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mariacallous · 15 hours ago

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If our nation’s spies are the infantry of our ideology, as John Le Carré once observed, Tom Sylvester is an unknown soldier who became a four-star general. Two years ago, he was named the CIA’s deputy director of operations, in charge of thousands of officers conducting espionage, covert action, and paramilitary operations. He won the job by virtue of his role in stealing Russia’s war plans for Ukraine, warning the world about the coming invasion, and providing steadfast support to Kyiv’s military and intelligence services. These missions were at the heart of a conversation we had last summer.

Sylvester had been under cover for 33 years when we sat down in a windowless chamber at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia; before we met, no sitting director of the clandestine service had ever given an on-the-record interview, as far as I know. I asked to meet him shortly after he appeared—as “Tom S.”—on a newly created in-house CIA podcast. I had been struck by what he’d said about the power of tyrants to shape the fate of nations: “I’ve had this catbird seat in watching, over the past decades, what has happened in world history. And what continues to horrify me, shock me, is the fact that single individuals have within their power the ability to wreak pain and suffering.”

Sylvester became the CIA’s acting director at the moment President Donald Trump took the oath of office on Jan. 20, serving until Trump’s nominee, John Ratcliffe, a MAGA acolyte, was sworn in three days later. He remained the deputy director of operations until he stepped down in late May.

Looking back on our conversation, I wonder how Sylvester copes with the shattering of the nation’s alliances, what he makes of the amateurs and toadies now in charge of U.S. national security, and if he fears that the chances of a catastrophic intelligence failure are rising as fast as they did at the dawn of the 21st century. The CIA is an executor of U.S. foreign policy; its spies are exquisitely sensitive to orders from on high, and they conduct covert operations under the command of presidents and presidents alone. What do they do when the greatest threat to U.S. national security is the man in the White House?

Sylvester, at 60, had the lean and hungry look of a military commando and the dry wit of a hard-bitten war correspondent. His father was a foreign service officer who served in the Saigon embassy during the Vietnam War, at the U.S. mission in Beijing shortly after Mao Zedong died, and as consul general in Shanghai. His grandfather was a vice admiral, his great-grandfather commanded the Navy in the Pacific before World War II, and his great-great-grandfather helped rescue Beijing’s foreign legations during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. He went to Andover, shook President Ronald Reagan’s hand upon graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1985, and parlayed six years as a SEAL into a career at the CIA, starting out at the Cairo station.

After 9/11, he led a largely successful mission to penetrate Saddam Hussein’s military and intelligence services before the U.S. attack on Baghdad and then served as station chief in Damascus in 2005 and 2006. He spent the next decade running covert operations throughout the Middle East.

In the summer of 2017, Sylvester received new marching orders from Tomas Rakusan, the new chief of the clandestine service, whose identity remained a state secret until after his retirement. Rakusan had spied on Russia since before the end of the Cold War, operating throughout Central and Eastern Europe. His hatred of the Russians was bred in the bone. His parents were Czech; he was 9 years old when Soviet troops crushed the Prague Spring uprising in 1968. Rakusan saw Russian President Vladimir Putin’s subversion of the presidential election on Trump’s behalf as the espionage equivalent of 9/11. In retaliation, he aimed to penetrate the Kremlin—among the greatest aspirations of the CIA since its foundation, and a goal never achieved.

Rakusan vowed a gut renovation of the CIA’s Russia House, established early in the Cold War to gather intelligence on the Soviet Union and run covert operations to undermine Soviet influence around the world. He began by bringing in scores of senior counterterrorism officers—including Sylvester, one of his favorite officers. “The Russians manipulated our fucking elections,” he told them. “How do we make sure this never happens again?” He didn’t care if they didn’t speak Russian or had never set foot in Moscow. He ordered them to take their expertise in targeting and recruiting terrorists and turn it against Russian spies, diplomats, and oligarchs. The goal was to obtain intelligence on the intentions of the Russian leader and his inner circle through espionage.

Rakusan enlisted the electronic eavesdroppers at the National Security Agency (NSA) and the counterintelligence forces of the FBI. He asked the leaders of the congressional intelligence and armed services committees for help. How much money do you need? they asked. They delivered tens of millions of dollars, and Rakusan doubled the size of Russia House in less than two years.

“What he had done was to reimagine, and get us out of, a paradigm where we’re stuck in the early Cold War,” Sylvester said. “The heart of the issue was the concrete decisions by which to ensure that we would put daylight into Russia House,” long the most cloistered part of the CIA. Its conference center at headquarters was decorated with Soviet propaganda posters depicting muscular peasants and handsome soldiers. One-third of Russia House was a back room where operators and analysts had toiled throughout their careers in the greatest secrecy; the nature of their work had not changed fundamentally since Winston Churchill called Joseph Stalin’s Russia a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. They guarded and hoarded intelligence reaped through years of painstaking operations, reluctant to share their secrets with outsiders, and everyone was an outsider. They were proud to the point of arrogance. To their shame, they had failed to see the Kremlin’s covert support for Trump’s election until it was too late.

Rakusan ordered the old guard in the back room to unseal their secret files, sanitize them to protect sources and methods, and share them with the rest of the clandestine service—and, more importantly, its allies overseas. In the past, those secrets always had been deemed too sensitive. That all changed, and the result was revolutionary. The call to arms marked the return of espionage to its traditional place of preeminence at the CIA after 16 years in the shadow of counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and their attendant horrors. (“We were focused on that, and China and Russia were focused on us,” former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell said.) The CIA had failed to deduce the military intentions of the Russians during the Cold War. Now its spies were starting to peer inside the Kremlin, and divining secrets only espionage could reveal.

By the summer of 2020, CIA officers were working in close liaison with the British, Dutch, Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Estonians, and many other services against the Russians. “There was the strategic decision on how we would share intelligence,” Sylvester said. “We used it as an influence mechanism, in and of itself, to get governments to start cooperating with us.” This hard-won trust “allowed them to open up taps of cooperation and intelligence that they had theretofore not shared with us,” he added. The CIA and its foreign allies were cross-fertilizing intelligence, choreographing operations, and, most importantly, recruiting Russian sources.

The CIA had been able to “push back against the Russian services” largely by “working with liaison partners overseas to expose and disrupt Russian intelligence activities,” then-CIA Director William Burns told me last year. “And then what we tried to build on that, starting in the spring of 2021, was the recruitment dimension of this,” he said. “This was really, especially once the war drums started beating, a once-in-a-generation opportunity, given the disaffection in some parts of the Russian elite and Russian society” against Putin’s regime.

