#He is so soft about holding her like joshua is so open about physical affection he just won’t initiate it himself

[moonilit]

“Tell me about Kanver,”

Self-Immolation By @itsjustliah, chapter 14

[knives-out20]

Inglourious Boyfriends - Part 7

Fandom: Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Pairing: Joshua Margolis (OC) x Lt. Aldo Raine

Word Count: 3045

Warning: Spoilers For Inglorious Basterds,

Note: This Is Part 7, And OOOH, Is This Where Shit Gets Good! We May Be Drawing Close To The End, But Fear Not. I’m Gonna Be Posting A Series For Donny, And Another OC. A Trans FtM OC, By The Name Of Mordecai Rosenthal. Anyways, Let’s Enjoy The Present.

“You Jerry-bangin', Limburg-smellin'..." Aldo panted, just about feeling Joshua's elbow touch his. He heard a familiar German voice, and suddenly the Nazis let go of both him and Joshua.

“As Stanley said to Livingstone, Lieutenant Aldo Raine, I presume? And the wonderful Lieutenant Joshua Margolis" Hans mocked, sounding like he was standing right in front of Aldo.

"Hans Landa." Aldo said, under the black bag.

Joshua heard a truck engine start from behind them.

"You two have had a nice, long run together, Aldo, Joshua. Alas, you're both now in the hands of the SS. My hands to be exact".

"Yea, yea, and if those oily hands go anywhere on Joshua, I'll break free, right here, right now, and chop you in half like a goddamn wiener schnitzel" Aldo growled.

"Ah, fear not, Aldo. They've been waiting a long time to touch you, first" Hans cackled, tapping where Aldo's nose is."Once I'm through with you, I'll see what I can do with little Joshy boy over here. Certainly nothing like his father's friend did" he giggled, turning to look at Joshua.

Aldo flinched back when Hans touched him, anger bubbling up inside when Hans mentioned Joshua- let alone, when Hans called his Joshua 'Joshy', and mentioned what had happened to HIS Joshy.

"Caught you flinching".

Aldo head-butted Hans aggressively, ending in Joshua and him getting pushed into the back of the truck by Nazis."You had it comin', you had it comin', asshole! Touch me, again, Kraut-burger. So much as mention goin' anywhere NEAR Joshua, and I'll break yer bones!" He threatened, as the Nazis forced Joshua and him to sit down.

Once the truck started to drive off, Joshua leaned his head on Aldo's shoulder, exhausted, and still a little scared.

"Y'okay, sunshine?" Aldo mumbled, turning to where he felt Joshua.

Joshua hummed softly."St-Still, uh, still kinda scared" he confessed."It's not like they'll do...what- what he did to me, right?" He asked, voice cracking.

"Ah, don't worry 'bout it. We'll get outta here in no time, go round the boys up, and make sure all hell truly breaks loose. Baby, I'm right here, okay? I'd hold you if I could, but, clearly I can't...I love you, Joshua" Aldo quietly reassured, his arm grazing against Joshua's.

"I love you too, Aldo" Joshua returned.

After a few beats of slightly-comfortable silence, another voice spoke up. This time, a welcome one."Is that you, Lieutenants? Joshua?".

"Yea- Utivich?" Aldo called, sitting up straight, as did Joshua.

Joshua sighed in relief."Utivich! Ugh, I'm so happy t'see- uh, hear ya. I missed you, brother" he grinned under the black bag.

"Do you know what happened to Donny?" Utivich asked, sniffling."Omar? The woman?" He shakily added, voice wobbling.

"No, we do not. Most we know is that some Nazi named Hans Landa brought her into a room after Donny and Omar entered the theater room" Joshua explained."Utivich, are you...okay? Y'sound like yer cryin'".

Utivich didn't reply.

"Utivich?".

"I'm fine" he muttered."Just- Just as scared as you are" Utivich whimpered.

Joshua cooed softy."Listen t'me, Smithson. We're- We're gonna be fine, alright? As long as we got Aldo, we'll be alright".

"Okay" Utivich whispered.

The truck slowly came to a stop, the three Basterds hearing the front doors open. They heard footsteps come around to the back, unlocking something and felt arms pulling them out of the back, one by one. Individually, Aldo, Joshua, and Utivich were pushed inside some building, into a room and shoved down into three chairs, side by side.

