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screaming-universe · 16 days ago

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Bashing Fics in the 9-1-1 Fandom

Inspired by @beforeastorm‘s very neat look at 9-1-1 bashing fics in August and in September 2024, I took another look at the numbers yesterday (23rd January 2025) and… it’s been interesting.

Methods and materials:

For that I selected the 9-1-1 (TV) tag on ao3 while logged into my account and thereby ensuring I would see both public and locked fics; beforeastorm only considered public fics so by god I hope that some of the increases can be explained by that. Then I used the Include filter function to search for [Character Name] Bashing. Where this returned nothing I employed the Search within result function to search for “[character name] bashing”, trying out variations (last or first or nickname). To double-check I also did this search for characters with established bashing tags, using the Exclude filter to ensure that I would not count any fic twice.

Some characters have a bashing tag for themselves and a couple bashing tag. For example: if you search for Margaret Buckley Bashing, you will be offered two tag: Margaret Buckley Bashing and Margaret Buckley and Phillip Buckley Bashing. As far as I could tell, searching for the individual bashing tag also always counts the couple bashing tag, so the couple bashing tags could be disregarded. A list of the characters I looked at is under the cut.

The numbers were collected in an excel file and assigned the characters categories: main (meaning main adult character), family, love interest and other. I also took note of the gender. I did some analysis in excel before having the smart idea that I might as well use this as a training exercise for R (and I am very bad at R).

Disclaimer: this will not include all bashing fics because sadly some people are not familiar with tagging or love letting people run into a fic they will not enjoy. Also while I much prefer it when people tag bashing, some are overly careful and may use bashing tags when not really needed. Still, I much prefer that to people not tagging.

Results:

Disappointing but hardly surprising at this point: the extremely dubious honour of being the most bashed character goes to Tommy Kinard with 660 bashing fics to his name. That obviously makes him the most bashed character of the love interest category, followed by Ana Flores (241) and then Taylor Kelly (118 ^^). The most bashed characters of the family category are the Buckley parents (347 and 325) followed by the Diaz parents (238 and 176), with the mothers being given more bashing fics than the fathers. In the other category, Vincent Gerrard leads with the 66 times his bashing tag was used. Chase Mackey is in third place with 26 fics, and in second place is the Firehouse 118 Crew (45) which probably could be rather counted to the main character category.

Which brings us to that category. Chimney has been bashed in 317 fics, making him the most bashed main character. Followed by Maddie with 223 fics and Bobby with 163. Out of all the main adult characters, Buck is the only one without an established bashing tag. There are 7 fics out there that you can find if you employ a variation of queries with his name + bashing; that is if I have made no mistake. Because honestly? Finding Buck bashing fics is hard. Athena and Buck are the only main characters with less than 10 bashing fics to their name.

Fig. 1: This fucking barplot was a pain to make but here we are! Characters on the y-axis and number of fics that use respective bashing tag on the x-axis. The total number of respective fics are shown next to the bars; colour indicates the category the characters have been placed in. Top: continuous x-axis to allow for an easier overview of the proportions of the bars, bottom: x-axis with a break to allow a closer look.

Dishonourable mention: why the fuck would anybody write a fic with Christopher bashing?

Honourable mentions: Boeing and dolphin bashing. It did make the otherwise pretty depression task of data collection much better.

Gender-wise there are more bashing fics about men (54.3%) than there about women (44.3%) (of course I did not look at every character so I will have missed a few bashing fics). If nobody was writing Tommy bashing fics, that would be flipped (male: 43.0%, female: 55.3%).

Fig. 2: A lovely pie-chart showing the bashing fics per gender, with male subdivided into Tommy, and the other male characters.

Which brings us to the tragedy that is the hate this fandom has for Tommy Kinard. If you add up all the bashing tags I found (which does not equal fics, some people are happily bashing away in their fics), then his account for about 20%. Which is insane, wtf.

Discussion:

This was really depressing tbh. I showed the bar plot to my sister and she asked me what bashing is. She’s been in fandom for years; she was in the supernatural fandom and has read fics and somehow I still had to explain bashing to her. So really: yay for us, this fandom really is something.

If you look at beforeastorm’s tally from August, you’ll see that Tommy bashing fics began popping up in April 2024 and since then he has become the most bashed character (out of those I looked at, I’m pretty sure that this holds true).

Now you may be wondering why these characters are being bashed. Warning: the following part is based on my opinions. I did not read the fics of all 3291 bashing tag instances that I found.

In some cases it seems pretty straight forward: Vincent Gerrard, Chase Mackey, Doug Kendall and Olivia Ortiz need no further explanation. Other “villains” such as Jeffrey Hudson and Jonah Greenway have no bashing fics that I could find though.

The Buckley and Diaz parents getting bashed is also not surprising. Can’t say that I’m wild about it since my experience with reading fics that tag bashing was usually “here’s a random evil person I made up and then gave the name of an existing character”, but I understand where people are coming from.

Now the main characters… I’m just gonna say it: it’s people who have wronged Buck – according to some of the fandom at least. Chimney’s crime: the punch (no, I’m not defending it, but some people really have run with this). Maddie’s crime: not telling Buck about Daniel and then wanting to talk to him about it when he didn’t want to. Bobby’s crime: not allowing Buck back to work. Hen’s crime: idk, being Chimney’s bestie?

As for Eddie: I guess he’s a misogynist now, if you ask some people? Idk, it’s not like I read the summaries of all the fics because there are too many and also just no.

The love interests – which yes, in this case all happen to be Buck and Eddie’s love interests, imagine my surprise – happen to be “in the way” of shipping I guess. I did look at other love interest or ex-relationships and could find nothing.

Tommy’s crime: loving Evan.

