#aaron wilkinson

[vilcade]

[sheletlune]

😭

[phosphorusab]

Ever since I learned that the “Looks like you left Guam just in time. NCIS is poking around, watch your six” letter was from WILKINSON, I have been UNWELL-

Fuck Sullivan fr. That was basically his fucking life partner, and as soon as his Republican Military Phenotype Looking Ass Friend started shit talking Wilkinson for being gay, he completely shut down. Didn’t even bother to half ass a lukewarm defense of his colleague, let alone HIS LIFE PARTNER. He threw him under the bus, not expecting his bigot friend to report his ass. Because this guy can’t think of the potential consequences of his actions before he does stupid shit, that’s why a random civilian that unknowingly stepped into Sullivan’s spiraling crayon eating path, is in a coma.

And sweet, unknowing Wilkinson, had the COURTESY to warn him that NCIS was looking for him. Generation Kill Fumble. If a big beautiful man that I’m plowing once a month looks at me with sweet brown eyes, and tells me to ‘jump’, I’d say ‘how high’. If he, my superior mind you, tells me we should quit the military while we were ahead, where our existence is a crime, I’m gonna listen to him. Sullivan basically committed a social murder-suicide, because he couldn’t cope with the double life he willingly chose to lead.

If the tattoo matches, wear it…

[tartymae]

PSA for Boots Netflix -- Fraternization and the issues it poses for Wilkinson/Sullivan

At the time of Boots, the relationship between Wilkinson/Sullivan was illegal for two reasons. Today, it would be illegal for one reason: Fraternization.

In the military (or in any other system with a strict hierarchy) outside of work/official functions, contact between people of very different ranks should be kept minimal.

This is done to help protect those of a lower rank from abuse by those in authority over them, reduce the problems that come from favoritism and cronyism, and keep the organization ready to respond and carry out its mission. Basically, it helps protect against various forms of corruption and unprofessional behavior.

The power disparity between Sullivan and Wilkinson would be somewhat ameliorated if Sullivan was an E7, E8, or E9, a senior NCO with decades of experience and a great deal of informal power, and Wilkinson was an O1 or O2, a junior officer, college educated, but without a lot of experience (less than a decade) and limited klout.

But, the gap between them is HUGE. Sullivan is about 24-25, a young man, with less than a decade of military service, an E5 (lowest rank of NCO), and Wilkinson is at least a decade older, and an O5 (Major, a field grade officer). The gap in power and authority that Wilkinson wields over Sullivan is even bigger than that wielded by the Drill Instructors over the recruits.

It only could've been worse if Sullivan was in Wilkinson's chain of command.

It was Wilkinson's JOB to say to Sullivan "Look, we can't do this. As an Officer, it is my duty to look out for your best interests. Keep your head down, keep your nose clean, don't re-up, take your GI Bill. You can come to me for advice if you have nobody else to talk to, but we can't do this."

And Wilkinson, for whatever reason, failed in his duty. (And Sullivan, who had doubtless been warned against fraternizing -- there are SO many ways buddying up with an officer can go catastrophically wrong -- as part of his training, failed to heed that warning.)

I get it -- Wilkinson was desperately lonely (and horny) and he meets this smart, beautiful, passionate young man, who is also desperately lonely (and even hornier, because he's about 10 years younger).

Don't get me wrong -- the fraternization angle is a gold mine for fic-writing. There is so much to unpack there: fear, desperation, angst, self-deception, self-justification, loneliness, hope, desire .... Did they clock each other while meeting at work? Did they have an hook up and only after having great sex did they find out who each other was?

BUT.

It's not a trivial thing or a minor infraction that should be hand waved away.

[s-a-v-a-g-e-g-a-r-d-e-n]

tw: fake everything!!!

my sullivan's soul can't stand his beauty

[so soft and caring, sometimes i forget how to breathe]

scenepacks: bttmscp

[littlewaterbeetl3]

my new current obsession being a show about the us marines was NOT on my bingo card for this year. especially a show that is lowkey pro military propaganda and so so opposite of my own personal beliefs.

anyway, more people watch this show, i need sullivan and wilkinson fics of all kinds or else im gonna write them myself

[hed184]

Does anyone else think Sullivan is a villain?

1) He throws his lover under the bus just to make himself look better. Poor Wilkinson has no idea that he ended up in jail because of Sullivan of all people.

2) He has uncontrolled anger issues which he constantly directs towards innocent people, and uses his position to get away with it.

3) He knows being in the military makes Cope feel depressed and lonely, yet he tries to isolate him even more by putting his best friend (Ray) and the man he likes (Jones) against him.

4) He is quite happy to see that Cope is beating Jones to death, and doesn't try to stop him.

5) He doesn't fulfill his promise to Jones, and doesn't sign his medical-leave papers despite the fact that he had so much time to do it.

6) He almost kills a random man just to have a reason for leaving the military without being outted.

7) He doesn't even bother to talk or write to his lover for one last time, and ghosts him on a date night without any explanation. Poor Wilkinson kept looking for him for days.

Don't get me wrong, i feel sorry for Sullivan. It's obvious that many of his actions are due to internalized homophobia, but it doesn't excuse his cruelty and psychopathic behavior.

[anohmaliie]

simply sobbing for them