#someone from each HBO War show

[ktredshoes]

HBO War Fanfiction Stats

Let me start by saying that I am not in any sense criticizing anybody's taste in HBO War relationships. In my opinion, any well-written fanfic, regardless of ship, is worthy. Heck, any fanfic is worthy — it takes a special type of creative courage to write and share a fanfiction story so that others might appreciate what you see in characters you love. So, that's the first thing.

Buckle up, I get wordy. More under the cut.

Tagging a handful of folks who showed interest in my decidedly unscientific findings: @onyxsboxes @jesslovesboats @itstheheebiejeebies @onekisstotakewithme @sparkling-strychnine

Trying something here: @meyerlansky @anachilles @astolovewithallmyheart @dano-png

I started down this fanfiction stat rabbit hole about four years ago when I started looking at The Pacific tags on Archive of Our Own (AO3). I was trying to figure out if it was just my imagination or not that everything other than Sledgefu in TP fanfic felt like a rarepair. I was not surprised to find statistical backup for what anecdotally felt true.

I love all the HBO War series — and for the record, I consider Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Generation Kill, and Masters of the Air to all be part of this fandom community. I won't get into trying to rank them or make the case that one is better than another — they are all related in being stories of men at war, and three specifically stories of men at war during World War II — but direct comparisons, in my opinion, are apples to oranges to prosciutto to tiramisu. They all have different raison d'etres. So that's the second thing.

(I will admit to a particular soft spot for The Pacific as the overlooked "younger brother" to Band of Brothers, precisely because of the tendency of some to negatively compare it to BoB. TP was never intended to be "part two" of Band of Brothers — I was listening recently to a podcast with Tony To, an executive producer of both shows, who asserted that BoB was, yes, about the brotherhood of war, but TP was about the cost of war. )

Anyway.

A couple of days ago, I saw someone post about the fact that the Cleven/Egan ship in Masters of the Air was about to hit 1,000 stories on AO3 — and since I knew that the total number of stories was only about 1,400ish, I figured it was time to take a look at MotA stats too. And that led to looking at GK stats and BoB stats and once I finished, I was really struck by what I saw.

I have a whole spreadsheet looking at the four shows, with breakdowns by relationship and character, with percentages of total stories. (I've posted some graphics from those spreadsheets below, not to worry.)

So what did I learn?

The Pacific and Masters of the Air both are overwhelmingly dominated by a single ship — Sledgefu in the case of TP and Clegan in the case of MotA.

As of August 10, 2024, there were 1,500 stories on AO3 tagged for The Pacific, and 1,485 tagged for Masters of the Air. Sledgefu features in 884 of TP stories, which is 58.93% of the total.

You might think that's an astounding total — but Clegan features in an astonishing 986 of MotA stories, or 66.4% of all stories. The falloff in the next highest ship in each fandom is precipitous: Hilldane in 14% of TP stories (210), and Crubbles in 8.82% of MotA stories (131).

If you are a fan of any ship aside from the most popular pairing in these two fandoms, that has got to be terribly discouraging. You wouldn't think the dropoff would be so high if you're at all active in the HBO War fandom on Tumblr, based on what's posted on a daily basis, but if your entry to HBO War fanfic is solely on AO3, what would you think?

I will once again state that I'm making no judgement on anybody's favorite pairing — I'm making a case on behalf of all the other ships. I'll also note that there are many, many fics posted to Tumblr that never make it to AO3, and I would very much encourage those authors to please please please consider posting your stories to AO3! (If you don't have an account on AO3, it currently takes about 10 days from requesting an invitation to receiving it, which is not that long in the scheme of things.)

The popularity of TP and MotA characters in these stories shows a similar disparity between the most popular and everybody else. In The Pacific, Snafu features in 63.53% of AO3 stories (953) and Sledge in 62.6% (939). No one else is as high as even 20% -- Burgie is in 17.2% (258) and Ack Ack is in 15.6% (234) and Hillbilly in 14.73% (221). The other two ostensibly lead characters in TP are Bob Leckie (12.53% or 188 stories) and John Basilone (1.67% or 25). I find that just shocking.

MotA is both better and worse. There are 10 characters who appear in 10% or better of posted stories on AO3 — but the dropoff from most popular to next highest is even more dramatic. Bucky Egan features in 77.9% of stories (1,157) and Buck Cleven in 74.28% (1,103). The next highest is not, as you might think, Harry Crosby or Rosie Rosenthal, the other featured lead characters in the series. It's Curt Biddick, who is in 25.19% of stories (374), followed by Croz in 23.7% (352). Next is Rosie, who is tied with John Brady — both in 16.9% or 251 stories. What a steep drop!

But, hey, at least there are a baker's dozen plus one of characters who feature in at least 100 MotA stories:

Egan: 1,157 stories (77.91%)

Cleven: 1,103 (74.28%)

Biddick: 374 (25.19%)

Crosby: 352 (23.7%)

Brady: 251 (16.9%)

Rosenthal: 251 (16.9%)

DeMarco: 243 (16.36%)

Payne: 225 (15.15%)

Lemmons: 181 (12.19%)

Hamilton: 167 (11.25%)

Marge Spencer: 146 (9.83%)

Douglass: 139 (9.36%)

Kidd: 130 (8.75%)

Blakely: 111 (7.47%)

After 14 years, will TP ever develop more diversity on AO3? Probably doubtful — though since I first checked the stats in 2020, Hilldane has gained 2%, so there's slow change but some change. Eight months in since the birth of the MotA fandom, and Clegan, and by extension Bucky and Bucky, are steamrollering the rest of the MotA relationships and characters on AO3 — based on what I see on Tumblr, I don't know if that huge disparity will hold up, but who knows? It's still a very new fandom.

But what about GenKill and BoB, you say?

Well, as you might have guessed, there's a clear delineation in GK between the top ship and the next ones below it, but the dropoff is not nearly as dramatic as in TP and MotA.

There are 3,024 Generation Kill stories on AO3 as of August 10, 2024, and the number one ship is Brad/Nate, with 1,261 stories, or 41.7% of the total. Next highest is Brad/Ray, with 677 stories, or 22.39%. The top three characters are Brad, featured in 63.82% of stories (1,930), then Ray, featured 52.35% of the time (1,583 stories), followed by Nate (45.44% or 1,374 stories). Next is Walter Hasser at 571 stories (18.88%), followed by Poke Espera at 284 stories (9.39%), Mike Wynn at 262 stories (8.66%), then Doc Bryan at 254 stories (8.4%). There's that dropoff again!

And as for Band of Brothers? After nearly 21 years on AO3 (the oldest story dates from November 2003), there are 5,016 BoB stories on AO3, with a huge number of ships and characters — albeit some quite small. Frankly, I stopped counting after getting to 70 relationships and 55 characters — I just got tired!

Still.

Let me add that the earliest BoB stories on AO3 are not well tagged for ships or characters — many don't have any tags at all. I don't know the reason for it — whether the tagging system in the early AO3 days wasn't easy to navigate, or maybe the lack of tagging was a holdover from earlier systems or archives? I have no idea how well-tagged stories were on LiveJournal, Dreamwidth, or Fanfiction.net. So anyhow, early BoB stories on AO3, if tagged according to current standards, would definitely change the stats but I have no insight on how it might shift them, except definitely upward for the most popular characters and ships.

At any rate: onward.

The top BoB ships on AO3 are 1) Winnix — 1,250 stories or 24.92%, 2) BabeRoe — 771 stories or 15.37%, 3) Webgott — 663 stories or 13.22%, and 4) Speirton — 662 stories or 12.4%.

Moving on to characters, there are a dozen that feature in 10% or better of the BoB total. Take a look:

Winters: 1,173 stories (34.35%)

Nixon: 1,652 (32.93%)

Roe: 1,380 (27.51%)

Speirs: 1,135 (22.63%)

Heffron: 1,125 (22.43%)

Luz: 1,063 (21.19%)

Liebgott: 1,058 (21.09%)

Lipton: 978 (19.5%)

Webster: 790 (15.75%)

Toye: 749 (14.93%)

Guarnere: 686 (13.68%)

Malarkey: 514 (10.25%)

That's a much more even distribution here, without the massive dropoff in the other three fandoms. Or as @itstheheebiejeebies put it to me: "BoB fans feast on variety. It's a grazing table instead of main and side courses." Just so.

So what do I take from all this? I mean, in the case of MotA, I came into the fandom all gaga over Callum Turner and thus Bucky Egan. But then I quickly veered off into following Benny DeMarco (Adam Long) and for the past several months I've fallen under the spell of Everett Blakely (David Shields). Will I stay there? I have no idea! And that's kind of exhilarating.

But here's what I know for sure: as I continue to read and write HBO War fanfic, I'm going to be doing my best to support the ships and characters out of the top tier.

Creators: Don't just post your fanfic to Tumblr — post it to AO3 and tag it.

Be the change that you want to see.

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

Now, as promised, here are the stats in graphic form.

[fatum679]

T/W mention of csa. Please lmk if you want me to stop bothering you w/my questions. I'm so disgusted with ppl calling Aemond a "milf hunter", claiming he was happy to have consensual sex with the brothel madame and pointig out by Wesrerosi standards, a 13 year old is already an adult. Like in spite the "Wesrerosi standards" we call Daenerys, Alicent and Helaena child brides, although by the abovementioned Wesrerosi standards, Drogo was a really decent, protective husband, Viserys I wasn't that terrible (he actually asked Alicent if she was ok), and the book Aegon, who was btw just 2 years older than his sister wife, used to get along with Helaena. I fear, however, that HBO is gonna give "Aemond the milf hunter" enthusiasts what they want, making the madame his lover, confidante and comfort person.

Hello! I'm glad you're interested in my opinion.

I've read these theories about Aemond lying on the brothel madam's lap. Even if this is true, there is no evidence that they had sex, the woman is fully clothed.

I don't support the theory that Aemond is a "milf lover", in the first season, when Aemond recognized her, he was embarrassed, he lowered his head and tried not to draw attention to himself. It's not normal for a 13 year old to have sex with a stranger. Viserys 2, also at the age of 13, had sex with his wife and she became pregnant from him, but they had love, they were happy together.