Conclusion:

If you write bashing please keep tagging it.

Appendix:

All the characters I looked at: characters with no bashing fics I could find, characters with an established bashing tag, characters with no established bashing tag but bashing fics can be found

Main adult characters:

Athena Grant, Bobby Nash, Hen Wilson, Chimney Han, Evan Buckley, Eddie Diaz, Maddie Buckley.

Recurring characters, family:

Michael Grant, David Hale, May Grant, Harry Grant, Beatrice and Samuel Carter, Emmett Washington;

Marcy Nash, Tim Nash;

Karen Wilson, Denny Wilson, Antonia Wilson, Nia and Mara;

Albert Han, Chimney’s father/Sang Han, The Lees, Jee-Yun Buckley-Han;

Margaret Buckley, Phillip Buckley, Daniel Buckley, Doug Kendall;

Christopher Diaz, Isabel Diaz, Helena Diaz, Ramon Diaz.

Recurring characters, love interests:

Tommy Kinard, Natalia Dollenmeyer, Taylor Kelly, Lucy Donato, Ali Martin, Abby Clark;

Kim, Marisol, Ana Flores, Shannon Diaz;

Eva Mathis;

Tatiana.

Recurring characters, others:

Firehouse 118 Crew Bashing;

Chase Mackey, Vincent Gerrard, Jonah Greenway, Jeffrey Hudson, Councilwoman Olivia Ortiz;

Josh Russo, Lena Bosko, Ravi Panikkar, Claudette Collins, Brad Torrance;

Boeing, Dolphin.

#statistics #911 #911 abc #911 fandom #discourse #911 discourse #bashing fics #fanfic discourse #911 fanfic #txt

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starberry-cupcake · 1 month ago

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GUESS WHO'S BACK??? Happy new year you bone-loving weirdos (affectionately)!!! Let's start 2025 with Nona!!!

previously, in this react series:

we (I mean me, but also you, alongside me) finished harrowcita del 9

we read some short stories

I made a gideon craft as a gift and the person I made it for told me that the recap I wrote in the back made it to some discord server somewhere

my legacy is being unfunny

NOW LET'S START WITH NONA:

(that's how I called 2 of my great-grandmothers)

I decided to skip all the praise for the book because some of them were getting a little too involved with the story and I don't want to know anything, thank you very much

I did however read the blurb in the inside cover that I missed the last time

I wonder if at some point I could make like an audio version of a recap as I read, because my reaction when I read the following was Something, but then again you'd have to deal with my pronunciation of the names and idk if I want that

anyway, blurb says "with Pyrrha, Camilla and Palamedes"

???????????????????????????????????????????

I thought it was judith and coronabeer twin??????

I'm gonna change her name from regina george twin to coronabeer twin now because she outlived her other nickname

she's the only nickname graduate so far

who took palmolive out of the tamagotchi river loft???????

who set him loose????

how is phyrrha there, she was with gideon/harrow/gideonharrow fusion??????

"each night, Nona dreams of a woman with a skull painted face"

don't we all

the list of books says "Nona the Ninth" and so does the title in the paratext

instead of dramatis personae we have a guest list for a party

there are a lot of dogs invited to the party, which is nice

one of them has six legs

there's also people with BOE names

and one kevin, love to see it, I'll remember him

lots of meme potential there

there are some camilla annotations beside all the people from BOE allegedly nona wants to invite

still not seeing coronabeer and/or judith

gonna imagine that, wherever they are, they're making out

good for them

we got two poems after, the latter of which is a bit heart wrenching, I don't wanna ask about it

then we got a title that looks like a bible verse

had to google it and it is a verse about peter and a disciple finding jesus's tomb empty

ice cube barbie is locked tomb jesus confirmed

I've never mentioned this before but this has happened to me ever since book 1, and since it's here again I'm gonna say it

I have noticed I have a bad knee jerk reaction to the adjective 'fat' being used so often for so many things, but I'm trying to work thought it

don't wanna project my trauma onto unintended narrators

we got a summarized recount of events of what might be how emperor asshat and some of his lyctors got where they got from maybe present times???

there's talk about cryogenics for a lot of people and an evacuation plan from earth

and names are erased but we have some initials that could be augustine, mercygirl, cassiopeia and gideon

I don't think c is not!dulcinea because she was meant to be a newer model lyctor

during this recount he's in the beach alongside harrow, who he says he's gonna hurt

harrow apparently says she still loves him

gideon would be kicking him in the nuts

also, I thought the emperor was with yandere twin

what the hell happened between the two books???? where's everyone????

DAY ONE (hot sauce and 5 days until the tomb opens) CH 1

we've got a recorded statement of what feels to me like the Pool Situation Wink Wonk You Know The One

is she harrow??? or is harrow in the river with the emperor and this is a new person???? who is this????? is harrow's soul in the river???? where is gideon's perfectly preserved body that we knew camilla was carrying around with coronabeer and judith???

