#Ray Person/Doc Bryan

[nanuk-dain]

Just a wee public service announcement: Come Wednesday, I will start posting chapters for Unit again. Hope that's good news 😉

Now I need you to make a decision:

Do you want me to post weekly or every two weeks?

Note that several chapters are over 10k... 😅

[sgt-colbert-is-wings-level]

[searchingfortheuniverse]

HBO War + Text Posts Part 2

[headfullmanythots]

okay i just finished generation kill….i have so many conflicting thoughts

bc it’s like. pretty obviously chock full of military propaganda (the DoD vets movies that depict the military to ensure it’s portrayed positively) but also sometimes it gets SO close to the point so frustratingly close to questioning the us military aims but then we always circle back to whoops chain of command whoops we’re just doing what we’re told

and so many of the characters are so interesting and definitely more complex, like doc bryan, nate, espera, even ray towards the end but fuuuuck we don’t get into the real gritty shit. the rehabilitation post tour, really questioning the command, why we’re in iraq in the first place

it’s just like. so many war movies think the shock value is combat, guns, bombs, and explosions, and spend their entire budget on effects when the real shock value is in the inhumanity of war, the complexity of the military industrial complex, and the ineffectiveness of the us military. we get soooo close in gen kill but never to the real root of the issues bc obviously propaganda

anyways i have lots of thoughts about this !! and i know some of my moots have watched it, or anyone else, so if you’re interested i’d love to hear more thoughts!

[askarsjustsoswedish]

GENERATION KILL - MILITARY TERMINOLOGY AND SLANG USED IN THE MINISERIES (Part 2, N-Z)

N.J.P. (Non-Judicial Punishment):  next to a court martial, the most severe form of punishment to which a Marine can be subjected.  It usually involves a loss of rank and pay grade.

Navy Hospitalman, Doc Bryan:  the medic, though medics in the Marine Corps are technically part of the Navy’s hospital corps and are never referred to as “medics” but as Corpsmen.

Negligent Discharge:  accidental firing of a weapon;  aka N.D.

Nine-lines:  a procedure for directing air strikes on ground targets.

No salute zone:  forward areas where officers are not to be acknowledged with salutes, in order to conceal rank from potential enemy observers.

O Dark Hundred:  until darkness falls.  Note: “O dark 30” typically means half an hour before dawn, or any ridiculously early hour of the morning.

Oakley sunglasses:  surfer sunglasses worn by just about all Marines in Iraq.  Iraqis believe Oakleys give Marines X-ray powers to see through women’s clothing and are a constant source of tension.

One M.E.F. (First Marine Expeditionary Force):  the overall Marine invasion force in the Middle East, which comprises the First Division (ground troops) under command of Gen. Mattis, the Air Wing and a logistics battalion.  The entire One M.E.F. is under the command of General James Conway.

Oscar Mike:  “On the Move” from the phonetic alphabet.

Overwatch:  a position that offers protective fire for a given area.

“Paint me”:  to paint something is to shine one’s gunsight laser designator on a target in preparation for shooting it.

PAS-13 Thermal:  a night vision device, about the size of an old video camera, that can see heat signatures.  Note:  A single device is usually referred to in the plural, e.g. ,“Pass me the thermals” refers to one device.

Pec-fours, Pec-thirteens:  night and infrared vision scopes.

POG (Person Other than Grunt):  a pejorative term for anyone who is in the rear echelon and therefore not in a recon or infantry unit.  This is one of the most insulting terms in the Marine Corps, almost the equivalent of the “N” word.  Note:  POG is pronounced with a long “o.”

Police:  to clean up or correct, as in “Police your tent,” or clean it up.  (1-16)

Psy-Ops:   Psychological-Operations units, which in Iraq relied on leaflets, radio and loudspeaker broadcasts to encourage enemy forces to surrender.

Pyro and Smoke protocol:  codes involving use of smoke grenades and flares.

R.C.T. (Regimental Combat Team):  a super-regiment of about 7,000 Marines; the First Division consisted of three RCTs – RCT 1, RCT 5 and RCT 7 – plus First Recon, which operated on its own.

R.C.T. One (Regimental Combat Team One):  a motorized, armored infantry regiment of about 7,000 Marines.

R.O.E. (The Rules of Engagement):  the all important, ever-changing and always ambiguous rules governing when a Marine may fire his weapon.

