#squadron dad au

[kanerallels]

For my 501st follower celebration, as requested here by @auroramagpie: a snippet of the Squadron Dad Au!

“Drop and give me twenty!”

Chass let out a long, theatrical groan as she dropped to the ground and started doing push ups next to Wyl, who was already doing his. “I think I hate this guy,” she mumbled.

“He’s… an acquired taste,” Wyl offered.

“That’s how you say you hate someone on Polyneus, right?” Nath said from next to them. The man was breathing hard, but still wore an easy grin.

Before Wyl could answer, their drill sergeant spoke up. It was tough for a grown man to look menacing while wrangling a five year old, but Kanan Jarrus managed to at least look stern. “Tensent, you seem like you’re enjoying yourself. This getting too easy for you?”

“Not at all, sir,” Nath called back.

“What about you, Chadic? You ready to take a break?”

Scowling at him, Chass said, “You know what you can do with your break? You can take it and—”

“Mr. Jarrus.” The clear, familiar voice of General Syndulla cut through whatever Chass had been about to say. Striding into the room where they were training, the general clasped her hands behind her back, surveying them with a thoughtful expression as she took it all in— Chass, Wyl, Nath, and Quell all doing push ups, while Jarrus watched, holding his kid’s backpack leash in one hand as Jacen explored the confines of the room.

“General Hera,” Kanan said, the corner of his mouth tipping up into a smile. Chass still wasn’t sure how this guy, of all people, got away with using the general’s first name. But then, there was a lot about him that she neither knew nor cared to know. Because she hated his guts.

“I take it things are going well?” General Syndulla said.

“More or less. With a little more training and discipline, I might even be able to whip them into shape. You’re welcome to stay and watch, if you want.”

“Tempting though that offer may be,” the general said, “I have other projects to work on. I just wanted to make sure things were running smoothly.”

“Absolutely, general. Drop by anytime,” he continued, and Chass could swear there was something almost flirtatious in his tone. I’m definitely imagining it, she told herself.

“After all, I’m always happy to have you around,” he added.

Oh yeah I’m not imagining that. Was their drill sergeant flirting with the general? Chass exchanged a glance with Wyl, who was grimacing. He’s lost his mind.

General Syndulla’s eyebrow went up. But all she said was, “As I said, I’m busy. But the offer is appreciated. Keep up the good work.”

Turning on her heel, she headed out of the room, and if he hadn’t been blind, Chass would swear that Kanan watched her go.

As they finished their push ups, Wyl hopped to his feet and went over to Kanan. “Uh, sir? About General Syndulla…”

“What about her?” Kanan said, frowning at him.

“Well, it’s just— I thought you should know. We’re pretty sure she’s married.”

To Chass’s surprise, Kanan found this so uproariously funny that he forgot to make them do their next set of drills, and sent them off to their ship maintenance time while he was still chuckling.

[charliemwrites]

idek how many days it's been at this point but I cannot keep the Keeper/Kept worms at bay and they have wormed into a childhood memory of mine that I think fits this au soooo well!

When I was a smol bean (2 or 3 I think) my father was actually active duty special operations (flew on the same gunship Shadow Company uses for close air support, and was assigned to the real-life squadron that flys the "spooky's"/AC-130H frequently referenced in the CoD universe. bit of personal lore lol). ANYWAY the first time my dad deployed after I was born I snuck one of my baby socks into his big green duffel bag while he was packing and when he found it and showed his squadron?!?! For the rest of their tour of duty they WOULD NOT clear the gunship for takeoff unless my dad showed them he had my little sock in his flight suit because his entire squadron had made it their good luck charm for missions. I think this is 1000% something Feral, Shy Thing and Good Girl/Boy would do for their keepers and all the keepers/team would all absolutely cary whatever they had snuck into their bag with them RELIGIOUSLY on missions.

Okay first of all??? This is utterly adorable and I could CRY. Thank you for sharing that lore it’s going to live in my head rent FREE. I love stuff like that.

As for little tokens?!

For Simon, it’s a rock that Feral gave him after a penguin documentary (per this ask). But I could also see her biting him hard enough to leave a bruise that lasts, something that he can’t lose somehow but fades. When it’s gone it means he needs to come home. He presses on it when he misses her.

For Johnny, the red mask is one. Shy Thing has written a little message on the inside in marker something like “I love you” or “come home safe” with her initials. I can also see her crafting a little soap bar charm that he has to put with his dog tags or belt or something.

Good Girl has sewn/embroidered something in his hat. A flower, a heart, her initials, maybe a cigar. The other thing is a lighter that she built from a kit and hand-engraved painstakingly. Even if he hasn’t brought his cigars on the mission, he has the lighter.

[tgmsunmontue]

From the top 1/? (WIP)

IceMav, (eventual) Explicit, (background Hangster who are already established). Set post-TGM. (No dead Ice obviously).

Featuring not-mistaken identities (where they (Ice and Mav) pretend to be in the dark for REASONS), Ice is Jake's Uncle Tom, Mav is Bradley's Dad, everyone knows everyone, (un)requited love, coming out as an older person, and a little bit of a circus-vibe where Ice has a horrible realization that this is indeed his circus and these are also his monkeys.

An AU where Mav married Carole and adopted Bradley to make things easier legally. A USNA Bradley who has been very careful to separate Dad/Pete from godfather/Maverick. They had an argument prior to TGM, but it was around Maverick being careless with his life (RE: Darkstar because Bradley got the call that Maverick was missing, presumed dead). So it was about risk taking and thinking while flying, so that was happening and Bradley admits to the Dagger Squadron that Maverick is his godfather and they have a ‘complicated relationship’ which isn’t a lie per se, however it’s… complicated.

                He and Bradley haven’t reached the stage yet where they’ve met any of each other’s family. They haven’t even introduced each other to their friends as boyfriends yet, and their circle of friends overlap. And he’s okay with that. More than okay actually. Doesn’t quite know how he’d broach the whole by the way I’m sort of related to the COMPACFLT through my mom conversation. He’s close with Tom now, closer than he is to any of his mom’s other cousins that’s for sure. Idolized him when he was young, and now also holds a deep-rooted respect and affection for the man. It had also helped knowing he had someone to look to as a role model, someone who was gay in the Navy and got so high up no-one could do anything to him now. Jake wanted that. Badly.

                But he also kind of wants his Uncle Tom to be happy. Although, hell, for all he knew he could have had a secret lover all these years. If anyone could keep it hidden it’s Uncle Tom, face quiet and impassive, unmoving and unflinching. He’d really hoped for a callsign half as cool as Iceman, and even if Uncle Tom jokes that he does have a literal half with man, he wishes he didn’t have the connotations of Hangman, even if it’s because of fucking song lyrics he was forever quoting and now twisted into something that make people assume things before they even know him.

                Not that he really has that problem now, with the Dagger Squadron being made a permanent detachment and with them all knowing each other so well now. They know he’s got their backs when it actually comes down to it. And he likes being based where his Uncle Tom is, because while he’s meant to be based in Hawaii they’ve made some concessions due to his cancer treatment. He knows their entire family is grateful, not least his Aunty Sarah. God, he knows it’s the high of surviving a literal suicide mission but life feels so good right now. He’s expecting Bradley to turn up any minute, they’ve got plans for dinner and a movie and then sex, not necessarily in that order.

                When he opens his door and Rooster is there, he can’t help the little happy swoop his insides do and he lets Bradley kiss him hello.

                “Hi.”

                “Hi. How are you?”

                “Good. Little annoyed… my dad is talking about getting back together with an ex…”

                “Is this the ex you like, or don’t like?”

                “You can safely bet money that it’s nearly always an ex I don’t like. I don’t think he’s ever had a relationship with anyone I’ve actually liked… shit that’s depressing.”

                “Maybe you just have really high standards for him?”

                “You mean unlike for myself, where my standards are really low?”

                “Hey!”

                They end up play-wrestling which quickly morphs into not-play making-out and yeah, the sex comes before dinner but he was sort of banking on that, making food that would be perfectly fine just staying warm in the oven. They end up curled around each other on the sofa, queuing up a movie and Jake asks about his day. Listens as Bradley talks about going out to Maverick’s hangar to work on the plane, having lunch with his dad and he wonders if Maverick has met Bradley’s step-dad. Obviously he must have, he’s been around even longer, although it must be weird to have two people called Pete wandering around, he guesses that’s why Bradley calls Maverick Maverick, and his step-dad dad. Stops the confusion.