I don't know anything

but my wife is here, so it's all good

also, she's apparently sharing a body with palmolive now

so now the wife ideal turned into a polycule situation, I guess

didn't have that in my 2025 cards

I have two hands, apparently, idk

turns out, palmolive was somehow freed from his tamagotchi loft in the river and placed in camilla's body so they share it

how? by who? when?

glad you asked, I don't know

they're sharing space now, that's all I know

it's kind of like the lyctors should have been if the emperor wasn't an asshole, I guess

because it seems they can also switch easily and like coexist without totally cutting the other one out

it feels a lot healthier and organic in their relationship, even though palmolive is a soul guest

palmolive says camilla's body is a temple, so I'm glad we agree

pyrrha is also there, I assume taking over og!gideon's body fully, since he died, afaik

they're taking care of nona, who doesn't know who she is and they don't seem to know either, but if she has harrow's memories, I don't know what to tell you

they're living in a complicated militarized situation with few resources and little light use

palmolive thinks he could write explicit materials for a living but camilla doesn't want them to be remembered for that

palmolive wrote a lot of Things to his bae in correspondence, so maybe that's already part of his legacy

nona is sent to her room while palmolive and pyrrha argue about BOE acting weird

camolive want to rescue people, pyrrha thinks it's a bad idea and wants to get nona away from the planet

pyrrha also mentions a "she" that's crazier than camilla and makes references to commander wake me up when september ends but that one died???? twice????? so idk who this new "she" is

let's remember, for the record, that both og!gideon and pyrrha were Intimate with commander wake me up before we go go

apparently there are more people who are planet refugees in this one planet than two houses combined

which doesn't surprise me in the least, because that's how oppression often works, but is good to have it confirmed

heralds are also still a problem and camilla wants to fight them

pyrrha thinks that's a bad idea, because there's data of that not being possible

but she doesn't know that camilla hect is perfect and can do everything right always

it is important for me to clarify that, more than anyone ever in this book series, nona is the true definition of what in my land we refer to as: "está en un cumple"

the literal definition of the phrase means "she's in a birthday party"

the idiom definition is that someone is totally unaware of what is going on, without understanding what's around them, often used for people in a content state while unaware of a problem everyone else is worrying about

I truly think it's a very good way to describe her and I can't translate it in a way that feels the exact way, especially due to the party context

I headcanon her wearing this shirt

she also wants to save the animals, while camolive want to save the people

pyrrha is just tired and wants to retire to a farming planet to live in peace

I get it, though, imagine having to serve emperor asshat for so long

poor cavalier deserves some rest, og!gideon had the right idea when he exited the entire situation

saw an out with that fight in the river and left the chat

pyrrha is also worried about BOE capturing and torturing camolive for interrogation

and there seems to be an underlying plan between camolive and pyrrha that I'm not entirely sure of yet

nona, apparently, goes to school, because she's in a cumple, as previously established

going to school on top of the eye in the sky and the military issues and the social strife and the potential torturing doesn't sound ideal but very glad there's still an education system in place among all that

AND THAT'S IT FOR NOW!!! It's proving a bit complicated to do recaps with a paperback but I'm gonna try to find my footing!! See you on the next one!!

#luly reacts to tlt #nona the ninth #tlt #the locked tomb #nona the ninth spoilers #long post #gif cw

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grievingbovine · 2 months ago

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More than just an important plot point, I believe AIM, EMMA SEN, and The Mesaage are a subtle 4th wall break by Muir and an attempt to communicate with her readers without fully divulging what she wants. I've been paying a lot of attention to what and when Aim says anything.

All of the meme references throughout the book are not only an example of how Earth humanity things have echoed through 10k years but also a way to connect to readers in a way that only the readers, and John, can appreciate. So much of it has resonated with readers in ways that make us love the books even more, and it's literally just for us.

If you were an author that constantly spoke to your readers through cleverly placed memes, what better way to divulge a message than through more references? Two systems of communication used by many of us that are both obsolete and already archaic to us in 2024, it seems too pointed to be just a fun little nod, or a BoE naming convention (don't get me started on the possible meanings behind some of those names, not until my next theory post).

“I don’t want to read you the riot act. Don’t care about what people say … care about what people do. People say all kinds of things because it’s so easy to open your mouth and make words come out. It’s the doing that shows you what they are, and what they feel.” -Aim, chapter 17, ntn

The next section is John 5:1, the second to last of John's sections and the point where he finally tells Harrow about creating nuclear fallout on Earth. He claims to have had no choice, his words tell her that he regrets it, despite later saying "that's all the end of Earth was, making things clean."

It's also at the changing point of Pash, she starts to begrudgingly work with Camilla and the other zombies. She constantly insults and lashes out at them, but she works with them for the prospect of a better world.

Anyway this is long but I think there's more to The Message and we may already have pieces of it we haven't caught.

#tlt spoilers #locked tomb spoilers #tlt #locked tomb #the locked tomb #john gaius #nona the ninth #Definitely only a theory #but i am not smart enough i #too figure it out lol

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lockedtombtheories · 2 years ago

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Thanks! I think the biggest thing currently bugging me about HtN is why every surviving lyctor, with 1 single exception, was plotting to kill Jod? My understanding is that it was only when they saw cav!Gideon's eyes on the Mithraeum that they realized Jod lied about the existence of perfect lyctorhood. So why had they spent decades plotting with BoE to open the tomb and murder God? Only explanation I've read is "because he made them kill their cavs," which seems weak.

The short answer is: They at least suspected that he lied about it even before meeting Gideon. She was just the final nail in the coffin, so to speak. Plus, he did make them kill their cavs! Their siblings, their lovers, their closest friends! They dealt with that truth for far more than a lifetime, but they just so happens that they had a lot of time to dwell on it. It’s not really a surprise that it eventually got ugly.

Long answer under the cut, because I love my followers and don’t want them to suffer.

First off: it isn't just the surviving lyctors who betrayed God. Mercymorn, Augustine, Cytherea, yes; but even G1deon was willing to share a bed with the enemy. Either he or Pyrrha told Wake about the RB's and what they do to necromancers, thereby handing her an effective weapon against lyctors.

And then there's Anastasia, who's implied to have gone against John's orders by even founding the Ninth House. Cassie, who contacted BoE *6 000 years ago*. So who really knows what Cyrus and Ulysses were up to, or would have been if they'd survived for long enough.

As for why? We get two pieces of explanation in the text.