R.T.O. (Radio Transceiver Operator):  radioman, the most important guy on the team and usually the calmest and smartest next to the team leader.  (1-23)

Rack:  nautical for sleeping area.

Ranger Graves:  sleeping holes dug by marines to protect from shrapnel and gunshots.

Raptor:  radio call-sign for First Recon’s Charlie company.

Recon Mission:  a reconnaissance mission performed specifically by Recon Marines who are the Marine Corps special forces; there are only a few hundred Recon Marines in the entire Corps.

Red-Con One:  a loaded weapon with a round in its chamber, but with the safety on.

Revetment:  crude fortifications made from earth or concrete or sandbags.

Ripped Fuel:  brand name of a popular over-the-counter stimulant, banned by the military but widely used.

RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade):   anti-tank rocket first developed by the Germans as the “panzerfaust,” then adopted by Soviets and as common to Iraqi forces and insurgents as Skittles candies are to Marines.  Not very accurate, but devastating when fired in mass by five- or ten-man RPG teams.  RPGs were famously used to bring down U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopters in Somalia.

S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedure):  S.O.P. is sometimes informally used as a synonym for common sense.

Saffwon Hill:  a low hill on the Iraq side of the border with Kuwait, believed to be the locale of a dug-in Iraqi division.

Sapi plates:  12-inch square ceramic plates worn in front and back of one’s flak vest, rated to stop the enemy’s preferred 7.62 round.

Schwack:  to kill; origin believed to be a popular video game.

Screwby:  either “That sucks,” or “That’s really cool,” from Cpl. Stafford’s personal hip-hop lexicon.

Senior NCOs:  anyone from staff-sergeant to Sergeant Major.  Corporals and Sergeants are also NCOs, but they are never referred to junior NCOs, simply as NCOs.  (1-18)

Sergeant Major:  the highest possible rank a non-commissioned officer can earn in the Marine Corps; invariably a ball-buster who speaks in a semi-illiterate southern sounding accent no matter where he is from.  This battalion has just one Sergeant Major.

Shamal:  hellacious wind and dust storms endemic to Iraq.

Sit-Rep:  situation report:; often used as a more confusing way to say “situation.”

Skittles:  chewy fruit-flavored children’s candy, which is a dietary staple in U.S. military.

Slackman:  team machine gunner, armed with a SAW.

Snatch:  a specific Marine term for abducting an enemy combatant in order to gather intelligence.

Soft Cover:  same as a boonie cap.  Note:  the word “hat” does not exist in the Marine Corps; anything you place on your head is a cover.

Sparrow:  a small reaction force held in reserve while another unit attacks; an “eagle” is a large reaction force.

Spread load his excitement:  to calm down;  from the tradition of foot patrols spreading a heavy load equally among all troops.

T-55:  Soviet-era tank ubiquitous in Iraq; older and much less feared than the newer, but less-common T-72 Soviet tanks also in Iraq.

TAD-two, TAD-three:  Tactical Air Direct radio bands for communicating directly with pilots in attack aircraft.

Task Force Tarawa:  a four thousand-strong Marine unit outside of the First Division Command Structure.  This American unit was initially put under the command of the British at Basra, then moved north to Nasariyah.

Team Leader:  the sergeant in command of each combat team.  Fick’s platoon is divided into three teams, but spread across four Humvees (not counting Fick’s command vehicle, the fifth Humvee).  Since Fick’s platoon is a special forces unit trained in coastal raids, they have no experience with Humvees.  Technically each team has a specialty, with team one being the dive (or SCUBA) team, team two being the boat team and team three the para-jump team.  But here, ironically, they are all in a desert.

The Three:  the battalion’s intelligence unit.

T-rats:  T-rations; pre-manufactured military food heated and served in mess halls of forward units.

Triple-A:  Anti-Aircraft Artillery; towed or self-propelled guns designed to shoot down aircraft but often used by Iraqis against American forces on the ground.

Two o’clock:  direction of enemy forces.  Orientation of the lead vehicle puts 12 o’clock at the center of the hood and six o’clock at the rear.

Two-Oh-Three:  an M-203 grenade launcher, which is a single shot self-propelled weapon mounted beneath the barrel of a standard Marine rifle.  The M-203 fires the same 40mm round as the M-19.

Unfucking:  a verb peculiar to the Marine Corps meaning to get out of a fucked-up situation.

U-two:  a reference to venerable U2 spy planes.

