#WANT 2 SEE ANDY AND NILE TAG TEAM.

[erotetica]

holding a metaphorical knife to ur metaphorical throat to make u keep talking actually (hi this is marwankenzarisetc this is my main. im not threatening u out of the blue.) all of this is delicious bcc quynh . <- man who feels normal about everything just had an extremely well-adjusted emotional reaction to the mental image presented to him. tog2 is just that gif of kingston hitting jas with a kendo stick except its q&b and we all sit there and enjoy it deeply <3 OLYMPIC DARLING NILE. what i would rly enjoy is if olympic darling nile ends up joining some deeply gimmicky faction (think julia hart & the house of black) bc even tho she's just a really damn good wrestler she also loves a bit of fun.

i need you to talk most about luchador joe tho. everything else ive said up to this point has just been me burying the lucha joe lead.

are we thinking the whole nine yards flippy dippy shit beautiful mask highly perfected gear ? are we thinking rivalry with nicky while in the back nicky has this crush on this beautiful guy he hasn't seen around often and has never talked to but stares at deeply ? are we thinking joe being like dude this is getting to much why does di genova keep staring at me in the back. cant he keep it for the ring. all i know for certain is that i need (Need) joe to have tassels framing his ass and thighs

thinking abt where andy fits into all of this tho. part of me thinks she's one of those indies wrestlers who refuses to leave the indies partially on principle partially bc she way prefers her own schedule OR. she could be nile's sting. this might be getting out of hand

(x) U r coming 2 me in a constant state of drawing quynh in leather pride bullshit, which I never finish, but BY FUCK I'm starting another piece abt this. 

All I can think abt is yusuf in a mask that is also litham in that way, like, elaborate fashion editorial jewelry is influenced by the silhouette of hijab. Actually that's a lie I can also think about him freestyling at people a la Mohammed Ali, and putting cologne on his knees so headlocks are nice for both parties, and being an undefeated scamp. Lov this guy. And his assless chaps.

ANYWay I think luchador fits joe for the fast pace/style and nicky is an endurance test for him, in a way that makes their raven;s rules feud so annoying, which is already annoying bc neither of them wins more than once at a stretch. Joe hits alec-baldwin-in-the-spongebob-movie with a light bulb, he tells joe his rhymes are dumb. etc. Nicky blows him in an ER curtain-cubicle & joe is like 'oh, so you're certifiable' and writes his phone number behind nicky's ear in like, purple sharpie. (nicky: you just have a prison wallet of pastel markers on you 24/7? yusuf: what I'm hearing here is no one's ever asked you to sign anything. NARRATOR: THIS WAS TRUE)

cosigning your nile stuff. I wanna say andy has classic roots too, bc parallels?? She comes up in a trenchcoat like 'ey kid, do you want to wear studded gloves but like, for work?' and nile leaves skid marks towards the kitschiest adrenaline-junkie shit possible. 

[nevermindirah]

can you recommend me some of your favorite book of nile fics?

CAN I. Anon, I have read every single fic in the AO3 Booker/Nile tag with the exception of a handful that will trigger me. I read my faves over and over again. We're currently at 303 works in the tag, and a handful of them are Joe/Nicky fics with "if you squint" BoN (I still read them, I can't help myself) but the vast majority of them are AMAZING. Fandom is full of kind and talented people, holy shit.

if you want a slow burn — you're in luck because this ship SPECIALIZES in slow burn!

First, the triumvirate of Book of Nile Classics. These were the first long fics for this ship and they're all so unique given they share basically the exact same premise, that Nile and Booker get to know each other slowly through run-ins spread out over years of his exile.

Five Times Booker Broke His Exile and the One Time He Did Not by @sphinx81: The one where they keep running into each other on ops, with the angsty middle chapter where Booker gets deep in his self-hate and calls Nile a clueless child and Nile reasonably tells him to go fuck himself and doesn't speak to him for years.

everywhere on earth you go (you're gonna have me) by nondz (pinkjook): The one with the buddy system. This is the only BoN fic that has a podfic as far as I'm aware! You can listen to it over and over and over again! The reader's voice is so soothing! [Podfic] everywhere on earth you go (you're gonna have me) by sallysparrow017

The Last Man on Earth by Survivah: The one where Booker doesn't show up in London when his exile's up, so Nile tracks him down, they get stuck in a broken elevator, and she gives him a medium sell.

Any Port in Storm by CypressSunn: Nile gives up her evac spot so a dad with kids can escape a blizzard that's on its way in rural Canada, and Booker stays behind with her, because Nile may know her shit about surviving in the desert but she doesn't know anywhere near what Booker knows about freezing to death. If you really want to up the angst on this one, first read a mausoleum fit for me by @spectralarchers for (a really interesting take on Booker's mortal life and) a visceral, detailed exploration of exactly how shitty Booker's experience was of starving and freezing on the Russian campaign.

If everything I do has got a hole in it (then everything you do has got a hold on me) by AnnieTheMouse: Nile will take over for Andy, but not just yet. First she's gonna be a little irresponsible, enjoy herself a little bit, sow her wild oats. If one of her hookups happens to also be fucking Booker, what about it?

Part of the Union by GlassRose: This is a newer take on the Book of Nile Classics genre where Nile and Booker run into each other over the years. Best friends to lovers, facilitated by a Team Baby union contract. Featuring stunning art by albymangroves, my absolute favorite fanartist from Captain America fandom.

Bring the World Back Into Tune by @mprosperossprite: Technically an AU, but 2 Old 2 Guard will make AUs of all of these, right? Hades and Persephone magical realism elements on top of a gorgeous, nuanced analysis of what it means, in practice, in such a complicated and fucked-up world, to "do what we think is right". Star-crossed, spanning years and continents, lives not permanently ruined but much blood shed. (Hi I originally joined Tumblr because of the Veronica Mars movie anybody else see the Logan/Veronica parallels??)

Announcing Your Place in the World of Things by @mprosperossprite: The soulmate goose AU. Yeah you read that right! I'm putting this here and not in the AU category because it's my list and I make the rules. Some people have soulmates, and those people get a daemon-type friend who's a goose so your goose can lead you to your soulmate. This closely follows movie canon and answers questions like, what if our elderly friends had soulmate geese with them in Goussainville? (Mouse over the author's username and peep her icon! Look how sweet chibi-Nile is with her soulmate goose Tigris! Look, anon, look!!)

Wish You Were Here by @aimmyarrowshigh: The latest entry in the Book of Nile Classics genre, this time starting with a postcard. Part I is up now and Part II is coming soon. Bookmark for later if you want a satisfying ending, or go read it right now if you want a deliciously WHAT emotional cliffhanger. (It's so good! I recommend it! Also waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah c'mon you're gonna leave us hanging on THAT??)

I'm also gonna include my own here, because I'm really proud of it and whatever it's my list: I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore. Nile becomes the guard's leader, moves to London on her own to adjust to immortal life, develops a long-term plan for how exactly they're going to do what they think is right, and gets a shit ton of emotional support from the guard and Copley and several OCs and a certain exiled Frenchman who's dealing with his shit by getting a PhD in trauma studies. Check it out if you like politics and long footnotes and porn with feelings!

if you want an AU

The Beautiful Game by @victimhood: Elite footballers AU! This fic lives in my head rent-free to the extent that I have headcanons about the in-universe RPF fandom for these characters. Nile is a USWNT and Barça champion who had to retire early due to a worsening chronic illness, and she moves to Milan for a sportscasting job just as a new player gets traded from Copley's Liverpool to Andy's Inter Milan. How will Booker mesh with his new teammates, especially the team captain with the murder eyes? How will Nile rebuild her life after having to stop playing the game she loves? And why does Yooker keep trending on social media??

if you do take a thief by @morallygreywaren: Clue(do) AU! Six strangers (or are they?) are blackmailed into a dinner party. This fic masterfully gives equal airtime to all 3 ships in the middle of a damn murder mystery, and NILE'S DAD IS ALIVE IN THIS ONE, I REPEAT, NILE'S DAD IS ALIVE. And the author has a follow-up planned!

A General Librarian by @sweetlyenchains: Booker and his sons live in a magical manor house with a sentient library. Nile is a retired general who agrees to marry a widower sight unseen for *handwave* reasons, and she's not thrilled to be some old man's wife but it'll be fine. And then she meets the library. And then she meets its caretaker.

Les Petits Monstres by @winterequinoxx: The original gym AU. Nile gets to know the single dad of her adorable tiny martial arts students. The cutest of kid fics and the source of widely-used fanon for Jean Pierre's brothers' names.

Rhymes with Shook Her by @lady-writes: Booker the Happy Hooker! Nile's a stressed grad student who books a sex worker to get her out of her head, and you'll never guess what happens next ����😏

The Kids Are All Right by @takethisnight-wrapitaroundme: The teachers AU where the students gossip incessantly about the English teacher's painfully obvious years-long crush on Ms. Freeman, and a fateful school dance where a last-minute chaperone switch-out and a teenager's smartphone change everything.

