#wrong band of brothers quotes

[thecatwhosavedbooks]

Sobel: So that’s my plan.

Easy: Are you alright with constructive criticism? We don’t want to sound mean.

Sobel: No, go ahead, I want to hear it.

Easy: It fucking sucks.

Sobel: That’s not constructive criticism.

[roses-r-rosie3]

Wallflower

Jason Todd x M!Reader

Warnings: sort of angst, but mostly fluff ig, mentions of a breakup, reader not taking care of themselves

Summary: After a tough breakup, the reader’s friends force him to go to a concert to make him feel a little better. But little would the reader know, he would meet the love of his life at that concert

Quote: “Have you ever had someone paint you before”

✁ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Your now ex boyfriend broke up with you, for reasons you don’t know. But one thing both you and your friends knew, was that you were devastated. You wouldn’t leave your room for weeks and you refused to talk to anyone. You just laid in bed, thinking about what you did wrong, why would he breakup with you? Why? Why would this happen to you? You were lying in bed once again when you heard a knock on your door.

“Y/n? I’m worried for you, you haven’t left your room in god knows how long, I know you loved him, but you need to come out of there” your roommate said.

“Go away” you mumbled.

“Y/n, please, open the door” your roommate spoke softly.

You knew your roommate would bother you all day if you didn’t open the door, so you grumbled something before opening the door. When you did though, your roommate was there with her boyfriend, but they were dressed to go out.

“Ok y/n, we got tickets for a local band, including you, and you’re coming with us, I can’t stand to see you like this, so go get ready” your roommate said.

God you hated your roommate for this, she knew that if she bought a ticket for you, you would be forced to go, because you would’ve felt bad for making her spend her money on you, even if the tickets cost a few cents. So you finally took a shower after weeks of just staying in your room.

After you were done showering, you changed and walked out to your roommate and her boyfriend, who both looked like proud parents.

“Don’t you look handsome? Who knows you might meet someone new at the venue” your roommate winked.

When you guys finally arrived, you noticed that the venue was very small and the crowd was very small, but hey, what would you expect from a local band? You were still moody though, I mean you were being a third wheel just a few weeks after you and your ex broke up.

“Come on y/n! Turn your frown upside down and enjoy yourself!” Your roommate’s boyfriend smiled.

You faked a smile before your roommate handed you a beer and she started to talk to her boyfriend about the venue and the band. The band, in your opinion, wasn’t bad, but they weren’t anything special. They both tried to drag you into conversation, but you didn’t want to talk, you still wanted to sulk about your ex boyfriend, you missed him.

You quickly excused yourself to the restroom to sulk, but on your way there, a guy suddenly turned and spilled his beer over your shirt.

“Oh my god i’m so sorry I didn’t see you there” the guy apologized profusely as he tried wiping your shirt with a tissue he pulled from his pockets.

“It’s fine, I didn’t really like the shirt anyway, my ex boyfriend got it from me” you said, earning you a little chuckle from the other guy.

When you made eye contact with the guy, his eyes were like the warmest melty chocolate brown and his heavenly gaze made your cheeks feel hot. He was attractive in a way that you couldn’t describe, he was attractive in a way that was completely different to how you found your ex boyfriend attractive.

“My name’s Jason by the way” the guy smiled.

“Y/n” you smiled back.

“So what brings you here?” You asked.

“My brother’s dragged me along, but if I’m being honest the band isn’t exactly my style” Jason laughed.

“What about you?” He asked.

“My roommate and her boyfriend dragged me along” you said.

You two started to talk about life, and what your hobbies were, he said he liked reading and cooking, while you said you liked to paint a little, to which he said..

“Have you ever had someone paint you before” As he winked.

You could feel yourself burning, and it didn’t help that your roommate and her boyfriend mimicking bedroom activities from the other side of the venue.

“I think my siblings are waiting for me, but do you wanna take my number before I have to go?” Jason smirked.

You froze for a second before you realized what he said.

“Oh, yeah! Of course!” You stuttered.

“I can’t wait to started texting you” Jason winked before strutting back to his brother’s who were looking at you with mischievous looks on their faces.

When you got back to your roommate and her boyfriend, still in a love-drunk daze state.

“Aren’t you glad that you listened to us” your roommate smugly asked.

“Shut up” you mumbled.

[iwritefandomimagines]

OKAY, ROMEO — GRAHAM DUNNE

masterlist

→ pairing: graham dunne x fem!reader

→ description: graham was certain you, in all of your shining y/n glory, could never reciprocate his feelings. you were best friends and he’d decided he’d have to settle for that. but of course he was wrong.

→ warnings: none, just a lil swearing — set pre meeting daisy ! hope this isn’t too sappy and fluffy but i got a lil carried away with it hahahahah

GRAHAM DUNNE (Lead guitarist, The Six): Y/N was just… Just like this breath of fresh air. The minute you met her, it was like you needed to be around her. And that never changed. But I mean, would I have thought she wanted to be with me?

“Why haven’t you just asked her out yet?”

Graham rolled his eyes at his brother, who was quirking his brow across at him as he strummed his guitar to figure out a melody.

He shook his head, “Because I don’t feel like getting my heart ripped out and stomped on by my best friend, maybe?”

He glanced over at where you sat on the couch at the other end of the room, Camila and Karen at your side looking through a photo album that Camila was grasping firmly in her hands as your hands toyed with the camera around your neck.

“Cami is way out of my league, and still somehow we’re here,” Billy smirked, catching her eye for a moment and sending her a jokey wink, to which she giggled as Billy returned his attention to his brother, “You may have a chance.”

You looked up now, following Camila’s gaze but finding your eyes drawn to Graham instead, whose eyes were fixed on you anyway.

Y/N Y/L/N (Friend of The Six): I mean, he never stopped looking at me. Karen used to say it was creepy, but I found it cute. Then again, I did find everything he did cute, I guess. Still do!

You had known The Six pretty much since their inception, and had always been fairly close to each and every one of them. In recent months you and Graham seemed to have gotten closest, though.

You’d spend hours in his room, listening to him practise new Six songs on his guitar, reminding him that he was just as talented as his brother (though if you were truly truthful you’d say he was more talented. Maybe you were biased, though.)

You may not have been in the band, but they all valued your opinion like you were; Like your word was gospel. But none more than Graham.

In the time you’d grown close, you’d found yourself growing increasingly attracted to him. How could you not? But he was the lead guitarist in a band about to hit the big time, so you hardly expected him to want to settle down with his best friend.

If anything, you imagined that seeing Billy settle down would make him want to rebel and do the complete opposite. And you didn’t fancy the heartbreak of getting left behind.

So you just settled for being his best friend — even if he did make it glaringly obvious he felt the same — because, to quote him, you didn’t want your heart ripped out and stomped on by your best friend, whenever it was that you figured he would realise you weren’t enough.

“She feels the same,” Billy put his guitar down for a moment, leaning in to nudge his brother, “Cami said she got it out of her the other day. Just thinks you don’t wanna settle down like me,” Graham noted the strain on his face when he said those words, “And that we’re all going to leave her behind when the album’s out… For some reason.”

Graham furrowed his brows.

He wasn’t sure whether he believed his brother.

GRAHAM DUNNE (Lead guitarist, The Six): Like I said… Why would I? This is Y/N we’re talking about!

Y/N Y/L/N (Friend of The Six): I heard that conversation. Heard Graham tell him he’d never leave me behind. And then I figured, if he’s not going to say anything to me then maybe I should just go ahead and do it.

GRAHAM DUNNE (Lead guitarist, The Six): I remember every fucking minute of the rest of that day.

“Graham,” you smiled over at him, bouncing out of your seat with a grin as you sauntered over to him and he tried desperately not to melt under your gaze, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

He nodded, practically leaping out of his seat and following you into the next room.

“What’s up?” he asked, a shy smile on his face as his eyes scanned over your features to try and gauge what you wanted to talk about.

“God, this is so awkward,” you giggled, avoiding eye contact at first, “Suddenly regretting my life choices here.”

Graham’s face twisted in confusion for a moment, “You know you can tell— You can tell me anything.”

You bit your lip with a nod, silent for a moment before just fucking going for it, “How do you feel about me?”

“How do I— How do I feel? About you?”

“Like… Do you see me as just your friend?”

“Well, you’re—,” he sighed, looking down at his feet for a second before catching your gaze again and clearing his throat, “No, I don’t. I don’t want to, anyway.”

You fought back the smile threatening to take over your entire face, trying to take in his reply.

“Okay, good.”

“Good?”

“Yeah.”

“Right, good.”

KAREN SIRKO (Keyboardist, The Six): And then he finally fucking got it and kissed her.

WARREN RHODES (Drummer, The Six): We were all listening through the door. Obviously.

Graham’s lips met yours like he feared that if he didn’t kiss you now, he might never again get the chance.

Within milliseconds you were kissing him back, your hands reaching up to tangle in his curly hair as his hands found the small of your back to pull you into him.

You pulled away briefly to shout, “Fuck off!” at your friends — who weren’t trying very hard to be quiet and pretend they weren’t listening in — before leaning back in to Graham’s kiss like it was the most natural action.

“I really like you, Y/N,” Graham panted when you finally parted, eyes raking over your face to search for your reaction, “Like, really like you.”

You smiled up slightly at him, suddenly feeling shy again under his gaze.

“Like I said, good,” you hummed, briefly pecking his lips again with a giggle, “I really like you too. I’ve been waiting for you to say something, but I got tired of waiting. I’ve liked you for fuckin’ ages.”

The smile on his face was a work of art, and you couldn’t help yourself — you clicked on your camera and lifted it to take a photo of the beaming man before you.

He rolled his eyes when you were done, raising his hands to take the camera from you and lift its strap off your neck. He copied you, lifting the camera to his eye and snapping a photo.

As he lowered it he smirked, “In my expert opinion, that’s a good one.”

“Mine’s better. Can’t wait to get it developed and hang it on my wall to stare at when you lot run off on tour, eh?”

