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lilxberry · 4 years

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Can’t Quite Quit You - Chapter 1

Synopsis;

It appears that Mr Stark once had a Mrs Stark in his life that certainly wasn’t his mother. Tony and reader must work around their rocky path for the sake of the Avengers and the work the must focus on together once again.

Warnings: Language. Mentions of past relationship. That’s about it for this Chapter.

Words: 2,840

Pairing: Tony Stark x OC (past), James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes x OC (platonic)

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(A/N: This is a separate series I will be working on. There will be confusing changes to the characters, original plots and relationships between people. For example;

Tony stark will have been previously married to OC

Morgan will be in existence at the age of 5 in this for a plot that will happen in future chapters

I have set direct ages for some characters like Tony and Rhodey which will respectively be 45 and 46

Tony and Rhodey will have met before they canonly met

Any further changes to things that I feel will need to be discussed, I’ll add them before the chapter begins in an authors note.)

(A/N 2: I will foreseeably not be posting on Thursdays and Fridays. I WILL continue to write during those days though ((if I do not have college work to complete during those nights)) and post them any other days of the week. Also, Chapter three of The Glitch should be up Saturday. Read chapter 2 here.)

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She took one last look around her home that was now vacant and clear of all her belonging, dark from the late hours of the night. Chloe sighed through her nose softly and lugged the last box in her arms through the threshold, closing and locking the door behind her, posting the key through the letterbox then proceeding to head to her car.

One Nick Fury had requested her scientific knowledge to be put to use helping the Avengers. It took a lot of persuasion on Fury’s and Rhodey’s part. Rhodey and Chloe are practically life-long friends with how close they once were, knowing each other for many years, still regularly keeping in touch. So, when Fury approached him about about recruiting her to the more scientific and engineering department of the Avengers, he had contacted her immediately in the hopes of convincing you to take up his offer.

She was renowned in her work as a scientist and robotic engineer, although, no one would truly know it’s her. She gave herself an alias, disliking the attention and wanting the focus to be purely on her work.

Usually, Chloe wouldn’t need to be sweet talked into such an amazing opportunity but certain circumstances with a certain someone had left a bitter after-taste in her mouth and, if you hadn’t picked up on this yet, that certain someone is, let’s just say, closely involved with the Avengers.

We’ll get on to whom she refers to later.

Placing the last box into her Vauxhall Wagon, she climbed into the drivers seat and began her journey to compound, leaving behind her comfortable and solitary life where she focused solely on living and work. As she drove down the desolate dirt road, her eyes drifted to the rear view mirror, noting the stand alone house surrounded by fields upon fields, slowly fade away as she put distance between it and herself.

Her mind wandered as she travelled, wandering into crevasses she wished would not be explored, memories she thought she had locked away behind barriers and chains well enough.

Chloe thought of him, what his reaction will be when he sees her for the first time in 13 years. If he’s changed, if he thinks she’s changed which admittedly, she had.

She knew what he looked like recently, of course she did, he was all over the fucking news. She couldn’t even open up Google on her laptop without his bloody face showing up but she hadn’t the slightest clue on what was going on in his life apart from being one of Earths mightiest heroes and quite frankly, she didn’t want to know either.

As she pulled up to a red light, she leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes as she exhaled loudly. A million scenarios passed through her head at how the interaction could play out. She knew things would be fine though, Rhodey would be by her side, a comforting presence helping her through the ordeal.

Her eyes were open once more as she watched the lights change. She turned her radio on, hopeful the loud 80′s rock blaring from the speakers would drown her thought out, remotely giving her a peaceful 10 hour drive.

“Fuck. Me.”

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After a gruelling 11 hours and 45 minutes drive, the compound came into view as she passed the trees surrounding the large, sleek building. Chloe noticed the many people training on the grounds, making the assumption that they were employees of S.H.I.E.L.D., agents training to maintain their fit-for-field-work physique.

As she closed in on the compound, she noticed three figures standing near the entrance. As her eyes adjusted, she was able to recognise Director Fury, whom she had seen through her laptop screen when they first made contact, and Captain America himself stood beside a woman she did not recognise.

Her car slowed to a stop, becoming still then silent as she killed the engine. She huffed out a breath as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, swinging her legs out first, happy to finally stretched her legs and exit the vehicle finally.

She breathed in a the fresh air as she stoop up, momentarily closing her eyes to give them a well deserved break, adding moisture back into her green orbs. She quickly recomposed herself and closed her door, rounding the car and taking a few small paces forwards to meet the trio.

“Doctor Miller. I’m glad you took me up on my offer.” Fury extended his arm towards the woman for a handshake which she shook with firmly with confidence. As he retracted his hand for hers and began to gesture to the two beside him. “This is Agent Maria Hill and I assume that you already know who this man is.” He gestured over towards the fellow brunette and the Nations favourite super soldier who both gave the woman a friendly smile.

“You assumed correctly.” She mused as she thrust her right hand towards each other them to shake as her left slides into her front pocket of her jeans. “It’s good to meet you both.”

Steve was the next to speak. “It’s good to meet you, too. A few of us have been informed of your work and I believe you’ll be a great addition to the team, working in the labs.” He sent you a charming smile. “I think you’ll fit in nicely with the others.”

“I’m glad you think so.” Chloe sent him a smile back. They noted the lack of shyness, she exudes confidence and is clearly prideful of the work she has put out into the world.

“We should introduce you to the rest of the team in the living area.” Maria speaks up, catching the attention of the other three. They nodded simultaneously in agreement. “If you hand me the keys to your car, we can collect your stuff and take them on to your floor. We’ll move your car into the a secluded area for safe keeping as well.”

Chloe nodded but spoke before handing her keys over. “Let me just quickly grab something and we can get moving, I guess.” Maria gave a curt nod of her head and Chloe walked back towards the Vauxhall.

She opened up the front passengers side door and reached in to retrieve a box off of the passengers seat and her back pack from floor in front. Satisfied she’s grabbed everything of real personal value, she straightens herself out, closes the door with her hip and makes her way back over to the trio who was patiently waiting by the entrance.

She swiftly handed her keys over to the agent of three before following Fury and Steve through the doors and towards an elevator at one end of the large space.

“Would you like any help with that bo-”

“NO!” She cuts the captain off quickly, emphasising loudly. She cleared her throat before continuing. “Uhm, no, thank you. Sorry, the stuff in here is really important to me and I’d rather not put it into the large hands of a stranger, no offence.” She smiles up at the man bashfully. He smiles at her apologetically in return.

“No worries, sorry.”

As the elevator finally arrived, they stepped inside and rode up to the main communal floor all the Avengers use. The ride was relatively silent, until Fury spoke up. “Rhodes has been quite excited to see you, you know.”

She smiled at the mention of her friend. “I’ve been pretty excited to see him too. Not seeing him in person for 12 years is a pretty long time.” She chuckled at the thought.

Steve smiled as he watched the woman speak kind words about her friend, voicing how, after all this time, she would seemingly still be excited to see an old friend.

They fell back into a comfortable silence, listening to the hum of the elevator as it works to ascend pass multiple floors. A simple ‘Ding’ cut through the silent machinery and soon after the metallic doors slid open, reveal the mixed group of people as they turned their attention to the three now steeping out.

The silence was daunting as the team watched them walk towards them. The silence was soon broken once again as Rhodey pushed passed the few stood in his way, a massive smile had broken on to his face. “Hey there, Pip.”

She grinned at the use of her childhood nickname. “Well, if it isn’t my favourite Lieutenant Colonel.” She sent him a playful wink as she placed her back pack and box gently on to the ground before surging forward, engulfing the man in a long awaited hug.

He immediately responded by wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulders, closing his eyes to bask in the loving moment between friends for as long as time would allow him. “You’ve grown.” She mumbled.

“You’ve shrunk, short ass.” She pinched his back through his shirt and his chest vibrated as he laughed.

He leaned back, looking at how she’s aged well in person. A few frown lines are scattered across her forehead and dark bags from lack of sleep evident on face but he couldn’t help but notice that she still had that same beautiful, youthful features that remained from their 20′s.

