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hephaestuscrew · 11 months

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"With a goddamn harpoon": The significance of Minkowski's weapon of choice within the narrative and characterisation of Wolf 359

TL;DR: Despite its initial comic role, the harpoon becomes a important symbol of Minkowski as a character; it is particularly associated with her desperate need for control, her desire to keep her crew safe, her stubborn determination, and her occasional unpredictability. These associations add to the narrative significance when Minkowski kills Cutter with the harpoon.

[Tagging people who said they wanted to be tagged: @browncoatparadox @captain-lovelace @goblincaveofvibes ]

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Ep21 Minkowski Commanding

First appearance

We first encounter the harpoon in Minkowski Commanding, which is a significant episode for Minkowski's characterisation because it's the first big departure from Eiffel's point-of-view into Minkowski's. It's arguably the most Minkowski-centred episode in the whole show, so it stands out when we think about her as a character.

EIFFEL (over comm) Um, Minkowski? Why is the armory wide open, and also, apparently, robbed? Where's the tactical knives kit? MINKOWSKI Don't worry. I've got that. EIFFEL Oh. And the M4 carbine? The, like, really-dangerous-in-space, select-fire M4 carbine? MINKOWSKI Yeah, I've got that too. EIFFEL And this empty rack I'm looking at right now with a label that says "harpoon" suggests that... MINKOWSKI Yes. I have it, Eiffel.

The harpoon is introduced as part of a list of over-the-top weapons that Minkowski takes on her plant-monster-hunting mission. It's initially just a funny moment to emphasise how seriously she's taking this mission. The weapons arguably increase in unlikeliness as Eiffel lists them, and it's a comic image to think of Eiffel deducing the situation from the empty rack labeled 'harpoon'. It could have been an entirely throw-away joke that was never brought up again. The M4 carbine never comes up again. The tactical knives kit is mentioned in Knock, Knock, but not in a plot-significant or symbolic way.

'Goddamn harpoon' speech

So why does the harpoon become such an iconic part of Minkowski's brand (and I'm pretty certain it was seen as significant by fans long before the finale)? It's got to be because of the next time it's mentioned, when Minkowski talks to the plant monster in the same episode:

MINKOWSKI (getting psyched up) You wanna play with me, huh? You wanna run rings around me? The joyless, boring, predictable old Minkowski? She can't stop you, right? Not someone as smart and powerful as you. You've got her pegged. Good. Get complacent. Get smug. That's right when you'll find me waiting for you. With a goddamn harpoon.

There's so much to say about this speech and what it reveals her character. For one thing, it's all projection - we have no real indication of what (if anything) the plant monster thinks of Minkowski. We don't even really know how much understanding it has when listening to her talk. She imagines that this silent adversary would call her "joyless, boring, predictable". I suspect that these are all things that she's been called a fair bit in the past. (To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if they are all things that Eiffel called her at one point.)

But the harpoon is proof against - if not the accusation of joylessness - the idea that Minkowski is boring and predictable. Boring and predictable people don't opt for a harpoon for fighting on a spaceship when plenty of more conventional weapons available. A harpoon is unexpected, and there's a kind of power in that.

Another interesting thing about that speech is that the whole thing would make at least as much sense - if not more - if it was directed at Cutter. In Sarah Shachat's episode commentary on Minkowski Commanding (part of the bonus material available to buy here), she says that Minkowski "is really speaking to Cutter in this moment". It's made clear that Minkowski's behaviour in Minkowski Commanding is not just about the plant monster itself. She tells Eiffel, "I have to take it seriously! If I can eliminate one threat, just one, then we are that much closer to going home!"

The specifics of the plant monster's location, abilities, and origin are mysterious, but - unlike many of the other forces threatening the safety of Minkowski's crew - it is at least tangible and harpoon-able and not light years away. Hunting the plant monster is a way for Minkowski to assert control when so much is outside of her control. It's an attempt to demonstrate that she is - as she puts it - "in charge of this disaster". Minkowski treats the plant monster as a physical symbol of all the threats her crew are facing, and so the harpoon becomes a physical symbol of her fierce (if sometimes misguided) determination to take control of the situation and fight back against those threats to protect her crew.