Graham scoffed, “It’ll have to be pinned to the wall in your bunk. If you think I—we are going on tour without you, you’re nuts, Y/N.”

You grinned, kissing him again before pulling back shyly, “Are you sure?”

“Y/N, I’d want you there even if it wasn’t as my girl,” the pad of his thumb was on your jaw now, grazing your jawbone as his eyes never left yours for a second, “Buuut, if you’d come along as my girl that would be a hell of a bonus.”

“I’d love that, Dunne.”

“Perfect.”

You were silent for a moment, gazing into each other’s eyes like lovelorn puppies.

“Billy said you were worried I didn’t want to settle down or something,” Graham looked nervous again now, his eyebrows drawing together as he briefly moved back to look at you less closely, “That’s not true. I mean, I’m not saying I’m in a rush to get like, married or anything. But I want to be with you, whatever happens with the band. And if in future…”

“Okay, Romeo,” you giggled, interrupting him and placing your hand on his chest, “I know what you’re saying. And I believe you, don’t worry. Let’s just see what happens, yeah?”

“Yeah. See what happens.”

GRAHAM DUNNE (Lead guitarist, The Six): We did get married.

Y/N Y/L/N (Friend of The Six): I didn’t take his last name. But just after Billy got out of rehab — we didn’t want to do it without him there — we got married. Everything worked out pretty perfect, really.

GRAHAM DUNNE (Lead guitarist, The Six): *Holding up the film photos you took the day you got together* Your Aunt Y/N is the love of my life, kid. Always has been.

———

i am such a fuckin sap !!!!!! anyway i hope you enjoyed, feel free to request imagines for anyone from djats or any of the other fandoms i write for.

i’m back, babyyyy

in the meantime, here is my masterlist :-)

[moonlit-escape]

‧₊˚꒰♱꒱༘‧⊹ Zane Mystreet headcanons !!

i love this lil emo freak i NEED to get wine drunk n watch ponies w this guy

6'0 (183cm)

go white boy go

hetero. (comfortable with this label, but honestly his attraction isn't limited to cis women and he has even had crushes on femme men (he just wants to be the token hetero friend))

he mostly dresses casual emo, but sometimes my guy wants to rock a pair of demonias and a fishnet bodysuit with some heavy, pure silver chains and rings, alri

piercings,. piercings piercings piecings. no lips piercings... septum and eyebrow, though. and DEFINITELY gauges in his ears. and ABSOLUTELY ones with cute shapes.

if he didn't cover his mouth all the time, i think he would like wearing dark, cool colored lipsticks

and it'd be smudged all the time bc he keeps fuckin snacking on sweets

of course he paints his nails, and he treats them well bc he hates chipped nail polish (rich boy gets the highest quality, strongest clear nail protection youve never seen before in your life)

honestly all the ro'meave brothers are a bunch of gnc kings like okayyy!! pop off boys w your dresses, heels, skirts, n makeup!!

god can that boy sing

idc he listens to vocaloid and his favourites are vflower and rin kagamine

also listens to emo songs (ofc) and cartoon songs

prefers rock band over guitar hero

one time he smacked vylad in the back of the head with a rock band drumstick and he felt so bad he ran off and cried

boy is the most fuck-ugly crier

secretly steals stuff from people he cares about as keepsakes (like, little things: garroth's old gameboy, vylad's old sketchbook, aph's other half of a pair of lost earrings, nana's ribbons and pastry wrappers)

actually has pretty high metabolism, and one time he gloated abt it to aph and accidentally made a joke in poor taste, and she kicked his ass. so, he just lets her call him a lil fat boy as his eternal penance for being an asshole

okay this isn't a headcanon but sort of is but, why were him and dante like Tightrope-walking that fucking incel line as teenagers. like they were one wrong step from falling into an incel category. thank god their brothers would NOT have had that from their baby brothers anyway bc Wtf

anyway

honestly, he doesn't feel as cold toward vylad as he used to as a teen, and kind of wishes he had the strength to show that and reach out and ease the tension between them. but, he's afraid of making it worse by being awkward, so he wants to wait and hope that vylad makes the first move, if he ever does. (and if not, he'll probably ask garroth to do it for them)

has rejection sensitive dysphoria, made even worse by a rejection complex from: garte's blatant favouritism, bullying and rejection in school, and isolation as an adult. it's part of why he became so attached and possessive of aph. but, he's safer now

he was a harry potter kid. garroth was the percy jackson one, and vylad was warrior cats.

he always thought he was a slytherin but i think he's more of a hufflepuff than he realizes (nana on the other hand.)

he has a lot of sanrio merchandise. more than he will ever admit. his pony merchandise does outweigh it, though, of course

yes, his main comfort character and obsession lies with pinkie pie cake. but, the rainbow dash backpack Objectively fucks

you can get him to eat anything, so long as it's candied or chocolate covered. this means if you hand him one of those candied roaches, he won't think twice about gnashing down on one of those suckers

has a plushie collection of really, really soft and sweet-looking animals. and all of them have punk-like accessories (safety pin piercings, spikes, black ribbons, black laces, etc)

the only plush that doesn't have anything on it is an old brown teddy bear with garroth's faded name on the tag

likes to make snapcube sonic fandub references and will just drop random shadow, the devil, and memphis tennessee quotes

[eagna-eilis]

Star Wars Characters at a Family Wedding in Ireland

ANAKIN - Gets extremely nostalgic about his own wedding and makes his adult twin children groan in embarrassment. Is in such a good mood that he isn't even mad when Leia calls him a fascist for voting Fine Gael, and manages to give his grandson an effective pep talk.

PADMÉ - So resplendent that the bride is almost jealous but honestly how could you be upset with her she's just so nice. Gets giggly tipsy over dinner and waltzes with C3P0 afterwards. Touches up literally everyone's makeup for them throughout the night and does a better job than the actual makeup artist.

OBI-WAN - Waits til the night is winding down then magically locates a squeezebox, fiddle, a guitar, and a tin whistle and hands them out to start a sessiún. The sing-song goes on until 5am and it's all his fault. His signature song is 'The Lass of Aughrim' because it makes him feel all literary.

R2D2 - Has at least four too many double Jamesons and literally starts arguing with the wall. Shmii finds him passed out under a table the next morning, wherein he swears he's not drinking until Christmas.

C3P0 - Wrecks the heads of the hotel staff over dinner with all his requests, to the point of embarrassing the other people at his table. Conducts impromptu ballroom dancing lessons while the band plays and charms the pants off everyone with his patient explanations of how to foxtrot.

LANDO - Pulls out a deck of cards and starts a game of 21s in the corner. Absolutely swindles everyone. It's okay though because he puts his winnings behind the bar so nobody has to pay for their drinks after that.

AHSOKA - Brings enough weed to share with a chosen few, like an absolute queen. Ends up hanging out in the loo for ages rolling for herself, Sabine, Maz, Kanan, and eventually Ben. Despite her relative stillness and quiet, she enjoys the music more than basically anybody else and people will quote her fondly slagging Anakin over dinner for the next 20 years.

SABINE - Camera queen who tries to look like she isn't enjoying herself. Fools nobody because she keeps grinning and snort-laughing. Her photos are a thousand times better than the photographer's and are the ones that the couple use for their album.

HERA - Helps Leia gang up on Anakin about politics because goddamn it, Leia isn't wrong. Hands out isotonic powder sachets and paracetamols to everyone before they go up to bed. They're gonna need it.

EZRA - Gets so hyper after consuming so much 7up that Hera has to send him to bed before the DJ takes over from the band. Sneaks down later for the cocktail sausages.

DIN DJARIN - Couldn't get a babysitter so he's tucked up at home watching The Late Late and hate-tweeting it.

GROGU - fell asleep in front of The Late Late. Delighted when somebody brings wedding cake to the house the following day.

KANAN - Literally will not be at peace until the DJ plays Kenny Rodgers' 'The Gambler' because it's not a wedding without it. Once that's done he insists on 'Come On Eileen'. Somebody's gotta be the keeper of the flame of tradition, after all.

CHEWBACCA - Requests all the group dances. Rock the Boat, The Siege of Ennis, The Macarena, The Walls of Limerick, Chain Reaction. Bullies everyone into joining in, except Ben who is the absolute antithesis of craic.

LUKE - Every wedding requires at least one merrily drunk uncle and Luke does not disappoint. Suit jacket? Gone. Top buttons? Open. Tie? It's now around his head while he stands on a chair playing air guitar to 'Hotel California'. Ends up puking in a flower pot. Iconic.

LEIA - Would have been okay if she stuck to wine all night but a single gin and tonic on top of the shitty hotel merlot and suddenly she's having an hour-and-a-half political argument with Anakin. Embarrasses the hell out of her parents, brother, and son by smooching Han repeatedly while dancing.

HAN - Organises the pre-ceremony pints. His sotto-voce asides are funnier than anything in the speeches. Quietly sings along to 'Brown Eyed Girl' by Van Morrison in Leia's ear while they dance, prompting all that smooching.

FINN - Sneaks into the hotel's public bar to check the hurling scores on the telly then reports them back to all the lads. Keeps his wits about him regards alcohol so he can take care of Poe later but eats so much cake he feels sick.

POE - Holds court in the bar, telling long anecdotes about his life that are only 75% true. Dances and flirts with all the aunties and nanas and makes them feel great about themselves. It doesn't convince Ahsoka to give him a spliff, though, because she is immune to his charms.

ROSE - The boomers yell at her for getting the DJ to play 'Celtic Symphony' by the Wolfe Tones, but she calls them hypocrites who are oozing postcolonial shame. Anakin offers to adopt her because now she's the centre of the politics argument. Knocks it out of the park at the sing-song because she knows all the words to at least 20 rebel songs.

MAZ - The first to place her handbag down on the dancefloor so as to coax the other nanas onto the floor. Jovially flirts with every man over 18 and under 60 that isn't her blood relation. Asks Poe to marry her.