Sylvester took charge of the call to arms against the Kremlin as the CIA’s new operations chief for Europe and Eurasia in the spring of 2021. That October, five weeks after Kabul fell to the Taliban, he foresaw that Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine. No eureka moment, no flash of insight, no single source had led to this revelation. Many streams of intelligence, flowing through myriad channels, had become a mighty river. The CIA, riding that current, had arrived at the conclusion that Putin was going to war.

Kyiv’s spy services, rebuilt by the CIA after Putin seized Crimea and other parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014, had become one of Washington’s best sources of intelligence on the Russians; the CIA was becoming the Ukrainians’ best defense against them. “It was probably one of the best investments that the CIA, the U.S. government, has made,” Sylvester said; it had created “the trust, the confidence, the ability in times of need to feel like you were in the trenches together.” By the fall of 2021, the CIA had given the Ukrainians a graduate course in espionage and paramilitary operations, along with the ability to understand and utilize a steady stream of U.S. intelligence.

“If you ask me the two biggest factors” that have allowed Ukraine to hold out against Russia, Sylvester said, “one was the decisions in 2014 onwards to invest, put in people and money, and training continuously, all the way up to the war. And second was this ongoing decision on the intelligence sharing and the repeated travel by our director all over Europe” in advance of the invasion.

Burns said the CIA had to go public with its knowledge that Russia was preparing to invade, and Biden approved. Many European political leaders were skeptical; the stench of the CIA’s bogus reporting on Saddam’s arsenal still lingered. But when the foresight proved precise, Sylvester said, the effect was electric: “The fact that we shared accurate information with many, many of our partners that accurately predicted the fact that Russia came into the war, they told us, was the most powerful thing the CIA had done with them and for them for the last 18 years.”

Sylvester called the survival of Ukraine a triumph of HUMINT: human intelligence, the heart and soul of espionage. The term was coined in the 1950s to distinguish the work of human spies from SIGINT, signals intelligence collected by the newborn NSA, and IMINT, imagery obtained by the U-2 plane and photoreconnaissance satellites. These technologies “threatened to change the character of our work,” former CIA Director Richard Helms warned in 1983. “The collectors with technical gadgets began to disparage the work of human collectors. The new cry from the gadgeteers was, ‘Give us the money and leave it to us.’ And, indeed, why take risks running spies when gadgets would tell you what you wanted to know? But therein lay a fallacy. … Because gadgets cannot divine man’s intentions.”

“If there is a weakness in our intelligence apparatus,” Helms had concluded, “it is in our ability to figure out what the leaders of a foreign power are going to do in any given situation.”

All this remains true. If the CIA has 10 analysts studying the transcript of an intercepted conversation, “they’re going to come to 10 different analytic assessments on what happened,” Sylvester said. But if you speak with someone who was in the room, you might know the truth, or something close to it. “When we talk about human intelligence, it really is the collection of everything that goes into how our adversaries are thinking, acting, and the context in which those decisions are being made,” he said. The people the CIA had recruited to penetrate the Kremlin “are not case numbers. … They’re human beings who’ve decided to make some incredibly bold and courageous things to try and change the world around them.”

Washington’s ability to warn of the Russian invasion and blunt its force rested “on espionage, human intelligence, the collection of insights from people to effect policy,” Sylvester said. So did the CIA’s decade of covert support for Ukraine. That mission depended on the ability “to build up human relations” with its military and intelligence officers. “Is that espionage? Absolutely. That’s what HUMINT is,” he said. “And I think this should be so revelatory.”

The thought that a humanity lay at the heart of espionage clashes with the perception that spying is at worst immoral to the core. Both things are true. The director of the CIA’s boot camp during the Cold War, Hugh Cunningham, told two generations of young trainees: “We must have the greatest immorality, and we must have the greatest morality.” The alliance between a CIA officer and a foreign recruit was an alloy of trust and betrayal, founded in the agent’s faith in the United States and his choice to commit treason.

Throughout the Cold War, the CIA was fortunate that the United States, for all its flaws, could claim a higher moral ground than its enemies. That ground was lost 20 years ago with the revelations of the agency’s secret prisons and the tortures inflicted within them. The fight for Ukraine and against Russia partly reclaimed it. Now that Trump has broken trust with U.S. allies, the CIA’s ability to work with its international partners and recruit foreign agents who might warn against unseen dangers is imperiled. And the threats are as grave as any since the Cold War.

In the past few months, Trump has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator, accused him of starting the war in Ukraine, and tried to shove a cease-fire on Russia’s terms down his throat. Trump cut off the flow of U.S. intelligence to Kyiv on March 5 and kept the spigot shut for a week as Ukrainian forces reeled and retreated. His support for Russia’s war aims was a bitter betrayal and not only of Ukraine. The CIA’s officers had been fighting the Kremlin ever since the agency’s creation in 1947. They depend mightily on secret liaisons with scores of foreign intelligence services; they cannot think globally without that help. Now Trump has made U.S. allies wary of sharing secrets with Washington. This bodes ill for officers and analysts trying to peer over the horizon to see what’s coming.

Trump has been implacably hostile to the CIA ever since its unassailable assessment that Russia worked to elect him in 2016. He sees it as the capital of the “deep state,” that imaginary cryptocracy of spies and soldiers working in secret to undermine his presidency. In the weeks before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, he had come to believe that Gina Haspel, then his CIA director, had been part of a plot to rig the presidential vote against him. Trump tried to keelhaul Haspel, but she stood up to him and protected the agency from his wrath.

Ratcliffe has failed to do so at every turn. He has fired new CIA hires, targeted senior officers for early retirement, twisted intelligence to please the president, and overseen an ideological purge. In March, Sylvester and his colleagues nominated a recently retired officer to succeed him: Ralph Goff, a six-time station chief who had been deeply involved in Russian and Ukrainian operations. As a civilian, Goff had voiced the strongest support for Kyiv. That same day, Laura Loomer, a far-right saboteur beloved by Trump, went to the Oval Office and handed him a long list of intelligence and national security officials whom she deemed denizens of the deep state. The White House blocked Goff’s nomination within hours.

