#army and marine ranks

[kacievvbbbb]

Sabo really got that serial killer rizz about him

Like look at those eyes. Those are the eyes of a man that has several things wrong with him and he's about to make each and every one of them and this rusty pipe, your problem.

Fucking two steps away from "you wanna know how i got these scars", ass look.

He goes from so adorable, bending so koala can put on his hat, to I have not a single polite gene in my body and I will destroy you mentally before I destroy you physically to Just straight beating people's asses with a pipe like a thug

I'm obsessed with him.

[writing-mlm]

Something angsty with Abbot

They had something going on in the army (they didn't label it) and it was pretty serious,robby knew about (they were an inseparable trio) and thought they would last forever

Until something happend and the reader didn't leave with them and continued to advace in ranks

They (all 3) meet again in the pitt to find out reader got married and had a child (the reason for the hospital visit ) and treats abbot and robby as just friends like nothing is wrong

You can continue it how you like cause this is getting long

The wounds of our parents (that I refuse to carry over)

Summary: You couldn’t be strong enough for yourself, but you’d be damned if you let your daughter feel the way you did. Pairing: Jack Abbot x Male reader Word Count: 3.4k Tags/warning: reader is married to a woman, sort of implied religious trauma, homophobia, medical talk, sick child, I headcanon Jack was in the Marines, italics is a flashback, wounds physical and emotional, not terribly angsty but still hurt/comfort imo A/n: I changed the prompt a little bc I don’t think Robby was in the military, also. while editing I learned its Abbot not Abbott...

Stolen kisses and secret glances, if that’s how Jack could remember his time in the Marines, he would’ve been a happy man. He’s reminded of you every day, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. 

He remembers you when he ties his laces in the quick way you taught him, he remembers you when the sun warms his face, he remembers you when the silence of his apartment is so loud against his ears he can't think. He can’t breathe and— fuck he can’t even see anything. Then his phone lights up, a call. 

It reminds him of you again. You would sneak out from your barracks to meet him, a flashlight placed on the floor so you could at least see him a little. It was never much, but it was always enough. 

“My arms are killing me,” You grumble, climbing into his bed. He welcomes you, arms outstretched and a lopsided grin. It’s well past any normal guest time in the barracks, but neither of you cared. 

“No one told you to carry everyone’s bags up the hill,” He laughs as you drop into his open embrace. Immediately, he starts massaging your arms, loving the way you relax instantly. Your head drops onto his chest, sure you’re about to be lulled into a nice sleep.

“I was being nice,” You murmur. “And I was showing off,” 

“For who?” He teases. Cracking an eye open, you laugh into his shirt. Leaning forward, you kiss the underside of his jaw. 

“You,” 

His hands trail up from his neck, settling on his ears as he tries to fill the silence. His phone rings again, and he pulls himself from the memory before answering it. It’s Robby. It’s never you. 

—

Abbot’s driving into work, annoyed that he’d accidentally taken the long route, and now he’s fighting the morning traffic. It’s one of those rare occasions when he was needed for the morning shift. And he couldn’t say no. He’s about ten minutes out, waiting at a red light, when the next song starts up. The guitar strings start, and he inhales slowly, his eyes closing. 

The squad was inside of a tent, passing the time until there was something to do. Thankfully, someone had brought along a speaker, and everyone was taking turns playing music. It eventually turned into a lip-syncing competition and you were up. 

It didn’t take long before the song could start up, two of the guys laugh as they know the song, while Jack leans back. You step into the middle of the tent, using a water bottle as a microphone. You rock with the beat, each guitar string pluck is a new rock. 

“I used to think that I wasn’t fine enough, and I used to think that I wasn’t wild enough. But I won’t waste my time tryna figure out why you playing games, what’s this all about?” Everyone catches as your eyes drift to Jack’s. You continue, fake singing your heart out until you look at Jack again. 

“Oh, love! Never knew what I was missing. But I knew once we start kissin’ I found… love!” Your eyes meet, and you point at him before desperately clutching your chest. 

“Abbot’s blushin’!” One of the men laughs, smacking his arm. Jack shakes his head but doesn’t look away from you, still lip-singing. 

A car honks and he opens his eyes, the light is now green. Another honk. Smacking the wheel, he pushes forward, trying to push the memories backwards. 

It was never a relationship, at least in concrete boyfriend-boyfriend terms. But it was. It fucking was. You’d both said I love you, you both had imagined lives together, you were each other's person, and you were his and he was yours. 

And then Abbot got discharged, and you didn’t. You stayed in the Marines, something had scared you. He knows it. He knows it in his bones. He knows it like he knows the human body. 

“Hey, brother!” Robby gives Abbot a high five as he walks into the ED. Abbot blinked, his body moving on autopilot, he hadn’t realized he was at work already. “Thank you so much,” He’s almost desperate, the ED is more packed than usual. Apparently, an entire school grade had come down with random spouts of dizziness, weird vision, and vomiting. 

“Where am I needed?” He asks, glancing around the room. There are a lot of parents talking outside the on-call rooms with doctors. 

“Uh, room eleven.” Abbot nods and gets himself ready, grabbing Mohan on his way to the room. Mohan has the kids' chart and tells him the basics while he nods, still looking around. She has to leave, though— everyone has one patient. There’s not enough doctors to double up today. 

He glances at the patient's chart and stops for a small laugh, pushing into the on-call room. Jackie Maria (L/n). 

“Is your full name Jack or Jackson?” You asked, it’s the first thing you’d ever said to him. First day at boot camp and that’s what his barrack roommates says to him.

“Jack,” He responds and you nod, carefully setting your bag on your bed. 

“That’s crazy, cause I’ve always wanted to name my kid Jackie. What do you think, would he get bullied?” Jack laughs, shaking his head. He’d never been bullied for the name, and he relays as much to you. “That’s good to know.” Your smile reaches your eyes and you scan him up and down. Your heart flutters a bit and you force yourself to look away. 

You stare at him, your hand in a woman's— your wife’s hand while holding your daughter's head. Jackie. Your daughter, Jackie. She’s clutching a bucket that already has bile inside of it. She’s about twelve. Abbot checks the chart and licks the inside of his mouth. Thirteen. 

You’re in civvies, which checks out because you always hated the uniform. Hated the attention it brought when you were off base. He looks down at your wedding band, it’s simple, a thin silver ring nestled on your finger. It’s old and worn, Abbot guesses it’s older than ten years old. You preferred gold, or at least a darker silver than that. And you always wanted something a little different than the basic silver band. 

For a moment, you relax and smile. It’s the first time you’ve seen him since he left the Marines. The first time in fourteen years that you’ve honestly felt at peace. Well, mostly. Jackie throws up again and you move to rub her back. 

“I’m Doctor Abbot,” He stiffly says, closing the door behind him. He needs to be professional, there’s a sick child he needs to attend to. 

“I’m glad it’s you,” You admit, your voice is more mature than the last time he heard it. There’s a bigger bass to it and he just knows if Jackie was in Little League your voice was drowning out the crowds. He wonders if his voice would’ve done the same. 

“He usually doesn’t like doctors,” Your wife says, a little confused, and Jack nods. He knows this. He’s known this long before she was ever in the picture. 

“Jack,” You whimper, clutching his hand as you hold your bleeding leg. “It’s too high for a tourniquet.” There’s a shudder to your voice that he doesn’t like, a sort of finality that puts his stomach through the ringer. Which is odd, considering you’re on an active battlefield and something explodes in the background. 

“I got you, sweetheart,” He grunts, pulling you into a more covered area. “This is gonna hurt but do you trust me?”

“Hmm,” You nod, eyes closed tight and lips tucked into your mouth. “With my fuckin’ life, baby.”

“We were in the Marines together,” You softly explain and she hums. She’s not delighted to hear that, but she doesn’t show any outward distaste in it either. There’s some history behind that, he has a sneaking suspicion he knows what it’s about. 

“Can you give me a rundown of your symptoms, Jackie?” Abbot asks while putting on a pair of gloves on. Jackie just groans, looking for relief and finds it in you. You smile, rubbing her sweat-soaked forehead. 

“She texted me, she was in science class and was feeling lightheaded. You know diabetes runs in my family so I assumed she was starting to show signs. I told her to eat some of the snacks and drink something. She said it didn’t help. Then she said she was having trouble breathing but she felt better after class. I knew she was having a test, so I assumed it was anxiety.” You hurriedly explain, recounting her day. “And then she had lunch, she called me. She was throwing up and seeing spots. Apparently, other kids were, too.” 

“Were these kids in your science class?” 

“Some,” Jackie croaks. Abbot nods, considering most students have a similar experience, it’s probably something in the science room. 

“I want to have your blood sent in for a tox screen. It could possibly be something in the classroom. It’s sounding a bit like the flu, maybe someone was sick and spread it around the school and then maybe some food poisoning. Did you eat the school lunch?” Jackie nods but she looks at you for support. 

“It’s pizza Friday. She loves it,” You add, watching as Jackie throws up again. “Once you’re done, sit up, bud. Dr. Abbot needs you to be steady.” 

“The mess hall is serving us the good food,” You whisper, staring down at your lobster, mac and cheese, and the good mashed potatoes. “We’re getting shipped off, ain’t we?” 

“Sure are,” Jack laughs. The two of you sit side by side, not even a millimeter of space between the two of you. You drop your head, ready to succumb to your inevitable fate. 

“I would’ve preferred pizza as my final meal.”

Abbot finishes drawing Jackie’s blood and leaves the room for a moment. You watch as the doors close and sigh, knowing what’s about to come and just continue to rub the top of your daughter's head. 

“You never mentioned an Abbot before,” Your wife carefully says, messing with her nails. 

“No, Katy. I didn’t.” You agree. “I also never mentioned Tasso, or Navarro, or Dukarea. Or half of my squad before.” 

“You haven’t,” She stresses. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Looking at her, you lace your fingers together before letting your hands hang between your legs. She shrugs and looks at the door. 

“Your mother did.” She said after a beat had passed. 

“Don't bring her up,” You glare over at her. “Not now, Katy.” 

“She said something about an Abbot who was tempting—“ She doesn’t get to finish before you stop her. 

“Jackie is sick. We are not going to talk about whatever she told you, Katherine.” She pauses but eventually nods. You look at Jackie as she looks between the two of you, you hate being tense around him. You hate having fights around her, or even being slightly angry around her. It’s not a part of you that you want her to experience. 

“I’m going for a smoke,” She pushes herself from the wall as the door opens again and Abbot walks inside. 

“Okay,” You reply, not sparing her a glance. She leaves using the opposite doors, snatching her purse from the chair with an exaggerated huff. 

“I’ve sent your blood for testing. We should know within an hour,” Abbot explains and you nod, looking between him and Jackie. Your stomach twists as you imagine that this was your family. The three of you. 

“Is there something she can have for the pain?” You ask, looking between the two of them. “She’s not good with pain and I know this is a ten for her.” Weakly, Jackie nods. 

“Alright, I’m going to give you an ibuprofen. It’ll help with the nausea and the pain. If, after an hour, you’re still in pain, I’ll switch it up. Does that sound good?”

“Mhmm,” Jackie winces and then starts gagging. You help her sit up, wincing as she throws up again. 

“What if she can’t keep the pill down?” You ask, looking up at him with worry clearly written all over your face. His chest tightens, and he inhales, looking between you and Jackie. As much as he’d hate to admit it, his mind runs blank for a moment. 

“An IV drip is always an option.” Abbot explains once he composes himself. “Would you be okay with that, Jackie?” Your daughter nods and Abbot nods in response. “We’ll get that started as soon as possible.”

“Would you be a step-dad?” Robby whispers, pulling Jack to the side. They’re about to do a shift change and this is how Robby is planning on spending their small overlap together. 

“Depends,” Jack responds, crossing his arms. “Is the kid bad? Is there an affair that causes the step-parent-ness?”

“No, and no,” Robby squints. “I didn’t— I wouldn’t help someone cheat. But this woman I’m seeing has a son, we haven’t met but she wants us to. I wanted your opinion,” Jack nods, imagining himself as a step-parent. It’s hard because he keeps placing his partner as you and not some random person. 

“Yeah,” He nods. “See if you can handle that dynamic. Every step family is different,” In turn, Robby nods before leaving in a rush. Apparently soon meant tonight. 

“Has there been an update with the others?” You ask. “Jackie’s friend, Charlie. She’s here too,” 

“I can certainly ask, what’s her last name?” Turning to Jackie, she inhales. It’s shaky and it looks like it hurts her but she still tries. 