A cough from behind Rhodes brought them out of their small reunion, forcing their attention on to the group awaiting anxiously for an introduction. “Oh shit, right. Avengers, this is Chloe Miller, Pip, these are the Avengers.”

They all flashed her a welcoming smile as she drank in all of their faces.

‘Too many damn people. I’m not gonna get used to this quickly.’ Chloe thought to herself as she continued to study the heroes before her.

“Maybe we should actually start introductions instead of standing here looking like a bunch of mute dumbasses.” The man she recognises as Hawkeye spoke with a hint of sarcasm. “I’m Clint.”

He began to point at individuals as he recited their names to her. “That’s Natasha, Bucky and Sam. Over there we have Wanda, Vision and Thor. And finally, Carol, Stephen and Scott.”

“Lady Chloe, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Thor boomed as he quickly made his way over to her in just two large strides and proceeds to pat her shoulder.

“Yeah, nice to meet you too, Salt.” She winced slightly as she rolled the shoulder the God had previously touched with his large, powerful hands roughly, referencing the Angelina Jolie character with long, blonde hair.

“I apologize for my rough housing, lady Chloe.”

“All good, buddy.” She patted his arm to show there were no hard feelings between the two.

As it looked like Thor was to reply yet again, Steve decided to interject. “There’s a few more of us but they’re currently either out, busy in the labs or away for other matters, personal or other.”

“Cool.” She simply replied to the man. As formalities and introductions continued to be exchanged between the group she noticed a small girl peer from behind Scott, she appeared to be young, like 9 or 10.

The young girl wasn’t necessarily shy in any way, she just chosen to stay out of the way as the adults talked. Chloe tilted her head towards Rhodey who still stood beside her. “Didn’t realise you guys were a fucking day centre.” She joked quietly, causing the man to let out a chuckle at the crack.

“That’s Scott's kid, Cassie. It was Scott's weekend and she really wanted to stay at the compound. She’s a sweet kid.” Rhodey informed her. she nodded in acknowledgement before making the decision to take a step forward and lower herself down to the child's level.

“Hey there.” She smiled sweetly at the girl. “I heard that your name’s Cassie. I think that’s a super pretty name.” This caused the young girl to send a smile to the 43 year old and step closer.

“I think your name is pretty too.” Cassie spoke in a sweet voice, tone laced with a childlike chirpiness.

“I think we’re gonna get along great, Cassie.” She stuck her hand out towards the girl to finalise their meeting. Cassie grasps Chloe’s hand into her small, dainty one and shook it lightly.

Chloe straightened herself out and sent one last smile towards the girl before stepping back to her original position next to Rhodey. The man smiled sadly as he watched her in the corner of his eye, a knowing look in his eye as he noticed the smile that didn’t quite match the solemn look in her eye as she continuously glances as Cassie.

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The group of people had migrated to the couches within the living space, continue to conversate with the newest addition to the building although, Scott had taken Cassie out to get food and have some daddy-daughter time.

As they continue to get to know each other, the elevator dinged once more, signifying the arrival of more people. Chloe peered over, seeing one Doctor Robert Bruce Banner, whom she was a big fan of, and a young male at his side.

‘Seriously. How many kids do they let in here?’

“Ah, Bruce, Peter. We’d like to introduce you to Doctor Chloe Miller. She’ll be working in the labs with you and Stark.” Steve spoke to the two. Chloe stood up, ignoring the mention of Anthony and met them halfway, shaking Banner’s outstretched hand.

“Doctor Banner, it’s wonderful to meet you. I’ve read all your papers. Your thesis's are impressive, to say the least.” He smiled sheepishly at Chloe. She noted he was quite the humble man.

“Thank you, Doctor. I look forward to working with you in the lab. Young Peter here works alongside us in the labs sometimes.” He directed her attention to the teenage boy that stood to his left.

“P-Parker Peter. I-uh-I mean, Peter Parker.” He wiped his hands on the front of his jeans before reaching to shake the woman’s, stumbling over his words.

She chuckled at the young boys behaviour and sent him a comforting smile which seemed to have helped him significantly. “Don’t worry kid. It’s nice to meet you. You must have a bright mind to be working alongside Banner occasionally.”

He beamed at this as he flushes a light shade of pink at her compliment. “I mean, I’m okay, I guess.” She laughed at his also apparent humbleness.

“Sure, kid.” She patted his shoulder gently before moving to sit beside Rhodey again.

Bruce and Peter joined the others on the couches, sitting in any space that was available. As they settled into their seats, Natasha spoke out over the small murmurs between people. “Tony still in the lab?”

“Yeah, he should be up in a few minutes though.” Banner replied then looked over towards Chloe. “Doctor Miller, have you met Stark before?” He questioned.

Rhodey and Chloe shared a look, almost seemingly having a miniature conversation telepathically that didn’t go unnoticed by the group. “I guess you could say that I have.”

Before the scientist could ask what she had meant by her statement, the elevator dinged once again, announcing a new arrival. “Why is everyone so damn quiet? Who fucking died guys?” He spoke as he walked further into the space, not looking up from the tablet his eyes were glued to.

Chloe didn’t even need to look to know it was him. His voice hadn’t altered that much over the years.

Tony’s eyebrows furrowed together when his question was met with silence. He tore his gaze away from tablet that displayed plans for one of his new suits and looked around at each person sat on the couches. He did a double-take when his eyes reached a a certain brunette from his past, a brunette he hadn’t seen in 13 years.

“Chloe.” He breathed out, multiple emotions are on display in his eyes alone but the most noticeable of them all is shock which is etched across his face.

She stood up straight, looking him directly in the eyes, her face stoic but voice laced with many emotions. “Stark.” She spoke with anger, malice in her tone.

Tony quickly recomposed himself before draining his face of emotion to match Chloe’s. “Don’t say my name with so much hate, Pip. After all, it was yours as well at some point in time.”

Rhodey closed his eyes for a brief moment as he sighed softly before joining the pair in standing, staying close to Chloe as he knows he needs his support most right now.

The rest of the Avengers, excluding the pairs best friend, looks at them in confusion, unsure of the true meaning behind his statement. “What do you mean you used to share it?” Wanda spoke up, her accent thick and laced with curiosity.

Then suddenly, it’s as if the newly gained information and witnessing the interaction between the two had made something click, everyone’s features change as quickly as a flick of a switch.

“No fucking way...”

“You guys are...”

“YOU GUYS ARE MARRIED?!”

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Something a bit different

Never done an OC before but I kinda liked how this turned out

I hope you enjoy reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it

As always, constructive criticism and requests are welcomed and appreciated :D

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elixir448 · 4 years

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Good Girls 3x02 Thoughts

The Opening Scene

I think we all knew that Rio was knocking on Rhea’s door, rather than Beth’s. Even so, this opening scene was a gift. Of course, it is meant to mislead the audience into thinking that we are going to see Beth and Rio come face to face for the first time since she shot him but there’s so much more to talk about!

First of all, this season is really setting up Beth and Rio’s relationship as the major driver of the plot and, arguably, this has always been the case. The show is definitely about the girls but Beth and Rio’s relationship (both personal and professional) pushes the story forward. In my opinion, it’s second only to the girls’ changing motivations for being in crime, in terms of plot progression. Manny referred to Beth as Rio’s “archnemesis” in a recent interview and I know a lot of people disagree with this and think it’s funny. While I think the terminology is perhaps a bit off, I think the idea is there and what I love about it is that Beth and Rio’s relationship is so difficult to define, which I touched upon in my 3x01 thoughts post, and it’s impossible to encompass what they are to each other with one word. They have been so many things at so many different times and, gosh, now they have history. A painful, spiteful, kind of tragic, extremely messy history. I love that this season seems to be gearing these two up for what looks like a major confrontation at some point. I can really see things exploding between them later in the season, on a level beyond the alley scene in 2x07.

