some tog watching the olympics hcs for the soul because i love the olympics and i decided they do too:
andy competed in the ORIGINAL greek olympics. yes she did
with the guard being as competitive as they are, the olympics are a BIG deal in the safe house - it’s like the football world cup but all day every day for three weeks straight
it’s obviously too dangerous for the guard to attend the olympics these days with all of the cameras and media, so they hunker down in a safehouse and watch as much as they can on TV
they used to go most years though, nicky even told nile that he considered competing in olympic shooting back in the mid 1900s but it was too high profile to risk it
quynh was in the ocean when they brought back the olympic games as we know them today. her first olympics year back with the guard she asks andy why everyone is clothed and where the victors wreaths are
nile LOVES the olympics so she fits right into the dynamic when the first olympics of her time with the guard roll around
she was a little nervous about coming on too strong that first year, but when she saw how hard they roast each other and how much they goaded her into being just as competitive and aggressive as they were, she settled in easily
they would later regret unlocking that part of her once they realize how painful watching the olympics with an american is
nile keeps a scoreboard on the wall next to the TV where she updates the medal counts daily and reminds everyone who’s winning (the usa)
joe, quynh, and booker prefer the summer olympics while nile and andy prefer the winter olympics. nicky is just happy to make some money off of booker when france loses, no matter the season
“andy im getting us a peacock account to watch the olympics, they’re starting next week” “peacock account? what the hell is peacock? like the bird??”
there’s ALWAYS a bet going on. for the full duration of the olympic games there is never not a bet going on
nile will be doing joe’s dishes for a month after kaylia nemour beat suni lee in the uneven bars final
booker owes nicky €300 after italy advanced out of the first round of the women’s doubles tennis tournament (france did not) and another €1000 for italy winning the gold medal
andy stays out of the betting for the most part, or just picks the best athlete rather than one representing her home nation
“andy, that’s cheating—” “the scythians were nomadic. i don’t even remember where i was born so i’ll pick whichever athlete i damn well please, and you—” “okay, fine! we get it!”
andy found quynh wandering in a desert, quynh doesn’t really remember where she’s from either so she picks her favorite athletes based on vibe and which countries were her favorites to travel around with andy
there aren’t nearly as many north african athletes as there are italian, french, and american so joe starts adopting the athletes with the most heartwarming comeback/underdog stories as his faves
i feel like nile LOVES usa gymnastics having been a teen watching gabby douglas and simone biles!
that girl was SAT for every gymnastics event cheering on team usa like it was her job
andy has broken her neck attempting to pull off the stunts she sees in olympic snowboarding, gymnastics, skateboarding, figure skating, etc…. but sometimes she nails them. and it’s sick as fuck
nile is from the midwest i know she’s an ice hockey enjoyer. she pregames the winter olympics by making the guard watch miracle (2004) (nicky cries)
booker makes a drinking game for watching the games. he prints out the rules and pins them up next to nile’s medal count. take a sip when an announcer starts yelling, a shot when a random celebrity is shown on the broadcast, and finish your drink when a medalist cries
whenever great britan places below one of the guard’s countries, copley receives a very vulgar and unsportsmanlike text from them
no, quynh does not watch swimming events. thank you for asking
the couch is NOT a safe space. anything goes during the olympics. anyone who gets too mean (or whose athlete loses) can and will be pushed off the couch and exiled to the armchair
i will surely update this as the olympics continue and my friends and i get up to more hijinks. stay tuned and enjoy the greatest sporting event ever conceived
Morning sun pours through the window of the attic bedroom, splashing onto the bed, spilling languidly across Joe’s bare belly. The sheets are tangled low at his hips and the pillow is askew. He has one arm thrown above his head and one stretched out into the spot that Nicky had occupied until a few minutes before, and his breathing is slow and even. Nicky stands in the doorway with a coffee cup in his hand and isn’t sure he can wake him, despite the hour and the travel ahead of them that day. And then Joe opens one eye and peers at him, smiles beatifically and hums, pleased, at the back of his throat.