                He knows Maverick and Bradley had a falling out of some sort, they’d been very angry with each other. He figured out that Maverick flew with Bradley’s dad, was the pilot when his dad died, and he’d thought it had been that. But then Bradley had dropped the bombshell that Maverick was his godfather and they’d had a fight over something he can’t talk about, but they would be fine. So Jake hasn’t pushed wanting to also hang out with Maverick, because when Bradley talks about the P-51 and the hangar his fingers itch but he gets Bradley wanting to mend bridges with his godfather.

                More than that though he wants to meet Bradley’s step-dad, doesn’t understand Bradley’s reticence about introducing them. It’s not like he’s going to care. But they’ve only been doing this, whatever it is, for a couple of weeks, which he guesses is early days, but with everything they’ve gone through in the last couple of months it also feels like several lifetimes. Then again, he’s in no rush to introduce Bradley to Uncle Tom, so maybe it’s for the best they wait a few weeks. Or months.

                “You still thinking about your dad?”

                “Yeah. I just need to get him seeing someone else. Anyone to take his mind off getting back with Georgia. Or any of his exes for that matter. Georgia especially is… well. I have no idea what she gets out of sleeping with Dad. She’s anti military for a start.”

                “The fact that she gets to sleep with him?”

                “Ew, gross…”

                “Maybe she thinks she can convert him to a non-military life one blowjob at a time…”

                “You could try that on me you know, see if you can convince me to do something with a blowjob…”

                “Don’t think I need the promise of a bj to convince you to do anything,” Jake says with a grin. “You know, my uncle Tom is gay, maybe we could set them up? Well, assuming your dad swings both ways?”

                “Huh. Yeah… He does. Keeps that pretty much on the down-low, very much on a need to know basis. Pretty sure I only know because I saw him trying to sneak a guy out when I was seventeen. Did make me feel safer about coming out to him myself though.”

…            …            …

                “Jake, I am not installing Grindr on my phone, work, personal or otherwise.”

                “Thought you might say that, so I bought you a burner. Well, please don’t actually burn it, but you know what I mean.”

                “Jake…” Tom lets out an exasperated sigh. “I wouldn’t burn it. I know what a burner is. I’m not an idiot. I just don’t want to go on a date…”

                “Okay, so you don’t actually have to go on a date. All my cards on the table. I’m using the app to introduce you to the step-dad of my… uh, a friend.”

                “A friend huh? Is this the same friend you won’t introduce to the family?”

                “Yes. The exact one. Anyway, I just want you to send him a couple of messages. Let’s say ten messages. After that you can go back to ignoring it, remove the battery from the phone and pretend it never happened. Okay?”

                “Will you let it go if I do this?”

                “I mean… yeah. I hope you make a friend or something, but he’s military as well, so you guys have something in common at least…”

                “Fine. But I want the name of your friend.”

                “No! You’ll just look him up.”

                “He’s Navy?”

                “No!”

                “He is! Good job.”

…            …            …

                “Bradley! Why is Grindr amongst my recently installed apps!”

                “I’m setting you up!” Bradley calls out, grabbing two beers to go with their takeout Chinese.

                “I don’t need setting up. I can find my own dates. I don’t need an app!”

                “Yes, you do. You can’t get back with Georgia just because you’re lonely. Look, I’m not going to make you swipe through dick-pics…”

                “Maybe I want to swipe through dick-pics!”

                “Mav, be serious! You just said you didn’t want the app!”

                “Seriously? You’re the one that installed Grindr on my phone.”

                “God, maybe this was an awful idea.”

                “Yeah, you think?”

                “Okay, give me a second,” Bradley mutters, rolling his eyes and pulling his own from his pocket and thumbing into his contacts.

                “Hi… how’s it going?” Jake asks, voice quiet, and he must still be at his Uncle’s house.

                “Not well. You think we can maybe just set them up with an app that blocks their numbers and then just let them talk that way?”

                “Can’t hurt to try… your dad resisting the Grindr approach too huh?”

                “So much. And I get it, HE’S REALLY OLD,” Bradley says, raising his voice while looking Mav dead in the eye.

                “Hey! I heard that!”

                “You were meant to!”

                He ignores the glare Mav shoots him and pokes his tongue out at the back of his head as he walks away.

                “Okay, let’s see what we can find. I’ll message you and let you know.”

                “Sure thing.”

                Fifteen minutes later Jake has sent him the information, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app, one which hides the number of the phone sending the message. It’s silent and has to be manually opened to check for notifications, which is very old-school but means there’s no potential odd sounding pings. The icon is a mundane looking tower symbol and he guesses that could mean anything.

                “Okay Mav – you need to give this guy a chance okay? Please?”

                “What’s in it for me?”

                “I will stop bothering you about… uh… your love life for six months?”

                “No deal. I want to meet the guy you just rang. Who’s he in all this?”

                “Uh… I guess he’s my boyfriend.”

                “Ooohhh… it’s new huh? You’re in that new loved-up stage where you want everyone around you to be in the same stage.”

                “Uh, I mean we’ve known each other for years, but we’ve recently… come to an arrangement.”

                “Is it boyfriends or friends with benefits?”

                “Well, we weren’t exactly friends before, so definitely closer to boyfriends I guess,” Bradley says, carefully skirting the fact that Mav actually already knows Jake quite well.

                “Great. I’ll send what, ten messages to this guy and then I get to meet your guy in two weeks.”

                “No! Three months. And twenty messages.”

                “You realize you can’t force me to do anything right? You have no bargaining power here?”

                “I know, but… for me?”

                “Ugh… sad cow eyes. Fine fine, put them away. I’ll message the guy. But I do want to meet your guy when you feel the timing is right.”

                “Yeah, of course.”

                God he hopes this works because he has no idea if Mav will like the fact he’s with Jake or not.

…            …            …

                They meet up every week when they’re both in the same place, and it’s been a treat these last few months, but also a trial. Usually the distance has been a unintended blessing, making his unfortunate case of unrequited love easier to ignore. When he was younger he’d thought it was just a crush, that it would just… fade away. Instead the opposite has happened, time and distance have hardened and solidified similar to how pressure and temperature turn limestone into marble his love for Maverick is a solid and unmoving object that is ever present. Every time Mav walks through his front door he has to fight the urge to enfold him in his arms and just hold him. Every time.

                “Did you ever want kids of your own?” Pete asks and Tom startles, looks across at him.

                “No. I have nieces and nephews and cousin’s kids coming out my ears. They’re enough trouble to be getting on with, without adding my own genes to the mix. Wasn’t ever going to happen anyway,” he tacks on, and he wonders if this, today, this moment, will be the time it twigs and Mav will ask what he means.

                “Too much trouble by half. Do you know what Bradley did the other day? Installed a dating app on my phone.”

                “What? Why would he do that?”

                “He thought I was considering getting back with Georgia for some reason.”

                “And you’re not?”

                “No. Anyway, he’s trying to set me up with someone. At least you don’t have to worry about that.”

                “You’d be surprised. My cousins kid bought me a phone, a burner phone, with a dating app installed on it.”

                “Oh yeah? Which one?”

                Tom swallows.

                Okay.

                No more subtle hints.

                It’s now or never.

                “Grindr.”

                He didn’t purposely wait for Mav to have a sip of his drink, but he still sprays it out across the coffee table, eyes bugging out and he can’t seem to look Tom in the eye and he feels his stomach start to sink.

                “You… ah… you know that app is for gay guys right?”

                “I’m aware.”

                Pete just stares at him and he wonders if this is it. The moment his best friend just gets up and walks out of his life.

                “You never told me.”

                “You never asked.”

                “Yeah well, there was a whole thing about not asking and not telling until about ten years ago so… sorry if I thought you’d have maybe mentioned it. Or at least… alluded to it.”

                “I did Pete. With something called subtlety. I know it’s not your strong suit, but I tried to leave it there in the open for you to pick up on. I’m only just… getting to the grips with the idea of being more out.”

                “Okay. Uh. Does anyone else know?”

                Tom snorts.

                “Yeah, my whole family for a start. Had to get them to stop trying to marry me off. Slider of course.”

                “Why of course? Why Slider?”

                “He’s known me for a very long time.”

                “I’ve known you for a long time.”