YOU LIED TO US

Could this refer to the proof in Gideon's eyes? Sure. But I'm not convinced that it wasn't the message Cyth always wanted to send.

Checking in with the other duplicitous sluts:

“You’ve offered us explanations for everything over the years. But—some of them didn’t hold up on examination … It was the power I could never get my head around, you know? I follow power back to its source, John. It’s the skill you asked me to perfect. And the longer I looked at yours, the less things added up.” “This has been troubling you for a very long time, then,” God said finally. [...] “You don’t get your power from Dominicus,” said Augustine. “It gets its power from you. There’s no exchange involved, no symbiosis. You draw nothing from the system. It relies on you entirely, as we all know. You’re God, John. But—as the Edenites are fond of pointing out—you were once a man. So whither that transition? Where does your power come from? Even if the Resurrection had been the greatest thanergy bloom ever triggered, it would drain away over time. And then Mercy said to me—in a moment of true Mercy vileness—she said, What is God afraid of? [...] I never wanted to believe it when she said, What if he didn’t really put down A.L.? And then—What if he couldn’t put down A.L.?” (HtN, ch. 51)

So: they knew that John didn’t have a tangible power source; and lyctorhood was the only kind of internal furnace they know about. Ergo: yes, they suspected that John had lied about perfect Lyctorhood. He made them kill their cavs. 10 000 years of guilt, literally chasing them across the universe, and for what? For whom?

What kind of God demands such a sacrifice? I think that's one of the central questions of these books. What kind of God demands it? (compare the Binding of Isaac - John) But also: What kind of God punishes it? (compare the Mark of Cain - the Resurrection Beasts)

But -

“Why would one of the Emperor’s Lyctors hate him?” “Hate him?” The voice of the girl whom Gideon had known as Dulcinea rose, high and intent. “Hate him? I have loved that man for ten thousand years. We all loved him, every one of us. We worshipped him like a king. Like a god! Like a brother.” (GtN, ch. 35)

They are Believers losing their Faith. They’re questioning the entire foundation of his divinity. Augustine and Mercy are still asking, still hoping that they're wrong - “All that effort to break open the Locked Tomb,” said Augustine, “only to have the answer we wanted wander up in the form of one dead teenager flaunting your genes." - but crucially, they are also lovers going through a messy divorce. You know, when people who once loved each other and were presumably capable of communication are suddenly throwing plates at each other? “Come, swear your loyalty, my son—my brother—beloved—Lyctor—saint.”

Possibly what Tazmuir is saying is, they're the same picture. But that might be conjecture.

(edited to add in links to other theory posts. call it the director's cut)

#the locked tomb #tlt meta #og lyctors #asks answered #captain-acab #I'll answer part 2 tomorrow!#mercymorn the first #augustine the first

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trammellesstangent-planes · 7 days ago

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Planes my brother saw at the airport:

RAAF C17A Globemaster (A41-210)

This plane was produced by Boeing for the Royal Australian Air Force thirteen years ago. The Globemaster is just over fifty metres long and about as wide, giving it an aspect ratio of around 1:1. It’s used as a strategic heavy lifter, and it can comfortably move as many people as most 737s, or take seventy-five tonnes of freight (on top of its empty weight of 128 tonnes!). To give you a concept, this lovely beast can fit a CH-47 Chinook in her belly. This plane is capable of carrying a large helicopter inside it. For four and a half thousand kilometres.

NASA Gulfstream V (N95NA)

This sleek beauty came to Australia to watch the Starship return to Earth. The landing is cool enough in itself but then we also get graced by this small jet with a very recognisable logo on the tail. This plane is 23 years old, and its usual callsign is NASA 5. This plane has a max range of over 10000 km, and can reach a ceiling of more than 50,000 feet. Since this photo was taken it has now returned to the US (currently in Texas), which it made in three legs.

I am jealous.

#planes #planespotting #aviation #planeposting #globemaster #Perth #Perth airport #PER #YPPH #gulfstream #jets #my brother works at the airport #and I am jealous of all the cool planes he sees #trammellesstangent #plane #nasa #raaf #air force #c17

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bird-inacage · 1 year ago

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Only Friends Finale: Ray & Sand vs Boeing

Admittedly it's taken me a few days to unpack the resolution to the Boeing conflict (aka final boss arc), how Ray and Sand went about this, and how they came out of it unscathed as a couple. There’s a fair bit to cover here so hang in there folks - this is a long one.

Sand's Uncertainty: Questioning the Present or Tributing the Past?

I can see why people had grievances about Sand not being more assertive, why he allowed Boeing to kiss him, why he wasn't definitive when Ray accused him of still having feelings for Boeing if he did not.

The scene in which Sand apologises to Ray briefly touches on this but doesn’t really convey the extent of it. By Sand's own admission, it is hugely difficult to be confronted by someone you used to love, especially a first love. Sand had planned his hopes, dreams and future with Boeing very much in the picture. Boeing's sudden return brought that all back and the lack of closure that came with it. Sand’s hesitancy to act is not due to a resurgence of his feelings from back then, but rather the nostalgia and sentimentality attached to this chapter of his life. Boeing very knowingly plays on this too.

During the pool scene, Sand hasn't made this distinction yet, and is generally lacking clarity on what exactly he feels for Boeing. So when Ray suggests they kiss to find out, Sand does question himself. The 'what if' from his past makes him wonder; an open-ended question he never got an answer to. 'What if Boeing came back to me?' But indulging in such a curiosity is never going to be satisfactory because the circumstances are no longer the same. Time has moved on and Sand along with it.

