#classic casualty

[riverstardis]

thirty years:

charlie inviting duffy round for dinner and wine👀

ethan and lily watching cal and alicia together and lily’s like “just when i was starting to think she wasn’t quite as dumb as she looks” and ethan goes “you’re not jealous are you?” and she’s like “no, just full of pity. some women are beyond help.”💀

iain and jez come over and say how alicia and cal must be official now then and lily’s like “it’s like watching a baby antelope at the watering hole” HELPSJDKFJJ

ohhh this is the scene! iain says a few of the lads are going out for a drink later and invites lily and she says sure and when iain’s gone ethan goes “well, someone’s going home with a hunky paramedic” BI ETHAN BI ETHAN BI ETHAN🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 bc describing your male colleague as “hunky” is a very heterosexual thing for a man to do /s lily goes “ha, please” and he goes “don’t forget the five year plan lily! tick tock!” I MISS THEIR FRIENDSHIP SO MUCH😫😫

yknow if ethan’s gonna go travelling with bodhi i’m gonna choose to believe he’s going to go visit lily in hong kong. i should write a fic. i have actually been to hong kong myself but i was like 4 so i don’t remember what the city was like or anything.

lmaoo alicia comes over and ethan’s like “i think lily needs our help” “oh?” “yeah, trying to find a man.” lily goes “no i don’t” and ethan mouths “she does” to alicia behind lily’s back sjskdkfkg

why did ethan just fully take on a gay best friend role in that scene😭😭 this made me wonder if this ep had the same writer as handcuffs (rashan date ep) but no it doesn’t so there are TWO writers (at least) who were absolutely determined to make ethan queer! i thank them for their service!

also why is matchmaking ethan and alicia’s thing sjdkdjfj like them teaming up in s33 to get rash and gem back together, and, like here, they weren’t actually together themselves then either! (though they ended up getting back together at the same time, leading to them overhearing rash and gem having sex sjsjjfkfk)

lmaoo why is elle going “karen please don’t do this! karen!” while her patient runs away while making no actual effort to stop her😭

sjdkfkfk now alicia’s trying to help lily find a man, asking her what her type is and lily isn’t telling her so she looks around and suggests dylan “consultant? very eligible?” and lily goes “i once considered dr keogh but he still has that dog and mental health issues can be genetic, plus he lives on a barge” alicia’s face while she’s listening to that SKDKFKKF can you imagine dylan and lily though they would not work at all😭 too different flavours of autism

alicia’s begging for something to work with and lily’s like “someone like ric griffin” and alicia’s like “isn’t he acting ceo now??” and lily goes “exactly” wkdkfkkfkf

duffy’s son threatening charlie shdjfjjfj

poor tanya😢

ah sebastian’s dad. he’s locuming there so he can check up on him?

aw seb tries to stand up for his patient but his dad just shoots him down, and dylan also tries but mr grayling asks his name and then goes “ah yes, i know the name. curious business with the number 4?”

sjskfkfk alicia and lily were watching and alicia looks horrified and goes “what a—“ and lily goes “him.” saying he’s her type😭😭

lmaoo alicia introduces herself and lily to mr grayling and leaves lily to speak to him and goes to stand the other side of the nurses station and like motions for her to check his hand for a wedding ring and stuff SKDKKFKF

LMAO alicia goes up to mr grayling and fully just asks him if he wants to take lily out on a date😭😭 he’s like “extraordinary. you can tell dr chao to meet me here at 7 o’clock sharp”

lily’s like “i cannot believe you just did that! what am i gonna wear?” sjsjfjfkfk

aww duffy’s granddaughter is born

charlie and duffy talking about how they’ve had 30 years of friendship and duffy’s like “it wasn’t just friendship though was it?”👀👀

aww lily all dressed up for her date! sebastian’s like “seriously, dad? she’s my age!”😭😭

lily talking to ethan and alicia while seb’s standing up to his dad. and she tells iain she can’t make drinks anymore. aw ethan’s like “have fun!”

oh are charlie and duffy about to kiss?

yup now they’re snogging in a store cupboard

[gayness-and-mayhem]

God, watching Casualty from series 1 has really made me realise how much I miss Megan.

[sunshinetinsolider]

One thing I always enjoyed about watching Casualty was trying to guess what the accident was going to be based on the set up. It was rarely the most obvious thing. Kind of like how Final Destination used to make you think it was going one way only for it to turn around and bam guy gets flattened by a plain of glass.

[pennyyvalentine]

dylan calling lofty ben is one of my favourite things ever their friendship is so <3333

[tearsofthedrag0n]

Anyone remember when faith didn’t want to be with Dylan when she found out he was an alcoholic?

That was fucking weird.

[whiskeysorrows]

you ever think about how the ancient greeks likely viewed the iliad as a celebration of their war culture but from a modern perspective we're able to question if the text is actually criticising the social shame and ideals that can lead to senseless slaughter far beyond the realm of thumos or time

[fairuzfan]

But the other images I had was like a mass refugee camp. So basically at that point in time, two months ago, about 20,000 people had sought refuge both in the hospital and outside the hospital. And these weren’t tents. They’re still not tents. They’re makeshift shelters with bed sheets or plastic bag sheets. The ones outside sleep on the floor. They’re lucky [if] they get a carpet or a mat. There was one bathroom at the time for about 200 people that they have to share. And inside, the hallways of the hospital were also made into shelters. There was hardly any room to walk, and there’s children running around everywhere. It’s important to remember all these people were not homeless. They all had homes that were destroyed. They’re all displaced people that took shelter in the hospital.