The line "you'll find me waiting for you. With a goddamn harpoon" is one that sticks in the mind, especially since - with one notable exception - 'goddamn' is about as potent as swearwords get on this show. And it's the harpoon that she uses to give specificity to the threat.

Absurdity

A harpoon is powerful and threatening, which is exactly what Minkowski is trying to convey to the plant monster, but in this context - not only on dry land but on a spaceship - it's also kind of absurd. From the way we hear it fire in the finale, we can tell that it's more like a speargun than a hand-thrown harpoon spear, but it's still an out-of-place weapon for space-based combat. Minkowski's already been shown to have a penchant for archaic weaponry, after her drunken enthusiasm over the cannon during the talent show incident, which is largely played for laughs. Similarly, in the episode commentary for Minkowski Commanding, Sarah Shachat says that the harpoon was introduced mostly just because it was funny; "[including a harpoon] was me sort of embracing the Moby Dick of it all. And I had no idea at the time how much importance that silly harpoon would take on."

Eiffel makes a Moby Dick reference himself ("10 days of Captain Ahab's Space Walkabout"). I haven't read Moby Dick so I can't properly analyse the significance of this reference, but the initial prominence of the harpoon (traditionally a whaling tool) enables that connection. It feels like a good example of the classic Wolf 359 thing where something comedic has the potential to take on a deeper significance. It conjures an image of Minkowski as a Captain with the potential to be consumed by a single-minded mission to destroy... A potential that she resists in the conclusion to Minkowski Commanding when she chooses to leave the plant monster alone. The harpoon also fits with the sprinkling of nautical imagery and language in Wolf 359 (e.g. the repeated use of the word 'boat'), as well as the retro-futuristic feel of the Hephaestus.

We never learn why there's a harpoon on the Hephaestus. It seems like yet another of those bizarre unexplained quirks of the station, like the items in the storage room where Eiffel finds Box 953. Even when the weird mysterious features of the Hephaestus are depicted in a comedic way, these features are still a demonstration of the fact that the characters are in an environment that they don't understand and that their surroundings have been shaped according to the whims of Command.

I think we can assume none of the members of the Hephaestus crew brought a harpoon up with them. For whatever reason, someone at Goddard Futuristics must have decided to put a harpoon in that armory. Like most things in the crew's lives, the harpoon is owned by Goddard Futuristics. So the way Minkowski uses the harpoon could be seen as an instance of reclaiming something from Goddard and their control over her surroundings (in a similar way to how her crew are able to utilise the maze-like structure of the Hephaestus to their advantage when hiding first from the SI-5 and later from Cutter and the crew of the Sol).

Other mentions of the harpoon

The harpoon doesn't actually make another physical appearance until the finale, when it truly comes into its own. But there are a couple of little hints before then that it has become a part of Minkowski's brand amongst the other characters as well as to the listeners. These mentions remind the listener about the harpoon, so we don't forget about it before its big comeback in the finale.

Ep27 Knock, Knock

EIFFEL [to Minkowski] Like getting rid of all the weapons, for a start. We should gather up all the guns, the tactical knives, your harpoon. Put it all in the arms locker, seal that sucker up, and put the key in one of Hera's service canisters.

In this quote, Eiffel refers to it as "your harpoon" - the only weapon he ascribes ownership to here. He sees it as something she's laid claim to. He also thinks the harpoon is worth mentioning specifically, which suggests that he thinks that Minkowski would reach for it first if she was feeling particularly violent. This reinforces the idea that the harpoon has become a symbol of Minkowski's character. This connection is also strengthened by the fact that the harpoon is also never mentioned in relation to anyone other than Minkowski using it.

Ep45 Desperate Measures

LOVELACE [to Kepler] Yeah, right. Nobody knows this station like Alexander Hilbert. He knows every nook, cranny, hidden room - everything. And as back up he's got the only woman's who's ever turned outer space monster hunting into a recreational sport. You'll never see them coming... until all of a sudden there's a harpoon in your face, and you end up on the operating table of the finest medical sadist that Goddard Futuristics ever produced.