REY - Finishes at least three other people's dinners. Sings along very loudly to every song that the band AND the DJ plays. Can't dance at all but it doesn't stop her. Should probably check on Ben because she knows what he's like but decides that tonight he's his family's responsibility. Loses her entire shit when ABBA plays.

BEN - Zero craic, God help the poor craytur. Drinks brandy as an affectation and starts quoting James Joyce after four of them. Gets extremely mopey after brandy number six and ends up having a long heart to heart with his Grandda Ani. Cries then throws up. Auntie 'Soka gives him a joint to settle his tummy. Subsequently feels better and then knocks everyone's socks off singing 'Raglan Road'.

SHMII - Begs off the party at 10pm because she's 97 years old. Still makes sure that everybody takes their hangover down to breakfast the following morning for a Big Feed of rasher-sausage-and-pudding, and maybe hair of the dog if they're desperate.

[thatdamhobbit]

So. I think I’ve connected some dots about Arthur and his band of morons. And it’s not good news. (cw: misgendering)

My evidence is as follows:

At the end of Perry and Kay’s talk on the radio, Kay calls Perry ‘brother’ (ep. 3). Now this in itself is a dick move, as Perry says themself, ‘I am not your brother.’

Now this gives us two options - either Kay is misgendering Perry deliberately, or Perry didn’t start using they/them until after they left the Knights. I’m inclined to think it’s the former, since Perry has ‘thought a lot about who [they are]’, and ‘that hasn’t stopped or changed because of the Cataclysm’ (Perry, ep. 2). To me that suggests that Perry started using they/them before the Cataclysm, so Kay would know, since our trio spent some time with the Knights before we meet them (I think - we don’t have an exact timeline yet). Already I hate this guy. But wait! There’s more!

We’ve seen the Knight’s attitude to Names. They view Nameless as ‘lambs to the slaughter’ (Kay, ep. 3), and seem to believe that there is no separation between Name and person. We see this in Kay referring to Morgan as ‘the witch le Fay’ (ep. 3). Morgan a) is being referred to by her Name, showing that Kay believes them to be one and the same, and b) hasn’t actually done anything wrong (that we know of), but is being blamed for her Name’s crimes. There is no freedom to create your own story, you are stuck to what your Name decides.

In Perry and Dai’s fight, Perry says ‘You know what it was like back there. For me, for you. For Morgan.’ This tells me that our trio had a shitty time of it back there, so much so that hiking through the Welsh wilderness, being attacked by Phenomena every other day, was preferable. Makes sense for Dai and Morgan, right? Dai’s Nameless, Morgan’s Name is a villain Name, and with the Knights’ attitude to Names I can’t imagine either of them would have a great time there. But Perry? Perry’s a Knight, the great Sir Peredur. What reason would they have to leave? What was so bad for them there that they left their nice cushy job being hero-worshipped by 900 people as someone with a Name (Named?) in favour of wilderness camping in Wales? Well, I think I’ve figured it out, and I don’t like it one bit.

I think that, since the Peredur of myth used he/him (edit: my evidence for this is google, I claim no proper knowledge of arthuriana), that the Knights insisted on misgendering Perry because the Knights’ belief in no separation between Name and person would mean that Perry would “have” to use he/him (heavy air quotes, the Knights are dicks and wrong) because Peredur of myth used he/him.

Aaagghh I hate it so much but it makes more sense the more I think about it! Seriously when I find those Knights they better be ready to catch these fuckin hands.

Anyway if you’re reading this that means you got to the end of my mini essay. Well done! Thank you!

Keep the home fires burning

[she-wolf09231982]

Chapter 3- The Letter

Summary: The US Navy had fled allowing the Japanese control of the sea, leaving the marines to fight the battle for Guadalcanal alone. They were vastly undersupplied, and many were on the verge of starvation and some at the mercy of malaria. As thousands of Japanese reinforcements poured onto the island, Kate, Blanche, and the boys were strafed and bombed relentlessly. It was during these harsh times Kate found herself becoming closer to the guys and in a constant state of worry when Hoosier isn't where she could hear or see him. 

A/N:��Mature audience, BillHoosierSmithx!FemMedic, WW2, OC/Kate Danaher, Female Pronouns, Cursing/Swearing, Derogatory Slurs, Womanizing Comments, Military and Medical Terminology, Inappropriate Nicknames, HBO The Pacific References, Mentions/Descriptions of Death, Blood, Weaponry, Smoking, 💚Very small Band of Brothers cameo quote…if you blink you might miss it💚

Story takes place Episode 2 Basilone Chapters 1-5

*These stories may not fall entirely in accordance with the TV series timeline. I do not know the real Marines the actors portray in this series, so please understand I show no disrespect. Some or most of historical events and character interactions in my fanfics are fabricated purely for the sake of the enjoyment of fiction* 

~~~~~~~ 

Guadalcanal 

September 1942 

“What’s wrong with him?” Sgt Stone asked Kate while she kneeled over a young marine. 

She had been holding a thermometer to the man’s mouth, and when she removed it, it read 105. 

“His temp is 105. He’s clammy and sweating bullets but says he feels cold-has to be malaria, sarge.” Kate finalized with a frown. 

Sgt Stone shook his head, “He’s the fifth marine to catch this shit.” 

“He won’t survive here if he stays. I don’t have anything to treat him with since that cruiser sank with all the supplies we needed.”  

Sgt Stone nodded, “I’ll try to arrange for transport if it’s available. We’re pretty much on our own out here.” 

Kate nodded, “I’ll do what I can for him, sir.”  

~~~~~~~ 

H Company was due to push forward the following day upon hearing D Company making contact with the enemy some 15 miles ahead. The men were instructed to police their gear to be ready by 0500 the next morning for the convoy. Around sunset, Hoosier scavenged beyond the camp for anything palatable to bring back to his buddies and himself for dinner. 

Leckie, Runner, Chuckler, Sid, and Gibson sat in a 7’ by 8’ foxhole they had dug for all of them to fit in. 

As darkness engulfed the island and thunder rolled through, Hoosier returned with chow. 

“Supper’s on, supper’s on.” he announced as he jumped into the hole. 

“Anything good?” Gibson asked hopefully. 

“What are those?” Runner asked skeptically. 

“Army rations from 1918. Quartermaster at Dog Company claims they’re edible-” Hoosier began as he handed each of them a small, unmarked package of food. 

He noticed the look of disgust stretching across each of their faces as they tried biting into the stale hard-tack crackers that were stiff enough to crack their teeth. 

“-after you suck on them for about an hour or two.” Hoosier added. 

“This is all you could find?” Chuckler asked. 

“You fuckin’ forage next time.” Hoosier spat back. 

They all begrudgingly continued to eat. 

Kate appeared kneeling over the edge of their foxhole. 

“Hey, guys. Just making rounds. Everyone doin’ ok?” she asked. 

“Yeah, just havin’ some dinner while Leckie reads us his letter to his girl back home.” Runner replied playfully. 

“Who said I was writing to anyone?” Leckie retorted. 

“Come on, you can tell us. Go on, read it.” Chuckler pushed. 

“We’d do it for you.” Runner added. 

“Guys, leave him alone.” Kate chuckled, knowing it was all in good fun. 

Leckie shook his head and returned to writing on his pad of paper. 

“So, you guys are ok, then?” Kate reiterated. 

They collectively responded, “yeah yeah,” knowing she’d keep on them until they answered her. 

“Ok, good. Make sure you keep hydrating, too. See you guys later.” she reminded them before standing and walking off. 

“Speaking of girls; how’s that bet going Hoosier?” Runner asked. 

“I’d say I’m in the lead.” he stated assertively. 

“That’s because I’m giving you a head start! She won’t be able to resist me once I’ve unleashed my charm on her.” Chuckler countered. 

“Yeah, and he’s a Corporal now! The ladies love rank.” Runner pointed out. 

Hoosier scoffed, “Yeah? Well, I don’t think she’s that type of girl. She’s not impressed by the number of stripes on a marine’s sleeves.” 

“How would you know?” Chuckler asked. 

“I had a little visit with her yesterday. Sat and talked to her for about two hours sipping on that shit Jap wine that we had left.” Hoosier revealed. 

They all stared at him waiting for him to continue, but he remained silent knowing the anticipation was killing them. 

“And!?” Leckie prompted. 

“And she told me she was only here to do her part for her country by keeping us alive. No matter what I said or did to “charm” her, she went right back into talkin’ about medical mumbo-jumbo or about her two brothers in the 101st airborne,” he paused, “she’s actually real smart.” Hoosier explained. 

“Well, maybe you just don’t got it like I do.” Chuckler returned. 

Hoosier laughed, “Have it at, pal, I’m tellin’ ya, she’s a tough cookie to crumble. She doesn’t melt over the same things most dames do. You’ll have your work cut out for you.”  

“We’ll see!” Chuckler shot back confidently. 

~~~~~~~ 

By midafternoon the next day, H Company caught up with D Company, setting up outlook posts about a mile away in case the enemy approached. With an entire battalion in the same area, a proper aid station was available with tables and cots to tend to the wounded and sick. There was also a chow tent serving hot meals which none of the men have seen in weeks. 

Hoosier, Leckie, Chuckler, and Runner sat in a semi-circle with their plates of hot rice. 

“I hear the army finally landed.” Leckie shared. 

“Nice of them to join the party.” Runner stated sarcastically. 

“They have no idea what they’re walking into.” Chuckler added. 

“Yeah, well word is they came with loads of crates filled with some good shit.” Hoosier voiced. 

“Oh yeah?” Leckie asked, his interest piqued. 

“Maybe we can get at some of that!” Chuckler suggested. 

“If you do, see if you can get some clean bandages, and some morphine. And get me some goddam scissors, I can’t get any.” Kate requested as she walked past the group after hearing them scheming about the army supply delivery. 

“Yes, ma’am!” Chuckler confirmed enthusiastically as he shot a cheeky grin at Hoosier. 

Hoosier released an exasperated sigh as he rolled his eyes at him, 

“You’re a fuckin’ idiot, Juergens.” 