So that’s the kind of mass chaos that I encountered initially, and then I was told that every time there’s a bomb, give it about 15 minutes and the mass casualties come. That was the other thing that at the time shocked me: What we’d been seeing livestreamed on Instagram, on social media or whatever, I actually saw myself and it was worse than I can imagine. I saw scenes that were horrific that I’d never witnessed before and I never want to see again. You have a mother walking in holding her 8, 9-year-old, skinny — because they’re all starving — boy who’s dead, he’s cold and dead and [the mother is] screaming, asking for someone to check his pulse and everybody’s busy in the mass chaos. So that was kind of my initial welcoming scene when I entered Khan Younis the first time.

{...}

What I saw — I’m an eye surgeon, an eye plastic surgeon, and so I saw the classic, what I penned “the Gaza shrapnel face,” because in an explosive scenario, you don’t know what’s coming. When there’s an explosion, you don’t go like this [cover your face], you kind of actually, in fact, open your eyes. And so shrapnel’s everywhere. It’s a well-known fact that the Israeli forces are experimenting [with] weapons in Gaza to boost their weapon manufacturing industry. Because if a weapon is battle-tested, it’s more valuable, isn’t it? It’s got a higher value. So basically they’re using these weapons, these missiles that purposely, intently create these large shrapnel fragments that go everywhere. And they cause amputations that are unusual.

Most amputations occur at the weak points, the elbow or the knee, and so they’re better tolerated. But these [shrapnel fragments] are causing mid-thigh, mid-arm amputations that are more difficult, more challenging, and also the rehabilitation afterward is also more challenging. Also these shrapnels [are] unlike a bullet wound. A bullet wound goes in and out; there’s an entry and exit point. Shrapnel stays there. So you gotta take it out. So the injuries I saw were — I mean, I saw people with their eyes blown apart. And when I was there, and this is my experience, I treated all children when I was there the first time. It was kids that [were aged] 2, 6, 9, 10, 13, 15, and 16, and 17 were the ones that I treated. And their eyes unfortunately had to be removed. They had shrapnel in their eye sockets that I had to remove and, of course, remove the eye. There’s many patients, many children who had shrapnel in both their eyes. And you can only do so much because right now, because of the aid blockade and because of the destruction of most of Gaza, there’s no equipment available to take shrapnel that’s in the eye out. And so we just leave them alone and they eventually go blind.

{...}

I was on the ground, I toured the refugee camps, I went around Rafah, I saw, and if there’s an Israeli invasion, I can’t emphasize enough how catastrophic it’s going to be. It’ll be mass killing, mass destruction, because all these figures come in, 50 dead, 100 wounded. But what people don’t realize is, being wounded is a death sentence. Being wounded in this environment with no health care system, completely collapsed, is a death sentence. And the wounded often will lose everybody, like all family members, so they have no supports, especially children, have nobody left to take care of them, not even aunts and uncles. It will be catastrophic. I don’t know what to say to the world to stop an impending invasion. You’ve got to rein this prime minister of Israel in. You got to do something to stop this stupid invasion that he still wants to do, because it’ll be catastrophic.

{...}

I had one young man, about 25 years old, he lost one eye that I took out myself. He spent about five, six, or seven years, basically spent thousands and thousands of dollars in IVF treatment because he got married young and they wanted to have a child and they couldn’t have one. So he spent years on IVF treatment and finally had a baby that was 3 months old. And there was a missile attack by Israel at his home. He lost his entire family, including his baby and his wife and his parents and family. He’s by himself, single guy. I took his one eye out, and he has nobody in this world. He just kind of walks around the tent structures, just kind of walking around with no home and trying to sleep wherever he can.

[sandymybeloved]

Charlie Fairhead leaving Casualty next year, that does not sound real to me, i'm sorry

[jamezvaldes]

Nick Jordan just loves helicopters 😂

[moongothic]

The worst part about trying to figure out what Crocodile's deal is that because he's so fucking irredeemably evil in Alabasta... Like... Yeah he's just irredeemably evil. Like I love him but he did cause countless casualties, a ton of pain and suffering and literally attempted to blow up a million people

Like no amount of theoretical "trying to do it to save his son from the Government" or "trying to stop the Government from hurting anyone else" or just "doing it for the greater good" is going to make him any less of a mass murderer

But also Robin absolutely 100% helped with all of that shit simply because she wanted to read the Poneglyph for herself.

No amount of her intending to betray Crocodile from the begining and sabotaging his plans erases the fact that Robin also caused countless people to starve to death and die in the civil war. Her sabotages only succeeded out of sheer luck, and only spared the lives of the people at the final battle. She has the blood of countless innocents on her hands. Because she wanted to read history.

But her crimes were swept under the rug because she has a sad backstory and her sabotages worked out just at the nick of time by sheer dumb luck

So Croc??? Just??? Is there a chance??? At all???