Lovelace mentions the harpoon and specifically refers to Minkowski's plant-hunting exploits, even though she didn't witness them. So we know that someone has told her that story. And what she's taken away from hearing the story is an emphasis on Minkowski's harpoon and an admiration for her determination. I don't think Minkowski was the one to tell Lovelace about her plant-monster-hunting mission, because I don't think she's necessarily proud of it. I suspect it was Eiffel who told her - he's the most natural storyteller of the group. In Mutually Assured Destruction, soon after meeting Lovelace for the first time, he says "Nobody's told you about the Plant Monster yet? So, funny story..." And I believe Eiffel would have told the story of Minkowski's plant monster hunt in a way that conveyed both the ridiculousness of her behaviour but also a kind of awe at her boldness and persistence.

The tone of "all of a sudden there's a harpoon in your face" is pretty similar to "That's right when you'll find me waiting for you. With a goddamn harpoon". Once again, the harpoon is portrayed as something that the Hephaestus crew's adversary won't expect, something that will play a key role in that adversary's defeat. You might almost think something was being foreshadowed here…

Characterisation through Weaponry

When we think of the harpoon as a symbol of Minkowski as a character, it seems worth drawing a comparison with the only other Wolf 359 character who I think has a form of weaponry as a big part of their brand: Jacobi and his explosives. While a harpoon certainly has a lot of potential for violence (a potential which Minkowski utilises), it is targeted and intentional in a way that bombs don't tend to be. It's harder to have collateral damage with a harpoon, and I think that reflects a difference between Minkowski and Jacobi's approach to conflict.

A harpoon isn't really designed for combat - it's for hunting whales and other marine animals. It feels significant that Minkowski's key weapon of choice - the one she threatens the plant monster with and kills Cutter with - isn't the weapon of a soldier. She took an assault rifle with her to hunt the plant monster, but that wasn't the weapon she held onto. She's not a natural soldier, even if she'd sometimes like to think she is.

Maxwell's Death

When Minkowski kills Maxwell, it's with a gun, not a harpoon. She's trying to be a soldier there. She's trying to do what she has to. I don't know much about how a harpoon is fired, but I've a feeling that there's less uncertainty about whether a harpoon was fired deliberately than a gun; the ambiguity around Minkowski's agency in Maxwell's death is a key part of the story that wouldn't work with a harpoon. But perhaps more importantly, I don't think there's meant to be a sense of victory or relief in Maxwell's death, unlike Cutter's. The harpoon - as a weapon that has become strongly identified with Minkowski as a character - is saved for moments when Minkowski is asserting her power in an active way that she isn't conflicted about.

Ep61 Brave New World

About a third of the way into the finale, there's another indirect mention of the harpoon:

RACHEL Y-yes, sir… Umm, we also picked up some chatter on their weaponry supplies… Firearms, explosives, something about a harpoon…

This is a nice little reference which reminds the listener of the harpoon in anticipation of its big moment later on in this episode, while once again playing with its incongruity in a list of more typical combat weapons. Given that Minkowski and co. have guessed that they are being listened in on here, their choice to talk about the harpoon might be seen as their way of having a bit of fun, or it might be seen as their way to imply the same threat that Minkowski made to the plant monster. Cutter had warning, but he didn't heed it.

Which brings us, of course, to the harpoon's most significant moment:

Cutter frowns. Then he hears it: CLA-CLUNK! His eyes widen. MINKOWSKI Let's see you catch this. FWUUUMP! An ENORMOUS THING IS SHOT. A moment later, Cutter COLLIDES AGAINST THE WALL, IMPALED. MR. CUTTER ... a... harpoon? That's not... how this is... supposed... to... He struggles for a few more moments...and then he stops.

This scene is a classic instance of Wolf 359 utilizing the audio medium to leave a significant element of the situation unknown to the listener until the right moment. We don't know that Minkowski is carrying the harpoon. We don't know that she's readying it as Lovelace talks. When we hear something fire, there's a moment where a listener might or might not have realised exactly what just fired. It's Cutter who delivers the glorious revelation. It gives the moment an additional burst of triumph that Cutter's final words are an expression of shock, not just that he has been defeated but at the weapon with which the killing blow was struck.