I’m digressing but the point is that this scene really sets them up as antagonists again, which they have been on and off for the past two seasons. In fact, I’d argue that the term never really departed from their relationship at all and it looks like we’ll be going back to the facade of one-dimensional antagonism for a little while but with the weight of the history they now share, it seems unlikely that they’ll be fooling anyone.

I think it was @foxmagpie who pointed out that Beth is staring into the mirror that Rio smashed in her fantasy in 2x05 and I practically had a stroke when I read that. The way the scene is set up, with Beth and Rio both looking in mirrors is so symbolic of their relationship and what they are to each other. While I would hesitate to call them mirror images, I certainly think that Beth and Rio are similar in the fundamental ways that shape a person but they are so different in others, particularly in the ways that they occupy the worlds that they live in and the lives they have lived.

While Beth is staring in the mirror, we hear Dean say “well, how much did you get for it?!” and it’s quite startling and almost intrusive. Beth and Rio aren’t even in the same room but they’re basically having a moment. And of course Dean has to intrude. Even though Dean is Beth’s husband and despite everything he did in season 2 to keep her, it really represents to me that Dean has been the outsider ever since Beth and Rio met. And, despite Dean’s belief that Rio has been forcing his way into Beth’s life, the reality is that he is the one who has been intruding into their relationship.

Rio has a new car! It’s a G-wagon, it’s loud and kind of pretentious. I do miss the Cadillac but I love that his new car lines up so well with how he’s been this season, which is loud! He had Agent Turner and several other FBI agents killed in the first episode alone. If that’s not loud, I don’t know what is.

Marcus and Rio’s reunion was the sweetest thing ever. I thought my heart was going to explode and release like a ton of rainbows and sunshine and unicorns. The way that Rio held Marcus really said everything about how much he missed his son. Rhea seemed a little ticked off about his sudden reappearance but happy and accepting overall, which really just adds to what we have already learned about the breakdown of their relationship and Rio’s presence in Marcus’ life. I know I said it last week but I have to say it again. I love how much this detail further humanizes Rio, beyond what the introduction of Marcus in 2x01 achieved. He’s not infallible and he has his own, very personal, flaws that affect his family. Just like Beth.

I’ve been seeing a lot of speculation that Rhea knows more than she has been letting on to Beth. Again, I don’t think that’s true. I think Rhea really just saw her relationship with Beth as a genuine friendship and I don’t think she knows anything else. Towards the end of the episode, Beth of course speaks to Rhea and I think that once Rio realised who Rhea’s soccer mum friend was, he filled Rhea in enough for her to realise that Beth intentionally sought her out and cultivated a friendship. This could mean that he told her everything but I doubt that very much. I think he probably told her just enough for Rhea to feel a great deal of hurt over Beth’s actions.

I am a little disappointed that we never got to see the scene where Rio clocks on to the fact that it’s Beth that Rhea is talking about. We’ve been robbed! But honestly I loved the episode so much that it’s fine I guess.

Annie, Sadie, Gregg and Nancy

I really love, love, loved the writers including how difficult transitioning can be because of people around you not keeping up, even if they are fully accepting. I’m not surprised though because the writers have handled Ben’s arc so well.

As for Gregg and Nancy attending couples therapy, I’m not exactly surprised. I do wish that they had parted ways but I do recognise that it’s such a difficult situation to handle with a newborn baby and I do appreciate the realism of it. I personally grew up with a mum who put up with way too much and lived a life that she was way above but she didn’t walk away because of me and my brother. I also see what people mean when they talk about wanting to see Beth take control and walk away from Dean for good because staying together for the sake of the kids is overrated, and I also see how this relates to wanting Nancy to walk away from Gregg. Believe me, I really want to see Beth and Dean part ways, with regards to their marriage. But I also really empathise with the situations Beth and Nancy are both in, for different reasons. Nancy can, of course, financially support herself and her child but Dakota is a newborn baby and I can see why parting ways with Gregg at such a time would be so difficult when they both want to raise their child and be around at all times as he grows up. For Beth, it’s really about financial security and stability and it’s so interesting to me that she continues to chase this with Dean, as he clearly has sunk the family business multiple times before (as discussed by Beth and Annie in 2x04). I think it’s become a bit of a habit at this point, which I am keen to see broken this season!

As for Annie attending therapy. I love it! I think Annie’s at the beginning of a really interesting, introspective path this season and we really saw it doubled down in this episode, with her being called out by Ben once again and comparing her life to a major road traffic accident. I really hope the writers continue with these random introspective moments for Annie, sinceI’m really enjoying them. Her scene with the kid prior to the therapy appointment was A+++, so funny! I wonder if that kid is going to turn up again, especially since he was in quite a few bts pics during hiatus. He’s such an amazing little actor too!

I’m really interested in seeing where her arc goes. We know that she develops an inappropriate crush in 3x04 and I think we all think it’ll be on her therapist; if this is the case, I’m really curious to see whether her therapist finds out and if he reciprocates because it would be incredibly unprofessional and unethical if he pursued something with his own patient.

Also, Annie is the manager! I straight up hollered during that scene. Mae’s line delivery continues to be hilarious and totally spot-on.

(Side-note here but I love that Beth was drinking a slushie again and that she answers the phone call from Ruby with “hey lady.”)

Judith, Beth and Dean

I really loved Judith and Beth’s scenes in this episode and the depiction of the archetypal mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship. I particularly loved how it emphasised that Dean cannot defend Beth at all; not once in the entire flipping episode did he say a word to help her.

Throughout the episode, we see that Judith is a lot like Dean when it comes to Beth. They don’t listen to her and they don’t see her. Beth had to repeatedly explain that her workplace sells “not just cards” and this is strikingly similar to Dean’s blatant disregard for Beth’s opinions and thoughts.

I think the writers and Jessica Walter did a fantastic job of capturing the complexity of a character like Judith. I’m quite passionate about this kind of thing because I grew up in a family where it was commonplace to see a sort of bitterness develop in women who had suffered a lifetime of simultaneous oppression and complete disregard from men and who had, as a result, developed a kind of internalised misogyny. More so, I love that the writers portray Judith as a character who is very much aware of this bitterness and yet she still personifies what those very men expected of her and she now expects the same from her daughter-in-law.

And yes! I wished that the writers would touch on mental health again and I got it! The discussion about post-partum depression is SO IMPORTANT. Women aren’t just mothers once they have kids; yes, it’s often a crucial part of their identity but it’s certainly not everything. Not even close to everything.

Judith sacrified her working life to raise Dean because her husband made more money than she did and it was expected of her to raise a child; she did not feel like she could have both. She patronises Beth in this scene, acting as though Beth should know better by now. What I love most about this is Beth saying that Judith’s happiness was important and that she shouldn’t have quit. It represents so much growth to me because we’ve seen Beth back-slide into the misshapen family she has with Dean. This really represents to me that, internally, she’s moving forwards and she won’t let herself be held back by Dean.

(Another side-note but I love that Beth affectionately calls Kenny “KB” and that his full name is Kenneth Irving Boland.)

Beth

We talk about it all the time but Beth is veeerrryy good at compartmentalising. We’ve seen it numerous times. With relation to this scene, I love that she clearly feels weird about Turner’s death and that the girls seem to appreciate the possibility that she might be upset over it, as her and Agent Turner did have a weird kind of relationship that she enjoyed sometimes. I think, in her own way, she resented him but also respected his ability to see through her and match her. She definitely really enjoyed the high she got from one-upping him.

Despite this, Beth lays down the flowers and is all about business again. She processes her emotions and moves on and we’ve seen her do that a lot. She did it with Dean in 1x01, when she wrecked his study with a sledgehammer and yanked the pig off of Boland Motors but then went straight back to sorting out financial matters with him and being civil. She resented Mary Pat for extorting them but she seemed to come to terms with how similar they were in season 1. She was tearful over Dean’s cancer diagnosis but she processed it and came up with the idea to launder money through stores. We’ve seen it now with Agent Turner, her processing his death and moving on. I love how perturbed the girls were by Beth’s reaction; they really have clocked on to this side of Beth that they never saw before the events of seasons 1 and 2, how she can’t quite get enough crime and they are maybe now realising that Beth has always exhibited a kind of ruthless pragmatism.