But also he did literally intend to sell Buggy into slavery

Like, fuck Buggy, but jesus

What's also killing me is that we like. Don't know what Luffy thinks of Crocodile right now. Which really is like. The thing that will decide how we, as the readers, are supposed to feel about Crocodile. Luffy is our POV

Like we don't know what Luffy's opinion of Crocodile is after he helped save Luffy (and spared Ace once) during the Summit War. Like Luffy clearly fucking hated the man in Impel Down and the two interactions they had during the War weren't like positive (in the sense that Luffy himself didn't think of the interactions as particularly positive. Defending Whitebeard from being attacked once and then being like "wait what HIM?!" when Crocodile defended Ace. To be fair, in the midst of the chaos, there wasn't much time to spend on Pondering On Such Things because Ace needed to be saved, and Oda goes out of his way to not show us what's going on inside Luffy's head, because it's all meant to be out in the open anyways. Regardless, these weren't like "yay it's Crocodile! :)" moments for Luffy is what I mean)

But also Luffy was very grateful of Law for saving his life and was willing to put his trust into Law for their alliance- of course, they weren't explicitly enemies to begin with, rivals at most, but still. Luffy respects those who help him.

But also Luffy grew during the timeskip. Like he's not that clueless anymore (like he finally understands Hancock is in love with him etc), and similarly Luffy gets that Buggy is an absolute loser now. But also Buggy did also help save Luffy's life (even if it was by accident), and while IDK if Luffy is aware of that, I don't think that helped improve Luffy's impression of Buggy

So like. The fuck does Luffy think of Crocodile, at this moment? Even with the Cross Guild reveal, he didn't even really comment on Croc and just focused his energy on being confused about Buggy being "the leader" of CG. IDK it feels almost intentional or something, that we don't know what Luffy thinks?? Especially since we did get Zoro's opinion on Mihawk in the situation?? Or am I delulu?? (Sidenote. I'd love to know what Robin would have to say about Crocodile helping save Luffy's life. What Jinbei might think of the final words Crocodile left him with before blasting them out of Akainu's reach. But mainly just Robin's thoughts)

Like IDK my best guess would be that Luffy still hates Crocodile just the same but is like grossed out by technically owing him one??? In the classic

-kinda way, you know? And that he'd be just kinda confused about it?

Because I can't fucking imagine Luffy being like "oh we're cool now" with Crocodile, let alone "Yay Crocodile :) He saved my life!". But also like. Luffy does kind of owe Croc one. Kind of. And Luffy is usually very respectful of that kind of thing. Aaaaaaaa???

(Also does. Does Luffy even know it was Crocodile who yeeted him and Jinbei out of Akainu's reach to begin with. 'Cause he was unconcious. Knocked the fuck out. Does. Does Luffy even know. Did anybody tell him???)

I just.

There's the reasonable part of me that knows Crocodile is an irredeemable evil dickbag and everything he has ever said and done up to the most recent chapters support that. He is too far gone.

And then there's the absolutely delulu part that loves a tragic villian who gets a heartwrenching redemption that's looking for any fucking sign that could indicate Crocodile could maybe be one

[riverstardis]

black alert:

ethan’s started on the energy drinks :(

lily sees him “have you slept?” he ignores her “i know i’m still the pariah of the department and it’s none of my business, but you have to stop beating yourself up about olivia. mistakes happen, believe me i know. why don’t you go and see mrs beauchamp? perhaps she could spare you for the day” “what and let everyone down?” “you are exhausted. staff welfare is just as important as patient welfare” 🥺🥺🥺 i guess she’s realised how she treated alicia was wrong then? presumably it was ethan calling her out on it that woke her up

ooh it’s lofty’s interview and henrik’s there lining up his pens

ethan actually does go and speak to connie but she’s on the phone and when she gets off she says that st james’ have declared a black alert and it’s only a matter of time before they start diverting (wow that never happens! /s) so he feels like he can’t ask to go home and instead says to let him know what he can do to help :(

zoe’s back! she went to visit nick jordan

cal says good morning to ethan only to get a blunt reply😢

ah a guy asks ethan if he works there and then hands him a letter about his suicidal thoughts :(

connie interrupts them talking in the relatives room and says she needs a word with ethan outside and then asks him what he’s doing

“i have a patient who has expressed suicidal thoughts” “you’re a registrar not a psychiatrist” bit of an odd way to phrase what she means seeing as you can be a psychiatry registrar??

he says he owes the guy a level of care and connie interrupts him like “what’s this really about?” lmaoo nothing gets past connie😭

when ethan goes back in the guy says he’ll go and that he should never have come there but ethan’s like no you did exactly the right thing and tells him that if he goes to reception and gets booked in then they can properly help him. he says he will but then just leaves instead. no prizes for guessing whether he’s gonna end up dead by the end of the episode😕

also this guy is played by the guy who played renfield in young dracula lol

ethan’s treating an elderly woman who’s only a few hours from death but first she was in the corridor then the only bed available was in cubicles and all the wards are full and he goes to admin, slams the file he’s carrying down and start ranting about it :(((

then henrik appears and tells them all st james’ have closed their doors😬

now ethan’s opening another energy drink (his third of the day possibly?) and louise is trying to deal with some guy with a sore ankle who’s demanding to be treated but refuses to be triaged first and ethan goes over to help and at first he’s being polite but the guy says he called an ambulance ethan starts having a go at him and cal and charlie have to calm him down :(

charlie says he’s got a mate who’s a therapist (ben harding presumably) and suggests to cal that they both go and see him but cal says he hasn’t told him because look at him and the last thing they need is some therapist getting involved “you can’t fix everyone so just stop trying!”