                He doesn’t want to mention that Slider figured it out, because he’s had to learn to be subtle, and his weak point has and will always be the man in front of him. And he can never let him know. Still, Mav sounds annoyed.

                “Slider figured it out. He’s too perceptive for his own good,” Tom mutters, because he’s also the one person who knows about his lifelong torch bearing.

                “Huh. Okay.”

…            …            …

                Tom locks the house up, Mav having left to go home after Tom had soundly beaten him at chess. He knows it isn’t one of Mav’s favorite games, that he really only plays to humor Tom and give them something to do while they talk… his brain is catching on something and it’s going to bother him until he figures it out. Pete. Playing chess simply to spend more time with him...

                He stops.

                Blinks.

                Pete had said Bradley had installed a dating app on his phone.

                Within a day of Jake giving him a phone with Grindr installed, which quickly morphed to a simple encrypted messaging service.

                He’s learnt to not ignore his gut and this is deeply suspicious with the coincidence.

                He wonders if Jake and Bradley are dating. The idea of that makes him smile, even if it’ll cause an administrative nightmare. He knows they know each other, they’re part of the same squadron and there are rules, however it wouldn’t surprise him at all if both Bradley and Jake decided that that particular rule was for other people.

                Wait.

                He suddenly needs to know which app it is exactly that Bradley installed and he has his phone in his hand ringing him before he even considers the time of night, or where Bradley might be right now.

                “Hey Uncle Ice… Everything okay?”

                “Hey Bradley. Sorry for the late call, Just, uh, Mav mentioned you installed a dating app on his phone. You mind telling me which one it was?”

                “Uh… Grindr. Why?”

                “Oh. No reason. Just curious Thanks. Have a good night.”

                Why would Bradley install Grindr.

                Maverick’s not gay.

                To his knowledge Maverick isn’t even bisexual. Or anything else that might imply he’s anything other than overwhelmingly heterosexual.

                Maverick didn’t say anything tonight when he learnt about Tom’s own sexuality.

                Maybe Bradley knows something Tom doesn’t.

                Scratch that.

                Bradley definitely knows something Tom doesn’t.

CHAPTER TWO

[whohasthecards]

Top Gun AU Idea -- Jake is Mav's son and grew up in foster care.

Jake only has a beat up picture of his dad and that his name was "Pete". He didn't know his mother at all, not even his birth certificate. He was abandoned and whoever abandoned him made sure that his lineage would never be traced.

He figured out who his father was during his first time in Top Gun.

Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.

He also found out that his father was married to the COMPACFLT.

He didn't need a father anymore, right? And he wouldn't want to break up a family in his desperate attempt to maybe gain one. His father probably didn't know he existed. Hell, his father could even be the one that abandoned him (although why he would leave the picture makes that theory unlikely).

However, he did want to meet the one of the Navy's top pilots. It's all professional curiousity.

(He was in the same profession as his father, aviation is in his blood.)

He will become the best.

Maybe he'd meet Maverick once he's on top.

During his first air combat kill, Iceman was the one to shake his hand. The admiral gave him a clap on his shoulder and congratulated him.

The mission occured.

As a person, Maverick was not who he expected him to be.

As a pilot, Maverick was the best.

He was numb when Maverick and Rooster were shot down.

He never felt more alive and scared when he pushed his jet to save them.

He turned and walked away when he saw Rooster and Maverick hug it out, confirming his suspicions during training.

Rooster was Maverick's son, in every way that matters.

Blood doesn't matter, heck there isn't even a blood test that proves that Jake was his son. Only a battered photo with scripted handwriting.

Jake should let go.

After the mission, Dagger squad becomes a permanent squadron with Maverick as team leader.

Maverick got along with every single Dagger just fine, but there was an awkwardness between Hangman and himself that neither knew how to bridge. Mav never did know how to act around people who was just like himself.

Maverick acts paternal and caring to everybody, especially Bradley, and Jake had to swallow the growing jealousy (I don't need him, I don't need him, I don't need--). Why did everyone get a family and a Mav that would look their way for more than 10 seconds?

Why did Rooster get everything he ever wanted?

What did he do or not do that made him deserve this crippling feeling of jealousy and loneliness?

[middlingmay]

Horse Trainer!Gale x Veteran!Bucky AU

Part one of my headcanons for this AU is here!

Some warnings to get us started: slight mention of alcohol abuse, references to gun violence, war, death, PTSD and a car accident.

Something bright and cheery for your Wednesday, eh? I promise it gets cute later down the line, just not today! Today we mean business. So here we go!

Bucky couldn’t remember wanting to be anything other than a pilot when he grew up.

His ma used to draw all kinds of aircraft: jets, airliners, gliders, helicopters, even a seaplane once. John would tuck himself into her side and watch, mouth open and fascinated as she drew smooth confident lines.

She explained to him why the nose was this shape, and how the wings and tail needed to be in balance, why the placement and size of the engines mattered. She went to school for it, before he and his sisters came along. Well, before his dad came along, really.

He didn’t take much of it in, he'd be ashamed to realise later, but he did absorb her obsession with aviation. Just not for the design. He would however, try to encourage her to go back to school to finish her degree.

Mama Egan took him to his first air show when he was eight, and she had to scruff him by the neck to stop him from taking off like a shot towards the real, live WWII B-17.

Instead, he thrashed at the end of her hand, jumping around like an eel as she walked him towards it anyway, and accepted the boost inside once his ma had convinced the pilot to let John take a peek inside.

He never looked back.

He enlists when he’s eighteen, and rockets up the ranks quickly. By the time he becomes Major - and a very young Major - the new recruits look at him like he’s some kind of maverick, some kind of legend.

The higher-ups see the natural born leader he is, and the boys in his squadron know him as brave, quick thinking, and with instincts that couldn’t have possibly all come from training. He could read situations in the air like most of them read books. When John Egan had a feeling, or ordered you to do something out of the blue, you did not ask questions.

Although he joined up out of pure enthusiasm and desperation to be a pilot, he quickly sees his time in the air force as an opportunity to help people. But, almost as quickly, he realises that he and the Brass have different views on how to go about that.

He dislikes combat missions the most. Sometimes it’s pretty black and white, and John can feel pride when he sees enemy targets crumble into dust. Or when he’s lost one of his men and he feels a thrum of vengeance he knows he shouldn’t and tries to suppress but sometimes can’t quite help on the darker nights.

But mostly he learns how devastating combat missions are. He much prefers supply drops and recovery missions, but these are so few and far between, that he gives up that privilege to those in his squadron to help keep up their morale. Their morale was his responsibility, after all.

John takes to drinking, just a little bit. Never enough to affect his work. But on days when he can’t shake the anger or the gloom, the glow of whisky helps him hide it better.

Somewhere along the line, his passion burns out and he starts to want out. He’s still one of their best pilots, still a role model for all the pilots, navigators and serving men and women on base - that is to stay, he still acts the part. He signs up for his second eight-year contract, but two years into it, he can’t stomach the thought of the remaining six.

He admits as much on a tearful phone call to his ma, who promises him he doesn’t owe anyone anything, and if he needs to he better get his ass into that doctor’s office or she’ll come and drag him by the ear and drop him at the counsellor’s door herself.

“Don’t you go doing anything stupid, now, John. I didn’t raise a fool.”

And John doesn't. Do anything stupid, that is. But someone does.

Because the mission fucks up, and fucks up in a big way.

It's a recovery mission his squadron all but forces him on, all of them insisting it's his turn, and what did he do to deserve those guys and dolls, huh?

But Ken hadn’t given him the run down of his plane, because he’s taken some PTO, and his replacement ground crew chief was nowhere to be found. And from then on, John just has a bad feeling about the whole thing.

Afterwards, he can't ever remember much, but what it boils down to is two bullets in his shoulder, a dead co-pilot, a murdered political attaché left behind on enemy ground, and a package, called Robert ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal, safe back on American soil. And his superiors patting him on his good shoulder, telling him what a good job he did.

A good fucking job. Like some green kid hadn’t died choking on his own blood, staring at Bucky like he could do something. And a fella in his late 50s, who’d been harping on about his first grandkid, was never going to meet him because his body was never going to make it home.

So, when the doc tells him the physio isn’t working and his mobility is compromised, he barely feels a thing.

Major John Egan. Honourably discharged at twenty-eight.

He’s been warned he might feel a little lost at home. But no one warns him that he’ll mistake a framed photo of his old man as that dead attaché and it would start talking to him: “You left me behind. Who’s going to teach my grandkid ball, now?”

