#ensan case

[artkfwks]

I'm so glad I've stumbled upon this book, I love them so much omg

Here's my headcanon on how they would look like!

[renaultphile]

Calling all Wingmen/The Charioteer fans!

To commemorate the Christopher Street Liberation Day, which took place 56 years ago today in 1970 in New York, I have written a fic featuring middle-aged Andrew Raynes (TC) and Fred Trusteau (WM), and their reactions to this momentous gathering.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

No knowledge needed of both books - I hope you enjoy my attempts to bring together fact and fiction.

[alovelywaytospendanevening]

Wingmen: The Playlist — Based on the gay novel Wingmen by Ensan Case.

[Playlist on Youtube]

Songs:

1. “Learning to Fly” — Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

He reminded himself that he was a Hellcat pilot. In the morning a big blue fighter would again be put into his hands.

2. “Waiting for the Sky to Fall” — Richard Grieco

In a totally unnerving flash of insight he realized his feelings for the commanding officer were a lot more than admiration.

3. “The Life You Lead” — Barclay James Harvest

He kept coming back to the fact that nothing this day and many days afterward would be amusing—the only man he had ever really cared about, he knew now, was missing, and probably dead.

4. “Move, You Lose!” — Phenomena

It bore no resemblance to the stories of gallant, skillful fighter pilots jockeying for position and saluting the fallen vanquished. It was much more a question of who shot first and had someone upstairs to cover his tail.

5. “Man of Devotion” — Fools Garden

He felt that if the skipper asked him to take on the whole Japanese air fleet, he would do it single-handedly and without hesitation. He would do anything for Jack Hardigan.

6. “If You Believe” — Sasha

He felt the expansion of Jack’s chest as he breathed, the roughness of his beard against his neck, and knew that this was what he had wanted all along.

7. “This Silent World” — Chris de Burgh

He wanted badly to touch Fred, hold him. But he couldn’t. They were two men who were as close as two men could be, but they were still very much apart.

8. “The Pressure's On” — Adrenalin

“My men have the wrong attitude,” Jack finished for him. He had been thinking it, too. Since Kwajalein they were listless, careless—dangerous. They needed motivation. Whose fault was all this?

9. “Lovers in the Wind” — Roger Hodgson

Fred squeezed Jack as hard as he could. He was thinking that he loved Jack very much but would never find the time, the place, or the words to tell him so.

10. “Battle” — House of Lords

He would remember those minutes of combat for the rest of his life, as though they were a strange and marvelous dream burned too deeply into his mind to forget.

11. “When the War Is Over” — Cold Chisel

“I’ll be coming through Pearl on my way stateside and maybe we could get together for a few drinks and talk over old times.”

[kittychief]

Owning a business is hard. Sometimes you need a hug, some words of reassurance, and to have a cigarette with your lover, or co-owner, or the man you used to fly right next to. Sometimes he can be all of that.

Tried to make these lovebirds look older— this drawing is meant to be during the later years. :)

[shadows-on-the-sky]

Hi there, as a belated birthday ask, I wondered if you had any thoughts to share about Fred's life post-epilogue? Assuming he could have just retired on the proceeds of the company, I still feel he might have been a little too young for that. So many possibilities...and would Duane Higgins ever pop up in his life again? What do you think his future might look like?

Hey,

As you mentioned, Fred wouldn't have financial problems — he'd probably even be a millionaire. That’s basically the only concrete thing we can say about his post-epilogue life.

I like to imagine Fred was wrong and that Duane would get back in touch with him. Duane is a fascinating character because he is unpredictable in a realistic way, and although he felt a great deal of envy toward Fred, I don’t think he ever truly hated him. And with the war years being a distant memory, I can picture him trying to be friendly.

I also think Fred would be able to bounce back. Yeah, Jack was the love of his life, and he’ll always miss him, but Fred is a pretty smart and active guy; I can’t imagine him just wallowing in grief for the rest of his life. Eventually he’d come up with a new idea, start a new project. Maybe something related to the gay rights movement, like you suggested, or something completely unrelated to his past.

[queereads-bracket]

Older Queer Works Book Bracket: Round 1C

Choose a book:

Bastard Out of Carolina (1992) by Dorothy Allison

Wingmen (1979) by Ensan Case

Voting ended onNov 29, 2025

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

Bastard Out of Carolina (1992) by Dorothy Allison

Greenville County, South Carolina, is a wild, lush place that is home to the Boatwright family—a tight-knit clan of rough-hewn, hard-drinking men who shoot up each other's trucks, and indomitable women who get married young and age too quickly. At the heart of this story is Ruth Anne Boatwright, known simply as Bone, a bastard child who observes the world around her with a mercilessly keen perspective. When her stepfather Daddy Glen, "cold as death, mean as a snake," becomes increasingly more vicious toward her, Bone finds herself caught in a family triangle that tests the loyalty of her mother, Anney—and leads to a final, harrowing encounter from which there can be no turning back.

Historical fiction, coming of age, autobiographical novel, 1950s

Wingmen (1979) by Ensan Case

Endorsement from submitter: "WW2 story about two pilots falling in love and trying to live in an era where queerness was legally and socially unacceptable. Precursor to gay romance genre."

First published in 1979 by Avon books, this World War II novel, with overtones of From Here to Eternity, was a precursor to the gay romance genre. Jack Hardigan's Hellcat fighter squadron blew the Japanese Zekes out of the blazing Pacific skies. But a more subtle kind of hell was brewing in his feelings for rookie pilot Fred Trusteau. While a beautiful widow pursues Jack, and another pilot becomes suspicious of Jack and Fred's close friendship, the two heroes cut a fiery swath through the skies from Wake Island to Tarawa to Truk, there to keep a fateful rendezvous with love and death in the blood-clouded waters of the Pacific.

Historical fiction, WWII, 1940s, war novel, adult

[gowan43]

Hello fans of Wingmen by Ensan Case! I’m nominating it for Yuletide 2025, choosing the characters Jack Hardigan, Fred Trusteau, Duane Higgins, and Eleanor Hawkins. Just thought I’d let you know in case you’re interested as I’d love to see fic for it. I’ll be both requesting it and offering it!

[rainbowsuitcase]

Unless a slow burn has what Wingmen by Ensan Case does, I DON'T WANT IT