The only person we arguably haven’t seen her do this with is Rio; she’s never been able to process her relationship with him. Following the ‘breakup’ scene in 1x09, she was clearly grieving something and she couldn’t move on like she had with any of her other relationships. Instead, by having him arrested (even if it was only for a short time), she ensured Rio could not turn his back on her.

As I said before, Rio’s shadow hangs over Beth’s arc and Beth’s shadow hangs over Rio’s scenes. Beth continues to learn from what she saw of Rio and she continues to try and emulate him. What I love most of all is that this is rarely successful, compared to what she manages to achieve in this episode by playing on her own, personal strengths, for example the scene where she speaks to the manager and lists all of the community positions she holds. Despite this, she has a lot to learn and she really needs to stop and think sometimes (gosh, I don’t know if she’s ever going to do that haha) before barrelling into a situation. Annie is absolutely right; Beth will never be Rio, no matter how much she tries to think like him or act like him, because they have their own strengths and the world regards them differently.

I do love that she has clearly learnt a couple of things from Rio, such as outsourcing in order to launder the counterfeit cash and, my personal favourite, she’s finally realised that there are consequences for screwing up. In this episode, she teaches Annie a lesson about how, if they continue to be taken advantage of by criminals attempting to renegotiate deals, eventually everyone will know and exploit it. It really reminded me of Rio’s rotten egg lesson in 1x07. Say what you want but these two definitely have some good teaching moments haha.

Don’t even get me started on Beth completely zoning Dean out and thinking about crimeing. She’s just always thinking about crimeing, so much so that she lets her mother-in-law come into her house and belittle her, solely because Judith is cleaning up after the kids and Dean (and ironing Dean’s boxers, eewwwwww); clearly, Beth’s priorities have shifted alot over the timeskip. That scene where she just goes full mum Bethie mode, serving lemonade and walking like an absolute queen to the truck, to get what she wants from the movers. That hair, those big blue eyes, that sweater and that French music! Perfection! AND SHE HAS A CHINESE SYMBOL TATTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! ON HER HIP!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! I NEED RIO TO REFER TO THAT AT SOME POINT THIS SEASON!

Ahem. Anyway, my second favourite scene in this episode was the scene between Beth and the mover in her backyard. Gosh, it was amazing. And I loved her blouse. The music, the intensity, the power play, the staring. Oh my god. I have watched it about 100 times already. It was genuinely a stunning scene and both actors killed it.

Dean and Gayle

I think there are two potential ways this is gonna go. Either Dean cheats with Gayle, after attempting to resist the temptation and grounding himself in Beth and their family, or he experiences some attention at work that he doesn’t necessarily appreciate, paralleling the attention he paid his female employees who were in a vulnerable position. Maybe it’ll be both?

Regardless, I think that this arc is really going to further separate Beth and Dean and their respective interests. I mean, so far Beth and Dean’s arcs have been entangled; even in season 2, Dean is drawn into Beth’s crimeing with Rio and the family business he inherited was used to launder money. Now, Beth and Dean have very different and separate storylines with regards to their work. Beth is crimeing and Dean is unaware of what she is up to, as she has absolutely no interest in confiding in him (I mean, she suspiciously asks him why he needs money from her; she clearly doesn’t see him as anything more than just Dean at this point). The only link they seem to share now isn’t the dealership, work or crime. It’s really only their kids. I think we’re going to see their paths diverge further this season, particularly following the kiss (which I think will be in 3x04 based on Beth’s flowery blouse in the released pictures but she’s worn it numerous times before and has already worn it in this episode, so who knows!)

Also, classic Dean paying too much gross attention to a woman’s body, even as a tattoo, making inappropriate comments and judging the movers for being ex-convicts. God, Dean is such a prick.

Ruby and Stan

The scene where Ruby felt that she and Stan were not being seen by the sales assistant was also really important. Gosh, I love how this show incorporates things that are not just relevant today but have always been relevant, you feel me. I also really loved that Stan defended his passivity in this situation with some very legitimate reasons. Fighting for what you believe in is great but it’s also okay to feel exhausted and just want to get something done. I really felt that and I feel like everyone can relate to that on some level.

I know nobody needs to hear me say this again but I’m so scared for Stan this season. Like, Manny has me scared by saying that he’s most excited for Stan’s storyline.

And yesssssss. Ruby confided in Stan. I’m so happy! What a stark contrast from Beth and Dean. These two really are the ideal relationship and couple.

That Ending!

It was basically painful to see Beth following up with Rhea throughout this episode, knowing that Rio had put the pieces together and was gearing up to reveal himself to Beth. I also love how genuine the phone call was between Beth and Rhea and it kind of broke my heart but it really is deserved. Gosh Beth, you are a whole ass mess and you and Rio really deserve eachother.

I have considered how this was going to play out so many times and I have thought of so many different ways it could have happened. We haven’t even seen it all yet but I genuinely think Rio revealing that he’s alive to Beth happened perfectly. I love the way we hear his voice first (just like Beth heard his voice first when she met him in 1x01), the way that the camera keeps Beth in frame and pans to Rio slipping into the chair next to her, not taking his eyes off of her and savouring her reaction. You can just tell that he’s thought about this moment so many times! I’ve said it before but there’s something in the way Rio moves, this kind of elegance and grace that I’ve never really seen before.

Him slipping into that chair is straight up perfection though. To me, it represents all the ways that Rio continues to just casually slip into all the parts of Beth’s life, just like he always has since the beginning of their relationship; it doesn’t even feel like an invasion, if that makes sense. That side shot we get of Beth’s face really captures how wide her eyes become, they’re practically swallowing her face she’s in so much shock.

The ringing in her ears, the way all the noise disappears from the room but we can hear the thunk of the chair as Rio sits in it and the sound of his hands clasping together, everything else becomes unimportant. THE WAY HIS HEAD IS TILTED. HOW MANY FREAKING TIMES HAS HE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS?!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t even get me started on Rio’s extra AF ass kissing the bullets she shot him with as he lays them down in front of her and lists the organs that she injured in the 3x03 promo. We see how close he leans in but doesn’t touch her. I am so curious to see how he leans in and how quickly it happens. The faux gentleness in his eyes and face and voice, referring to her as “his girl”. Where is the lie?! Beth really is his mess to clean up. I am really loving the dimension that is added to their relationship with this. Like, I hate you and I want to kill you and I’m planning to kill you so nobody else can do it. It has to be me. And then when Rio realises that he can’t kill Beth, because of the bombshell she drops, I can’t wait to see that shift into something like I hate you but I guess I have to deal with you and nobody else can touch you.

As for what I think the bombshell will be. Lemme just get this out there. I don’t think it will be pregnancy for so many reasons, which have already been discussed in the fandom. It may have something to do with Beth’s operation, maybe it’s something that she does in 3x03 that we haven’t even seen yet or maybe we just won’t know until we watch the episode lol.

Anyway, I’m super excited for 3x03 and can’t wait discuss it and them speculate on 3x04 afterwards.

#nbc good girls

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sablelab · 4 years

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Covert Operations - Chapter 90

DISCLAIMER: This is a modern AU crossover story with Outlander and La Femme Nikita.

SYNOPSIS: Jonathon Randall ponders the events that have befallen the triad over the last couple of months and knows that Claire and James Fraser were involved somehow in the triad’s demise. He plots their revenge. Meanwhile Section is sent a video recording of Claire. Fergus tries to relay a message to Jamie about the disk but Jamie cannot be located. Where is he?

Previous chapters can be found at … https://sablelab.tumblr.com/covertoperations

My THANKS for your continued support and comments on the previous chapter. I am so thankful that my story resonates with you and you are enjoying this tale of the life of a Section One operative through all the ups and downs of their covert mission profiles.

This chapter contains some violence.