No one tells him he’ll scare the life out of his ma coming home from ladies' brunch, to see John, who’s been standing there God knows how long, still heaving in ragged breaths surrounded by smashed glass with blood running down the hand that holds a sizeable shard of it.

So he agrees to therapy.

It doesn’t go well. Crank sets him up with a friend of his experienced in medically discharged vets, but Bucky can’t disassociate them from the military. They get all mushed up as part of the problem in his head, so he stops going and avoids Cranks calls for a while.

And the dreams get worse. And the sleepwalking hits him like a freight train, although it only happens once. Once is enough.

He ends up on a back road. It’s the only reason, Bucky thinks, he didn’t die. He veers between the grassy verge and the road. It’s dark and he’s wearing all black, and the car doesn’t see him before it’s too late. They weren’t going too fast, but they clip him all the same and he wakes up in a hospital.

And the docs have evidently spoken to his ma, because whilst they’re treating his physical wounds, someone comes for a psyche eval and he gets a stern warning that either he gets proper counselling voluntarily, or he’ll legally be forced to. A much less pleasant experience.

And he meets the driver who clipped him. A shorter guy called Curt who walks in rubbing the back of his neck and not quite able to look John in the eye until he says, “Irish, huh? That how you didn’t hit the bullseye? Too short to see over the steering wheel?”

Curt cackles and the two of them talk easy after that.

In fact, John finds it easier to talk to Curt than anyone else since he left the air force. He tells Curt about the disillusionment of it all, the anger, the dreams, all of it. And Curt understands because he used to be in the medical corps and he knows there are things you can’t unsee. Some things a man just can’t reckon with himself.

But, Curt also tells him about the horse ranch he goes to, that helped him when no shrink or medication could.

Cleven Ranch he calls it, and tells John that when he’s up and ready, he’ll take him there.

[padawansuggest]

So. Y’all know that newer fic I made where Obi-Wan and Dooku get deaged and it makes Dooku light again cause it took away the insanity that being in the dark caused?

Yeah so I wasn’t gonna say anything cause this is a plot point all it’s own. But. It’s evolved so let’s chat a moment.

Ventress hears about Dooku getting deaged and it at first sends her into a rage, but then a spiraling depression.

The ghost of master Ky Narec shows up and begs her not to do anything rash. She’s crying and full of grief after losing TWO masters now and sorta just… wanders off to the planet where they got deaged… and ends up deaged herself.

But. In the process her master’s ghost is still there begging her not to do this because she’ll be just a little girl with no one there to take care of her.

And that grief ends up making him follow her all the way and. Ends up. Alive. Again. As young as he was when he first met Asajj.

But the difference is. He was a ghost. And therefore, different, he still has ALL his memories now. Being dead, watching his little girl fall, watching his bestie (in this AU it’s got a reason) take over her training and taint her further.

And now he’s looking into little five year old baby girl Asajj’s big eyes and just unable to do anything but absolutely fold to those confused eyes. Asajj is upset at all the changes but dada is still there and now he’s cuddling her and kissing her head like he does when they encounter something dangerous and walking them off to the nearest squadron of clones that were supposed to guard the deaging anomaly.

Anyways, they get back to the temple, Ky is upset and depressed, but Dooku is there and Ky has Some Words for him mostly threats that if Dooku drags their baby into the dark again he’ll neuter him, but yeah.

Now they’re platonically life partner raising Asajj who’s still baffled at it all but she’s got her da and even another da who just showed up and already has a bond with her! What luck she has, to be a happy healthy baby girl with two loving parents and getting cuddles! Wow!

Anyways. This all happens several months after the actual fic started, and so Asajj has been spiraling a while and yes I made myself tear up at giving her two loving dads.

[topaz-witch-tea]

Yanqing’s Happy Family AU: Baiheng’s Parenting

I can finally drop all the stuff I've been working on now that I don't have to work overtime!!! It was torture watching all my stuff be in-progress and not being able to work on them.

1. Spoils him the most out of the five. She has spent an outrageous amount on her nephew. Yanqing, as a kid, while easy was also quite picky about certain things, and one of them was clothes. He hated onesies and would cry and fight when people would put him in one, preferring a cross-collar top and trousers. The issue was that there were not a lot of options when it came to that. Baiheng proceeded to spend hundred of thousands of strales on custom clothing for baby Yanqing, who like all babies, would spit and vomit on them. When asked about it, she stated "You cannot honestly expect me to sit there and watch you put Yanqing in plain, unstylish clothes." This would continue as she would order for him more and more custom clothes. Yanqing currently had 5 winter cloaks in a variety of colors, fur trims, and clasps from his auntie.

2. She taught Yanqing how to drive a Starskiff. In fact, I am convinced she taught everyone in the HCQ how to drive. She was a renowned pilot back in the day and definitely knows her way around one. But it should be prefaced, that she taught Yanqing way before the legal age to drive a starskiff. Her mentality was that if Yanqing was old enough to join the battlefield, he should learn to drive since it might one day save his life. She is a very chill teacher and had gone out to buy an old starskiff to teach him in. However, she did it in secret since the three dads were already very against Yanqing going out to fight even though he had earned his position as lieutenant and any possible incident/issue could cause them to revoke Yanqing's mission. Yanqing, being the responsible kid he is, never drove in public and his dads did not know for a long time. They only found out when he was 15 and his squadron was ambushed by the enemy. After getting his men out first, Yanqing commandeered an abandoned starskiff to escape as well. Despite the fact it was hidden from them, the three could not be mad in the slightest since it saved their son's life.

3. Baiheng has fought many families at PTA meetings. She has the most available schedule and participates in a lot of daily school events for Yanqing. Yanqing goes to a fancy private school where a lot of children of the nobility go, and Baiheng never forgot the comments that floated around when Yanqing was first taken in (comments are in the fic Family Dinner). Some nobles still keep the belief that Yanqing is a nuisance that lived too long and the attitude trickles down to their easily-influenced children. Baiheng does not stand for this at all, she attends every meeting with the intention of throwing down. While she doesn't fault the children, she does not hold the same patience for the adults. She actually punched a mother in the face during a PTA meeting for bad-mouthing her nephew and dared the woman and her family to retaliate. "Go on then, you can fight back if you want. Or you can even go and report what happened to the Cloud Knights, where you can repeat what you said about Yanqing to the General instead."

4. When Yanqing was just a little baby and was left in her care, she would constantly send photos every hour in the group chat so no one would miss anything. There were a lot of photos of him sleeping or smiling at the camera. There was one photo of Yanqing in a sea-green cloak where the hoodie had little horns resembling Dan Feng's. The photo was his screen saver for a year.

I hope you like them! Feel free to let me know if you want a part 2 to any of my headcanons or want a drabble written about them.

[dearsnow]

I’m planning a few series after I finish Out of Touch and the oneshots so this is just a general interest poll 👀 below the poll is a brief description of each series! (Not all will be written, because that would be insane)

I would really appreciate a comment, reblog, ask, basically anything letting me know why you think the series you chose has the greatest potential. It’ll really help me narrow things down :)

And if the series says “love interest unknown”, feel free to tell me who you want to see as the love interest!

1. Angel on Earth: Rivals to lovers with Jake! You’re the new hotshot pilot before the events of Top Gun Maverick and you just so happen to be his wingman during every single goddamn deployment. More just a collection of every time you’ve interacted with him, leading up to him eventually growing and learning to love you. Your call sign is “Angel” because you’re always looking out for the other pilots, like a guardian angel, while Jake is attempting to leave everyone behind.

2. Jackrabbit: You’re a mechanic working on all the planes and jets, but you’ve always dreamed of being a pilot. Unfortunately, you just can’t seem to get to where you want to be. You make friends with Bob after working with him for a while, and he eventually steers you in the right direction and helps you get into flight school. He gives you the unofficial call sign “Jackrabbit” because you’re always thinking fast, and you can be a bit jumpy at times. Somewhat self indulgent but it can work lol

3. Down by the Bay: Interactive choose your own man adventure story!! Based off of the vibes of Our Life: Beginnings and Always (my favorite game). Coastal!AU. Starts off with you being paid to make friends with your mysterious new neighbor (Bradley) after his dad passes away, continues with you meeting your two best friends in school (Bob and Phoenix), and goes into you helping Bradley thwart the boy who’s been picking on him (Jake). Basically just your whole story of growing up in a small beach town where you get to pick your own suitor. Will likely be a long, long series, so there’s not a full guarantee that I will finish it before my top gun phase ends :(

4. Love Me Like a Sailor: After rescuing a mysterious sailor from a stormy shipwreck, you can’t stop thinking about him. The Little Mermaid AU!!! Mermaid!reader, Prince Eric!Bob, basically just me turning the vibes of my Jacaerys fic (the day the sun met the sea) into a series. Honestly I think this one would be the most interesting and the most fun to explore.