louise manages to get the difficult patient back to reception but he then starts filming everything saying he’s going to put it online to show what the nhs has become and lofty tries to help louise but the guy just pushes him backwards and he goes through the glass panel😬

connie suggests to hanssen that they set up a triage/field hospital outside and lofty volunteers to run it. go lofty!

dixie saying to iain “you could’ve died” and he replies “nah, cat with nine lives me” and she goes “jeff used to say that” :(((((

jess has dropped the complaint but they’re still going ahead with the investigation but she asks dixie out for a drink. dixie turns her down

ethan’s treating an rtc patient and connie wants to stop because she has a hematoma her heart or something like that but ethan suggests they do a clamshell thoracotomy. connie says that not something she wants to do here and he says but it’ll give her a chance and if they don’t she’s dead. just you wait connie he’ll be doing them in the back of ambulances next

lily checks over the difficult guy from before and says he has the common cold💀 he still refuses to leave though talking about how he pays his taxes and louise has a go at him and lily goes “you just got owned”

connie talks ethan through it and they manage to get a faint pulse and she’s like “you may very well just have saved that woman’s life, dr hardy. you’re a credit to this department, don’t forget that” 🥺🥺🥺

aw rita’s impressed with how well lofty’s doing running the tent

aw the difficult guy gives louise an envelope with an apology note and a lot of money in for the infuser, which puts the girls way ahead of the boys

they managed to get the elderly woman into hdc and ethan cries as she dies😢

ooh i was thinking i feel like this woman who’s playing the friend of the elderly lady has been on before because i recognise and i just realised she was the patient ethan treated on his first day!!

cal texts ethan “we need to talk…” not ominous at all😭

jess and dixie kiss but dixie says she can’t do this

so ethan goes looking for cal but first finds lily in the small resus looking at her dead patient who’s covered with a sheet. she says he had a fight with a bus and was basically doa :(

“look, earlier you said you were the pariah of the department” “am i not?” “not to me” yayyy they’re friends again!!

then he’s just about to call cal when he notices the dead patient’s hand is slightly uncovered and he recognises the ring, he pulls back the sheet and it’s the suicidal guy from before😢😢😢😢

the worst part is i’m not sure whether he threw himself in front of the bus on purpose, because we saw him get out pills in his car but then he seems to bottle it and runs off so it’s entirely possible that the bus wasn’t a suicide attempt. or maybe it was who knows.

rita tells lofty he got the job and he goes and hugs dylan🥺

[gayness-and-mayhem]

Elizabeth, come back!!

[half-bakedboy]

For bucktommy! “For some reason, I’m attracted to you.”

read on ao3

Buck knows objectively that dating a guy is much different than dating a girl. He’s done enough research—if a lot of articles like Dating Advice for Gay, Bi, and Pansexual Men count—about how dating someone new is supposed to be exciting and nerve-wracking, and dating men isn’t going to feel any different than dating a woman.

If that’s all true, then why has he never felt so awkward in his life?

He’s sitting across from Tommy at this quaint Italian restaurant that Maddie once mentioned wanting Chimney to take her to and all he feels is unsettled. The table is too small between them and Buck worries that if either of them moves, their knees will knock over everything on top of it. Buck ordered white wine because it seemed like the classy choice but he hates wine, and Tommy ordered a red wine that makes him wince every time he swallows.

The butter is as hard as a rock and Buck refuses to eat bread without it ever since his first date with Abby. Somehow, this date almost rivals Abby performing a tableside tracheotomy because Buck choked on the dry bread he’d shoved in his mouth to tame that awkwardness.

He catches himself glancing down consideringly at the basket of bread rolls before him but looks away abruptly when Tommy breaks the silence.

“So, this is a nice place,” Tommy decides. Buck nods and grabs both sides of the small table with a white-knuckled grip. “How’d you find it?”

“Maddie! My sister,” he says, unsure how much their mutual friends have told him. “Chim’s girlfriend. Fiance actually, but uh, my sister. She suggested it to me.”

“As a place to grab drinks?” Tommy asked with a raised eyebrow.

Buck shook his head. “As a place for a date,” Buck says proudly, tipping his chin up a little, challenging anyone to say a damn word about it. A small smile tugs at the corner of Tommy’s lips at the words.

“You told your sister you had a date? Did you tell her…” The rest of the question is obvious, but Tommy pulls back like he’s unsure whether he should ask.

“That this is my first date with a dude?” Buck finishes for him. Tommy chuckles and takes a sip of his classic red wine. He presses his lips together as he swallows and nods. “Not necessarily, but Tommy isn’t exactly a gender-neutral name.”

“Hey, it’s a big step. I’m proud of you either way,” Tommy says softly.

He reaches for Buck’s hand across the table like he’s testing the waters. It should be a cute moment, but Buck panics—an obnoxious casualty of his sexuality crisis—and turns his palm up to welcome the first public sign of affection between them, knocking over both of their glasses of water, drenching the aforementioned bread rolls.

Buck immediately thinks it’d be hard to choke himself with them now.

“God, I am so sorry.” Buck panics, stands up too abruptly, and the knees he was so previously concerned about hit the edge of the table painfully, sending Tommy’s almost empty plate onto his lap along with the remnants of water on the table.