Victors:  vehicles.  The military uses the phonetic alphabet as a shorthand code:  the phonetic alphabet replaces letters with words, i.e., Alpha, Bravo Charlie, Delta, Echo.  These phonetic word for each letter of the alphabet can be used to replace any word starting with the corresponding letter.  Hence, vehicle becomes “victor,” terrorist becomes “tango” and white trash becomes “whiskey tango,” as in, “He grew up in a whiskey tango trailer park in the Ozarks.”

Whiskey Tango:  white trash, from the phonetic alphabet version.

Zil truck:  Russian-made truck popular in Iraq.

[blood-mocha-latte]

hbowar ask game is sooooo good my girl. hard to narrow it down but let's go with b, d, f, i, m, o, w!!

thank you bestieeee it nearly killed me <3 <3

hbo war ask game

b. between all four shows, which one do you think did the best job of creating a storyline?

the pacific all the way. three intersecting stories, all individually devastating, all with wonderful character work. MWAH

d. what was a character arc in any of the shows that left you unsatisfied?

i said harry crosby here, but i also feel like the tuskegee airmen were Greatly Wronged in the sense that they just sort of. vibed. after their initial ep. which i get that the miniseries wasn't about them but Still. it made me sad

f. rank all four shows in order of favorite to least and explain why.

1 - the pacific: personal connections to the marine corps as well as robert leckie as well as the Actual And Realistic showing of war is just. so good. i hate media that begins to drift into not showing the Horrific sides of war and i feel the pacific is able to negate this the least. also with the old breed my beloved

2 - band of brothers: good ol' classic!! the besties the bros. do i even need to go into depth with this one.

3 - generation kill: the only reason this one isn't higher is because of Personal Connections that make it a really hard rewatch lol. but as with my reasoning with the pacific, the same applies here

4 - masters of the air: though parts of the series were still really good and well thought out, overall i felt the show tended to be more rushed and struggle more with characterization (through no fault of their own, due to the episode cut and struggles of covid filming) which led to it being my least favorite

i. tag some of your closest mutuals and choose a show portrayal from any of the miniseries' that reminds you of them.

and here we go to the read more, because this shit gonna get LONG.

~ @disastrouscanasta - arthur my partner in luztoye yapping crimes truly. you have luz energy and i say this NOT as a luztoye nor luz expert but based on the simple mathematic equation of a) my Favorite People b) Film Intersections and c) wonderful understanding of joe toye. thank you for your time

~ @ep6bastogne - bel i love you SO dearly and that is why i crown you leckie. YES web vibes also but i think that it's important to reflect upon the motivations of these men as writers and when i say the leckie energy differs GREATLY from the web energy and That Is What You Possess i mean it 100000%

~ @ewipandora - ewi my beloved ewi another partner in luztoye yapping crimes. among other crimes. i name you a delightful cross between luz and perconte, based on the simple and true and beloved fact of Bestie Behavior honestly <3

~ @gorgeousundertow - although we have not known each other for Long nikki i feel it important to acknowledge now that you are a bit like my guide. for i have seen the ever after light. much like i have been cured of a temporary blindness. much like dick winters can also do

~ @lamialamia - the strangest blend of ray person and doc bryan i have literally ever met. linh you go from ray levels of slapstick insanity to severe solemnity in like 2 seconds. and truly. iconique

~ @youcalledmebabe - gigi truly you have webster energy to me. those Web Vibes. WeVibes. genuinely though do you think webster would watch grey's anatomy

m. what do you think is the best quote of each show?

answered here <33

o. say something nice about a ship that you don't understand.

answered here <33

w. what's an hbo war url that you like/would change to? if you have an hbo war url, why did you choose it?

i said it in another ask but i will SAY IT AGAIN. boyetoye is a fucking hilarious url

[nanuk-dain]

And because I love this pairing to pieces, have some of my old Ray/Doc Bryan manips for Valentine's Day, too. You can never have too much love ;D

[executethyself35]

Hey Alexi! Your Secret Santa here! 🫡 Happy December!

I'm here to pick your brain again!

So, do you have any particular favorite scenes or moments from any of the HBOwar shows? A line that you quote often? A scene or character that occupies your brain at all times? Are you drawn to the lighthearted funny moments? Or the heart-wrenching drama? Maybe both?

Feel free to give as much or little as you would like!