5. Space!AU: You and a squadron of fellow astronauts get sent to space to fix a very important satellite, but your ship breaks down while you’re in orbit. Can you and the other characters avoid death (and killing each other) by working together and settling your differences before help arrives?

6. Descendants!AU: Ok hear me out 😭 it’s less Disney villains and more vibes, but your rowdy, underfunded school of magic got combined with the uppity, rich school of magic. Your only goal is to steal the magic wand that has the power to bring your father back from the dead (potentially Bradley’s sister? No clue if I want to make him your brother bc that would take him away as a love interest), and by doing so, you have to make the crown prince (unknown currently) fall in love with you so you can get close enough to the wand. Love spells, magic, unique characters, just everything that descendants brings and more <3

[redfurrycat]

🐓🤠Hangster Fic-on-Tumblr Recs🤠🐓

🐓🤠Hangster Goodies to Read! 🐓🤠

Check the Top Gun Masterlist post for the latest updated version. 💕

Tumblr Authors: allbark-no-bite, film-in-my-soul, green-socks, hangster-hangout, icemavs, natashatrace, norabrice1701, ravens-words, semperhuggs, tgmsunmontue, the-sun-and-the-sky.

(Use this post to let me know about your works, it’s easier for me to keep track!)

(Reminder to come here in case Our Beloved is Down.

*True Story of why I wanted to do this specific recs list*)

TGMSUNMONTUE (AO3 – SunMonTue)

Tgmsunmontue’s Masterlist, including:

Another Time ➡️ 14 Chapters | M | BodySwap | Jake wakes up in Rooster's body ~30 hours post-Mission and they have to deal with it. They're adults. Apparently.

Bird on a Wire ➡️ 3 Chapters | E | Meet-cute | Jake tries to make a good impression on one of the servers at a restaurant. Except he turns out to be the head chef. Who in turn tries make a good impression. Their families try and help.

He remembers ➡️ 1 Chapter | Bradley remembers key points in his life as he faces starting at the USNA. IceMav feels.

It's all academic darlin' ➡️ 9 Chapters | E | Academic Professor AU | Bradley is a professor but living his best well-adjusted life with IceMav parents. Jake is a pilot. Maverick tries (and fails) to play matchmaker, so he tries again.

Lonely Nights ➡️ 4 Chapters | E | Smut | Rooster really needs to get laid.                                                                                       

ICEMAVS (Ao3 – Sreshaw)

Avery’s Masterlist, including:

Planes, trains, and gay people ➡️ 3 Chapters | E | Planes, Trains, and Automobiles AU | Bradley just wanted to get home for Thanksgiving to see him mom and uncles. What he ended up with was three days with a hot stranger who happened to annoy the shit out of him.

Springsteen ➡️ 2 Chapters | M | High School | Bradley Bradshaw has to pick up and move from San Diego, California, with his not-dad Pete "Maverick" Mitchell to Corpus Christi, Texas. He's not upset about it, but he doesn't expect to fall hard for a boy he meets there.

Whiskey and Rye ➡️ 1 Chapter | E | Only One Bed | The Dagger Crew got turned into a real-deal instructor squadron after the mission. They get sent on missions and demos to teach new pilots how to do what they do. On this trip to Florida, the WSOs are staying with their pilots, but Jake and Bradley, since they are WSO-less, have to room together. And the hotel fucked up.

NORABRICE1701 (Ao3 – MidnightBlast)

Twist My Heart ➡️ 6 Chapters | Twister AU | E | The hope of anything with Jake is a fool’s hope. Bradley has understood that from the first minute Jake waltzed into the lab with his dazzlingly brilliant smile, sun-kissed skin, and grass-green eyes gleaming with dangerous red flags. Yet still Bradley let the man get under his skin, burrow in his chest, and take root in his heart. 

GREEN-SOCKS (Ao3 – Aprilfoolish)

(Do You) Share My Affection ➡️ 1 Chapter | M | Bradley and Jake end up on a date with each other through an anonymous dating app (because they are just a little bit idiots about each other). The date is the wakeup call they needed.

RAVENS-WORDS (Ao3 – Ravens_Words)

been you all along ➡️ 5 Chapters | T | Kid Fic | Somehow, in a truly horrifying twist of fate, Bradley's mortal enemy became his daughter's favorite person. Or, Five times Jake was his daughter's favorite person, and the one time he was Bradley's too. (🐈 Note: +1 on Ao3!)

THE-SUN-AND-THE-SKY

The Joke's On You ➡️ 1 Chapter | Fluff | In which Hangman makes a joke and Rooster takes it literally.

FILM-IN-MY-SOUL (Ao3 – ReformedTsundere)

Ficlet Bingo Soulmates ➡️ 1 Chapter | T | The time between getting shot down and reuniting with Maverick, Rooster isn’t alone. First Kiss ➡️ 1 Chapter | T | The night before the rest of Bradley’s life he gets pretty drunk and a little lucky. Whump ➡️ 1 Chapter | T | Jake is hurt. But it’s alright. Bradley is there. A/B/O ➡️ 1 Chapter | M | Between waves of Jake’s heat, he and Bradley have a domestic moment. Epistolary ➡️ 1 Chapter | T | In a box, there lives two letters that the writers never want read.

NSFW Alphabet S = Stamina ➡️ 1 Chapter | E | The thing is, Jake hadn't really thought Bradley was serious when they'd made The Bet. He'd laughed when Bradley had stated his terms ( "I want to fuck you til sun up.") It had sounded like a cheesy line, like he'd never left that pre-twenties stage of sex-based hubris. And then Jake had lost. Y = Yearning ➡️ 1 Chapter | M | He’s paying the piper for the gift he’d been given: shockingly easy submission, a slack, wet mouth, a freely offered place to rest his need and have it soothed with tongue and sex.

HANGSTER-HANGOUT

The Love Chicken ➡️ 1 Chapter | Fluff | My dad said he knew my mom was the one over a bottle of wine and the best roast chicken he ever had.” “And now you’re making it for Hangman. So he can figure out that you’re the one.” “Something like that.” Bradley cooks for Jake. It goes even better than expected. 

NATASHATRACE (Ao3 – crueltether)

first I love you/bronco conversations under the stars ➡️ 1 Chapter

daily create challenge (2/365) ➡️ 1 Chapter | something something Jake thrives in chaos but craves peace, something something Bradley thrives in peace but craves chaos

Restraint ➡️ 1 Chapter | E | Smut | “What was it you said, Jake? Something about being snug on my perch?”

ALLBARK-NO-BITE

mr. iceman, sir ➡️ 1 Chapter | Fluff | they called him Iceman for a couple of reasons. Jake is sweating under his stare. a snippet of Jake asking Ice to marry Bradley

SEMPERHUGGS (Ao3 – Semeprhuggs)

Slider's Matchmaking Again? ➡️ 3 Chapters | Present day Christmas with the Daggers and the Flyboys.

Proposal ➡️ 1 Chapter

[callsignspirit]

come back home | j.h.s. | chapter one

a/n - devil works fast but i write faster, introducing a purple hearts au!! thought this could be fun to write! let me know if you guys want more i.b. purple hearts obviously

tw - men being gross, jake being a DICK but it’s okay we can change him ;)

caitlyn tapped her pen against the bars railings. she was in the process of writing a new song, or trying to at least. she was debating going over to the piano to try and work on a tune but her train of thought was interrupted by penny’s words.

“if you want a share of the tip pot you’ll have to help me wipe down these counters” she spoke, tossing cait a spray bottle and a cloth.

sighing, she sprung into action, cleaning the sticky beer residue off the wooden counter tops and gently humming a tune to an unfinished song.

the bar was practically empty, only a few early patrons milling around waiting for the crowds to come flooding in. the godforsaken crowds. filled with fresh aviators ready to go on their first deployment.

she spent the next hour doing odd jobs for penny, restocking the bottles, checking the celler and dusting the piano even though it was never out of use long to collect dust between cait's song writing and the playing of popular naval anthems.

the bell rang on the door as 7 or 8 fresh faced aviators strutted through the entrance, joshing around and hitting each other in the arm playfully.