Only in Westeros! as an exception, this can happen with mutual love, but not when it is a marriage of convenience and the partners do not love each other.

Aegon did not get along with Helaena in the book: “Princess Helaena was breaking her fast with her children when the Kingsguard came to her…but when asked the whereabouts of Prince Aegon, her brother and husband, she said only, “He [Aegon] is not in my bed, you may be sure. Feel free to search beneath the blankets”” “Though the good septon admits Prince Aegon was with a paramour when he was found, he insists the girl was the daughter of a wealthy trader, and well cared for besides”

I was thinking about why they gave this information that Aemond lost his virginity at the age of 13. If the writers went with the idea that Aemond is the father of Helaena's children, this is important information. The age difference between Aemond and Helaena is one year. He, like Viserys 2, could impregnate his sister at the age of 13.

If we consider the version that Aemond is not lying on Helaena’s lap, then I am inclined to the version where Aemond is with a girl who dressed up as Helaena and in her dress. Perhaps they will have sex, after which Aemond will suffer from the fact that he cannot be with his sister.

A person can have sex with anyone, but still love and desire to be with someone else. Daemon had many sexual partners, but he always wanted to be with Rhaenyra. And I compare Daemon to Aemond because it's obvious and there are parallels we see between Daemyra and Helamond.

I'm not a fan of TB, but if you look at it objectively, Aemond and Daemon died for their queens. All these parallels are like a shot to the head. This shows their connection as characters, that this is one house with similar destinies. The entire Targaryen war is like a snake devouring itself - ouroboros.

I still believe in Helaemond's theory because all these hints that were obvious in the series. But I understand that everything is in the power of the writers and they can ruin everything.

[kazz-brekker]

hotd episode 8 thoughts

hmmm. i remember reading an interview with the writers of this show before the season dropped where they lowkey threw shade at hbo and very heavily implied that having 8 episodes rather than 10 was not their choice and i can very much feel that with this episode

it felt a lot more like a penultimate episode of a season rather than the season finale. all of that set-up with the marching armies at the end of the episode really felt more like a "and next week, a big battle!" kind of thing rather than a "in 2 years, you'll see a big battle!"

why is this show acting like the war is only just starting…we saw named characters toasting each other 4 episodes ago…

i was otto hightower-baited! i saw the name rhys ifans in the opening credits and went !!!!! only for a single shot him in the last minute of the episode, i feel robbed!

i did find tyland lannister's visit to the triarchy very funny. no bureaucrat in the history of westeroes has ever suffered like this man. also sharako lohar was DEFINITELY hitting on him, you cannot convince me otherwise

as someone perpetually annoyed that in game of thrones daario naharis has brown hair rather than blue i appreciate that the tyroshi sailors had dyed hair

the aegon-larys alliance really become one of the unexpected highlights of the second half of this season. they're going on their little essos vacation together!

god rhaena you deserved so much better this season and so much more screentime. we should have seen more of you and jeyne arryn!

entertained to see that ulf is quickly becoming that coworker that no one likes

rhaenyra. girl. i love you but please stop with this bloodless warfare thing. you have six dragons on your side, stop hesitating about using them!

all of those soldiers standing around in the background clearly eavesdropping on criston and gwayne's argument was very funny

kind of loving all this insecurity about his parentage they're giving jace, it's nice to have some conflict with his character

i liked the little dragon heads on rhaenyra's dress at the dinner with the dragonseeds

alys rivers sitting on the edge of daemon's bed like his own personal sleep paralysis demon made me chuckle a bit

his final weirwood vision was such blatant fanservice but as a fan of daenerys and bloodraven i can't be that mad about it

can someone check on that portion of the fandom that used to ship helaena and aemond, i feel like they're not doing so hot right now after those scenes

i did think it was strange that helaena could so clearly communicate aemond's death to him when she had such a hard time doing so with her other visions in the past? but perhaps nothing clarifies your sinister visions of the future like being mad at your sibling

i was really happy that rhaenyra and daemon reunited! i've missed matt smith and emma d'arcy having scenes together this season a lot. plus, i know their relationship is all kinds of fucked-up but i just loved seeing them speak in high valyrian to each other again. and it's always nice to see daemon kneel before his wife

glad that alyn got to really chew out corlys on his failures as a father, that's been a long time coming

i wasn't expecting rhaenyra and alicent to have another scene together this season but ngl it was kind of fun, emma d'arcy and olivia cooke really just eat up every scene they have with each other

plus the reversal of their dynamic from the episode 3 meeting was interesting, with rhaenyra being very unyielding and alicent being desperate to connect

i enjoyed seeing rhaenyra be mean to alicent, especially the whole "son for a son" thing. yes, rhaenyra! alicent's son killed yours! please be mad about it, you deserve it!

i just feel like the end of this seaon lacked the punch that season 1 had, it felt more like a little showcase of all the fun stuff that was coming rather than definitive cliffhanger. i mean, c'mon, we don't even get to see the fall of king's landing????

[malarkgirlypop]

hihi I had an idea with Joe Liebgott x Nurse where they despised each other in high school and never saw each other again after that. Once the war begins, reader volunteered to become a nurse in aid stations, and one day lieb gets shot in the ass lol and has to go to the aid station where she is. She never imagined he'd become her patient, and he never imagined they'd ever cross paths again, and it feels like they're back in high school all over again

enemies to lovers basically hihi 

Goody Part 1 (Joseph Liebgott x Fem!Reader)

OMG This is the best idea. I hope that you like it. This is the first part! More to come after this. As soon as I got this message I dropped everything to write it. I'm so excited for the next part so stay tuned! Also let me know how smutty I can be ahaha. This is based off the HBO show and the actors who portray the characters, no hate to the people involved.

Mr Lancy drones on, my eyes droop as he speaks. My brain can’t handle all the maths questions on the board. Maths is my least favourite subject for two reasons. One I hate it all the numbers they jumble together and I can never make sense of the questions and two Joseph Liebgott is in this class with me. We don’t get to pick our seats either, Mr Lancy isn’t nice enough for that. 

So when I walked in on the first day of the year I took my respective seat from the chart that was pinned to the board, I thought there must be an odd amount of students in the class since everyone had a desk partner except for me. I wasn’t too fussed, I was at the back of the class, so I could get away with doing nothing. The bell rang and in came Mr Lancy, he was calling the roster when Joe strolled in. Oh no! I thought, please don’t be my desk buddy! Joseph Liebgott had a reputation around school for being a miscreant, always getting into trouble. He once gave all the boys in our year the most dreadful skullets in the school toilets. He got suspended for a whole week. They never actually expel him, because he is one of the top scoring students in our year. I have no idea how he is so smart when he makes so many stupid choices. I groan internally as he makes a B-line to my desk. Joe and I have never gotten along, I like to follow rules unlike him and he likes to tease me for it.

“Ugh, I’m with you goody!” I glare at the boy as he slumps down into the seat next to me, using the shortened version of the nick-name he has for me, goody-two-shoes. 

“Don’t flatter yourself ass-hat, I’m not pleased to be with you either.” I growl at him, clenching my fists on the desk. No one pisses me off quite like Joe does, I see him and I just want to strangle him. 

“Ass-hat, that’s a good one. Where did you come up with that?” I roll my eyes, ignoring his taunting.  I know that if I bite we will end up in a fist fight on the floor and I do not need him getting me into trouble. 

So everyday I have to deal with the ass-hat that is Joseph Liebgott and maths. I sigh, looking at the clock, come on, how has it only been two minutes since I last checked the time. 

“Miss Y/L/N, how about you come up and solve this one!” Mr Lancy calls my name, snapping me from the thoughts, shit! I have not been paying attention at all. Joe chuckles from beside me seeing the panic on my face. I send daggers his way, he pretends to cower back. I plaster a tight smile to my face, and make my way to the front, taking the chalk from Mr Lancy. I stand in front of the board, my heartbeat accelerating, a sweat breaks out across my forehead. I don’t even get the equation on the board. I bit my lower lip, glancing out of the corner of my eye, Mr Lancy stands with his arms crossed over his chest waiting for me to solve the equation. My hand shakes as I raise the chalk, feeling pressured to write something. I shakily drag the chalk down the blackboard, it squeaks making me wince. I cringe, I just wrote one. Someone end my suffering. I plead quietly in my brain. A chortle of laughter comes from the back of the room, everyone turns to see Joe bright red in the face dying from a fit of giggles. I scowl at him as he wipes tears from his eyes. 

“Well if you think you can do better Mr Liebgott, by all means come up.” I sigh from relief, putting down the chalk and walking back to my seat, I pass Joe who makes his way to the front, he chuckles again as we pass. I clench my fists, don’t punch him. I take a breath trying to control my hatred. I sit down as Joe saunters to the front. He picks up the chalk erasing my shakey one with his hand. He solved the maths problem quickly. Turning and grinning at the class, some of the girls let out dreamy sighs. I roll my eyes. He makes eye contact with me, raising his eyebrows, giving me his signature smirk. I control myself from slapping the smug look off his face as he comes and sits down next to me again. 

“Aw goody, you’ll get it next time.” He teases. 

“Fuck off!” I say lowly. He chuckles again, knowing how to really get under my skin. I swear he takes pleasure in just pissing me off. 

Last day of the year, and we would’ve graduated high-school. I walk with my friends as we collect our year books. We look through the photos, laughing at the terrible ones that were submitted. We all sign each other’s books, writing cute notes to each other about how we will miss each other and how we need to stay in touch. I sit reading all the notes left for me, smiling down at my book. It’s ripped from my hands, I gasp looking up to find a smirking Joe. I groan out loud. 

“Give it back ass-hat!” I say standing, maybe this is the day I finally punch this guy in his big nose. 

“Aww how sweet!” He mocks pouting, reading all of the messages written. 

“Joe! Give it back, or I swear!” I say louder, stepping forward to grab the book from him, but he moves quickly away and holds the book over his head out of my reach. 

“Or you swear you'll do what?” He taunts. I raise my foot, harshly stomping on his toes. His smug look replaced with pain. He drops his guard, I take my chance. I leap up grabbing my book from his hand, not realising he is only standing on one foot. He loses his balance as I jump on him. We topple backwards, landing in a heap on the ground. I look down at our position, I straddle his torso, our faces very close together as we both grip the year book in our outstretched hands. I pant in his face, our eyes locking briefly. Before we both snap to our senses. 