Nicky crosses the room and sets the coffee on the small, rickety table beside the bed. “Good morning,” he says, settling at Joe’s hip, leaning in to kiss his forehead.
“Coffee,” Joe says appreciatively, and Nicky smiles, pressing a kiss to his temple.
“I thought you might enjoy a gentle awakening.”
Joe runs a gentle hand up the inside of Nicky’s nearest thigh, lets it rest where the hair on Nicky’s leg begins to thin. “I enjoy being woken by you,” he offers around a yawn. “Such beauty as the first thing I see.”
They have woven their lives together for hundreds of years, and Nicky has grown used to such affection. But occasionally, as now, he feels his heart skip and his cheeks heat beneath the easy grace of Joe’s words.
Joe’s smile grows impossibly wider. “Is that a blush?” he asks.
“Perhaps,” Nicky says evenly. “Perhaps I am still very in love with you.”
Joe reaches up to cup the side of Nicky’s face and gently thumbs his cheek. “Still,” he says with a wonder that makes Nicky’s heart skip again, makes him turn his head to press a kiss to Joe’s palm.
“Still,” Nicky agrees. “My lay-abed husband.”
Joe closes his eyes, cheeks round with delight. “I am, I am, I do lay abed.” He opens one eye again. “Perhaps you might lay abed with me.”
“There is so much to . . .” Nicky squawks as Joe pulls on his arm and rolls him back into bed. “Yusuf!”
“Oh, my full name,” says Joe, kissing Nicky’s shoulder. “I am in such trouble.”
Nicky laughs softly as Joe kisses a path to his jaw. “Only trouble of the heart, my love,” he whispers, as Joe curls against his side and lays his head upon Nicky’s chest.
I did a tog rewatch 3 days ago with two friends with whom I'm used to dissect books and poetry a lot, we're all writers and it's a big part of how we spend time together, and now I have THOUGHTS! It's insane how watching tog not alone, not connected to tumblr.com to scream at all the right moments, has shown me/reminded me of certain details, outside of the fandom culture around the movie. The rewatch was a long time coming, that's what I'm saying.
Like... Yusuf is the comedic relief in so many scenes. In a lesser action movie that would have been the entirety of his character except! He's flirty with Nicky at the dinner scene, then his romantic side gets the spotlight in the van (iconic, but somehow managed to surprise me as if I'd never watched the movie*). His anger towards Booker and his protectiveness of Nicky are elevated so much by Marwan's performance. Another thing I noticed is that his relationship with Booker is explained with very little details: you have them watching football together, the iconic looking back at each other when they leave Booker behind... and that's mostly it.
There's a clear divide between Joe&Nicky and Andy&Booker. Andy and Booker are very close, they get each other. They think they're similar and consider the other the one person in the group that shares their worldview, they're two assholes doing this shit together. They're the second emotional heart of the movie, after Nile&Andy. Andy and Booker are also the two who lost and failed their family/partners, while Joe and Nicky 'always had each other'. Andy doesn't fault J&N for this, while Booker expresses his bitterness when they're held captive in the lab. It's interesting how Booker is clearly the computer guy, the 'brains of the operation' as Nile says, he is Andy's right hand man, yet this has been a bit lost in fanfictions, which maybe give Joe or Nicky a more prominent role (or maybe not and this consideration comes from my limited experience with tog fics).
Nicky is the morals character. He is empathetic, talks a lot**, he is the one who hasn't lost the answers to their immortality the way Andy has. He is the one who reminds Andy that that's what they do, they fight as a team. I remember 2020 me dissecting his little smile in front of Copley's wall of madness, saying it was Nicky having a confirmation of something he wanted to believe in, and I think that interpretation is still acceptable. He is there to be the immortal who believes and I think that's beautiful. His conversation with Kozak always, always hits. Someone here once said Nicky is Rucka's perfect Italian boyfriend and it completely changed the way I look at him, it's so funny. He IS blorbo, thank you very much.