With Ratcliffe in charge at the CIA, the MAGA warrior Kash Patel running the FBI, the conspiracy theorist Tulsi Gabbard overseeing national intelligence, and the Christian-nationalist Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, Trump has created the makings of a national security nightmare. “Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty,” Hannah Arendt observed decades ago.

“The world is getting increasingly complex and increasingly dangerous,” Sylvester said last year. “Across the globe our adversaries are doing everything they can” to instill authoritarian rule. Russia and China depended on “other countries that fear their dominion, fear their tyranny, and only cooperate from a sense of either intimidation, or that it’s business, or they’re bought off.” But he asserted confidently that the United States had allies around the world who “identify with us and what we want to do in this globe.” Who sides with it now as it lurches toward autocracy?

Over the course of eight decades, the CIA’s officers saw themselves as a secret army in the battle for what once was known as the free world. Now the country faces a threat from within. As the president assaults civil liberties and the Constitution, the instruments of U.S. national security are in the hands of his sycophants. The foundations of its foreign policy are crumbling. The ranks of the CIA’s most experienced spies and analysts are thinning. Its ties to foreign services are fraying. All this raises the danger of a disastrous intelligence failure. Imagine what could happen if the United States were struck again by a surprise attack in the coming days. What would stop Trump from declaring martial law, suspending elections, and truly ruling as a dictator?

Presidents before Trump have used the CIA to try to realize their imperial ambitions. And the nation’s spies do not have a history of defying presidents. But perhaps those with the greatest morality will resist him. And years could pass before their stories might be told.

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horsesource · 7 months ago

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"In the introduction to his book Animal Liberation, Peter Singer says somewhat smugly that he and his wife have no animals and, in fact, don't much care for them. This is offered as evidence of his objectivity and ethical probity. But it strikes me as an odd, perhaps obscene underpinning for an ethical project that encourages university and high school students to cherish their ignorance of, say, great bird dogs as proof of their devotion to animals.

The question that needs to be asked - and that will put us in closer proximity to the truth - is not, do they have rights? or, what are those rights? but rather, what is a right? Rights originate in committed relationships and can be found, both intact and violated, wherever one finds such relationships - in social compacts, within families, between animals, and between people and nonhuman animals. This is as true when the nonhuman animals in question are lions or parakeets as when they are dogs..

Possession of a being by another has come into more and more disrepute, so that the common understanding of one person possessing another is slavery. But the important detail about the kind of possessive pronoun that I have in mind is reciprocity: If I have a friend, she has a friend. If I have a daughter, she has a mother. The possessive does not bind one of us while freeing the other; it cannot do that..

Dogs can have elaborate conceptions of human social structures, and even of something like their rights and responsibilities within them, but these conceptions are never elaborate enough to construct a rights relationship between a dog and the state, or a dog and the Humane Society. Both of these are concepts that depend on writing and memoranda, officers in uniform, plaques and seals of authority...

People who claim to speak for animal rights are increasingly devoted to the idea that the very keeping of a dog or a horse or a gerbil or a lion is in and of itself an offense. The more loudly they speak, the less likely they are to be in a rights relation to any given animal, because they are spending so much time in airplanes or transmitting fax announcements of the latest Sylvester Stallone antifur rally. In a 1988 Harper's forum, for example, Ingrid Newkirk, the national director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, urged that domestic pets be spayed and neutered and ultimately phased out. She prefers, it appears, wolves - and wolves someplace else -to Airedales and, by a logic whose interior structure is both emotionally and intellectually forever closed to Drummer [Hearne's Airedale], claims thereby to be speaking for 'animal rights.'

She is wrong. I am the only one who can own up to my Airedale's inalienable rights. Whether or not I do it perfectly at any given moment is no more refutation of this point than whether I am perfectly my husband's mate at any given moment refutes the fact of marriage. Only people who know Drummer, and whom he can know, are capable of this relationship. PETA and the Humane Society and the ASPCA and the Congress and NOW - as institutions - do have the power to affect my ability to grant rights to Drummer but are otherwise incapable of creating conditions or laws or rights that would increase his happiness. Only Drummer's owner has the power to obey him - to obey who he is and what he is capable of - deeply enough to grant him rights and open up the possibility of happiness."

"What's Wrong with Animal Rights" Vicki Hearne

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fipindustries · 2 years ago

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charles and the wildbow protagonist

It is a known truth amongs the fandom that charles is what happens when you see a wildbow protagonist from the outside. charles fulfills all the requrements of the archetype to a T.

scrappy survivor with a never say die attitude, who will not stop no matter what. ruthlessly utilitarian mindset where whatever can be done in order to win has to be done, all other considerations be damned. the lowest kind of underdog where he is (literally in this case) hated by the universe. surpisingly resourceful and capable of wrenching a solution to any problem even when starting with every handicap and disadvantage possible. and most important of all: a cause. an all consuming goal. an almost fervent belief that they are doing what HAS to be done and that it is the CORRECT thing to do.

so with all that in mind is interesting that charles IS very much, an evil person. not just misunderstood. i dont think his villany is merely a product of what side of the narrative he was placed in. i dont think this is just protagonist bias. i think charles was unequivocally a monster, in a way that the other wildbow protagonists (with perhaps the exception of sy/simon??????? arguably???????) are not.

and what is it that sets him apart?

why is taylor going khepri and mindcontrolling the multiverse in order to defeat scieon still not something that sets taylor as an evil person in the same way that charles creating the crucible and trying to forswear the kennet girls in order to defeat the seal of solomon is

(quick aside to acknoledge that this is not a clean topic and is not as easy as to say that all wildbow protags are unquestionable good people or fighting for a good cause necessarily. blake is a preety cool guy but he does go boogieman and decides to just murder a bunch of guys, bad people for sure but he just kind of goes and does it all the same. vicky did contribute to the prison planet and a bunch of other stuff during ward and sylvester... is sylvester)

before i try to answer that question i do want to double back on the whole villany by narrative framing. wildbow, for as dark and grimm and bleak as his stories get, he always always always tells stories about good triumphing against evil. he has not told a story yet where the bad guys are not defeated and the good guys dont accomplish their goal. and so in the end the thing that sets charles apart from a wildbow protagonist. the thing that truly marks him as a villain, is not just the horrors that he commited, or the suffering he is gulty of or his evil deeds. is most of all the fact that he loses at the end what ultimatly proves him wrong.

because that is another thing wildbow has going on in his stories, his stories are ultimatly incredibly idealistic because there is a sense once you read them over and over, and its subtle and easy to miss but there all the same, that evil ultimatly always ends up losing. that evil is on some level self sabotaging, that goodness is the winning strategy. wildbow heroes win because they are scrappy and smart and tenacious and never give up, but most of all they win because they were kind, true and righteous, or at the least they had these qualities in enough quantities as to matter. that being a good person matters both in a fundamental sense but also in a strategic sense.

taylor could not have gotten to where she got if she hadnt been, fundamentally, ultimatly, a Good Person. someone who truly cared for others, who was capable of helping and nurturing and building. this is proven most starkly when her efforts to rebuild the city and to create a safe heaven for the citizens of brockton bay reward her with everyone siding with her on the caffeteria scene against dragon and defiant. (and then later when dragon and defiant get on her side after she kills alexandria).