Talk to you soon!! <3

OMGGGGG HIIIIII

Favorite scenes:

BoB: the baseball scene and the manhunt scene

The Pacific: the scene where Sledge and Snafu are just yelling at eachother

GenKill: anytime they're singing

A line i qoute often is from BoB, "This stuff is orange, spaghetti ain't supposed to be orange. This ain't spaghetti this is army noodles with ketchup."

I am most definitely drawn to both, i love the light hearted moments of all the shows, but the guts wrenching scenes in BoB also own my heart, like when Toye and Guarnere get their legs blown off, there's smth abt how they act with eachother during that scene.

The characters that occupy my brain:

BoB: Skip, Speirs and Malarkey

The Pacific: Hoosier and Chuckler

GenKill: Ray Person and Doc Bryan

Ttyl!!! <33

[ackackh]

well this maybe a little excessive but 🍊 🍋 🍈 🫐 🍇, if you will!

Thank you for the ask, anon! This is too long and I don’t regret it! 💕

🍊 Who’s a character you don’t write for that often, but keep meaning to write for more? (They’re so interesting! But maybe you have trouble pinning them down, or keep getting distracted by another blorbo…)

There. Are. So. Many. The first character who came to mind tho is Doc Bryan. I wrote 5k words of a fic forever ago from his POV and I loved working in that space but I also find his voice really hard to pin down. One day I will finish it and you’ll get to read all about how when you’re sad it helps to fuck a friend. (Ray)

🍋 What’s your favorite spicier trope to write?

MMMM this is a hard one because I feel like I’m still finding my voice in this area. Uh I do love writing a first-time scene tho. And first time bottoming? Yes pls. Literally it’s in both the aforementioned Doc fic (Ray) and in DOGSTAR. (Andy) I feel like the general consensus in the fandom is that Eddie bottoms, which I also like, but I’m really into the idea of Andy specifically needing to let someone take care of him. Eddie is happy to help.

🍈 Who’s your blorbo and what are some of your favorite headcanons/ideas about them that repeatedly show up in your fics? Free pass to rant about blorbo opinions.

Ray, my truest blorbo, I have put him in Blender as a 3D model and am rotating him as we speak. Of course I love the motor-mouthing, but my favorite thing about him is that he’s so fucking intelligent underneath that. Like the most perceptive motherfucker. In God Is a Bluegill, he is constantly noticing EVERYTHING, especially how other people are feeling, and that 100% informs his behavior. Boy is a sponge. And his mania is either a medication for himself or for others and either way, I do think it’s genuine, I just think he also uses it as a social tool.

Also, if I’m writing BradRay, I love to make him quietly suffer. Little queer guy from Missouri, he’s internalized the idea that he doesn’t get to have what he wants, so he doesn’t even try to attain it. So while Brad is either pining after someone else, or hung up on his ex, Ray is like, ‘I’m gonna be the best friend, I’ll be whatever you need.’ And it’s BAD FOR HIM. There are similar things going on in the Doc fic as well, Ray wanting to do whatever he can to hold his friends together, likely at his own personal risk.

Damn, I need to finish that Brad-gets-dumped-during-OIF fic.

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

I’m pretty pleased with what the HBOWar fandom has to offer, we have so many talented writers who have lots of different ideas, so it’s hard to think of what I’m missing. I’d love to see more Doc Bryan POV, obviously I’m currently thinking on him a lot.

Here’s something I’ve wanted to write about because I love projecting and you can’t stop me: gimme transmasc Ray. I need a fic where his mania, his bravado, his insight into others are all things he’s developed to protect himself throughout his life. Like, I get we’d have to write around a lot of stuff with the Marines, but trans soldiers, at the very least, did/do exist in Middle East deployments, so I feel like we could suspend our disbelief a lil bit. Also foaming at the mouth for an E rated fic featuring this. For reasons. Ahem 😅

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one?

Not to be on my AndyEddie bullshit again, but I could write over and over again about Andy and the day Eddie died. I’m visiting it way too much in DOGSTAR. But in my defense, I’m focusing a lot more on trauma in this version and in a world in which either survived, I think Eddie getting hit on the ridge would have fundamentally changed Andy. Especially, as is the case in this fic, if Andy believed Eddie was dead and not just wounded.

[bowdre]

Generation Kill OC

i. Basics

•Name•

Juliet Reign Hawthorne

•Nickname•

Julie, Jules

•Age•

23 •Birthday•

January 18th, 1980

•Gender•

Female

•Sexuality•

Straight

•Zodiac•

Capricorn

•Height•

5'5"

•Occupation•

Rolling Stone journalist

ii.Relationship Status

Marries Corporal Josh Ray Person in 2005.

