; Steve with his shield, Tony with his suit, and Douxie with his staff and Archie right behind him.

“Make your move Reindeer Games,” Loki puts his hands up in surrender and his armor materialized away.

“Good choice.” Tony says.

“Mr. Stark.” Steve says.

“Captain, why’s there a kid here?” Tony asked just now noticing Douxie.

“Hi I’m Douxie.” Douxie introduced himself.

“And the flying cat?” Tony pointed at Archie.

“Oh that’s Archie.” Douxie smiled at them before walking into the jet that had landed.

Steve and Tony followed him, pulling Loki with them. They were on their way back to the helicarrier when it started storming out of nowhere. Nat’s talking to Fury over her head set as she pilots the jet.

“I don’t like it.” Steve says, looking at Loki.

“What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily or being outshone by an emo teenager with his cat?” Tony asks.

“Actually, I’m a dragon that can transform into a cat.” Archie says from where he’s perched on Douxie’s shoulders. Tony shrieked and Steve jumped before staring at the cat in shock. Douxie started laughing and it was a miracle that Archie stayed on.

“Since when can you talk?” Asked Steve.

“Since always, but I felt like scaring you when you least expected it.” Archie replied easily.

“I don’t remember it ever being this easy. This guy packs a wallop.” Steve said after getting over the shock of a talking cat.

“Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?” Tony asked.

“Maybe he does yoga.” Douxie said. Tony pointed at Douxie showing his agreement.

“What are pilates?” Steve asked.

“It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle.” Tony said. Steve stared at him, unamused at his nickname.

“Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in.” Steve said after a couple beats.

“Really, he told me.” Douxie says.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you. Or put in a file.” Tony added that last part as an afterthought, looking at Douxie.

Thunder and lightning hit the jet, causing it to shake for a moment.

“Where’s that coming from?” Nat asked. No one answered.

More thunder and Loki was starting to look a little uneasy.

“What’s the matter? Scared of a little lightning?” Steve mocks Loki.

“I’m not overly fond of what follows.” Loki says.

Lightning hits the jet again and a thump can be heard from the top of the jet. The ramp is forced open and a man with long blonde hair walks in before grabbing Loki and then flying out.

“Fuzz buckets.” Douxie mutters before going to follow them.

“Stay back kid, let the adults handle this.” Tony says grabbing his bicep. He puts his helmet on.

“Another Asgardian?” Nat asks.

“Think the guys a friendly?” Steve asked after no one answers Nat.

“Doesn’t matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract’s lost.” Tony says before moving down the ramp.

“Stark we need a plan of attack!” Steve says.

“I have a plan. Attack.” Tony jumps out of the jet. Douxie rolls his eyes before he’s held back by a different hand.

“Tony was right, leave the fighting to us.” Steve says.

“I’d sit this one out Cap.” Nat says.

“I don’t see how I can.”

“These guys come from legends, they're basically gods.”

“There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that.” With that Steve jumps out of the plane.

“They’re going to get themselves killed.” Archie says.

“So follow them, you’re older than both of them combined don’t let them bench you.” Nat says.

“But I kinda want to see how this plays out.” Douxie says. Nat smirked and got the jet as close as she could.

They watched as Steve jumped into the middle of the fight and immediately get hit with a flying hammer. Steve went flying, while Tony shot a blast at the Asgardian.

Douxie rolled his eyes, “Oh fine I’ll go help them.”

Douxie jumped out of the jet and landed right in between the Asgardian and Tony. Steve was standing up from where he was knocked down. Douxie used his magic to cause a small explosion that knocked them all over.

“Kid? I thought I told you to stay in the jet?” Tony says standing up.

“I’ve never listened to people before, why would I start now?” Douxie asks.

“Who are you?” The Asgardian asks.

“Hisirdoux Casperan, but everyone calls me Douxie.” Douxie answered.

“I am Thor, god of thunder. I’ve heard of you, the Son of Coul mentioned a wizard named Hisirdoux the last time I was on Earth.” Thor said. Douxie looked surprised at that.