CHAPTER 90 (V)

Fergus Claudel sat at his computer terminal lost in thought. He was in two minds trying to come to grips with being pulled in too many directions. Madeline had given him the go ahead to try and contact Jamie and she'd told him of Operations' back down. He knew Jamie would want to know about that, especially if he could muster Section's resources in locating Claire. Not only that, but on top of this directive from Madeline, Murtagh had questioned their motives for the back down. However, all his friend had done, was to sow the seed of doubt in Fergus' mind and now he was in a quandary as to what to do. He was at an impasse ... damned if he did and damned if he didn't ... hence his dilemma. Feeling a nervous tick begin to throb in his forehead, the tension began to build until Fergus was as fidgety as a cat on a hot tin roof. He had to weigh up what he was going to do. Decisions! Decisions! What should he do? Madeline and Operations were being more reasonable but on the other hand, Murtagh had a valid point ... They had nothing on Claire's location and Jamie wouldn't come in unless they had a lead ... So far, they were in the dark on gathering any Intel. Their only hope was that Jamie had had more success on his own. The sudden announcement of his name echoing in his com. unit was enough to bring Fergus back down to earth. In less than no time he was as diligent as ever. "Fergus ... we have an incoming." "Patch it through," he stated and waited for the audio-visual message to appear on his monitor. The transmission downloaded to his computer swiftly, but when he watched a snippet of the download, Fergus was shaken by what he was witnessing. The visual was of Claire. He immediately got the operative back on line and enquired as to its source. "Edgars... Trace that call! ... ASAP!" Anxiously he waited for a reply, but when the operative was slow in responding Fergus asked impatiently, "What's happened?" "Sorry Fergus, but we lost contact." "Damn it!" He muttered out loud. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Getting up from his station Fergus quickly made his way to the perch where he found Operations and Madeline deep in conversation. They both looked up when he entered the perch unannounced.

"Is something wrong Mr Claudel?" Madeline asked noticing that he seemed a little uneasy.

"I've just received this from an outside line," he stated holing up a disk in his hand. "It's a communiqué from the Rising Dragons. We downloaded an MPEG fifteen minutes ago." "That's odd. I was under the impression they knew nothing of Section One," Operations stated in surprise. "Well they do now," Madeline added then turning to their computer whiz asked, "What is it Fergus?" "It's a video disk of Claire." "Do we know its origin?" "No, Edgars was unable to pinpoint a source." "Perhaps there will be something on the disk that will give us a location as to her whereabouts then." Fergus looked very concerned as he placed the disk in his leader’s computer. “I think you will both need to watch this." "Very well ... let's see it."

Operations reached down and turned on his monitor.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Section One leaders saw a man sitting in front of the camera then he moved to the side to reveal Claire Beauchamp bound in a chair. Everyone stared, stunned, at the screen as the voice of the inquisitor spoke over screen images of Claire. Well! Well! Well! Section One people are all the same ... but let me inform you ... Claire Beauchamp has not seen the last of this treatment. The Rising Dragons don't negotiate. If you want your material back ... the price is to send her accomplice James Fraser. Don't dawdle. ... You've got 12 hours to produce the man in question or else we won't be held responsible for our actions." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Madeline and Operations shared a look. "Fergus, have you come up with anything?" Knowing what they were referring to he answered. "I'll find him." From now on our Mission profile has changed. I want all resources deployed toward one end. ... We must find Jamie!" "Yes sir." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ After leaving the perch Fergus anxiously hurried over to see his buddy Murtagh with the news of the disk that had arrived mysteriously at Section One. Looking up from his task he saw his little buddy approach with a look of distress and urgency on his face. "Hey ... what's got you so riled up?" "This," he said holding up the disk in his hand. "It's not pretty." Looking around Fergus hurriedly ushered Murtagh into his storage room at the back. "What do you mean?" He replied becoming a little anxious himself because of Fergus' behaviour and knowing that whatever was on the disk had certainly spooked his friend. "You'll have to see for yourself. Just watch it. You'll understand then," he stated placing the disk in Murtagh's video recorder.

"Fine, Fergus. Turn it on." He clicked the play button on and almost instantaneously a room that looked like some kind of primitive torture chamber appeared. The camera panned around it giving them a 360-degree view of the room. There were restraints on the wall, a small table holding what looked to be torture instruments off to one side as well as other apparatus that would be used to persuade any captive to talk. A few moments later a door opened and they saw two masked men drag Claire into the room. The camera panned in and Murtagh and Fergus saw a close up of her face. She had been knocked around. From what they could see there were definite bruises around her eyes, her face was swollen and her cheeks were black and blue. However, her spirit was not broken though and she stonily threw angry looks at the two men. Although bound, Claire continued to resist as they secured her wrists with an old seat belt which they then attached to a thick chain hanging from the concrete ceiling of the room. Claire's arms were raised above her head and her feet just scraped the floor. She looked dishevelled and weak but was still putting up a fight. As they watched, water suddenly began to drip from cracks in the ceiling onto her skin. Claire's midriff was bare and one of the guards pressed large, wet sponges to her body which were hooked up to some sort of a current. Fergus and Murtagh watched as an electric tremor coursed through her body and they saw her recoil with the pain. Shaken with what he was witnessing happening to his Sugar, Murtagh expressed the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. His hand automatically went to his mouth.

"Oh ... no!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The man that stood before her began to question her. "Who do you work for?"

When no answer was forthcoming the first guard prompted his assistant to shock her again. He did. Prodding her flesh with a bolt of electricity, Claire's body began to convulse violently. "Well? ... I asked you a question. I'm waiting for an answer." Watching the transmission Murtagh flinched but was proud when as she refused to cry out with each electric shock wave they inflicted. Finally, she called out, "No one." "It's Section One ... isn't it?" Weak from the torture, Claire shook her head, gasping from the pain. "Never heard of them ... I don't know what you mean ... you obviously have me confused with someone else." The cold water dripping on her body exacerbated the pain when mixed with the volatile electricity currents they used to try and break her. However, Claire hung weakly from the chain choking and gasping from the pain but still defiant and non-committal.

“You're a liar ... we know you work for Section One." "No ... I don't." Yet another bolt of electricity zapped through her body. "Why did they send you to Hong Kong?" Even though Murtagh and Fergus could see Claire take a deep breath as if to brace herself against what she knew would be coming next, her resolve was ramrod.

"You're delusional ... I've no idea what you're talking about."

No cries of pain or protest were heard from the iron-willed woman. Impressed by her ability to withstand the treatment they had meted out, the man stated, "You have the courage of a man." Claire gave him a deadly look. "How would you know?" He taunted her. "Perhaps you think I'm the good cop, and he's the bad cop. We're both the good cop. In the next room is the bad cop." "Bring him on," she goaded him with defiance. Murtagh and Fergus next saw a pair of booted steps approach and a more commanding figure, obviously the interrogator; walk slowly into the room and up to Claire. Like his companions his face was hidden. It was clear that she recognised this man. "There's no need to hide your face ... you're a coward." The two guards stood to the side waiting further instructions. "Now, now Claire, I'm upset with you." Brushing off the guard who stepped forward, he reached over and turned off the water supply himself. Claire continued to regard him closely and watched her interrogator through hooded eyes. "Good. You look at me. You realize it's important to know the inquisitor," the man added as he stepped up closer to her. Removing his mask but with his back to the camera he stated, "Is that better." "Much." "You're well trained. Even now, even here, you look to find an edge. What do you see?" Claire raised her head fearlessly, not taking her eyes from him, watching him warily to see what he would do next. "Tell me. What will soften my heart? Tears? Courage?" He stepped closer still, watching her very carefully. "Hmm ... none of these I see." Claire continued to watch as he continued his mind games. "You're strong-willed Claire Beauchamp. Is that your greatest strength or your personal flaw? I guess time will tell ... and we have plenty of that." The interrogator stepped up directly to her as if he was going to cut her down. She looked at him with a cold wariness, but refused to answer his questions and merely gave him a pat smile. "I don't want you to get me wrong Claire, but I really enjoyed our time together; I did. It's a pity about dinner though ... I was looking forward to that." Although weak and tired from the torture, she continued to observe him directly with more strength in her eyes than her body could summon. A little testy and frustrated by her lack of response he demanded impatiently. "Look at me!" He lifted Claire's chin up with a finger. "I need to know what you know about Tony Wong and Madame Cheung. You do remember them don't you Claire?" "Who?" "You tell me what I want to know and you're free. You'll live." "You ... go ... to ... hell!" was her acerbic reply. "Hmm," he mumbled before asking, "... and who is James Fraser?" "He's my brother," she sneered at him in reply. "No ... He's your lover ... Is he Section too?" "How would I know?" "You're lying ... he is your accomplice. Now, where is he?" Her interrogator turned away as if to leave, then he suddenly turned back. Coming up to face Claire he lifted his arm and struck her with great might across the face. A rapid intake of breath was the only sound heard. Her head was thrown back from the force, and when she slowly raised it, her nose was bleeding. Nevertheless, Claire looked him in the eye with rebelliousness. Realising that this woman was not going to crack, the man nodded towards his companions and signalled for them to come forward and commence the water treatment again.