Buck feels his face heat up like a furnace and he closes his eyes in hopes that this is all some fever dream born out of his fears of his newfound sexuality. But Tommy is chuckling and a waitress is apologizing like this is somehow her fault and Buck has to accept that he really is just bad at this.

He has his hands white-knuckled on the back of his chair and he’s considering just running away when a gentle hand rests over his. When he looks up, Tommy is still grinning—Buck doesn’t understand how he just keeps smiling through it all—like he isn’t covered in all of Buck’s mistakes.

“Evan,” Tommy mutters. There’s humor in the voice and Buck feels like he might actually die if Tommy makes fun of him. “Do you wanna get out of here?” Tommy asks. Buck’s eyebrows pull together and he sees the moment Tommy reads his mind. “C’mon, Kid.”

Tommy somehow unglues Buck’s hand from the chair to maneuver them toward the door. Buck apologizes to every waitstaff he sees, but it doesn’t matter. They’re all looking at him with so much pity that Buck feels like one of the patients on his calls. It’s a feeling he really hates, especially when Tommy must notice the stares, too.

Once they’re outside, Buck blurts, “Please don’t tell Eddie how bad this is going.”

Tommy snorts out his laughter like he’s been holding it in for hours. Buck should be mortified, but Tommy’s hand is still gripped in his and it’s firm and warm and much larger than his own.

“Oh, I’m gonna,” Tommy promises. Buck attempts to pull his hand away but Tommy only squeezes tighter. “Evan, c’mere.”

This time, Tommy pulls him into a warm hug while they stand in the cool night air. Buck breathes him in, eyes closing as he relaxes into the touch. He’s rarely smaller than those he hugs, and he’s never been smaller than someone he’s hugged like this. It’s almost like Tommy is ensuring Buck knows he’s still interested. Even after the awkwardness and tragedy, Tommy knows Buck has more to offer and is willing to find out.

It means so much to Buck that when Tommy pulls away, he has to stop himself from gripping even tighter at Tommy’s broad shoulders. He doesn’t move far, though, and keeps one hand on Buck’s waist, playing with the fabric there like he’s somehow more nervous than Buck. When he starts walking, Buck follows, finding no reason not to trust wherever Tommy is taking them.

“Are you… okay with all of this?” Tommy asks. Buck blanches because he never once considered his inability to remain calm around this man to come off as some sort of internalized homophobia.

“Y-Yes! I’m—Are you okay with this? With me?” Tommy tilts his head inquisitively, cocking an eyebrow up like he doesn’t know exactly. “C’mon, don’t pretend that this wasn’t the worst date you’ve ever been on.”

“I’ve been on a lot of bad dates, Evan,” Tommy says.

Though, it’s not as reassuring as Buck thinks he meant it to be.

Tommy sighs. “I think that we both wanted this to be perfect. For some reason, I’m attracted to you,” he teases, “and I wanted to woo you on your first ‘date with a dude’,” he mocks, earning a smack from Buck. “I remember how terrifying my first public date with a man was, so I can imagine how you were feeling leading up to this.”

“It was scary for you, too?” Buck asks shyly. He’s more reassured by that fact than anything else. In his attempts to not be weird about the date, he tried to hide his fears—this is something so new and important to him but it might not be a singular experience.

“Oh my God, yes!” Tommy laughs. “It was with a dancer. A small guy who looked like he walked straight out of the magazines I used to keep under my bed when I was a teenager.”

“I forgot you grew up in the 80s,” Buck teases. Tommy pinches his waist in retaliation and Buck squirms just a little closer to him.

“Since he was a dancer, I tried to find us a club. You know, dancing at a club was a stereotypically gay thing I could do to prove to this guy I was, in fact, gay. Like the asking-on-a-date part wasn’t explanatory enough.”

“Dancing’s a good first date!” Buck argues, not yet seeing the downside to this conversation.

“Oh, it can be! Except I was terrified to fuck it up, so trusted some stranger on the internet to recommend a spot.”

“Oh no,” Buck mutters.

“Oh, yes,” Tommy agrees. He winces like the memory has been repressed for a little too long. “It was a swingers, leather club. Needed a password to get in.”

“The stranger didn’t give you the password, did he?” Buck guesses.

“Worse. My date knew it and ditched me almost the second we got inside.”

“Oh no,” Buck repeats, though he’s holding back laughter. Tommy waves him on.

“Go ahead, go ahead. Get your laughs out.”

Buck does, throwing his head back for a moment before looking back over at Tommy. He’s staring at Buck like he’s made of sunshine and Buck has never felt brighter.

“So, is this your way of telling me you're into leather, then?” Buck jokes.

“It’s my way of telling you,” Tommy stops, turns, and makes sure he’s looking directly into Buck’s eyes, “that first dates are terrifying no matter who you are with, but how you feel about someone at the end is all that matters.”

“Yeah?” Buck asks. He feels small with Tommy’s eyes on him, with Tommy’s hand around his waist, sliding to the small of his back where he’s unused to being touched so gently.

“Yeah,” Tommy agrees. Buck waits until Tommy glances down at his lips before he smiles.

“And how do you feel about me?” Buck asks. He brings his hands up to put one of Tommy’s broad shoulders and the other brushes a strand of Tommy’s hair back. The red that blooms on Tommy’s cheeks makes Buck’s heart sore.