Geborgen by liadan14: Nile is sent by the CIA to take in a priority target. She makes a different call. This is a BoN-focused continuation of a primarily Joe/Nicky series that gives lovely attention to all 3 main pairings over the course of the series. Most of the commenters are there seemingly exclusively for the Joe/Nicky, and the author seems to really appreciate love for the BoN sections, so consider giving some BoN-specific love! Political and angsty and mysterious and hopeful and SO FUCKING HOT.

Cross Promotion by @rileywrites: The YouTubers AU! Slowest of slow burns. Work in progress with slow updates recently, but if the author never returns to this I think the latest chapter still makes for a very satisfying ending-ish thing.

For I Am Bound and You Are Free by EnglishAsSheIsSpoke: Selkie AU. In an alternate timeline with different countries and wars, Nile moves to a remote Scottish island in the early 1900s and joins the found family who maintains the lighthouse.

Eye Candy vs Soul Food by @lady-writes: The Princess and the Frog-inspired reincarnation AU. Short and sweet and angsty and romantic and mysterious and UGH it's so good!

Songs Written in Blood: A Nightingale's Flight by @winterequinoxx: The roaring nineteen-twenties speakeasy AU. A serial murderer is targeting talented Black people and the extraordinarily talented singer at Andy's bar is next on the list. Will the one cop who isn't a piece of shit be able to protect her? And what kinds of intimate situations might they find themselves in as the plot unfolds??

if you want porn

honey doesn't just catch flies by @queermermaids: The original honeypot fic. Nile gets back from a mission and Booker reminds her that she's home 😏😏

Take the Risk by @kyra-bane: I'm proud to say this is a result of my Kinktober request! (Almost) caught in the act. (Abortive) porn with feelings. Found family feels. This fic is a lap dance and secondhand embarrassment and a warm hug all in one sexy and hilarious lil package!

Show me somethin' natural by @highlightcity159: Nile has stretch marks and Booker would like to lick them. Leisurely we're-on-vacation established-relationship sex.

Almost Familiar by @takethisnight-wrapitaroundme: Nile's trying to pick someone up in a bar but nobody's sparking her interest, she's like a hundred years old and all these people are so young. Then the bartender hands her a drink from an admirer across the room. You'll never guess who it is or what happens next 😏😏

and still my heart has wings by allandmore99: "Booker is a good house husband and comes to visit publishing executive Nile on her lunch break."

ain't even done with the night by ourdarkspirits: MISSION FIC. Evening wear, posing as a couple, high stakes, close quarters, a heart-pounding mission followed by heart-pounding feelings followed by, well, you can guess 😏😏

With the One I Love by @takethisnight-wrapitaroundme: THIRTY ONE completely different smutty, smutty fics, one for every day of March. Tone and context and kinks and warnings vary wildly, there's something for everyone in this smorgasbord of porn!

Don't//Speak by @lady-writes: This fic is not for everyone — read the tags/warnings (which I contributed to as beta!) before you read. Nile and Booker explore kink. Andy, Quynh, Joe, and Nicky come home a lot earlier than they said they would.

Dido Burns by @mprosperossprite: If Nile wants an orgasm, she has to keep reading. Inspired by a certain WHAT THE FUCK DUDE Matthias Schoenaerts insta post that I can't find the link to right now.

And another two of my own: problem solved it's dissolved, a gym AU where they hook up and later find out Nile is Booker's new coworker. Graphic depiction of pegging if you're into that. 😏 And you have the right to lose control, my mission fic meets friends to Domme/sub lovers Big Bang contribution, complete with a sexy BoN playlist and 10 (yeah you read that right, TEN) different kink scenes. (Quarantine is hard of a slut, I'm coping, ok?!)

if you want angst

The Comforting Arms of Home by @highlightcity159: Nile leads her first mission, it gets a little rough for her but they make it out just fine, and people who are not Nile have just a whole fucking lot of feelings about the mission getting rough for her. Apologies are owed. Apologies are made.

Honeypot Missions Aren't So Sweet by redlionspride: In which Booker makes out with the mark and Nile has a lot of feelings about it. What, will they have to use their words?

Save Yourself and Confess, also by redlionspride: In which a building collapses with Nile, Booker, and a half-dozen kidnapped children still inside. Whump and its aftercare.

if you want fluff

The House Husband Interludes by @highlightcity159: Delicious little established-relationship slices of life seen through Nile and Joe's friendship.

Love and Tresses by @sphinx81: The fluffiest fluffy bathrobe of fics that I would literally wrap myself up in like a blanket if I could. Booker helps Nile with her hair.

You're my river running wild by @energievie: Nile and Booker road trip from Tijuana to Vancouver. The most established of established relationships is even more adorable when you see them interacting with strangers on the road.

While we're at it, the entire Gooey series by @energievie is Grade A Fluff!

2117, Revisited by @lady-writes: An absolutely stunning take on Booker and Nile's wedding. I had the absolute pleasure of helping out as Jewish wedding traditions resource for this and I cried at the finished product. A modern English interpretation of the traditional Sheva Brachot (seven wedding blessings) interspersed with the thoughts and feelings and mortal-family heirlooms the wedding couple and their immortal family bring to their chuppah.

[cinebration]

Written in DNA (Booker x Reader) [Epilogue]

You tie up loose ends.

Ahhhh! This epilogue is, like, twice the size of other chapters. I should’ve broken it into two, but I figured you all wanted to get to the end!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Epilogue

Tagged: @lucy-sky​, @city-of-weird​, @all-the-right-regrets, @alannister-always-pays-her-debts​, @fleetwoodsmacabitch​

Warnings: violence

Gif Source: captaindelafere

General Howzer looked too thin to be a military man at his age, but what people mistook for smallness was all lean muscle, as tough as a coffin nail. His hair had gone gray despite his age, but it gave him a steeled look that he didn’t mind. It added to the ferocity of his blue eyes.

With Specimen 049 back in the compound, he let himself breathe easy for a moment. Her absence had been a source of great distress for him—a fact his jaw still attested to, aching from all the grinding he had inflicted on it.

But there was still the trouble of how Specimen 049 had escaped.

It kept him up at night. How had she contacted the outside? How had she arranged the help? They had scoured her quarters after the breakout, searching for anything that indicated how she had reached beyond her concrete room. Having found nothing, Howzer had to admit it hadn’t had anything to do with Specimen 049. Someone else had come for her on their own initiative.

Howzer considered shutting down the program. Specimen 049 had been one of a few successful experiments—perhaps the best, because she had never resisted, had never fled.

Until that one day.

She may not have orchestrated the escape, but she had flown the coop all the same when the opportunity arrived. She had obliterated his best team when he sent them after her.

Perhaps the experiments were ultimately a failure. Everything had worked but for the ability to suppress or remove the flight instinct, the need to escape prison. If even Specimen 049, his model subject, had shucked her chains, then there was no hope.

Chaos erupted outside the compound, alarms blaring, but Howzer didn’t question it, too consumed by his problem. Whoever was assaulting the base had no hope of success, besides.

The doorknob of his office turned. He glanced at it in irritation. “Private, I ordered you—”

He froze as you stepped into the room, followed by the man he recognized as your liberator from the week before.

“Specimen oh-four-nine.”

“General Howzer,” you said, your voice crisp, without inflection. “I’m glad you decided to work late tonight.”

You moved forward, crossing the room in three quick strides. Howzer reached for the gun in his desk drawer. Your hand clamped down on his wrist, snapped it. Pain exploded up his arm. The gun clattered to the floor as he hissed, cradling his wrist.

You gestured to the other man. Nodding, he handed you his pistol and circled around the desk, pulling the keyboard of Howzer’s computer toward him.

“What are you doing?” Howzer growled.

He watched in mounting horror as the man located the program files. He went into Specimen 049’s folder, deleted it, and then backed out. He hesitated, then deleted everything related to the program before purging them from the hard drive.

“You can’t just erase everything,” Howzer sneered. “We’ll just recreate it all.”

You shook your head, yanked him to his feet. “We’ll see.” Turning to the other man, you ordered, “Finish here.”

You paused, pulled open another drawer of Howzer’s desk. A bottle of scotch lay at the bottom, a quarter of it gone. Taking it, you pushed Howzer toward the door.

“What happened? You were my best results.”

You remained quiet, shoving him through the door and down the hallway. The chaos of the explosion had drawn everyone to the front of the compound. You led Howzer away to the back, then through a steel door.

The cold night air hit Howzer like knives. He shivered despite himself, the pain in his wrist flaring. Fear pushed at him, but he shoved it down. He was General Benjamin Howzer, and damned would he be if he let some young upstart intimidate him.

“Your car,” you demanded.

He pointed to a brown sedan nestled beside an SUV. Fishing in his pocket for keys, you clicked the button. The car’s lights flashed.

“I expected you to lie.”

“Good. That’s what we trained you to do.”

Howzer was already planning his escape. The car was home turf for him. He knew the way the wheel jerked to the right when he hit pot holes and how quick it would take to slam the seat back against you. He knew the passenger seatbelt was loose and fraying, unreliable.

He would walk away.

You shoved him into the driver’s seat, got into the passenger seat. Howzer settled in behind the wheel, trying to anticipate your moves.

You handed him the liquor bottle. “Drink.”

“No.”