Their black bags were pulled off their faces, Utivich gasping in response while Aldo squeezed his eyes shut and shook his hair out from his face; Joshua inhaled sharply, blowing a stray strand of hair from his eyes. Utivich looked up at the Nazis that escorted them inside, the three men all finally locking eyes with Hans, across the table in front of them.

Hans had a proud smile on his face."Tell me, Aldo, if I were sitting where you're sitting, would you show me mercy?" He asked, quizzically.

Aldo smirked, tilting his head back and squinting, suspicious.

Joshua and Utivich turned to look at him in unison.

"Nope." He blankly replied, giving Hans half of a full head-shake.

Hans sighed, turning to Utivich."What is that English expression about shoes and feet?" The Nazi asked, gesturing to his own feet.

Joshua answered for him, "'Looks like the shoe is on the other foot', I was just thinkin' o'that".

Hans smiled at him."Your looks truly deceive you. Good-looking and smart. Sadly, not smart enough to know that no one would believe those claims you made of what your father's friend allegedly did to you" he shrugged, smile growing when Aldo scowled. Landa gestured for the Nazis to leave, the guards immediately following their orders and exiting the room. This left Hans, Aldo, and Joshua alone, as Aldo craned his head to watch the guards stop to stay alert outside the room.

Aldo, as he turned back around, looked at Utivich, who was holding a dead, empty stare on Hans. He checked on Joshua quickly, wanting to take a look at him first before paying attention to Hans; though, he had his knee pressed against Josh's. The two of them always shared subtle touches like that when they weren't able to directly talk to one another, or be able to get any physically closer.

"So you're Aldo the Apache" Hans nodded in disbelief.

"So yer the Jew Hunter" Aldo returned, not noticing Joshua's gaze on the scar around his neck.

"I'm a detective. A damn good detective. Finding people is my specialty, so naturally, I've worked for the Nazis finding people, and yes, some of them were Jews, but Jew Hunter?" The Colonel snorted as if it were a mildly-funny joke."Just a name that stuck".

"Well you do have to admit-" Utivich started, Joshua cutting him off with "it is catchy".

"Even more catchy than 'Pineapple Bomb'?" Hans shot back, resting an arm on the table as he looked Joshua in the eyes."Tell me, where did that nickname even come from? I will admit, you do appear as fresh as a newly-picked fruit-" he held back a grin when Aldo turned to glare at him, "but I may need some backstory".

"It's 'cause Joshua is skillful at usin' explosives, and looks sweet while doin' it" Aldo replied, eyeing Joshua and his messy hair.

Hans nodded, looking Joshua up and down."I'm sure you do, Joshy" he winked playfully, Joshua looking physically disgusted.

"Don't call him Joshy" Aldo spoke through grit teeth, about ready to free his hands and fist-fight the Colonel.

The Colonel laughed, turning to Utivich to pester him."Do you control the nicknames your enemies bestow on you? Aldo the Apache, Pineapple Bomb, and the Little Man?".

Aldo winced softy, biting his lip as he looked away to not register Utivich's reaction.

"What do you mean the Little Man?" Utivich's voice went soft.

Hans shrugged once again, "Germans' nickname for you".

"The Germans' nickname for me is the Little Man?".

"And as if to make my point, I'll also admit, I'm a little surprised at how tall you are in real life. I mean, you're a little fellow, but not circus-midget little as your reputation would suggest".

"Alright, alright, alright, ugh” Joshua cut in."Utivich, brother-".

"Brother?" Hans looked surprised.

"Not by blood, dumbass" Joshua huffed."He's not serious. I- I mean, c'mon. If the Nazis could rip off the swastika from the Sanskrit svastika for supposed 'good fortune' or 'well-being', surely they could think up a better name than Little Man. Plus, look at Landa. I doubt he’s any taller than you. Why did the Nazis let this short man join, anyway? Guys, he’s built like a dwarf" he sassed. Joshua always jumped at the chance to come at anyone who ever tried Utivich, as he said, the man’s like a brother to him.

Hans tutted, shaking his head."Big talk from a soldier who's nothing without Aldo being able to protect his pretty little face, especially like he couldn't supposedly protect you from your father's friend" he pursed his lips, eyebrows raising as he could feel Aldo give him the dagger-glare."I'll have so much fun tearing you apart".