Human unpredictability

It's not just that Minkowski kills Cutter with a harpoon; it's also that she wouldn't have been able to kill him without it. He can catch bullets after all, so Minkowski and Lovelace's guns are basically useless. Cutter thinks he's therefore invincible, but he hasn't accounted for the possibility that Minkowski might have a less conventional weapon on hand, one which fires larger projectiles that he can't catch so easily. The fact that she's carrying an unexpected weapon - a weapon that might have seemed ridiculous - is what allows her to defeat Cutter and therefore to survive.

It's a repeated theme in Wolf 359 that the protagonists' strength is not that they are the most powerful or they behave in the most logical ways, but that they are complicated and human and unpredictable and very much themselves - all of the things that Cutter and Pryce don't want in their 'ideal humanity'. When Minkowski kills Cutter with the harpoon, it's a victory for human unpredictability and individual idiosyncrasies.

Making good on her promise

Thinking back to Minkowski Commanding, we can see that the threat Minkowski made to the plant monster absolutely came true with Cutter. He got complacent. He got smug. (I'd argue that smugness has always been one of his key attributes.) And he found her waiting for him, with a goddamn harpoon. The return of the harpoon for this moment suggests the defeat of Cutter is a culmination of some of the motivations and traits that Minkowski showed when hunting the plant monster, now channeled in a more suitable direction. She continued trying to get them "that much closer to going home". Her - sometimes absurd - determination provides a throughline from an episode that was mostly comedic (Minkowski Commanding) to a dramatic emotionally powerful finale. As Sarah Shachat put it in her audio commentary, Minkowski "makes good on her promise [that she makes in her harpoon speech in Minkowski Commanding]. That's why she's a hero."

It's significant that Cutter dies from an unlikely weapon that is so strongly identified with Minkowski. It makes that moment feel like truly hers (although she is of course right that she couldn't have done it without Lovelace - that's called being part of a crew).

As the Commander, it feels apt that Minkowski is the one to kill the long-standing 'big bad'. Pryce is arguably the same level of antagonist as Cutter, but he's the one that we've been aware of since we became aware of larger sinister forces at work in this narrative.

And if Minkowski has a personal nemesis, it's Cutter. He's the one who recruited her into the hellscape that is the Hephaestus. He played on her ambitions to get her where he wanted her. She trusted him the way she trusted the official chain of authority at the start of the mission. And that trust was extremely misplaced.

The significance of Minkowski being the one to kill Cutter is highlighted by the fact that she kills him with a weapon that only she uses, a weapon that links us back to her behaviour 40 episodes earlier. The sense of control that she was desperately seeking in Minkowski Commanding might not be completely within her grasp by the end of the finale, but she's reclaimed a piece of it by defeating the man who has been exerting control over her life for so long. And she did it with that goddamn harpoon.

#It's harpoon time!!#Honestly I think there's probably still lots more to say #but this is plenty to be getting on with #Feel free to share your own thoughts #Wolf 359 #w359 #Renée Minkowski #The stuff about human unpredictability was inspired a lot by conversations with my friend @commsroom #so she'd be in my bibliography if I had one #Something that didn't really fit in here but feels relevant is the way that fans #(particularly podcast fans who don't have canon appearances to go off)#will use certain characteristics/ objects/ clothing choices to make a character identifiable in art #Like if I see art of a Wolf 359 character with some combination of cigarette/ headphones/ Star Wars t-shirt #I know it's Eiffel even if it doesn't look like my mental idea of him #And the harpoon is definitely part of that shorthand for Minkowski #because no one else would have it #so lots of Minkowski art features the harpoon #which strengthens the associations that I'm talking about in this post #And that's interesting to me #because it's an unintended way in which fandom has the potential to influence how people perceive a character #but I think in this case it just adds further value to things that are already implied in canon #Renee Minkowski #Commander Minkowski #w359 spoilers #wolf 359 spoilers #the empty man posteth

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sgiandubh · 10 months

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Imma need an in-depth breakdown of Puff please! And I’m not being sarcastic either. Puff pre-dates my time in the outlander fandom.