“Hunt.” She replies. 

“Charlie Hunt, got it.” He leaves again and it’s just the two of you now. 

“It’s not drugs, right?” You whisper, looking up from the door. Jackie feverishly shakes her head and you nod, trusting her. Looking back at the door, you inhale. 

A part of you hates that out of all the places you could’ve settled after the Marines, you picked the one place Jack lived and then out of all of the hospitals, this is the one your daughter is being treated at. But another, bigger, part of yourself loves that. Loves that you’re still connected to him after all these years. It’s like a sign. 

The door opens and you see Abbot return with Charlie. Her parents are not there yet, their jobs are hard to leave from what you remember. 

“How you feeling, Char?” You ask, a small smile on your face. 

“Not horrible, Mr. (L/n),” She replies, looking at you before her eyes lock on Jackie. “How’s Jackie?”

“Could be better,” Jackie croaks and Charlie takes the seat you’d been in. She has a small oxygen mask around her neck but it doesn’t seem like she needs it anymore. 

“I’m going to go for a walk,” You tell them to which they nod. Looking Abbot up and down, he calmly follows you into the hallway. 

“A wife,” He whispers. “How long?”

“Um,” Scratching your eyebrow, you shrug. “About fourteen years. Are you… have you gotten married?” For a moment, you look at his hand. Barren, no tan lines to indicate a ring either. 

“No.” He confirms what you already know. “Are you happy?” The pause that follows the silence is all he needs to know. Although he could’ve guessed that already, he’s seen happily married people but you and Katy? That wasn’t a happy marriage. 

“I always said you’d make a great doctor,” 

“You did,” He nods, a breathless chuckle passing by his lips. “I always said you’d be a girl dad.”

“Light of my life,” You smile. “She had a small interest in medicine, which is crazy cause she’s—“ You pause, stopping yourself. Katy walks back in from her smoke break and you blink. “She gets woozy at the sight of blood.” You finish. 

“Has anyone seen Charlie Hunt?”  A doctor calls, standing in front of an empty on-call room. “I have her lab work,”

“She’s in here, Robby!” Abbot calls. “Is (L/n)’s also done?”

“Uh,” He checks his tablet. “Yes- yup,” 

“Alright, let’s go!” That special request to speed up Jackie’s tox screen worked. Which is a first. The four of you head back to the on-call room and Katy enters without knocking. 

“What the fuck?” She shouts and you see Charlie stand up to her full height. Jackie looks between the two of you, shocked, and her heart monitor is beeping faster. She looks at you, and you know, you just know what Katy saw. “Did you know?” She spins to you, finger pointing. But you don’t see her, you don’t hear her. 

You hear the rapid beeping, you see your daughter's fear, and it’s like you’re her. It’s like you’re your father and Katy is your mother and you’re about to repeat a cycle you could never break. 

“Breathe,” Jack forces you out of the rec room and into the dark outside. The party continues inside but you can feel yourself dying. Your life is in the hands of the letter dropped off earlier in the week that you’d refused to open. “What’s wrong?” Your free hand touches the dewy grass as you sit. 

“Sweetheart,” His hand covers yours, blocking the letter from your vision. 

“Someone told my parents,” You manage out. “My mom she’s asking about why her church is whispering about her ‘faggot’ son. They know us-- they know you.” 

“I thought they knew?” 

“No,” Holding both of his hands, you kiss them softly, grounding yourself. “I never told them. That's why I left.”

You never understood why your parents were such a big part of your life, why you let their hate infect you so much. That your fear wasn’t strong enough to stop you from going to the Marines, but it was for telling your parents no. But it’s not stronger than your love for Jackie. 

“Get out,” You tell Katy. 

“Let’s see what your mother has to say about this.” She hums, digging into her purse for her phone. She’s used that line so many times and so many times you’ve given in at the expense of your peace and sanity. 

“Let’s see what Vincent has to say,” She pauses at the door, her eyes filled with pure hatred. She says fine, along with some colorful words and you sigh, joining the now crying Jackie’s side. 

“I’m sorry, honey,” Doctor Robby takes Charlie back to her room while Abbot stands there, unsure of what to do with himself. 

“I didn’t— I’m sorry,” Her cries turn to gagging and you sit her up, letting her vomit into the bowl. 

“Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry for not doing better,” Holding her tight, you shudder, wishing so desperately you’d been your father all those years ago. “Let’s focus on your health first, honey. And then everything else after.” 

“Alright, your tox screen does show levels of carbon monoxide and it is showing signs of food poisoning,” He turns the screen and points to an assortment of letters and numbers that only he understands. 

“Good news is-“ He turns the screen back to him. “It looks like you won’t have any long-term side effects and the nausea should lessen with time. For now, I’m going to start your IV drip and give you an oxygen mask. That’s to help your body filter out the carbon monoxide faster.” She nods, holding your hand tightly. He gently puts the oxygen mask over her and you watch as she takes a deep breath in. 

He nods to the door and you stand up. Jackie reaches for your hand, shaking her hand but you reassure her that you’ll just be outside the door. She lets go and you meet Abbot in the hallway. 

“We have social workers available,” He starts. “If you or Jackie want to talk to someone.”

“I’m definitely getting a therapist for us,” You huff a laugh. “I know divorces can be rough on kids.”

“Divorce?” He asks. 

“That’s who Vincent is. He’s my friend and a divorce lawyer. I can’t let her grow up the way I did,” 

“That’s good,” He smiles an honest smile. 

“I don’t know if you’d be up to it again, but, could I get your number?” You carefully ask. “I know Pittsburgh has that year waiting period but,” You laugh, looking away from him. “It’s been fourteen years and I’ve missed you like a motherfucker.”

[innerfare]

Sabo’s Type 

Summary: A collection of random headcanons describing Sabo's type

Genre: Angst

CW: None // SFW

———

Sabo is such a show off, it’s no joke. It’s for this reason he has such a thing for a damsel in distress. He really enjoys the opportunity to flex his powers. (Flashback to Dressrosa arc and him swooping in to rescue Rebecca but leaving poor Bartolomeo lmao.) But he likes it even more if showing off doesn’t work, since it works on basically everyone else. 

Someone who is unimpressed, or at least initially hides it from him. Sabo lives for a challenge. While he loves it when people fawn over him, he’ll become a little obsessed with someone who shrugs at his dragon claw and fire fruit ability, who brushes off his pretty face and muscular body, who doesn’t care that he’s the second in command of the Revolutionary Army and is going to tell him exactly what they think of him.  

Someone with a voice like honey that makes him want to kick his habit of hanging up the transponder snail in the middle of the call and instead stay on the other line for hours listening to them talk about nothing. 

Someone powerful. Someone who can not only hold their own in battle so he doesn’t have to constantly worry about them but also someone who can spar with him. Someone who has undergone rigorous martial arts training and insists their style is more powerful than his dragon claw. Someone who triggers his competitive side. 

Someone who will make fun of him, even going so far as to poke fun of his heritage (without going too far). The odd joke about Sabo being a pampered aristocrat will get his blood boiling. He’s the type to ignore all the people fawning over him and go straight for the person who seems uninterested (side note: Sabo does not respect the ring; if you’re married and he wants you, he’s going for you). 

Someone with as much a reason to hate the World Government as he does, perhaps even more of a reason. Someone who wants to see the world burn. But also someone who starts out as his enemy, so maybe a marine or member of Cipher Pol with a traumatic backstory working as a double agent for the Revolutionary Army. 

Someone who likes his scars. He’s come to view them as a symbol of his failure to escape Goa on his own, and even as a symbol of the reason he couldn’t be there for his found family, so he doesn’t feel proud of them the way a warrior should. But if you’re proud of them, if you run your fingers over them, he’ll grin like a fool. 

Someone who is well read and a good enough writer to read his manuscript and offer feedback, someone who can edit some of the pages and offer him some direction when he’s not sure which direction to go in. Someone who agrees with his point of view on the subject matter (typically the corruption of the World Government) and can aid him in getting that across. 

Someone who makes him feel safe enough to ask for affection. Sabo isn’t really used to positive reinforcement. Though he received some once he joined the Army, a rough childhood without a drop of real softness has left him a little thirsty for someone to run their fingers through his hair while he vents about everything wrong in the world. 

Low-key has mommy issues, craves a woman who will make him food, take a bath with him, and tuck him into bed. Refuses to admit it, though. This folds into him craving a more feminine partner because he's been surrounded by so much roughness. One of his guilty pleasures is definitely crushing on the young noble women he's supposed to be usurping.

Someone who doesn’t hesitate to make his family their own, who falls right into the ranks of the Revolutionary Army and makes themselves at home with the Straw Hats (I think it goes without saying Sabo's SO has to have Luffy's stamp of approval). 

———

Hope you enjoyed it! If you want more, you can check out my masterlist here!

[sayruq]

In the aftermath of a series of disastrous ground incursions by the IDF, the Palestinian resistance is taking advantage of the momentum it has gained. (The tweets will be posted in chronological order in order to show said momentum)

Meanwhile, in the other West Asian battlegrounds

So on and so forth. There's a limit to how many tweets I can add to one post. In short, the resistance is on the attack. The Israeli and American armies no longer have control over the war - they're on the defensive and can't seem to advance in Gaza or anywhere else.

I've been harping on about Russia going from pro Israel to carefully neutral to leading the charge against America and Israel in the UN which is all well and good but it doesn't exactly help Palestinians on the ground. Luckily that seems to be changing. A few days ago a Hamas delegation was in Moscow and we're starting to see what they managed to negotiate

Make no mistake this is huge. Frankly, I think the hostage exchange is just an excuse (the Russians haven't made any noise about their hostages until now). Now that we know there are American special forces and the marines involved the ground incursions of Gaza, it makes sense that Putin would want to arm Hamas - a reverse of the America-Ukraine relationship. Hopefully, they receive the anti aircraft missiles very soon. Israel needs to be just as afraid to fly over Gaza as they are entering Gaza from the ground.

Meanwhile, the high ranking advisor that Biden sent to Israel has returned and quickly distanced himself from Israeli war efforts in Gaza

Make no mistake, this isn't a man who is horrified at the atrocities committed by Israel on Gaza (he was responsible for the atrocities in Falujjah and Mosul after all). It's way more likely that the Israeli war plans are both stupid and highly self destructive and it will likely trigger a regional war (at least a much bigger war than the one we've been witnessing the past couple of weeks).

As you can see, the war for the liberation of Palestine is far from over.

[ifyouencounterwolf]

Unpopular opinion:

The Fall of the Night Sentinels shaped the Slayer more than the loss of his family or Daisy. Don’t get me wrong, they were equally as tragic and traumatic. The death of his wife and small child, and that not even a harmless little pet bunny could survive the rampage definitely gave the Slayer a firsthand of Hell’s cruelty. They are the major drive of his constant hatred towards demons. But what truly made the Slayer who he is later on, is his years of stranding in Argent D’Nur, his life among the Sentinel ranks and their ultimate end that left him alone in Hell, again.

The Night Sentinels were more than a brotherhood to the Slayer. They were his second family, his attempt to start over, to rebuild a sense of purpose and connection after losing everything back on Earth. The Doom Slayer adopted their tradition and their worship of the Wraiths. He earned his place by going above and beyond. IMO He is more of a Night Sentinel than a space marine at some point. Even after the Divinity Machine treatment he would fight against the Maykr’s mind control, just so he could protect their cities and help in their evacuation.

So, when the Night Sentinels fall: some were betrayed, some corrupted, but all went extinct (The Sentinel army we are seeing with Valen are not even wearing the same armor as the OG, just shows how much their culture have lost in time). so did the Slayer’s last tie to any human bond. From that point forward, he not just accepted his role as a weapon, but embraced the “path of perpetual torment”, because he no longer believes he could be anything more than that.

A central part of the Slayer’s character is that he doesn’t trust leaders. Not his own commanding officer, not Dr. Hayden, not the UAC, absolutely not the Maykrs. He doesn’t serve anyone and if they got in his way, he wasted no time to tell them how much he detested those who sees others as beneath them or necessary sacrifices. The only time he shows any respect is when he kneels to the spirit of King Novik in DOOM Eternal, and damn that speaks volumes.

Even then, he rejected King Novik and Valen’s warning to not go against the Maykrs. He didn’t forgive Valen either, gave the latter no time to sulk in self-exile. And yet he still honors Valen’s request by setting his son’s soul free, and silently accepted Valen’s help in the last stand against Immora.