“Oh god!” I shout, as he pushes me off him. “Get off me goody!” I take my yearbook back. 

“Jesus if you wanted to get into my pants, all you had to do is ask!” His smug grin returned.

“Gross, I would never.” I hissed in his face. “Me either!” he retorts with the same energy. 

That was the last time I saw the dreaded Joseph Liebgott. After I finished high-school, I went to university and studied to be a nurse. I got my degree and got a job in the hospital. I had only been working for a year before Japan bombed Pearl Harbour. I had wanted to help so I volunteered with a few of the other nurses I was working with. They had scooped us up immediately needing all the help they could get. Before we knew it we were on a boat to Europe, to help the soldiers. We had been assigned to the aid stations close to the front, where the medics sent back their men to be treated and then moved back onto the front again. It was hard work, the men that came in were often in very bad shape, needing assistance immediately. We only had one doctor and very limited supplies. So most of the decisions being made were by the nurses. I liked it, it made me think, tested my limits. Sometimes it tested them a bit too much though. Not everyone can be saved, no matter how hard you try, or go over the scenarios in your head each time, thinking of something you could’ve done differently. After a while the thrill got old. It was more heartbreaking than anything. But the nurses kept each other spirits high, if we were down the men could tell which brought down morale too. We weren’t just here to heal them of their injuries but support them. I always put on a smile, made small talk with the men, built rapports so they felt safe.

Eugene Roe, the medic for Easy company, came into the aid station with other men carrying a soldier on a stretcher.

“Hey Gene!” I chirped to the man as I finished tending to one of the patients.

“Hi Y/N!” He smiled back at me, turning around to tell the men to put the soldier on one of the beds. 

“What have we got today?” I said as I approached the medic.

“You’re gonna love this, it’s another ass wound.” He chuckled. I sigh, the men of Easy company have a way of getting their asses shot. It had become an inside joke between Gene and I, we said that it’s because when they were lying down flat that their butts were still higher than their heads, because they’re so juicy. 

“Easy men I swear.” I grin looking down at the patient who lay on their front. I bent down looking at the dressing Gene had put on, the man’s pants had been ripped open for Gene to get at the injury. 

“Any pain meds?” I asked, lifting the dressing. A fairly deep graze was on the left cheek of the man’s behind. Like the bullet had just skimmed the top of it.  

“No, he's a tough one.” Gene replied, giving the man a pat on the back. 

“Damn right I am!” I froze, my hands stilled. Not moving, my eyes glanced at the face of the injured man. That nose was unforgettable.

“Joseph Liebgott!” I uttered. Joe craned his head around to look at me. 

“Goody?” A shocked look dawned his face. 

“You two know each other or something?” Gene asked, watching the interaction.

“Ugh out of everyone, why did it have to be you!” I groaned, not replying to Gene. 

“Oh like I’m so thrilled!” Joe retorted in a sarcastic tone. “We went to high-school together, she was a pain in my ass.” Joe looked at Gene answering his question.

I scoffed, “Pain in your ass, I doubt it. He was a nightmare, Gene. Always up to no good.”

“Oh I could imagine that. Well I will leave him in your care then, Y/N.” Gene patted me on the shoulder as he made his way to the door. 

“Gene, don't leave me here with her! She might try to kill me!” Joe cried, reaching for the leaving medic who just laughed at Joe. 

“You’ll be fine, Liebgott, she’s a great nurse.” Gene called to him, giving us a cheesy grin before ducking out of sight. 

“I’m not going to kill you Joe.” I rolled my eyes at his antics.

“You tried to kill me in high-school.” Joe protested. 

“Yeah well this isn’t high-school. So turn around and let me do my job.” He groaned but did as I asked, burying his head into the pillow and letting out an audible groan. 

I got to work, cleaning his wound. I washed out the laceration with clean water, cleaning around the peri-wound as well. It was deep enough to be packed, so I cut my gauze and packed it into the wound. 

“Ouch!” Joe groaned. His butt cheeks clenching.  

“Sorry, hold still.” I said as he squirmed under my touch. I finished the last of my packing, then placed a clean dressing over the injury. “I’ll go get you some new pants.” I scurried away to get some fresh pants for him. I returned with new pants, giving them to him, before closing the curtain and letting him change. He pulled back the curtain, looking ready to leave. 

“Where are you going?” I asked him, as I moved from another soldier’s bed. 

“Well you fixed me up so I can go.” Joe said, trying to move past me, I blocked his path. 

“We haven't discharged you yet. You will need to stay until it heals fully.” I informed him.

He didn’t look pleased with me. “But it’s fine!”

“Well no, I have packed it and that needs to be changed daily. So you can’t leave. And no before you say it, Gene cannot do it in the field.” I interrupt him, seeing the thought in his mind before he can say it. 

“Tell me Joe, what do you do in your foxhole most of the day?” I ask the man trying to get my point across. 

“Sit.” He replies, looking confused. 

“Exactly, you sit. That wound on your butt, that you sit on, will not heal if you go back to the front.” I explained to him, “Plus, because it’s on your ass, there is a greater chance of infection. So no, you’re not leaving until we say so.” I raise my eyebrows daring him to speak. He gives me a tight lipped smile, sighing loudly. He lies back down on his bed. 

“Can you do a double tonight?” Mary asks me with puppy dog eyes. I glance at the clock, I’m supposed to be finishing in about ten minutes and I was so excited to go to sleep. 

“Why can’t you do the night shift?” I ask her. 

She blushes, becoming sheepish. “I have a date.” She grins at me. I know exactly who she is going on a date with as well, one of the soldiers that she tended to last week. They both became infatuated with each other, she didn’t leave the hospital that whole week, begging to do all of the night shifts so that she could stay with her lover boy. She even did one of my shifts for me, I had the whole day to lie in bed and do nothing. So I suppose I owe it to her. I nod reluctantly, as she grins clapping her hands together. 

Night shift isn’t always too bad, most of them men just sleep and sometimes we have people brought in. But due to poor visibility at night, nothing much really happens to warrant a trip to the aid station. But today I feel extra exhausted, because I was fighting the whole time with ass-hat. Every time I turned around I found his eyes on me. Watching me like a hawk. He would smirk at me, while I sent daggers back. He was back to his old antics of winding me up and it was driving me up the wall. All I had wanted to do was go home and lie down. Now I had to stay and listen to him snore peacefully in bed, while I stayed up all night.

I sat catching up on the notes for the day. They were normally brief due to having no real down time to finish them all since we were always so busy and understaffed. I sat tapping my pencil to paper trying to think of what happened to the particular patient I was writing about. I couldn’t help but let my eyes wander to the sleeping Joe. A candle dimly lit the room so I could make out his face in the dark. He lay on his back snoring quietly. His brown hair tousled slightly on his forehead, a relaxed expression on his face, I hate to admit it but he’s very handsome. Only when he isn’t pestering me, I think I could get used to a sleeping Joe, he doesn’t drive me nuts in this state. 

I sat staring at the clock, willing it to be 0700 so that I could leave and get some sleep. My eyes drooped as I propped my head up on my hand. Mary arrived early, bursting into the room all excited. I grinned at the young girl, as she made her way over to me. I was eager to hear how her date went with the soldier. She kept me company while waiting for the next shift of nurses to arrive telling me about her night. 

“And then he lent in and kissed me.” She almost swooned out of her seat. I laughed watching her. “Oh Y/N it was so romantic, truly!” She lent in closer whispering, “I think I’m in love.” 

“Steady on Mary, it was only your first date.” I cautioned the young nurse. But all she did was grin at me. I shook my head, laughing at her again.

“Y/N we need you to stay on just for a little while longer.” Dr. Johns told me, my smile dropped. I nodded reluctantly, knowing they needed me. I did my round leaving Joe till the end. He lay on his stomach reading a comic he had borrowed off of one of the other soldiers. 

“Morning Joe.” I said sleepily, not really in the mood for his smugness. 

“Morning goody.” He grinned, turning to look at me, his face dropped. He tilted his head assessing me. “Have you been here all this time?” He asked, looking at my face. I’m sure the bags under my eyes gave away my lack of sleep. I nodded barely able to keep my eyes open. 

“I just need to change your dressings, can you pull your pants down for me.” I asked, he looked like he was going to make a snarky comment but bit his tongue, doing as I had asked. I removed the previous dressing, cleaned it and then packed it again and applied a new dressing over top. He pulled his pants back up after I was done, rolling onto his side. I didn’t get up immediately, enjoying the softness of his bed. I felt myself nodding off, I put out my hand to steady myself, leaning onto my elbow. My eyes won’t even open. I feel a tug, as my arm is pulled from under me, I fall onto the bed. I feel gentle hands place a pillow under my head. I sigh, feeling comfortable. The bed moves, I hear the sound of the curtain being pulled. The bed dips again, someone takes a seat beside me. I don’t hear much after that, I fall fast asleep. 

“Goody.” Someone shakes my shoulder. I blink, raising my head from the pillow. I look up to find Joe lying beside me, one hand on my shoulder the other grasping the comic. I am positioned awkwardly on the bed lying half way down the mattress, curled into a little ball. “I let you sleep for an hour, but people are looking for you.” Joe informs me lying back on his pillow, and continuing his reading. I rub my eyes and yawn. Joe let me sleep on his bed. I’ve been asleep for an hour SHIT! 

“Oh shit!” I say springing up from my position. I fix my hair and uniform, straightening out the creases in my dress. I pull back the curtain, trying to make it look like I didn’t just fall asleep on a patient’s bed for an hour. 

“A thank you would be nice.” I hear from behind me, as Joe stares at me waiting. 

“Thank you Joe.” I smile and leave quickly to try and find the other nurses. The rest of the shift is a blur. I don’t think I would’ve made it without the nap Joe let me have. It was so busy I didn’t even get a chance to sit down and they were supposed to let me leave after the morning but they insisted I stayed since it was so hectic, I didn’t have a choice but to stay. I finally gather all of my stuff and head for the door, passing Joe’s bed on my way out. 

