my headcanon is that when Cam becomes a Marine, he is very good at at, but he's the kind of guy that can switch it off the second he clocks out.
the biggest way this shows up for him is that in his personal life, he's messy and disorganized. and it drives Sullivan NUTS.
Cam's like, shedding his clothes on the way to the bedroom and leaving them crumpled up on the floor, and Sullivan is gritting his teeth and so annoyed that he has to close his eyes and practice deep breathing, thinking clean that shit up, fold your clothes, I can't believe I'm in love with you.
because by contrast, Sullivan is always a Marine. It doesn't 'turn off'. He wakes up at 5am even on his days off and he's neat and rigorous and obsessive about every aspect of his personal life. and it drives Cam insane. of course it does.
Sullivan's folding his tee-shirt and hanging up his pants before he comes to bed and Cam is barely holding back his complaints, thinking oh my god, you pedantic asshole, get over here, I can't believe I'm in love with you.
his flashbacks in Boots were shown in bits and pieces intergrating into the presence timeline which might be confusing so i'm making this timeline in chronological order to follow his story easier and understand his character better, why he did what he did and made the decisions that he made, etc.
this is mostly about his marines life and his internal conflict
his relationship and dynamics with cope will have its own post(s) 😎✨
SPOILERS UNDERCUT
Don't click if you haven't finished Boots
Guam motel room with W, got matching tattoo with W, cheers for "life after the corps", intends to quit the marine to be with W (ep 6)
hears gossips, bails on W, sells W out, breaks off with W, leaves guam (ep 7)
maitra's wedding. "As marines it's hard to find the balance between the lover and the warrior", "when you serve along side someone long enough you'd do anything for them even if you might regret it", "you made your choice" - implying he has chosen the marines over W (ep 7)
"You're next" - the NCIS witch hunt for gays in the marines made the news in the newspaper. he learns that maitra reported W (ep 7)
starts DI-ing at Cope's platoon (ep 1). that's right. when he joined the platoon, all of the above had already happened which explains why he's such a cruel hard ass to the recruits especially Cope
receives letter from W. NCIS is onto him (ep 3)
meets a lawyer, considers quitting the marines (again), decides to not reenlist (ep 4)
DUMPSTER SCENE! changes his mind and reenlists (ep 4)
"Once a marine always a marine" (ep 5)
NCIS interview (ep 5)
"Can't carry ghosts. you have to bury your old self, become your best self" he's talking to Cope but he's also referring to himself, as W is his ghost (ep 6)
"Some lessons you gotta learn the hard way" again, talking to Cope but also referring to himself (ep 6)
W is charged and arrested (ep 7)
"once you're baptized a warrior, it is your first, your last, and always. It is your one true love. nothing else lasts." (ep 7)
beats a man in a bar (ep 7)
investigated by the police, disobeys order, then walks out of the marines (ep 8)
as we can see he constantly changed his mind back and forth throughout the show. the constant internal conflict of choosing the marines versus choosing his love life - the lover versus the warrior
being outted is his ultimate biggest fear. it would be a career suicide for him. maybe that's why he'd rather be discharged for assaulting a civilian than for being gay and fraternizing. because to him at least the shame and consequences wouldn't be as great.
the internalized homophobia is strong in this one. even if being gay weren't as shameful to him, fraternizing is enough to end his career. i think that explains a lot of his actions and decisions throughout the show. i feel so bad for him :( living the double life, constantly having to look over your shoulder, and jumping back and forth between the line of career and love.
It’s so dumb that Netflix decided to cancel Boots. They always do this to all the good shows. They don’t know what the people want. They only give a show about a month before they pull the plug on it. And with such a hit like Boots, you’d think they’d renew it, but of course, they’re catering to the MAGA cult who think LGBT+ in the military makes them look weak. Whatever, I guess. At least we still have our fanfics lol.
Here is the second chapter update of my short fic The lavender marine. It was originally 3 parts but now i added another part.
Here we finally get to see Sullivan for the first time and he is for a whiplash.
Name: The Lavender Marine
Tags: for general audiences - Sullivan and OC platonic - Sullivan/Williams haunting the narrative
Summery: Senior drill instructor, Staff sergeant Robin Harriosn comes from a long line of marines dating back to the day the corpse was founded. Everyone in her family is a marine and the one man who is not, married a marine.
She is a career driven woman who aspires to go to officer candidacy school and become one of the few female generals of her time.
But it appears that misogynistic ideals of a few old white men, dictate that she must make herself into a likable image through marriage.
If only she could find a husband who was just as career driven. A husband who would never want her as a woman, never expect children and for the most part left her to achieve greatness on her own.
There should be at least one man around who would be amenable to that? Right?
This time it’s apart of a bigger project since I’m going to attempt portraits like this of all the characters since the show got canceled. Can’t let it end like this 😭