“Don’t make me make you.”

He stared you down. “Make me.”

Starbursts exploded in his vision as you seized his face, jamming the bottle against his lips. He felt a tooth crack, blood mingling with the burning scotch. He choked, unable to swallow so much so fast, but you were forcing the bottle further past his lips, down into the back of his throat.

Then it was gone. He gasped, lungs and throat burning, lips pouring blood. “You fucking bitch!”

“I am what you made me. Now drive.”

Fear tried again, more successful this time in making him afraid. “Where?”

You gestured to the street leading to the highway.

There was still an opportunity to escape. Howzer tried to formulate it in his mind as he started the sedan and worked his way to the freeway. He slowly put on his seatbelt.

You didn’t do the same.

Even better, he thought.

Howzer’s foot pressed down on the gas, pushing the speedometer past eighty, then ninety. You watched dispassionately.

Fear wrapped around his guts.

“When this is over, I’m going to get your boyfriend, too,” he snarled. “You’ve damned him in all of this.”

He eyed the crop of woods looming up ahead alongside the highway.

“You won’t get the chance.”

Howzer’s seatbelt suddenly went slack. He glanced down, saw your hand retreat from the release button.

He had planned to swerve into a tree, but seeing the seatbelt made him hesitate. He shot a glance at you.

“Nice try,” you whispered, and yanked the steering wheel beneath his hands.

~~

Booker drove the car down the long stretch of road, searching for you. He found the wreckage of Howzer’s sedan, the crumpled body of Howzer himself wrapped around the tree.

No sign of you.

Trying not to worry—had someone else grabbed you first?—Booker drove further down, searching the woods.

At last, he glimpsed something gray in the distance. As he drew near, it resolved into you, wandering slowly down the asphalt. He pulled to a stop beside you.

You slipped into the passenger seat. A dark bruise was forming on your arms and forehead. Booker gestured to them. You frowned in confusion. He reached over and gently brushed the back of a finger across your arm. It sent a prickle up his hand.

“Dashboard,” you murmured, watching his finger.

Pulling away slowly, Booker refocused on the road. An SUV was approaching from the opposite direction. The headlights flashed.

“They came to help?”

The surprise in your voice matched Booker’s own. “Yes.”

“See? Family comes through.”

Chest constricting, Booker rolled to a stop beside the SUV. Andy stuck her head out of the driver’s window. “Everything good?”

Booker gave her a thumbs up. He could see the others crowding at the windows, peering at him and at you through the windshield.

“There’s a place not far from here,” Andy continued. “To crash for the night.”

Booker shifted uncomfortably and glanced at you. “Whatever you want,” you told him.

“Okay,” he answered Andy.

He followed the immortals to the safe house. The car ride passed in silence, you staring out the window. He wanted to say something but couldn’t think of anything. He felt uncomfortable, hyperaware of your presence—the way you were breathing, your reflection in the window.

At last, he asked, “Why did Howzer call you Specimen oh-four-nine?”

“That was my number.”

He recalled you telling him to call you “Spec” if he wanted a name back when he first met. Clearing his throat, he said, “My real name is Sebastien.”

He felt your eyes on him before you quietly gave him yours. He repeated it over and over in his mind, guarding it like some precious piece of you.

Pulling up to the safe house, Booker was surprised to discover it was actually a two-storey house. There were enough rooms for everyone to sleep on their own.

You trudged up the stairs and into the bathroom, the shower turning on moments later. Booker and the others stayed downstairs, infected by your silence.

Andy offered Booker a bottle. He reached for it, hesitated, shook his head. Arching an eyebrow, she pulled from it herself.

Booker kept an ear toward the shower, listening to the shower splash differently as you moved. The others watched him, exchanging glances with each other.

Nile broke the silence. “Will she be okay?”

Booker frowned. “What do you mean?”

“She doesn’t have a mission. Isn’t that what she was trained to do? Always follow a mission? I mean, she was doing that when she brought you to Quynh, wasn’t she?”

The shower turned off. Booker heard you cross softly across the floor.

“She’s free,” he murmured, “and she’s strong.”

“What about you?”

The question shook him. What about him? He hadn’t thought about it since he returned to the States to break you out.

Overhead, he heard a door shut quietly, a mattress squeak.

“I’m going to help her, if she’ll have me,” he answered.

~~

Despite his exhaustion, Booker didn’t sleep that night. He rose early and made breakfast for everyone, including himself, after venturing into town to buy groceries.

You were the first to descend the stairs. Sunlight had yet to dispel the early morning darkness. Booker snapped to attention as you approached him. You looked rested, perhaps more so than he had ever seen you. Something about the softness of lingering sleep on your face made Booker’s heart trip.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” you answered. Sitting at the table, you dug gratefully into the plate of food: eggs, oatmeal, bacon, toast. Booker had given you a triple portion, remembering the last time you had scarfed food down.

“I was thinking,” you began, then hesitated. Jabbing at the bacon with your fork, you asked, “Did you do the other thing I asked you to?”

Booker nodded and fished the flash drive out of his pocket. He had palmed it into a USB port on Howzer’s computer, pretending to delete the files when instead he had transferred them over. You took it from him with a delicate touch, as though afraid to break it.

“Do you think there are any left?”

Booker’s chest ached at the sound of your voice cracking. “I saw a lot of names.”

“But are they alive? No, don’t tell me. I’ll find out.” You pocketed the flash drive and resumed eating. “So, what’s the deal with you and the others?”

“I still have ninety-nine years.”

You frowned. “I’m sorry. What will you do?”

He sat down across from you, not quite meeting your gaze. “I was hoping…you wouldn’t mind having me around.”

The fork paused halfway to your mouth. You gaped at him, jaw slack. He would have laughed if not for his anxiety over your answer.

Lowering the fork, you cleared your throat. “No…”

Booker felt like bricks had hit him over the head. He glanced away, stared down at his hands. What had he expected? That you might think of him as more than anything than the guy who had been part of a mission?

“I wouldn’t mind.”

He jerked his head back up. You met his gaze levelly, a tentative smile on your lips. Relief coursed through him, better than anything he could think of. Raking a hand over the back of his neck, he struggled to fight the grin pulling at his mouth.

“If I catch you drinking, I will shank you with the bottle,” you told him.

“I believe you.”

“Good. Now, where do you think we should start?”

“Here,” he answered, and he leaned forward to kiss you.

[scimitar-and-longsword]

I genuinely wish to understand the interest and appeal of Book of Nile, and you seem like the right person to ask, so could you please enlighten me? (i promise this isn't meant to be rude, i'm just really curious)

oh my gosh, Well I certainly LOVE this ship and I’d be happy to brainwash convince you of it’s merits! But first of all do not EVER feel pressured to ship anything. I certainly don’t care if you ship or don’t ship what I ship. I try to tag anything I post with “Book of Nile” so you should be able to avoid it should you so choose. 💜

First The Book of Nile Manifesto

This honestly describes it better than I could, it’s super well written and has been basically this entire rare-pair ship’s intro into the fandom lol (the rest of this post just vaguely summarizes the manifesto sooo yeah, read it)

Alright! That out of the way, I LOVE THIS SHIP SO MUCH! And here are the 3 main reasons I love it 

1. Nile and Booker have so many parallels!! Strong ties to family that they were separated (in one way or another) from due to their immortality, youngest members of the team, sarcastic AF, relatively modern military ties, similar deaths (neck related lol), I could go on.

2. THEY HAVE CHEMISTRY! They get along fairly quickly and make each other laugh, Booker seems extremely intimidated by her in their first scene, and then Nile wants to just let him off with an apology. Booker grabs clothes for Nile, Nile won’t leave Booker behind in the lab. Booker is the first person Nile sees come back to life. They work together really well in the fight when they’re protecting Andy, taking over for each other when Booker gets shot and then Nile’s gun gets jammed.... they just vibe and I’m here for it.

3. Nile is the main character. She deserves to be LOVED!

Ok. So the main hurdle that I think most people have with the ship is the “age difference” which is fair enough and again if the actors’ ages squick you out you don’t need to ship this, I won’t judge. BUT if you can get past that then I need to introduce you to probably the most important piece of fanon regarding this ship: 

BOOKER NEEDS TO FUCKING WORK FOR THIS AND IT’S GONNA TAKE AWHILEEEEEE 

Most of this fics for Book of Nile revolve around them VERY SLOWLY figuring out their attraction for each other, right along side everyone’s fav Booker ship: Booker x Therapy.  A lot of fics take place at the end of or along side the 100 year exile. That or they take place in the future, beyond the exile. That’s not to say they ALL do, but it’s many of them. At a certain point age probably doesn’t matter. Like yeah 26/250 is a weird dynamic, but is 126/350?? Idk that’s up to you, but I think those lines start to blur the longer they’re alive. The literal thousands of years between Andy and Quynh don’t seem to matter soooo??? Also we all love to joke about Andy Joe and Nicky getting it on with famous people.... those age difference would have been WAYYYY bigger (ok sorry /salt) Obviously that doesn’t account for AUs.... but it’s an AU... you can do whatever you want lol age them however you’d like...