“Bye Joe.” I say as I leave, not really thinking too much about it. 

“Why are you being so nice, Goody?” I hear him pipe up. I sigh and smile as I turn to face him. 

“I can be nice, Joe.” I state. 

“I don’t know, I don’t like it. What are you up to?” He squints his eyes at me looking suspicious. 

“I’m not up to anything!” I counter, “I’m just too tired to have to fight with you.” Without giving him the chance to reply I leave quickly, saying goodbye to the other men on my way out.

[jyndor]

lbr star wars has had shitty writing always. it's always been messy. it's always been imperfect. the quality dip between s2 and s3 of the mandalorian is so widely discussed but it came after a real dip in quality after s1 so let's not act as if the acolyte having problems is the reason it got canceled.

the acolyte has real problems but yall still show up for equally messy projects if they are about the same characters that we have seen over and over again, and those projects have the space and room to be imperfect. I'm not saying star wars fans don't always criticize every project ever because of course we do, but the way that people spoke about the acolyte... as someone who didn't have time to watch until like last week, I expected an absolute shitshow and I got a good show with some structural issues but mainly good bones.

and yes, star wars fatigue is REAL but people showed up for the ahsoka show, for the kenobi show, for mando, for the bad batch, and even for boba fett. all of which have episodes that are as bad as anything in the acolyte, if not worse.

but andor? the most well-written, well-acted star wars anything I've ever seen??? okay so it's not about jedi and space wizards and shit, but it's extremely star wars. but okay it's meant for a more adult audience so of course it isn't going to have the numbers that mando gets. sure, fine - but when it was announced, there was so much immediate disinterest and confusion amongst alleged star wars fans who I REMEMBER loving rogue one, saying shit like "who asked for this" and "who cares about cassian" and a lot of them ate crow when the show that was aimed at the one big critique of rogue one (that the characters didn't have enough time to develop) turned out to be as good as the big prestige shows from hbo etc.

but even then who gets the most attention from fans? the white core world-coded (ie: us american and british accented) characters. meanwhile, even after delivering one of the finest performances in star wars history (and somehow maintaining a balance of being the lead actor with all of the presence required for that, and also being an excellent supporting presence when other actors have their moments to shine) people have the audacity to say diego luna, who put so much into this project, is a weak part of the show or cassian is irrelevant or whatever BITCH-

and diego luna is a white latino. us american audiences racialize all latinos as non-white or conditionally white, and ~it just so happens~ his show - which should have been a massive hit with most star wars fans tbh - had a smaller audience for a STAR WAR. and we had to beg people to just give it a shot - we had to beg people who ALLEGEDLY care about diversity and queer rep and good stories to watch it. canon queen wlw! and not a peep from the people who will ship any two women characters who look at each other for a long moment. I mean, same but COME ON???

now the acolyte is not andor, but it doesn't have to be andor - it needs to be itself. and it is! it's not perfect but why the fuck does a star war need to be perfect? star wars have never been perfect, fuck the prequels are still a mess idc what you people my age think they're Not Good. but you and I have Made Them Good because they have good bones and there is a lot there to work with.

the acolyte is WORLDS better than the phantom menace and attack of the clones in terms of writing. it has some structure issues and could have used a couple more episodes to delve more deeply into the characters' motivations. but the acting? 10000% better and you won't convince me otherwise.

you know what? I have major problems with cassian's characterization in andor. I don't think it is consistent with who cassian was written to have been as a youth in rogue one. but I'm not gonna throw in with reactionary cunts who hate the show because it has the audacity to be led by a mexican actor. when I've criticized andor, I've done it in support of andor ALWAYS. meanwhile these freak ass pro-jedi types who essentially call any critique of jedi (individual or institutionally) genocide apologia while basically denying irl genocide -

these types are so offended by a show making the most tepid observations about how jedi are people and like all people are not infallible even if they are well intentioned, but that also the dark side of the force does harm the force user, that you joined in on the reactionary bashing of a show led by a NON BINARY BLACK ACTRESS and a very, very diverse cast.

meanwhile, this is a show that probably was going to end with the dark side being a danger to everyone since imo that's clearly where they were going but now we will never know.

and the thing is that you are not to blame for lucasfilm capitalisming! I have been so busy this summer that I couldn't find the time to watch until a couple weeks ago. but lbr this fanbase shows up endlessly for white mediocrity by filoni, frankly even by lucas himself. lucasfilm has never stood up for its actors of color when they've been harassed by reactionary elements of the fandom.

you want an old republic project? good luck. good luck getting new and interesting star wars projects. it'll just be more of the same. and they'll be the same quality because lucasfilm doesn't have to put the work in when its a fandom fave - see boba fett, see obi wan. they can ride on nostalgia forever, but the numbers will continue to fall over time until there's nothing left.

[ww2yaoi]

THIS IS LONG AS FUCK LMAO IM SO SORRY IN ADVANCE I REALLY JUST STARTED YAPPING but i saw your post abt mota characters being underdeveloped compared to other hbo war shows and had some Thoughts

this is something i’ve heard mentioned on a couple reviews from historian guys on youtube and podcasts etc. i’m honestly not sure how much of it is intentional and how much of it is a result of weird pacing and writing decisions made due to budget cuts or episode numbers being reduced or whatever but it is something i thought was interesting:

basically the way the show treats its characters is kinda reflective of the way the air war itself was for the men involved: at first you’d would arrive on base and make close friends and develop rapport with each other a la buck bucky curt croz etc. but then the attrition sets in - someone like curt dies, more and more crews disappear, and on base it’s like they never existed. you get jaded. it becomes harder to get close to the new guys because you know they’re more than likely gonna be dead after the next mission, or you will be, and they’ll have to deal with losing you. this is kinda reflected in the scene after buck n bucky meet rosie. ‘when we go down they won’t remember us either’ etc.

the show kinda does this with the characters it introduces. u meet the main guys in the beginning and get sort of familiar with them, enough to be attached, and then curt fucking dies. if you aren’t well versed in the real history (like i wasn’t) then you have no damn idea who’s surviving to the end, and that makes you approach the remaining leads a little differently. when buck goes down you don’t really know if you’ll see him again. ‘they wouldn’t kill him it’s austin butler’ but they killed barry keoghan already soooo maybe they will? maybe bucky is the main lead now? it’s hard to know who’s safe to stay invested in.

and then obviously we follow bucky through his little romp through germany and then the stalag, (which is tense as fuck because WE DONT KNOW IF HES SAFE NARRATIVELY SPEAKING) but when it switches back to base there’s no mention of him or buck after the initial loss. like they never existed. we get rosie and croz, and a bunch of brand new crews who we mostly don’t recognize and who blend together so easily we have no idea if they survive or not because we don’t care and neither does the show. there is not space to care (diagetically if youre a pilot because you stop putting effort in to get acquainted w them just to lose someone again, and irl because the show stops putting effort in to distinguish them from each other).

guys we even sort of recognize or give a fuck about like nash die immediately. or (this one is kinda a stretch bc obviously their storyline getting forgotten about probably isn’t intentional but) with quinn and bailey when their plot gets dropped you can look at it like the guys on base who cared about them have also died or been shot down, so they’re no longer important to follow. and when buck returns to base in 9 who greets him? croz and rosie. almost nobody else who remembers him is still around. they either died or went to the stalag with him, or to other ones like it.

the show essentially ends up mirroring its characters: starting out with the promise of brotherhood and wartime camaraderie and friendship etc etc and then having it UTTERLY SHATTERED by the realities of the kind of war they are fighting.

it’s honestly fascinating to me. i’ve very rarely experienced a show with a supposedly ensemble cast at the start where the ensemble aspect kind of just gets destroyed and the characters are all killed or permanently split up partway through.

yeah that’s interesting and you have good points. I wasn’t really talking about their bonds with each other though, more so their individual character arcs and personality traits that were often shallow or not fleshed out entirely. I understand not having much of a supporting cast because these men were so expendable, but there were characters like macon and alex etc. who could’ve been given more to do. people have even argued (I don’t know if I entirely agree) that buck and bucky had shallow characterization as well. I think it’s good that you can find that kind of meaning in the show but I don’t think the show does that great of a job at hitting home these points and kind of just arrives there incidentally

then there’s the question of why even adapt this material if it’s not very well suited for a narrative story in the first place. and people can argue about that I’m not gonna touch it lol

but I see your point. I just don’t think the show was that intentional about the way it handled its character arcs. it feels more like things just falling by the wayside than intentional thematic choices

[fruitynutsandgoodgrains]

I am BEGGING you to watch Otter Dynasty on HBOMax.

Imagine someone took high budget documentary footage of otters, asked George R R Martin to write fanfiction about the otters, then spent a ton of money producing it into a tv show where British people voice over the first-person narrative of the otters to put on HBO.

I am literally only on episode one and so far the exposition has included high society otter queens talking absolute royal smack about each other, musing their plans for war, and worrying about their territory and linage, all whilst praying for guidance from their otter ancestors and gathering information from their TURTLE SPIES.

TURTLE. SPIES.

It is positively UNHINGED.

[parabelled]

Gift for @softguarnere for @hbowardaily holiday gift exchange; Happy Christmas, love! <3

Waiting For Your Reply: A Playlist and Fanfiction:

Lewis Nixon x Reader [Accompanying Playlist here [x]]

Prompt for HBO War Daily Holiday Exchange: Lewis Nixon x Reader, Secret Relationship, United after D-Day

(I tilted this slightly to be United after V.E. Day!)

Author's Notes: This is written for the fictional depictions from the show - no disrespect meant to the real life veterans.

Warnings: Language, sexually suggestive language, you are reading a fanfiction.

Summary: Lewis Nixon's mother, in her own planning for her son's eventual divorce (and heading for her own divorce historically from Mr. Nixon in 1945), encourages our main character, "new money" pushed by her society-climbing mother, to write to Nixon during the course of World War Two. Written between Christmas 1944 and Christmas 1945.

California, 1944

You met Mrs. Doris Nixon at a charity meet you'd been roped into by your mother- half out of an obligation to genuinely help the war effort, half at the prodding to sidle up to society heads.