Regards,

Your curious anon.

Dear Puffy Curious Anon,

If my cantankerous boss would have summoned me at 03:03 pm EEST (when your request landed in my inbox), just to tell me "Imma need an in-depth breakdown of the Greek trade unions' position on the current critical understaffing of the HoReCa sector", I would have politely answered "yes, ma'am, when is the deadline". I would have then turned on my heels, rolled my eyes, sworn like a drunk sailor under my breath (fuck my life comes to mind, pardon my French) and quickly be done with it.

You, bless your Anon heart, wrote: "Imma need an in-depth breakdown of Puff, please". Wee difference, Curious Anon: you are not my cantankerous boss. That being said, since the question has been asked by several people in the comment threads of the day's posts, I am gonna give you my two cents on Queen Pufflander, even if you've been around before I even knew this weird place existed. And hopefully put to rest this nonsense forever (wishful thinking, doubt it will happen).

Once upon a time, when S&C's bantering was the plat du jour on Twitter and this fandom a considerably less toxic place, Puff the Magic Dragon of the US East Coast was one of the Queen Bees of Shipperville. Her blog was witty and no-nonsense (if a tad verbose) and, as *urv, she quickly earned her fair share of side performers: Stella and Deep Throat (SOURCES) or the tarot reader(s) immediately come to mind. People loved Puff and that is only fair, to be honest: I bet the farm she was great fun. Little by little, information traded in DMs started to pile up in her famed Vault, from which she was generously sharing, from time to time, sibylline rants ("maybe they did or maybe they didn't, but don't worry, something happened and all shall soon be revealed"). I can critique that forever and a day and tell you that all this sent people's expectations up the roof and beyond, of course. But, again: I was not here. It is unfairly easy to judge all these things with a historian's eye, and people who lived to tell the tale are far more entitled than me to comment their fandom experience, circa 2015.

When the whole Shatner/Watchtower baliverne started (early 2016, if memory serves) things ugly escalated and rather quickly so. People started jumping ship. With McSideburns already in the house (EIFF comes to mind and a certain poignant S&C penguin picture, too), enter Flukenzie Floozy. Thus, after IFH, Puffy decided to pack her crystal ball & tent and move to greener pastures on Wordpress. There, she held court with a keen eye for the Byzantine politicking of this fandom, not unlike what Perfidious Albion did with regard to the Thirteen Rebelling Colonies, after that Boston Tea Party. Her main moments of intersection with the rest of the shipper community are Covfefe Pics (of course) and Remarkable Week-end (of course). With regard to Covfefe, she quickly cried wolf, but by the time Remarkable Week-end happened, she pulled off a mighty witty breakdown of The Nuptial Charade of the Century. Blaze of glory was Quarantein Ha-wa-wee (of course), when she blamed S for all the world's evils and then some more. After that, she concentrated on her Neverending Feud with *urv (a Private Investigator was, at some point, hired and paid for via crowdfunding), which somehow managed to end (nevertheless) with a Report she might or might not have sent to S, "for further consideration".

As all good prophets, Puffy finally went into Occultation circa 2021, not without warning us that she was torn between Gay Sam & SamCait intellectual traditions, with a wee penchant for the first (reason why I completely ditched her peddling, because IYKYK).

I can understand why people might think I could be Puffy. I am, however, very sure about my own identity, whereabouts and creed: to state the opposite would really, really be mental. I fully assumed my responsibility and went ahead to actually prove you, this morning, I wasn't. Reading her rants was useful, but also taxing. I doubt Stella and Deep Throat were anything else but narrative helpers in a sophisticated Greimas actantial model. Something I would never do, for example: I am confident enough not to need any crutches. And I am very, very sorry for this word vomit: it should come, perhaps, as solace its length could never compete with Puff's storytelling marathons.