Blake ultimatly won because he was honorable and true, because even though the universe was against him he tried to leave the world a better place wherever he went, because he made an effort to save evan from the hyena, and green eyes from the abyss, and get rid of Ur, and because he was fighting against deontological evil which meant that he was going to get help and support form others.

vicky won because of the goodness that she spread, because of the ways in which he made her team stronger, because of how she saved kenzie from a terrible family situation and how she made a good impression on that girl on the train and because of how she helped ashley get to a better place and by how she sent all those people to the prison planet, wait, no hold on, forget that last one. because her and every hero made a true effort of goodwill for the non powered people.

sylvester... again, was sylvester.

most important of all, they cared for others, they loved and were loved by others. taylor did have lisa, and bitch, and Imp and dragon and many others who truly believed in her by the very end, no matter how monstrous she got. blake had evan and green eyes. sy had the lambs, and the beetle students, and the experiments, etc. vicky had breakthrough.

who the fuck did charles have? the aurum? the st victor kids and teachers? maricia??? fucking the kim famly???¿'¿¿?¿??? wildbow made a clear point of how these people barely tolerated one another and how it was misserable to be among them.

charles had noone that cared for him, because he didnt bother to truly care about anyone. he was never kind, he never had a moment of tenderness, he never built or made anyone stronger in anyway that truly mattered. or if he had they werent enough to matter and they were all corrupted by everything else he did.

the one thing that keeps him from being a true wildbow protagonist is that, ultimatly, he was kind of a piece shit.

#wildbow #pale #pact #worm #ward #twig

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orii-blogs-stuff · 1 year ago

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More stuff about the Demigod au

So the Demigods go to their own school that is called Divine academy (thanks @insert-clever-username-1133 for the idea!) and it takes up hald of the Sov while the Royal academy takes up the other half as shown bellow:

the map shows the duchy dorms and the Godly dorms in their duchy/godly colour, how do the godly dorms work? Say for example your parent is Angriff, God of war, since he's a subordinate of Lidenschaft, the demigod will go to the Leidenschaft/blue dorm. The Red dorm on the outer edge is Geduldh's dorm and that's where all the student's who's parents who aren't subordinates of the supreme couple or the Eternal five (well, four in this case) such as childen of apprentice gods or even Chaocipher.

The schools are connected at the large circle where the garden of beginings are (and a long corridor) where Nobles could get their schtappes and demigods could go talk to Erwaermen to get news from their godly parents, bet the tree gets lonely, so now he gets to talk to a bunch of students~ Aren't I so nice? :)

There are 2 aus I'm imagine:

Nobles fogot demigods exist and due to magic and the hall that connects the two sides of the schools get sealed up, only the connection to the garden of beginings remain but nobles and demigods dont go through the other's eist, also Nobles can't see pass the blue line cuz there's this heavy fog but the Demigods could see just fine

Demigods and Nobles co-exist and know of eachothers existance, and while plenty of nobles look down on the demigods for their commoner background, lines of communication are still open between the two groups and there's no heavy fog stopping the nobles from seeing the demigod side or any wall from stopping them from mingling

For the sake of this post, let's go with the second option where demigods are remembered.

The Leidenschaft and Dunkelfelger's dorms are very close so they have ditter atleast thrice a week (Where Leidenschaft dorm wins almost every single ditter).

The Cuococalura kids (and kids of Cuococalura's apprentices) all get together to make breakfast, lunch and dinner for all the Godly dorms.

Kunstzeal and Vulcanift (plus apprentice) kids are in charge of the decorations

and those whose parents are responcable for harvest and hunting and blooms and stuff grow the food or hunt feybeasts for the meals.

Demigod-nobles, who's mortal parents are nobles are expected to finish their studies as fast as possible and then spend atleast 2 days a week on the demigod side of the RA/DA.

Also, while plenty of nobles look down on the demigods for their commoner origins, plenty more nobles order their children to make demigod connects or to even marry a demigod because of their high mana capacity and high attributes and bits of their godly powers shine through in the next generation.

E.g. A Drewanchel archnoble or archduke candidate might be told to woo a child of Mestionora or those of Dunkelfelger might try their luck with someone from the Leidenschaft dorm or a child of Leidenschaft even.

Imagine Rozemyne, who isn't a demigod but people think she's a demigod anyways cuz of her uncanny resemblence to Mestionora and her love for books ends up in the DA: Rozemyne: I don't think I should be here... I'm in the wrong place.. Student: Nonsense! You're at the right place! Rozemyne: I'm really not- Student: hushes her shhh... It's ok... It can be very hard being away from your parents firstie... Would you like to read the book from our library? Rozemyne: Remembering how sylvester said she can't go to the library until everyone passes Nevermind! I'm in the right place! I'd love to read!

Also, fun little snippit between a Dunkelfelger Archnoble and their Child of Angriff Fiance:

DA: What should we do for our wedding? CAF: Well we must have a celebratory ditter to celebrate our engagement DA: Ofcourse Dear CAF: And our pre-marriage because it's commoner custom to celebrate becoming married by having a bachelor party with our friends and what better party than a ditter? DA: Couldn't have said it better! CAF: Then we shall have an after marriage ditter where all the guest will participate DA: Lovely idea~! Shall we have a honeymoon ditter? CAF: But ofcourse! But first, we must have a pre-honeymoon ditter so we could come to a decision on where to spend our honeymoon! DA: Swooning marry me already! CAF: Not before our engagement celebration ditter or our pre-marriage ditter!

