chase_acow

The holidays don't really mean much except it's a chance to double my paycheck. My family never really fostered the traditions that bring up the nostalgia and regret to miss them. I remember a bunch of meaningless presents and my grandad always making someone cry. I remember being really uncomfortable and bored with the adults.

I like Santa. I love putting up tinsel and lights. I hate cooking/baking/stirring, but I definitely enjoy eating the chex mix, cheese ball, and whatever else I end up not ruining with my sad culinary skills. My savory apple hand pies did not work out this year.

( my view for the week )

I hope y'all have a lovely rest of the year!

I had to flee to night shift to get away from two of the most annoying trainees we've ever had. I hate night shift, but it was a necessary evil to de-stress and let some anger go. The annoying thing is that my trainee was a good guy, just incapable of memorizing, repeating, or doing two things interchangeably. Things that are definitely a requirement for this job. He wants to be a cop and I am crossing my fingers he doesn't ask me for a recommendation and that no one is stupid enough to hire him for that.

So during my summer nights of eternal nothing, I am rewatching Supernatural. ( And wow did I forget how uncomfortable it is )

I guess I am now a Phillies fan? I apologize to all the other baseball fans - I know what I have chosen. I watched all their post seasons games last fall, then I took my parents to St. Louis so they could watch the Cards while I watched Realmuto in early April. Unfortunately (for me) we went to the one game my team lost that series. Since then I subscribed to the single team MLB.TV stream and have watched every game. At first it was so I could have 3 hrs every evening where I could mostly forget about my trainee being The Worst and now I'm on night shift, why not get paid to watch the game? They are a bunch of weirdos and they delight me.

I started feeding a new stray cat, she's a Tortie with at an attitude so I named her Phillie. I thought she was pregnant, but then she brought her three kittens to hang out on my porch under the carport. She let me pet her and talked to me in these cute little trills, but the kittens were totally wild and took off into a pretty gnarly thunderstorm rather than let me get anywhere close. So I borrowed some traps, but was cautious because I didn't want to lose them.

( this is a roller coaster of cat well being that I don't know how it ends yet. )

After 10+ years of working public service, my student loans - original amount $56k(ish) with $62k(ish) owed last month - got forgiven. Huge weight gone, and they even refund about $1,500 I overpaid because I didn't get the process started in time.

The Razzies really disliked Chris Evans and Ghosted (I didn't bother to watch it.) but I really hope Meg 2 wins everything. That was my bitter disappointment movie last year.

How to Feel a Little Better in 2024
It’s time to let go of impossible-to-achieve health goals and just…do less.

The Meanest Time Travel Movie Ever Made, 20 Years Later. If ‘The Butterfly Effect’ is remembered for anything, it’s unrelenting cruelty. The thing is, it was almost even crueler.

We watched the Director's Cut without realizing it was a whole separate ending, and were super confused when we were talking to people who'd seen the theatrical release. I still like this movie - with either ending.

I managed to bring two of the outside cats in during the cold snap and then the rain and we were all fairly comfortable. They were given the choice to go back outside yesterday morning and I tried not to take it personally when they immediately darted out and proceeded to frolic, roll in the dirt, and make love to the driveway again. I blame the black cats, they turned into bullying buttheads as time went on.*

( Shark Bait and Dasher. They're stinkin' adorable. )

* I mean not really, cats are territorial and Shark-Bait isn't neutered yet because Operation Catnip cancelled their last two TNR clinics. They all behaved so well for the small space of my house. I still believe Shark would be someone's fantastic companion, but I also won't be sad if we don't get that cold again and I don't have to kidnap him inside again.

It's been a million years. The kitten came back after her nursing duties were over (still salty she didn't bring me her kittens) so I scooped her up, got her fixed, and now she's a house cat. I thought she must have been someone's pet at one time because she talked to me and was so friendly, but inside, the TV freaked her out and she was deeply suspicious of the ceiling fans for days. While she started out as Mav, I figured that was too close to Mackie, so I renamed her Creed because she just kept punching everyone in the face at the beginning.

( kitten tax )

17 Scary Sayings for 'Ghost' From Across the United States

Nightmare Fuel: Iterations of the Boogeyman in (Almost) Every Country

Hippos are legit very terrifying

NASA gets creepy

( every state's favorite candy )

The Endless Summer Exchange (Top Gun summer/heat/sharks theme) is going live this weekend, and I'm really proud of writing this fic! I made myself cry at it, so it's been really fun seeing the comments of making other people cry too.

I rewatched 50 First Dates about a billion times since April, and except for whatever the fuck they were doing to Rob Schneider, it's still a pretty good movie 19 years later.

Days Like This (25226 words) by chase_acow
Fandom: Top Gun (Movies)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw/Jake "Hangman" Seresin
Additional Tags: Married Tom "Iceman" Kazansky/Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Alternate Universe - 50 First Dates Fusion, short term amnesia, Jake "Hangman" Seresin Needs a Hug, and he gets many, Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw is a Little Shit, And then he grows up, Falling In Love, First Time, And it's embarrassing
Summary:

Jake's in Hawaii to lose himself after getting the Navy's first air-to-air kill in decades. Instead he finds a ramshackle diner, a cast of odd characters, and possibly the love of his life.

Bradley goes to the Hard Deck to order waffles. He orders waffles. He goes to the Hard Deck to get some waffles. He goes to the Hard Deck, and who is this hot asshole acting like they know each other?

I received this Top Gun/Stargate Atlantis fusion Bird's Brains Not Bird-Brained and the author also commissioned a piece of art!