~~~~~~~ 

As the Army staged the dozens of wooden crates and drawstring laundry bags on the beach, an air raid siren sounded off alerting the men of an enemy attack. The newcomer soldiers, unaware that the siren was signifying the attack on the airfield and not the beach, started running for cover leaving the boxes and bags unattended and up for grabs.

The marines waiting in the brush of the jungle like predators waiting to pounce, watched as the last few soldiers disappeared before they took advantage of the situation. 

Platoons of marines scattered out of the tree line like roaches, breaking open boxes and foot lockers, and dumping bags to grab what they could before the army came back. 

Hoosier found a good-sized crate with a red cross insignia painted on it.  

“Has to be scissors in here.” he thought outloud to himself. 

He looked around and found a crowbar lying on the ground. Snatching it up, he got to work on opening the box. As he removed the final nail, he pushed the cover off revealing an assortment of medical supplies to include cases of morphine and first aid kits.  

Hoosier scanned the area around him, “Hey Runner! Come here!”  

Runner trotted over to him and looked into the box, “Nice, you found the medic supply.” 

“Help me grab a few of these, will ya?” Hoosier asked as he handed him a couple cases of morphine.  

“Why don’t you ask Chuckler?” Runner teased as he tucked the box under is arm. 

Hoosier laughed, “You snooze, you lose.”  

Runner snickered as he grasped the handles of three syrette cans in his right hand while slinging a sack filled with tactically acquired treasures over his left shoulder. 

Leckie ran over, “Here! Throw some of those in the bag so we can carry more back.”  

He presented a large empty duffel bag for Hoosier to throw more syrette cases and first aid kits in. 

“Perfect.” Hoosier commended. 

As he tossed as many as he could into the bag, the army rushed back shooing the marines away. The marines took off running towards their camp, each cackling triumphantly at the soldiers behind them. 

~~~~~~~ 

After the excitement settled down, Hoosier, Chuckler, Sid, Gibson and Runner sat in a more secluded area of camp shifting through the prizes they obtained. Leckie sauntered up while carrying his drawstring bag of goods, sporting his new pair of moccasin slippers to the foxhole as a campfire kindled.

“Anything happen while I was prospecting?” Leckie asked the group outloud. 

“Betty Hutton stopped by giving out blowjobs,” Hoosier replied, “What’d you get?” 

Leckie took a seat on the log and showed off the items he got. While he was handing out cans of peaches to the guys, Kate approached them. 

“Hey, guys, did you hear that the army was looted during the air raid earlier toda-”

She stopped a few feet behind Hoosier as Chuckler was waving a can of peaches at Runner who had been sitting by the tree line with his pants down dealing with a bad case of diarrhea. 

“Peaches? I’ve got the goddam runs, and you had to get peaches.” Runner hissed at Leckie. 

“They were all out of cheese, Runner.” Leckie called back. 

The puzzle pieces started to come together as she looked over the scene in front of her. She noticed Leckie with a pair of comfy patent leather house shoes on, the multiple cans of fruit, and the brand-new M-1 rifles next to each man where they sat. She watched as Leckie excitedly carved an opening in his can, eager to eat the peaches and drink the nectar inside. 

“Uh, Bob, you’ll wanna take that slowly,” she cautioned, “you haven’t had real food for weeks, you might-” 

“I’ll be fine, Ace.” Leckie insisted cutting her off. 

Not at all heeding her warning, he inhaled the peaches and sugary liquid from his can. He slowly lowered it looking suddenly alarmed and pale, apparently regretting his hasty decision. He began gagging as he rushed over not too far from where Runner was and vomited the peaches he just consumed onto the grass in front of him. 

Runner laughed at Leckie, pleased and entertained by his misery. 

“Ugh, I told you, Leckie.” Kate pointed out with her hands on her hips shaking her head at him. 

The others sniggered as they slowly ate from their cans so as not to end up like Leckie. 

“Well, I was going to ask if you guys heard the air raid siren earlier, but I assume you did.” she continued as she crossed her arms in a motherly fashion. 

The guys responded with a collective, “Mmhm.” 

She waited, her lips pursed together as she scanned each of them with skepticism to see if they’d own up to what they had been doing during the air raid. They remained quiet, hanging their heads as they avoided eye contact with her while eating their peaches. She already knew, though. She just wanted to see if they’d confess without her outright asking them. She shook her head again, deciding it best to let it go. 

“Hey, Ace-” Runner called out to Kate, “my ass is killing me, can’t you do anything about this??” he begged. 

“Is there blood?” Kate asked invasively outloud in front of the guys. 

Runner’s eyebrows creased together inquisitively, “Huh?” 

Kate huffed irritably and walked closer to Runner, “Is there blood in your stool?” she clarified, speaking slowly. The others groaned in disgust, each placing their cans down. 

“Um-” Runner looked over his shoulder, “-no.”  

“Ok, good,” she stated as she turned on her heel to walk back, “When you’re finished relieving yourself over there, come see me. The nurses over at Dog Company gave me a case of sodium solution that can help that.”   

Kate walked past the group, “Enjoy your haul, you hooligans.” she said with a playful smile, winking at Hoosier as they made eye contact when she passed. 

Leckie slumped back onto the ground across from Hoosier, “When are you giving her the morphine and shit?”  

“Tonight.” Hoosier affirmed. 

“No way! You found her some morphine? What about bandages? And scissors!? How!?” Chuckler asked genuinely befuddled when Hoosier nodded. 

“Simple, I looked for it.” Hoosier responded smugly as he leaned back on his elbows. 

The guys laughed as Chuckler grimaced, resentfully drinking more juice from his can. 

~~~~~~~ 

That night as Hoosier was preparing the aid kits and morphine to bring to Kate and Blanche, fire clouds exploded in the distance and were steadily progressing closer towards them. Japanese aircraft’s were heading towards them dropping bombshells in their wake.

Whatever man wasn’t under the safety of cover dove into the nearest foxhole they could get to.

Enemy aircrafts soared over H and D Company posts, relentlessly deploying one bomb after the other as they passed. Multiple men shouting to take cover, and some crying out in fear, there was nothing they could do other than wait it out. 

The following morning, every marine across the camp that wasn’t injured or stuck beneath the sand was either digging to find survivors that were buried alive or carrying the wounded to the medical personnel. The entire site was in shambles with Jeeps destroyed and burned to a crisp while fallen palm trees lay across where the men’s foxholes were, trapping marines' underneath. 

The hustle and bustle of the aid station was never ending. Kate and Blanche along with a few Dog Company medics and a couple of nurses scampered from one man to another trying to keep them alive while able marines brought more wounded on stretchers. 

“Put him on that table there!” Kate directed to the men who brought another marine with a wound to his right leg. 

Kate rushed over, “What do we got?”  

“Right thigh wound. He said shrapnel impaled him after one of the explosions went off right by him when he was running for cover.” one of the men explained quickly. 

Kate tore through the pantleg to get to the wound. She knew right away by the saturation of the blood that the artery was severed. 

“Blanche! Bring me gauze, sulfur and bandages! I need to pack this, NOW!” Kate yelled across the floor. 

Blanche hurried over with what Kate needed, unraveling the long bandage and opening a bottle of sulfur to clot the wound. Kate balled up the end of the dressing, pushing it down deep into the gash packing it as tight as she could. The man shrieked and bawled, kicking and grabbing at Kate to escape the torture. 

“Jesus, hold him down! I can’t do this if he’s moving around like that!” Kate bellowed. 

The two men that brought him in pinned him down by his arms while Blanche secured his legs by his ankles. Kate layered the bandage hard into his wound, then when she couldn’t fit anymore, she placed a padded bandage over the top wrapping the ends snug around the thigh tying it down to maintain pressure. The bleeding had finally stopped. 

Kate took a syrette and injected it into the meatier part of the marine’s shoulder. 

“Take him over there where the rest of ‘em are.” Kate panted as she weakly motioned over to the treated casualties, recovering in the shade of a hanging tarp. 

“You doing ok, Kate?” Blanche asked. 

Kate nodded, “Did you see Sid?”  

“No, thank goodness,” Blanche breathily replied, “What about Hoosier?”  

Kate looked at her shocked, “Well, no. But I haven’t seen Leckie, Chuckler, Gibson, or Runner either.” she added.  

Blanche raised an eyebrow at her best friend, “Honey, I know you fancy the man. You don’t have to hide it from me.” 

“I don’t know what you’re-” 

“Ssshhh...” Blanche shushed Kate placing her fore finger over Kate’s lips, “your secret is safe with me.” 

 Kate scoffed at her then rolled her eyes, “We got more work to do.”  