And here I think we really underappreciated this period in the Slayer’s life. In the recent face reveal we see the Slayer after he has spent some time among the Night Sentinels. We see he looked…almost peaceful. There is a certain serenity to it. He has tired eyes from constantly dealing with those demons but somehow remains innocent. That sense of at peace with himself, I believe, comes from the Night Sentinels’ way of life.

Argent D’Nur was a brutal world, and the people adopts a warrior culture because they literally have fought giants for their survival. They live on a planet where apocalyptic natural disaster is just a normal Tuesday. They have more than one moon, that one is RED and clearly visible at daytime. Their gods, the Wraiths, sing to drive people to madness and transform wild beast into bloodthirst monsters. And in the midst of all these, people of Argent D’Nur is deeply bonded with nature, animals and with each other.

The Order of Night Sentinels is the embodiment of that philosophy. They were like a fusion of monks and druids and their trainings would not only be combat but wilderness survival, meditation, fasting, gardening, animal companionship, likely from a very young age. Honoring the dead and directly connecting with metaphysical power would also be as common as a daily routine. The Night Sentinels do not just grow immune to the Wraithcall, instead they see it as transcendence and spiritual clarity.

Their works definitely paid off. Because we could see Night Sentinels do not turn into demons after they are KIA. They linger consciously at the site of their death even when their bodies were dragged away or decomposed, still capable of helping the Slayer one last time, dispersing after fulfilling their duties. Even the corrupted Sentinels AKA marauders were able to retain memories and some remnant of consciousness.

The Slayer has to go through all of the same trials to earn those Sentinels’ trust and respect. And I believe he did. Even the Wraiths that do not grant their powers to the Maykrs accepted the Slayer, and powered his Crucible to fight the Dreadnought in Taras Nabad. I believe these trainings and disciplines helped him tremendously in making sense with his past trauma.

Most importantly, this alien species and possible ancestors of humankind did NOT see the Slayer as just a weapon. They built statues and made relieves of the Slayer fighting by their side. They absolutely adored (and straight up adopted) this angry mute.

I think of what defines the Slayer is that despite all his rage, a large part of himself still longs for affection, nurture and compassion. In many parts of Eternal and 2016 we see the Slayer has so much humanity that he kept only to himself. The last time he got any of those was with the Night Sentinels. To be more precise, before the Divinity Machine turned him into some demigod where he was then separated from them, and was trapped in a pen under constant monitoring from the Maykrs. Despite all that, the Sentinels are obviously still looking out for him, dropping him supplies and rescuing him. We could see in TDA how the Night Sentinels have grown frustrated of how much tortures he suffered under the Maykrs and that might have even planted the first seed of their distrust of the Maykrs.

This is why the fall of the Night Sentinels cuts so much deeper. Of course, I am very biased. But we knew very little about the Slayer’s Earth family. They barely fleshed out but now we are getting stories between the Slayer and his Sentinel bros. These people are more than capable in battle and for the most part, trying to do the right thing as they rejected the Argent Energy once they found out about its source. And they were lost to Hell too.

[hannahbarberra162]

Under the Microscope (Yandere Sabo x Reader)

18+ MDNI on Ao3

Part 2

Inspired by "A Good Prisoner," by greenflowerpot. They're an incredible writer, I used the story setup but with Sabo. I'm not sure how many parts this will be, but it won't follow the same story path beyond the jail.

Also I don’t know anything about molecules. Or genes. Or anything related to Sciemps. So if it’s wrong, uh... just roll with it.

Yandere Sabo X Reader (no use of Y/N)

~~~

Sabo's the best prisoner you've ever had at your Marine base. He's polite, handsome, and pleasant company. You'll be sad when he gets sent to Impel Down. But Sabo's got other ideas that might not align with your own.

~

The Marines aren't taking good care of you. So Sabo's going to have to do it himself.

Flame Emperor Sabo was the best prisoner you’d ever guarded. It surprised you because you preferred pirate prisoners to Revolutionary Army prisoners. Pirates were at least straightforward, saying lewd comments to you, leering at you, and mocking you in equal amounts. Their disdain for you as a Marine, particularly a desk bound Marine, was nearly palpable in every interaction.

Revolutionaries, however, seemed to think that you were unaware of the situation of the world and lectured you endlessly about how you were a cog in the machine that would destroy everything and everyone in it. The constant aggrandizing of their own station - while in literal chains! - was so grating you stopped interacting with any of them long ago. Instead you’d study during your guard shift, hoping the prisoner at hand would sleep or leave you alone. You knew the Marines weren’t a benevolent government force, but science as a career really only existed within the context of the World Government. Unless you wanted to work directly for a pirate or Warlord, which was….risky at best. Being a Marine killed two birds with one stone - you got to work in your dream profession and you got to send steady money back to your family. So you shut your mouth, completed basic training and joined the ranks of the Marines.

After basic training, you’d made your way into the research division of the Marines, forgoing active duty. You didn’t see battle or even leave the base, just worked on the research assignments handed down to you from your superiors. Over the past two years, the projects had gotten increasingly complex and you had to spend nearly all your waking hours working or studying. If you could devote all your time to research, you might be able to finish with a little more speed. Unfortunately, the Marines had a rule that all Devil Fruit users had to supervise prisoners at minimum once a week. You assumed they made the rule thinking Devil Fruit users would be able to use their powers to fight, but that wasn’t true for you. You’d tried to get your name off the list of Devil Fruit guards to no avail. Government red tape and regulations meant that for at least 8 hours a week, you’d be watching whoever was in the maximum security jail cell. No one liked guard duty - you’d rather be researching and the other Marines would rather be fighting. 

Your base - Bayonette  - was strategically located at a narrowing of the Grand Line paths. Ships had to pass near the island unless they wanted to take a much longer route around it. Which meant that most of the Marines at your base were from the fighting corps, and enjoyed engaging the pirates and Revolutionaries in battle. You were one of two scientists at this base, you hadn’t been asked where you wanted to be stationed. You had hoped to get to a science focused base, but you took what came your way. The other Marines were disdainful of your position, thinking you provided no real use to the base as a whole. You’d tried to fit in with them for a few months but gave up as they grew more hostile towards you the more you tried.  Sure, every time there was a party someone would secretly try to get into your pants, but for the most part they found you weak and pointless. You avoided them, they ignored or taunted you. You spent nearly all of your time alone and working both to complete your projects and to avoid the others. It was a lonely time for you, even if it was important for your career. 

You were so disconnected from the active duty staff that you hadn’t even known a prisoner as notorious as the Flame Emperor was at the base until you walked in for your shift, textbook and notes tucked under your arm and cup of coffee in your hand. He was laying on the wide metal bench that doubled as his bed, hands in seastone cuffs resting behind his head. Upon seeing you, he sat upright, straightened his suit coat, and put his tophat on his head. 

He was wearing an interesting ensemble, but you’d seen far worse. He had a full suit complete with frilly shirt, top hat with goggles, and leather gloves.  The cell room was usually warm but today it felt downright hot, you wondered why he wasn’t removing some of his layers. Not that it really mattered. He had prominent facial scarring covering his left eye and going further down his face and neck. The eye with the scarring was milky white, while the other was startlingly blue, like the color of a turbulent sea. He had likely been good looking before the scars, but  now he was unreasonably attractive for a criminal. You wondered how he got his scars - probably from nefarious activities of some kind. You realized belatedly you were staring at him. 

“Hello, pleased to meet you. I’m Sabo,” he said, tipping his hat to you. He was introducing himself like you were on a blind date, not a prisoner and guard. 

“Aren’t you the Flame Emperor?” you asked him. Did you get your criminals mixed up again? You’d found out the hard way nothing made them angrier than confusing them for someone else. Not that they could do anything to you from behind bars, but it was annoying to listen to them rant and rave about your mistake.

“That’s my epithet, but you can just call me Sabo.” Your surprise must have registered on your face because he looked at you from his cell and smiled kindly.

“Um, it’s nice to meet you, Sabo.” You sat down opposite his cell on the long bench provided to you and put down your textbook and sheets of notes. The bench was bracketed by thick walls on either side, giving you something to lean against while seated if it was a smooth shift.

“How come you’ve never been my guard before?” 

“Oh, I only work one or two shifts a week.” Generally you avoided talking to prisoners, especially about information related to Marine matters, but you couldn’t see how this would hurt. It’s not like he wouldn’t figure it out. He stared at you unblinkingly through the bars, taking stock of you head to foot. You hoped he wouldn’t try anything violent since you couldn’t do anything to stop him if he succeeded. 

“Why don’t you have a gun?” Sabo was observant, usually prisoners didn’t notice at all. 

“I just don’t,” you said, shrugging.

“But why don’t you have one?” he asked conversationally. Sabo’s ability to pick up your semantic games gave him some standing in your eyes. Usually you could talk your way out of having to answer questions with half truths and lies of omission. You answered him with another shrug. It was better that he didn’t know you had never been assigned one since you were only research staff. You yawned and took a sip of your coffee right after. Plenty of cream and sugar, just the way you liked it. You’d practically been mainlining coffee with this new assignment. It had come to you directly from Admiral Sakazuki himself, so you were under immense pressure to get everything right - and fast. 

“You look exhausted. Are you not getting enough rest?” Sabo had come to sit in front of the bars and was continuing to watch you.

“I’m fine, thank you,” you replied coolly. The truth was that you were exhausted and had been for weeks. But when you tried to close your eyes and rest at night all you could think of was your work, how behind you were, and how you’d have to explain yourself to the Fleet Admiral. Being reminded of your sleeplessness and anxiety made your hand holding the coffee start to shake. You frowned to yourself and set down the cup on the bench. This had been happening to you for months now and was only getting worse. You put your hands under your thighs to stop them from shaking. Sabo was watching you, which made you feel self conscious, so you avoided eye contact. The two of you sat in silence for a few minutes. You pulled your hands from under your legs and picked up the textbook. 

“What are you reading?” Sabo asked cordially. He was not giving up. Rather, it seemed the less you talked to him, the more he wanted to talk to you. At least he wasn't being rude or crude, you supposed. You flashed him the cover of the textbook.

“Molecular Diagnostics: Nucleic acid amplification,” he said as he recited the title aloud. No one ever cared after you showed them what you read. You cracked it open to where you’d left off and started to concentrate.

“Interesting! So what are you looking for that can’t be detected with fluorescence in situ hybridization?” Your head snapped up - you hadn’t heard anyone talk about FISH since you’d been at the base. 

“You know about molecular cytogenetics?” you asked in disbelief. Sabo nodded fervently, bringing his hands under his chin.

“Of course! If I hadn’t become a Revolutionary, I would have become a scientist. I still try and do some experiments on the side, but between fighting the World Government and being a Marine prisoner, I just haven’t had the time lately.” You looked down at your textbook but had a small smile on your face. 

“I didn’t know this was a research base,” Sabo continued, arching his brow.

“It isn’t really.” You had to be careful about how much you said, you couldn’t give him any information about what you were working on. But this base wasn’t known for research, that was common knowledge. 

“I’m not going to divulge any information,” you uttered, crossing your arms. You’d figured out his angle. Sabo probably thought he could get information out of you by pretending to be interested in what you liked. Though, he had known about FISH, so maybe some of his interest was genuine? Probably not. You’d learned from childhood onward that people only talked to you when they needed something, not for companionship. Even your own family was like that. They loved you of course, but they didn’t really understand you in any meaningful way. 

“Hm? I don’t want information from you. Just conversation. You’re the most interesting Marine who’s stepped foot in here,” replied Sabo with wide eyes. You did your best to keep from rolling your eyes. How stupid did he think you were? You’d keep your guard up, there was no way he was telling the truth.

“Well, I do want one piece of information from you,” he continued. “You didn’t tell me your name. What should I call you?” He’d hear it at guard change anyway, might as well share something in the hopes it satisfied some of his curiosity.

“People around here call me Mag.” You looked back down at your textbook to hopefully end the conversation.

“Mag? That’s an unusual name. Is it short for anything?” Sabo asked, your standoffish body language not affecting his desire for conversation. He was now as close to you as he could get within his cell. 

“It’s just a nickname.” It hadn’t been one you liked or wanted, but it had stuck with you since basic training.

“How did you get it?”

“Listen, I don’t … I really need to study, I’m sorry.” You cringed as you realized you had apologized to your own prisoner. It was a hard habit to break. Sabo raised his hands in front of his face apologetically and smiled at you again. You were burning up in the room - you untied your neckerchief and unbuttoned your jacket. It wasn’t inappropriate, just not in code. But it was so hot you thought you’d pass out if you didn’t do something.

“Please forgive me. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mag.” Sabo didn’t talk to you for the next few hours, but he did watch you the entire time. Every time you raised your eyes from your book to check on him, he was looking at you with interest. When you went to write notes, you’d feel his blue and white eyes on you. He wasn’t even embarrassed about being caught, he just smiled at you and continued to stare like it was the most normal thing in the world. You weren’t even sure he was blinking, just observing you like you were under a microscope. After a while, you couldn’t take it anymore.

“Why are you staring at me?” you snapped your textbook shut angrily, making a loud cracking noise. It was hard for you to concentrate knowing he was surveying you constantly. 

“How often do your hands shake?” Sabo asked, tilting his head in curiosity. You were taken aback by his non-sequitur.

“I don’t keep track.” You did actually, and the frequency was increasing. 

“It gets worse when you stop reading and start writing notes. What’s making you so nervous? It can’t be the molecules.” You pressed your lips into a thin line. You hadn’t realized it was so noticeable. 

“I don’t mean to upset you. I’m just worried,” he said with a frown. You barked out an incredulous laugh. 

“Worried? About me? I appreciate your concern but I think you should worry about yourself,” you said in an unamused tone. Just who did he think he was? Your father? Sabo’s frown deepened. It was finally time for shift change and you could leave this strange prisoner and his penetrating gaze. By the time you would have another shift, he might even be sent to Impel Down and wouldn’t have to think about him again. You gathered your things and walked towards the door, needing to wait for someone to come before you could leave. Unfortunately you saw your least favorite person was coming in after you, Petty Officer Koji. And petty was certainly a good term for him. Ever since you spurned his advances, he’d been making your life hell whenever he could. He opened the door suddenly with a bang, making you jump.

“Aw Mag, didn’t mean to scare you. Doors can be so very frightening,” he said sarcastically, bumping you hard with his shoulder as he came into the room. You nearly fell backwards with the force of his knock, instead stumbling into the wall behind you. He liked to pick you for a lot of reasons, but especially because of your lack of combat skills. You didn’t reply. He took his time looking you up and down, which made your skin crawl.

“Why are you out of uniform?” he asked in an obnoxious tone. You looked down and realized you forgot to rebutton your shirt and tie your neckerchief. Normally, you’d just get a verbal order to get back to code, especially since this room was known for being too warm. But you had a feeling Koji was going to make this a problem.

“I apologize, Petty Officer Koji. It was hot in the –” 

“I didn’t ask for your excuse, Ensign. As punishment, you’ll take the rest of my guard shifts for the next two weeks starting tomorrow. Understood?” Ugh, he found a way to get out of his shifts on guard duty. No one liked them - you’d rather be researching and the other Marines would rather be fighting. You hoped this wouldn’t be a recurring theme.

“Understood, sir,” you gritted out. Now you’d have even less time. Your hands shook as you had them at your sides. You flicked your eyes to Sabo, who was watching your dressing down by Koji. But this time he wasn’t smiling or watching with enjoyment, he looked deathly serious. Gone was the Sabo you’d met, cheerful and chatty. Sabo was still staring, this time at Koji, and you felt like you were watching a panther stalking its prey. Even though Sabo was in chains you felt like you were trapped with him, not the other way around. This was the Flame Emperor, you thought, and the sudden change in his demeanor sent a shiver down your spine.

“Dismissed,” Koji barked at you, cracking his knuckles. You left quickly, fixing your uniform as you walked. Koji stalked towards the cell. Sabo adjusted his leather gloves.