#ascendance of a bookworm #my writing #AoB: Demigod Edition

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srmcd1 · 2 days ago

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One of my fave time-waster hobbies is creating AU timelines of Dr Who and seeing how they might work in real life. This is my "main" one, where Classic Who manages to last just a few more years and gets us to Season 30 before ultimately ending. I have a wiki in progress for this timeline:

https://doctor-who-the-collings-timeline.fandom.com/wiki/Doctor_Who:_the_Collings_Timeline_Wiki

William Hartnell: 1963 - 1966

Patrick Troughton: 1966 - 1969

Jon Pertwee: 1970 - 1974

Tom Baker: 1974 - 1978

David Collings: 1978 - 1981

Peter Davison: 1981 - 1984

Colin Baker: 1984 - 1989

Sylvester McCoy: 1989 - 1993

Paul McGann: 1996

Christopher Eccleston: 2005

David Tennant: 2005 - 2009

Matt Smith: 2009 - 2013

Peter Capaldi: 2013 - 2017

Jodie Whittaker: 2017 - 2023

Ncuti Gatwa: 2023 - 2025

Notable changes to this timeline include:

Philip Hinchcliffe is allowed to stay for Season 15. When he makes to leave at the end of the season, Tom Baker also decides to leave with him. Louise Jameson is convinced by incoming producer Graham Williams to at least stay for the beginning of Season 16 to help bridge the gap between the two Doctors.

David Collings is cast as the Fifth Doctor. His casting convinces Louise Jameson to play Leela for the entirety of Season 16, since they become friends during Robots of Death.

Mary Tamm plays Romana in Seasons 17 and 18, with Romana ultimately returning to Gallifrey in Sealed Orders by Christopher Priest. The Doctor officially resigns the Presidency and names her as his successor.

Peter Davison becomes the Sixth Doctor. His era is largely unchanged, save for the E-Space arc being moved to his first year and Adric not being a regular companion. Nyssa and Tegan remain.

Colin Baker plays the Seventh Doctor for four seasons instead of two-ish. He gets to wear a proper costume and not the "explosion in a rainbow factory". His original Season 23 gets made, and he travels with Ace through Season 25. He regenerates facing off with the Gods of Ragnorok.

Sylvester McCoy plays the Eighth Doctor all the way to the 30th Anniversary special, which also serves as a finale to Classic Who.

David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi each get a proper four seasons as the Doctor.

Jodie Whittaker continues into the 60th Anniversary with the four of them each getting a special to themselves, culminating in them joining forces against the Toymaker in the finale, regenerating into Ncuti Gatwa in the closing moments.

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watching-pictures-move · 2 months ago

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Movie Review | Navy Seals (Teague, 1990)

I found it pretty amusing when Vinegar Syndrome released this in a sixty dollar 4K because this always seemed like something meant for a non-anamorphic flipper DVD or on TV with commercial breaks, but revisiting it now in its natural environment on Tubi, I’m thinking maybe I should pick up a copy because John A. Alonzo shoots the hell out of this. It isn’t pretty necessarily, but there’s some muscular handheld work and a great feel for the texture of the locations. The movie occasionally imitates the look of Top Gun (after which this is modeled in other ways, including Sylvester LeVay’s score, which gets a lot better when it shifts from imitation Faltemeyer to something with a bit more kickass in it, like in the climax; check out the tracks “Da Auto” and “Back to the Sub” for the best parts), but mostly goes for something grittier and more immediate.

Anyway if you revisit a movie enough times you develop a certain Stockholm Syndrome, and with this viewing I think I kind of love it. I still think the characters aside from the ones played by Michael Biehn and Charlie Sheen are underwritten, but I suppose I like the actors playing them, like Dennis Haysbert, Rick Rossovich and Bill Paxton as “God”, and I’ve warmed up to them with enough viewings. There are also more Charlie Sheen bad boy antics than most people would want but I suppose I’ve warmed up to those too. Sheen is used well in Oliver Stone’s movies and the butt of the joke, intentionally or not, in most others. The latter is the case here, but I like that the movie gives him a redeeming moment in the climax when he risks his life to save another. Plus I thought it was pretty badass when he said “ They won’t fuck with us in the water!”

Anyway if you like the flavour of these things, this is definitely full of tasty special forces action in rubble-strewn settings. The movie was shot in Cartagena, Spain where they blew up a bunch of historical buildings to evoke war-torn Beirut, which is not great ethically speaking but definitely gives this some verisimilitude. And the last half hour, when the heroes dwindle in numbers and flee from an armoured car that rampages like a rhinoceros, is especially relentless.

I’ll also add that as far as American shoot ‘em ups set in the Middle East go, this is a lot less offensive than most. There is some attempt, however brief, to give the villain (played by Nicholas Kadi, who actually is of Middle Eastern descent) realistic motivations, and to show regular people actually trying to live their lives in a war zone. One especially cutting moment has a teenage boy assisting the heroes point to different corners of an intersection, and even up in the air, and rattle off all the factions embroiled in this movie’s depiction of the Lebanese Civil War. And while I don’t think the movie is attempting actual subversion, there is something to a supposedly jingoistic movie made in the context of America’s failed intervention in Lebanon in which the heroes make an arguably limited impact and largely get their asses kicked.

#film #movie review #navy seals #lewis teague

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justgleekout · 2 years ago

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The Purrfect Crime

Summary: Kurt and Blaine were, as you say, “partners in crime”, but like, in the opposite sense… They were a long standing duo at the CIA. Headquarters knew they worked best when they worked together, so they just always did.

On their most recent mission however, their professional partnership is being tested as they go undercover as a married couple.

Rating: T

Words: 3,625

Additional tags: Fake Dating, spies!klaine, Friends to Lovers, crack elements, I really tried to be funny, smitten!blaine, Pining, oblivious!kurt?, Or Is he?, Alternate Universe

Notes: This work is a secret santa gift to @spaceorphan18! Merry Christmas!

First of all, I know this is a little late and I'm so sorry! I was struggling (to say the least) to get this done on time. As you can see, this is chapter one, because I just couldn't finish the whole thing and I didn't want you to wait any longer. I was so busy with work it's litereally not funny. I was pulling days from 7am til 9pm at some point. Then, when I started writing my first idea, I came to the realisation that I was including a very significant trope that was the oposit of what you had written on your wish list, so I had to start over... my own stupid mistake. Then, to make matters even worse, I spilled soda all over my laptop and it broke down completely. So I had to continue writing on my phone and ipad with a broken keyboard (I do NOT reccomend). I know, excuses excuses. I'm just bummed I didn't get it done on time. Also I now have to buy a new computer...