"I thought we went to California to escape the snow in New England," You mutter, but fixing your gloves to enter the country club, the juxtaposition between cheerful candy canes hanging from nearby palm trees making the upcoming Christmas holidays seem positively comical.

"Yes, and to support the war effort. Their family makes explosives- you think that's going to end anytime soon?" Your mother says dryly, fixing your collar before rebuttoning the top of your blouse. "Now go. And remember her titles- Founder and President of Guide Dogs for the Blind, State Commander of the California Cancer Society, and the National Vice-President of the American Women's Voluntary Services, in addition to the President of the California Chapter-"

"Yes- yes- I remember-" You mutter, practically swatting away Mrs. Nixon's listed credentials that were supposed to be a talking point in order to connect with her. "I can walk in myself, Mother. You know how people react to you in high society-"

Your mother bristles, before sniffing and holding her head high. "They're always afraid of someone who challenges them. That's where you come in. Now go." She reemphasizes, practically swatting your behind to push you forward, but even your mother realizing this wouldn't exactly endear anyone to you.

-----

As soon as you enter the conference room, you could see that any organic way of approaching Mrs. Nixon was all but impossible.

As much as your mother saw you rubbing elbows with old money elites, it seemed every other woman and their daughter in California with two red cents to rub together had the same idea. Your senses were overwhelmed as soon as you entered the room, with women upon women snaking past each other in order to get closer to anyone with a fortune or a son (Preferably, both).

Overwhelmed despite your best (or perhaps, your mother's worst) intentions, all you could do was stare from a distance, before shaking your head and leaning down at the catering table to grab a spinach puff.

"My son loves those," A voice commented, as you look up to meet Mrs. Nixon's gaze. Of course. True society women met every new person who came in with warmth and civility- she was saving you the embarrassment of having to elbow through the crowd, as well as making you feel welcome.

"Oh?" You ask lightly, afraid to pop one in your mouth and to talk through food, instead perching it awkwardly on the edge of your plate. A second's silence, but enough to make you realize you needed to elaborate, or you'd lose her fast.

"Is that why you have such a connection to the cause, ma'am?" You finally manage to say, but saying it softly enough that it came across as genuine and not prying. Your mother would be proud.

Mrs. Nixon's face clouded momentarily, before the serene socialite mask resettled on her face.

"Yes. Lewis is working as an Intelligence Officer, overseas-"

"Well, at least he's certified intelligent. Not just a mother's bias." You can't help but tease, the words out of your mouth before you can stop yourself.

Women turn around to shoot you disapproving looks, as you swallow, looking down and about to excuse yourself, before hearing a bark of laughter, looking up and seeing Mrs. Nixon pull a photo out of her purse, analyzing you for a moment, before turning the photo over and scrawling something on the back.

"Write him. I think he could use a laugh."

You stare down at the general military address given to you, gaping, before looking up and stammering weakly. "Y-You don't even know my name-"

Mrs. Nixon gave you a wry smile, the same smile mirrored in her son in the palm of your hand.

"Bold of you to assume I don't know your mother is waiting right outside. Tell her it's unfortunate, but we don't have time for her to stop in, today. And Lewis is married. Not that has stopped any of the other Nixon men from taking into account the affections of a pretty lady-" She says dryly, pointedly taking two spinach puffs and taking her leave.

-----

New England, 1944

A month later, the address Mrs. Nixon had given you danced between your fingers, along with the face of Mr. Lewis Nixon with it.

"The longer you stare at it, the less likely he'll appear in the flesh-" Your domestic help notes as she brings up your dinner to your bedside.

"That will be all, Betty-" You say evenly, but trying not to smile as she taps the side of her nose, as if to know why you were hesitating.

You never wrote to Lewis Nixon, you were never disappointed.

Plus he was married...

Two seconds later, you were fishing for your best stationary out of your side table, pulling a nearby book onto your bed to use as a desk, and diving in with all the vigour you'd held back for the past few weeks.

Dear Lewis Nixon,

In the spirit of complete transparency, I want to let you know that your mother gave me your mailing address. She seems to think you’re lonely, but I suppose all mothers assume their sons are.

Even those who are married.

So I don’t exactly know what you want from me. I suppose I can pretend to be what you actually wanted when opening up a letter from overseas. A happy surprise.

What’s your type? A Hedy Lamarr? Betty Grable? Even a Katherine Hepburn?

Let me know what I should be to you, and my bust size will expand and contract accordingly.

In the meantime, I will pretend you are Cary Grant.

Yours sincerely, Me, xoxo

You scrawl your name and address on the front, slide it between the letters of your father's to be mailed out in the morning, and promptly assume you'll never hear from the photo now hidden between The Bible your mother forced you to still keep in your bedside table.

---

The letter came back just before Christmas, where your mother was launching into another lecture about you entering your mid-twenties and not having found a suitable match.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Not that!" You argue, throwing your mother's latest option back in her face.

"You've been out in society for six years- all the best choices are taken or divorced-!"

"Well, next time a man shows up on our doorstep, mother, I'll be sure to tell him I'm a pathetic old spinster with no other options, so he better take me now or lose me forever!" You snap, shoving back from the table with a satisfying squeak on the newly varnished wooden floors and storming out of the house, ignoring your mother's shrill condemnation of unladylike behaviour.

It was only when you got to the front of the waterfront near your house did you pull out the mail handed to you that day, sorting through your correspondence, before pulling out a foreign, shaky scrawl, stamped with approval from the U.S. Army.

Hey, Rita Hayworth:

Nice to know my mother continues to be involved in my love life at least three continents over and while I'm in the middle of a Belgian forest.

My ideal bust size is 36, but I don't complain, as I take what I can get.

I don't know exactly what you want from me, either. But perhaps we can find out together.

Nice to know you, too.

Yours,

Cary

(P.S: Send a photo, if you're brave enough).

You look down at the letter, blinking a couple of times, before a smile slowly grows on your face.

You liked a challenge.

----

Your correspondence continued into 1945, kept hidden from your mother and prying eyes, and considering Lewis' marital status, you assumed he kept your correspondence relatively low key.

You both pretended it was nothing, really. At least, on your part. Only you knew that you spent hours getting ready to take a proper photo at the local department store to send off.

There was a lull in activity in spring with V.E. Day in May, although you had a sense of why. Everyone heard the Japanese were on the verge of surrendering after the Germans had effectively turned it in. It was only a matter of time.

The last letter you got from Lewis Nixon was messier than usual. It contained something heavy.

When you opened it, gold ring. Drunk, failure, with failure rubbed out so hard it had ripped the page. Followed by the words. "I write to you from the dead. Divorced."

All you could do was write back and say "That's not funny."

Your first instinct to respond immediately. Next morning down to the water, the only place to write away from prying eyes. The only thing she could think to do was circle the erased bit and draw a line through it, before folding it to go inside the envelope.

You stared at the blank pieces of paper that remained in your hands, before writing down all your own insecurities.

"I'm a coward." You write. "I'm sheltered. I complain about luxuries while enjoying them. I'm a disappointment to my parents. I haven't done half of what I could have done for this war. And I don't want anything- all I know is what I don't want. I keep waiting for what I want to hit me, but it never does. But I know you're not dead. And you're not a failure. And if anything's hit me, it's you."

You post it that day, avoiding the advances of yet another of your father's tennis partners.

-------

By the time Christmas 1945 rolled around, you hadn't heard from Lewis Nixon in months. You knew he wasn't dead, having unanticipatedly received a glowing but generic mailing list letter from the former Mrs. Nixon from Palm Beach, Florida. Your mother could hardly contain her excitement as you look headed past your mother's Christmas party guests and made a strategic beeline past the mistletoe to people-watch in the corner all the people who were barely affected by the war that had occurred almost a world away.

Suddenly, you felt a knock behind you on the window.

You looked down, and were directly looking into the face of the photo still kept within your Bible upstairs.

You gaped, the snow swirling around him outside, wearing a clearly well-designed wool coat, but the intensity in his gaze obvious, it hard to tell whether he was focused or drunk, or what exactly he was doing there.

You looked across the room to see your mother none the wiser to her potential cash cow outside, before looking back down, unable to keep from putting your fingertips to the glass. "I-It's cold out." You finally mouth, as he looks up at you.

"You're not a coward." Lewis looks up at you, before a hint of the humour you had grown to miss over the past couple of months, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Not if you come with me now."

You imagine yourself hearing things, but Lewis' words definitely audible through the single-pane glass. You look back as if on instinct, but Lewis immediately tapping the glass, forcing you to focus back on him, the drifting of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" now seemingly the only thing coming between you two.

"Come with me."

"Where?" You mouth back, but a smile slowly growing on your face.

Lewis gives a little shrug, but his own smile growing to mirror yours.

"Wherever you want to go, Rita. As long as it doesn't involve your mother."

Within five minutes, you had a small bag packed and made an excuse to excuse yourself outside, the feeling of Lewis' arm around your shoulder making you giddy as you threw your bag into the back of a luxury car, with Lewis' ring in your back pocket.

"Cary," You tease as you move over to crank the heat in the car, before cuddling close on the bench seating, pulling your yellow wool coat closer around you.

"You're a couple inches shorter than you look in the movies."

"A Merry Christmas to you too, sweetheart."

-----

Playlist:

Sweet Talk by Saint Motel

Moving- The Happy Fits

Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey

The Last Great American Dynasty by Taylor Swift

Champagne Problems by Taylor Swift

This Boy by The Beatles

What You’re Doing by The Beatles

If I Fell by The Beatles

Baby I’m Yours by The Arctic Monkeys

No 1. Party Anthem by The Arctic Monkeys

[next-autopsy]

A/N: Well, hi there! Ten chapters already! Woohoo! Thank you to everyone who had read, liked, rebloged or left a comment! I appreciate each and every one 💕

I don't want to disregard Birdie's feelings about Harriet but I need to progress the story along so that's what this chapter is. Birdie still carries some guilt and most definitely does not cope in a healthy way.... but who does???

Based on the actors portrayal/hbo show and written with no disrespect to the real life veterans. Also all images found on Pinterest.

TW: Mentions of assault, emotions (tears are shed)......