Joshua raised his head confidently, leaning closer to Aldo.

"Joshua Margolis..." Hans breathed, scanning the Captain."I remember seeing your name cover newspapers around ten years ago. You can't be serious when you say you expected people to believe you, hmm? Such a disgrace, lying for attention. Who would believe that your father's friend would ever have the audacity to do that to you, to ra-".

"Where's my men?" Aldo changed the topic."Where's Bridget Von Hammersmark?".

Joshua turned to look up at Aldo, biting the edge of his lip as his chest grew heavy in a pain of it's own. He may have sounded casual when asking Hans about where Omar and Donny were, but Joshua heard the faint, underlying voice crack in that question. Growing up with Aldo, Joshua knows him, and he knows how much Aldo truly cared for the Basterds, all of them.

Hans inhaled, looking down."Well, let's just say, she got what she deserved. And when you purchase friends like Bridget Von Hammersmark, you get what you pay for" he hissed, Joshua's whole body going rigid in shock."Oh, no, hopefully you weren't too close to her already?" Landa ridiculed, turning to Joshua."Ah, who am I kidding? All night, it's been more than clear where your affections lie..." the Colonel slowly panned his gaze from Joshua, cold eyes landing on Aldo, who stared right back at him."Disgusting. As if you weren't scum of the earth enough, already. No wonder you'll end up burning in hell" he spat, eyes flickering between Aldo and Joshua.

Joshua huffed, stern gaze on Landa."Ugh, l-like we need a malnourished Nazi-fuck tellin' us how to live our goddamn lives".

"Now, as far as your paesanos, Sergeant Donowitz and and Private Omar..." he ignored Joshua, leaning back in his seat.

"How you know our names?" Aldo cut off, Utivich now looking at him.

"Lieutenant Aldo, if you don't think I wouldn't interrogate every single one of your swastika-marked survivors..." Hans adjusted how he sat, shaking his head in shame."Then one, clearly you aren't as bright as your beau over here" he pointed out, looking at Joshua like he was old gum under his shoe."And two, we simply aren't operating on the level of mutual respect I assumed".

"No, I guess not" Aldo agreed.

"Well, back to the whereabouts of your two Italian saboteurs" Hans tapped the wooden table, dusting off his uniform."As of this moment, both Omar and Donowitz should be sitting in the very seats we left them in. Double-zero twenty-three and double-zero twenty-four, if my memory serves. Explosives still around their ankles, still ready to explode, and your mission- some would call a terrorist plot- as of this moment, is still a go".

Utivich and Joshua locked eyes in fear- their best friend, alongside Omar, was going to explode, blissfully unaware that Bridget's dead, and the three of them were captured.

"That's a pretty exciting story, what's next, ‘Eliza On Ice’?" Aldo looked around the room, disinterested, cracking a proud-of-himself smile when Joshua snorted. He swiped his thigh against Josh's, needing a constant reminder that Joshua was right there, that they were together- that's how it always should be.

Joshua may have found what Aldo said funny, but he caught the look of sadness, and pain, that flashed over Aldo's eyes at the idea of Omar and Donny dying.

Joshua and Aldo were all the other one had, until Donny and the Basterds came into the picture; both of their parents died already, so they really had no big family to return to. The Basterds were all they had, now, too. Aldo and him could have had the opportunity to save Wicki, Hicox, and Stiglitz, but with Hans holding them hostage, there was no way they could possible be able to save the others. Sure, their sacrifices could win the war, but if there's one thing Joshua knows, it's that Aldo may as well end up laying awake at night, years after this one, wishing this all could have gone differently.

Joshua knows for a fact that he'll be doing the same.

"However," Hans crossed both his arms on the table, now ignoring Aldo."All I have to do is pick up this phone right here, inform the cinema, and your plan is kaput".

"If they're still here, and if they're still alive, and sadly, that's one big if, there ain't no way yer goin' to take them boys without settin' off them bombs".

"I have no doubt. And yes, some Germans will die, yes, it will ruin the evening, and yes, Goebbels will be very, very, very mad at you for what you've done to his big night. But you won't get Hitler, you won't get Goebbels, you won't get Göring, and you won't get Bormann. And you need all four to end the war. But if I don't pick up this phone right here," Hans tapped the phone on the table between them, "you may very well get all four. And if you get all four, you end the war...tonight".