“I feel…” Tommy begins to lean forward and Buck’s ready for the kiss this time. He isn’t going to be surprised. He knows what to do with his hands. He’s ready to show Tommy that he knows how to kiss better than he knows how to date.

But then Tommy’s gone, and when Buck realizes it, they’re already a few feet apart, Tommy walking backward down the street.

He shouts, “I feel a little damp and sticky. Come back to my place so we can fix that?”

Buck runs after him, shouting, “Is that an innuendo? I don’t get them all yet!”

Contagious laughter echoes through the almost empty streets, and joy thrums through Buck’s entire being. Awkwardness aside, he thinks he could easily get used to this.

[blondephenobarbitol]

the reason we will never get a crossover with the Solve-It-Squad and Hatchetfield is because Scrags simply would not survive that classic Spankoffski Charm™. Ted walks up and says "I objectify women and my best friend killed his childhood dog" and boom Scrags is on the floor instant casualty. Esther and Emma would get along tho.

[centaurianthropology]

Ashton and Silence

One of the things that has fascinated me this campaign is how ready-built Ashton is to be a leader, but how Taliesin plays low charisma to constantly stop them from being one.  Ashton has great ideas, and tends to be one of the two most grounded members of the group.   He has excellent moral intelligence (far better than they’ll admit), and one-on-one Ashton excels at talking people down from their worst points.  

But they also are in constant pain, and they’ve spent their entire life being told that they’re worthless as anything other than a slab of muscle.  So they silence themselves.  And the more unfamiliar the environment or the more people around them, the more they clam up.

Last episode was one of the best examples I’ve seen yet.  Ashton was almost entirely silent this episode.  He admitted to hating camping, likely to do with the chronic pain, but also to do with the unfamiliar environment.  Ashton is a city barbarian through and through, and they thrive in cities.  They are far more confident in cities, even when they don’t know them as well as Jrusar or Bassuras.  But the wilderness?  On an unknown continent?  He’s already on the wrong foot.

And then they go to the village, and before they know it things are spiraling.  It turns out this place was a powderkeg waiting to blow, with two factions that are, at least from appearance, both highly suspect.  The Vasselheim faction are clearly outsiders come here to impose their culture on the locals, taking too much from their land, bleeding their farms dry for distant tribute, and recently sending more and more armed thugs and more religious oppression.  Add to that the Flameguide being clearly an asshole who won’t listen to reason (very classic lawful stupid paladin, and I agree with Emily, likely a Conquest Paladin, some of the worst to deal with), and the Dawnfather folks are clearly assholes who aren’t wanted there.

But though the townsfolk in general seem sympathetic and just want to live free and worship as they will, their charismatic leader also seems to be full-on with Ruby Vanguard ideology.  She wants to tear the gods down, mistaking gods who are behind a divine gate and can’t interact with humans without a great deal of faith, with the corrupt religious institutions that sprung up around them.  But at the same time she gives a distinct feeling of hating those institutions because she’s not them.  She flat-out said that she didn’t want to stop with the town.  She wanted her own elemental worship to take over the world.

It’s a great set-up, because the townsfolk just want to be free, so they’re throwing in their lot with someone who has grand and terrible ambitions.  It’s Ludinus writ small, and playing out on an intimate scale.

And the team wasn’t really given any choice.  Once they were exploring the options, they were already sort of stuck with the elementalists.  And they mostly just want to prevent casualties, but the people in charge of those potential casualties have no care for the people who could die.  They see only glory and their own faith.

Orym spoke up, because that’s what Orym does.  But Orym’s confidence has been shaken, and there was little to no way he was going to manage to sway two fanatics.  Denise sort-of spoke up, as did Laudna, both trying but both also failing.  Bor’Dor and Prism were both basically on the side of ‘let’s fuck up the gods, whoo!’ from the off, Bor’Dor because he doesn’t really know what’s going on, and Prism out of academic bitterness.  In another life, she would have been hard-core Rube Vanguard fairly easily.

And then there’s Ashton, silent in the back, deeply uncomfortable, surrounded by an elementalist group that feels a lot like a cult with a charismatic leader.  How much must he be associating this with the Hishari?  Does it have any connection?  Some remnant faction?  Are they fighting on the side of his nightmares?

But they say nothing.  They stay silent.  They are barely noticed, despite being a big rock person in an elemental-worshipping town.  People should be all over them in fascination, but they aren’t, because Ashton has practically vanished.  They needed to speak up.  They needed to stand with Orym to try to de-escalate things, but instead they are sneaking in the background.  Why?  Lack of confidence.  Self-loathing.  Fear.  This is where Asthon’s low charisma springs from: they will never trust themselves to do the right thing, to say the right words, to really step up and be counted.  So they hide, and things crumble.

[moonydustx]

please make your cowboy carter ace fic….bonus points if it’s to bodyguard bc i can’t listen to that song without thinking of him 🥰

Hey Hey! I loved your request, it was a great help because I was in a cruel doubt between Bodyguard, Levii's Jeans (I mean, I would love to be called by him or call him pretty little thing) and II Hands II Heaven (this is the anthem of my life). To add to my WIPs, as soon as I have time I want to do the classic of him being the bodyguard (all that incredible thing about super protective Ace), this time, our favorite F!Reader is the bodyguard of the moment.

I hope you enjoy!