Made of Glass

Chapter ten: Nickname Basis

When dinner rolled around, Birdie had begun to perk up. She spent most of the day sulking and then wondering why the guys were treating her differently. She came to the conclusion that it was her attitude, they were all being delicate with her because she was acting like a moody teenager, stomping everywhere she went and zoning out when people talked to her. 

It registered that she would be going to war and losing a lot of the friends she was making in Camp Toccoa and that made her realise how childish she was being. She soothed herself by reasoning that, at the very least, Harriet was going to live through this war, her discharge was keeping her from a bullet on the front lines. 

Bernadette bottled up the guilt she felt and pushed it to the back of her mind, she would have to get used to doing this after they were deployed. There would be no time to mourn or grieve while actively fighting the enemy. 

Sobel hadn't spoken directly to her that day, she noticed he purposefully stepped around her or veered from looking in her direction and she supposed it was his way of giving her a break or sympathizing. 

She had almost missed him yelling at her. 

Almost. 

It seemed Colonel Sink had been dishing out promotions that day, Birdie noticed Sobel's shiny new Captain bars when he presented her Corporal chevrons in the mess hall that evening. She also noticed Winters had earned the position of first lieutenant and weirdly enough, a spot in the kitchen. 

Dick watched Birdie receive the patch and give a genuine smile for the first time that day. Once the new Captain left her side, Richard found himself wandering over to the Mississippian. 

“Corporal Coldwell.... It suits you. Congratulations.” He had heard Nixon gossiping about the girl all day. Rumours of her speaking up and advising Colonel Sink had made their way around the mill and of course Lewis was spreading it to anyone who would listen, like a housewife with nothing better to do. 

“That's exactly what Sink said... You been in cahoots, sir?” Bernadette tossed him a sly look paired with a smile, “And shouldn't I be congratulatin' you, First Lieutenant Winters?” 

Richard smiled at her comment before leaning in a little closer, she caught on to the fact that whatever he was about to tell her was secret by nature and leaned in too. 

“Someone came forward.” It was whispered, Dick didn’t want any of the men over hearing. Nixon had informed him as the two walked in solitude to the mess hall, one of the men involved had gone to Sink directly and signed a statement admitting what had happened. 

It clarified who was involved and how they had planned the assault for that night especially because Bernadette was meant to be on duty. Richard wouldn’t share that part with her though. 

Birdie let the words churn in her head for a second before they became clear. The implication of all four men being caught because of one's admittance was the only coherent thought Bernadette had. Her wide russet eyes found Winters icy blue ones and he nodded as if to confirm her theory. 

“Be proud of yourself, Bernadette.” 

“It's Birdie.” She replied absent mindedly, her focus was on the new information regarding the punishment of Harriet's attackers, but she did recognise the subtle favoritism the lieutenant was showing her. It deemed them friendly enough to share nicknames and drop some formalities. 

“Birdie.” Winters tested out the nickname before departing, finding his place in the back room of the mess hall. Sobel had strongly suggested spaghetti for lunch the next day and Dick overseeing kitchen organization for the next two weeks. So, he had begun counting tins of tomatoes to keep his mind busy and away from the obvious show of authority Sobel had shoved in his face. Richard huffed to himself thinking about the COs evident superiority complex. 

“Ya know how to sew those on proper?” Bill broke the girl out of her trance as she traced the outline of the thick fabric patches. She nodded and joined him at the table their growing group had unofficially claimed. They all watched tentatively, unsure if her small smile was an invitation to talk to her or if Birdie would continue to disregard them. 

She didn't. It may have taken a minute, but Bernadette was smiling and adding remarks to the conversation, slowly letting her sunny personality warm up and shine through. 

Every man at the table noticed the change but no one dared to make a comment in case she shut off the light and clamed back up. 

“Congrats, Little Bird.” Bill spoke to her softly after a few moments. Guarnere's sincerity seeped out of his tone and echoed in the look he gave her. It was a quiet moment shared only between the two, sincere and delicate. 

“Thanks... Syphilis.” She smirked at him, enjoying the face he pulled, breaking the moment of genuine fondness and she laughed at the playful eye roll he sent her. 

By the time she had finished eating, she was ready to retire to her beloved cot and sleep the night away. Bernadette scanned the room, but she couldn't find Sergeant Lipton anywhere. 

“He went to the toilet.... Here, I'll walk you back.” Johnny Martin offered up, he had witnessed the girl searching the room for her escort and figured she was ready to get away from the testosterone and back to the safety of the women's barracks. 

Birdie was about to wave him off with some nonchalant comment stating she could walk by herself but the chilling thought of the uncaught men still wandering about made her rethink. The sun was going down, it would only be getting darker, and she didn't really want to be alone right now, so she agreed and the two exited the mess hall together. 

The evening air was cool, and the camp was quiet, its occupants winding down and getting ready to welcome the night. Johnny hadn't struck her as a conversationalist, so when he spoke up, she was mildly surprised. 

“Why are you taking it so personal, kid?” He paused, “It wasn't your fault, ya know?” He was referring to Harriet. 

He had seen her emotions on her face all day and took note of the way the guys had ignored them. Martin wanted to let her know someone cared enough to say something.

But in her mind, he didn't know what she knew, and it killed her inside. If he knew the truth, he wouldn't be trying to comfort her or telling her not to blame herself. 

“It was. It was my fault.” Birdie's voice was sharp but held no malice, only sadness and bitter disappointment. She truly believed it. 

“Just cause she took your shift?” Johnny was trying to get her to understand that what had happened was circumstantial and she shouldn't blame herself so much. 

“It's not just that...” Her voice was whispered, and she looked down shamefully, there was more to the story and Johnny was curious. 

“Did something else happen?” He feared he already knew the answer, but he had to hear it from her. 

Bernadette sucked in a shaky breath and told him everything. 

She told him how those men had approached her. How they scared her and how she froze in fear, allowing them to get close to her. She told him how he had whispered a threat to her and how she covered it up and told no one until now. She admitted how guilty she was feeling and explained that if she had spoken up and said something to someone maybe Harriet wouldn't be recovering in a hospital bed miles away from them. 

Johnny listened patiently to her every word; he didn't interrupt her. He had a feeling she needed to get all of this out and he would gladly stand there and hear it all if it meant she might feel a bit better. 

By the end of her rant, she was nearly in tears. Her eyes were filled to the brim and her bottom lip wobbled. 

Martin reached out and pulled her frame towards his, he embraced her in silence, arms encircling her upper body. He felt the moment she realised what was happening and curled into his hug, her arms wrapped around his waist and her fingers tightened on the back of his jacket. 

Bernadette willed herself not to cry but the watery tears slipped down her face anyway. She sniffled, attempting to regain composure but made no move to release her grip on the man holding onto her. 

Johnny would have stood there forever if she'd needed him to, but a few minutes into their touching moment and she was pulling away, swiping her sleeves against her face to remove any hint of the emotions she could not control. 

He waited for Birdie to be calm enough to continue their stroll back to her barracks and he let her lead the way, staying by her side and mulling in the quiet. 

“I'll be here at 05:50. Walk you to breakfast.” He informed her once they arrived at the steps leading to her sleeping quarters. She nodded, hopping up the wooden stairs and reaching for the door handle. 

Martin watched her, making sure she was safe inside the building before he turned and made his way to his own. 

A/N: Hope y'all liked this one!

~ next-autopsy ~

Chapter eleven

[ronsenthal]

Hiii!!! 1, 2, 12, 20, and 22 for the HBO War positivity ask game please ☺️💙

1 - what is your fav part about being in the fandom?

Being surrounded by awesome, kind and incredible talented people, I love how everyone posts about tiny little details that entirely change the way we see the scenes, characters or how people share fun facts, amazing edits and information, feel like a family for me

2 - who are some your fav creators/mutuals?

I'll probably forget someone here but @mads-weasley, @softguarnere, @footprintsinthesxnd, @sweetxvanixlla, @xxluckystrike, @malarkgirlypop, @lostloveletters, @next-autopsy, @ewipandora, @merriell-allesandro-shelton, @mutantmanifesto @fkmylif3, @barbeygirl, @basilone, @iceman-kazansky, @heystovepipeboys

12 - songs that you associate with certain mutuals?

I'm really bad at this but everything Taylor Swift reminds me of @footprintsinthesxnd because of her amazing moodboards and fics, for @xxluckystrike is boygenius because i didn't know any songs before

20 - what character/character moment would you assign to your mutuals?

I always associate people with their icons here so for me its like

@mads-weasley and @ewipandora are my beloved nix

@footprintsinthesxnd is eugene

@malarkgirlypop is obviously don

@sweetxvanixlla is chuck

22 - what quotes from the show you would assign to your mutuals?

I honesly have no specific quote because as you can probably see i'm TERRIBLE with those things but yesterday a particular quote from the book came to my mind after what happened last night

“Within Easy Company they had made the best friends they had ever had, or would ever have. They were prepared to die for each other; more important, they were prepared to kill for each other.”

I think that goes for us as a fandom, because gladly we've got each others backs

Thank you so much for asking!!!