"oh god," cait complained, throwing her head back in protest, penny remarked some comment about how the aviators were her new best friends.

however through the crowd, a familiar face spotted cait as the bar. "hey stranger!" he called, pushing his way past the men.

"bradley!" cait excitedly shrieked, leaving the middle of the bar to throw her arms around him. she slapped his chest, "i missed you!"

he laughed at her, "i've missed you too caitie." the pair had grown up together, bradley occasionally babysitting cait, despite their small age difference. she was there for him when his mom died, when pete pulled his papers and he was there for her when her dad walked out, leaving cait and her mom alone.

she stroked his face, "what's with this mustache? i am not okay with this!" she giggled. although she was enjoying catching up with bradley, she could feel the eyes of his friends on her, on her body. "well, introduced me to your squadron!"

he went through the names, introducing each member as his friend, she could see their toxic masculinity practically seeping through their pores. cait took their orders and walked back to the bar, collecting the various drinks and arranging them on the tray.

when she looked over to group, she saw bradley harshly scolding "berlin”, one of the younger pilots, shaking his head in disapproval. she hoped that whatever dispute was going on between the two wouldn’t affect their deployment.

she made her way over to the table and she set the drinks down pushing them towards their respective owners.

“so we’re good enough to fight for your ass, but not touch it?” berlin spoke up, striking silence into the other men. clearly bradley had told them her ‘no military men’ rule.

“excuse me?” cait challenged, raising her eyebrow. she decided instead of causing a scene to just walk away.

rolling her eyes, she worked on serving other customers, making small talk and chatting with them about their day. she uncapped beer bottles and stuffed the lids in her pocket, a habit she had picked up from her first night, now, at home she had a small collection.

her heeled boots clicked along the floor as she made her way to the back, penny suggested a few minutes break to cool off and to drink some glucose gel to raise her blood sugar. dealing with diabetes was hard but it was that much when some man tried to hit on her.

after a few minutes she had calmed down and was ready to serve again, she led the storage room to find “hangman” standing at the bar.

“i just want to apologise for our friend,” he said, “he’s a bit… my names jake, what’s yours?” he offered his hand out to cait, almost as a peace offering. she turned the other way walking to the opposite side of the bar, but jake was relentless.

“don’t think i don’t know your type.” he stated bluntly.

“my type?” cait asked, genuinely interested as to what group this man would brand her into.

“yeah, the girl who drives a lexus and probably has a million different flags hanging from her windowsill in support, but when it actually comes down to fighting for those groups, you’re no where to be seen! cause ‘guns and bombs are mean’ and you’re a pacifist”

“i’m sorry do you have a phd in mansplaining?”

“i guess it’s our job to fight for you!” he cut her off, “you know what i bet you even have a little peace dove tattooed on your back!”

“actually it’s on my ass, which you can’t touch but you can kiss!” she argued, walking off yet again to the other side of the bar to escape him.

jake looked over to the group and saw them mimicking explosions and laughing at him.

[shrinkthisviolet]

WIP word asks: lost, crime, help, three, or gold?

Much appreciated, these ones were fun!

lost:

More than frozen, though, Shawna looked...dejected. Lost, almost. “He left me.”

He pursed his lips, trying not to think about how familiar that tone sounded.

(“Just leave me alone. It’ll be better for both of us.”

“Barry—”

“Don’t.”)

~Barry POV fic

Barry in this fic is basically the “admit you miss Morgan or draw 25 cards” meme…and he keeps drawing 25 cards 💀

crime:

“Morgan keeps dodging my calls.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, that sounds like her.”

Caitlin frowned. “What on Earth happened? I know she was still mad about—”

“No. No, it’s not that. It’s worse, actually.”

Caitlin, if anything, looked more confused at that. “What could be worse?”

He hesitated, unsure what to say…but then the crime sensor cut them off, saving him the effort. So instead, with a sheepish smile, he rushed off.

~Barry POV fic

Morgan’s big sister is on to you, Barry…careful, she knows how to perform a lobotomy

help:

“Man, come on…I’m kind of on a date.”

“Well, I could call our resident forcefielder to help out,” Cisco replied with a hum that sounded a little too sarcastic in Barry’s opinion, “but you’re still pissed at her.”

“I’m…it’s complicated. Anyway, it’s not her night.” Barry sighed. “But seriously, can’t the cops get this one?”

~Barry POV fic

Good for you Cisco 🥰

three:

As Sam finished getting ready, using some of the makeup that she’d claimed from the big stash that she, Tory, and Aisha had bought, she slowly made her way out on her crutches. But she didn’t make it out very far before three people clamored around her and tried to help. Which she appreciated, but also…she wasn’t some delicate flower. She’d managed just fine until now, and she’d ask for help if she needed it.

~CK AU interlude fic

Oh Sam…just as stubborn as her dad 😂

gold:

“It’s not nepotism when you got your start in Gold Squadron, at the same time as I started in Red.”

She shrugged. “I like them, and they like me. We work well together. I’m not going to switch to a whole new squadron and lose that.”

~Lucy AU ESB fic

Aww piloting siblings 🥰

send me a word, and if it’s in one of my WIPs, I’ll post the snippet that it’s from!

[kanerallels]

I'm recovering from some emotional devastation (they were out of tater tots at the Sonic I went to) so have a Kanera snippet from a fic I'll probably never write, born out of some writing that didn't fit into my latest story today.

“It’s like having even more kids,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Because that’s exactly what we needed.”

“We’re young yet,” Kanan joked, stirring the contents of the pan. “We can still keep up with most of them.”

“Hmm. Well, they’re still driving me crazy. Mainly Alphabet, they can’t seem to… come together, be cohesive. Be a team.”

Kanan nodded, his face thoughtful. “They need something to come together for. Or against, maybe.”

Rolling her eyes, Hera said, “And apparently the Empire isn’t good enough.”

He set a plate down in front of her, dropping a kiss on her forehead in the same movement. “Well, let me know if there’s any way I can help.”

Hera, fork halfway to her mouth, paused, an idea sparking. “Actually, you might be able to after all.”

Lifting an eyebrow, Kanan said, “Oh?”

“How would you feel about playing bad cop for a while?”

A smile crossed Kanan’s face. “I love it when you come up with schemes.”

[the-ace-with-spades]

Things/headcanons about my firefighter!Bradley and still a naval aviator!Jake AU because I can't seem to stop... I'm sorry, guys...

- Jake has tried to talk Bradley into bringing his turnouts for a roleplay thing in their bedroom (b/c, let's be honest, the suspenders alone...) but Bradley insisted that the turnouts are still carcinogenic even if they're washed regularly. The furthest Jake managed to talk him was putting on his uniform, button-up and trousers, and his decorative helmet (one he has on his Firefighting Shelf at home)

- Jake, just like Mav, buys the firefighting calendars Bradley is featured in - just for obviously very different reasons. He takes one to deployment if it's longer than three months. His bunkmates make fun of him until he shows them the Mr August he's dating...

- the first time Jake was there to see Bradley after a bad day at work, he didn't know what to do. Bradley was just so quiet and unresponsive and didn't really want to tell Jake what happened. It had continued for another two days (Bradley was supposed to have four off) and Bradley's barely been sleeping at night so Jake drove down to his station under the pretext of doing groceries and asked the on-shift crew for help with dealing with it. In the end, they took a bath together and Jake let him cry it out before talking him into booking an appointment with his psychologist

- Jake also had to get used to Bradley's ever-present need to help people. Whenever they'd go out on dates, they'd inevitably run into someone who needed help - a lady that locked her car keys, a teen that couldn't turn on his car, lost tourists, there was an older lady that was struggling to mow the lawn once and Bradley just up and left him in the middle of the date to do that. By that point Jake was so used to it he just made them some cocktails and gossiped about sweaty, half-naked Bradley with her.