All that aside! I hope you like what I've got so far! I got really excited when I saw you wanted spies!klaine! A trope I absolutely love! Just note that I have never really written crack before, but I tried my best to make it fun add many silly elements! And I promise there are a lot more to come in the next part!!

Chapter: 1/?

Read on Ao3

They walked up to the gates of what could only be described as a palace (if America had those). The long and broad driveway behind the gates lead to a building so large and fancy looking, Blaine instinctively straightened his bowtie and readjusted his cufflinks. He knew he looked the part. Headquarters never sent out their agents in anything less than appropriate attire, but he couldn’t help it. He then glanced over at Kurt, who looked like he was a regular at this place, clad in a striking powder blue suit that perfectly brought out the colour of his eyes- no, Blaine, you are on a mission and he is your friend. He had to remind himself more and more frequently of the fact that they were partners in the professional sense only. No matter how gorgeous Kurt looked and how kind he was and how many flirty remarks he made at Blaine.

“Did you get any information on what we are actually attending?” Kurt asked.

“No, chief Sylvester only gave me the location and this invitation.” Blaine held up a piece of royal blue parchment with a broken red and gold wax seal. The text on it was written in golden ink and read:

“ Dear guest,

Recently I received some incredible news concerning someone close to me that has enriched my life. I would like to share this news with you. Therefore, I hereby invite you to attend a celebratory party to join me in my glee on the evening of the 22nd of may at my residence. I would love to share with you a grand revelation that not even I know the outcome of. All that I will say is that it will be an evening full of surprises.

Sincerely,

Hunter Clarington”

“What do you think it means?” Kurt asked as he took the paper from Blaine to inspect it further.

“I don’t know. But he is clearly up to something. Chief Sylvester said they got a hold of this invite right after they found suspicious signals and radiation coming from the address. They tracked all the vehicles going in and out of the vicinity. All transporting materials to build some sort of weapon… a powerful one.”

Kurt worried his bottom lip between his teeth and nodded, mulling over the information.

Blaine couldn't help but stare at Kurt's mouth as he licked his lips in thought. Blaine swallowed thickly and his breath hitched for a moment.

Kurt eyed him a little suspiciously. “Are you nervous?” he asked.

“Are you?” Great save, Blaine. Clever.

Kurt shrugged. “A little, I guess.”

Blaine didn’t actually expect that answer. “What? Why? You’re never nervous .”

“Well I just don’t really fit in at these kinds of events… ”

Blaine frowned at Kurt. “What makes you say that?”

“Everyone here is rich, Blaine. I don’t know any of these etiquettes and inside jokes. I’ll stick out like a sore thumb…”

“Kurt, you are a spy for the CIA You are literally trained to fit in anywhere. I’ve seen you act. You’re a natural! And your suit looks incredibly expensive.” Better than mine anyways…

Kurt smiled at the compliment. “Thank you. I tailored it myself, actually.”

“A secret agent with secret talents. Seriously, Kurt, what can’t you do?”

“It’s not “Kurt” tonight, Remember?”

“Right. Yes. Sorry, Mr. Ralph Murray, what can’t you do?” Blaine said to Kurt with a smile.

“Some secrets I don't dare share, not even with you, Mr. George Murray, darling. ” Kurt winked at Blaine.

And there it was; the reason Blaine was nervous in the first place. Tonight Kurt and he were Ralph and George Murray, husbands of five years, millionaires, and most importantly, on the guest list. It wouldn’t be a hard part to play; Kurt’s husband. Blaine had played that part often enough in his head. But Kurt didn’t know that, and Blaine would rather eat his bowtie than have Kurt finding out and Blaine making a fool out of himself. He just couldn't help but blush at the pet name Kurt gave him.

Then, a sharp noise pierced his ear. Blaine flinched. This damn earpiece! And then a voice, “Hey guys, I’m glad to hear you are getting into character, but you better get in there. We have no clue where the signal is coming from within that building. And we need to find it fast.

Right. Blaine thought. The stakes were high tonight. The nation was in danger and it was their job to secure its safety. “We best get in, then.”

“Oh before you do, I have hidden some gadgets for you in that bush over there on the left side of the gate.”

“Hold up. You have hidden our top secret, highly dangerous gadgets… in a bush?” Kurt said exasperatedly into his earpiece.

“I figured they would be easily accessible…”

“Yeah. To literally everyone , Sam,” Kurt hissed.

“Oh… yeah…”

“Look, Sam, just tell us what you got us,” Blaine said as he crouched next to the bush, pushing the branches aside to reveal a suitcase. He opened it and Sam continued, “Alright. There is of course your trusted grenade pen, anaesthetic darts-watch and bulletproof handkerchief, but I have also added a few of my newest inventions.”

To this, Kurt shot Blaine an apprehensive look. They were a little too familiar with Sam's “ inventions” to say they were always a raging success. They looked into the suitcase and saw, beside their usual gadgets, something that looked like a small beauty case, an umbrella and a pair of sunglasses. “What the…” Kurt whispered under his breath.

Blaine frowned. “Sam, the event is inside… how are we supposed to casually pull out an umbrella or sunglasses?”

“You're worried about the sunglasses? How do you reckon we are gonna be able to pull off using a, what is this, a lipstick ?” Kurt said as he held up a small golden tube.

“I- hadn’t really thought about that,” Sam confessed.

Kurt looked like a vein was about to pop in his forehead as he pinched the skin between his eyebrows and pursed his lips.

“What do they do, Sam?” Blaine offered.

“Right, so, the umbrella is not only completely waterproof, it is also fire resistant and creates a perfect shield once unfolded. The sunglasses have infrared night vision and the lipstick is my personal favourite. It releases a toxic fume if you press that button on the back there, but that won't affect you when you are wearing the lipstick as it neutralises the toxins as they come close to it, so when you inhale, you're totally safe,” Sam said proudly.

Blaine had to admit the inventions sounded pretty incredible had they been more practical. “Alright,” he sighed. “Thank you, Sam.”

Kurt side eyed him and Blaine offered a shrug in return.

“Well, we’d better get going, now. We’ll tune back in when we need you, Sam,” Kurt said and tapped on his earpiece once to hang up. Blaine followed. “Honestly, I can’t with him sometimes. I know you guys are friends, but he sure gets on my nerves.”