We've been hurtin', but it's happy hour

Based on the song BODYGUARD, by Beyoncé

F!Reader x Portgas D. Ace

Warnings: Mentions of the events at Marineford, but here we have a happy ending with everyone coming out alive. A little angst and a little spicy at the end, best friends to lovers.

Summary: A few months passed after Ace escaped from Marineford. When Ace goes out alone for the first time, you decide to accompany him and end up exposing your feelings.

*Italics are for flashbacks and parts of the song

requests open | one piece masterlist

Some things still didn't seem real to you. It was as if his presence was still a breath away from disappearing before your eyes. Even though a few months had passed after the whole situation in Marineford, you sometimes felt trapped in a cloud of fear and overprotection over Ace.

That's why when you met your father's eyes, you knew you had his permission for your little private mission. Be Fire Fist's personal bodyguard. You would never complain about that, the closer you were to your best friend, the easier it would be to understand that everything was real and that in the end, despite some casualties and all the chaos caused, everything was fine.

"I still don't know what's going on in your head." Ace grunted pulling you out of the Striker. "Are you really going to be my shadow today?"

"For your happiness, yes." You stood next to him, with slow steps the two of you began to leave the pier and head into the village. "I know it's a simple thing, just getting some information, but I need to keep my eye on you."

"Try to keep up with me then." Ace started to get in the middle of some vendors, disappearing from your sight.

You thought it would take longer to complete such a mission, but just a few hours later, before sunset, Ace and you had already collected what you needed. Moby Dick was waiting for the two of you some distance away, but even so, Ace didn't seem at all concerned about following the route home as soon as possible.

"Just a little hour." he asked, pulling you towards a crowded bar. "A little hour just for me to socialize, remember what it was like and then we'll leave."

"An hour set." you gave up and followed him.

Be your bestfriend, I'll protect you in the mosh pit And I'll defend you in the gossip You know how people like to start shit and pop shit

Outside the bar, people were already gathering to the loud sound of music, glasses of drinks were piled up in addition to some couples huddling together. Inside, it was almost impossible to breathe. Before you could even consider relaxing, some curious looks turned towards the two of you - either going unnoticed or being solemnly ignored by Ace.

Even though two months had already passed since what happened, the news and developments of all the mess that the Whitebeard pirates made still sounded fresh to other pirates.

"Hey, relax. Let's enjoy it like old times, shall we?" Ace pulled you and now you walked in front of him. His hands clung to your shoulder, guiding you as the two of you entered the crowd. Memories of a lighter time floated through your mind.

"I hated this place." you muttered to Ace as soon as they entered a tavern. The rustic place smelled of the worst quality alcohol and was full of strange faces.

"And I loved it! Come on, just give it a chance." Ace leaned against the counter and signaled that he wanted two shots to the man serving him. "It may look a little ugly, but the drink can't be that bad."

Poor Ace, fooled in both situations. First, the drink was horrible, but for the few bucks it was still worth it. However, worse than that, just a few men who kept looking at you strangely and calling you.

"Ace? Can we go?" you asked and like in many other situations - and like friends, Ace pulled your body against his, making it clear that you were supposedly accompanied.

"Stay calm." the smell of whiskey invaded your sense of smell when he bent down to your neck to speak. "Let's just finish this drink. And you can leave it to me, those assholes won't come near."

"Are you feeling uncomfortable?" he asked, pulling you back into that noisy reality that was much more crowded than the old tavern. "Do you see anything strange?"

"Nothing else." you shook off your serious expression with a wave of your hand. "I'm just not used to going out, not anymore."

"Does that mean you got rusty during the time I was away?"

"It's just that I was kind of busy trying to save your hot ass." you punched him lightly, earning a groan from Ace.

"Next time, I'll let Marco know so he can keep an eye on you and not let you get moldy." he returned the small punch you gave, much lighter. Your serious look already anticipated your response. "Okay, no next time."

"Thank you my dear." You said cynically, sneaking away and finding a small couch, with enough space for the two of you. "Do you mind if we stay a little further away from all the mess today?"

"Yes for now, how about some drinks?" he suggested and barely waited for your response, standing up and heading towards the counter.

Almost automatically, your eyes followed him, every gesture, every movement that Ace made. Your attention was only diverted from him to the small space next to you sinking. A much older man, part of his face burned, put his arm behind you.

"I see it's Fire Fists' companion. How many did you take down? A few hundred if I remember."

"What do you want?" you cut him off immediately, taking your eyes off Ace for just a few minutes to observe him.

"Gossip spreads fast about how Ace is back in action. Just as people like to talk shit, they might want to start doing shit." He bent down, stopping next to your ear. "I would hate to have to put such a beautiful face in the crossfire, in the middle of the little party we are going to have."

"I see you've already met Ace." you pointed to the burn mark on it. "I see some of your companions around here too, so pass on the news: I can take down one by one of you without needing any fire. Plus, I don't think your business would get along well with my other companions anchoring here on the island and having a little… like you said, little party?"

"Fire Fists got an aggressive bodyguard, I liked it." He touched your chin and stood up. "When you need a new crew…"

"I didn't even have time to come back with the drinks and you're already causing problems?" Ace's teasing tone caught both of your attention. You just nodded and the man who had threatened you left you and your companion alone. "What happened?"

"He just bothered me and I didn't really like the way he said some things." you shrugged, not wanting to delve deeper into this discussion. "And everything went well there?"