- They're on a flight to Texas to meet Jake's parents when some lady goes into labour and Jake hears, 'Do we have medical personnel on board with us?' and just sighs before telling Bradley, who's sitting there, looking at him with puppy eyes, 'Just go'. It takes longer than the flight itself and the airport medics are taking their time so Jake goes to pick up their baggage alone and his mama is waiting to pick them up and he shows up alone. She's all 'where's your bf?' b/c it seems like he ditched Jake and Jake is just done but also like fond and tells her 'Delivering a baby, I guess'.

- Bradley's whole crew calls him 'the real lieutenant' for years after they met, even when Jake got promoted. Even when Jake married him.

- Jake has also once brought half his squadron to Bradley's station's charity car wash - both because it's for charity and because he wanted to show off his boyfriend in a wet t-shirt *shrugs*

- Bradley volunteers for Pride every year and the first year he and Jake are together, he gets a permit from his chief that allows Jake to ride along with him in the passenger seat

- Jake used to think he could do Bradley's job easily (the same way Bradley'd've been a good aviator if he wished to be) but then they witness a car accident and Jake sees Bradley calling 911, doing triage, crowd and traffic control, and first aid at the same time while Jake just hands him things he asks for until the ffs and EMTs arrive

- the kid that just started working under Bradley (Nate) in the fic absolutely gets adopted by Bradley and (reluctantly) Jake. Jake complains for years that he was tricked into dating a single dad and Javy points out to him that the kid was clearly already Bradley's even the day they met for the first time so he shouldn't be so surprised

(I swear firefighter Bradley was supposed to be Buck-fied but instead I Bobby-fied him more than anything else...)

im putting this under the cut since some people my find this icky but yk...

- Since Bradley is trans in this au even of it's a teeny-tiny mention (he's now going to be trans every time I write him, I'll admit...) so depending how they decide to have kids, you can just imagine the heart attacks Bradley would give Jake when he continues to do all of the above while pregnant and not see a problem ('i'm fine, Jake, I'm just pregnant, I can still do everything on my own' said when he's barely able to get up from a chair on his own). He'd for sure be like that one headline, pregnant firefighter rescues car crash victim and goes into labour, or something along those lines

- Also, for baby shower/gender reveal Bradley insists he won't show up unless everyone promises him that the gender reveal will be non-flammable b/c he's not setting California anymore on fire.

- They get cute photos of the baby/babies in their helmets (Bradley's decorative one and Jake's spare Hangman helmet)

(there'll be more headcanons to come, probably...)

[tgmsunmontue]

From the top 2/? (WIP)

IceMav, (eventual) Explicit, (background Hangster who are already established). Set post-TGM. (No dead Ice obviously).

Featuring not-mistaken identities (where they (Ice and Mav) pretend to be in the dark for REASONS), Ice is Jake's Uncle Tom, Mav is Bradley's Dad, everyone knows everyone, (un)requited love, coming out as an older person, and a little bit of a circus-vibe where Ice has a horrible realization that this is indeed his circus and these are also his monkeys.

An AU where Mav married Carole and adopted Bradley to make things easier legally. A USNA Bradley who has been very careful to separate Dad/Pete from godfather/Maverick. They had an argument prior to TGM, but it was around Maverick being careless with his life (RE: Darkstar because Bradley got the call that Maverick was missing, presumed dead). So it was about risk taking and thinking while flying, so that was happening and Bradley admits to the Dagger Squadron that Maverick is his godfather and they have a ‘complicated relationship’ which isn’t a lie per se, however it’s… complicated.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

                Jake has gone still beside him and Bradley feels nervous, wonders if he’ll have even noticed.

                “Uncle Ice?”

                Nope. No such luck. Jake’s voice is pitched a little higher than usual, like he’s maybe trying not to freak out.

                “It’s, uh, a nickname?” Bradley offers, which he realizes is a bit ridiculous considering the sheer number of nicknames they throw about on a daily basis. Jake is staring at him, eyes wide.

                “Like a callsign?”

                “Maybe?” Bradley offers, cringing. God he loves how smart Jake is, but sometimes he wishes that maybe he could just play dumb. For Bradley’s sake and sanity.

                “Iceman?”

                “Yes…”

                “You call the COMPACFLT Uncle Ice?”

                “Ah. Yeah. About that…” Bradley starts, running a hand over his face. Instead of looking more tense or pulling away Jake seems to relax, slumping against him and wrapping his arms around him, back into the snuggling position they were in before Ice’s call had him sitting up to take it, unable to lie in bed with his boyfriend wrapped around him while on the phone with his… well, Ice.

                “Oh thank fuck… I call him Uncle Tom, so… wait. Who’s your step-dad?”

                “Wait, you call him Uncle Tom? Why?”

                “He’s my mom’s cousin,” Jake says, hand waving around impatiently and Bradley guesses they can circle back to that later. “Who is your step-dad?”

                “Uh…”

                “Bradley… Do I know your step-dad?”

                “Yes?” Bradley says, face scrunching up in defeat.

                “Oh my god. Pete. I just thought it was a common name. So, Maverick? Maverick’s your step-dad?”

                “Yeah…”

                “Oh my god… we’ve just set them up.”

                “But Ice is straight.”

                Jake snorts with laughter.

                “No he isn’t.”

                “Mav thinks he is… I thought he was.”

                “Oooohhhh… oh shit.”

                “Oh my god… I just told Ice that I installed Grindr on Mav’s phone. Do you think he’s figured it out?”

                “Oh definitely… wait. Did he know about Maverick not being straight?”

                Bradley swallows, eyes going wide.

                “Uh. I mean. I assumed he did? They’ve been friends for… decades! I know about Mav. Oh my god. I’ve just outed Mav to Ice…”

                “And apparently I just outed Tom to you. There is no way he hasn’t pieced everything together. He’s far too smart. But… Okay, this is either going to be the most amazing thing ever, or it’s going to backfire horribly.”

                “They’re already friends though. They’ve known each other for years. Mav goes around and has dinner with him at least once a week when he’s in town. Surely they would have figured their shit out if they were interested in each other.”

                “Well… not if they didn’t know about each other? Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise?”

                “Or maybe it’s the reason we both get shipped off to Antarctica or something, but sure, let’s think positively.”

…            …            …

                Tom didn’t sleep very well last night, unable to think about anything other than Pete being… not straight. That, and the fact that Pete hasn’t ever mentioned it to him, and he’s somehow missed it. He doesn’t know how he’s missed it, he knows Pete better than he knows himself, or at least he thought he did. He wants to get confirmation from Jake now, because before he goes ahead and starts messaging Pete he wants to know for certain that it’s going to be Pete he’s going to be talking to. Pete is a common enough name, but these could all just be incredibly highly specific coincidences. He didn’t get to where he was without fact checking everything. He dials Jake’s number and waits impatiently for him to pick up.

                “Hello?”

                “Jake.”

                “Uncle Tom, it’s before seven on a Saturday…” Jake complains.

                “I’ve been awake for hours. Tell me more about this guy you want me messaging.”

                “Oh. Uh, well, his name’s Pete. He’s my boyfriend’s step-dad,” Jake says, and he suddenly sounds a lot more awake. “He’s also in the Navy, your, uh, age, and he’s bisexual. You know you could just ask him all this stuff by messaging him, right? It’s not meant to be anonymous.”

                Definitely Bradley then. The idea of Jake and Bradley together makes him smile, glad they’ve found each other. It’ll at least make introductions nice and straightforward. Except Jake and Bradley seem to have gone to quite elaborate lengths to matchmake him and Pete. What does Bradley know? He clearly knew that Pete wasn’t straight, and he guesses Bradley clocked him and… has Pete said something to him? Or is it all just pure coincidence. Tom leans back, because it’s possible, Pete and Tom are common enough names. But surely they’ve put it together now, especially with his call to Bradley and then second call to Jake.

                Well, he can pretend to be ignorant, especially if they know somehow how he feels. He doesn’t think they do, he’s mastered keeping it to himself, years of practice now. Slider only knows because he was the one who told him he needed to practice. He’s dying of curiosity, as to who knows what, and he’s going to assume everyone knows everything, it seems the safest going forward. And he’s also going to assume that if he messages Pete then Pete will… what?

                For once he actually has no idea what Maverick will do. Just a few days ago he’d have said that Maverick would own up, but now he’s wondering if he’d actually play along. He picks up the phone and rubs in between his hands, wonders if maybe Jake is on to something. Well, there’s only one way to find out. What do the kids say now? Fuck around and find out? It seems like a very Mav approach to everything.

>>Hi. My name’s Tom.

>>I guess our kids think we should get to know one another.