To wash my sins (not really: because I really love that picture), here's S,C, a penguin and a cakebox (?), at EIFF 2015. This is, you can be certain, the purest thing on this page, Anon:

#Anon

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sigelfire · 8 months

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Diego Luna & Gael Garcia at the Rudo and Cursi party, 2009.

Photograph: ©Helena Smith/EIFF Edinburgh International Film Festival 2009

#diego luna #gael garcia bernal

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eiffmultigrainatta · 2 years

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https://eiff.in/

#best multigrain atta #eiff #multigrainatta #multigrainattabenefits #baking #delicious #food #healthy snack #recipe

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liaromancewriter · 1 year

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Kiss Me at Midnight

Premise: Max and Sienna enjoy a special New Year’s Eve celebration.

Book: Open Heart (post series) Pairing: Sienna Trinh x Max Valentine (M!OC) Rating/Category: Mature – light NSFW. Fluff. Format: Prose + Text & Pic Fic Words: 1,375

A/N: This fic is set a couple of years in the future, immediately after A Valentine Holiday. Submission for @choicesficwriterscreations Holiday celebrations event; @choicesholidays week 6 “Meet me at midnight”; @choicesdecember2022 Day 13 - Paris, and @choicesflashfics holiday prompt 24 (in bold). I’m also using prompt 3 from @creativepromptsforwriting New Year’s dialogue prompts. Tagging for reblog to @creativepromptfills

Part 1: It’s all in the planning

Max Valentine was known for his impeccable sense of timing and shrewd negotiation skills in the business world. He tended to be more laid back in his personal life unless he wanted something badly. Then, it was just a matter of moving the pieces until he got what he wanted.

His sister Cassie often teased him about being single-minded in pursuing a goal, just like a shark. His wife, Sienna, said the same. But as far as Max was concerned, the only way to get what you wanted was to go after it with everything you had.

In this case, his target was whisking his wife to Paris for a special New Year’s Eve celebration, their first one. They had been married for two years this month but hadn’t celebrated the new year in style once, first because of his accident and then Noah’s birth the following year.

This year was it, he thought. All he had to do was convince Sienna that their one-year-old son could survive without them for thirty-six hours while they enjoyed romance and midnight kisses under a Parisian sky.

He rationalized that it would likely feel like twenty-four with the time difference when it all came down to it. Their moms were already locked down for Operation Paris, but he needed another ally in his quest.

He neared the conservatory where Sienna’s sister had disappeared earlier. Brianna had always been on the fence about him and his intentions toward Sienna. They had come to a truce of sorts after Noah’s birth, but her approval was hard to come by. However, he was a man on a mission, and nothing would deter him.

He saw her sitting on the bench in the center of the room, knitting what looked like a hat. He called out a friendly greeting as he strode towards her.

“Valentine,” she said, inscrutable as always, the needles in her hands never faltering. When he joined her on the bench, she glanced up. “Is everything okay?”

“I need your help,” Max said, laying out his plan quickly and appreciating that Brianna didn’t interrupt until he was done.

“Does Sienna know about this?”

“Nope. I’m hoping to surprise her, but I know she won’t leave Noah unless there’s family to look after him. Not that I would either,” Max explained.

Brianna watched him, her expression unreadable, and then she nodded. “Of course, I’ll help. And if Sienna acts stubborn about this, I’ll make sure she sees the error of her ways.”

“Thanks, Brianna,” Max sighed in relief. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

He smiled at his sister-in-law and rose from the bench, ready to activate phase two—convincing his wife—when Brianna’s words stopped him in his tracks.

“Sienna is lucky to have you, Max. I hated Wayne with a passion, but you’ve more than proven yourself worthy of her.”

Brianna paused her knitting to stare at him from under beetled brows. “But this doesn’t mean I’m going to stop giving you a hard time. Wouldn’t want you to get complacent and take her for granted.”

Max chuckled. “Between my sister, my parents and you, Sienna has enough protectors to keep me on my toes.”

“Good!”

He shook his head, grinning at the pseudo praise slash warning, and left the conservatory to track down his wife.