I also really love that we as a fandom of collectively written Booker as A: A house husband and B: Worshiping the ground Nile walks on. 

Anyway *I* have a lot of fun shipping them!

I hope that helped explain the appeal??? idk lol Obligatory “I hate it here and this was forced on me”

(thank you @poe39 and @bookernile for helping me sort through my thoughts lol)

[kaydeefalls]

first line meme

@quolant tagged me in this - thanks!

rules: list the first lines of your last 20 stories. see if there are any patterns. then tag your favorite authors.

I did a version of this earlier in the year, but I am THRILLED that “last 20 stories” now only takes me back to the very end of 2019, thanks to TOG fandom, so let’s have it!

1. the purpose of art : One of the first things Joe does after getting laid off is cancel his gym membership.

2. Awakenings : Roughly five years after the new dreams began, Joe finds himself in front of a pleasant-looking rowhouse in Philadelphia.

3. face it all together : Nicky takes comfort in simple pleasures.

4. a day like today : Nicolò shakes him out of a fathoms-deep sleep to announce, incomprehensibly, "Venice! They're in Venice!"

5. the space where things have been : Joe gasps awake in a pile of smoldering debris, every inch of his body searing like it's on fire.

6. writing's on the wall : One of Andy's earliest memories is of waking up in the middle of the night—she can't remember what woke her; some sound perhaps, or just a dream—and creeping out of bed to find her mother in the tiny living room of their dingy flat, shrugging into her black raincoat.

7. you may have my number : Later, Joe will say it all started when he shot Nicky in Istanbul.

8. you know my name : "Don't let the double-ohs bully, browbeat, or seduce you into giving them special privileges," Copley did warn her, once, just after Quỳnh accepted the role of Quartermaster.

9. The Pride Pact : The first time Nicky hears anything about Joe is at work, of course.

10. Gravitational Pull : "So we’re definitely gonna blow up the Death Star, right?” Nile says, an unholy gleam in her eyes.

11. lessons exquisitely crafted : When Yusuf turns up on his sister’s doorstep almost a year after the fall of Jerusalem, she screams, slaps him across the face hard enough to bruise, and then bursts into tears.

12. The Last Ferry to Calais : Spring came reluctantly to England in the year 1895.

13. Travellers from an Antique Land : It’s Booker who takes her aside, in her first evening with the full team.

14. We’ll Show Them All : The latest attempt to find Raven a Drift-compatible copilot ends, as predicted, in disappointment.

15. though it was not my task to watch : In retrospect, Joe thinks it must have started in Merrick’s lab.

16. When It Alteration Finds : Poe is nine years old when his mark first appears.

17. life is very long : After the better part of an admittedly uneventful week in Madrid, waiting for one of Booker’s old contacts to get back to them with details on a potential job, Nile drags them all out to Plaza de Chueca one night in the spirit of team bonding.

18. Are We the Waiting : Years later, that frantic, awful time between the destruction of Starkiller base and the escape from Crait will blur together in Poe’s recollection into one long nightmare of exhaustion, terror, anger, and helplessness.

19. The Tesseract’s Wife : Maria has never been able to pronounce the name of the Skrull refugees’ new homeworld.

20. what a way to make a livin’ : It’s generally not advisable to allow Erik Lehnsherr access to the morning news before his second cup of coffee.

Patterns? No idea. My first sentences are usually either short and to the point or long and rambling. I think they all succeed in setting a scene fairly quickly, at least. (Tangentially, one of my fave comments I’ve received on a fic was for you may have my number, where someone remarked that they were  shocked when Joe shot Nicky in Istanbul...which is literally revealed in the first line of the fic. That genuinely pleased me, because it meant they were absorbed enough in the story to have totally forgotten that by the time it actually occurs.)

Tagging anyone who wants to play along! I always feel weirdly self-conscious about tagging folks.

[toalwaysbeme]

I posted 2,540 times in 2021

I added 614 tags in 2021

#sutton talks about stuff - 134 posts

#fashion - 124 posts

#tog - 86 posts

#this is a tag - 51 posts

#unfairly attractive people - 43 posts

#art - 42 posts

#dick grayson - 40 posts

#trans stuff - 34 posts

#immortal husbands - 30 posts

#a:tla - 30 posts

Longest Tag: 124 characters

#during one of his 'i can't be on an other team but also yes absolutely i will work on your team but only temporarily' phases

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

So there's been a lot of TMA on my dash tonight can't imagine why 👀 anyway that fandom is full of creative people and wxrringtxn created this rad doll maker.

Since I don't go there I just... made Lake and Jesse, instead. Finally watched Infinity Train and S2 has the trans-est shit I've ever seen and also those idiots choosing to be make themselves soulmates which is metal as hell. 12/10 would cry best friend and trans tears over them again.

35 notes • Posted 2021-03-26 05:28:59 GMT

#4

holy shit i thought only the staff wanted to make this website less usable but y'all are over here doing their job for this with this "prev tags" shit oh my god

37 notes • Posted 2021-07-05 18:08:59 GMT

#3

ever giveth and ever taketh away am i right boys

38 notes • Posted 2021-03-31 13:28:52 GMT

#2

Hi yes hello I just had a thought. Obviously TOG sets up that Nile will be the new leader of the Guard. She's not ready just yet but she's got what it takes and she will be one day. She will be ready before Andy dies one last time.

After jumping out that widow, labrys buried in Merrik's shoulder, Nile puts herself back together and hands the weapon back to its owner. She's conceding that Andy is still the leader, despite her mortality, and furthermore, that Nile will follow her.

What I want to see in a sequel movie (does not need to be in 2 Old 2 Guard, honestly I'd be very happy to wait for it if we could get more movies out of this) would be a very weighted callback shot of Andy handing the labrys to Nile. The passing of the torch would parallel so beautifully! Maybe it's years down the line and Andy gives it to Nile before a mission, showing she can take the lead now? Maybe Nile picks up the labrys after a mission and tries to hand it to Andy again and Andy wraps Nile's hand more firmly around the handle? Andy dying of her injuries after a fight, her last act is to entrust Nile with their family and her legacy? So many possibilities and any of them would make me cry.

69 notes • Posted 2021-01-13 02:12:37 GMT

#1

Do y'all know the worst part of being gay? If you said "homophobia" or "lasting trauma" gtf out of here. No, it's using the same public restroom as the person you're newly dating.

You might be the kind of person who doesn't care if your live-in partner brushes their teeth while you take a shit, whatever. But new dating? And they're in the stall next to you? What if they hear your shit hit the water? They'll know how big your shits are! Or what if you pee too hard? Then they'll never agree to a third date and you'll die alone because they know you piss like a stopped up fire hydrant.

91 notes • Posted 2021-09-01 16:15:00 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[inknopewetrust]

adieu, remember me. (1)

The Old Guard Booker x Female! Original Character

Summary: After a few years away, one member of the immortal team must return to protect their immortality and secrets as enemies begin to uncover their past.

Word Count: 1.6k 

Warnings: nothing yet!

Parts: ... | 2 | part 2 coming soon!

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Feel free to let me know what you think about the work and it will def be more than 2 or 3 parts and longer than this one. Requests are CLOSED at the moment and I apologize in advance for any mis-wording or spelling in different languages because I don’t know french/italian but I feel in some cases it was necessary to use for character interactions. Published on 8/9/2020.

if you want to be tagged for the next part please let me know!

All original content is owned by me. Anything from the film/comic is property of the writers, studio, and director. Gif not by me.

Versailles evolves every so often but over 172 odd years, more visitors pack its halls and recall its history. Tourists from around the world flock to the once functional palace and the home of infamous, complicated monarchs. Passed the sweeping halls and the paintings of untouchable status, a special exhibit was placed at the end of the hall with cases full of crowned jewels of French royalty.

Tourists flashed photos of crowns and rings and pearls that adorned the exhibit cases. In the center of the room laid perhaps the most famous of jewels, as well as the crowns that found themselves on the heads of women who suffered terrible fates. The Hope Diamond sat in a case between crowns that once adorned it and worn by Marie Antoinette and Louis Philippe I’s controversial daughter, Vivienne, Duchess of Auvergne. On loan from its final resting place at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the diamond once found itself imbedded in each of the crowns on momentous occasions.

Crown worn by Vivienne, Duchess of Auvergne and third daughter of King Louis Philippe, killed by French revolutionaries in February 1848. Crown was commissioned by the King for his daughter’s twenty-eighth birthday. Was worn on the night of her death on 24th of February, 1848.

Twenty-eight. 172 years later she still remember the party, the food, the smell of the candles that burned from the chandelier and the man who caught her heart. Pretentious was the only word that came to mind when she thought of the party and the woman. At the time she felt deception too but the world has a funny way of making villains look like heroes depending on the perspective.

Clara felt the surge of memories remind her of the life she knew before the one she was in now. She didn’t know how long she had stood in front of that particular case with that particular diamond and crown but by the time her feet began to ache she knew it had been long enough. Clara also wasn’t sure how long a small English girl had been standing next to her, also staring at the silver diamond encrusted crown and the plaque underneath it.

“You know, she’s kind of a rebel and I dig it. It reminds me of Princess Margaret in a way. She was Queen Elizabeth’s sister and she partied a lot too.”