~~~

Koji had quite a few shifts on guard duty that week, no wonder he wanted to dump them on you. Your anxiety increased at an exponential rate when you saw how many more shifts you had over the course of the next two weeks and how much of your research time was being eaten up by just sitting. There wasn’t anything you could do about it - he was your superior officer and had given you an order. Maybe you could get reading done, or maybe Sabo would be transferred soon. Either one would help you out.

The next day you hurried into the cell room a few minutes late and relieved your fellow Ensign. You had been working through some genetic sequencing, thinking you might have made a breakthrough, and you lost track of the time. You grabbed whatever you’d had at the top of your “to read” pile and made a run for the detention center. You threw it down on the bench, sat down and took a deep breath. You didn’t even have time to grab a coffee, which would be a drag for the next few hours. You looked into the cell and saw Sabo already sitting in front of the bars, waving and smiling.

“Good morning, Mag!” Sabo said cheerfully. You weren’t sure what he could be so cheerful about, he had a black eye and a split lip. He may have had more damage but his now ripped clothes covered most of his body. You furrowed your brow slightly and walked up to the cell bars, mouth dipping into a frown. Marines weren’t supposed to rough up prisoners who had already been processed and interrogated. Sure, it happened, but it wasn’t supposed to. You had a good guess who did it - but nothing would come of it even if you reported it. It would be Sabo’s word against a Marine’s and wouldn’t even make it to an official report.

“Are you OK?” you asked in a low voice, grabbing the bars and peering closer at him.

“Hm? What? Why?” Sabo asked in confusion. “Oh, the bruises? It’s nothing.” He shrugged and you noticed something was off about his shoulder. You’d seen it before with your sister. 

“Is your shoulder dislocated?” It was impressive he wasn’t screaming in pain. He didn’t even seem to care.

“Oh, yes, I suppose. I tried popping it back in but the cuffs keep my hands at such an angle that I can’t.” He shrugged again.

You felt angry that he’d been hurt while unable to fight back. When you’d joined the Marines, you were naive and thought that you’d be helping people alongside other like minded individuals. Instead you’d found that people were the same everywhere - small minded and working to meet their own ends, not the greater good. Sabo had been pleasant enough to speak to and was obviously intelligent. You hadn’t hated the shift which was more than you could say about most prisoners you’d watched. You stood at the bars for a moment and made a choice.

“I’m sorry that happened. I’m gonna pop your shoulder back in.” You turned to walk over to the opposite wall where the keys to the cell hung. Your hands were shaking slightly.

“Why?” Sabo said in disbelief. You grabbed the keys and turned around, perplexed.

“It will feel better? I mean, prisoners shouldn’t be treated like this,” you said, gesturing vaguely to him. 

“Even violent prisoners like me?” Sabo questioned.

“Yes, even violent prisoners like you.” You were second guessing yourself now that he had mentioned his violent nature. You’d looked up his bounty out of curiosity - it was over 600 million Beri. You didn’t get a bounty that high by picking endangered flowers.

“That's a very liberal opinion, I’m not sure it fits with the general attitude of the Marines.” You hummed and got closer to the cell bars.

“Do you promise not to hurt me if I come in? I don’t have a gun but I’m a devil fruit user so don’t mess with me.” You felt foolish even saying the words. You knew this was a bad idea but you couldn’t stand the thought of his shoulder being out of place and no way to fix it. You remembered from your sister often crying from the pain and couldn't bear the thought of Sabo feeling the same. He didn’t need to know your devil fruit wouldn’t help you in a fight against him. Sabo nodded slowly and with conviction. 

“I would never hurt you,” he said huskily. Strangely, you believed him. You took a deep breath, held it for five seconds, and exhaled. 

“Ok, I’m coming in.” You unlocked the door and quickly entered. You wanted this over with as soon as possible and to put distance between you and the Flame Emperor once more. Sabo watched you with curiosity but didn’t get up or move in any way. Your hands were shaking so much you laced your fingers together.

You walked towards him slowly, like you would towards a wild animal. You knelt by his sitting form and took stock of his injuries. He had obviously been beaten, you could now see bruises poking out from underneath his shirt. He was well muscled, if a little thin. They probably weren’t feeding him as much as he needed. You looked into his now black eye, and saw amusement in his gaze, like this was a silly game to him.

“I’m going to touch your shoulder now, ok? I want to feel the dislocation before I move it.” you said before you made any movement towards him. Sabo nodded silently and continued watching. You gently put your hands on his shoulder and carefully prodded different areas to figure out what needed to be done. His suit hid his muscled frame well, you could feel his corded muscles flex under your light touch. He was much warmer than you thought he’d be, but maybe it was just due to the heat in the room. Sabo didn’t move at all, didn’t make any indication he was in pain, just let you work. Once you’d figured out the angle, you were ready to manipulate.

“I’m going to pop it back in now. Try not to move,” you told him. You stood on your knees so you were angled perpendicular to his body and braced your hands on either side of his shoulder.

“3…2…” where you would have said one you moved his shoulder back into its socket. Sabo made no sounds or movement, but rolled it a little forwards and backwards afterwards.

“Is it back in? Does it feel better?” You hoped you did it right the first time, you hadn’t done it in a while. You were still on your knees near him in case you needed to do it again.

“It feels wonderful, thank you so much Mag.” Sabo said gratefully, turning to face you. He was only a foot or so away, so near you could count his eyelashes. It was at this moment you realized how close he was to you, how easily he could overpower you, and how stupid you had been to come into his cell. You scrambled up and left the cell as quickly as you could, locking him back within it. Hanging the key again, you released a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. You sat back down on your bench, mentally berating yourself for being so foolish. 

“How did you do that so gently? When my brother used to do it for me it always felt worse than when it got dislocated.” Sabo was still rolling his shoulder, trying to stretch it out.

“Oh, ah, one of my sisters has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome so I’ve been putting joints back in sockets for years. It can be tricky but it’s a skill like any other.” You picked up your work to start to read. 

“I appreciate your kindness, Mag. I assure you it won’t be forgotten.” Sabo spoke with determination and sincerity. You didn’t really know how to take his declaration - it wasn’t that big of a deal. 

“Well, how about this? If Revolutionaries attack the base in the future, promise to kill me last,” you said with a wry smile. You were feeling better about Sabo. He had the chance to injure you - or even kill you - and escape but instead he sat with docility and allowed you to touch him. Maybe you could actually talk to him about your interests, he’d seemed interested yesterday.

“Ah! You’ve finally smiled at me! And all it took was one dislocated shoulder. A small price to pay,” Sabo beamed at you, showcasing a dimple in his cheek. You rolled your eyes but felt your face heating a little. It really wasn’t fair how good looking he was. When he smiled he looked like an angel come to earth, sweet and kind. 

“Yeah yeah. Now, I have to get back to work.” You waved him off and cracked open your book. You’d started it before, but hadn’t gotten far. Sabo stood up and leaned against the bars of his cell.

“So what gene are you looking for?” Sabo asked. You looked up with a start. You hadn’t said anything to him about your work.

“How do you know that’s what I’m doing?” you said in a rush.

“Well, first of all you just confirmed it. You’re not a good liar.” He stated while pointing at you. You could kick yourself for your immediate response. Sabo wasn’t making fun of you, just stating facts. He was right, you couldn’t lie at all. Your hands started to shake again.

“Yesterday you were reading about sensitive molecular diagnostics and today you’re reading about non linear sequence inspection. So it stands to reason that you’re looking for some gene. Which one?” You were shocked he had put that all together - you didn’t think there was anyone within 1,000 kilometers who could do the same. You had been underestimating his intelligence.

“Um, I can’t tell you. It’s part of my research.” 

“Fair enough,” Sabo said with a sigh. You felt better that he was dropping the conversation. Not that you could tell him anyway, but it would be annoying to have to ignore him if he persisted. Sabo was quiet for a moment before asking another question.

“Will you share with me your devil fruit power then?” Oh, right. You’d revealed you were a devil fruit user. How many dumb mistakes can you make in one day? It wasn’t classified or anything, you just preferred not to talk about it. Maybe it would take his mind off your research. You shut the book and put it aside.

“I ate the Mag-Mag fruit. It allows me to magnify things.” You waited for him to tell you that it was useless. At least, that was the opinion of everyone on the base. 

“Is that why they call you Mag? How unoriginal,” he scoffed, adjusting his leather gloves. You laughed lightly.

“Yeah, I don’t care for the name either. But it’s been with me for a few years now, so I think I’m stuck with it.” 

“I can call you something else if you’d like,” Sabo supplied silkily.

“Um, like what?” you said. You were fairly sure he was flirting with you.

“How about darling?” he suggested in a throaty tone, watching your face.

“I don’t think - I’m not -” You looked away as your face heated, you didn’t like the turn this conversation was taking. 