"Ah, that's all fun and- and games, Dr. Seuss, but ya didn't need t'say it twice. We're not the stupid ones in this room" Joshua insulted, Aldo giving him a pleased glance.

"Whatever. Gentlemen," Hans rolled his eyes, bringing out four wine glasses and pouring red wine equally into all of them."Let's discuss the prospect of ending the war, tonight. So, the way I see it, since Hitler's death or possible rescue rests solely on my reaction, if I do nothing, it's as if I'm causing his death even more than yourselves, wouldn't you agree?".

"I guess so" Aldo blinked slowly.

"How about you, Utivich?" Hans inquired, placing three wine glasses in front of the Jews, who couldn't even drink them, given that their hands were literally tied.

Utivich glanced down at the glass in front of him, then back up at Colonel Landa."I guess so, too".

"And what about you, Prettyboy Basterd?" Hans teased, turning to Joshua.

Joshua silently looked to Aldo, nodding and mumbling "yea".

"Gentlemen, I have no intention of killing Hitler, and killing Goebbels, and killing Göring, and killing Bormann. Not to mention, winning the war single-handedly for the Allies, only later to find myself standing before a Jewish tribunal" Landa paused for effect."If you want to win the war tonight, we have to make a deal" he smiled hopefully.

Aldo leaned back like he was in a spa, Utivich and Joshua not budging."What kind of deal?".

"The kind you wouldn't have the authority to make. However, I'm sure this mission of yours has a commanding officer. A general. I'm betting for...OSS would be my guess" Landa rhymed, annoying Joshua further. He exclaimed in excitement when none of the three men answered, saying "that's a bingo!".

Joshua looked confused; that's not how you say it. 

"Is that the way you say it? 'That's a bingo'?".

"You just say 'bingo'" Joshua corrected.

"Bingo! How fun!". The smile quickly vanished from Hans' face."But I digress, where were we? Yea! Making a deal. Over there is a very capable two-way radio" he pointed to the radio in the room behind them, from which they came from."And sitting behind it is a more-than-capable radio operator named...Hermann" Landa remembered, or probably just guessed."Get me someone on the other end of that radio with the power of the pen to authorize my...let's call it, the terms of my conditional surrender. If that tastes better going down".

Aldo sat back up again, leaning in."You know, where Joshua and I are from-".

"Yea? Where is that, exactly?" Hans cut him off in question, as if interviewing him.

"Maynardville, Tennessee" Aldo smiled, reminiscing the old days of when it was just Joshua and him, growing up, sneaking moonshine liquor while they were too young to drink, and even younger, when Joshua had to teach Aldo how to spell 'Tennessee'. It's better nowadays, because Joshua continuously pulls the "because yer the only ten-I-see" line on Aldo, which makes him a pile of lovey-dovey goo every time."We've done our share of bootleggin’” he explained, Joshua nodding along in accordance."Up there, you can engage in what the federal government calls illegal activity-".

"Which I'm sure you two engaged in a lot" Hans assumed, blinking between Joshua and Hans.

Joshua nodded, very clearly unashamed.

"And which I'm sure Joshua wished his father's friend did to him, seeing as he went as far as to lying about the man rap-".

"He wasn't finished!" Joshua barked, a certain animosity in his eyes. He glanced up at Aldo, quickly forcing himself to calm down. If Hans didn't believe Josh, so what? He remembers that incident, clear as day (much to his distaste), as does he remember how his dad's friend took advantage of him. That haunting memory is more proof than anything that it happened.

"But...But what we call just a man tryin' to make a livin' for his family sellin' moonshine liquor, it behooves oneself to keep his wits" he finished, Aldo nodding for verification."Long story short, we hear a story too good to be true, it ain't" he forced a cheeky smile onto his face.

Hans nodded blankly."Sitting in your chairs, I would probably say the same thing. And nine-nine-nine point nine-nine-nine times out of a million, you two cheeky boys would be correct. But in the pages of history, every once in a while, fate reaches out and extends its hand".

Aldo, Joshua, and Utivich stared at Hans silently.

Hans outstretched his arms, shrugging carelessly."What shall the history books read?".