“Cool, can we talk this out now. Loki’s just sitting by himself.” Thor nodded before going and getting Loki. They entered the jet and sat down.

“What are you?” Steve asked Douxie.

“A wizard, Archie’s my familiar.” Douxie answered.

They rode in silence the rest of the way to the helicarrier.

Chapter 1

This story is also on AO3 if you want to read it there.

[writerkenna]

HP Next Gen Headcanons/Faceclaims

Fred Weasley II

Born January 2007

Parents: George Weasley and Angelina Johnson 

House: Hufflepuff

Headcanons:

LOVES his mama big time, totally a mama’s boy, in a good way. Has many special moments with Angelina just the two of them

Also, he is particularly close with his paternal grandparents. Molly and him like to tend to the garden together and Arthur shows him how radios work

He is so sweet, much softer of a personality than either his mum or dad, and is a truly wonderful friend to all his cousins

However, this doesn’t mean he can’t crack jokes and horse around just as great as his dad

Plays as Hufflepuff chaser from year 4 on, even though he’s not particularly amazing at quidditch, because a lot of his friends are on the team and his mom and aunt were a FREAKIN HOLYHEAD HARPIES

His parents get special permissions to see his first match, and George yells so loudly that he nearly gets kicked out of the stands

Feels a lot of pressure to live up/be a replacement for his namesake, which he tells his gran, who lets him know that his Uncle Fred would just want him to have joy in his life as himself, and that’s what the family wants too

Does a year of working at Wizarding Wheezes after he graduates (with O’s in Herbology, DADA, and Care of Magical Creatures), but his dad and him butt heads on pricing and products so much that his mum makes him quit for the family’s sake

His best friends are Oliver Wood’s daughter, Marnie, and Katie Bell’s son, Jackson

He also sees a lot of Rose, though, who has been instructed by his mum to keep an eye on him

Late bloomer, stays very young looking for a long time

Doesn’t have his first kiss until after graduation

Queer/Questioning

Roxanne Weasley (China Anne Mcclain)

Born January 2008

Parents: George Weasley and Angelina Johnson 

House: Gryffindor

Headcanons:

Probably the closest of any of the cousins to Fred’s reincarnation

Her mum and dad receive a letter about twice a month on something she’s done that disruptive or wrecked some sort of havoc on the school. They give her a talking to about, but, when no one is looking, both give her a high five

The best Beater Gryffindor has seen in long time

She owns a light beige rat named Earwax, which her Uncle Ron checks about a million times to make sure it is not a witch or wizard in disguise

Loves her cousin Rose, but if she has to get one more lecture on using a daily planner for homework, she will slug that girl in the face

Loves her ‘Irish twin’ status with Fred. They are super close and tend to have a habit of sneaking into each other’s dorms 

She loves getting her friends the ‘friends’ discount at Wizarding Wheezes and knows just which products to recommend to them

Both her and Fred played little league quidditch from ages 6-10

Spends a month of each summer with her mum and her parents once they start to get sick to help take care of them

Bisexual

Hugo Granger-Weasley (Cameron Boyce)

Born March 2008

Parents: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger

House: Hufflepuff

Headcanons:

His dad’s absolute best mate. Ron might have teared up a little when he left for school

Although, that is not say his mum doesn’t adore him as well. Specifically, adore to baby him

Growing up, Hugo was the most rough and tumble, clumsy boy, always a bruise somewhere on him and running around without looking what’s in front of him. That trait never really goes away

Is a ridiculously LOUD kid, can hear him coming from a mile away. McGonagall, who is nearing the end of her career once Hugo arrives, hears his voice on September 1st in the Great Hall and thinks, ‘Merlin, another Weasley’

He and Rose both did private muggle primary schools. He keeps in touch with a few muggle friends

His mum works full time at Ministry (on track for minister by age 45, mind you), so when not in school, he goes with his dad into Wizarding Wheezes. Fred and Roxanne are often there too, which gives them a good stockpile of inside jokes for Hogwarts