“I meant nothing by it, I apologize,” he said smiling at you again. You didn’t answer, just looked out the window. You knew you weren’t the most attractive person in the world, he didn’t need to remind you. You had a lot of self confidence around your intelligence and general self worth but almost none around your physical body. People only wanted you when there were no other options or when drunk. No one had ever expressed interest in you romantically and you couldn’t imagine this incredible looking man would want you either. He was out of your league, criminal or not, and both of you knew it. He was just bored and playing with you for fun. 

In a quiet voice, you chided, “that’s not nice. Don’t say things you don’t mean.” Sabo looked at you with an indecipherable look on his face. He adjusted his leather gloves once again as you avoided looking at him.

“What can you do with your fruit? I imagine it’s a powerful tool.” You glanced at him and sighed. It wasn’t fair for you to take out your frustration on him. He hadn’t really said anything terrible. You had heard much worse in this room before and hadn’t taken offense before. You just had to remind yourself that Sabo wasn’t your friend, wasn’t your peer, wasn’t anything but a prisoner who’d be taken to Impel Down soon. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lash out at you. I’ve been stressed lately, but that’s no excuse. It’s easier if I show you how it works rather than tell you. Look out the window, you see those buildings out there? On the far side of the island? Watch.” 

You made a rectangle with your index fingers and thumbs and brought them apart, framing the buildings in the middle. You took your index and thumb and put them on the buildings and spread your fingers apart. The rectangle that you’d framed earlier now contained a zoomed in image of the buildings, which could now be identified as houses. You repeated the gesture, bringing your index finger and thumb apart again and now you were zoomed in enough to see the curtains hanging in the window of the farthest house. 

“I can magnify anything I frame with my fingers. It can be useful for research.” You’d eaten the fruit when you were a young teen and it had shaped the rest of your life, sharpening your interest in science and leading you to your current career.

“That is an incredible power! What is the maximum magnification you can achieve? How long can you hold it?” Sabo was enthusiastic, watching the houses intently. It was refreshing to have someone interested in your power.

“I have gotten to the sub-atomic level before, but that’s not usually necessary. The higher the magnification, the more power it takes for me to hold it. Something like this,” you said, gesturing to the houses, “I could easily hold for hours. But looking at molecules like DNA takes a lot out of me, especially if I have to zoom in and out frequently.” Sabo nodded his head fervently.

“I see. Thus leading to some of your exhaustion.” You didn't think he'd bring that up again. You didn’t answer, just erased the magnification rectangle by flicking your hand through it. 

“You’ll join me in the Revolutionary Army,” Sabo declared happily, clapping his hands together. You turned to face him and laughed. Was Sabo funny?

“Are you trying to recruit me? From your jail cell?” You chuckled again.

“No, no. Of course not. I’m not recruiting you, I’m telling you. You’ll be joining me.” Sabo said definitively, smiling ear to ear. You smiled back and exhaled sharply through your nose. What a silly notion.

“Naturally,” you replied, “let me know when you get out of Impel Down, and we can go together.” As if any of that would ever happen. You looked at the clock - your shift was over. It had gone faster than you thought it would, you’d had an interesting time with Sabo. As your colleague relieved you, you realized you were looking forward to your next shift. 

[diminuel]

Crocodile's a freaking badass in your comics!

The man is the child of two of the most powerfull pirates to ever exist, had a bounty on his head when he was just a BABY! Married the most wanted man in the world and is the mother/father to the future king of the pirates, a White Beard commander and a revolutionary, who is the only known person who had met Imu and LIVED!

He's also able to manage his professional life with his personal relationships without one getting into the other (that being the Cross Guild and his marriage with Dragon) and probably had a relationship with TWO former celestial dragons (Doflamingo and Corazon)

ULTIMATE MILF CERTIFIED!

It amuses me that his accomplishments earn him the "certified ultimate MILF" label! (But he is. He can't help it I guess. He earned it.)

As to the badass claim; One Piece has quite a few remarkable characters who have been significant figures in the world. And many of them are connected to each other - be it by being in the same crew or by being rivals. Lots of battlefield forged connections!

That said, we know almost nothing of Crocodile's past, but we know that in the past there's been a connection to Whitebeard and one of the founding members of the Revolutionary Army. He's well-connected apparently in his own right now as an adult too (even though we don't know most of those connections), so even without my creative intervention he is a badass.

But weaving my blorbos into those tapestries of powerful, era forging figures is just a temptation I cannot resist. (I do it with Dragon too, by a) making him a high ranking Marine and b) connecting him to the Roger Pirates) Via Crocodad theory we're spinning those threads connecting Crocodile to those significant figures some more. As we do when playing with a Rocks D. Crocodile headcanon.

(And by choosing his bed partners (un)wisely he might forge even further connections ;33 You go Crocodile! Have some kids with the most messed up lineage! I see you sneaking Cora into this.)

[jmdbjk]

Traveling is my thing too...

I'm still marinating in my Are You Sure?! afterglow. I just loved every part of it, every minute of the episodes and behinds. There is one thing that's been on my mind and I know it might ruffle some people because of how it sounds at first.

Jimin and Jungkook spontaneously created "scenes" for Are You Sure?!. Prompted each other for the sake of making content. Another facet of being good entertainers...

They were trying to be content creators and not rely on others to tell them what to say or do. The total opposite of "scripted" which, of course, means the shows were unscripted and made up as the days' activities unfolded.

They both actively initiated moments they could play off each other. This is part of that now-becoming-over-used word we say to describe their dynamic... chemistry.

Was it fake? No. The moments they created were genuine interactions whether it was an inside joke of theirs or just talking about topics like cosmic horror or origins of slang words. Not any different than how we behave with our own close friends and significant others. We initiate conversation topics, we poke at each other, we talk about stupid shit, we sometimes have heartfelt and meaningful conversations.

In other words, we are authentic with our closest people. That's what humans do. And as we also are so comfortable with our friends and significant others, we can also have quiet time just being in the presence of the other. IT'S ALL NORMAL AND NOT FAKE.

Was it fan service? No. Again, they were being content creators, trying to create something that was purely them, purely normal interactions only they could have with each other.

Do they have off moments? Of course they do. When one or the other was not active in the interaction, the other was just being themselves, no faking, no fan service, just Jimin and Jungkook behaving as themselves, the only way they know to behave, in the presence of the other, nothing negative about it, just "being."

But they were on a mission to create content that they knew Army would enjoy while they were away. With a big smile, Jungkook said we'll really enjoy it. He said this before he got in that Jeep and drove away to Connecticut. He already knew before it started that he and Jimin were going to have fun. They trust us, their fans, to enjoy the things they give us. Those who do not enjoy it are not their fans.

I've seen people say they only watched a few clips and not the entire series of AYS and then conclude "its obvious (insert fave name) feels this or that." No Boo, you can't deduce those things from a 5 second slo-mo clip or a screen cap from a split second moment from an 8 episode series (9 hours of interactions between the members). What IS obvious is these people don't want to know the truth.

If you don't watch original content in its entirety, how could you possibly "know" your fave/bias? Especially this particular series. If you are a fan of Jimin, Jungkook or even Taehyung, if you did not watch the entire episodes, your opinion is meaningless. If you based your opinions on select snippets or screenshots with no context, your opinion is meaningless because you don't have the entire story. You have every right to say you don't like it and won't watch it because it doesn't align with your (false) idea of who Jimin, Jungkook and even Tae are. But in doing that, you should also remind yourself you are clinging to your own fantasies of who they are.

If you had access and were able to watch all of the episodes on Disney+, many thanks for helping to make this project of Jungkook and Jimin's a resounding success. Ranked #5 worldwide for 2024 TV shows on Disney+. This chart is sorted by popularity:

In his last live the day before enlisting, Jimin told us he was sick with the flu for a week after returning from Sapporo and only had another week before their enlistment. Maybe he was starting to feel the symptoms on that last day in Sapporo and it contributed to feeling so down.

The behind footage for Sapporo shows at some point the cameras were turned off in the car when they were driving to the airport to return to Korea.

It would have been easy for the show's producers to just edit the footage and write captions that totally ignore the fact the cameras were ever turned off at all. We would have never known. Them including that information helps us put everything in context. Jungkook and Jimin purposely turned the cameras off and they purposely informed us of that so we could understand that there was a lot of time without any recording whatsoever. Maybe they talked about stuff they didn't want recorded. Maybe Jimin took a nap because he wasn't feeling good. No matter, most would call that PRIVATE TIME. They had an abundance of PRIVATE TIME during ALL of these trips.

I feel strongly they will do a few more trips. They loved this so much, and they have a foundation to build on, they will do more.

And now, its been a few weeks after the last episode and we've got the behind scenes. It still sort of feels like a dream that these two produced this project for us. Yet it only made sense didn't it? Who else out of the 7 would do something like this? It's genius level thinking to create this, doing something they both have said they love doing, doing it with each other, the people they connect with the best, and giving us something at the same time. Brilliant.

And I want to say thank you to Jimin and Jungkook. Personally, this was the best of the best.

It is truly the work of the Universe that they have each other, to support each other during this period of time. In recent pics I've seen, they look well. I miss them so much.

And now we're just over 8 months away from having them back. Eight months and 15 days before all 7 are discharged and we look forward to the first group live and an ocean of tears of relief pouring from all over the world for them. 10 days until our Hobi is back. I'm so excited!

My Are You Sure?! photobook arrived the other day, I wasn't expecting it so suddenly because Weverse Shop still had it marked as "shipping soon" and then all of a sudden it was here. YAY!

I am going to scan a lot of it but the big postcard sized photos that were part of the early pre-order gifts are on my refrigerator. I also ordered the Are You Sure?! magnets but those won't be here until December. As you can see, I'm a collector of fridge magnets when I travel so it was a no-brainer to get the Are You Sure magnets.

Also, shout out to anyone in North Carolina trying to recover from Hurricane Helene. The Nantahala area was one of my most favorite vacations. I hope to go back someday. I know it's hard to rebuild, I've experienced the aftermath of too many hurricanes. Take it one day at a time and never lose hope. Normal will come back again.

[seeingteacupsindragons]

Did you ever manage to wrap your head around Stan's position in the military? Because I'm getting a lot of mixed signals aha. Also, just love all of your dr stone posts, they fuel me :)

Yeah, my head is settled on: The author has absolutely no fuckin' clue how the US military works and aggressively did not care. Which is fine, really, because it's a fairly minor point in the series and there's lots of other stuff to care about (although I would also like to lodge a complaint about how Senku is apparently the president of the science club as a freshie, but again, the timelines of stuff happening here wildly makes no sense and they really should not have even tried).

But as an American, oh my God.

If we cared about realism, he would be in the Marines based on his dress uniform and frankly also based on the weird variety of skills he has because the Marines do and always have occupied a very weird place in the US military in which they are expected to be kind of a jack of all trades and they tend to have much higher standards and much smaller forces than the other branches.

And if he's a special ops Marine, then he would be a Marine Raider in MARSOC, and if he's a commander of a MARSOC squad, he would have to be a Captain, which is a commissioned officer rank which pretty much universally requires a 4-year college degree. He could theoretically be a higher rank but at his age that's already pushing into nonsense and also unlikely for him to be boots on the ground anymore, and he clearly is.

According to the fanbook, he enlisted in the Air Force (???????????????? THEN WHY IS HE WEARING---DRESS UNIFORMS ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE????) at 18, was selected for the "special forces" at 19 (that is not how anything works holy shit, getting any of the special forces in any of the US branches is really rigorous and difficult and requires a lot of training) and promoted as the youngest commander in history (yeah for fucking sure) of a special ops team at 21.

This is just not how anything works. If he's a commissioned officer, he would still be in college. Also I think the author might think the US has just one generic special forces squad from all the branches, when in fact each has their own. The Navy SEALs are not the Marine Raiders are not the Army Green Berets are not the Air Commandos.

*yells into a void about this*

So anyway, if we want to align this to realism, he's a Captain of a Marine Raider team.

If we want to not do that, he's...a commander of special forces after being promoted out of the Air Force because...he was...good with a gun, I guess, and now he gets to wear the Marine uniform???

*rubs temples*

I like the first. Because at some point I am just going to have to ignore the fact that canon doesn't make any sense after acknowledging that's what it is.

It is possible that the author/artist just associated "Marines" with "US Special Forces" because until the last couple decades they were sort of treated that way, because of, again, the weird place they hold in the US Military generally, to the point where my grandfather insisted all Marines were special forces (he was a Marine, go figure).