[consider-thecoconut]

Hamilton ramblings

So I won lottery tickets to Hamilton. My seats were in the front row, almost directly in the center. I was so close, I could literally see them spit (and they were spitting a lot). Some ramblings from my experience under the cut:

-I got to the theater two hours early, picked up my tickets (I didn’t know that I was going to be sitting in the front row, so I literally squealed when I got them), and then stood by the stage door until they opened the doors to the theatre. I watched a lot of the cast walk in to the stage door, but I was too socially awkward to say anything to them.

-I’m thinking most of the first two rows are reserved for lottery winners, because  everyone around me was lottery winners too. We all talked about how we’ve been entering the lottery for months and couldn’t believe we actually won (I’m still in shock tbh)

-There were understudies for Hamilton, Eliza, and Angelica. Last time I saw it there were no understudies at all, so it was kinda nice to see it with some different cast members. Ryan Alvarado, the guy who was playing Hamilton, looked and sounded a lot like Lin, which was cool.

Now on to some lil details from the show that you can only get from watching it, and some I didn’t even notice the first time I watched it:

-Okay I talked about this last time, but I really love how they did the staging for the opening number, particularly during the “we fought with him, me I died for him, etc.” part. They were all in different parts of the stage and had the spotlights on them while delivering the lines. They were all on the upper story of the stage during this part, except for Burr, which draws more attention to him for his line.

-Hamilton bowing to Burr when he says “I’m at your service sir”

-Lafayette flexing his muscles when Hamilton says “Mr Lafayette hard rock like Lancelot”, and Mulligan flashily showing off his pants when he says “I think your pants look hot”

-Eliza booping Peggy’s nose during The Schuyler Sisters

-The Farmer Refuted had a lot of fun lil details. Burr physically holds Hamilton back when he says “let him be.” Mulligan then grabs Burr’s book to distract him so Hamilton can get to Seabury. When Hamilton starts chewing him out, Seabury moves his platform in front of him to block him out. So Hamilton gets up on the platform and talks right in Seabury’s face. Then Burr literally picks him up and puts him on the floor when he says “Alexander please.” Grabs him under the armpits like you would a toddler.

-King George saying “everybody” in a threatening tone of voice (different than the cheery voice in the soundtrack), and the entire ensemble rushing out to appease him

-At the end of A Winter’s Ball, during the "hey, hey, hey” part, Hamilton, Burr and Laurens wink at people in the first row. Hamilton winked at me. I’m not usually the type to Fangirl over a dude, but. I died a little bit.

-Mulligan was the flower girl at Hamilton and Eliza’s wedding. Literally walked across the stage throwing flowers.

-The rewind at the beginning of Satisfied was really cool, like last time. The stage had a turntable and it actually looked like the scene was being rewound.

-Mulligan grinding on Burr in The Story of Tonight Reprise. Burr looked uncomfortable and mildly terrified when he said “I should go”

-My dude Joshua Henry totally rocked Wait for It. His facial expressions were so    real, he’s an amazing actor as well as singer.

-Hamilton was wearing his glasses at the beginning of Stay Alive. I remember reading in Hamilton: The Revolution, Lin said that Hamilton needs to wear glasses periodically throughout the show to give meaning to the “look it up, Hamilton was wearing his glasses” line in The World Was Wide Enough. He only wears them when he’s reading or writing.

-They used the turntable for the Ten Duel Commandments and it was really cool

-Hamilton looked like a petulant little boy when he snapped at Washington in Meet Me Inside. Especially since he’s so much shorter than Washington.

-Julia really did an amazing job as Eliza. Her facial expressions and voice were really soft and genuine in That Would Be Enough.

-Jordan Donica was great for Guns and Ships. I like him a little better as Jefferson, but he’s a good Lafayette too.

-Like last time, everyone cheered loudly after the “immigrants, we get the job done” line

-I love the way Rory delivers the “awesome, wow” line in What Comes Next. It got a lot of laughs.

-Joshua and Ryan’s faces during Dear Theodosia were priceless. So much emotion.

-Ryan did the Laurens Interlude scene differently than Michael. Michael delivered the “I have so much work to do” line sadly, like he was defeated. But Ryan delivered it forcefully, almost angry. It was interesting to see the two different takes on it, but I kinda liked Michael’s better.