LOVES to watch quidditch, but can’t play for his life. He’s just a bit too scatterbrained and flimsy for the game. He’ll go to all of Auntie Roxanne’s games, however

Destined to be a healer, which he learns when he falls and breaks his arm in year 4. Watching Madam Pomfrey work amazes him

Asexual, panromantic

Lily Luna Potter (Sadie Sink)

Born August 2008

Parents: Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley

House: Gryffindor 

Headcanons: 

Harry Potter’s child through and through

And, that meaning, if anyone could pull of a line as wonderful as ‘there’s no need to call me sir, professor,’ it’s Lily Luna

Of her many, many, many cousins, both official and non-official, the one she is closest with is Dominique, who’s a tough girl just like her

She is also buddies with Roxanne (she calls her Rox) and helps her prep for each test she takes in their common room

Prefect in fifth year

Grandpa Arthur’s little angel (also sometimes a little devil, but he loves that part too)

She knows how to repair a muggle car engine, thanks to him

Inherited her namesake and her mum’s perfect, wonderful red locks

Speaking of namesakes, Lily Luna has always been delightfully amused by her godmother, Luna

Luna takes her with Daisy and Helena to festivals in strange lands, where Luna somehow always knows the language

She sends Luna an owl after she gets her O in Divination, and Luna sends her back a shriveled pixie foot, which is supposedly good for the mind

Daisy and Helena also become sort of her unofficial big sisters

Being raised among two boys, one of which is a prat and the other a bit of an edgelord, Lily is one tough cookie. She doesn’t falter easy. This girl’s a fighter

Straight

4/5 of Next Gen Headcanons

[oldshowbiz]

When radio started in the 1920s, corporate and independent broadcasters were equal in reach. “Educators had been among the most avid broadcasting pioneers,” wrote media scholar Erik Barnouw. “In the early 1920s, scores of colleges and universities had launched stations.”  

In the spring of 1927 there were ninety-four educational institutions with their own radio stations. But three years later those numbers had been reduced by half. Corporations had complained to the Federal Trade Commission that the public stations were interfering with their frequencies. By the end of 1929, NBC and CBS controlled ninety-percent of the transmitting power in America.   

When the stock market crashed, the corporate interests responsible for the plunge owned the airwaves. An anti-Wall Street sentiment swept America, but popular opinion was kept off the radio. The editorial board of the New Republic wrote, “The radio is an instrument, not for the free formulation of public opinion, but for molding it to suit the purposes of the small group of men who control the most important aspects of our national economic life.” 

The economist Scott Nearing argued in his 1922 essay The Control of Public Opinion in the United States that these major corporations “manipulated education, the press, and other institutions to justify great inequalities in wealth in the community.” 

Former advertising man James Rorty wrote in his study of corporate radio, “NBC is a one-hundred percent owned subsidiary of the Radio Corporation of America, which manufactures radio equipment and pools the patents of General Electric, Westinghouse and American Telephone and Telegraph. Obviously the educational [interests] are facing a closely affiliated group representing the dominant power and communications interests of America. NBC and Columbia represent big business, and what does big business care for education and culture?” 

Commercial advertising became the dominant purpose of radio. Lee de Forest, one of the engineers who had pioneered radio technology, griped that his invention had been co-opted by Madison Avenue and turned it into a “huckstering orgy.” 

With the election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, educators, intellectuals, and those interested in the public option thought they could persuade the government to re-establish some balance. President Roosevelt replaced the Radio Act of 1927 with the new Federal Radio Commission, the precursor to the FCC. It placed telephone and broadcast regulations under one banner. Senators Robert F. Wagner of New York and Henry D. Hatfield of West Virginia proposed restrictions on corporate control and a permanent allocation of frequencies for minorities, working people, and non-profits. Hatfield called commercial radio “pollution of the air.” 