But that hasn't been true for a while and the Marine Raiders were formed well before Stan could have ever joined the military.

Okay, I think that...probably answers your question? I can talk about this for a while because I spent a long time looking this stuff up. Like probably 20-40 hours. Because Stan is a pretty gay anime boy with an 8 pack whom I latched onto and thus this happened.

Also I want him to be a Marine Raider because the Marine motto is "Semper Fidelis" or "Always Faithful" and the Marine Special Ops motto specifically is "Spiritus Invictus" or "Unconquerable Spirit" and I suspect that wasn't on purpose for the reasons listed above, but goddamn does that fit him perfectly.

Also the Raider creed fits him super perfectly if you sub country in there for Xeno.

Anyway, feel free to ask more questions about Stuff.

[technofeudalism]

this article is posted on /r/politics on reddit. the comments are talking about how this is because of Hegseth and Trump. this is a picture perfect example of what i am talking about. this delusion has got to stop.

Published 7:56 AM EDT, Wed March 31, 2021

Deep in the North Carolina woods, the men trained at night for what they called “seek out and destroy” missions. They fought each other in hand-to-hand combat, running drills at a bucolic encampment near Fort Bragg. Glenn Miller, an ex-Green Beret, ran the place. Wiry and mustached, the Vietnam veteran paced its grounds in fatigues. A smooth talker, Miller used his contacts in the Army to draw dozens of active-duty military personnel from Bragg, one of the largest US military installations in the world, and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. It was the early 1980s and the Vietnam War was over.  But Miller tapped into a burning resentment within some soldiers, not only worn down from battles overseas but from ostracization back home. Once Miller had their ear, he’d spit fire about how Blacks and Jews were the downfall of the country – a nation weakened by liberalism and the Civil Rights Movement that threatened the White man’s perch. Come join my “special forces,” he appealed to his recruits, claiming that together they would create an all-White utopia by waging a race war and toppling the US government.   A former Marine testified that he obtained a staggering cache of military weapons – including 200 pounds of C4 explosives, TNT and ammunition – from active-duty soldiers at Fort Bragg for Miller’s White Patriot Party. Undercover agents ultimately infiltrated his group, Miller was sentenced to prison and his grand plans for a race war imploded. But the fact that Miller’s ploy advanced as far as it did shocked Department of Defense leaders and revealed to them a painful truth: White supremacists and anti-government extremists had found a home within its ranks. Decades later, they still do. Since Miller’s scheme, cases of service members with racist and extremist ideologies have time and again confronted the Pentagon. Over the years, leaders have taken intermittent stabs at the problem – providing training on recognizing extremist tattoos, for example. But they have mainly relied on – and repeatedly revised – a Defense Department policy intended to prohibit extremism in the ranks, a policy that has not led to meaningful change, experts said. “Have the policies worked? No. What have we done about it? I’d say not much,” said Ret. Army Lt. General Mark Hertling, a 37-year veteran who served as the commanding general of the Army in Europe. “So, here we are again.”

if we continue to refuse to acknowledge the history of this country honestly while acting like Trump is the root of all of the problems, we are going to end up in darker and darker places until there is simply no more light.

[hardlyinteresting]

A thorough analysis of medals, ribbons, and awards in Top Gun: Maverick

Have you ever wanted to know what medals The Dagger Squad and company wear in TGM? I did, and then I just kept reading and then I started a google doc and now I have a list I can share with all of you! (I feel like my brain might actually be melting)

I have done my absolute best to identify as many of their medals/ribbons as possible based on the clearest images I could find, and I have tried my best to comment on how realistic they may be for these characters. The photos I referenced for this deep dive are included at the bottom of this post.

Analysis below the cut

LT. Jake “Hangman” Seresin He wears 9 ribbons on his uniform. 

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Jake wears an additional device on his but it doesn’t look like a star. It is likely a bronze “V” for valour worn to denote that the award was given for combat heroism. 

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Jake wears 2 bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 3 times.

Navy Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit that displayed outstanding acts of heroism). 

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Afghanistan Campaign medal (The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Afghanistan (or its airspace) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.) * The pin Jake wears on his ribbon looks like a Fleet Marine Force combat operation insignia indicates that he may have been assigned to a unit that operated under a Marine Corps attachment and carried out duties under the Marine Corps operational control 

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001) 

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Jake wears two stars on his ribbon. I can’t tell if they are silver or bronze. Bronze would indicate he has met this criteria 3 times during his service. Two silver stars would 10. Both are possible for his character. 

From what I can tell, and the research I have done, Jake’s medals make sense for his age, rank, and experience level. They all seem to be displayed in the correct order of precedence. 

LT. Natasha “Pheonix” Trace Natasha also wears 9 ribbons on her uniform. 

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Natasha wears hers with 2 bronze stars which would indicate that she has received the commendation 3 times. 

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Natasha wears 2 bronze stars on this ribbon indicating she has been given this award 3 times.

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Afghanistan Campaign Medal (The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Afghanistan (or its airspace) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.)

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001) 

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Natasha wears a pin/device on her ribbon, though it’s significantly smaller than the stars she wears on her other ribbons. The only devices authorized to be worn with this ribbon are bronze or silver stars, so I’m unsure what it is. 

NATO Medal (The NATO Medal is a decoration presented by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to recognize international NATO military members who have participated in various peacekeeping operations.) However, there are 10 different variations and versions of this medal and I can’t see in enough detail to confirm which one it is that Natasha wears. 

Again, from the research I’ve done, the ribbons that Natasha wears seem to make sense for her age, rank, and experience level. I have not been able to confirm if her NATO ribbon is in the correct order of presence, but I do believe it is. 

LT. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw

I can find only one image of him in his uniform and wearing his ribbons. However, I would have to assume that it’s an older photo and would have been taken long before the beginning of the beginning of the TGM film timeline and that he would have more by the time we see him on screen. I would also expect that having his papers pulled and being held back in his career timeline may have changed things for him as well. But, he’s wearing 8 ribbons in the photo. This could be a continuity error but I have no way of knowing for sure. Alas, I can only break down what I can see. (But if anyone can find me a still from the film where we can see his current ribbons I’d be over the moon). 

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Bradley wears his with 2 bronze stars which would indicate that he has received the commendation 3 times. 

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Bradley wears 2 bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 3 times.

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Afghanistan Campaign Medal (The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Afghanistan (or its airspace) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.)

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001) 

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Bradley wears two silver stars on his ribbon which would indicate that he has met this criteria 10 times. 

Beyond the question of timeline, I would say that these ribbons all make sense for his level of experience, his rank, and his age. The ribbons all seem to be displayed in the correct order of precedence. 

LT. Mickey “Fanboy” Garcia  Mickey wears eight ribbons on his uniform. 

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Mickey wears his with 2 bronze stars which would indicate that he has received the commendation 3 times. 

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Mickey wears 1 bronze star on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 2 times.

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Afghanistan Campaign Medal (The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Afghanistan (or its airspace) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.)

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001) 

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Mickey wears two bronze stars on his ribbon which would indicate that he has met this criteria 3 times. 

From what I can tell, and the research I have done, all of these medals make sense for his age, rank, and experience level. They all seem to be displayed in the correct order of precedence. 

LT. Reuben “Payback” Fitch  Reuben wears 9 ribbons on his uniform

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Reuben wears his with 1 star, but I can’t quite tell for sure if it’s bronze or silver. One bronze star would indicate that he has received the commendation 2times. One Silver star would indicate 5 times. Both would be possible. 

 Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, after July 1, 1958, participated in U.S. military operations, U.S. operations in direct support of the United Nations, or U.S. operations of assistance for friendly foreign nations). It is hard to tell from the photos I have if this is for sure the correct medal, but it’s the only one that fits the colour order I can see. 

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Reuben wears his with 2 bronze stars indicating he’s been given this award 3 times. 

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Afghanistan Campaign Medal (The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Afghanistan (or its airspace) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.)

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001) 

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Rueben wears one star on his ribbon. I cannot confirm whether it is a bronze star or a silver star. A bronze star would indicate that he has met this criteria 3 times. A silver star would indicate he met this criteria 10 times. 

If the third ribbon Rueben wears is the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal I am 95% sure it would be in the wrong order. I believe it should come after his Afghanistan Campaign medal and before his Inherent Resolve Campaign medal for them to be displayed in the correct order of precedence. 

LT. Robert “BOB” Floyd Robert wears seven ribbons on his uniform. 

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Bob wears his with 2 bronze stars which would indicate that he has received the commendation 3 times. 

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Bob wears 2 bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 3 times.

Navy Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit that displayed outstanding acts of heroism). 

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001) 

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Bob wears a pin/device on this ribbon, though it’s significantly smaller than the stars he wears on his other ribbons. The only devices authorized to be worn with this ribbon are bronze or silver stars, so I’m unsure what it is. 

From what I can tell, and the research I have done, all of these medals make sense for his age, rank, and experience level. They all seem to be displayed in the correct order of precedence. 

LT. Javy “Coyote” Machado Javy wears nine ribbons.

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Javy  wears his with 2 star bronze stars so he has been given this commendation 3 times. 

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Javy wears 1 bronze star on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 2 times.

Navy Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit that displayed outstanding acts of heroism). 

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Afghanistan Campaign Medal (The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Afghanistan (or its airspace) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.)

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001) 

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Javy wears what looks like one bronze star on this ribbon which would indicate he has met this criteria twice. But I haven’t been able to find a clear enough image to confirm. 

From what I can tell, and the research I have done, all of these medals make sense for his age, rank, and experience level. They all seem to be displayed in the correct order of precedence. 

CWO Bernie “Hondo” Coleman Hondo wears 15 ribbons on his uniform

Purple Heart (Given to members of the US Military who have been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of an act of any such enemy or opposing armed forces)

Meritorious Service Medal (presented to members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves with outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the United States.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Hondo wears his with 1  bronze star so he has been given this commendation twice. 

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Hondo wears 1 bronze star on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 2 times.

Meritorious Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit who have shown Valorous or meritorious achievement or service, or exceptionally meritorious conduct and outstanding achievement or service, in combat or non-combat.)

Navy E Ribbon (Awarded to service members who were on permanent duty aboard a U.S. Navy ship or in a unit that won a battle efficiency competition after July 1, 1974.)* Hondo wears a silver wreathed E pin on his ribbon showing he has received this award 5 or more times. 

Good Conduct Medal (awarded to any active duty enlisted member of the United States military who completes three consecutive years of "honorable and faithful service," without any non-judicial punishment, disciplinary infractions, or court martial offenses.)

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Afghanistan Campaign Medal (The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Afghanistan (or its airspace) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.)

Iraq Campaign Medal (The Iraq Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Iraq  (or its territorial waters) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.)

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (For  military service members who have deployed overseas in direct service to the War on Terror starting from 2001 to a date to be determined.) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001) 

Armed Forces Service Medal (Awarded to Service members who have participated in “significant action” for which no other service or campaign medal is authorized, ie. military operation that did not encounter foreign armed opposition or imminent hostile action)

Humanitarian Service Medal (Awarded to service members who partake in military acts or operations which are deemed to be humanitarian in nature) 

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.)

His Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal from what I understand would have later been replaced with the Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign Medals which he has also received and wears. He would not have received all three, so this is odd. Regardless, the ribbons he wears are in the correct order of precedence and make sense for his age and rank. However, I have less direct context and understanding of his role as a Chief Warrant Officer and what his career path may have looked like compared to the Dager Squad members and cannot comment on whether or not he is missing any that you may expect to see on a CWO. 

CAPT. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell Maverick wears 22 ribbons on his uniform

Silver Star Medal (awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States. It is the third-highest decoration for valour in combat)

Legion of Merit (for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.)

Defense Meritorious Service Medal (For members of the armed forces who while serving in a joint activity showed outstanding achievement or meritorious service in non-combat situations, but not of a degree to warrant award of the Defense Superior Service Medal.)

Meritorious Service Medal (awarded to those who have shown meritorious achievement or service to the United States.)

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.) *Mav wears a bronze pin device on his ribbon on the second yellow stripe. This is usually a strike/flight numerals device. I cannot make out the number, but this would serve to indicate the number of Strike/Flight awards given for operations in hostile territory and count the total number of Strikes (operations that faced enemy opposition) and Flights (operations that did not encounter enemy opposition) added together.