I believe Sand was also keen to pass Ray's test. He later refers to the kiss as Ray 'challenging' him to do it. We've seen him rise to Ray's goading before, only he's never quite as assured in his execution as he thinks he is. The most obvious example being when Ray suggests they have sex first and initiate a friendship second. Sand agrees with a sense of misplaced confidence that Ray will be hung up on him, when he's promptly the one to catch feelings. As much as Sand tries to be objective, he's consistently tripped up by emotion. Boeing's return is no different. His downfall is that he cares too much.

The way Sand behaves when Boeing kisses him is extremely telling. It feels like an attempt at muscle memory, retracing something he can't quite recall anymore. He looks lost, detached, slightly thrown and overpowered in Boeing's presence. This may be residual patterns of behaviour caused by Boeing controlling the end to their relationship. This is in stark contrast to how Sand kisses Ray, which is passionate, needy, mutually engaged and eager.

Sand's inability to push back against Boeing's advances is because his judgement is coloured by their history, their shared past, the feelings he used to have for Boeing. Not by the present. In an ask I received last week, I mention that Sand's apparent leniency is out of politeness, a final act of kindness even. It's his way of saying 'I don't like what you did to me but I'm trying to be civil because I owe it to who we once were to each other.' Sand's attributing that last bit of leniency to the Boeing he used to love, not the Boeing in the here and now.

Sand doesn't like to hold grudges. If someone apologises to him sincerely, he can let it go. When Ray does this back in Episode 1, he immediately forgives him. Since Sand has now moved on, it doesn't serve any purpose to harbour animosity with Boeing or to go out of his way to actively hate him. It's a lot of wasted energy to be resentful and Sand has far better things to do. So when Boeing makes his reappearance, Sand's initial reaction is not anger. Therefore I do believe his sentiment to "let bygones be bygones", which may explain why he was willing to let a few indiscretions slide. What he didn't anticipate is that Boeing would try to manipulate him, and cause a wedge in his newfound happiness with Ray as a result. Having his final act of decency thrown back in his face was rightly the last straw for Sand, and irrefutable confirmation that he doesn't owe Boeing anything. Sand wants to continue looking forward, not back.

Ray's Ultimatum

As much as I praise Ray for being noticeably more level-headed and mature in this episode, he still falls prey to being over-zealous; boxing Sand into an highly uncomfortable and sexually charged battle between himself and Boeing. Ray initially expects Sand to take responsibility, even if Boeing is the instigator. Largely because Ray presumes what Sand is feeling. "You still love him," he claims, though Sand is yet to confirm or deny. And that is the exact genesis for Ray's concern, because he can't fathom why Sand is puzzling over what this means to him and why he can't provide an immediate answer.

The fact that Ray thinks Sand's kiss with Boeing proves he's "second string" is absurdly untrue. Anyone with eyes can see Sand is miles more passionate and responsive with Ray. "Anyone can see he wants you back," Ray echoes (ironically), which is later debunked by Mew. It just goes to show how blindsided you can be when you're in the situation itself. Ray is misinterpreting this as a 'me vs Boeing' issue but it's really not about that at all. Sand isn't trying to compare the two. Neither is he planning to make a choice between them, because that wasn't even on his radar. What Sand is unsure of is how he feels about Boeing, irrespective of Ray. He never managed to reconcile his feelings for Boeing after his betrayal.

I don't think Ray is wrong for demanding that Sand determine this. However, the man probably had emotional whiplash from seeing his ex and boyfriend in the same room together, let alone watching them aggressively make out, all in one night. Sand was hoping to deal with this on his own terms, without Ray complicating the equation. Whilst Ray proceeds to do exactly that, hastily jumping the gun in order to provoke the answers out of Sand by force.

Essentially they wanted the same result but didn't discuss it. So it’s no surprise when their separate approaches don't sit right with one another. Sand appears far too permissive and ambiguous by Ray's standards, and Ray appears far too irrational and defiant by Sand's. This is partly due to Ray feeling compelled to intervene as Sand was struggling to be decisive, but Ray is also hugely impatient by nature.

Once Mew tells Ray that Boeing is intentionally trying to rock the boat, Ray recognises this is no longer Sand's burden to resolve alone. His concerns rested on the belief that Boeing genuinely wanted Sand back, and attempts to display guilt or regret may have tugged on Sand's heartstrings, causing him to waver. But since there's no truth to this, there's no basis for Sand giving him another chance. Sand's past with Boeing is very much 'dead and buried', with Boeing being the one who put the nails in the coffin.

Mutual Respect or Ownership?

By the time Ray and Sand have their final confrontation with Boeing, they are both on level footing. They have aligned their intentions. When Ray says "he's my boyfriend", what he's saying is 'his problems are my problems'. Similarly when Boeing quips "that's up to him", Ray retorts with "that's up to me too". This is what they've learnt from their earlier run-in with Boeing. As a couple, they will stand as a united front going forward.

Ray defending Sand on his behalf does not belittle him in any way. Sand allows him to do it. You see the air of pride he has in watching Ray fight for him. Besides, Ray is merely saying what Sand is already thinking, he's just allowing him the satisfaction of hitting back at Boeing for trying to demean his position at Sand's new boyfriend. What little leniency Sand may have reserved for Boeing is now gone because he actively tried to exploit Sand's good will and patience.

This is further supported when Sand states himself as being owned by Ray (only because Boeing started the analogy of referring to him as a dog). Sand is purely making a point about his loyalty. His loyalty will be steadfast based on the sincerity of the recipient. Ray has proven himself worthy of Sand's loyalty, and that's why he's happy to let Ray take control or be more dominant at times. You can only do this with someone you truly trust.

Though declarations of ownership such as 'you're mine', 'you belong to me' can sound like there is an inherent power play, but actually the language of 'owning' someone is a more possessive way of saying 'I take responsibility for this person and their wellbeing'. If I own them and they belong to me, I will be responsible for their everything.