“Excuse me?”

“Vivienne. She was a rebel in her own right and I admire her for it.” The woman turned, her face meeting the girl taking notes on a piece of paper. The girl couldn’t have been more than thirteen and certainly had a bold personality if she was talking to someone she didn’t know.

“The revolutionaries didn’t see it that way, so why would you?”

“She was independent. I think it was progressive and cool for her not to follow the rules of her family. Not to mention the glamour in her style. She had the best dresses and crowns since well, Marie Antoinette probably.”

“That’s a little naïve, no?” The woman raised her brow at the student but the girl simply shrugged. The young one looked at the older woman and analyzed her face and features as she spoke.

“She spent the people’s money like water and saw no problem with the poverty in the streets. Vivienne was oblivious to the world around her because she lived in a world of riches with everyone at her disposal.”

“Perhaps.” The girl paused before continuing. “There’s a tv show about her on... um-I don’t remember- HBO maybe and they say she took a commoner for a lover and he sold her secrets to the revolutionaries which led to her death. Her body disappeared after the broke into the castle and people think they threw her body in the Seine.”

“I would advise you to stop watching whatever movies are giving you that perspective on the issue because it’s not true.” Clara scoffed and turned away from the girl.

The girl listened but was too entranced by the figure in front of her eyes. Brown hair, medium length, waved. She looked nice to say the least. She had on pretty clothes and may have been an employee because she knew so much but the girl wasn’t sure. All the student was certain of was that the woman standing in front of her looked very much like the Duchess in the paintings that lined the modern wing.

“You look like her.” The girl told her and she put her pencil down holding the pad of paper at her side. Before she had a chance to answer the girl, a teacher called out to the students as a signal to leave and the girl picked up her bag.

“Have a nice day.”

The girl left with the class and the woman stayed in front of the case watching them leave the room before turning back to the crown that once adorned her own head. A soft rumble came from her pocket and she pulled out the burner phone with a number she didn’t recognize but an area code she did, Goussainville.

France, safe house #4

“Hello?”

“Clara.” The Italian on the other line sounded relieved that she simply picked up the phone. Clara’s face contorted into one of worry than one of happiness she had been called.

“Nicolo, s’il tu plaît dites-moi que tout va bien?” Clara moved over to a window, away from the crowds to answer the call she had been anticipating for the last day. She dreamt of a black girl and her throat being sliced open. Waking up gasping for breath that wasn’t her own and cautious of who it might be.

“No-no. Il y en a un nouveau ... mais ce n'est pas le problème. les gens essaient de nous trouver et Dieu sait quoi.” Nicky told her and Clara felt helpless, disappointed in herself that she wasn’t there to help them. Not only was there someone new who needed guidance but the others needed her too if they were going to protect their own skin.

“Andy went to get her. We are at the safe house in Goussainville and they should be here later today. If you can make it... we really need you, Clara.” Clara sighed and looked out the window that faced the vast gardens the palace was surrounded by. Serenity before the inevitable storm.

“He’d kill me if he knew I’m telling you this but Booker needs you. It’s getting worse since the last time he saw you and I am not sure what to do.”

“That was three weeks ago, Nicky.”

“I can’t explain it... it’s just gotten worse. I know he has to help himself but he’s always a bit brighter when you’re around.”

“I can be there later tonight. What time are they getting in?”

“7.”

“I can be there at 8. I’m in France so I’ll take a train as soon as I can.”

“We will be waiting.” Nicky told her and she hung up the phone. Clara looked back at that glimmering crown and what the young girl said about the Duchess. Naïvety at its finest.

At the safe house in Gousssainville, the three immortal men unpacked the bag they brought and washed up after the ambush in Afghanistan. Nicky stood alongside the small counter space prepping dinner when Booker came to fill a cup with wine.

“Who was on the phone?” Booker asked in a low grumble and Nicky set down the knife he was using to slice tomatoes.

“It was Clara. I called her and told her we needed her here. She dreamt of the girl too.”

“And?” Booker pushed further and downed his glass in an instant upon the news.

“She could catch a train to be here at 8.”

“How did she sound?”

“Worried.”

Booker nodded and filled his glass again before going to sit in front of the tv in a chair he had designated as his own many years ago. Nicky watched as he sat, drank more and tried to remove himself from his thoughts but was too lost to do so. He was observant and cared deeply for the others in his life but there was only so much he could do for a man as stubborn as Booker.

“Hai bisogno di aiuto?” Joe called out to Nicky from everyone’s shared bedroom before also joining the two in the common space. Nicky shook his head and glanced at Booker who wasn’t looking but certainly listening.

“I called Clara. She is on her way to us now. She knows we are in trouble.” Joe smiled at Nicky and gave him a quick peck. While they were all very close, Joe and Nicky had taken Clara under their wings and helped her acclimate to the world as an immortal, especially after they found her and the two french immortals clashed. 

“It’s been too long. I miss that woman.”

“We all do.” Nicky said before returning to his meal. Without much time having gone by, the door to the cemetery sounded and Andy walked through the door with a nervous woman behind them. The girl was young, no more than 25 and had blood stained on her forehead. One hand was clutching her arm but out of nervousness not injury. Her eyes looked at the three men. Two sat staring at her in chairs and the other by the refrigerator and the only sound that played was the cheering of fans from a football match that played on the widescreen. Andy looked over her shoulder and then back again, breaking the silence to introduce the newest member of The Old Guard.  

“Everyone, this is Nile.”

--------------------------------------------

Tag List: (Let me know if you’d like to be tagged for the next part!) 

@holychocopie 

[bitchin-beskar]

The Internet is Forever Part 1

Fandom: The Old Guard

Rating: T (vague mentions of sex, but nothing explicitly described)

Word Count: 1.7k

A/N: Once more, y’all have The Gay Guard gc to thank for this lovely crack. It’ll be in three parts, with this one focusing on Joe and Nicky, Part 2 will focus on Andy and Quynh, and Part 3 will focus on Booker and Nile. I’ve never actually streamed or posted videos on YouTube, so I apologize for any inaccuracies, but... this is crack, so... you should kind of be expecting that at this point.

Tags: @the-chaotic-virgo, @hi-short-for-hello, @immortalwarriors, @the-killer-queenie, @roses-are-red713, @acolorandafeeling, @bookersebastien, @fetchmeabook, @ikilledtheducks, and @goalkeepernerd I blame every single one of you for this cursed fic. They all contributed to this AU so they ALL get credit for encouraging me to write this. 

Also @perropascal!!!

Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in any of my works!

Please consider liking and reblogging! I love the feedback!

You know the saying, “The internet is forever?” It’s true. It’s incredibly difficult to remove anything once it’s posted on the internet. That’s why Copley had been able to find all the evidence of Andy, Joe, Nicky, Booker, and Quynh from over the years. No matter how hard they’d tried to scrub their backgrounds, a few things always fell through the cracks. And now, in the twenty-first century, with technology growing at an unprecedented rate, it was harder than ever to stay off the internet. When the team had hired Copley to cover their tracks and find them jobs, he’d known he was going to have his work cut out for him. Unfortunately, he’d never expected… this. 

***

“Nile, can you come here for a moment, please?”

Nicky’s voice called out from the kitchen, and Nile got up from where she was perched on the couch, shutting her copy of Les Misérables–in the original French, mind you, Booker was trying to help her learn another language–and tucking it under her arm, walking down the hall and into the kitchen. She stopped, frowning in confusion as she took in the scene before her. 

Nicky was standing at the kitchen counter, a plate of baklava on the countertop in front of him. The rest of the kitchen was a mess, dirty bowls and measuring cups filled the sink, and ingredients covered the counter. He had a webcam set up in front of him, along with a laptop, and Nile could see that he was streaming. 

He looked up as she entered, smiling brightly. “Nile! Come, you must try this baklava!” He holds the plate out eagerly, and Nile steps forward cautiously, carefully taking one of the little squares. 

“Why? What are you doing?” Nile asks, suspicious, as she inspects the piece of baklava, not convinced that Nicky hasn’t done something to it.

Nicky looks at her, hurt. “I just want you to try my baklava. I’m teaching the internet the proper way to make it, and I want you to tell them how it tastes!” He gestures to the live webcam. “I need you to be honest, tell me how it tastes, even if it’s bad.”

She gives him the look. She’s never once eaten something made by Nicky that didn’t taste absolutely amazing. As long as this isn’t a prank, she’s not sure there’s any way his baklava won’t taste divine. She takes a bite, and nearly moans at the taste. The buttery texture of the dough is perfectly complemented by the taste of walnuts, hazelnuts, and pistachios, and there’s a hint of orange citrus that just brings everything together. 

“Well?”

Nicky’s looking at her, his eyes wide and expectant, waiting for her to give a review. “It’s amazing Nicky, seriously,” she says, grinning as Nicky beams at her. “It’s the best baklava I’ve ever had. Try some!” Nicky picks up his own piece, taking a big bite, but before he can say anything, a voice floats over from the doorway. 

“Yeah, but how much baklava have you had, really?”