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Mav wears his with 3 silver stars implying he has received this award a total of 15 times

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.)

Combat Action Ribbon (Given to United States Sea Service Members who have actively participated in ground or surface combat)

Joint Meritorious Unit Award (given to joint units or units tasked with a joint mission where they have displayed meritorious achievement or service beyond what is normally expected, or for actions in combat with an armed enemy of the, a declared national emergency, or under extraordinary circumstances of national interest)

Navy E Ribbon (Awarded to service members who were on permanent duty aboard a U.S. Navy ship or in a unit that won a battle efficiency competition after July 1, 1974.)* Mav wears a silver E pin on his ribbon showing he has received this award 2 times. 

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Armed Forces Service Medal (Awarded to Service members who have participated in “significant action” for which no other service or campaign medal is authorized, ie. military operation that did not encounter foreign armed opposition or imminent hostile action)

South West Asia Service Medal (Awarded to those who participated in operations in South West Asia between 1990 and 1995. Including participation in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Operations and support may have been carried out in any of the following nations and/or areas: Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Eygpt, Türkiye, Syria, Jordan, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden) *Mav wears 2 bronze stars indicating he served in 2 of 3 major campaigns. His bronze stars are pinned in the incorrect positions however, they should not be centred side by side, but rather one on each of the inside yellow stripes. 

Afghanistan Campaign Medal (The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Afghanistan (or its airspace) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.) *Maverick wears two bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he served during 2 of the 6 campaign phases. Once again his stars are in the incorrect positions. Instead of being centred side by side, they should each be on each of the inner black stripes. 

Iraq Campaign Medal (The Iraq Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Iraq  (or its territorial waters) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.) *Maverick wears two bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he served during 2 of the 7 campaign phases. Once again his stars are in the incorrect positions. Instead of being centred side by side, they should each be on each of the inner black stripes.

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (For  military service members who have deployed overseas in direct service to the War on Terror starting from 2001 to a date to be determined.) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001) 

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.)

United Nations Medal (award for any action in which a member of the military participated in a joint UN activity)

Kuwait Liberation Medal (Awarded by the government of Kuwait to regional and foreign military personnel who served during the Gulf War’s “Liberation of Kuwait” campaign phase between 1990 and 1993. 

Navy Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Mav wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification. 

Navy Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Mav wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification. 

His Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal from what I understand would have later been replaced with the Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign Medals which he has also received and wears. He would not have received all three, so this is odd. Regardless, the ribbons he wears are in the correct order of precedence and make sense for his age and rank. I do have questions about how many years he’s been serving and only making it to the rank of Captain but he also has not received, or at least does not wear any ribbons for good conduct, and he is known to rock the boat so I will suspend my disbelief.

VADM. Beau “Cyclone” Simpson  Cyclone wears 19 ribbons on his uniform 

Bronze Star Medal (heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone.)

Purple Heart (Given to members of the US Military who have been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of an act of any such enemy or opposing armed forces)

Meritorious Service Medal (awarded to those who have shown meritorious achievement or service to the United States.)

Joint Service Commendation Medal (meritorious achievement or service in a joint duty capacity.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service) *Beau wears his with 2 silver stars so he has been given this commendation 10 times. 

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Cyclone wears 2 bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 3 times.

Navy Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit that displayed outstanding acts of heroism). *Cyclone wears a device on this ribbon, it’s not a star, but from what I’ve read there are no other devices authorized to wear with this ribbon.  

Navy  Meritorious Unit Commendation ( for valorous or meritorious achievement or service in combat or non-combat situations) 

Navy E Ribbon (Awarded to service members who were on permanent duty aboard a U.S. Navy ship or in a unit that won a battle efficiency competition after July 1, 1974.)* Cyclone wears a silver E pin with a wreath on his ribbon showing he has received this award 5 times. 

Good Conduct Medal (awarded to any active duty enlisted member of the United States military who completes three consecutive years of "honourable and faithful service," without any non-judicial punishment, disciplinary infractions, or court martial offences.) *Beau wears what looks to be 2 stars on this ribbon. I cannot tell what colour they are. 2 bronze would me he’s received this award 3 times for 9 consecutive years of honorable service. 2 silver would mean he’s received this award 10 times for 30 consecutive years of honorable service. However, before 1996 they were awarded every 4 years. So I think we’re likely looking at between 20-25 years of service, which makes sense for his rank. 

Navy Expeditionary Medal ( Awarded to enlisted Navy service members who were confirmed to have landed on foreign territory and engaged in operations against armed opposition) 

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Iraq Campaign Medal (The Iraq Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Iraq  (or its territorial waters) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have deployed in support of the War on Terror to locations beyond Iraq and Afghanistan.) 

Global War on Terrorism Service Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001) 

UNIDENTIFIED SERVICE MEDAL

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Beau wears what looks like one bronze star on this ribbon which would indicate he has met this criteria twice. But I haven’t been able to find a clear enough image to confirm. 

Navy Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Beau wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification. 

Navy Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Cyclone wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification. 

His Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, from what I understand, would have later been replaced with his Iraq Campaign Medal which he has also received and wears. He would not have received both, so this is odd. Regardless, the ribbons he wears are in the correct order of precedence and make sense for his age and rank. However, I have less direct context and understanding of his role as a Vice Admiral and what his career path may have looked like compared to the Dager Squad members, and cannot comment on whether or not he is missing any that you may expect to see on a VADM. 

RADM. Solomon “Warlock” Bates Warlock wears 22 ribbons on his uniform

Legion of Merit (for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.)

Bronze Star Medal (heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone.)

Purple Heart (Given to members of the US Military who have been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of an act of any such enemy or opposing armed forces)

Meritorious Service Medal (awarded to those who have shown meritorious achievement or service to the United States.)

Joint Service Commendation Medal (meritorious achievement or service in a joint duty capacity.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service) 

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) 

Navy Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit that displayed outstanding acts of heroism).

UNIDENTIFIED SERVICE MEDAL

Navy E Ribbon (Awarded to service members who were on permanent duty aboard a U.S. Navy ship or in a unit that won a battle efficiency competition after July 1, 1974.)* Warlock wears 3 silver E pins on his ribbon showing he has received this award 4 times. 

Good Conduct Medal (awarded to any active duty enlisted member of the United States military who completes three consecutive years of "honourable and faithful service," without any non-judicial punishment, disciplinary infractions, or court martial offences.) *Solomon wears what looks to be 2 stars on this ribbon. I cannot tell what colour they are. 2 bronze would me he’s received this award 3 times for 9 consecutive years of honorable service. 2 silver would mean he’s received this award 10 times for 30 consecutive years of honorable service. However, before 1996 they were awarded every 4 years. So I think we’re likely looking at between 20-25 years of service, which makes sense for his rank. 

Navy Expeditionary Medal ( Awarded to enlisted Navy service members who were confirmed to have landed on foreign territory and engaged in operations against armed opposition) 

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Iraq Campaign Medal (The IraqCampaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Iraq  (or its territorial waters) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.) *Warlock wears two bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he served during 2 of the 7 campaign phases. Once again his stars are in the incorrect positions. Instead of being centred side by side, they should each be on each of the inner black stripes.

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (For  military service members who have deployed overseas in direct service to the War on Terror starting from 2001 to a date to be determined.) 

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have deployed in support of the War on Terror to locations beyond Iraq and Afghanistan.) 

Humanitarian Service Medal (Awarded to service members who partake in military acts or operations which are deemed to be humanitarian in nature) 

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Warlock wears what looks like 3 bronze star on this ribbon which would indicate he has met this criteria 4 times. But I haven’t been able to find a clear enough image to confirm. 

Navy Overseas Service Ribbon (recognizes those service members who have performed military tours outside the borders of the United States of America. 12 months of consecutive or accumulated duty at an overseas shore-based duty station)

United Nations Medal (award for any action in which a member of the military participated in a joint UN activity)

Navy Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Solomon wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification.

Navy Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Warlock wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification. 

His Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, from what I understand, would have later been replaced with his Iraq Campaign Medal which he has also received and wears. He would not have received both, so this is odd. Regardless, the ribbons he wears are in the correct order of precedence and make sense for his age and rank. However, I have less direct context and understanding of his role as a Rear Admiral and what his career path may have looked like compared to the Dager Squad members, and cannot comment on whether or not he is missing any that you may expect to see on a RADM. 

[hoe4hotchner]

Bit of a fic idea (not necessarily a request). But what about a friends to lovers with Aaron Hotchner? Like they've been friends since childhood, she's a few years younger though. She was in the drama club with Hayley and is the reason the 2 met and she was the best woman at the wedding. But she's had a crush on Aaron for the longest time,t though always dismissed it as she valued the friendship more. She's Jack's godmother and is there for Aaron whenever he needs. She is a Sargent in the Marines, so gets the long hours Aaron does. She was deployed when she got the news about Hayley being killed by Foyet and rushed back as soon as possible. She didn't take another mission for a while after to be there for Aaron. Further down the line she considers maybe telling him her feelings but he starts dating Beth so she doesn't. Eventually she starts dating a guy in the army and Aaron is jealous though is in denial about why. It is only after Beth and him break up and he hears that readers bf might propose that he fully snaps out of his denial and confesses his feelings

That's such a good idea!!!! 💕 I don't know if I'll write the full thing one day but here's 1/2 and essay worth of thoughts I have about the concept!!

I imagine it would be even more heartbreaking and kind of a slow burn if you and Hotch knew each other before the drama club meeting with Haley. Like maybe you lived on the same street as kids and played together every day. And without realizing it back then, you were always meant to be together, because you just completed each other.

You would be a little jealous about Hotch starting to date Haley and eventually marrying her, as you had thought it would be the two of you one day. But since you value the friendship so much, you don’t mention it to him, just wanting him to be happy in the end.

The wedding especially hurt to be part of for you, but you pull through, keeping a smile on your lips as you attend, give your toast, and do everything you can to help. Hotch is so thankful for your support during the wedding.

You’re ecstatic when you learn about baby Hotchner, and when Jack comes into the world, you’re the first person he calls, seeing you as more like family than his blood relatives. And it might be the best day of your life (at the time) when Haley mentions they’ve been talking about godparents and then asks if you want to be Jack’s godmother.

When you start realizing that you’ll never be truly happy as long as you’re around Hotch almost every day, you decide to join the Marines, throwing yourself into the work and quickly moving up the ranks. And when Haley dies, you’re, of course, sad for Hotch, but somehow you feel kind of desensitized to death and don’t know what to say. Still, you drop everything and rush back to Quantico to be there for him—not so much emotionally, but at least to help him around the house and such.

Life eventually finds its rhythm again, and even though neither of you ever speaks about that time, you can feel something shift in him. But then Beth enters the picture. You see how his face softens when he talks about her, how he starts looking ahead instead of behind, and you can’t bring yourself to disturb that happiness. You tell yourself this is what you want—that his happiness matters more than yours.

You didn’t expect to meet someone else, but that’s how life works. You didn’t think much of it at first, but there’s a comfort in his company. Aaron notices. He doesn’t say anything, of course, but you feel the shift in the way his gaze lingers when you mention your boyfriend.

And when he hears rumors of an upcoming proposal, he can’t ignore it any longer. He shows up at your door one night. For a moment, you think he’s come with good news, but he only stands there, jaw clenched, his fists tight. “I don’t want you to marry him,” he says, and then, “I—God, I should have said this a long time ago. You’re more than just my friend. You’ve always been more,” he admits.

And then you kiss, and it’s really passionate.

[person25]

i’m gonna write down all of the people who are rooting for luffy and/or if he asked would probably help him out with little to no hesitation bc it’s actually insane.

First, Shanks. An Emperor of the sea. His entire crew. They’re all rooting for Luffy to become King of the Pirates.

Next, Koby. A future admiral of the marines! (he will be one.)

Multiple high ranking members of the revolutionary army. The top two ranking members being his father and brother.

Like 4 (ex) warlords?? Boa and Jimbei are obvious. Mihawk is 100% rooting for Zoro so he counts. Crocodile is literally his mom so…

Kuma is literally both of those combined and he knew from the beginning that Luffy was gonna be great.

Multiple Whitebeard commanders (and we all know Whitebeard himself believed it)

Multiple islands??? Whole islands are rooting for Luffy.

Giants⁉️😭

The right hand man of the PIRATE KING.

more probably

[felinisnoctis]

Tales of Old

Tags: @kit-williams for Anrir, @sleepyfan-blog for Cedric @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan for the other ducklings. Other tags @egrets-not-regrets @nightshade-victorian

Content warning: should be none?