-In Non-Stop, during the “...that’s all you had to say/okay one more thing” exchange, Burr pushes Hamilton into a chair and he just pops right back up.

-During the intermission, I talked to the other people in the front row about how we were so close, we could see the cast spitting. The girl next to me was like “I know, George Washington was just standing there getting spat on and there was nothing he could do about it.”

-In What’d I Miss, Washington was about to shake Jefferson’s hand but Hamilton cuts him off and shakes his hand first. Just cuts off the president of the Unites States, nbd

-The Cabinet Battles are so fun to watch live. The audience cheers along with the ensemble when Washington announces the cabinet meeting. Washington winks at Hamilton when he says “Secretary Hamilton’s plan to assume state debt...” making it clear that he’s on Hamilton’s side. I really liked the way Jordan played Jefferson here, he was really in-your-face and bouncy. He fake-kicks Hamilton when he says “if the shoe fits wear it.” He shoulder-bumps him at some point. He waves his hand in front of his face when he says “too many damn pages for any man to understand.” He drops his mic into Madison’s hand when he’s done with his part. They almost get in a fight when Hamilton says “I’ll show you where my shoe fits” and Washington has to stop them. At the end of the song, when Washington and Hamilton are talking, Washington goes to grab the mic from Hamilton and he reached for the wrong hand. Ryan must use the opposite hand as Michael.

-The scene with lil Philip is so cute, he gives his dad a big hug after he finishes reciting his poem. And Eliza was beatboxing for him. And when Angelica says “screw your courage to the sticking place” she and Hamilton smirk at each other. Acknowledging that Shakespeare reference.

-Amber Iman was so good in Say No to This. She played the part so well. She looked so broken and desperate.

-The Room Where It Happens was one of my favorite parts. The choreography, the singing, the facial expressions. Joshua Henry is so great as Burr, I love him.

-The end of Cabinet Battle 2 when Jefferson is all “did you forget Lafayette” was really funny cause like. Hamilton was stepping towards him trying to be threatening but he was way shorter than Jefferson. Smol fighty Hamilton is my favorite Hamilton.

-Washington On Your Side is great cause souTHERN MOTHERFUCKIN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICANS. Also Madison’s entrance in this song is really funny, he comes in coughing and just pipes up “Which I wrote!” between coughs.

-In I Know Him, after the ensemble lady whispers to him, Rory said “what” in a really impatient, angry tone, different than the surprised tone on the soundtrack. The lady looked scared.

-King George remains on the stage during The Adams Administration, sitting off to the side looking gleeful

-I didn’t notice this the first time I saw it, but a lot of the cast is on the sides of the stage during We Know and Hurricane. It really shows how many people are being affected by Hamilton’s decision.

-The Reynolds Pamphlet is another fun one to watch live. Jefferson throws papers all over the stage. King George waltzes in looking ecstatic. Jefferson gives a pamphlet to the conductor of the orchestra.

-Burn was the only scene that wasn’t beneficial to watch from the first row. I couldn’t see very well because she was further back on the stage and the orchestra was kinda blocking my view. It’s okay tho because Julia still rocked it and she sounded amazing. And I did see smoke, which was cool.

-The acting in Stay Alive Reprise and It’s Quiet Uptown was outstanding. Eliza smiled for Philip as he was dying, even though she was clearly struggling to hold it together. They were all shaking. Hamilton cried during It’s Quiet Uptown, but Eliza didn’t. She looked dead inside. You could feel the grief from both of them.

-In The Election of 1800, when Jefferson says “can we get back to politics”, Madison is openly sobbing as he says “please.” And at the end, when Hamilton announces that Jefferson has his vote, Jefferson and Burr’s expressions were priceless.

-Your Obedient Servant is another one that’s great live. Some people in the ensemble deliver Hamilton’s “30 years of disagreements” to Burr one page at a time. It’s hilarious.

-The World Was Wide Enough was so good. Ryan really did an amazing job with Hamilton’s death soliloquy. This is like the only part in the whole musical that doesn’t have music behind it, so the pressure is really on to deliver the lines well, and he did. And I love the way they do the staging for when he sees the people “on the other side.” So so good.

-Eliza’s gasp at the end of Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story. So much emotion and meaning in one gasp.