Both Nicky and Nile turn to see Joe standing in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest, a playful smirk on his face. “I mean, if you’ve only ever tasted his cooking, you don’t really have anything to compare it to, do you?”

Nicky growled–seriously, growled–under his breath, and Nile looked between the two, confused. She was so used to seeing them acting like they were still in their honeymoon phase that seeing this other side of both of them threw her for a loop. She backed away from the couple, glancing at Nicky’s laptop, seeing that he was streaming to YouTube. She snorted when she read his channel name: BetterThanOliveGarden. She glanced at the live stream of comments and had to do a double-take. Based on what people were saying, apparently, Joe and Nicky had this online rivalry, and people kept debating their relationship, whether they were roommates, dating, or something else.

She watched as Nicky shoved the plate towards Joe. “How about you try my food before you critique it, Joe?” A sly smirk spread across Joe’s lips, and he took the plate, setting it down without taking any food off it. Instead, he strides forward, cupping Nicky’s face in his hands and kissing him deeply. Nile looks away awkwardly when Nicky moans, and she glances at the comments and sees that they’re going nuts.

People are screaming, keyboard mashing, and comments like: OHMYGOD WHAT, are popping up constantly. Nile grimaces at the webcam. She whispers to the camera, “You guys do know they’re married, right? They do this all. the. time.” She throws a thumb over her shoulder at the two men, still locked in an embrace. Joe has one hand clutching at Nicky’s hair and the other in the back pocket of his jeans, and Nicky’s got his arms thrown around Joe’s neck, both of them completely lost to the world. 

The comments are still blowing up, and Nile isn’t sure if she should actually end the video or not. She shrugs, deciding to leave it going. What’s the worst that could happen?

***

Well, apparently, Nicky and Joe forgot about the live stream. Nile only found out when she went to go and find the video, only to see that it had been taken down due to “violating YouTube content policies.” She asked Joe about it.

“Well, you see, apparently it’s frowned upon when two people decide to show their love for one another–” 

“You two started taking off each other’s clothes, didn’t you.”

“Yes. Yes, we did.”

“Please tell me the two of you left the kitchen before the pants came off?”

“Of course we did, we have enough self-control–” 

“Andy came in and yelled at the two of you that you were about to do it in front of a live audience, didn’t she.”

“Um, well… yes.”

***

Nicky’s retaliation happened later that week. Joe apparently ran an art tutorial channel, where he did sketches, showing people how to draw anything from animals, to the human body, to landscape, to architecture. His channel was called ScrewMichelangelo, which had confused Nile until Joe had explained the man refused to stop flirting with Nicky, so Joe hated him. Nile was skeptical, until Joe pulled up an image of the statue David, pointing out all the similarities between the marble statue and Nicky. 

Nile was shocked. She could see the resemblance and turned to Joe in shock. “Wait, Nicky posed for Michelangelo?” 

Joe grumbled, frowning deeply. “No. I accidentally left my sketchbook in his workshop one day, and there were some sketches of Nicky inside. He used those for his inspiration. When I found out I…” Joe looked sheepish. “I was very upset. Nicky keeping me calm was the only reason Michelangelo survived my wrath.”

Nile grimaced. “Yeah, I can see why you’d be pissed.” Joe nodded, and he began to set up the webcam. 

Joe had asked her to help him out, so Nile was once again in the video, this time posing for Joe so he could show people how to draw braids. She was still trying to get through Les Misérables–seriously, she hated french–and she’d lost track of time when she was startled by the door banging open. She looked up from her book, watching as Nicky strode determinedly into the room. 

“This,” he said, coming up behind Joe and laying his hands against the sides of Joe’s neck. “Is for ruining my baklava video.”

He tipped Joe’s head back, pressing his lips against Joe’s harshly. Nile had learned from the last time. She got up, shut off the webcam, and left the room, shaking her head when the men didn’t even react when she shut the door loudly.

“Stupid horny immortal husbands.”

***

It had been a quiet week, and Nile was suspicious. Nicky and Joe had each ruined multiple of the other’s videos with intense make-out sessions, and Nile was surprised that they both hadn’t had their accounts banned from YouTube. Neither of them had done anything this week though, so Nile was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

When she woke up one morning to a YouTube notification from Joe’s account, she actually groaned. She wasn’t sure she wanted to watch what they’d gotten up to, but she figured she should probably check. 

Clicking on the video, she was surprised to see that she couldn’t actually see anything, because the video was pitch black. Suddenly, a soft light appeared, showing a shirtless Joe. He held a finger to his lips, giggling, before shining the light onto a sleeping Nicky next to him. 

“Nicolo, destati.” 

Nicky grumbled, trying to swat Joe’s camera away, but he missed. “Nicolo, habibi, destati.” Nicky groaned, rolling over and blinking up at Joe. 

“Yusuf, what time is it?”

“Three am, habibi.”

“Why Yusuf?”

Nile can hear Joe giggling. “I wanted to show everyone what I get to see every night for the rest of our lives.”

Nicky’s face softened, and he reached a hand up, pulling Joe’s face down and into the frame, and into a kiss. Joe managed to hold the camera steady, somehow. When he finally pulled away, Nicky grabbed one of Joe’s hands, tugging him down so that Joe is spooning him and his arm is wrapped tightly around Nicky.

“You’ve got your video, amore, now let’s sleep, please.”

Joe says something, but it’s muffled as he sets the camera down. The light turns off, and Nile thinks the video must be over, but when she checks, she realizes there are still hours of footage left. She fast forwards, and once the room starts to brighten, Nile realizes it must be morning. She sees as Nicky and Joe come into view, still spooning on the bed. She watches as Nicky wakes, and sees the camera still running before he reaches out to shut it off.

She shakes her head, shutting the phone off. Maybe now they’d stop ruining each other’s videos and she wouldn’t have to listen to their complaints anymore.

***

Well, Joe and Nicky had stopped bothering her. But Andy and Quynh were a whole other story.

[fangirlshrewt97]

The Old Guard Fanfic - 5,472,730,538 Possibilities

Author(s): Fangirlshrewt97

Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)

Pairing: Joe/Nicky, Nicky & Nile

Characters: Nile Freeman, Nicolo di Genova, Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Andromache of Scythia 

Rating: General 

Warnings: None 

Additional Tags:  Team as Family, Family Bonding, Brother-Sister Relationships, Fluff, Basically Nile is missing home, And Nicky is a cinnamon roll who finds a way to lessen the ache, and they find a new thing to bond over that does not involve blood, Sudoku

Summary: 

He reached for his pocket and pulled out a pen, tossing it to Nile. “Why not do it now?” “It doesn’t- It’s not the same.” Nile argued, biting her lip. “But you want to do it no? So do it.” Nicky said, gesturing to the paper. Was it really so easy? She put the pen to the paper but stopped. “Yeah no, it feels weird to do it alone.” Nicky hummed, sitting back up in his chair, leaning on his elbows in the table. “I’ll do it with you then.”

Basically, Nile comes across something that makes her think of home, Nicky sees this, and tries his best to help her not feel as lonely. And is also a little bit of a shit about it.

Link to A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25553461

                                                     ///

They were in Malaysia, having finished an easy takedown of a small ring of human traffickers. They were due to fly out that night, so Nicky and Nile had been charged with buying the necessary supplies while Joe handled clean up at the scene, and Andy ensured the children would find good homes.

They had stopped at a bakery inside of a mall, Nicky insisting that they had some choice sweets that Andy loved. So Nile had been waiting outside the store while Nicky went to make his purchases when the small bookstore window display across the bakery caught her eye. Biting her lip, she peered to see Nicky was still busy perusing the wares, so she hefted her bags and made her way into the bookstore.

It was a small shop, barely large enough for four people at a time. There was a small kid looking at some comics and a bored cashier scrolling through his phone. Setting her bags down, Nile reached to grab what had caught her eye.

“What is that?” Nicky asked suddenly, startling Nile into dropping the book.

“Shit. Sorry.” Nile mumbled in the direction of the annoyed looking cashier. When she turned, she saw Nicky holding the book.

“101 Sudoku puzzles?” Nicky asked, brows furrowed.

Nile was thankful her skin color meant he couldn’t notice the embarrassed flush overtaking her.

“It is stupid!” Nile said as she snatched the book and put it back on the display, wincing as she realized it would have been more believable if she hadn’t acted like she had something to hide. Nicky had a raised eyebrow, clearly not buying her lie.

Nile sighed. “Seriously, Nicky. It is nothing, can we go? Are you done looking at the bread?”

Nicky gave her a once over, but thankfully let it go, holding up a bag that honestly smelled incredible. Feeling her stomach clench in hunger, she nodded.

“Cool. Let’s go!” Nile said, leading them out of the bookshop into the sweltering Malaysian sun. She definitely did not run. She just… walked fast.

She forgot the incident soon after, Copley sent them on another mission hours after they reached their next safe house, sending them all the way to Brazil, where they had to take down a drug ring and free a brothel filled with women who were being forced to pay back their debts with their bodies.

She was reminded of the incident when something was placed next to her head where it was currently resting on a table’s edge at their São Paulo safe house. It was a small apartment, two bedroom and bathrooms, but it fit their needs. Andy was currently on the phone with Copley, and Joe had gone into the kitchen to make dinner.