"She's obviously not going to tell us what we want to know; not this time anyway, so do what you can."

He turned back to watch for the reaction from their guest with one final warning, "I assure you, Claire Beauchamp that we mean business."

He then exited the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The tape suddenly went blank then but Claire's muffled screams could still be heard. Murtagh was thrown by the video. He was visibly distressed. "Oh my God ... my poor Sugar! Those bastards! I could kill them with my bare hands! We have to tell Jamie." "I've already tried Murtagh. He's under dark cover, so there's no way to even get a message to hi." "Are you sure? Surely you can find a way. You have to ... Has Jamie checked in at all?" "No... not yet." "He will when he hears about the disk." Murtagh added solemnly. "Keep trying little buddy." "I'll try the deep remote frequency channel again." "Good ... but do it quickly ... Claire's life could depend on it." Murtagh’s words echoed the urgency that was needed to find Jamie and the quicker the better. He knew that Fergus would find a way even if he worked on it all night and day for Jamie just had to be contacted somehow, some way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Dragon rises up his back In daylight near and far He soars at night with deadly eye Beneath the moon and star The Rising Dragon! Be wary of its mercilessness For treachery brings you danger. Perpetrators be especially vigilant, It will rise up in anger... The Rising Dragon! "Death with Honour" its way of life With motto "Strength by Dare" Once you yield fear nought … but When it seeks you, beware! The Rising Dragon!

Sipping a glass of chilled wine, Jonathon Randall sat staring out of the window repeating the mantra of the triad in an attempt to keep himself grounded after Claire's interrogation session.

The torture techniques used on her, although harsh, were necessary. The triad needed to make a statement that they meant business and what better way to get a reaction from Section One than to show them a disk of one of their own suffering and being tortured. The fact that Claire was a woman didn't enter into the equation; however, the way she reacted under interrogation was an eye opener to him. She was obviously well trained and disciplined. The woman was unwavering. She was strong and loyal ... in fact all the qualities that the Rising Dragons valued in their members. But if Claire was this resolute ... were others of her kind the same? This James Fraser perhaps?

He pondered the events that had befallen the Rising Dragons over the last couple of months. It was clearly evident that Claire and Jamie were somehow involved in the triad's demise and the more he thought about it, the more he concluded that they had been extremely vigilant in their methods.

But ... the triad would have its day of reckoning. An invincible, powerful brotherhood The triad rules supreme Don't ever try to obliterate For retribution will be extreme The Rising Dragon! Jonathon Randall smirked brimming with confidence and began to plot their revenge. He was confident that the disk sent to Section One would do the trick. Once they'd viewed it and knew that the Rising Dragons had their operative Claire Beauchamp, they would look for anything that could lead to her location. His stroke of genius in demanding that James Fraser be sent to them was poetic justice. In his mind this man was equally responsible with Claire. His veiled threats would certainly have Section One jumping through hoops to accommodate his ultimatum. The 12-hour deadline was tight but that was just a guideline. If Section took longer so be it. They would have to decipher the clues as to their location first and that might take extra time. There was enough evidence, however for Section One to locate the monastery if they looked carefully enough into the video recording. He had subtly left clues for them that Section was sure to act upon. Jonathon knew they had many resources at their disposal and if they really wanted to take down the Rising Dragons, they would move heaven and earth to locate Claire quickly. He also needed to know where they stood. He needed Section One to show their hand. They would then send her companion, this James Fraser and others to rescue her. When they did ... they would be waiting. That's when Section One would feel the full wrath of the Rising Dragons. The triad was fully prepared for any assault. The monastery was fortified ... so there was little chance of storming its fortress. The remote location, as well as around the clock surveillance and guards were impregnable. Jonathon knew that the retaliatory action by Section One would be swift, but that's just what they wanted ... for anyone who tried to bring them down would suffer the consequences. This had to end. There had to be a victor and the vanquished. It was his intention that the triad would crush the insurrection imposed upon the Rising Dragons once and for all. If he had to torture whoever came after Claire Beauchamp then so be it. No one would escape the wrath of the triad ... no one. Her leaders would know who was the more powerful ... and he knew who would surrender first. Reflecting on what had transpired in the torture chamber; Jonathon Randall couldn't help the wry smile that crossed his mouth. Although Wang Yu was a man who'd been responsible for taking care of any of Sun Yee Lok's dirty work, he was a pussy cat in comparison with himself. Consequently, Wang had let him take care of business this time for Claire's Beauchamp’s interrogation. It was a warning to Section One that the Rising Dragons were a formidable group too and would not be messed with a moment longer. The leaders of Section would know in no uncertain terms that they would seek vengeance for what had happened to their people. This was just an example of how ruthless the triad could be. They were not afraid of anyone ... least of all Section One. Be cautious of its ruthless ways This enigma to the night For the Dragon bears upon his wings A chilling tale of fright The Rising Dragon! Sun Yee Lok had long suspected that this woman, Claire Beauchamp was someone to watch and he'd expressed his concern on more than one occasion. It was such a pity that Jiang was not alive ... he'd been looking into Claire's movements and had been backtracking them since her arrival in Hong Kong but he hadn't found anything specific on her. Although their suspicions about Claire were heightened everything was just sheer conjecture. And now here she was under their control, and Jiang wasn't here to reap the benefits of his great work. Was Section One somehow involved in the atrocities at his nightclub too? So many triad brothers had been killed that night and how that could have happened was still a mystery. Surely Claire and James Fraser weren't involved in that as well? Or were they? No matter if they were or weren't ... the triad didn't need to know any more information. It was obvious that Claire Beauchamp had somehow been involved in the atrocities that had befallen the Rising Dragons of late. There were now too many coincidences that could be explained logically. The trail of events could be traced back to Charlie Yin and the two assailants who had come to his rescue on the wharf in Aberdeen. Wang Yu had been present when Sun Yee Lok had visited Tony Wong in Aberdeen and he'd been told about the two assailants who had killed six of their men. At the time they had no idea who these people were ... they had disappeared into thin air ... but now in the clear light of day it was highly probable that they were in fact Claire and this Jamie Fraser. She had also arrived in Hong Kong around about the time of these events. The triad has a cruel, ferocious wrath Beware! Take heed! Think twice! Never ... ever ... deceive or betray For you will pay the price... The Rising Dragon! But he wasn't going to kill her yet ... Claire could still be useful to them. Yes ... everything was making a lot of sense. The triad had their woman and they would eventually have their man too once Section One sent James Fraser to them. Things were beginning to fall into place nicely. All the puzzle pieces were coming together on both Tony Wong and Madame Cheung. Claire was obviously the brunette protégé whom Madame Cheung had taken under her wing. Their suspicions would eventually be confirmed. Claire Beauchamp would finally pay the ultimate price for her demise as well. Her associate would pay with his life too. Bring it on! Jonathon thought and took another sip of his wine. He was most satisfied and so too would be Sun Yee Lok when he heard of the developments. Meanwhile back at Section One...