Olly hurried into the new marine’s room with his intake form.  Normally he’d get the intake information when they came into the clinic, but this one had been rushed in with head trauma.  He’d finally gotten the all-clear from Cedric that the patient was up and able to talk.

“Hi, I’m Olly, I’m here to do your intake form?” He said.  The marine in bed nodded at him very carefully.  His head and chest were both still covered in bandages from the wounds he’d received before coming to Terra.  “Anrir did warn me about ultramarines with paperwork.”

“Um, well, that’s me I guess?” Olly said, scribbling Tercelle’s name down. “The first question is your name, rank, and Legion/chapter/war-band association?” He looks at the bit of Tercelle’s forehead that’s unbandaged.  “I’ve never seem a diamond service stud before.”

“Tercelle, blackshield.  And the stud was given to me after my first millennia of service.” Tercelle explained.  Olly blinks once, twice, "ah, an honor to meet you, Honored Ancient Tercelle."  Tercelle just laughed softly.  “Thanks, I suppose.  What’s next on your form?”

"The 'questions about what you know is going on in your time and the date' questions. "

"That's quite a question." Tercelle says dryly.  "I'm from 011.M31."  Olly could recognize the date as he went back through his history.  During the Heresy.

The next question is, "Do you know what happened at Istvaan III?" he asks, reading off the form.

Tercelle is silent for a very long moment before finally answering “...better than you do, I wager.”

"Care to speak of it?" Olly asked, then quickly backtracked upon seeing the hurt look on Tercelle’s face.  "Or... or not..." He quickly marked out the next several questions as to be asked later by someone with more social skills.

“Maybe someday I’ll tell you their names.  Not today,” Tercelle said.

Cedric peeked in the door on his rounds, meaning to check on how the patient was doing.  He heard Olly respond “"I would be honored to hear the tragedy of Istvaan III from a Loyalist survivor!"  Cedric carefully scooted in behind Olly to listen in.

 "You say we're on Terra itself, right?  I wonder how far we are from where I was born." Tercelle mused.  Olly’s eyes went wide.  “You’re terran born.”

Tercelle nods.  "I was the second child of a general and her husband.  Nobility in a kingdom called Antirra.  When the Emperor came - well, fights between the various powers were common at that time.  No one thought he'd be more than another warlord, so we fought back.  Well, my parents and older sister did.  I was still in my teens at the time."  Tercelle told how the armies had been defeated, and how the Emperor had demanded the teenage sons of the nobility as recompense - for what he had not said at the time.  How many died, but those that survived became a new type of warrior, able to endure and fight against the many horrors of the Age of Strife.

Outside in the hall Ramiel and Jophiel almost ran into each other.  “Oop!” Jophiel whispered. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m checking up on Cedric.  He’s late.  Why are you here?” Ramiel whispered back.

“I’m looking for Olly, he was supposed to help me with a craft project.”

They both turned to the room as Tercelle started to talk about his first battle as a new astartes soldier.  How the Emperor had set them against massive twisted beasts enhanced by unknown arts and driven onward by handlers crackling with energy fields, beasts that could easily send even the gene-enhanced astartes flying.  How the Emperor had taken the field himself to strike down their allegedly invincible witch-king, backed by a handpicked set of the best Astartes warriors.

Ramiel’s eyes went wide.  Real stories about the Master of Mankind, from someone who had actually fought alongside Him?  He scooted into the room, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.  Jophiel followed behind quietly, settling in for storytime as well.  Older brother-cousin storytime was always fun!

Almost an hour later, Claude came by the room.  Anrir had wanted him to check on his patient.  The old night lord was busy with - ugh - paperwork.  Stupid ultramarines.  He peeked around the corner into the room to see Cedric, Olly, Ramiel, and Jophiel on the floor listening attentively.  Huh.  He hears Tercelle talking about a particularly miserable campaign, slogging through deep mud that caught at their armor as constructs attacked them from above.  How different it was from the epic battles they’d first fought, working through the darkness and treacherous terrain against an enemy that had no such weaknesses.  Claude leaned against the wall behind Cedric, using the skills they’d been teaching him to stay silent.

Much later, as Tercelle was ramping up an exciting story about an assault on one of the last remaining enemy fortresses, a voice from the door suddenly said “Yes, it was quite glorious, wasn’t it?”  Claude jumped as Anrir loomed in the doorway.  “Anrir!  I’m sorry, I got distracted.”

“Out with you lot, I have a patient to see to.” The old apothecary made a shooing motion as he turned down the lights for the exam.  The primaris obediently filed out, with Cedric handing him the medical clipboard on the way.

With just the two of them in the dark, Tercelle commented “Aw you old bat you didn’t have to chase them off.  They’re so young and sweet.”

“Enjoying dazzling them with stories of times long ago?” Anrir responded.  “They are.  But I have a job to do, so you’re going to have to put up with me instead.”

"Hmph. Well get on with it, grumpy old man," Tercelle snarked back as Anrir started his exam.

[whencyclopedia]

Battle of New Orleans: The American Agincourt

The Battle of New Orleans (8 January 1815) was the final major battle of the War of 1812, in which a ragtag American army under Major General Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) beat back a superior British force under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham (1778-1815). The battle was incredibly lopsided – the Americans suffered 71 casualties while the British suffered over 2,000 – and was fought after the peace had been signed. But despite its needlessness, the battle gave the fledgling United States a new self-confidence in its sovereignty and set its victor, Jackson, on the path to the presidency.

Pakenham & the British Invasion

The events that would lead to the bloodshed at New Orleans were set into motion three months before when, on a cool October evening, Sir Edward Pakenham received a letter from Lord Bathurst, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. It informed him that the Prince Regent had been "pleased to confer upon you the Command of all the Troops operating with His Majesty's Fleets upon the Coasts of the United States" and directed him to conduct operations against New Orleans, a city strategically situated at the mouth of the Mississippi River (quoted in Napoleon Series). Bathurst hoped that by striking this vulnerable underbelly, the British could draw American attention away from Canada, where most of the fighting had been taking place; if the British could then push into the lands of the Louisiana Purchase to use as a bargaining chip for peace negotiations, all the better. Indeed, American and British diplomats were currently negotiating peace at Ghent in the United Netherlands (modern Belgium). However, Bathurst told Pakenham to disregard any rumors of peace he may hear and proceed with the campaign no matter what.

A dutiful and ambitious man, Pakenham threw himself into preparations for the campaign. Since the age of 16, when his family had bought him a lieutenant's commission in the British Army, Pakenham had known nothing but a soldier's life. He had most recently fought against the armies of Napoleonic France in the Peninsular War (1808-1814), serving under the command of his famous brother-in-law, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852). Pakenham had distinguished himself at the Battle of Salamanca (22 July 1812), where he led his 3rd Division in a bayonet charge that drove the French soldiers back in a state of 'irremediable confusion'. For such actions, he had been knighted and promoted to the rank of major general. Having spent years fighting Napoleon's veteran soldiers, Pakenham felt he had no reason to worry about the backcountry militias of Louisiana and Tennessee. In November, Pakenham set out from London to join his army, which was already en route to New Orleans – having assembled in Jamaica, the British troops had boarded 50 Royal Navy ships under Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, anchoring just east of Lake Borgne, Louisiana, on 14 December 1814.

Access to Lake Borgne was blocked by five American gunboats under Lt. Thomas ap Catesby Jones. In the evening, 980 British sailors and Royal Marines got into 42 rowboats and silently rowed out to dislodge Jones' small force. After a brief engagement, the British succeeded in capturing the gunboats at the cost of 17 dead and 77 wounded (the Americans lost 6 dead and 35 wounded). The British then began to disembark; over the next six days, 1,600 soldiers under Maj. Gen. John Keane rowed out to Pea Island, about 30 miles (48 km) east of the city. They advanced overland until, on the morning of 23 December, they reached the east bank of the Mississippi River, 9 miles (14 km) south of New Orleans. Keane stopped there to await reinforcements. As his soldiers set up camp, some of them broke into the home of Major Gabriel Villeré, who leapt out a window and ran all the way to the American lines outside New Orleans. The soldiers he found there were a ragged hodgepodge of 4,000 men: French-speaking Louisiana militia and crude-talking Tennessee frontiersmen, mounted Mississippi dragoons, and undersupplied Irish immigrants, two battalions of Black men, some enslaved and some free, as well as Choctaw Indians, pirates, and privateers. But perhaps the most striking figure of them all was their commander, a tall, thin frontiersman with piercing blue eyes and a fiery temper named Andrew Jackson.

Read More

⇒ Battle of New Orleans: The American Agincourt

[hero21us]

Golden Discipline

Staff Sergeant Cole Ramirez was the picture of Marine perfection—broad-shouldered, sharp-eyed, his life carved by routine and honor. On leave in a dusty beachside town, he wandered into a run-down thrift store, looking for nothing in particular. The bell above the door jingled weakly as he stepped in, the air thick with nostalgia and the scent of old musty clothes.

Then he saw them.

Folded neatly on a wire shelf at the back, glowing faintly in the dim light: golden shorts. Not yellow, not metallic thread—gold. A soft, radiant gleam. They seemed to pulse. He took a step forward, heart strangely quickening.

“Try me,” a voice whispered—not aloud, but in his thoughts.

Cole blinked, unsettled. He reached out, touched the fabric. It was warm. Alive. He didn’t hesitate—he paid the cashier, who said nothing, only nodded once as if in recognition.

The next morning, he wore the gold shorts for his 10-mile run along the coast. They moved with him like a second skin—light, breathable, perfect. When he ran, it felt like his body sang. The pounding of his boots faded into silence. His heartbeat fell into rhythm with something greater.

He wore them again the next day. Then again. Then again.

By the end of the week, he had stopped wearing anything else. He tried once to remove the shorts—only once. His hands trembled. His reflection in the mirror stared back with golden eyes.

His tan T-shirts had turned golden too, then fully—slowly, subtly. Not dyed. Transmuted. He no longer questioned it.

Back on base, after a strength circuit, he stood outside the gym sipping a thick gold-tinged protein shake, his skin glowing faintly in the midday sun. Fellow Marines gave him space. He didn't notice—or didn't care.

Then came Lieutenant Greaves, the kind of no-nonsense officer who still shined his boots with toothbrushes.

“Ramirez,” he barked. “Those shorts are not regulation. Nor is that shirt. Or the contacts. What the hell’s going on with you?”

Cole looked up slowly. His eyes, golden and burning, met the Lieutenant’s. There was no aggression. No rebellion. Just certainty.

“Sir,” Cole said calmly, holding up the shaker bottle, “Drink. This will change your life.”

Greaves sneered. “What kind of joke is this?”

“Drink,” Cole said again. The voice wasn’t just his—it was something deeper. Older. The gold pulsed in his voice like a hypnotic drumbeat.

The Lieutenant reached out. Hesitating, trembling. Then took the bottle and drank.

A shiver ran through his body.

His pupils narrowed into gold slits. His mouth opened in a sharp breath as warmth spread across his chest, his limbs, his soul. His uniform began to shimmer, epaulettes taking on a golden luster.

“What… what is this?” he whispered.

“Obedience. Purpose. Perfection,” Cole said, standing tall, golden shorts gleaming like battle armor. “Gold doesn't just reflect the light, sir. It becomes it.”

And from that day on, the ranks of the Marines began to shimmer. One by one. Gold spreading like devotion—pure, unbreakable, irresistible.

The transformation of Lieutenant Greaves was the final sign Cole needed. The Marine Corps had given him structure, discipline, brotherhood. But now, something greater called. Something radiant. Purpose beyond nation.

Within the week, Cole submitted his resignation. No one questioned it—not with eyes like his. He walked away from the barracks without looking back, the golden shorts never leaving his body, the glimmer in his eyes sharper than ever.

He didn’t vanish—he ascended.

Word spread quickly: Cole Ramirez had joined the Golden Army Football Club, the elite team of perfect physiques and unified minds spreading the golden message across the world pitch by pitch. No longer just a Marine—he was a golden goalkeeper, a gleaming force of loyalty and physical dominance, converting entire stadiums with every save.

His new mission?

Victory through obedience. Transformation through gold.

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If you want to join the Golden Army (and/or the Polo Drones) message one of our recruiters or potential recruiters for more info

@brodygold @goldenherc9 @polo-drone-001 @polo-drone-070 @polo-drone-125