just finished boots & i love novacek so much i cant shut up about them
from a one-sided rivalry to companions who look out for each other and genuinely make each other improve 🥹 one of my fav tropes
at the beginning, nash says hes only in competition with himself. but after being demoted from squad leader, losing to slovacek, he feels lost. he came here with a purpose and he messed up. slovacek, having won, should feel fulfilled and leave the whole thing behind. but he still competes with nash over everything, even subconsciously. he constantly seeks out fulfillment through beating nash, from knowing hes doing better. and when he loses, he should feel awful; instead, it makes him look forward to their next challenge.
then comes nash's diary reveal. slovacek teases him about it relentlessly, as if discovering the diary is some kind of one-up. he brings it up not just to torture nash, but to make himself feel better. but when he catches nash trying to quit boot camp, fuck up on purpose, he doesnt feel that good about it, not as much as he'd expect. the idea of nash choosing the "easy way out" feels like a hit to his pride. because, for him, being here was almost a matter of life or death. for nash, he could just leave when he wanted.
day comes when they're told that if nash quits, slovacek goes with him. this was the biggest turnaround for their relationship. before, it was just a rivalry between two trainees. now theyre responsible for each other, and slovacek goes to prison if nash quits. in a moment of vulnerability, a side slovacek doesnt show anyone, he begs nash not to mess up, not to quit. a part of it was about being selfish, about how he has nowhere else to go. nash was his only hope now.
but a deeper part of him hoped nash would care, because at the end of the day, it wasnt just a rivalry between them anymore. theyve been through too much together for nash to not care at all, not even a little. a part of him, a deeper more shameful part, wants nash to stay *for* him, to choose him.
nash might be reluctant at first, saying "how is that on me?" but hes a marine, hes responsible for those around him. maybe it wasnt personal to him, but when he doesnt quit, when he chooses to push through out of a sense of responsibility and honor, slovacek doesnt just feel gratitude. because in the back of his mind, he believes its more than that. its not just nash being honorable, not dragging down another trainee with him--to slovacek, its nash not wanting to drag *him* down. its nash choosing to care more about slovacek than himself.
and of course, on the outside, slovacek and nash both share this "every man for themselves" mindset. slovacek, putting himself first because he *needs* to make it out of boot camp. nash, because he has a cause bigger than himself. but when nash chooses to do this for slovacek, it changes him. doing this made him a better person--*slovacek* made him a better person. for once, he sees a cause right in front of him.
its true that nash came here for one reason only, but along the way, slovacek's petty rivalry became something more. over time, slovacek started meaning more to him. maybe not more than his original purpose, but more than he expected.
and when he wanted to quit, when he almost gave up, slovacek was the reason he didnt. maybe indirectly. because to him, joining the marines was supposed to just be about a better future. but in the end, he only made it through boot camp because of slovacek, whether he wants to admit it or not.
slovacek, the same. he wasnt good with feelings, but he was most vulnerable with nash. so when nash does this for him, as much as slovacek hated it, he let his walls down. in a softer way, he said thank you. somewhere along the road, this stopped being a rivalry for him too. this became a reason to keep trying for him too.
blakekathryn
dededos
jbbartram-illu
germansingergirl
janainaart
annaxmalina
discoholicmusic