Maybe Sam didn't always have the best ideas, but he really wasn't bad at his job. Blaine thought. “He tries his best, though. And he is actually really great once you get to know him,”

Kurt shook his head. “You’re too kind for your own good,” he said, but there wasn't any actual judgement in his voice.

Blaine smiled and the blush he was sporting a minute ago returned faintly to his cheeks.

They walked through the gate towards a grand wooden front door in front of which a big woman was standing behind a podium with her arms crossed. "Names?" she said as she was eyeing them up and down suspiciously.

Blaine put on his most charming smile. “George and Ralph Murray,” he responded.

She looked at the register in front of her and her expression changed. “Ah! Splendid!" Welcome to the Clarington residence. All guests are expected in the ballroom for the welcome speech at 8:00 pm sharp. In the meantime there will be beverages and appetisers served in the grand foyer. Please enjoy your evening Mr. and Mr. Murray.”

“Thank you,” Kurt said and nodded to the woman. They walked past her as the doors opened.

“Ballroom? Really?” Blaine whispered at Kurt as they made their way up the steps leading to the front door. “What is this place? Versaille?”

Kurt sniggered and gave Blaine a pointed look. “Play the part now, Blaine,” he said as they stepped over the threshold.

They entered an incredible marble room with two grand staircases with golden railings on each side. Large pillars reached to the high ceiling on which, in the middle, hung an enormous crystal chandelier. Blaine’s mouth fell open and he heard Kurt release a low whistle. They quickly pulled themselves together as they were approached by a young handsome waiter. “Welcome, gentlemen. Can I offer you a drink? A glass of champagne perhaps? Cocktail?”

“I’ll have an old fashioned, thank you.” Kurt said with a confident, charming smile. See? Blaine knew Kurt had nothing to worry about. He was a natural. Blaine might have come from money, but Kurt just radiated class.

“For me a negroni, please. Let’s save the champagne for later after the great announcement, don't you think?” Blaine said with a wink.

The young man blushed. “Certainly, sir.”

“Say, do you happen to know anything about this speech?” Blaine asked him.

The waiter's eyes grew wide for a second. “I- I’m sorry sir, but it’s supposed to be a surprise.”

“Of course. I’m sorry,” Blaine gave the waiter an understanding smile. The young man bowed his head gratefully and dashed away to get their drinks.

Blaine leaned into Kurt’s side, “You reckon he didn't know? Or he didn’t want to say?” he asked.

“Not sure… Would you share your secrets with the waiting staff?”

“I don’t know. I never had waiting staff.”

“Hm.” Kurt gave him a considering look that lingered a bit too long. It made Blaine feel a little hot in the face.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.” Kurt shrugged. “I’m just trying to paint a picture of you.” When Blaine didn't respond immediately he added, “It's a good picture, don't worry.” There was something suggestive in the way Kurt spoke. Blaine looked at him as if to try figuring him out. Kurt was just good at playing his part. Blaine told himself. Though no one was looking at them at the moment so there was no direct reason for it.

“Let's ask around some more, shall we?” Kurt suggested, breaking the tension.

"Yeah. Good plan.”

The young waiter had returned with their drinks and they started moving through the crowd. They asked multiple people if they had any idea what they were doing here, but no one seemed to know or want to tell them anything.

“This is hopeless. We are wasting valuable time.” Blaine slumped against one of the pillars.

Kurt opened his mouth to respond but Blaine motioned for him to be quiet when he heard a woman speak; “See, I told you he was weird. Who hosts a party for their cat?”

They turned to look where the voice came from. A latina woman with long dark hair in a fitted, red, velvet dress was talking to another woman. This one with blond hair styled in a stylishly messy updo and a mint green dress.

“I would,” the blonde woman said solemnly. “And I have in the past.”

“Yeah, but that’s different. You’re cute about it.” The dark haired woman flirted and the blonde one gave her a quick kiss.

“Excuse me,” Blaine piped in.

The dark haired woman gave him a once over, clearly judging him.

“George Murray, pleasure to meet you.” He held out his hand and the woman took it with only slight reluctance. “This is my husband, Ralph Murray.” He gestured to Kurt who then also shook the woman’s hand. Blaine noticed that the look she gave him was a lot less disapproving. Though Blaine couldn't blame her when Kurt was wearing that suit.

“Santana Lopez,” the dark haired woman introduced herself. “This is Brittany Pierce.”

The men shook Brittany's hand as well. “I’m sorry, we just couldn’t help but overhear… Do you happen to know what this event is for?”

“I’ve only heard rumours,” Santana said.

“I see. Where did you get these rumours from?” Blaine asked.

Santana crossed her arms. “Well aren’t you the little detective. What's it to you, anyways?

“Just nosy.” Kurt’s smile turned a little more devious than polite, matching her energy.

“They say it’s his cat’s birthday, but that doesn’t explain the great announcement. Maybe his cat got nominated for an award.” Brittany said

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other in disbelief, and back at the women. “You can’t be serious,” Kurt said.

Santana crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Deadly.”

“He can't be that passionate about a cat?”

“Wanna bet?” Santana challenged. “How do you think we know him?”

The men shrugged.

“We know him from cat shows.” Santana rolled her eyes. “Brittany’s cat, Lord Tubbington, often runs against his cat, Mr. Puss. So believe me when I say people are passionate about their cats. Anyways if you really wanna know, we heard it from Sebastian Smythe.”

“Who is that?”

“He is one of Hunter's closest friends .” She grinned as if to imply something.

“Do you think Hunter told him about his plans for the night?” Blaine asked, trying to hide the eagerness in his voice.

“I’m sure he did. I overheard them talking about half an hour ago. Something about ‘getting it ready in the basement.’ ” She shrugged.

Kurt and Blaine exchanged a meaningful look. “Do you know how we can get in there?” Kurt asked.

“I'm sure Sebastian has a keycard to the elevator. But hold up, why do you want to know so bad?”

“Never mind that. What does he look like; Sebastian?” Kurt asked.

Santana smirked. “Oh you can’t miss him.”

Brittany then took Santana's hand and whispered something in her ear. They giggled. “Look we’d love to stay and chat, but we, er, we gotta go.” Santana said before she was pulled away by Brittany. Santana managed to add a “good luck” as they disappeared into the crowd.

“What do we do now?” Blaine sighed. “We have no clue where to find this Sebastian character,”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Kurt said and pointed over Blaine’s shoulder.