>>What did yours bribe you with?

>>Hi Tom, I’m Pete.

>>He said he’d stop meddling in my love life.

>>Plus I get to meet his boyfriend.

                Tom frowns, because Maverick already knows Jake. Unless he doesn’t know that Jake is who Bradley is dating, and to be fair, Tom hadn’t realized it himself until this whole thing came about. Which had been Jake’s bargaining chip when he’d been trying to convince him to do this. Well, jokes on him, he’s known Bradley longer than he’s known Jake, and Tom’s  been around since Jake was born, so that’s a damn long time.

                Ugh. He doesn’t want to think about it, already feels old enough as it is.

>>What about you?

>>What do you get?

>>I get my kid off my back about dating for a while.

>>Think he’s worried I’m going to die old and alone.

                Once he’s pressed send he realizes the truth of the words, not so much what Jake is worried about, but more the little worried looks his sister gives him when she visits. He knows she voices her concerns loud and clear, mainly in the hope that he’ll overhear her and do something about it.

>>Ouch. I think I got the better deal.

>>Maybe.

>>Probably.

>>Are you out to your friends and family?

                This is the question he wants the answer to the most.

>>No. Although thinking about it more now.

>>Some know of course, but it’s never been an active choice. Most just… stumbled into knowing.

>>By stumbled do you mean they walked in on you?

>>Uh. Sometimes. Yeah. Pretty much.

                Tom has to laugh, because yeah, that does sound like the Maverick he knows and loves. Then he realizes that this may be how Bradley found out.

>>Including your kid?

>>Unfortunately yes. Not my finest moment.

>>However it did make him feel comfortable about coming out to me himself.

>>Silver lining.

         ��      Tom rolls his eyes and lets out a breath, because of course Bradley is fortunate enough to know nothing but unconditional love and support, however part of him also feels bad that Bradey apparently walked in on Maverick doing god knows what with someone. He doesn’t want to think about it, if he does he’ll picture it and he doesn’t like the image.

                It’s weird. Knowing it’s Pete that he’s talking to, but that Pete maybe doesn’t know it’s him. The fact that he’s somehow finding out new things about his best friend even after all these years is surprising, but also he wants to know absolutely everything. So he’s going to get to pretend he doesn’t know that it’s Pete he’s talking to, flirt with him under the guise of anonymity and the shield of a screen. Ask questions and get answers to things he’s never dared ask because he’s always been scared of the answers. He’s still scared of the answers.

                This whole thing might break his heart. For good this time.

[newtonsheffield]

How do you know so much about everything to write all these AUs? OB/midwife, deaf culture, WWII, being CEO, being prime minister, vampires, lawyers, musicians, the list goes on!

Okay um-

OB/Midwife- I work in healthcare. And it's different, dentistry and OB but... healthcare is healthcare and the rest is research

deaf culture- I took a Auslan (australian sign language) class and there's a really handy BSL dictionary online

WWII- My Dad loves history. Particularly WWII era I have watched the film The Battle of Britain so many times I could recite it. Also if you wanna know what Goosey Bagwell is doing in this time: Check out Memphis Belle. He;s a Bombardier

Vampires- My vampire universe is all made up

Musicians- I play several musical instruments

But honestly, mostly it's just research. This is kind of what I mean when I say that content creators put a lot of effort into things. I want my fics to have as much detail as possible. I will pull up a calendar from 1814 I'm not ashamed! For example in this new AU, Anthony's with Squadron 19 out of Duxford. Squadron 19 was instrumental in the battle of Britain and covered the beaches at Dunkirk and Thriplow House was requisitioned as a convalescent home in 1939. I want it to feel realistic even if no one is fact checking this!

Research! Research! Research! And I also have a lot of useless facts stored away.

[indynerdgirl]

Topgun AU Ideas

As I was scrolling through the Topgun tag on AO3 the other night, I realized that I was starting to see the same tropes and AUs over & over again. And while not a bad thing at all, personally, I'm just starting to get a little bored of reading the same story over & over.

So I started thinking about what kind of AUs I would love to see in the Topgun fandom and then I started making a list and it kind of spiraled out of control. Oops. 😆

I now present to you all my somewhat organized list of AU ideas! And feel free to use them for any fandom, I was just thinking about Topgun as I came up with them all. It's also by no means an exhaustive list so I probably missed some obvious ones.

Military AU ideas: Pentagon/Joint Chiefs/White House Advisor (think The West Wing but for the military - this is the one I've been dying to see someone tackle!) Navy JAG NCIS Blue Angels Air Force Instead of Navy Astronauts/NASA Test Pilots Naval Academy Instructors Adversary/Aggressor Squadron Office of Naval Intelligence Sailors Instead of Pilots Submariners Instead of Pilots Naval Flight School Instructors (Aviation Preflight Indoctrination, Primary Flight Training, Intermediate Flight Training, and/ or Advanced Flight Training)

Character AU ideas: Natasha is Maverick's daughter/niece  Bob is Maverick's son/nephew  Natasha is Ice's daughter/niece Bob is Ice's son/nephew Maverick is Amelia's father Penny Is Also a Pilot Penny’s Father Is An Air Force General Obligatory Goose/Carole/Ice Lives AUs Maverick’s Dad/Mom Lives Any of the younger pilots is the kid of one of the other 86 boys

And a whole lot more under the cut!

American Historical AU ideas: Colonial/Revolutionary War Post-Revolutionary War Lewis & Clark War of 1812 Mexican-American War/The Alamo Wild West (good guys or bad guys) Organ Trail The Gold Rush (California or Alaska) Pony Express Civil War/Reconstruction Transcontinental Railway Cattle Drives Industrial Revolution/The Gilded Age WWI Bootleggers/Rum Runners/1920s Jazz Age Great Depression/Dust Bowl WWII Korean War Vietnam War 1950s/Greasers Moon Race/1960s NASA 1980s/The Cold War

Other Historical AU Ideas: Ancient Greece/Rome Middle Ages Renaissance Tudor Elizabethan Georgian Regency Napoleonic Victorian Edwardian

Fandom AUs: The West Wing Firefly The Avengers Agents of Shield Star Wars Star Trek Harry Potter Percy Jackson Ocean's 11 Mission Impossible Bourne Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan Jack Reacher John Wick Friends New Girl Supernatural How I Met Your Mother Chuck Downton Abbey CSI Jurassic Park Indiana Jones The Office Parks and Rec Pacific Rim

Other Profession AU ideas: Coffee Shop Book Shop Bakery/Candy Maker Winery/Distillery Restaurant/Chef Bartender/Bar Mechanic/Car Repair Shop Doctor/Medical/Hospital Firefighter/Police Officer/Detective Wildfire Firefighter Florist Tattooist Gardener/Gardening Horse Racing Motorsports (NASCAR/F1/Motocross, ect) Professional Sports (baseball, football, hockey, soccer, basketball) Rodeo/Bull Riding Olympians Air Racing (it’s a real thing!) Actors (movie or stage)/Celebrity Ballet Dancers Teachers College Professors Lawyers/Judges National Park Ranger Cruise Ship Pet Groomer/Veterinarian Farmer/Rancher Banker/Financial Bodyguards Zoo Museum/Living Museum Musician/Band Mall (everyone works at different stores at the same mall) Marketing Archeologist Spies Reporters/Journalist News Anchors Lifeguards Assassins Criminals/Thieves/Heist Bounty Hunter

Misc AU Ideas: Royalty/Lost Royalty Time Travel Fae/Fairy Mermaids/Selkies Witch/Wizard Werewolves/Vampires Fantasy/Magic (including modern/urban settings) High Fantasy Dragons Soulmates (color blindness, first words, timestamps, matching marks, can share emotions, Red String of Fate, can share dreams, can see/talk to each other in dreams, can write on each other's skin, telepathic, Soulmate Goose of Enforcement) Omegaverse/ABO (not everyone’s cup of tea, just putting it out there!) Roommates Pirates High School College Mob/Mafia Fairytale Arranged Marriage Accidental Marriage Fake Dating/Engagement/Marriage Superhero/Villain Apocalypse/Post-Apocalypse Forbidden Love Boarding School Space/Sci-Fi Road Trip Summer Camp Immortal/Reincarnation Hallmark Movie Amnesia Pen Pals Resurrection Animal Shapeshifter May this list inspire all of you amazing fanfic writers out there! 💜