Fergus sat staring at his computer screen. He was despondent and very worried that Jamie hadn't replied to his message.

Where was he? Had he managed to find Claire on his own already? Why didn't he check in? He knew Murtagh and he had promised to help in any way if he needed them. Obviously, Jamie had things under control ... but still this was no consolation. Section One had legitimate proof that Claire was being held and if Jamie knew what she had suffered he would be pitiless. It was imperative that he know this Intel ASAP ... Claire's life hung in the balance. How much more could she bear if the Rising Dragons tortured her again?

The one stipulation on the disk was that Jamie be sent to the triad ... but if they couldn't locate him then how could they send him? And where would they send him?

Fergus knew he would need to search deeper into the tape to find any clue that could bear light on her location. Fergus Claudel was a very worried man. His fingers automatically repeated the process that he had done many times over ... sending the same message to James Fraser.

JAMIE: ARE YOU THERE? Looking at his monitor he willed for an answer to appear on his screen, but yet again his reply was no different from all the other times. NO REPLIES TO ENCODED INQUIRY Disheartened Fergus lowered his head and placed his hands to his face before trying once again. Now that Jamie had gone dark, he would not communicate with Section One unless they gave him something concrete. As a last resort he coded something into his computer which pulled up a hologram of the apartment where Karen Yee lived. It was a shot in the dark but it may work. Karen was Jamie's only known link to the Rising Dragons. He would surely go in search of her first in order to find Claire. Perhaps he could try to incriminate Karen further in his attempt for Jamie to reply. So far there was no indication that he'd tunnelled into Section's database under an anonymous I.D. to access any information about Karen or else he would have been able to track any files Jamie had accessed. However, if and when he did, Jamie would see Intel about Claire that he had placed there and that would certainly make him check in. Fergus's only hope was that Jamie hadn't gone into full "Mandatory Refusal" and that he had severed all communications until his mission to find Claire was completed.

Would the next time he contacted Section be to tell them that he'd been successful?

Fergus Claudel typed in the question again. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ James Fraser heard the beep on his PDA and casually glanced at it on the seat of his car. He saw the light blink with a message, but he ignored the question that flashed up on the screen. He had more important things to attend to. He had a woman to trace down and whatever Fergus wanted to know could wait. However, if nothing else ... the computer techie was insistent, for the PDA still beeped with the same request some moments later. JAMIE: ARE YOU THERE? Reaching his hand over to pick it up, Jamie switched the PDA off then stared at its blank screen for a moment. There was nothing to indicate that Section had news of Claire's whereabouts and until Fergus gave him something substantial in his communiqué ... he would remain dark. Otherwise they were just wasting their time and his as well. Jamie was determined that Karen Yee would give him the answers as to Claire's location. At long last she would also prove that his gut instincts had been correct all along and that she was indeed a member of the Rising Dragons. But most importantly, Karen could tell him where to find his Claire.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ to be continued on Saturday the 21st

#Jamieandclairefanfic #jamieandclaireau #jamieandclairecrossover #outlander fanfiction #the lallybroch library #covert operations

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why-this-kolaveri-machi · 6 years

Text

Notes on SPN 14.02

So! I saw 14.01 yesterday, which was for the most part, surprisingly, a blast, and since I have a bit of free time today I thought I’d keep a hold of the momentum and watch and liveblog 14.02 as well. I’ve heard it’s one of those Buckleming plot-a-paloozas, but I’ll try my best to provide semi-reasonable commentary instead of incoherent ranting.

Right. As always, typing this post up as I watch. SPOILERS for the episode ahead.

1. We start with a recap of last season’s finale, and Show, do you really want to remind us this many times about that wire-fight?

1.25. Show’s lore regarding possession has been dizzyingly inconsistent, but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes to me that Nick is alive? Because Nick couldn’t actually house Lucifer for very long in s5—he was deteriorating, which was why Lucifer needed Sam so urgently. The last we saw of Nick, he was dead/dying in a dingy room in Detroit, when Lucifer jumped ship to Sam. Even if Lucifer assumed Nick’s visage in the Cage and afterwards when he was brought back, Nick-the-person with Nick-memories and Nick-feelings isn’t there anymore.

1.255. So what does this mean? Like, if this was explained away sometime over the last two seasons--I’m very sorry, I really wasn’t paying a lot of attention to large chunks of them—please let me know. If there’s no explanation, then has Lucifer disappeared inside a Nick-construct? Did he use a loophole to escape the worst of the Archangel Blade right at the moment Dean plunged it into his side? Lucifer was “human” for a while in s13, iirc. Did he have enough “human” to hide behind and recover? And has he filled that human with the memories/personality of one of the humans he knew best? Is it because he spent centuries assuming Nick’s body in the Cage that he’s most comfortable being him here?

… I don’t know. Maybe I’m missing something obvious, but, hey, it’s fun to speculate.

2. We start off with people artfully tied up in an artfully derelict church illuminated artfully by artful lightning.

… *groans* I hope we aren’t getting a torture scene already.

2.25. Well, Michael’s certainly chirpier than he was last episode.

2.5. Is he trying to make new angel minions, is that it, by feeding them blood and his grace? Leaving aside the lack of creativity in the mechanism, the whole thing kind of makes a weird sense. Michael is looking for those with purity of purpose—among religious leaders (and refugees, apparently), angels, and then finally monsters—and rejecting those ‘poisoned’ by nuance and experience and supposed sin. After all, no being whose wants are even slightly more complex than ‘food’ is going to be a perfect follower.

It also plays into his assholey, self-righteous personality and, well, god-complex.

(Dean would’ve appreciated this quest for pure purpose.)

3. There’s a kind of sitcom-y vibe to this little expository scene: Bobby talks shit about angels only for Castiel to walk in with a quirked eyebrow; the group talks about Jack and Lucifer only for Jack to walk in and go, “hey, you talkin bout my father again?”

(these are the tiny ways I feel SPN is at cross-purposes with its own theme of ‘found family’. Everybody’s obsessed with blood relations, to the point that Lucifer and Jack are constantly referred to as ‘father and son’ when there is no need to bring that relationship up. Last year, even Castiel referred to Jack while talking to Lucifer as ‘your son’ without any prompting from Satan. Words are so powerful, and so revealing.)

3.45. Castiel “as you know, Bob”-ing is hilarious. Oh, Buckleming.

3.5. Um, not to dismiss or compare Castiel’s considerable trauma at the hands of Lucifer, but is anybody going to acknowledge even once that Sam, who appears to have taken the brunt of caring for Nick so far, is also going to have trouble looking into his abuser’s face??

4. Nick continues to make no sense to me.

(I like little touches like Castiel telling him that he needs to remind himself to eat.)

4.5. I kinda like this scene, sue me. It makes sense to me that Nick would obsess over and over again about how he could’ve let himself say yes to Lucifer, although Lucifer is as old as time and had all the power in that situation. The ‘monster’ bit is a little too on-the-nose for me, but I like it. Really drives home what an intimate, horrifying violation possession is and how scarred and twisted it can leave the survivor who spirals down a well of undeserved guilt and self-loathing.

I wish Sam was the one talking to him now, or was at least present. He’d talked in the previous scene about how Nick was only ‘housing’ and deserved a chance to rebuild his life, and that hard-earned generosity of spirit would’ve been a balm to all three of them, I think.

5. ETA on the TOD, Bobby? *sporfle* Seriously though, I love this role-reversal: usually it’s Bobby who’s rolling his eyes at SamnDean’s eff-bee-eye shenanigans.

5.25. Ah, but where this Bobby has become an expert now is in telling the difference between smiting patterns!

5.5. I wonder if trying to appear non-threatening is just Sam’s default whenever he meets with, uh, ‘civilians’.

6. I really, honestly hate that the Bunker just happens to have ‘lore books’ on whatever the hell random question they’re having that day. I just kinda hate the Bunker in general, now that I think about it.