When she looked up, she saw a newspaper, and Nicky’s hand covering part of the page. At her questioning look, he just smiled and moved his hand.

Sitting back slowly, she looked at the Sudoku in the newspaper. She raised her own eyebrows at Nicky. The man just smiled wider and sat down. “This is what you were looking at in the bookshop. In Malaysia. A book about these.”

“Um… yeah.” Nile said, surprised the man had remembered. But then again, Nicky seemed to remember everything when it came to stuff that caused his family to have any kind of reaction.

“What about it?” Nicky asked.

“What?”

“Your eyes, they became a little sad when you saw it. What about them makes you sad?” Nicky prodded gently. And Nile couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed at this man who was trying to hard.

She sighed. “It’s nothing.”

“If it was nothing, it wouldn’t make you sigh.”

And that was the thing wasn’t it. “It’s just. Jamal, my brother? We used to play with these.”

Nicky’s brows furrowed in confusion. For a 1000-year old man, he was remarkably expressive at times. “Play these?”

Nile hummed. She picked up the paper, and ran her fingers lightly on the puzzle. “After school, we would take the paper, copy out the puzzle into a notebook and then we would start the clock, seeing who could solve it faster.”

Nile felt a smile start to form on her own face at the thought. She had missed doing these, missed doing them with her brother. Her smile faded when she realized she’d never get to do their Sudoku races together again. Nile placed the paper back down.

When she looked up, Nicky was looking at her intensely. “What?”

Giving a big exhale, he leaned back in his own chair. He reached for his pocket and pulled out a pen, tossing it to Nile. “Why not do it now?”

“It doesn’t- It’s not the same.” Nile argued, biting her lip.

“But you want to do it no? So do it.” Nicky said, gesturing to the paper.

Was it really so easy? She put the pen to the paper but stopped. “Yeah no, it feels weird to do it alone.”

Nicky hummed, sitting back up in his chair, leaning on his elbows in the table. “I’ll do it with you then.”

Nile blinked, but twisted her mouth into a wry grin. “Sure. Ok, here is how you do it. You see how this divided into 9 boxes? The objective of the game is to fill all the boxes in such a way that each box, row, and column has 1 through 9 written on them, with no repeating in them. Like here for example,” she showed one box, “see these four 3’s? That means a 3 can only come here, because it is the only box where it won’t overlap. Got it?”

Nicky hummed concomitantly, his eyes amused. “Yes.”

“Alright, let’s do it then.” Nile said. She shifted her chair so she was next to Nicky, and the pair of them leaned over the puzzle to do it together, Nicky pointing out a few numbers as Nile finished it.

“That was fun.” Nicky said when they completed it. “We should do this again.”

And to Nile’s surprise, she found herself in agreement. She felt a pang of sadness at not doing it with Nicky, but it was still fun. “Yes we should.”

They got another job the next day and were whizzing off again, this time to South Africa. Their safe house in Cape Town was a beach front apartment, bought by Andy back in the 80’s. It was an old building, quiet and creaking, but served its purpose.

Andy was on cooking duty this time, and Nile was given first turn with the shower, when Joe and Nicky returned from their shopping trip for new clothes. Nile did not think she had ever bought this many clothes so quickly in her life, but honestly, she had also not had a habit of constantly getting shot and covering them in blood and bullet holes.

By the time Nile came out, Joe was sitting in front of the TV, flipping channels, probably trying to find a soccer match. Andy had a plate of food and was sitting beside him, more focused on her dinner than the match. When Nicky spotted Nile, he made a happy noise and gestured for her to join him at the dining table.

“I saw these on our way back, and thought that if you did not mind, we could continue that tradition you told me about?” he asked, eyes betraying his excitement, even as his voice remained steady.

“Tradition?” Nile asked.

Nicky nodded and reached for a small brown bag she hadn’t noticed. He pulled out two identical books and a packet of pens, and slid one of each to Nile. Nile bit her lip at the time. 400 Sudoku Puzzles.

“Nicky…” Nile whispered, even as she clutched the book in a white-knuckled grip.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to Nile.” Nicky assured her when he saw her tear up, worry coloring his expression.

And oh, Nile could not stand to see that concern when all this man had tried to do was give her a piece of home back to her.

“No. Thank you. I had fun last time.” she said, giving him a watery smile. He responded in kind. “Are you sure about races though?”

His eyes took on a wicked glint. “Absolutely. It is tradition no?”

Nile chuckled. “Yes.”

“Joe!” Nicky called out, and Joe turned to see him, getting up to come to them when Nicky beckoned. He pressed a quick kiss to Nicky’s hair when he was within reach. “I need you to time us.”

“Time you?”

“Nicky and I are going to complete Sudoku’s and we are going to see who can finish faster.”

For some reason that made Joe bark a laugh. “You and Nicky?”

Nile frowned. “Yes? Why, you have a problem?”

“No, no, dearest Nile, I would be honored to keep time.” he said as he continued to wear a wide grin, pulling up his phone.

Nile squinted at him before turning to Nicky. “Should we just do the first puzzle?”

“Seems logical.” Nicky said as he flipped to the appropriate page.

Both of them uncapped their pens and got ready before glancing at Joe. Andy had turned around in the sofa, watching the two of them instead of the TV.

“Are you ready?” Joe asked, and their nods, “1, 2, 3, GO!”

Nile focused on the puzzle, going by each square methodically, crossing off the possibilities mentally in her head. It was an easy puzzle, so she did not have to write down all the potential numbers. And yet, she was startled when Nicky slammed his book down with a “Done!” when she was only halfway through hers

“Wait what?” Nile asked, reaching to grab the older man’s book while Joe leaned back in his chair, laughing.

“1 minute 15 seconds Nicky! Good job!”

Nile gaped as she looked at the puzzled solved perfectly. She placed the book down and glared at the Italian man, who now at least had the wherewithal to look sheepish. “Explain.”

It wasn’t quite a growl but close enough.

Nicky blushed, and Joe answered for him. “Nile, uhkt sageera, Nicky and I have lived for a thousand years now. Not to mention that Nicky has been doing the New York Times crossword puzzle since it was first published, in what? 1940? 1945? He tended to do the other puzzles too. I believe the first Sudoku puzzle was in the UK? I remember him being excited about it.”

Nile stared at him, jaw open while Andy started to cackle in the background. She spun in her seat, half furious, half indignant. “You cheater!”

Nicky put up both hands in surrender. “I didn’t exactly cheat Nile!”

“I thought you had never done Sudokus before! I thought you were humoring me!”

“Well-”

“Oh my god, I explained how to solve a Sudoku to you in São Paulo, why didn’t you say anything?”

“You seemed very passionate…”

“Nicky…” she growled only to sit back heavily in her chair, definitely not pouting, no matter how fond Joe looked at her.

Nicky’s own sheepish look was slowly transforming into a playful grin and she rolled her eyes in exasperation before laughing. “Alright, fine, this was on me.”

“I had a lot of fun Nile. I would enjoy doing this again.”

Nile groaned, tilting her head back and covering her face, exaggerating the dramatics because it drew more laughs from her family, and she was coming to treasure these laughs as much as those of her mother and brother.

She sat back when the laughter died down, taking the Sudoku book in hand. “I would like that too Nicky. Guess there is another aspect of the tradition we are going to be repeating too now though.”

When Nicky looked at her confused, her wry look transformed into a fond grin. “I am fated to always lose at Sudoku races to my big brother apparently.”

“Nile…” Nicky breathed her voice as though it was something delicate. Precious. And then he got up and came around the table to pull her into a hug she returned with all her strength. “Non riesco a immaginare un onore più grande dell'essere tuo fratello, sorellina.”

Even if she didn’t understand the words, she understood the meaning, and a small part of the hole created by her family was filled in.

“I love you too, Nicky.”

And she did, this man who was willing to die for her, to kill to protect her.

Even if it meant an eternity losing Sudoku races to him.

[morvith]

Oh wow! @lucyclairedelune thanks for tagging me!  

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

In chronological order:

1) Dead Man Walking (Star Trek: Alternate Original Series)  The second worst thing about being caught is, Marcus was expecting it: every second he thought he was slipping his leash, every time he believed himself one step ahead was all an illusion.

2) Some That Smile (Star Trek: Alternate Original Series): On Kronos, you hate yourself for looking – for the hot, dark twinge of attraction you feel deep in your gut.

3) Raise a cup (or ten) (star Trek: Alternate Original Series):  Jim only has himself to blame.

4) Stand by me (Star Trek: Alternate Original Series): ACCESS DENIED – CODE BLOCKED 

5) Homecoming (Star Trek: Alternate Original Series):  They have been hiding inside a nebula for the last ten days, waiting, and Jim is starting to crack.

6) Jim’s War (Star Trek: Alternate Original Series): When the medical team finally materializes, Jim gives them space to work, but doesn't go far: he kneels down by Khan's head and keeps talking, just in case.

7) Hell or High Water (The Eagle/Eagle of the Ninth):  Marcus laughs as he stumbles through the club, his cell phone pressed against his ear.