Ray wasn't the typical guy Juliet would usually seek out. In fact, she found him quite repulsive when they first met. His arrogance and immaturity was too much for the reporter to handle. Brad Colbert often had to break up banter between the two. But opposites attract, and Juliet soon found herself becoming physically attracted to Ray.

Being a reporter in the middle of a war wasn't quite what Juliet signed up for, and Ray could tell as the weeks went on. Juliet could tell serving in the Marines was heavily affecting Ray, too. With their mutual struggle, the two slowly started warming up to each other. Night after night, the two would stay up talking, then kissing, then promising to spend their lives together.

When it was time for Juliet to go back to the States with Evan, the two exchanged phone numbers and addresses. Juliet promised to wait for him and Ray promised to come home alive.

iii. Appearance

•Hair colour•

Light brunette

•Hair length•

Waist

•Eye colour•

Baby blue

•Skin tone•

Pale

iv. Personality

•Good traits•

Genuine, ambitious, charismatic

•Bad traits•

Squeamish, panicky, all around the wrong person to have in the middle of a war

•Strengths•

Determined to fulfill her dreams and pursue her career

•Weaknesses•

Has always been considered 'boring'

•Likes•

Rainy days, ginger tea, the color pink in any regard

•Dislikes•

Ray for the longest time, the immense nausea that came with being pregnant

•Habits•

Spinning her pen/pencil between her fingers

•Talents/skills•

Writing in cursive, cooking

v. Relationships

•Mother•

Monica Hawthorne (deceased)

•Father•

Warren Hawthorne

•Siblings•

Sophia Hawthorne (1975)

•Lover(s)•

Ray Person

•Friends•

Evan Wright, Nate Fick, Brad Colbert, Antonio Espera, James Trombley, Walt Hasser, Rudy Reyes

•Close friends•

Doc Bryan

vi. Backstory

Juliet was born and raised in Queens, New York. She was raised in a middle class family, and lived an ultimately normal life until her mothers death when she was 14. Juliet's mother, Monica was killed in a tragic car accident on a snowy night in December. This changed Juliet forever. The once bright and happy young girl became very reserved and closed off.

She remained that way throughout high school and college, and was eventually dubbed as being boring. Juliet was a smart girl, but she lacked the knowledge of how to cope with trauma.

Juliet worked closely with Evan, he was her mentor during her time at Rolling Stone. When the opportunity arose to be in the middle of a warzone for the sake of a book, Juliet saw this as her chance to get out of her shell and prove she was not boring.

[beinfinite]

Ray Person: I really like this whole ‘good guy, bad guy’ act you two have going on.

Tim ‘Doc’ Bryan: It’s not an act, it’s just that I’m mean and Nate isn’t. 

[hitman-two]

Ficklist (Masterlist)

[Radio static] All Hitman Victors, this is Hitman Two Actual, be advised that our ROE remains in place as we roll through Tumblr Territory.

𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬: ▸ Grace x Doc Bryan ▸ Humvee Roadtrip with Brad and Ray ▸ Nothing Homoerotic, Sir...

𝐃𝐨𝐜 𝐱 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 ▸ Amazing Grace (Ongoing series) ▸ Bouquet of Flowers 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐱 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐞 ▸ Of Thunder and Fireworks (AO3) | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 ▸ The Jalapeno and Cheesy Tears 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 ��𝐢𝐜𝐤: ▸ Smutty HCs 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭: ▸ Smutty HCs ▸ Smut Request (Scheduled to write) 𝐃𝐨𝐜 𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧 ▸ Smutty HCs 𝐆𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐖𝐲𝐧𝐧 ▸ Gunny x Nate's Sister HC (Scheduled to write) 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫 ▸ 𝐑𝐚𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 ▸ Smutty HCs ▸ One-Shot Requested (Scheduled to write, changes might occur)

[nanuk-dain]

There is FINALLY a new chapter of Unit! Sorry that it took me so long to get over that block.... But now I have just over 30k in 4 chapters for you. I guess that makes up for it? 😅

[ferally-ships]

AO3 Wrapped Party!

Stolen from @lingua-mortua, I did my AO3 Wrapped Considering I'm never logged in to AO3, I am not at all surprised by my results XD Please don't judge me

[caffeinated-fan]

As we all know tumblr is doing new bullshit, and it is my civil right to mock them