Part 2: It’s all in the details

Sienna knew her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t help herself. She was still having a hard time believing she was in Paris watching the Eiffel Tower from the balcony of their hotel suite.

“Let’s ring in the new year with style,” Max had cajoled almost twelve hours earlier, his lips curving in an endearing grin she often found hard to resist.

Unsurprisingly, he had taken care of all her objections before she could even voice them. She thought there was something wonderful about being married to your best friend. He knew her better than she knew herself at times.

It wasn’t her first time in Paris or even her second. She had traveled more with him than she had in her entire life before. But tonight was the end of one year and the beginning of another; the late afternoon air was heavy with the promise of forever. It was different. Special.

When Max wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, Sienna sighed and leaned back against him, his body's heat surrounding her and the scent of his citrus body wash filling her senses. She angled her head to give him access, shivering as his lips trailed kisses down her neck.

“Glad you came?” he asked, loosening the tie of her robe just enough to ease the fabric down her shoulders and pepper kisses across her collarbone.

“Yes,” she said, breathless. “Don’t stop.”

“We have reservations for dinner, remember?” he said, cupping her breasts as the edges of her robe fell away.

Sienna turned to face him and circled her arms around his neck. “Let me introduce you to something called room service.”

He laughed. “Nice try, Si. But we’re on a schedule. Besides, I plan to slowly drive you crazy tonight until you’re begging me to make love to you.”

“We’ll see about that,” Sienna said boldly, pushing him towards the king-sized bed until he fell back and pulled her on top.

“I have plans, too,” she said, straddling his thighs. She pushed off his robe and closed her fingers around his length. “Shall I give you a preview?”

“Yes, please.” His voice came out strangled as she tugged lightly.

Sienna leaned over Max and kissed her way down his chest, swirling her tongue around his nipples before continuing further. She stopped just below his stomach, where his erection bobbed, begging for attention.

The game had gone farther than she’d intended, and now all she wanted was to finish it.

“Ready to beg?” she asked, voice hoarse from desire, unable to hide how turned on she was and close to begging herself.

“Hand me my phone.”

Sienna stretched her arm to reach for his phone lying on the covers near the pillows. The movement pressed the lower half of her body against him, both groaning as teasing anticipation turned to aching need.

Keeping his green eyes locked on hers, he dialed with one hand and put the phone on speaker. His other hand closed around hers, lifting it to brush his lips lightly across the skin at the back of her hand.

She heard him tell the maitre’d to change their reservation to a late supper. Her insides melted, as they always did when he spoke in a foreign language.

When he ended the call, she kissed the underside of his jaw and nipped the corner of his mouth. “Have I told you how sexy you sound when you speak French?”

“C’est vrai?” he smirked, cocking one eyebrow.

She yelped as he suddenly flipped her over, reversing their positions so that she lay beneath him. His gaze grew heated the longer he stared at her body, and her thighs spread open to cradle him.

“As if you don’t know,” she said, a moan escaping when his clever fingers teased her core.

“Je ne veux que t’aimer,” he whispered, burying his face in the valley between her breasts.

Her heart fluttered at the words and the love she always felt in his every caress.

“My only resolution is to love you even more next year,” she said, framing his face between her hands and closing her lips over his, sealing the vow.

Later that night, she and Max lay on the chaise longue on their hotel balcony, tipsy from wine at dinner and then champagne for dessert. Their laughter rang across the dark sky as they counted down the last few seconds of the old year.

And their lips met in a sweet kiss full of promise and love when the clock struck midnight.

Nestled between her husband’s arms, Sienna watched fireworks light up the midnight sky, the Eiffel Tower framed between exploding colors. She felt cherished beyond measure and knew that this year would be even more spectacular than the ones before.

Part 3: It’s all in the romance

A/N2: Translations: “C’est vrai?” = “Is that right?” or “Oh yeah?”. “Je ne veux que t’aimer.” = “All I want is to love you.”

