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I don't think the idea of Joe or Nicky searching for the other is about loving each other more than Andy and Quynh, or that they're "better than" Andy/Quynh. I think Andy eventually listened to both love and reason. I'm not sure Joe or Nicky would. I think that possibility speaks to a dark side to their love for one another; it's not an expression of the Love Olympics.

the thing is abt the joenicky wouldn't have stopped searching take is that like. they're not Better Than andy / quynh and they don't necessarily love each other More. i find it interesting to examine the idea that THEY think they couldn't have stopped but ultimately because it's not them i think they'd have no way of understanding andy's position + circumstance would've made them stop in the end. again like in my tag rant i think they're both too concerned with the greater good. they would not place each other over that. in the end.

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I don’t have an excuse. Take this blorbo

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I just had An Experience™️ with a persimmon

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“Thank you,” Nicolo says to Yusuf one evening as they eat beside their campfire.

Yusuf pauses with a date half-way to his mouth. “Did I do something?”

Nicolo’s mouth twists into a rueful smile. “I was given to the church at such a young age.”

Yusuf tilts his head. It’s not the first time Nicolo has demonstrated his able use of non-sequiturs. With patience, Yusuf can usually puzzle out the connections looping in Nicolo’s head; even now, he watches as Nicolo rubs the fingers of his right hand together, a tell that betrays an agitated state of mind.   “Yes?” he ventures.

“I have spoken of this before.”

“Of course.”

“But I am not sure that I . . .” Nicolo bites his bottom lip. “It is merely that there, God was a furious presence, peering into my soul, constantly examining me for all that I lacked.”

Yusuf does not respond with any of the thoughts that always crowd his mind when he thinks of Nicolo as a child, a small scrap of a Christian, convinced of his own worthlessness before a god conjured by grown men.

“Love was something distant, something angry—betterment by virtue of correction.”

Yusuf huffs his opinion of such cruelty.

“And I did not know.” Nicolo lifts a hand and lets it fall back into his lap; hitches a shoulder.

“Know what?”

“That it could be this instead. That it might be warmth. That it would be forgiveness. That I would crave it as you . . . ”

Yusuf understands in an instant, finds himself blinded by a rage that is quenched only by the wealth of his compassion. He shifts to his knees, and reaches forward to grab Nicolo’s arm. “My heart,” he says softly. “Oh, Nico.”

He isn’t sure if he folds Nicolo into his arms, or if Nicolo burrows into him, or both. The effect is the same—Nicolo held firm against him, the fine tremors of his body rolling beneath Yusuf’s hands. Yusuf kisses the top of his head once, twice, then rests there, his lips against the fall of Nicolo’s hair. Nicolo’s breathing stutters and smooths, his hands fisting the rough cloth of Yusuf’s tunic.

“It is a wonder,” Nicolo murmurs at last.

“It is,” Yusuf agrees, only too aware of all that they have survived. “And yet not.”

Nicolo pulls back, looks up at Yusuf, frowning.

“It is so extraordinarily ordinary a thing to love you,” Yusuf confesses. “I think of it only as much as my body must think to draw breath. I close my eyes when I am weary; I eat when I am hungry; I love you in this way, the whole of my unconscious heart devoted to a thing I cannot help.”

Nicolo’s expression softens. His eyes shine. “Yusuf . . .”

Yusuf shakes his head, pushes Nicolo’s hair from his eyes. “What you knew was not love.  What we have wrought is better.”

“It is,” whispers Nicolo, and he shifts to his knees to kiss Yusuf’s jaw, the tip of his nose; to hum his affection into Yusuf’s waiting mouth.

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Little Flames

Little Flames (21497 words) by what_alchemy Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko Characters: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Quynh | Noriko Additional Tags: Medieval Medicine, Blood and Injury, Hurt/Comfort, Storytelling, Yusuf as Scheherazade, Denial of Feelings, First Kiss, Anal Sex, do not look for historical accuracy here

Summary:

The Silk Road, 1101.

Yusuf and Nicolò meet the Amazons from their dreams, who reveal to them the possibilities—and limitations—of immortality.

Ahhh I'm so excited to share this story! After being so intimidated by the glut of fics in this fandom that were both amazingly well-written and mind-bogglingly historically authoritative, I was sure I'd never write the contractually obligated Joe/Nicky origin story, but this idea took hold of me such that I finally had to. I ended up having a LOT of fun writing this precisely because I had to try a style I wasn't used to. Despite historical stuff not being in my wheelhouse, I'm so glad I gave it a shot.