[oatflatwhite]

HI LIZ plz may I trouble you to share any thoughts at all about mota 🎤

OF COURSE

ok so we're only a couple eps in but i am already <333 about so many of the characters. bucky and crosby especially my beloveds. i really love all the comparisons being drawn between bucky/nix buck/winters and crosby/webster but i also love how the mota boys are distinctly their own characters. i don't want to say they're cocky and full of themselves because like... some of the easy boys are too lmao. but it's a very different dynamic between the characters than i'm used to seeing in the other hbo war shows and i am living for it

on that note i was a bit wary about most of our main charas being officers but after 2 eps i don't mind a bit! honestly sometimes it's hard to tell rank with all their goddamn fleece lmao but i love how despite being a literal honest to god major bucky is still so chaotic. bless him. the singing scene took me out, and the bike race when they crashed and he and buck were like pulling at each other's clothes to try and get in the lead before the air raid siren went off..... cinema.

can't believe they called out the heavy petting <3 the raf boys are just like me fr <3

crosby is such a silly goose thank you for the silly goose representation. he really works as the narrator and i love him bc he is genuinely so relatable, my overthinking bestie. also him still being starry eyed over his wife signing her name mrs jean crosby oh my word.......... it's giving harry dragging his reserve chute halfway around europe for kitty's wedding dress <333

i also really love the variety of characters/roles in the war they're showing! there's obviously more scope to do that than in bob but also it's a different television landscape and i am so excited to see ncuti on my screen <3 i hope we get a lot more of lemmons too! i can't remember who made the post but someone compared him to doc roe and i was like OH that's why i liked him so much uh huh uh huh. so true. also NINETEEN YEARS OLD?

i had a hard time adjusting to austin butler in ep 1 but he really pulled through in ep 2 for me and i'm very keen to see where he takes the character! and i have LOVED callum turner since channel 4's glue (which i watched a fucking decade ago but still think about bc of how powerful it was and he was in it) and he is absolutely killing bucky. it's giving nix without impulse control. honestly all the cast are amazing, the only one i really struggle with still is isabel may as buck's gf......... i literally cannot see her as anyone but katie from alexa and katie, so in my mind she's literally still a 15 year old girl. but who knows, she could win me over in the future

the score and title sequence are so good too!!! the pacific still has my absolute fav opening titles and band is second but even though the score is obviously new it still feels a bit... nostalgic, i guess? similar vibes to the other shows and i am HERE for the way it makes me feel <3

there's like so much more but that's all i can put into words rn. cannot WAIT for the rest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[codename-adler]

"nothing is going to be okay" sounds like it's gonna hurt... tell me more.

It's meant to hurt. You and me both.

Adler's WiPs ~ Project: Nothing Is Going to Be Okay

Also known as Adler-toys-with-the-Major-Character-Death-tag. This is an exploration of every universe where Kevin, Andrew and/or Neil do not make it out. Sometimes Kevin dies; sometimes it's Andrew; other times it's Neil. Someone always dies. Doesn't matter if it's Kandreil, Andreil, Kandrew, Kevneil. Sometimes it's because of canon going slightly to the left. Sometimes it's because it's a totally different universe. Every variation is always merciless.

The origins of such a fun project? Music. It all stems from my personal playlist of the saddest soundtracks or instrumental pieces i religiously listen to, which i won't share until i finally get to writing this collection of grief. So far i have 96 pieces on that playlist. Will i write the boys dying 96 times? i doubt it, but each piece represents a universe with a specific scene and vision. sometimes if it's a soundtrack, i put the boys in that universe and kill 'em. sometimes it's the title of the piece that awakes something ugly in me. sometimes it's a combination of words and vibes. the possibilities are endless. the grief is infinite, a loop, inescapable. yes i got mental problems. yes i got meds for it. why do u ask.

Why the fun title? Ask Andrew.

"Your parents are dead, you are not fine, and nothing is going to be okay. This is not news to you. But from now until May you are still Neil Josten and I am still the man who said he would keep you alive. I don't care if you use this phone tomorrow. I don't care if you never use it again. But you are going to keep it on you because one day you might need it. On that day you're not going to run. You're going to think about what I promised you and you're going to make the call. Tell me you understand." (TRK)

Now! Some of the wips in the collection:

So This Is Christmas: based on Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by Gabrielle Aplin, i revisit Neil's days at the Nest and add a few more casualties. the boys take their turn kicking the bucket. this one is multi-chaptered.

fun fact: there are only 3 songs in the playlist that have lyrics: one of them is in an Arabic or Persian language that i do not speak/read, the other two are in English (Happy Xmas + my tears ricochet)

i would also like to note that Gabrielle Aplin's Happy Xmas is part of my aftg soundtrack project where i'm trying to imagine the series as a TV show and assemble music for specific scenes in multi-episodes seasons. this one i imagine playing with slow-motion scenes cutting back-and-forth between Neil's torture in the Nest over the holidays and the Foxes celebrating in NYC. my magnum opus if you will. i'm not even kidding. all my self-confidence is in that divine mission.

Andrew's Farewell: Hunger Games AU. a classic. the song? iykyk. the victim? iykyk.

On the Nature of Day(light): based on the piece by Max Richter (all variations and covers, but i do favor the original and the entropy). canon divergence AU where Kevin also intervenes at the end of TKM, when the Foxes win the Championships and there's the Riko-Neil-Andew showdown. establishing then destroying Kandreil.

Tennessee: based on the Hans Zimmer soundtrack for the film Pearl Harbor. i took inspiration from the title and the music, not the movie. totally war-unrelated. excerpt (Andreil, other Baltimore AU):

"We could go... We could go... to Tennessee..." "There's nothing in Tennessee, Abram." "Exactly..." *shaky pained smile*

Thin Orange Line: based on Journey to the Line by Hans Zimmer & Gavin Greenaway, from the film The Thin Red Line. War AU + Kandrew + Soldier Kevin Day carrying injured/unconscious Soldier Andrew Minyard to safety. only one makes it.

Other inspirations come from the soundtracks of The Last of Us (1 + 2 + HBO show), The Haunting of Bly Manor / Hill House, Max Richter, Hannibal (NBC show), House of the Dragon, Dune (Denis Villeneuve/Hans Zimmer), and many other shows, films, video games and original compositions / composers.

this project is my beloved baby. i remember it being the first push to create since a long while. i know it is very very sad, and that MCD is very rarely liked/read. i'm still invested. maybe i'll try out NaNoWriMo for a 3rd time with this project. i'm not giving up!

thank you anon, from the bottom of my heart, for giving me the opportunity to info-dump and for allowing me to see that i actually have much more figured out than i thought. i'm glad the hurt/no comfort vibe bewitched you.

[lamialamia]

b, f, and h for hbowar ask game!!!

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

one storyline? then it would be the Pacific. You know Sledge is my darling and mostly because his arc is so sublime. A combination of great writing, acting, directing, etc and etc I mean he cried the best ✨tears✨ in all 4 shows

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

ngl, this pains me because I wanna shout, from my roof top, how all these shows are awesome in their own way and having to pit the bad bitches against each other break my heart. But I do, what i must, because you ask me to :V

1- The Pacific. It's good.

2- Band of Brothers. It's good.

3- Generation Kill. It's good.

4- Masters of the Air. It's alright.

h. if there was going to be another hbo war show, what would you like for it to focus on in history and why?

As someone who don't know a lot about history... um. Let's just do one for the Navy and round up all the branches lmao

Ask me anything from this cool thing

[pfctipper]

h, k, m for the hbo war ask game?

ty so much for asking and picking such fun ones! <3

h. if there was going to be another hbo war show, what would you like for it to focus on in history and why?

would love to see hbo do a wwi show but really tackle the drudgery and monotony of life in the trenches. speaking from a uk perspective it's really interesting to see how distantly wwi is perceived compared to wwii (poetry vs video games/movies, basically) and i think focusing on the day-to-day horrors could really bring home that it was a real thing that happened to real people, not just wilfred owen. gallipoli did a pretty good job but hbo could focus on the western front. benedict cumberbatch is not allowed to be in it

k. which books, if any, have you read for any of the shows?

answered this here but the slightly tragic answer to this is pretty much all of them. if you need someone to questionably blur the boundaries between hbo canon and history i'm your girl

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

Speirs: I know Easy Company’s gonna need a commanding officer postwar. Somebody to hold their hand. Keep ’em from killing each other. It better be somebody who knows what they’re doing.

will just do band so this doesn't get too long! i am a bit of a grumbler about the 'war is hell' type quotes but i like the sort of tacit admission in this that dealing with the aftermath is going to be just as hard. plus @swifty-fox and i were just talking about how speirs waited to be drafted yet stuck around in the army for decades and how maybe that was a coping mechanism in itself

[georgieluz]

what's your favorite part about each hbo war show?

the homoseggsuality?

ok lemme be serious for like three whole seconds, my initial answer to this was the characters. i'm someone who can't enjoy media if i don't like how characters are written. i don't mean i can't enjoy something if i don't specifically like the characters as people, but if i don't vibe with how they're written within the world as characters, then i generally struggle to stay invested in their stories. i love characters with actual personality and the one thing these shows give us is characters with personality! and we can point to the characters being based off of real people as being the reason for that, but i don't necessarily think that's the biggest reason. i mean, there are MAJOR things that were different about these characters in most of the shows, so i do think it was about characterisation, not just depiction of the real men, that made the characters who they were in the shows. so, yeah i think overall, my favourite thing in each of the shows would be the range of characterisations and stories being told. i think it's why the hbo war shows appeal to anyone in the fandom, because there's something for everyone? take the pacific, for example, i love to see which thread of narrative fans favour most out of the three. all are valid choices, but it's just very personal which ones we gravitate toward.

so yeah, so far we have gay and characters.

and gay characters

but let me focus properly on each show individually:

for band of brothers, i think it's the storytelling structure. the focus on an individual character in specific episodes to not just tell a story, but to start a dialogue with the viewer about certain themes. and we don't always get to follow those people that we're focused on after their contribution is done, they're snatched away from us, much like people are snatched away from us in life. but for that hour or so, we are consumed by them. we see them, we feel their struggles and their inner conflicts, and pain, and we see and feel their light too. they focus us on something specific and they go deep with it. and even though they may not get the most attention in every other episode, we become completely attached to them. but not just them, but everything they're telling us as well. their stories didn't die. they live on in every post we write about them. yes, even the silly "he's my babygirl" ones. especially them, in fact! i think this is just something that band of brothers did really well. yes, i would like more of a lot of the side characters. i, of course, irrationally want 37 more hours of chuck grant sitting there looking pretty, or alton more and speirs staring each other down for a good hour or so, or more george because he's my GUY and i want 50 hours of just his face, okaY!? but i'm aware that i was never going to get any of that and what i did get was something pretty special in itself. so yeah. i guess, the method of storytelling and use of characters would be my specific favourite for band of brothers. the structure of the show and the format also, bc let's be real, it was the ding ding ding winning formula that started the whole thing and is one of the main reasons limited series are such high standard these days too!