All Fics & Edits: @a-crepusculo @annfg8 @bex-la-get @bluebelle08 @cariantha @choicesaddict5 @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @doriopenheart @genevievemd @headoverheelsforramsey @lucy-268 @jamespotterthefirst @jerzwriter @mysticalgalaxysstuff @openheartforeverinmyheart @peonierose @takemyopenheart @potionsprefect @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @trappedinfanfiction @vi-writes-stuff @zahrachoices @hopelessromantic1352

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scotianostra · 9 months

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Happy Birthday filmmaker Gillian Berrie, born on September 8th 1967 in Glasgow.

In 1996 Gillian co-founded Sigma Films with director David Mackenzie, writing and producing serial award-winning shorts, 'California Sunshine' and 'Somersault'.

Alongside, Gillian gained experience in numerous film and television roles, ie Casting Director on Ken Loach's 'My Name is Joe' (for which Peter Mullan won the Palme D'or in Cannes) and Lynne Ramsay's legendary 'Ratcatcher'.

Casting experience on the aforementioned led Gillian to create the charity, 'Starfish' which then became 'Jumpcut', which morphed into 'Short Circuit', and 'Big Fish Casting' which segued into Kahleen Crawford Casting

Gillian then produced many of David Mackenzie's films including: Last Great Wilderness, Hallam Foe, Young Adam, You Instead (aka Tonight You're Mine), Perfect Sense, Starred Up and the biggest film ever to be make in Scotland, Outlaw King. She was also heavily involved in the post-production, festival, UK/US theatrical release and Oscar campaign for Academy Award Nominee 'Hell or High Water'.

Sigma's films regularly premiere at A-List festivals and have received over 150 awards internationally, including the Prix de Jury in Cannes for Red Road, and the Silver Bear in Berlin for Hallam Foe, as well as numerous BIFA and BAFTA nominations and awards.

At the Scottish BAFTA New Talent Awards in 2002 Gillian won the BAFTA for Outstanding Achievement.

In order to create a vibrant hub for the film community in Scotland, Gillian founded the 65,000 square ft state of the art, Film City Glasgow in 2004. Since then it has been a full house of productions and film-makers.

In 2012 she founded 'Jumpcut', the UK's one and only, intensive, mentor-led Summer School to provide a fast-track for youngsters into working in the film industry. This project was a runaway success. Over 75% of the participants went onto working in the industry. It ran for two years and won several awards.

She also co-produced the multi-prize winner 'Dear Frankie' and Jonathan's Glazer's 'Under the Skin' (which won 23 awards and received 110 nominations).

Gillian also produced several features for first time feature film directors, including David Mackenzie, Colin Kennedy, Andrea Arnold, Morag MacKinnon and Ciaran Foy, as well as numerous additional shorts including the lauded I Love Luci.

Gillian continues to contribute to the next generation of Scottish film-makers through Short Circuit, which is in its 3rd year and has so far given the first opportunities in film-making to hundreds of new-comers and produced dozens of short films and is developing a number of feature films.

Short Circuit is Scotland's hub for filmmaking talent, supporting the creative and professional development of new and emerging writers, directors, and producers.

Over three years, Short Circuit's film commissioning strand ‘Sharp Shorts’ will award over £400,000 in funding across 27 filmmaking teams, creating opportunities for Scotland's most exciting emerging new screen talent.

‘Sharp Shorts’ has become one of Scotland's most diverse creative initiatives, with an overwhelming majority of female filmmakers as well as significant representation across the LGBTQ+, non-white and disabled communities.

The first batch of short films are screening internationally at festivals such as SXSW, BFI Flare, EIFF, Dinard, LSFF, Berlin, with multiple awards. In particular, Sean Lionadh's short Too Rough has won 11 awards to date.

The ‘First Features’ strand, with a fund of over £300,000, will support 30 new writers, directors, and producers, enabling Scotland-based filmmakers to take a career-defining step towards making their debut feature.

Most recently, Berrie exec-produced the critically acclaimed Pilot and 2nd episode of the Disney/ FX series Under the Banner of Heaven for which Andrew Garfield was nominated for an Emmy (2022). She also produced Taron Egerton's feature, Tetris, which I watched a few weeks ago and was impressed with .

#scotland #scottish #happy birthday #filmaker #director #glasgow

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