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[saintjacob]

jvckstone‌

there’s enough tension in the room to suffocate a fish underwater. jack narrows his eyes as they land on the person standing before him and lets out a small sigh of frustration. he takes a moment to think to himself before settling on a conclusion. 

“ you’re fine, ” he says, gesturing towards the seat opposite him, encouraging them to sit down despite himself. turning the newspaper around, he points the pen to a particular empty row in his daily crossword. “ i’m stuck. ”

@gallagherstart​

he raises a hand in greeting to his fellow blackthorne alum in lieu of a proper greeting. while most of jacob’s skills are tailored around the killing and maiming of other humans, he is not without certain transferable assets. among these: the ability to completely disregard the mood of a room.

he sits, blinks at the crossword for a moment. he is fairly certain that the answer is negronis. “i never learned how to read,” he says blandly, shooting the other man a thumbs-up.

[saintjacob]

Who will be lost in the story we tell ourselves? Who will be lost in ourselves? A story, after all, is a kind of swallowing. To open a mouth, in speech, is to leave only the bones, which remain untold.

Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel (via soracities)

[saintjacob]

rcmi‌

          “it’s okay to say you’ve got a weak spot…” a sly smile appears over her features as she stands in front of the other. “take that as you will.”   

@gallagherstart​

a wry eyebrow raises, a grimace is bitten back.  “certainly, self-awareness is good, if not something, uh, prudent to share with others.” there is, regrettably, no easy way out of this conversation. “is this something you discussed in therapy?” he asks lightly.

[saintjacob]

*jazz hands* i don’t know what else 2 say

⌠ riz ahmed, 35, cis-male, he/him/his ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, jacob sulaiman! originally hailing from blackthorne, this alum specializes in research and development. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (a pressed collar, slightly too tight; balancing a pencil on your fingertip; steam rolling off a hot mug of coffee).  it’s the (taurus)’s birthday on 4/22/1985, and when they were still in school their most requested dish was miso-glazed eggplant from the school’s chefs. hopefully their presence can help ease the minds of gallagher students.

at a glance—

mbti: intp

alignment: true neutral

enneagram: type 1

likes: wine, literally anything from muji, soft sweaters, puzzles, historical novels, greco-roman art and architecture, renaissance-era anything, black coffee, strawberries, epistemological paradoxes

dislikes: obnoxious people, people that don't listen, incompetent people, people in general, muggy weather, edm

birthday: april 22

hogwarts house: hufflepuff

history—

jacob sulaiman’s early life is defined by shoulds.

by this, i mean: he is told he should do well in school, so he studies hard. he is told he should go for sports, so he joins the volleyball team. he’s told he should go to college, should make something of himself unlike his deadbeat, drug-addicted, good-for-nothing parents——so he does. he understands that his aunt and his uncle didn’t have to take him in, so he does what he must to make them proud of him, or at least not ashamed.

it’s what he should do, after all.

of course, getting into university and attending university are two very different undertakings——particularly because the latter requires a rather large sum of money the former does not. the former is easy for jacob. he’s proven himself a diligent worker, with a particular aptitude for science and history and archery, of all things. but his aunt and uncle have two children younger than him, and he doesn’t really have any savings of his own, and when he does the math even with loans and grants and all the things it’s just not going to be an option, at least for now——

——and then blackthorne steps in. 

blackthorne academy is the first time jacob’s allowed to be selfish, and he takes full advantage of that fact. he’s interested in the rush of adrenaline that comes with violence, so he specializes in threat elimination alongside the enhanced interrogation recommended to him. he’s interested in kissing boys, so he kisses them. if his early life is defined by shoulds, this period is defined by coulds. 

of course, the reality of spy work is that you’re ultimately always a tool, no matter which pieces you hold. jacob built a ruthlessly pragmatic, no-bullshit reputation, with the infamy and renown to match. but one of jacob’s assignments was...particularly unsavory, and though he carried it out, that sort of crossed an internal line.

since then (probably ~4 years ago???), he’s turned down every field mission assigned to him with increasingly ludicrous excuses, instead working primarily as an intelligence analyst and as a handler for other agents. luckily for him, his biggest skills in the field have proven highly transferable: the ability to recall and connect seemingly inconsequential details, as well as what seems to be an uncanny ability to consistently think five steps ahead.

taught one (1) course at blackthorne. hearsay was that the class was so theoretically dense and difficult (and not to mention socratic) that nobody signed up the next semester.

 that said, there are people with power who want things done that are very unhappy with his recent pacifistic streak. we’ll see which is more compelling to jacob: the could or the should. 

there are three potential answers as to what brought jacob to gallagher, depending on who you ask. the school will likely tell you its for his experience in counterintelligence, intel analysis, and handling. if you listen to campus gossip, you’ll probably hear about how he’s been brought in to consult on the recent georgetown bombings and the blackthorne situation. but if you pay close attention to the right people, you might be able to pick up whispers about jacob’s post being a punishment for refusing to take missions in the field. maybe they’re onto something. maybe they’re just crazy.

worth knowing—

tl;dr: guy who’s good at following orders and killing people decides that he’s rather uncomfortable with killing people and will therefore not follow orders. has been sent to babysit baby killers as a punishment.

epitome of "looks like they can kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll.” just, uh, keep digging to find the sugar.

research & development is a bit of a misnomer (and don’t get him started about gallagher’s lack of intelligence handling courses); jacob doesn’t do science so much as he focuses on intelligence analysis and agent support. 

has never been caught sleeping ever in his life.

has a weakness for small, fluffy cats.