As Sand has generally taken the care-taker role in their relationship, Ray's way of returning this sentiment is often through this love language, "I'll handle it." "They're gonna have to deal with me." The least Ray feels he can do is to defend his boyfriend's best interests and honour if the situation ever calls for it. Sand no longer has to deal with things on his own.

#only friends #only friends the series #ofts #only friends meta #ray x sand #sand x ray #raysan #sanray #khaofirst #firstkhao #first kanaphan #khaotung thanawat #we love to see growth #i had so many thoughts to cover in this one #this is why i love them #their conflicts are very layered and complex

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jcwdrawskinda · 5 months ago

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Quickly working some profile pictures of my fo4 Sole Boe. I plan on doing a a poll (recommended by @theartofblossoming :D) but first I needed to do something to get me back in the groove lol. What better way than to do the classic 2/3 profile?

So here's Boe starting from fresh out the vault to 100 days out the vault! I hope to make this look like an old timey photo. To me, it makes sense that places like Diamond City would have an area you could get your picture taken. . ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

Also, I'd love to see other people draw their characters from day 1 of their adventure (vault or no vault) to the climax of their adventure. I'm sure that's been a prompt before, but can we bring it back???

#i like him better with a beard and messy hair #fallout #fallout 4 #sole survivor #gif #wip #my art #2d animation #fallout oc #boe the vault boy #boe

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skeletalheartattack · 1 year ago

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Stumbles down your chimney

ahhhhhh hello, you must be that Santa Claus i hear so much about. welcome to my home. here we have my two christmas trees so i can max out on presents. you understand. i'm on the good list, don't even double check. if you know what's good for you Santa.

#ask #spatialapprentice #sorry these are images i made a few years ago. i think i have the source files for these but i didnt want to get out of bed #i just grabbed them and put them through imgflip #i tend to do that a lot actually. though it makes me laugh regardless so maybe its fine.#welcome to my stinking house. my home.#the background environments are from mystery case files ravenhearst. an older find the hidden object game #its appearently on steam and i gotta buy it at some point. i love its environments.#its probably one of the main reasons i imagine boes house to be so messy #and is definitely the biggest inspiration as to how his house looks. besides the mess.#weirdly enough i also associate limbo with pajama sam 1's darkness environments #its got such nice colours. all over the place.#also ignore boes randomly swapping tooth gap. hes only got the one on his left side.#anyway i hope you found the ask silly :) thank you for tha ask!!#boe #boe tai marrow #my characters

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blu3-ja3 · 2 months ago

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Basically Task Force 141 gets to have a little branching team; Task Force Stalker AKA Ghosts Team. Because I say so! I want to give Cod Ghosts some love and nothing will stop me from doing so!

Captain O'Connor gets to actually be a Captain???

This is Part 1, all my previous posts are kinda intertwined but this is kinda the start of my actual story so enjoy!

COD Master List

O'Connor tried to find free time to go out for drinks with Nila, she truly did try but time wasn't on O'Connor's side it seemed. After recovering the information they needed as well as the rest of the team, O'Connor wasn't given a break. With Price on desk duty until he recovers, O'Connor is the commanding officer for the 141.

On top of that O'Connor learns she is in charge of her own squad, Lieutenant Keegan, Sergeants Hesh, Ajax, and Logan are officially a part of the 141 and O'Connor is their captain not the second captain... Not Price's team that she is a part of. They're her team, she's their CO and it scares her more than ever. She was given assurance that O'Connor would still be part of the 141 and so would her boys.

As soon as they were back at their own base; Echo Point, both The 41 Company and Task Force 141 were sent out into the field. Gaz, Roach, and Soap were sent out on a reconnaissance mission for Laswell. Nila and her team were sent out as well on another rescue mission. The first two days O'Conner was getting better acquainted with her team.

She ran drills with them, read through files, spared with them and watched at the firing range. While O'Connor wasn't new to being a captain it felt different having her own squad. Where as before with Price she was second in command. Price's word trumped her at the end of the day no matter how much he treated her as an equal. She was the 2nd Captain, but with Task Forse: Stalker her word dictated all. And that worries her more than she'd like to admit.

She was in her room cleaning her glock when Ghost popped his masked head in after knocking. O'Connor looked up from her work and smiled at the still injured and recovering man as he spoke.

"Price needs you in the briefing room," O'Connor's heart sank into her stomach.

After finishing her task and reassembling her gun, O'Connor quickly moved towards the briefing room. Upon entering O'Connor spots the rest of Stalker there waiting. Quickly moving in she nods to them before finding a seat, Price begins as soon as O'Connor readies her pen.

The mission is simple. From the intel gathered from their most recent mission, they've learned of R.U.N.'s (Russian Ultranationalist) next course of action. They have narrowed down Makarov's location to three black sight prisons. They're planning to infiltrate as prison guards and use the information gathered.

Stalker is going to prevent that from happening... Makarov is being moved to a different black sight, one in Mexico. Alejandro and Rudolfo are going to be on the outside helping but O'Connor's team will be posing as guards alongside the prison warden.

Stalker's main goal is to make sure the hand off of Makarov goes smoothly and he's properly incarcerated. They're to leave as soon as possible. Before O'Connor leaves she stops by Price's office.

"How do you do it?" O'Connor stood in front of his desk, fully geared and ready to depart.

"What?" Price looks up from the mountain of back logged paperwork he's now forced to catch up on.

"Keep so calm... When one order could be the end for them?" O'Connor tries to not let her anxiety show but knows Price can read her like a book.

"Truthfully I'm panicking all the time Maeve, but I have to have confidence in myself and my team. You're a good leader Maevis, if you weren't you wouldn't be here." Price smiles at her before waving her out.