Nile and Andy have insane screen chemistry on that plane. My friend thought they were the queer couple everyone was obsessed about.
Booker's monologue in the cave is SO GOOD. He is -prepare yourself mentally for what I'm about to say- the most well-rounded character in the movie, together with Andy. Nile, J&N, they all have something going on, but Booker ? He has so much nuance, you suspect him at first, but then his bond with Andy and his kind attention towards Nile lull you in a false sense of security. His inability to track Copley is shady as fuck, but the way Andy trusts him completely fools both Nile and the viewer. The cave monologue is particularly good because it is the foil to the dinner, where the gang tried to explain stuff to Nile, this time going deeper in the gritty details of their immortality. Quỳnh's backstory is, of course, another pivotal moment, especially to explain Andy's character.
Andy is great. There's no way around it. Her eyes are ablaze sometimes, it gave me chills. You get these incredible moments where you suddenly see her alive, not the disillusioned person she's become, and it's so good. When she fights with Nile on the plane, when Nile stares at her in Goussainville after Andy has killed all the soldiers, you get glimpses of someone who is still, after all these years, alive. Andy's depression and disillusionment and pain, like during Quỳnh's scene, hit even harder for this.
Nile is wonderful. I think I remembered her character better than the others, she is a great character to follow as a viewer and Kiki is clearly giving her best shot at matching thee Charlize Theron's energy. She keeps surprising me for her humanity, every rewatch without fail. Her actions make so much sense, of course she wants to go home, of course she's horrified by the immortal's reality of killing and war forever. She's awed and terrified by Andy once she knows how old she is but before this revelation and by the end of the movie they have a more equal footing. Nile is Andy's foil more than her mentee, Andy is the one who learns the most from Nile. I love how Nile is protective of Andy when they're fighting at Merrick's hq, and their synergy made my heart go :
In conclusion, rewatch the old guard (2020). It's great.
*by this I mean that J&N are written in a very delicious way, in the sense there are soooo many details explaining the bond between them, but these are shown bit by bit as the story progresses. It's always fun to show TOG to someone new because before they're cuddling on the train, you don't know they're together. You see they are if you know beforeheand, but the movie doesn't go out of its way to show you, then bam! they're spooning. Then, dinner scene: they allude to their backstory. Nile dreams of Quỳnh: spooning again. AND THEN WHAT? A SHAKESPEARIAN MONOLOGUE WITH A STEEL CHAIR??? In a van??? It surprises you, it's in your face, it's sweet. Once we see J&N giggling while held captive, you already know they're just like that all the time. This is what Booker had to see for a century at least. They're soooo in love and this realisation makes the fight with Keane as compelling as it is. It's so well-structured!!!
**I need to STOP writing Nicky very shy jesus christ. I always say this but it bears repeating
The Old Guard was SO fucked up for being like “we’re all immortal with a single catch that any of our deaths could be the last.” Then have two of them being romantically involved for CENTURIES and every single time they die together, in the back of their minds, they wonder if the other is going to get back up with them.
Post movie Booker is still exiled from the friend group but he’s still best friends with them all in Animal Crossing and sometimes Joe comes over to his island just to sell turnips, steal fruit, and follow Booker around, smacking him with an insect net. It’s intensely intimate and personal for both of them.
Booker and Joe as stubby little villagers in a pastel digital world sitting side by side on a bamboo bench watching the ocean together, and you KNOW in the real world both them boys are gently crying.
do you guys remember the Old Guard. remember when there was a major mainstream hollywood action scifi motion picture starring hot women with guns where gay people kissed on the mouth passionately. and the movie was both critically and financially successful. that movie feels like a fucking fever dream. i'll never achieve the high i got when that movie came out ever again
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