"Well, I got our drinks and made friends!" he waved at a blonde woman who was leaning against the counter. The evil look, the provocative clothes, maybe friendship wasn't exactly what she was looking for. "She said she'll come here later."

"Oh yes." you took the glass from his hand and downed it in one gulp. "I think I'm done drinking, would you like another one?"

Ace just looked at you and if it were possible, you knew there would be a question mark drawn on his face. Ace already knew you well enough to know that it was a small twinge of jealousy on your part and it had been a while since he was entertained by that, maybe today would be a good night.

"Two more drinks please." you asked, stopping next to the blonde that Ace had waved at, cynically you turned to her. "Ah, you, Ace's new little friend!"

"Yes, it's me, how can I help you."

"Friend of that pirate, burnt face and such?" you pointed out and saw her turn pale. "Very old strategy, dear, occupy him, threaten someone else or the opposite. I'll give you a chance, forget about him and then you can find another idiot to fall for your little talk."

"What if I don't want to?"

"I believe you will." the words came out without you even wiping the smile off your face. You reached for the two glasses and went back to where Ace was waiting for you.

"She was with that idiot, wasn't she?" he asked and saw you nod. "I'm an idiot."

"I don't even have to agree for you to know for sure." you replied, earning a smile from him.

They couldn't catch you they never will Sometimes I hold you closer just to know you're real Tell me your problems (I got you), I take how you feel I show you an exit, when you're restless I take the wheel

Even sitting down, your body swayed slightly to the rhythm of the music, as you filled Ace in on the little adventures that happened in the time he was away. He had already heard most of it, but it made a difference to hear it from your mouth. A few good drinks later, you felt your body more relaxed and Ace's head weighed against your shoulder.

"Can I confess something to you?" Ace leaned on your shoulder, his lips almost touching your earlobe. "I was worried."

"About what?" your voice was barely heard over the loud beats of the music.

"About my days away." he began, keeping the minimum distance with your skin. "Our old man gave me a lecture that I'll never forget, Marco didn't talk to me for weeks, Izou didn't talk to me either and when he started talking again, he pointed a pistol at my head." He laughed at his own comment, letting his face rest for a few brief seconds against your skin. "And you… You continued to treat me normally, I mean, you practically became my bodyguard today, but still…"

"Do you think I didn't care about you?" your breaths were millimeters apart as you turned to face him.

"I just wish things would go back to normal as soon as possible, I just wish I could have taken this little time with my best friend, but I feel like you're worrying too much." he confessed and you thought for a few seconds, thinking it was nothing but fair to make your feelings clear to him.

"As soon as you left, I felt like something bad was going to happen, I cried for all the days you were gone, even more so after we found out about Impel Down and you know how much I hate crying." the two of you still stared at each other, even with the small laugh that escaped your lips. "Just like I still cry with joy when I wake up after a nightmare about all that and I'm forced to go look in your room and you're there, snoring."

"I did not know that."

"Ace…" you sighed, controlling your own emotions. "This here." You pointed to the entire bar around it. "This mostly." You touched his skin and Ace noticed your fear. "It still doesn't feel real, I feel like it's still not real, you're safe…"

Preventing you from continuing to deposit all your fears in him, Ace's arms wrapped you in a tight hug, unlike the lively music that played around the two of you, it was as if everything was in slow motion. You allowed your face to sink into the back of his head and he effortlessly pulled you to sit on his lap, a new gesture in your friendship.

"Every time you feel this…" his voice reached your ears muffled. The contact with his skin made the sound of Ace's pulse even more vivid. "Every time you think it's not real, just hug me, okay? I promise I'll be here."

You stayed like that for a few minutes, both of you with your eyes closed, just feeling each other without even giving a damn about the others who were passing by and looking.

"I said I would live without regrets, but if I died there, I would have only one regret." Ace pulled you to face him.

"And what would be?"

"Miss this chance."

His lips met yours, a small peck as if asking permission to explore an infinite number of possibilities. When he moved just a few millimeters away from you, it was you who urgently pulled him back. The heat emanated not only from Ace's body, but mainly from his lips, from the saliva that mixed with yours, from the friction that your hips sought against his.

"Hey." He pulled away again and brought his hand to your face, with his touch you noticed the presence of some tears. "I think we've suffered enough, it's time for the happy hour."

Taking you off his lap, Ace took you to the middle of the small improvised dance floor. Well, an accumulation of people dancing around the band that was playing could be considered a dance floor. That night, while your hips moved slightly to the rhythm of the music, Ace's hands seemed tied to your waist. Keeping your back to him was sometimes suffocating - and made it difficult to hide the heat rising through him, so he would turn you around and take the opportunity to steal a few kisses.

The night ended with Ace taking the Striker out to the middle of the sea, far enough to get away from the city lights and far enough for your crewmates to spot the two of you. Despite the little space, Ace was on top of you and that night, as you felt him take your body, in addition to the stars in the sky above, you saw your favorite freckles drawn on his face. His eyes remained on yours, his lips attached to every inch of your skin.

When he got back to the ship, with the small excuse that he didn't want you to have nightmares and have to walk to his room to see him snoring, Ace kept you there, between him and the sheets of his bed. After years of being best friends, he had some time to catch up with his favorite bodyguard.

I could be your bodyguard Please, let me be your Kevlar Baby, let me be your lifeguard