O'Connor nods before leaving, arriving at the landing pad a little before her team. O'Connor situates herself in the small boeing they're riding in before reading more in depth about their mission. Not looking up but greeting all the arrivals of her team, Keegan being the last one to arrive. As they're taking off O'Connor finishes her reading.

This mission feels half baked and O'Connor hates it. They're to leave their equipment behind in order to wear the uniforms of prison, they're provided locks for their left behind equipment like that would do anything of value. There's a small note from Price mentioning that Nikoli's contract will be getting them a bag to store their kits but they won't have their armor or heavy weapons. Only side arms and knives, again it feels half baked.

"So Cap what's the plan?" Hesh asks, O'Connor is again struck by the fact that her whole team is american.

"First who can speak Spanish?" Keegan and Ajax raise their hands, Logan gives a slight hand wiggle.

"Who can speak Russian?" No one raises a hand, O'Connor rubs her temples a bit trying her best to figure out how best to do this.

"Alright lads, here's the plan. We'll be touching down in about 3 hours, we'll be at a secondary sight that is temporarily holding Makarov. We'll be landing in Greenland before flying over Canada and America, Once over the Texas Mexico border we will land and take an armored truck into Mexico. We'll be meeting with our contact and he'll be our guide." O'Connor hands Keegan her tablet, it's displaying the information she read through already.

"Read through and then pass it, you should all be aware of the man we're dealing with." O'Connor sits down and goes about double checking her gear. They fly and land in Greenland after an hour transit, O'Connor taking the lead as she approaches the figures waiting for them.

"Commander Yuri, a pleasure to meet you!" O'Connor reaches out a hand, an offering.

"The pleasure is mine Captain O'Connor, Nikoli speaks of you fondly!" The man shakes O'Connor's hand before guiding them into the facility.

O'Connor sticks close to her team as she follows Yuri, she keeps her pace just fast enough to maintain a good spacing between the two. Yuri leads them into a room with lockers in it.

"Your uniforms and requested equipment for this little ruse, I will leave you to get changed. Once ready find me in the next room." Yuri leaves through a door opposite the one they entered through. O'Connor retrieved the five locks Price provided. She grabs her gear from the locker and quickly changes before replacing her equipment in the locker.

"Does anyone else feel like this is a trap?" Ajax asks, hesitation visible under his masked face.

"We have to trust Yuri at least, if this goes tits up I will have a nice long conversation with Nikoli regarding his contacts." O'Connor grabs what she can from her kit and tosses it into the empty medical bag she was provided. There's still plenty of room so O'Connor approaches the rest of the team and instructs them to place their kits inside. All four of them placed their masks into a pocket on the uniforms.

"You'll be able to mask up once we land in Mexico, there's half masks you can wear for now..." O'Connor watched as both Ajax and Keegan adjusted the half balaclavas.

Reattaching her glock 17 to her hip, O'Connor moves towards the door. She waits as the rest of Stalker gets into gear, locking away their personal kevlar vests, and following behind her. She looks at each of them silently asking for confirmation which she gets from all four men.

O'Connor opens the door and steps into a small room, Yuri is in a similar outfit to theirs and is waiting next to the man O'Connor assumes is the warden. The three exchange a few words in Russian, O'Connor learning much more since her first brush with Wolf and Demetrius.

The warden guilds the group through multiple security measures before leading them to a locked metal door. There is only a small sliding viewing window and small slot to put food trays on. The warden opens the window, ordering the prisoner to stand facing the back.

After a moment the warden opens the door and enters. After a few minutes a man stumbles out, hand and feet shackled. Makarov is positioned between everyone with the warden leading.

They pass through the prison out back out towards the landing pad they were on previously. A small cargo helicopter is waiting, O'Connor couldn't see the transport they arrived on. But O'Connor wasn't too concerned and followed the group up.

O'Connor was sat across from Makarov. The man kept trying to talk with Yuri and Keegan for about an hour, both of whom ignored the man's Russian sitting next to them. Keegan likely not from understanding when he spoke Russian and not caring when he spoke english. He turned towards O'Connor after another hour or so of flying in silence. In russian the man begins speaking towards her.

"I recognize you," Makarov smiles at O'Connor. She nods staring above Makarov's head.

"Yes! I know you from somewhere," O'Connor looks towards Yuri who has a slight confused expression.

"You're not from the prison... I know all the nurses who would be assigned to me," O'Connor looks towards the warden who has moved from the front of the co-piolet seat towards the back.

"She's a new hire Makarov, leave her alone." The warden barked in russian, O'Connor can feel Makarov's eyes on her.

"I don't think she is... No I've seen her elsewhere..."

O'Connor turns to meet the man's intense stare, Makarov smiles at her when they make eye contact. A sick smile similar to the one she often saw on Demetrius. O'Connor can feel her heart rate spiking, her palms start sweating.

"Yes, it was in a video. I think one of the nurses showed me, maybe 6 months ago?" O'Connor took a deep breath trying to calm down.

"I know why I didn't recognize you! You're not pale and turning blue!" Makarov laughs and O'Connor feels sick to her stomach.

"It's very nice to meet you finally, Lamb..."

O'Connor freezes, her heart pounding in her ears as she looks at Makarov. She can't breathe, like that rope was wrapped around her throat again. She couldn't hear anyone over the ringing in her ears as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"What do you mean? How do you know about that!?" O'Connor's voice cracks as she looks at him again and the same smile was plastered on his face.

"Oh Lamb do you not know? There are lovely videos of you with Sergey and Demetrius!" O'Connor begins to breathe faster as her vision begins to blur, tunneling into black.