8) In The Hour Of Torment (Star Trek: Alternate Original Series):  Parallel universes. Alternative time-lines.

9) For Me and My Guy (The Eagle/Eagle of the Ninth): Paris (the French one), July 10th, 1918 

My dearest, if I ever complain about how many rehearsals you schedule, feel free to kick me, as long as you'll kiss me afterwards and never stop.

10) Invitus Amabo (The Eagle/Eagle of the Ninth):  He owes his life to a woman.

11) When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again (The Eagle/Eagle of the Ninth):  My Dearest  

12) Keep Calm and Dance on (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild): Link fell in love with dancing after watching a Fred Astaire musical with his grandmother and pestered his parents until they signed him up for classes. 

13) Sing Your Sorrow When All Your Tears Run Dry (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild):  She used to call him The Silent Ghost behind his back – not that she would have cared if he had known, back then.

14) The Wrong Immortal (The Old Guard):   “...e non ho ancora trovato l'Immortale.” [Translation: ...and I haven’t fount The Immortal yet]

15) Unseen by the world (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild):  Zelda chews on her pen, casting a quick glance at her Appointed Knight. 

16) Medieval Naming Customs (The Old Guard):  They aren't exactly friends with Copley.

17) The Opposite of Love (The Old Guard): It takes him a while to find Yusuf, mostly because he doesn't want to ask the others: they all look at him as though he should already know, as though there's something fundamentally wrong with him for asking.

16) Miracles (The Old Guard):  Can I tell you a story?

17) An Unlikely Hero (The Old Guard):  It has to be tonight.

18) With This Wind Blowing, And This Tide (The Old Guard) : “Everyone, we're here. This is Nile.” Andy announces as she steps through the door.

19) Ring, Ring, Little Bell (You Shall Not Toll For Me) (The Old Guard):  "Do you ever wonder how he would have killed us?”

20) The Service of Our Love (The Old Guard): “Are we doing this? Are we really doing this?”

This took longer than I expected!

Zelda’s “Unseen by the world” is technically the second sentence but the first one was a quote from Zelda’s diary in-game: it is part of the story, but it didn’t seem right? So I went with the first sentence I wrote. I hope I didn’t accidentally break the rules...though maybe I shouldn’t have included a not!fic.... 

Oh, well, too late now. 

Analysis: I do a lot of in medias res beginnings - that or flashbacks/letters. Titles are either very factual (i.e. I couldn’t think of one and it shows), taken from quotes (when in doubt: World War I poetry) or songs. Some fics came complete with title and again, it shows. 

Also, I can’t leave a plot well enough alone: I end up writing AUs, and then AUs of the AU... 

Tagging: @amistakemaybe, @nicolodigenovas (feel free to ignore), @sugar-maple-trees-but-drink-it, @honestground, @dontcallmecarrie, @shanastoryteller,@botanycameos, @asheneclipse, @giotanner 

I’d honestly need to tag more than that, especially in TOG fandom 

[everyrubicon]

It’s Yuletide!

I’m here!

Dear Yuletide Author,

First, thank you so much for writing for one of these fandoms!!! I'm really psyched about Yuletide. I'm going to enjoy what you write. So, know that.

Apparently my style is to throw everything up here and let you decide if you want to use any of it. Fandom-specific behind the cut.

story stuff I like: found family/team as family, competence porn, family dinners, undercover as lovers, there's only one bed!, training, first times (of anything), discovery, adventure, romance, journeys (emotional and physical),  vulnerability, talking through their shit, women being awesome, AUs, crossovers and fusions, gen fic, slice of life, learning to work together, missing scenes., case fic, world building, rituals/traditions, powers/abilities explored, time travel/loops, academia, folklore, they're in space!, take your fandom to work day, hygge, game night, five times

random stuff I will always love: flying (space, super powered, airplane, all of it), horses, knives, swords, swimming, libraries, sheets, that feeling of coming back home after a long day/trip, road trips, banter, laughter, concerts/live music, movie nights, old marked-up maps, , people who answer the phone without saying hello they just leap into the conversation or answer the question they know the person calling is going to ask, cellos, books, notebooks, brownies, sunsets, bonfires, that part of the morning where everything's still and it's not light out but it's not still night and the birds aren't even up yet, rain on the roof, leather, the smell of a bookstore

sexy times, should you want to include them: f/f, m/f, threesomes (+), orgasm delay, semi-public sex, enthusiastic consent, poly are all a green light

crossover/fusion fandoms: MCU, Legends of Tomorrow, Killjoys, Agents of Shield, Wynonna Earp, Farscape, X-Men, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, anything else it looks like I post a lot about.

stuff on the no list: rape, abuse, non-canon permanent character deaths, a/b/o, mpreg, watersports/feces, age play, bleak endings/hopelessness, betrayal, longstanding lies

squicks: pregnancy, infidelity, homophobia, hate in general, calling each other mommy/daddy, betrayal [If you, my sweet summer child, are now wondering what the hell a squick is, it's the kind of thing that, when you see it in the tags, you just keep scrolling past, or hit the back button, even if it's your OTP. You're not triggered, but you're not really into hearing it, thanks anyway.]

The fandoms:

Motherland Fort Salem: I love the world building here, but also the relationships between all these women. you don't have to include every nominated character, and feel free to bring others in-- I ran out of slots.   The request's words stand, but if you're looking for a little more... I'm hella curious about Anacostia. What's it like growing up an orphan in a military school? Did she hate that she had to enlist? Could she not wait? What does she do now that following orders got her cadet killed? Is that why she freed Scylla. And speaking of: did she skulk by the house Scylla went to so that she could check it out, or to join, or to just know where the hell the girl went/see if she was safe? Did Scylla know she was followed?

The Gifted: this family is so good for each other. If you wanna include Lorna, that's awesome, if you would like to keep her out of this, that's also awesome. I really enjoyed seeing how these three (and with Lorna, pre-Clarice) leaned on each other in turn, they kept each other going. I'm totally down if you want this to be a John/Clarice/Marcos deal, too. I think Marcos could have used a little more love in season 2, the boy was *stressed.*  

Maybe they've gotta move again? So road trip with the three of them in the car/hotel/side of the road while John goes to get gas he didn't think they'd run out of quite so soon. Training is always good, so maybe they try new power tricks together?

The way Clarice kept John grounded, focused, on the here and now instead of the responsibility and weight of the mission when he got stressed was something I really liked about their relationship.

Marcos and John have been together for a *while,* but they can be very different. One of my favorite exchanges between them happens when Marcos is pining and fretting over Lorna and the baby, and John says hope's a powerful thing, he just has to keep holding onto it. And then Marcos looks up at him and says hope is what's been killing him.

Chronicles of Elantra: I started reading this series back when it started, and then somehow took a break, but this year I caught back up. Now I'm only three behind--the last I read was Cast in Flight. So if you could please avoid spoilers for those last few, I'd appreciate it.

Okay, I totally missed nominations, which means I missed a chance to nominate characters. If you wanna stick with just Bellusdeo, that's not a problem. I like all of them. Teela, Anarion, and Mandoran, with Bellusdeo and Helen rounding out the home squad are my favs. Kaylin and Severn, too-- and him, not Nightshade, for the record. What's it like there on non-world in peril again time? Does Moran ever crash there now? What's Helen like with everybody?  In the books, we only really get Kaylin's pov, so it'd be interesting to see the same place or thing or story through someone else's.  

it's the weirdos and outcasts coming together that I love.

The Old Guard: I really love the side by side ass-kicking duo of Nile and Andy, they've got their shit handled. Or, the fighting shit, at least. I really love how tired Andy is of the world. If anything resonated with me in 2020, it was that. Her yelling at Booker to not leave her alone and living was *painful.* I like to think finding Nile put a little more interest back in Andy.

I have a deep fondness for them using their not-dying to thwart people--the car crash, the far too long fall, the plane in the movie. Yes, I'm a-okay with you using the movie cannon. They're not all that different (yet, just started the second arc), honestly, and I think the actors were prettier than the drawings, so that's who I see in my head.

Nile's whole art history interest is fantastic, too. And you know it wasn't just Rodin Andy knew. But how many "historical figures" did they run into? What have they seen? What do they still want to see? What do they all want to show Nile? (I'm feeling very 5 things about that, and if you are, too, run with it!) What human festival things do they check out? Burning Man? Oktoberfest? Pride? ...have they stood guard ove

I know this is really long, but please remember optional details are optional--if none of this helps, ignore it! I can't wait to read what you write, either way.

[ao3feed-theoldguard]

by GrimSylphie

When Andy and Quynh return after several years on their own. While the team is happy they return, it also leads to their secret being revealed in the one way Booker never wanted to see it happen.

Words: 4440, Chapters: 2/3, Language: English

Series: Part 12 of Finding Happiness

Fandoms: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Booker | Sebastien le Livre, Nile Freeman, Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Quynh | Noriko, Original Child Character(s)

Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Minor Andy | Andromache is Scythia/Quynh | Noriko

Additional Tags: Family Drama, Team as Family, Fights, Angst with a Happy Ending, Temporary Character Death

via AO3 works tagged 'The Old Guard (Movie 2020)'