She turned around and made herself busy with the next injured marine. 

~~~~~~~ 

Kate sat alone behind the rickety medic shelter, taking a minute to let her brain rest by closing her eyes and humming a tune quietly to herself. The hum of her voice slowly became words as she sang the song softly outloud.  

“There you are.” Hoosier’s voice came crashing through Kate’s tranquil thoughts. 

Kate gasped as her heart and body jumped from surprise. 

“Bill, you have GOT to stop sneaking up on me like that!” she told him clutching the front of her uniform. 

Hoosier chuckled, “I am sorry, I really don’t mean to.”  

Kate released a long exhale, “Glad to see you’re ok, though.” she admitted looking up at him through her eyelashes as he stood over her. 

“You, too.” he returned. 

Kate blushed, smiling weakly as she looked down at her lap. She looked behind him and noticed a dog sniffing around.

"Looks like you got yourself a new friend." she acknowledged.

Hoosier looked over his shoulder, "Yeah, after all the bombings last night this little fella slipped into our foxhole, so I grabbed him. Hasn't left my side since." he explained.

The dog looked up at him as if he knew Hoosier was talking about him.

"He's adorable." Kate cooed.

“I have something for you.” Hoosier declared. 

“For me?”  

“Yep. But you need to close your eyes.” he instructed. 

Kate narrowed her eyes in suspicion, “Why?”  

“Trust me.” he insisted grinning proudly. 

Kate clicked her tongue at him but closed her eyes as he requested. 

“Hold out your hand.” 

She presented her hand palm up in front of her.

"Stay." she heard him command to the dog.

She felt his calloused palm gently slip under hers. His surprisingly tender touch sent electrical currents up her arm and through the rest of her body. She almost wasn’t able to contain her shudder. 

Just then, she felt a hard slender object placed on her palm as he slowly removed his hand from under hers. 

“Ok, you can look now.” Hoosier told her. 

Kate opened her eyes, face to face with Hoosier kneeling right in front of her, his eyes as blue as the water behind him. She looked down at her hand to find a pair of scissors.  

Kate’s eyes widened with excitement as she smiled at him. 

“You got me scissors!” she squealed throwing her arms around his neck pulling him into a hug. 

Hoosier chuckled as he loosely embraced Kate around her torso, “Yeah, I found a crate full of first aid kits and morphine and grabbed you a whole bunch of ‘em.” 

Kate leaned back looking at him in disbelief, “You did?” 

Hoosier nodded, “Leckie and Runner helped, too so we could get as much for you as we could. I brought them over and left them by the aid station for you. There are at least a dozen scissors over there so you’ll never run out of them again.”  

Kate’s heart almost rocketed out of her chest.

“You didn’t get anything for yourself while you were out there?”

“Nah, I don’t need much.” he dismissed.

She beamed adoringly at him and pulled him back for another hug. 

“You missed your chance to get something for yourself to get me what I needed? Thank you.” she whispered to him.

He squeezed her tighter, “Of course.” he purred back. 

They pulled away slowly, still smiling at eachother. Kate patted Hoosier’s shoulder before standing up. 

“I’m going to go take a look at those kits before anyone tries to get their mitts on them.” Kate proclaimed as she headed towards the casualty collection point. 

Hoosier fixated on Kate as she walked away. He was lost in a daydream relishing the feeling of her pinned against him when they hugged. It was the closest feeling to home he’s felt since he got to Guadalcanal. 

Kate stopped and turned to Hoosier, “You comin’?”  

Hoosier snapped out of his trance and clumsily scurried over to join her for the walk back to the aid station. 

~~~~~~~ 

As D and H Company fixed up the camp as best they could, they returned to foxholes to keep watch of the line. Col Puller (known as ‘Chesty’ to the marines) disclosed intelligence that the enemy was going to try to take Matanikau which was south of the airfield where the Americans currently had control. Most of the battalion was to join the 5th and 1st marines there to help defend the coast road into the airfield to maintain that control. This meant that Dog Company would be entirely alone on the front lines as they relocate to sector 3 of the island. H Company had their own orders. 

Hoosier and Runner were tasked to set up a listening and observation post 30 yards inside the treeline. While they were gathering their weapons and gear, Kate walked up with two ammo cans in her hand. A look of concern appeared across her face when she saw a tired rough looking Hoosier with his dog and Runner packing up gear behind him. 

“Where you two going?” she asked. 

“We’re settin’ up a little less than a mile that way along the perimeter.” Runner replied pointing in the direction they were going to be heading. 

“Oh?” Kate queried. 

“Yeah, the Japs decided to go around us to hit the airfield. We got the first watch for two hours at sunset.” Hoosier explained. 

Kate looked down at her boots inadvertently kicking at the sand, “I see.” 

Hoosier stopped what he was doing to look her over and noticed what she had been holding. 

“Whatchya got there, Ace?” he asked gesturing with his head at the small metal boxes. 

Kate’s breath hitched in her throat as she looked up at Hoosier, “Oh-” she looked back down at the cans perplexed like they just appeared in her hands, “-it’s for you guys. I figured you’d need these more than me and Blanche.”  

She walked closer to Runner and Hoosier handing them each a container. Runner opened the can and saw stacks of crackers neatly packed to the brim. Hoosier looked into Runner’s can, then beamed back at Kate. 

“I heard you guys traded your saltines for the peaches and figured once you ran out of fruit you’d need more rations in the field. Good thing I caught you before you two took off.” she remarked. 

“You’re giving us your food?” Runner asked utterly surprised while Hoosier gaped at her. 

Kate’s eyebrows drew in together, “Of course. Someone’s gotta take care of you boys.”  

Kate averted her eyes to Hoosier.  She blushed seeing he had been gazing at her the whole time, his lazy smile and droopy blue eyes, ready to worship the ground she walked on.  

“We’re so lucky to have you.” Hoosier muttered. 

“Yeah, thanks, Ace!” Runner said as he ascended into the cubby hole shelter they all built to share the fresh crackers with the rest of the group. 

“Anytime, Runner!” Kate called out. 

Hoosier, still smiling, walked towards Kate, leaving very little room between them when he reached her. Kate hiccupped when he stood inches from her, looking up at him with her sparkling green eyes. 

“You didn’t have to do that, you know?” he asserted. 

Kate grinned, “I know. You guys would do the same for me and Blanche.”  

Hoosier’s smile widened, “Absolutely.”  

“I have one other thing,” Kate stated as she dug into her dungaree pocket, “-here.” 

She held a sealed envelope with the name ‘Bill’ written in cursive on the front. He took it from her and as he looked it over, he realized he didn’t recognize the handwriting.  

He looked back at her, “Who’s this from?”  

Kate laughed, “Me, silly!”  

A smile returned to his face, “But why?” 

“Well, I heard you saying something about Leckie having a girl back home to send letters to and that you didn’t. So, I wrote you one.” Kate explained. 

Hoosier’s heart melted, practically becoming a puddle at his feet. He looked back at the letter smiling so hard his cheeks started to ache. 

“Well, thank you Kate Danaher. That’s about the nicest thing that any broad has ever done for me.” he admitted. 

“Glad to hear it. Oh, and you should wait to read it when you’re feeling crummy during one of your watches. It’ll cheer you up.” she insisted. 

“What if I want to read it now?” Hoosier asked with a mischievous smile. 

Kate laughed, “Defeats the purpose of me writing it for you! It’ll be worth the wait, cross my heart!” she promised as she drew a crisscross over her chest with her fingers. "-And when you do read it, you'll have to write me back. Those are the rules."

Hoosier was absolutely mesmerized by her childlike innocence. 

“Ok, I’ll save it.” he pledged placing the letter in the breast pocket of his uniform. 

Kate standing on her tiptoes snaked her arms over his shoulders pulling him into a hug as his arms instinctively embraced her pulling her flush against him.

“Please be careful. Both of you.” Kate whispered. 

Hoosier’s heart pounding against his ribcage had his chest heaving as his strong hands kneaded Kate’s upper back. He nodded, agreeing to her request. 

“Promise?” Kate implored. 