O'Connor jumps slightly when she feels a hand on her shoulder, she looks up at Keegan. He helps her stand and they walk to the back cargo bay standing next to the armored transport van. O'Connor can hear Yuri and the warden dealing with Makarov.

"Hey! What the fuck was that Captain? You good?" Keegan still has a hand on O'Connor's shoulder.

O'Connor closed her eyes trying to focus on her breathing. Her heart is pounding loudly in her ears, Keegan turns her to look at him. Her mind is racing with a million thoughts.

"You've got to calm down, you're giving him exactly what he wants right now Cap!" Keegan was a bit harsh causing O'Connor to flinch a bit. That knocks her back onto her feet so to speak, she'll deal with all this after the mission

O'Connor turned to see her team looking at her as well as Yuri. O'Connor turned back around, took a deep breath and wiped away the lingering tears. She turned back to see the warden standing with his back to the cockpit through the opening.

The two of them move back to their seats and ride out the remainder of the trip in relative silence. Once they began to land O'Connor moved to the back of the carrier as she would be the one driving the humvee they brought, much to her dismay and hatred. Keegan offers to at least get the van out of the carrier so O'Connor could meet with Alejandro and Rudolfo.

The back of the cargo bay lowers and O'Connor walks down as Yuri and the warden deal with Makarov. The rest of Stalker follows behind O'Connor as Keegan drives the armored van out. O'Connor sees the two familiar figures of Alejandro and Rudy standing to the side with several of the Los Vaqueros.

"Ah! Senora O'Connor! It's nice to see you again!" O'Connor approaches being pulled into a hug by Alejandro once she was close enough to the man

"How's she cuttin' Al? Rudy keeping you out of trouble?" O'Connor smiles at Rudy shaking his hand.

"Always Doc, Al is always finding trouble," O'Connor waves towards the familiar Vaqueros who she met the last time she was in Las Almas. Alejandro switches to spanish knowing well that O'Connor could speak and understand the language.

"So who's the new pretty boys? Are they all fans of the lieutenant?" Alejandro gestures to the men behind O'Connor.

"These are my men and amenity isn't solely a Ghost thing Alejandro." O'Connor smiles replying in spanish.

"He thinks we're pretty Captain!" Ajax slings an arm over both Hesh and Logan as they walk up.

"Americans?" Rudy asks looking towards O'Connor. O'Connor nods.

"Colonel Alejandro, Sergeant Major Rudolfo. Meet Task Force: Stalker: Lieutenant Keegan, Sergeant Major Ajax, Sergeant Logan and Sergeant Hesh. My team..." O'Connor pointed each of the men in tandem with their name and rank.

"Ah! So you're now in Price's shoes, aye?" Alejandro smiles as Rudy laughs. O'Connor gives the nod before going over the planned order for their convoy.

It's a few hour drive to their destination, O'Connor was driving with Keegan next to her in the passenger seat. Makarov is chained in the back with the rest of the team in the back next to him. Alejandro's truck is in front of them and there's another truck behind them. They're approaching a canyon, O'Connor slows a bit before radioing to Alejandro.

"Colonel are you sure this is the only way through?" O'Connor looks towards Keegan who gave her a concerned look, one that she mirrored.

"Sorry Doc there isn't another way through, but my men are patrolling the ridges..." O'Connor grips the wheel tighter, before tapping the gas to continue forwards.

"Cap if you grip the wheel any tighter you'll rip it off," O'Connor takes a deep breath before loosening her grip.

"Wait Colonel there's a problem, none of the vaqueros posted on the ridges are responding," O'Connor fully stops the vehicle at that, no longer slowly cruising forwards.

"What? Are you sure it's not interference Rudy?" Keegan looks at O'Connor once he notices they're stopping.

"Yes I'm sure, it's not the usual problems. There is nothing being received or transmitted, Al." O'Connor puts the van in park before speaking into her radio.

"Rudolfo, is there a way up onto the ridges?" Keegan nods seemingly catching onto O'Connor's idea, if a bit vaguely.

"Yes ma'am we'll be diving past the ladders once we enter the ridge, why?" O'Connor gets out of the vehicle moving quickly towards the back telling Keegan to follow her.

"Because me and the lieutenant are going to scout ahead," O'Connor opens the back doors before grabbing the medical bag with their kits, thankfully Alejandro loaned her team some kevlar vests and plates. This entire mission has been half assed since step one and O'Connor is really not happy with it.

"Whose going to drive then?" O'Connor begins to move towards the passenger side after points toward Yuri and the warden to move upfront.

"It's handled, Alejandro can we borrow two of your men's rifles?" O'Connor moves up towards Alejandro's armored humvee before grabbing onto the side.

"This is getting dangerously close to war crime territory Senora O'Connor," Rudy was using the voice he used on Alejandro to suggest an idea was a bad one. O'Connor, much like Alejandro most times, ignores the suggestion.

"Ramirez and Sanchez will give you theirs, mi amiga." O'Connor hops off as they approach the canyon opening, turning back to retrieve the AR rifle she's being handed. Keegan follows right behind her, also fully kitted now.

"Thank you amigo," O'Connor begins to approach the latter.

"Wait!" Rudy sighs before getting out of Alejandro's passenger and running towards O'Connor and Keegan.

"Since we're doing this let's be smart about it yes? Our radios can only relay so far before it's useless." Rudy starts digging into a side pouch on his vest.

"Uses these to single us forwards, there are four towers stationed near turns in the canyon." He pulls out two small hand mirrors and gives them to O'Connor and Keegan.

"When you get into one use the mirror to signal us forwards, we'll move in increments... Hopefully nothing goes wrong, good luck," O'Connor gave him a nod before climbing the ladder up, Keegan following close behind...

Part 2 >

This is kinda the official start to my cod au, I hope people enjoyed it!

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