ok, next up, the pacific! anyone who knows me is probably waiting for me to say eddie jones! or hoosier! or ack ack! and you'd be right!! except if i'm being serious (and i know it's been more than three seconds, so by right, i don't have to be serious anymore) then i'd have to say that my favourite thing was sledge's individual character arc and journey. the effect of trauma on one single individual. seeing how it seeps into him and infects him from the inside out. how it changes your very dna (metaphorically, don't come at me PLEASE). these are stories that need to be talked about. i think it's a really important thing they needed to show in depth, and i didn't think they'd be able to do it in an ensemble show, but i think they did it about as well as they could. it was subtle, but not in a way where it was overshadowed or pushed under the rug. it was the main element of his thread of the narrative and actually treated with depth. the show could have easily have used the usual war media excuse of "they didn't care about that then so we're not gonna dive into it too deeply now" or gone the usual predictable and garish route that those that do depict it often follow. so i would say that his arc was my favourite thing about the series. but on a lighter note, my other favourite thing was h-company's friendship. i probably don't talk about them as much as i talk about eddie and ack ack, but i really do love them as characters and a group. i know i whine about leckie being annoying all the time, AND HE IS, but i genuinely enjoy him as a character and his role alongside them. i think the thing i was most disappointed about was not getting to spend that much time with them as a group. i would have loved more episodes of them together. they were such an endearing group of guys and brought an element that i think was needed amongst everything else going on. i'm still not over the show taking hoosier away from me after 5 episodes. that shit was Not cool and i personally don't think i'll ever forgive them. no i won't accept it happening in real life as a valid reason for him leaving. they could have LIED okay?! they could have pretended! IN THIS HOUSE WE SUPPORT CREATIVE LICENSE. WE SUPPORT LYING. WE SUPPORT THE BENDING OF THE TRUTH. ACK ACK IS ALIVE. EDDIE JONES IS ALIVE. HOOSIER DIDN'T GET INJURED. HE WAS FINE. I GOT 5 MORE EPISODES WHERE EVERYONE WAS FINE AND THERE WAS NO WAR AND THEY JUST HUNG OUT ON THE BEACH TOGETHER. LIFE WAS SO GRAND. ok, i told you i was about to get unserious again, so if you're still reading this is on you actually. i did nothing wrong. ever.

also, let me just formally apologise to anyone who just wanted to read about my gen kill opinions and had to scroll all the way down here through that mess. i'll just put my Serious Hat back on, and i'll be right with you, one moment!

okay, i'm here! i'm rocking the Serious Hat once more, so let's talk about my favourite thing about generation kill! this one may be less clear because i've not had as much time to find an eloquent way of expressing my own thoughts about the show as much as the other two, as i watched them earlier, but i do have a lot of things that i love about gen kill, so maybe i'll just throw all of those at you instead. nate fick is obviously one of those things. i'm sorry. i know i said characters already, but i don't think you understand... that man has me in the biggest chokehold ever. i am simply a dog waiting at his feet for instruction. i am the blood running through his veins. i am picking him apart under a microscope. i am thoroughly Obsessed. and it's unhealthy. it's unhealthy and it's all-consuming. i personally need someone to snap me the fuck out of it because what the fuck is this?!?!?! stark sands what have you done????? is this how brad feels? is it? IT IS. it must be. fuck, man. sucks to be us, i guess. ANYWAY. serious hat slipped a bit for a second, but i actually stand by it. nate fick is legit one of my favourite things about the show. so yeah, nate. but i also appreciated that the show was critical about the war, and the military and us government's involvement. it didn't handhold us through that either, it just presented us with what it was saying and left us with "how do your learned experiences and beliefs affect your reaction to this? what does this make you feel and think?". every one of those men was fucked up and flawed, and it's not an easy ride to have your protags without the sugar coating, but that's what makes it the show it is. it can be uncomfortable and you have to be critical with your viewing experience, you don't get to sit back and just enjoy the jokes or the stressed gays staring into each other's eyes. i've discussed that before, so i won't go into it again, but i think it's the one of the most vital things about the show. but it doesn't shy away from letting us in on these men either. you still get attached to some, you still have your favourites. they're the fucked up bad marines, but all the same, you collect them in your palms. it takes good writing, and performance and portrayal, to do that. i think it was very well made as a whole as well. the dialogue was pretty great. the use of very realistic background dialogue, messy and overlapping, was something i really enjoyed about it. having subtitles switched on brought so much more to the show, it's always fun hearing all the guys bickering in the background of shots. and i would die on the hill arguing that they contributed to the narrative bc they did! nothing in film or tv production is ever just There, everything is a construction with a purpose and all of those throw away lines had a little bit of impact on the narrative each episode, but yeah, just the writing in general. the screenplay to be specific. in fact, i'd love to read it, so if anyone knows where it can be found please send it my way, so i can be lazy and not have to search for it. i always love to read the screenplays of shows that have good dialogue and writing and this is very much one of my favourites in that regard!

so to sum it all up (serious hat off, ofc)

the gay. the characters. the gay characters. and nate fick.

and good dialogue and writing and narrative structure!

(ok, i put my serious hat back on for a second there)

ultimately, i just fucking love stories. i can be cynical, in fact, many people who know me might say it's one of my defining personality traits, but fuck, humanity is fickle and fragile and messy and chaotic and i just wanna hear about it all!!! and maybe that's what attracts me to hbo war shows, what i love about all of them the most.

[a-gassy-antelope]

Miscellaneous Tag Game

Made by the one and only @ronald-speirs <3

Thank you for the tag @grumpy-liebgott ! Am I finally doing this after being tagged almost a month ago?....maybe

Favorite place in the world you’ve visited?

I haven't been many places truthfully. I loved hiking near Niagara Falls and also hiking in the Smokies near Gatlinburg. (I'm going to Alaska later this year so that will likely take the cake for me!)

Something you’re proud of yourself for?

Working 3 jobs while also caring for a terminally ill parent. Not to get too sad, but yeah, that was a time.

Favorite books?

Oof, gonna age myself with this. The Harry Potter will always hold a special place in my heart even though it has aged terribly. Because I am Furniture by Thalia Chatlas made a big impact on me as a teenager. One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest by Ken Kasey is a favorite classic. Recently Dead Inside by Chandler Morrison kept me very entertained with pure shock value (although I just finished The Slob last night and it by far takes the cake for the most disgusting thing I've ever read)

Something that makes your heart happy when thinking about it?

When I think about the people I choose to surround myself with. I am a very open person with those I love. Once someone is in my inner circle I am a no boundary kinda person. Let's cut the small talk and bare all our trauma and then tease each other about it. Let's rot on the sofa together. It makes my heart happy to know that I have people I can be like this with.

Favorite thing about your culture?

...what culture... I could say there's a certain culture of the American Midwest that i love. Mainly the 'midwest goodbye' where you stand in the front door chatting for way too long, then in the driveway then in your car with the window rolled down. Also, ever had a midwestern dessert salad?????

When did you join the HBO War fandom? What was the first show you watched?

Well, my brother is older than me and he was very much ww2 obsessed. So watched Band of Brothers way younger than I probably should've. Probably when I was like 8? When I got into my career there was this song at work that would play and it felt so oddly nostalgic until one day I realized it sounded the intro credit music for Band of Brothers. Then it was put on Netflix and it was all down hill from there. Very different to watch again as an adult vs what I remembered from my childhood.

Have you read any of Easy Company’s books? If so, which ones were your favorite?

I just finished Dick Winters' memoir not that long ago! I think I'll read Shifty's next!

Favorite HBO War character and your favorite moment with them?

Everyone in b.o.b is my precious baby. See that generic white man? Yep, thats my child. Honestly though there are certain quotes from various characters that just scratches my brain. Buck with: "Your ass?!" Webster with: "You ignorant, servile scum! What the fuck are we doing here?" and the cadence in which he says "Don't salute the Germans!" Liebgott with "Hershey Bar!" Winters with: "What's that? A piece of paper? I dont wanna see another piece of paper" and Speirs with: "You talk to an officer you say 'sir' " (totally not because it made me feel some type of way)

Do you make content for any fandoms, if so; what sort of content?

I have made Band of Brothers stuff here on tumblr, classic text post as memes. Ao3 I've made Band of Brothers, Star Wars and My Hero Academia content!

Favorite actor/actress and your favorite film of theirs?

hm....that's hard to pick a favorite. Meryl Streep is always delightful, as is Gillian Anderson. Natalie Portman? Keira Knightly? ok, ok, maybe I should list a man...James McAvoy. Jack Nicholson. I dunno, I don't like picking favorites.

Favorite quote/s that you wish to share with others?

"I paint self portraits because I am so often alone...Because I am the person I know best." This Frido Kahlo quote really sticks with me because I feel like I can relate to being isolated and enjoying spending so much time on my own. I am my best companion and draw from my own experiences and emotions.

Random fact your mutuals/followers don’t know about you?

I am a licensed massage therapist and I work with patients with chronic pain and injuries. I love my job and my patients even though it is a very draining profession.

If you’re a writer, do you need a beta reader (say yes so I can be your beta reader 🤭)?

I am a writer! I want to say that I'm open to beta readers but I am also simultaneously afraid of others reading my work and embarrassed that people might not like it. That being said, I am working on a multi part Winnix fic rn.

Three things that make you smile?

My pets: a cat, 2 snakes, 2 leopard geckos and a pink tongue skink

Sweet gestures from my partner (or their dumbass jokes)

Writing!

Any nicknames you like?

Instead of Alex, a friend once called me Al Pal and I'm bewildered that it took me over 20 years to ever hear that.

List some people you love to see around on tumblr!

Uhm, everyone???? I love seeing people share whatever they're passionate about or find cute and funny. I love when people love things unapologetically! @grumpy-liebgott, @blueberry-ovaries @lewis-winters @easycompany123@andromeddog @hanniewinnix and honestly so many more!

What would you do during a zombie apocalypse?

I have two options. Get to my Marine Corps brother who is a borderline doomsday prepper but lives an hour and a half away or die immediately.

Favorite movie?

Again with the favorites? Some of my comfort movies include: Pride and Prejudice (2005), Mamma Mia, Hellboy 2 The Golden Army (specifically 2, not the first one) and Coraline

Do you like horror movies?

Yes! If my above mentioned books weren't an indicator. I love modern paranormal, 80s slashers and any Vincent Price movie

Tagging (no pressure!) : Also, Sorry if you've already been tagged! (does anyone else get nervous tagging people for no damn reason?)

@hanniewinnix, @pettypumpk1n @multifandomfanfic @hbowarandchill @fxxiva