“I swear it.” Hoosier reassured; his voice low and calm like a song to Kate’s ears. 

~~~~~~~ 

[blood-mocha-latte]

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

thank you bestieeee it nearly killed me <3 <3

hbo war ask game

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

answered here <33

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

answered here <33

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

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

[thecatwhosavedbooks]

Speirs: Fool me once, I’m gonna kill you

[myemuisemo]

"On the Great Alkali Plain" part 2, from Letters from Watson, arrived in my inbox this morning, bringing with it a predictable cloud of dust from approaching horses (since this isn't a George R.R. Martin novel, so we're not going to introduce characters just to kill them off immediately).

But what a caravan! When the head of it had reached the base of the mountains, the rear was not yet visible on the horizon. Right across the enormous plain stretched the straggling array, waggons and carts, men on horseback, and men on foot. Innumerable women who staggered along under burdens, and children who toddled beside the waggons or peeped out from under the white coverings.

Either we're running late on the Oregon Trail (since Doyle did not have social media to live-blog progress across the dusty waste) or the year 1847 is important, and these are Mormons.

“Shall I go forward and see, Brother Stangerson,” asked one of the band.

These have got to be Mormons.

“Nigh upon ten thousand,” said one of the young men; “we are the persecuted children of God—the chosen of the Angel Merona.”

Tell me you're a Mormon without telling me you're a Mormon.

“We are the Mormons,” answered his companions with one voice.

OMG, they're Mormons.

This makes the geographic names a little dicey -- the Mormon Trail ran through Wyoming, similar but not identical to today's I-80, so the Rio Grande River should be nowhere nearby -- but Doyle didn't have access to Google Maps, and it's not like his readers in the UK would go factcheck. Even with the Transcontinental Railroad completed back in 1869, most places in the Great American Desert were still remote in the 1880s, and California on the far end was still feeling the effects of isolation. Doyle also misspells the Angel Moroni and uses a masculine-ending name on a Sierra, so he's working from popular myth and the memory of things he's read. I wonder how many letters with corrections he received.

(At the time Doyle was writing, "Mormon" was the term used by the group themselves. Since about the 1980s, church leadership started urging the use of "Latter-Day Saints" instead. When I lived in Phoenix, that's near a big LDS population in Mesa, so I wince at using the older term. From here on out, if I'm quoting Doyle, I'll use "Mormon," but if I'm talking, I'll stick to LDS.)

The big reason the LDS wagon train is headed west is because they practiced polygamy at the time, and this was considered both illegal and immoral in larger U.S. society. (That's not a critique of polyamory today, when enthusiastic concept and clear rules are normalized.)

So far Doyle's account of the LDS party is generally positive -- they're organized, efficient, knowledgeable about their surroundings, prepared for danger, and responsible toward people needing rescue, if a bit holier-than-thou -- but I can't believe he's going to handle polygamy with anything other than distaste.

Polygamy is the thing LDS have been known for (to their chagrin after the mainstream LDS church banned it), so at the end of this section, Doyle's original audience is split into two groups:

Readers who have no real idea what a "Mormon" is and accept it as just one more crazy American thing, who now figure Lucy is rescued and wonder what goes wrong later to lead to murder; and

Readers who know about polygamy and are feeling dread for Lucy.

[riddles-n-games]

Can you write a headcanon about what types of tattoos each character would get? If they would get one…

Ok, but why did that remind me of the Tattoo Roulette game with One Direction on James Corden's late night show? Xander would be Niall, Nash would be Liam, Grayson would be Louis (the sassy mothertrucker) and Jameson would be Harry but much more willing and enthusiastic. Actually, I could see this happening on a very badly drunk edition of Drink or Dare.

Sure, I'll just do our main crew though. Here goes:

Nash-Personally, he really doesn't want one but if Libby asked he would. One of her fun suggestions would be a little cowboy hat on the base of his thumb. He thinks it's cute but for himself, he may just choose a motorcycle or a horse on his forearm. Something in black. Tattooing Libby's name would also be a must for him.

Grayson-This boy would be really against them but the only time he'd get them, very begrudgingly might I add, is if all his brothers wanted to get tattoos or because of a lost bet and he doesn't lose them often. He may get a dagger on his wrist. But, if he wanted something very personal, he would get a meaningful one that reflects a bit of the past and he would get it on his ribs, just to make it hurt, to punish himself for past wrongs like his haiku, the words Never Forget or Nothing Less Than Perfection. Although, for a bet, on a dare, his brothers (read: Jameson) would make him get a smiley face with I AM PERFECTION surrounding it on his abdomen.

Jameson-Wholeheartedly, this one would go all out and for fun probably pick something to go on his ribs even though it's the placement with the worst pain to get one since he has no self-preservation. Probably flames, maybe Ghost Rider. If he was one to already have tattoos, he'd probably have a bunch of stupid ones from like a dare or something. For some reason, one he'd get is a snake coiled around his wrist with the words from the Bible verse: Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. In honor of Avery, he would get Heiress tattooed over his heart or something funny like Property of A Very Risky Gamble along his collar bone. But his girlfriend's actual suggestion is getting the word EXTRAORDINARY on his finger.

Xander-He'd say he want one without any thought whatsoever about the process he has to go through to get it but then when he gets in the chair, he'd chicken out and pass out. Insert Stiles Stilinski fainting gif here. Although, he actually wants a really cool cartoony classic robot design in color on his arm if he did.

Avery-She's not necessarily fond of the idea but would totally do it for a dare or get one with Jameson. Avery entertains the idea that if she ever did, she might get a key tattooed on the inside of her wrist or a chess piece (we all know which one; the queen). Other ones that feel like a good possibility include getting her mother's name in cursive with little postcards on either side or Hannah, The Same Backward As Forward. One that she would get to commemorate to her relationship with Jamie is Heads or Tails on her ring finger with a small penny on the underside of the finger.

Libby-She'd get one on the back of her neck saying Love Yourself, some fun finger tats that Xander, Max, and Avery helped her pick out and get Nash on her ring finger where the wedding band would go. Also, a cute cupcake with Stress Baker underneath it would be mandatory on her arm or leg. Maybe the top of her shoulder blade. She and Avery would design some sort of special tattoo that they'd get together at some point in the future.

Max-Straight up would get AUSTRALIA with a kangaroo on her foot because she's real like that and also a fanatic for that crazy place (honestly don't understand how she survived). She'd also get a blueberry scone in honor of Xander who couldn't get one for himself because of the fainting incident. Maybe a quote from the Bible from John or a Star Wars quote on her arm.

Hope this is what you were looking for along the lines. I could make a part two in the future. Thanks for the suggestion.

[trollsedits]

Brozone + Dance moms references pt2

-I can do Jazz,musical theater and ballet.” Branch said smiling :)

After the concert shows John Dory would act like a complete jerk at most time he would say stuff that offended his brother such as “You need to accept the fact that I’m better than all of you.” John said Clay really wants to punch John in his square head face

“My older brother has the weirdest outfits ever… obviously!” Branch told other trolls

As branch was super stress because John Dory kept overworking him as branch was crying John Dory saw him “Branch stop crying.” He said “I’m a Baby I’m supposed to do this.” He said continuing crying which made John Dory rolled his eyes at branch

Sometimes John Dory would get on clay nerves because John Dory would push Clay to have his inner fun boy Clay which piss him off cause Clay wants to be taken seriously “Be Gone Witch, you have no powers here.” Clay told John cause he is pretty sick and tried of John Dory craps

Usually John Dory also give spruce a hard time aswell because he has to keep his heartthrob body and image which Bruce would say to John Dory “your entitled to your own wrong opinion.” He said once again John Dory would roll his eyes at spruce just like he always does

Floyd usually get lefts out during the groups you thought bitty b was left out talk about Floyd being left out John Dory thinks Floyd is way too emotional so grandma Rosiepuff would have to ask John Dory “When dose Floyd get a special part? She asked John Dory “When ever he stops getting too emotional and learn to save his tears for the pillows.” John replied

“I want a donut.” Spruce said (Same here bro)

After saving Floyd both Clay and branch got their first kiss from the two royal sisters to which the other brothers was in aww “Aww, Clay and Bitty B both had their first kiss in the same day! That’s kinda sweet, Twins!”

~No context if you read this you probably understand this~

“Did you just sit here and say that we look miserable maybe we should break up the band!” Spruce said

“No, I ever said that!” John replied

“Yes you most certainly did!” Clay said defending spruce

“NO I DIDN’T DINGBAT LISTEN!” John snap pointing at Clay

“Get your finger out of my face!” Clay said angrily

Floyd words of wisdom “Nobody’s perfect.”

As bitty B was singing he made John Dory cry because of how beautiful his voice was

“I made John Dory cry because I sing very good.” Branch said

“My dream is to continue singing forever I would kill myself if I didn’t sing.” Branch also added in

———————————

Sorry if this was short it was hard trying to find good quotes but I hope you still liked them

Like + Follow are very much appreciated! <3

[moriartyluver]

ARE YOU MINE PROLOGUE

"SHERLOCK GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

The ravenette sat down on decaying, dusty sofa with a sigh.

"Yeah whatever," He rolled his eyes "You guys know this is my place anyways, don't get too cocky, (name)"

"Isn't this your mother's basement?" John asked from across the room.

(Name) chuckled "I'm surprised your brother hasn't forced you out yet."

Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, was about 7 years older than him and currently working for some government office, although Sherlock described him to have a much more important job than his brother would admit. He even saved him as "The Government" on his phone contacts.

"Oh believe me, come autumn, I'll be gone thanks to that idiot," Sherlock muttered angrily

"Anyways," James interrupted "We did pretty good at that last gig. I think we made about two hundred pounds in total, right (nickname)?"

"It was a children's birthday party. We were playing at one of those soft play centres." She said, narrowing her eyes

"What's wrong with that?" John questioned, his hands wrapped around a couple of drumsticks.

(Name) turned to face him with a glare. "Don't you get it? We have a serious issue with our band image, you dumbfucks."

"Hey no swearing! My mum's up there!" Sherlock warned "And for your information, we are not changing the name!"

"How are we calling our band 'The Baker Street Boys' if our lead singer and guitarist is a girl? It's stupid!" Scoffing, (Name) stood up. "See? When I started this band, I wanted to do something, y'know? Follow my passions, be a little rebellious and make a name for myself, for us!" She said, picking up her brown electric guitar "Instead, we're playing for little kids and using cheap ass instruments like some third rate garage band! Our other guitarist is a mummy's boy who tells people off for swearing, our drummer doesn't even like rock music and would much rather listen to some Frank Sinatra or The Beatles than literally any rock band or something with a little flavour for once, and our bassist doesn't even play the bass! Not to mention the shitty name!"

"The Beatles isn't that bad..." The drummer muttered to himself.

"Oh shut it John." (Name) snapped "My point is, that we don't act like a real rock band! We're just some losers who play instruments and have no purpose in the music industry! I mean, have any of you been on tiktok recently? It's full of wannabe popstars making shitty music and trying to sound like every other artist. I don't want to be following every other quote unquote artist who just makes songs that even rival Dixie Damelio in lack of creativity!"