Blaine turned to look, and there, in the middle of a group of people, stood a handsome man who was clearly the centre of attention. The people around him were laughing at his jokes and basically fawning over him. “You reckon that’s him?” Blaine asked.

“ Oh my god, Sebastian! You didn’t!” one of the guys closest to him laughed and flirtily touched the man’s arm.

Sebastian petted the guy’s hand and smirked. “You should hear what I did with his father,” he said and winked at the woman next to him. The people around him all laughed.

Blaine snorted. “Well that answers that,” he said.

“He looks incredibly obnoxious,” Kurt said and narrowed his eyes. “He is flirting with literally everyone in his little group.” He grimaced.

“Maybe we can use that to our advantage?” Blaine thought out loud. However he didn’t really feel like watching Kurt chat up another man. He would just have to do it himself. “I will go and talk to him!”

“Wait, maybe-” but before Kurt could protest, Blaine had stepped into the circle of people. Sebastian's eyes were immediately on him.

“Well hello handsome,” Sebastian said and extended his hand towards Blaine. “I don’t think we’ve met. You look like someone I wouldn’t easily forget.” He grinned.

Despite his better judgement, Blaine blushed. The man was handsome, alright. And definitely charismatic, judging by the effect he had on the people around him. “We haven't. My name is George Murray. Are you Sebastian Smythe?” Blaine asked as he shook the man’s hand.

“Matter of fact I am. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I was talking to some friends of mine and you sounded… interesting” Blaine smiled a what he hoped was a seductive smile.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow and turned away from Blaine for a second to make a dismissive gesture to his followers. “Could you give us a moment please?”

The small crowd looked annoyed, some even jealous, but they obeyed, leaving the two men to themselves. Sebastian turned back to Blaine “Interesting, hm?” he grinned.

Now that they were talking Blaine realised he didn’t actually have a solid plan. He couldn’t straight up ask Sebastian to give him the key. He would never just hand it over. Maybe Blaine could convince Sebastian to take him to the basement? But he needed Kurt with him. So he had to think of something else.

“They said you were close friends with the host,” Blaine said, trying to imply exactly whatever Santana was implying before. “I can see why he would like you,” he flirted. Apparently this was the right move, as Sebastian looked him up and down let his gaze rest on Blaine’s mouth.

Sebastian leaned in closer. “You’re cute, George Murray. How come I’ve never seen you before?”

“I- I’m usually very busy with eh- work. Don’t-“ Blaine swallowed. “Don’t often have time for parties.” Out of the corner of his eye Blaine noticed movement. He glanced over Sebastian's shoulder and saw that Kurt was miming something. “Back pocket!” He mouthed. What about his back pocket? Wait. Sebastian’s back pocket! The keycard was in sebastians back pocket!

Sebastian, who luckily didn’t seem to have noticed anything, spoke again, “Ah, so you're Mr. Professional, hm? Do you always obey the rules or are you capable of letting loose every once in a while?”

“Er, yeah sure,” Blaine said semi on auto pilot. How the hell was he supposed to get the key-card from Sebastian’s pocket? “What about you?” he asked. “Are you a rule breaker?”

“You could say that,” Sebastian quipped.

Blaine laughed. He needed to get very close and personal with this man but whilst he was doing so, he might as well find out some more information.

“I was wondering,” Blaine said and trailed his finger over Sebastian’s chest. “As you’re such a bad boy, would you mind telling me what tonight is all about?” Blaine looked up through his eyelashes.

Sebastian inhaled through his teeth. “Oh babe, I can’t tell you that. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”

“I thought you didn't play by the rules.”

“Why don’t you come upstairs with me where we can have a little more privacy and I can tell you all you want to know.” Sebastian said and slipped an arm around Blaine’s back.

This was his chance. He could take it now and Sebastian wouldn't notice. He just didn’t know how to get out of the situation once he made his move. Blaine looked over his shoulder in search of Kurt and found him looking at them. Blaine gave him a quick pleading look, hoping Kurt would understand. Here goes nothing. He put his hand on Sebastian's back and slid it down to rest over his butt. “Sounds amazing...” Blaine felt the card in Sebastian's pocket. “...but I forgot to mention…” He slid his fingers into the pocket over the card, trying to pull it off as a caress, and as he retreated his hand he pulled the card out. Got it. “...that I'm married.”

As if on cue, Kurt stepped in front of them. “Darling! There you are! I was looking for you.” He smiled a bit too sweetly at Blaine. “Who’s our new friend?�� he asked and shot a murdering look at Sebastian.

“Woah, what the hell?” Sebastian took a step back, letting go of Blaine.

Blaine quickly slipped the key-card into his own pocket and stepped closer to Kurt. “Ralph, honey, this is Sebastian. He is a close friend of Hunter’s. Sebastian, this is my husband, Ralph Murray.”

“Husband? Wow,” Sebastian said. “Was not expecting that.”

Kurt held out his hand. “Pleasure,” he said through gritted teeth.

Sebastian took Kurt’s hand and shook it once.

Kurt turned to Blaine again. “Well it’s almost 8 o’clock. We should get going, darling.”

“Right.” Blaine nodded. “Maybe we can talk later?” he offered innocently to Sebastian as if nothing had happened. “It was very nice meeting you.”

“Sure was,” Sebastian said and winked at Blaine, clearly recovered from the initial shock. “I am looking forward to seeing you again, George.”

Kurt then pulled Blaine away by his hand through the crowd, leaving Sebastian behind.

“Thank you for saving me,” Blaine said once they had found a quiet corner.

“You didn't really seem like you needed saving,” Kurt said coldly.

“What do you mean? If you hadn’t shown up, I wouldn’t have been able to get away!”

“I mean, ” Kurt said. “It didn't seem like you had such a terrible time with him. I know you needed to get the card, but how are we supposed to come across as a happily married couple when you are feeling up all the other guests.” He crossed his arms defensively.

Blaine stared at Kurt for a second. Then it dawned on him. “Wait, Kurt, are you jealous?”

“No,” Kurt snapped.

“Oh my god, you are totally jealous.”

Kurt’s cheeks turned red. “Shut up, I'm trying to take this mission seriously. Did you at least get the key?”

Blaine couldn't help but grin as he presented it. “Got it right here.”

“Great. Let's go try it out before he finds out it’s missing. We need to get to the basement before it’s 8 o’clock.”

#klainesecretsanta2023 #glee #klaine #my fics #kurt hummel #blaine anderson #klaine fanfiction #spies!klaine

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