“Many educators saw radio as an extraordinary educational resource that in a few years had been handed over to business control, with active help from the Federal Radio Commission,” wrote Erik Barnouw. “A flourishing rhetoric of ‘public service’ had developed, but to the FRC this had been synonymous with service to advertisers. Educational broadcasters – considered by the FRC a ‘special interest’ had been squeezed into part-time channel assignments, in most cases confided to daytime hours and restricted to low-power.” 

Corporations aggressively fought the amendment, comparing it to Soviet control. A decade earlier, corporate interests had pooled their resources to establish the National Association of Broadcasters, a powerful lobby which fought educational and public radio. NAB said the Wagner-Hatfield amendment would “seriously undermine, if not destroy, this best of all possible broadcasting systems.” NAB argued that any new regulations were unnecessary because corporations were “so extraordinarily benevolent” that non-profit independents would merely be redundant.  

The Wagner-Hatfield proposal was defeated in what Barnouw called a “total victory for the status quo.” NBC president Merline Aylesworth boldly admitted that his network’s purpose was to squeeze out alternative points of view. Radio was a way “to preserve our now vast population from disintegrating into classes… We must know and honor the same heroes, love the same songs, enjoy the same sports, and realize our common interest in our national problems.” 

James Rorty called radio “an instrument by which advertisers, with the complex of interests and prejudices which they represent, shape and control the economic, social and political patterns of the literate population … through controlled or influenced editorial content.”

[projecthabu]

     Around 10:00 AM on October 10, 1968, SR-71 17977 was poised to take off on Runway 14 at Beale Air Force Base, California. With 12,000 feet of concrete in front of him, Pilot Abe Kardong received the “all clear” light gun signal from the tower and pushed the throttles up causing the high pressure 415 psi tires to roll. As Kardong firewalled the throttles, the afterburners lit one after another with their distinctive green flash. Faster and faster, the tires sped down the runway, straining against centrifugal force until the brake on the left main landing gear failed catastrophically. Shrapnel pierced the underside of the wing which contained thousands of pounds of fuel. This fuel spewed out, ignited by the glowing afterburners into a raging inferno speeding down the runway like a comet. The launch crew, following 977 in a motor vehicle got on the radio, telling the airmen that they had “one hell of a fire”. 

     Fortunately, all of this happened before the aircraft reached its critical speed in which it must take off. They still had enough runway ahead to stop, plus a trusty arresting cable at the threshold designed just to bring the Blackbird to a halt. Kardong smartly deployed the drag chute, but it was immediately made useless, consumed by flames behind the plane. All six landing gear went flat, resulting in the collapse of a landing gear strut, the sharp engine nacelle now grinding against the concrete. Kardong steered toward the last chance to stop the plane, the arresting cable. Instead of catching, the titanium leading edge of the nacelle sliced through the cable like butter. 

     As the airspeed died down, the flames crept forward toward Reconnaissance Systems Officer James Kogler in the back seat. He decided to pull the little yellow handle between his legs and eject. He was thrust from the cockpit in an instant, his parachute blossoming, slowly lowering him to the field below. Although he would make a full recovery, he landed with scrapes, bruises and a compressed spine from the g-shock upon leaving the aircraft.

     Pilot Kardong chose to stay with the aircraft, which was now skidding on its belly along the 1,000 foot overrun at the end of the strip. The Blackbird used all of it, coming to a halt in a field beyond the concrete. The launch crew drove up to the still burning plane, assisting Kardong from the wreckage. He was completely unharmed. Crash trucks would arrive, dousing the plane. The once beautiful aircraft lay there on its belly, battered, missing its rear canopy and covered in fire retardant foam. 977 was a complete loss, but everyone involved in the accident survived. 

     Today, the forward section of the aircraft rests at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA, restored with her canopy open, inviting every museum guest to climb aboard. This is the only Blackbird aircraft that allows guests inside on any regular basis. I must thank aerospace archaeologist Peter Merlin, who allowed me to photograph a piece of wreckage from his collection. The sample of titanium skin shows the stamp from the Skunk Works Burbank factory where SR-71 17977 was born.