"She has a point." James agreed with a nod

Her scowl shifted to a determined smile "I have a few ideas on how we can up our game a little and actually be influential, like The Sex Pistols-"

"Yeah but they kind of fell apart pretty quick." Sherlock pointed out "Their singer couldn't sing, their bassist probably killed himself and their guitarist was illiterate."

"And they still made better songs than whatever bullshit you've been cooking up, Sherly." (Name) argued back, pulling out a little notepad from a pocket in her red leather jacket. "Anyways, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I have a few ideas so we can actually make a name for ourselves. First of all, John, stop dressing like a grandpa and put on some eyeliner or something. Same goes for you two," She said, looking at James who was sat cross-legged on the floor, and Sherlock in the sofa. "Sherlock, you dress like a roadman and that's when your mother isn't dressing you. Stop letting her buy you hideous clothes. James, your outfits put Harry Styles to shame. Get rid of those damn shoes."

"But my shoes make me look taller..!" James frowned

"Stop being a whiny bitch." (Name) glared "Second off, we need to start writing out own songs. I've mostly got that covered but I'd like a bit of input every now and then." She turned a page "Number three.." She trailed off "Right, we need to start expanding ourselves a little more. I know we're all loser introverts but if we socialise, we make connections. If we make connections, we can get gigs at proper places and possibly get better venues. I might look into getting a social media manager but I'll just open a tiktok account for the band when I get home, an instagram would work too."

"I thought we didn't want to be tiktok artists?" Sherlock asked with a raised brow

(Name) shook her head "That's different, Sherly. It's just free promo, super easy. It's not like we're singing 'ABCDEFU' or something. I'll just record band rehearsals or announce gigs and stuff. We can probably get at least a few thousand followers. I'll make a spotify too while I'm at it." She took her guitar bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "Alright, band meeting's done for now. I'm gonna go back home before my parent's start wondering where I am. Thankfully, it's not that late though.." She looked at her watch. It was only 3:35pm. She'd come home later before and now that it was summer, it wasn't getting dark as fast. She turned on her heel, walking towards the basement door "Bye!"

Upon returning home, (Name) had noticed it was quiet. Too quiet. She shrugged it off though, returning to her bedroom to hide her guitar under her bed or something, but when she had swung the door open, she heard some whispering, and found her parents stood in her room, all her hidden albums and vinyl's and other music stuff scattered around her now mess of a room.

"What the hell..?" She murmured, stepping over the Arctic Monkeys CDs on her bedroom floor, dumping her cheap guitar on the ground

"Care to explain all this, young lady?" Her father asked, holding up a vinyl in his hand. His voice had an angry undertone which made (Name) chuckle nervously.

"Why are you looking through my room?" She asked, thinking of excuses to defend herself

"That's not your business." Her mother chimed in "Since when did you have all.. this? What else have you been doing?"

(Name) swallowed, approaching her parents in an attempt to take back her record player from beside her father. "It's nothing."

"Nothing?" Her father clenched his teeth, pointing to her guitar on the floor "Don't tell me you're some sort of musician now! What else have you been hiding?"

"Oh nothing," (Name) said sarcastically "Just some heavy drugs, obviously. Now leave me alone!"

"Can't we at least talk about this? What about university? You know you can't make a living out of this!" (Mother's name) exclaimed, pain evident in her voice

"Can we skip to the arguing now if you aren't gonna leave? It's just a hobby I swear, and besides, being in a band's the only thing I like anyways!" She yelled, gathering a bunch of albums in her arms

"You're in a band? A rock band? With who?!"

"None of your bloody business." She stated coldly "Can't you just leave? This is so counterproductive!"

"The only thing counterproductive is this little fantasy of yours, (Name)." Her father opened up an album, inspecting it as if it was something illegal "You're smart. I don't see why you're wasting your time like this! And with rock music of all things!"

"It's not just rock." (Name) muttered "There's some Lana Del Rey mixed up somewhere here too.."

Her father opened his mouth to speak as he stepped back, but before he could utter another word, a harsh crack could be heard echoing throughout (Name)'s bedroom.

"What was that..?" (Name) whispered, then her mouth flew open in realisation as she looked down at her father's foot "Dad! You have got to be shitting me!"

Her father himself was surprised, but instead of admitting his mistake, he tried to make it seem as though it was intentional, a way of teaching his daughter a lesson. "Y-Yeah.. well that's what you deserve for lying to your parents!"

He had stepped on her guitar, breaking it fairly easily. She had known it was cheap and terrible quality, but the guitar did it's job ad that's all that really mattered, but now it was broken. How could she be a guitarist if she didn't have a guitar anymore?

"(Name)-"

Her parents tried to call out to her, but she was gone. (Name) walked out the room, grabbing her bag and jacket before slamming the door, tears welling in her eyes.

It had been half an hour since she left the band meeting, so reasonably, there was the possibility that the others were still at Sherlock's place, considering they didn't have parents restricting what hobbies they could and could not have. She ran to Sherlock's house, which was only a few minutes away, knocking on the door and wiping her tears with her sleeve.

"(Name)? You're back?" Sherlock said, answering the door

Another voice, with an American accent, followed. "(Name)'s back?"

She smiled as the rest of the band crowded at the door. "Yeah, change of plan. We're going to town now, I need to pick something up from Q's"

"I thought you said Q's cost too much?" James asked curiously

For those of you unfamiliar with British shopping culture, in city areas, there's usually a big shopping centre in the middle, a bit like a mega mall but alot more scattered. Most just refer to it as a 'city centre' or more simply 'town' even though it doesn't make much sense. The streets are busy, with the occasional musician playing a guitar or something and the smell of cigarette smoke is everywhere. These shopping centres are quiet useful, especially in big cities like London, because you can find pretty much everything, everywhere.

Q was a music shop in 'town', run by a German bloke called "Von Herder", but naturally, it was quite expensive, especially because of how good the instruments sold there was, and as an unemployed teenage girl (that's debatable considering she's 18), (Name) couldn't afford to buy a certain guitar she had been dying to buy since she had seen it months ago, hence the surprise of James.

"I'll negotiate my way to a lower price, I'm sure it'll be fine." (Name) smiled, althought she doubted she could.

Sherlock shook his head "No you're not. We have that money from the gig, I think two hundred quid should be enough, after all, you broke your last guitar. I think you deserve it." He offered as they all walked towards the bus stop

"Oh no, really," (Name) waved her hands in protest "It's fine. We said we were gonna split the money equally anyways. I don't want you guys missing out on money too!"

"Yeah well, we only got all that money because of your skills." Sherlock argued back "If you don't have a guitar, we can't make more money and The Baker Street Boys are done for without our lead guitarist."

"Fine," (Name) sighed, before pausing in her tracks "Wait how the hell did you know I broke my guitar?!"

Sherlock had been known for being good at reading people and his deductions were almost always spot on, so (Name) shouldn't have been so surprised

He put a finger to his chin, faux thoughtfully "Hmm... let's see." He mocked "You come to my house again after leaving half an hour prior, and you looked like you were trying not to cry, but your sleeve was stained. Not to mention, most obviously, you want us to come with you to town to buy a guitar?"

Rolling her eyes, (Name) hit Sherlock's shoulder as they, along with John and James, boarded a red bus "Yeah yeah whatever, maybe was a bit obvious."

After about an hour of looking for Q's amongst crowds of people, (Name) eventually found it, although by now, she had spilt up from her fellow bandmates because James had pushed Sherlock into a Victoria's Secret lingerie display and (Name) had ran off, pretending not to know them.

She walked into the store, a nirvana song blasting in her headphones. She looked around for the guitar, browsing around as she attempted to decide which colour she wanted. She picked up a dark red guitar, and it had felt as thought it was meant to be. In fact, she could hear a harmonious piano melody playing in her head.

Wait.

The sound of those piano keys was actually not in her head, but was coming from a grand piano on the other end of the store..?

Taking off her headphones, (Name) looked in the direction of the music. It was Tchaikovsky's Swan lake and whoever was playing it didn't even miss a note. It was, in a sense, perfect. Even (Name) couldn't play guitar that good. Surely, whoever was playing must have been a professional piano player.

At the piano however, she something even more beautiful than the music the stranger was playing. A young man with (very soft looking) blond hair and unique red eyes, concentrating on the keys as his fingers moved in sync to the melody. He looked like he was written by Lana Del Rey, which was rare.

(Name) smiled, walking towards to stranger in an attempt to make some small talk, seeing as Von Herder seemed to be busy behind the counter.

"Wow, you're really good.." she muttered in awe

The stranger perked his head up with a polite smile, almost radiant. "Thank you."

His voice matched his appearance and piano skills, just as elegant as he was. Clearly, he was raised in a wealthy family somewhere in London, probably one of the rich areas like Kensington or Chelsea.

"No, I'm serious. Tchaikovsky is rolling in his grave out of jealousy right now." She said, somewhat nervous "Like if he came back to life and saw you out doing him with his own song, he'd kill himself and die again because of how jealous he’d be, that's how good you are."

The stranger's smile widened in amusement and she could've swore she heard him laugh a little. "That's certainly an interesting way to put it. Do you play any instruments, too, by any chance?"

"Well obviously, if I'm in an instrument shop, I'd hope so." (Name) nodded, gesturing to the piano. "I'm a bit of all rounder. I can do piano, drums and base, but I'm more of a guitarist myself."

"That really is extraordinary.." He complimented "I myself can only really play the piano. I've played a bit of violin too but it wasn't to my taste, honestly speaking."

"You still play really good though. Are you a professional or something?" She asked curiously

The blond shook his head, still smiling "It's just a hobby of mine. I'm more suited to mathematics but I admire the beauty of the piano..the intricate mechanisms..the sounds it's makes..it's an art, if you will."

"Yeah, I get that. It invokes emotion in people, I mean most social movements and revolutions were influenced heavily by music, like anarchism and stuff." She trailed off, then spotted Von Herder back at the counter "I..uh..play in a band. It's not very good but I want to make changes like that too..y'know?"

Surprisingly, he nodded understandingly. "I'm sure you're band is much better than you give it credit for. Do you have a name yet? Perhaps I could-"

"Oh lord, not you again..!" A German voice exclaimed upon spotting (name) "What did I tell you, girl? I'm not trading you the guitar in exchange for an autograph!"

(Name) groaned "That was James idea, not mine, Herder!" She turned to the stranger who had been cut off "We're called The Baker Street boys but Sherly — he's the other guitarist — and I keep arguing about it because I think it's stupid that we're called the Baker Street boys when I'm clearly not a boy, so every time anyone asks, I just say we're called the coke whores even though I don’t do coke and I don’t think anyone in the band does, actually maybe Sherly does I don’t know. I told you the actual name though so that was kind of stupid."

"I see..That's a...lovely...name." The blond smiled, although (name) could tell he was a little taken aback by h the abundance of information. He looked over to the counter. “Are you familiar with Mr Von Herder?"

(Name) nodded, picking up the guitar she intended on buying "Yeah, the band and I come by here sometimes to look at the instruments. James, my friend, bought a bass here last week, but I think he's sick of us by now. Speaking of, I should probably buy this before he accuses me of an attempted robbery." She walked towards the counter slowly, waving at the blond