For obvious reasons this fandom doesn't have a lot of physical injury/whump hurt/comfort fic, but I wanted to see it and by jove I found a way to make it happen. Thanks to @softfists for the constant blorbo rotation and the beta job on this 💜

I hope you enjoy!

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Two…😯

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since nicky may be the driver in the car chase bit i think he should also get his faster than the elevator moment and by this i mean i want him to drive like a madman

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Merrick and The Military

I have been wondering about what would have happened had Andy not gone to retrieve Nile or if Nile had gone back to her family, and the only conclusion I came to was that in both scenarios, she would have likely ended up in Merrick’s lab eventually.

Because Merrick works with the military, we see boxes of his company’s drugs in the medical tent that Nile was at

If Andy hadn’t gone to get Nile, Nile would have been taken to Germany for “more testing”, and they sure as hell weren’t asking nicely about it or would have taken no as an answer

And eventually the reveal of Nile’s new abilities would have found its way to Merrick and he would have found a way to get access to her

Even if Nile had gone back home to her family, she couldn’t possibly live a normal life with them because short of taking her family and run, the military would have found her back home and still taken her away for testing, and this time they’d have even more of a reason to force her away because they could have called her up for desertion or even threatened her family

So if Andy hadn’t gone to get Nile, and if Nile hadn’t realized that Booker handed Andy an empty gun and gone back for the others, not only would the team likely not have been rescued/escaped, Nile would have eventually joined them in that long captivity

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Her

What she makes me feel

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Just, props to whomever said, lets have Luca grow out his hair and be bearded, because yes, yes, 100%, genius.

I care them and them ONLY

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Always thinking about the early days

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My immortal husbands have returned 😭⚔️💞

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Nicky: *stares* *smiles kindly* *moves with a sort of special quietness* *eyes full of love* *brutal soldier, deadly sniper* *judges with every part of his face*

Luca Marinelli: *gesticulates widely* *squints* *wants to leave* *looks around* *👌🏻🤌🏻🤏🏻* *leaves with his camera on* *smiles awkwardly*

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WIP Wednesday (Repair Shop edition)

Nicky finds his way to church on Christmas Eve, just as he had the year before. He chooses to go in the afternoon instead of at midnight —the year has been different; he is different—and slips into a pew, warm despite the chill in his thick wool coat. There’s a clarity to the quiet of the church, woven together from the hushed voices of those preparing for the night’s celebration, and the footsteps of other visitors moving between memorials to past wars and dimly-remembered church members. Something weighty sings in Nicky’s body, a connection to other churches, other quiet moments, childhood to now, and beyond that the aural tapestry of a hundred churches, a thousand, stretching back and back and back.

Nicky no longer believes in the things he once had. If pressed he might agree there is a force of good to be found in the world, but whether it's created by human action or by something divine he leaves to philosophers, theologians, and poets like Joe. But tradition steads him. The thought of hundreds of years of ordinary people lighting candles in the darkness in some expression of hope, however understood, warms him. And here, now, buoyed by a year of being loved so honestly and intimately that he still struggles to find the words to describe it, even the sharp memories of his childhood are losing their sting.

Somewhere, an inexpert pair of hands begins playing a carol on a piano, echoing from some other part of the building. A child, maybe, the beats between notes stretching and contracting, a flat quickly corrected, the left hand playing the simplest accompaniment to the right. Nicky listens and watches and soaks in the beauty of stained glass and pale stone and feels such a clean, sweet peace that he could easily weep.

When he checks his watch, an hour has passed, and the light is already shading toward darkness. He thinks of the flat, of Joe crafting a meal from the food he bought that morning, of the lights on the mantle and the fir boughs in the grate. “O res mirabilis,” he murmurs to himself, and stands, and heads home.

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One of the things I look most forward to apart from seeing Nicky and Joe again are your lovely fanfictions of them. You are so talented

Oh, anon, you are the best! And I have so many stories in the pipeline, including new Repair Shop! (Ask me why I got carpentry books for Christmas . . . )

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Very much appreciate the 47 people who messaged me or texted me directly with this footage. You are all top people.

The Old Guard 2 (2025) directed by Victoria Mahoney

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I CANNOT BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS

The Old Guard 2 (2025) directed by Victoria Mahoney