( I always loved the Atlantis uniforms, and their faces here are just so squishy and perfect! )

I also stumbled over this tumblr -> catwheezie of amazingly illustrated cats. They sell their stuff here -> @ teepublic and I want to buy so many magnets! Like this little black taco!

IDEK what to write around here anymore.

I'm at 34 out of 40 books for the year. I think I can make it without cheating as much as I did last year. The last fun book I read was The Bodyguard which is all over the best of lists.

This is the most fun I've ever had with a book that starts off with mom dying of an alcohol related disease and then getting dumped by boyfriend. The dialog is fast and clever, the situations are bonkers but fun, and the ending very satisfyingly ties everything up.


I didn't think The Santa Clauses series would be for me, but I noped out of the first episode and didn't even get to Peyton Manning. I do really like Kal Penn, but ugggg, I don't know if I can do it. ( Tim Allen is an asshole, but he can't ruin Home Improvement or the original Santa Claus. New stuff however, I just can't stand him. )


Kitten update: ( When Bear is the slightest bit inconvenienced she makes this groan mutter that sounds exactly like when Marge Simpson is upset. )

( She has a half mustache and a stumpy tail! I have been calling her Rookie. )


Last night right at sundown, I was out with my animals: Dasher and Pepper in the backyard, Gray in the front eating grass, and Mackie on his leash getting a feel for outside. This kitten runs out of the bushes between me and the nice older lady's house wanting to play and get some attention. Usually, I'm pretty good at petting and talking to a cat, maybe bringing out some water or wet food depending, and then letting it get on with cat things. But she was just so little! Maybe 9 or 10 weeks, and not as fat as you'd like to see the babies. It was also supposed to rain a lot last night, so I brought her in, checked for fleas and let her hangout until bedtime when she got sequestered into the spare bedroom.

Dogs loved her, she's not too in to them yet. She and the cats were very skittish, but interested.

This morning I went to ask the next door neighbor if she'd lost a kitten. She said no, she was pretty sure it belonged across the street, but that she hoped I'd keep it. She has pretty strict ideas about cats belonging inside as beloved and doted on pets.

So the across the street neighbors are nice, but they've have a couple of outside dogs that bark at me no matter what time I leave for work: 0730, 1530, or 2330. They also have an intact male cat who cycles through looking way too skinny and way too smug - sweet cat, but I don't want to know how many kittens he's responsible for. I know they let him in sometimes, but not all the time like extreme heat, rain, and last winter even though it was mostly mild.

I don't want to put her back outside, and I don't want to walk over and ask if she's theirs.

This morning, she and Mackie and playing and chasing each other around the house, while the older cat Gray follows along to watch and growl under her breath from a distance. I could keep her, but I've also put some feelers out to see if any of my friend's friends group is looking for a sweet inside kitty.

AITA?

Top Gun: Maverick is turning serious adult men into fangirls – not bad for a film that echoes a movie beloved by women. -
I've never actually watched Bring It On, but I've seen Top Gun twice now and intend to go again on Tuesday. I am >this< close to finishing the most self indulgently college football thing I have ever written for Rooster/Hangman. I have brain rot.

Speaking of fic, the thing about writing RPF is that when you find yourself in a room with the famous person listening to them talk about their latest book, you spend at least the first five mins hoping they don't have telepathy because you can't stop thinking about the explicit rated Yuletide fic you posted. Anyway, Dan was delightful. If anyone wants a copy of Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media Are Destroying America I will send you my extra.

( I laughed so hard at this commercial - pubes song )

( Mackie is getting so big, the vet says he'll end up being a big, leggy cat. Everyone is still getting along and playing nice. Dasher accepted the invasion to his bed for exactly as long as it took to snap this pic, and then he was up and gone. I am still Mackie's only cuddle buddy! \0/ )

Saving America didn't end with getting Donald Trump out of the White House.

Anti-democratic forces in the Republican Party are hard at work trying to take away your right to be heard. Defeating them won’t be easy, but we’ve beaten them before, and we can do it again. We have something they don’t: You. For the last five years, your hard work has paid off in close races across the country and we can’t let up this year. If we start earlier and work harder, we can win again.

Basically you sign up with your zipcode to get sorted into you region and they'll email you monthly about how you can help get out the vote and help democrats across all levels of government. This month has Voter ID Month of Action: Letter Writing events on Wednesdays with VoteRiders. Every little bit helps, and it's not a competition totally a competition and the South is gonna win! There's a chance to get some Crooked Media swag, and mostly just the peace of mind of doing a little bit that might make a difference somewhere.

( Thank you for your previous attention to politics talk, as a reward, here is a kitty! )

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain on Amazon Prime starring Benedict Cumberbatch

"A biographical drama - English artist Louis Wain rises to prominence at the end of the 19th century for his surreal cat paintings that seemed to reflect his declining sanity.

After his father's death, Louis Wain tries to look after his five sisters and his mother as a freelance artist. He is fortunate that Sir William Ingram, editor of the Illustrated London News, offers him a job as an illustrator. His life takes another positive turn when Emily Richardson, the new governess of his sisters, steps into it. She becomes the love of his life, and soon they take in a stray kitten they call Peter. It is unusual in the Victorian era to keep a cat as a pet, and the cat pictures that Louis paints from then on are just as unusual."

I really enjoyed this. It's quirky, it's sad, but the ending is so hopeful.

( some cats! )

I also saw Antlers where I wasn't expecting the metaphor to be ( spoiler )

but it was plenty fucked up and I . . . enjoyed it? Like not active enjoyment, but the kid was great in it, the monster was spectacular, and the atmosphere very tense.

Last Night in Soho was so good! I enjoyed everything except having "Downtown" ear-wormed inside me for the rest of the day.