"Nice talking to you, stranger!"

A/N: omg first chapter. I only started working on this fic yesterday but the ideas been marinating in my brain for a while icl. At least a few months. Anyways maybe that stranger will get another appearance who knows 👀

[saintsenara]

lux aurumque sirius black & james potter teen | 3.6k words

he is not james, with the golden-snitch glitter of gryffindor righteousness in his marrow. he had to beg the sorting hat not to send him to slytherin, not to deck him in silver and green like his father and his father's father before him, and every day he has to wake up and keep trying to be worthy of the chance at a transformed life it gave him.

seven dawns which change sirius black.

author's notes under the cut

this piece was written, like so many good things are, because i thought somebody was wrong on the internet.

specifically, it was written in response to a piece of writing in which sirius - spared azkaban after pettigrew was arrested for somewhat spurious reasons - was remarkably unconcerned by james’ death, and happy to leave harry to his own devices at the dursleys if it meant he could reconnect with the pureblood world of his birth.

i understand the motivation behind this characterisation. the artist-currently-known-as-fanon-sirius [who is found almost exclusively in marauders-era stories, and almost exclusively in a relationship with remus lupin] has probably become in recent years the most dominant version of the character in fanfiction. fanon sirius, who is a short, goofy, dim-witted, emotionally fragile baby bean, is best friends with his aspiring terrorist brother, often happy to be treated like shit by his boyfriend, and so achingly cool that muggle bands ought to be paying him to listen to their music.

i get why this portrayal of sirius pisses people off. but it seems to have inspired in return what we might call dark aristocrat sirius, who is a wizengamot-seat-touting posho who misses the patrician world of his birth; who is proud of being pureblood, thinks it matters, thinks it makes him different, and thinks that it does make him more important than people like lily; who thinks that his parents’ insistence that to be a black makes you "practically royal" isn’t eye-rolling pretension with no basis in reality, but true; whose love for his cousins is never subsumed by his loathing at who they are and what they’ve become; and who thinks of his relationship with james as no more significant to him than his relationship with any of the pureblood friends of his childhood.

but this is a portrayal of sirius which is just as removed from his canon character as the tiny giggling pixie of the marauders fandom. in particular, it completely overlooks one of sirius’ most significant roles in the harry potter series: what his life and his decisions illustrate about the value of choice.

because sirius’ entire narrative purpose is that he shows to harry that - in an astonishingly lineage-based society, where your name and background dictate almost everything about your life - you can still choose to defy your family if standing against them is the right thing to do. sirius explicitly rejects his parents’ and his cousins’ blood-supremacy, he rejects the idea that his family line is owed inherent loyalty, he rejects the idea that blood purity is ontologically meaningful. he almost certainly misses aspects of his childhood and regrets what he has been made to do to take a stand against blood-supremacist terror - including, as he notes in lux aurumque, the fact that he is aware that many of the death eaters he’s fighting to kill are his own flesh-and-blood - but he has rejected the overarching social structures which defined his early life utterly. he may struggle with his decision sometimes, but it is a decision he chooses - every single day - to make and re-make.

[hence my longstanding headcanon, explored in this piece and quoted above, that - like his godson - he asks the sorting hat not to put him in slytherin.]

sirius’ initial defiant choice is canonically triggered - as per snape’s memories in deathly hallows - by his introduction to the defining relationship of his life: james.

james is fascinating within the series’ theme of choice, because he’s clearly someone to whom being "good" comes easily - all his family have been in gryffindor, he is instinctively opposed to blood-supremacy and everyone he knows is the same, he faces none of the social or familial pressures [to find a pureblood wife, to socialise exclusively with pureblood friends] that sirius does. and yet he is still someone whose presence upends sirius’ world to a significant enough extent that he changes the course of his entire life to stay close to him.

i have my theory as to why. all the evidence of the text - not least the fact that sirius’ narrative mirror is severus snape, himself in love with the other half of james and lily - is that sirius love for james is not purely platonic. it is this, i think, which better explains the fact that he doesn’t seem to be enormously close to lily [at least until she has to send him the letter ex machina in deathly hallows] than because he feels uncomfortable around her muggleborn pretensions - he’s clearly jealous, but he would rather die than upset james by articulating this. as we see in the opening scene of lux aurumque, he is heartbroken at losing james into the world of marriage and babies, but he knows he cannot cling to him.

and he knows he may have to die for him instead.

the profundity of sirius’ choice - and james’ and all the order’s - stands out the more starkly when we note that all the evidence of canon is that voldemort is winning the first war. lux aurumque deals with the struggle of opting to keep fighting in the face of an overwhelming feeling of futility, opting to keep hoping and trying and loving each other as the bodies pile up and the streets run with blood.

it also deals with realising that others may be making different choices.

reading between the lines of prisoner of azkaban, it is clear that albus dumbledore suspected that sirius was the spy in the order well before october 1981. it is also clear that remus lupin suspected the same thing.

both lupin and dumbledore are people whose stated belief in the power of choice is in tension with the fact that they struggle not to consider certain faults innate. lupin is bogged down by the belief that his lycanthropy is an irredeemable flaw he cannot escape. dumbledore thinks that some people are just born bad [look at how he treats the eleven-year-old tom riddle]. to both of them, sirius - with his brother and cousins paid up members of the death eaters - would be all too easily tempted. that sirius thinks the same about lupin - who he imagines would want to seek protection under voldemort’s wings because his insubstantiality can’t stand up to the force of the war - should not surprise us.

but some things are innate. and one of these is that sirius can be extremely impulsive. much like harry, he tends to leap before he looks. brilliant, in a quidditch match. less ideal when it comes to protecting the love of your life.

in canon, sirius suggests that the secret keeper swap was a spur of the moment decision. in lux aurumque we get a look at how exactly this might have been triggered - i like the idea that the death eaters manipulate him into it, to some extent; not least because this allows pettigrew, who gets treated like a bit of a joke in canon, to be an evil little bastard who is clearly regarded as quite useful by voldemort. i can imagine him chuckling as he sits down to teach the dark lord all about how to exploit his friends’ emotional weaknesses - above all, the fact that sirius may think that james is naive and too trusting, but he would never, ever believe such a thing about himself.

and, when it’s all gone wrong, sirius makes another choice. his decision to remain in azkaban confuses a lot of fans - particularly those who are angry with dumbledore for doing nothing to get him out of prison [which, to be frank, dumbledore can hardly be blamed for - sirius doesn’t open his mouth to speak in his own defence at any point, and all the evidence without him doing that is that he was the secret keeper who betrayed the potters] - but it makes perfect sense for who he is as a character. he considers himself to have "as good as killed" james, and he stays in azkaban because it’s the only way he knows to try and atone for the greatest mistake of his life.

until a visit from the minister and a photo of a rat shows him another.

[two minor points: this piece also addresses the opposite of choice, which is chance. i am aware, before anyone points it out, that the line about voldemort "only having to be lucky once" is a quote from the ira, but it’s a statement that’s both goes incredibly hard and is incredibly true. and its title is taken from the choral piece of the same name, by the composer eric whitacre. its lyrics - lux, calida gravisque pura velut aurum (light, warm and heavy as pure gold) - seemed very fitting for the transformative dawns of this piece, and for the choice sirius has made to be on the side of the light.]

[rainiishowers]

Obey Me Incorrect Quotes

A/N: I know I’ve recently done this, but I feel bad for not doing requests, and these are really fun, so I hope you enjoy! A fluffy Mammon request is currently being made, so watch out for that~

Some MC x Brothers

———

Beelzebub: *walks to cabinet, removes oreo box, takes half a sleeve, throws empty box out* Hi!

Belphegor: Hey- what are you doing-?

Beelzebub, shoving an oreo into his mouth: I am saving space :D

———

*MC is beta reading on of Simeon’s stories*

MC: Wow, Simeon! This story has everything! Action! Adventure! Romance!

Simeon: Romance?

MC: I have a crush on them.

———

Mammon, texting the HoL gc: I’m a theif.

Satan: Thief.

Mammon: Theif.

Asmodeus: I before E except after C.

Mammon: Thceif.

Belphegor: NO.

———

Beelzebub: Mint is just cold spicy.

The Squad: ...

Satan: I hate that you’re wrong.

———

Mammon: Thanks for not telling Lucifer what happened.

Satan, dumbfounded: I wouldn’t even know where to begin trying to explain this.

———

Mammon: *Gasp*

Satan: What??

Mammon: What if soy milk is just milk introducing itself in Spanish?

Satan: *inhales*

Lucifer, in another room with MC: Why can I hear screeching?

———

Belphegor: We all have our demons.

MC, grabbing Mammon: This one’s mine.

———

Lucifer: You've been given a new job to do, but I'm worried it might make you angry.

Satan: Just say it quick, like ripping off a band-aid.

Lucifer: You have to teach Belphie how to drive.

Satan: ...put the band-aid back on.

———

Baby! Satan: You know what bothers me? Bats. Why can bats fly?

Lucifer: Not again

Baby! Satan: Seriously, who gave them the right? They're mammals! Mammals walk on land, no exceptions.

Leviathan: Just wait until you hear about whales.

Baby! Satan: What now?

———

Simeon: Editor's note: What the fuck?

———

Satan: Fine! I don't give a shit!

Lucifer: You seem to give a lot of shit for someone who claims not to give a shit.

———

Mammon: Guess what I'm about to get!

Lucifer: On my nerves.

———

Young Beel, when he’s upset: I wish I could control wasps and bees to sting my enemies.

Mammon: You’re too young to have enemies.

Young Beel: You don’t even know.

———

Beelzebub: What did you order this morning?

Asmodeus: What do you mean?

Beelzebub: I heard you answer the door, and I sensed food.

———

Barbatos: I'd make fun of your height but there isn't enough to make fun of.

———

Asmodeus: Life keeps fucking me and I can't remember the safeword.

———

Barbatos: What's the signal when something goes wrong?

MC: We yell, 'oh shit.'

Barbatos: ...That'll work.

———

[just-your-average-tangerine]

Song of the day: August 6 2024

I Might Be Wrong by Radiohead

About Radiohead:

Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. They comprise Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass); Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals); and Philip Selway (drums, percussion). They have worked with the producer Nigel Godrich and the cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994. Radiohead's experimental approach is credited with advancing the sound of alternative rock.

(Via Wikipedia)

About I Might Be Wrong:

Although the album version is heavily produced by Nigel Godrich and Radiohead, with a more electronic texture, I Might Be Wrong is one of the more guitar-oriented songs on Amnesiac. The song uses a blues riff written by Jonny Greenwood, in Drop D tuning. The guitar riff has a repetitive and looping quality, partly the result of the slides to reach some notes and the pull-offs.

The title “I might be wrong” may be taken from infamous quote by Bertrand Russell:

"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."

It perfectly fits into the next line “I used to think there was no future left at all”. This Apocalyptic view is also conveying a metaphoric view to our beliefs as drops of water, as they makes us wet and then they just vanish like they have never existed.

(Via genius.com)