6.25. But doesn’t that ‘human component’ (lol) make a Nephilim strong enough to take down even archangels?

6.5. As pep talks go, that wasn’t bad. A few notes:

a) there’s an earnestness to the words that I’m sure that Castiel learned from Sam.

b) I think this is the first time that Castiel—or anybody—has referred to the events of 8.23 as “The Great Fall”. It’s interesting that it’s already gotten a name among angelkind and that Castiel would call it that, given how close he was to the events that led to it.

c) I want to both laugh and cry at Castiel’s assertion that Sam and Dean were there for him after he lost his grace. He was mostly left to fend for himself, obviously, but there’s no space for that in a pep talk.

d) Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Jack is actually just only a year old. Asking him not to dwell on something so… immediate is a tall ask.

7. Ok, so that was a nice snappy little counterpart to Lucifer-talking-to-Sam-in-the-mirror from the s5 finale. I like how Michael is blunt and matter-of-fact while Lucifer relished in the moment, bragged about how he’d had Sam’s number all his life, and seduced him with violent revenge. This is nice.

I don’t know, guys, I’m really enjoying this episode so far!

8. Sooooo Lucifer is residing in some subconscious layer of Nick’s mind? Is this PTSD shaped by his possession? Is Lucifer bleeding through his own construct? Are we going to find that it was actually Nick who killed his own family? (I think we are.)

8.2. Castiel looking for residual Lucifer in Nick reminds me of when he was doing the same for Sam re: Gadreel, and that reminds me of Dean’s ‘teen mom’ joke from that episode and now I’m pissed off.

8.5. Nick is fascinating, but is he fascinating enough that I care about his little revenge sub-plot? Eh. Jury’s out. Plus I just can’t stand the actor anymore

9. Sam’s just kinda there to move the plot along. Give him some more character moments, episode!

10. Michael reminded me of Dean in the scene with the werewolf. I’m really not getting a capital P personality from Michael, though that may be due to a personal choice. Or maybe because Michael was never a distinct character to begin with, and this is far more noticeable when Ackles plays it and ‘Dean’ threatens to take over any minute.

Or going meta for a second—maybe Michael’s deliberately infusing some Dean into his persona. Possession isn’t simply putting a thing inside a box: both entities are influenced and informed by the other, but only one has all the power.

11. … ok, so my interest in this Nick subplot is rapidly decaying. Nick did it. He killed his family. It’s not a mystery.

11.5. The emotional dynamics of this scene… checks out, actually. Of course Nick is projecting all his rage on Castiel. And of course Castiel regrets destroying Jimmy Novak’s life the most. More than toeing the party line and being instrumental in almost bringing the Apocalypse about in s4; more than releasing the Leviathan; more than trusting Metatron in s8; more than killing his brethren, who’ve tortured him back and tried to kill him on more than one occasion. But Castiel has been both angel and human—both possessing and being possessed—long enough that he’s intimately aware of the devastation it leaves both within and without. And there are no excuses for the way he and other angels have done that damage—so carelessly, so casually. Even the most well-intentioned angels are deceptive and manipulative and give not a second thought about their hapless vessels. It’s a sign of Castiel’s growth and compassion that he recognises his responsibility in this and that he invokes Jimmy’s name with both reverence and regret. In all this shouting and crying that Show doesn’t acknowledge the deep-seated trauma of possession survivors, this is actually a great moment.

12. That werewolf leader looks familiar. Has the actor been on SPN before? He kinda reminds me of one of the leads on Suits.

12.5. That’s a lot of clunky dialogue, but Michael is basically confirming what I speculated in point 2. Cool.

13. How Jack managed to get away and find his grandparents is never explained, but that’s a familiar Buckleming trope—characters are put together in a scene without any regard to how it might connect to other scenes or how/why those characters might’ve gotten there.

13.2. That said, it’s kinda poignant that Jack, having lost his angelic powers, is now trying to understand the human side of his heritage. He’s trying his best to adapt to his situation; this one year old kid is more well-adjusted than most of the adults on this show.

13.5. Well, holy shit, Jack talking about Kelly to his grandparents is just… making me feel emotional in a way this show hasn’t made me feel in a long, long time. This Calvert kid is good.

13.6. It is bizarre that Kelly’s parents are mostly ok with not knowing Kelly’s whereabouts for over a year—I don’t think we ever found out what position exactly Kelly held in the President’s office, and I can picture them in a bit of denial by telling themselves the reason they haven’t heard from Kelly is because she is in the middle of super-secret government work. I don’t know! But it’s just about handwave-able though, and their scene with Jack is worth it.

14. Honestly, Castiel, how did he travel so far and for so long without you noticing? So much for “Don’t worry, Sam, I will babysit this defenceless creature.”

(Speaking of Sam, wheeeerrreee’s Saaaaammmm)

“I suppose there are worse ways to be human than to be kind.”

“Have you heard from Sam?”

I LOVE YOU, JACK.

14.5. No, actually, Dean wouldn’t want it any other way. He said as much when Gadreel took over Sam completely back in s9.

15. Shoo, Nick.

16. FINALLY MORE SAM. With only like 4 minutes of episode left. What, Show, did you think you spoiled us too much last episode with all that glorious, glorious Sam content?

16.25. And finally a bit of action! The rapid-fire editing is making my head hurt, though.

16.5. Soooooooooooooo Dean’s back? Obviously Michael is playing a long game here, but it says something about the show that they can’t keep Dean away for more than two episodes without getting the shakes. I honestly miss Sera Gamble and her desire to rattle the status quo: in s6, she kept the so-called ‘real’ Sam away for half the season, which gave us imo some of the best storytelling, characterisation and acting from both Padalecki and Ackles in the entire show. In s7 she took away all the Winchester markers: the Impala, weird motel rooms, Bobby’s house. Of course, after she left the show settled back into a familiar rut (substituting Bobby’s house with that thrice-damned Bunker). I wish the show would take risks with these two again. s9 and the beginning of s10 were so very promising but there was no follow-through.

I guess they want to MotW fillers for a few episodes and that would be weird without SamnDean SamnDeaning it in the Impala, but Show, why don’t you just say ‘fuck it’ and try weird on for size? What do you have to lose? I mean, seriously?

17. Nick’s the murderer—called it!

18. This wasn’t terrible, you guys. 95% of the episode was just people sitting around having conversations, the dialogue was clunky, ideas derivative, scenes progressed without any rational links between them, the pacing was wonky, and there was too much exposition. But the emotional beats were solid and the set up is reasonably intriguing. I’ve seen far, far worse BuckLeming episodes.

Pacing is a real issue in this season, though. And Michael is not remotely intimidating as a threat.

#supernatural #season 14 #spn spoilers #sam winchester #castiel #michael #jack kline #meta #unpopular opinion: this ep was... pretty ok

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saidbyes-blog · 7 years

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( & * THE LIBERTINE !

( nina nesbitt. demigirl. she/her. ) // did you see who walked past just then ? couldn’t really tell from the distance but i think it’s ( ebony harrison ) actually ! the ( twenty-four ) year old is a little ( unreliable ) if you ask me but they’re also ( kind-hearted ). i heard that when they opened the capsule, they took out the ( watch ) that they’d left seventeen years ago. i wonder what that even means to them especially now that they’re a ( bartender ) ?

in the wise words of trixie mattel: aaaahhhh ! i’m so excited ijshjhnshns, but anyway -- hi ! i’m pace ( she / her ) and this little pain in my entire ass is ebony. i’ll try and keep this on the shorter side ( as i always make these things WAY too long ) both for your sake in terms of reading, and because eb’s story is a little on the sadder side at times, and tbh i don’t wanna dwell on it bc she’s not like ?? a gloomy character or anything ?? but ya i’ll try and keep it brief !

trigger warnings for death !

----- ❀ fun fact: i intended for ebony to be an adjusted version of a character i already had, and planned to mould her around the skeleton and the setting and whatnot, but....... that just didn’t happen ??? ebony came to me very quickly & i wasn’t even expecting her lmao ? so a couple of details are based on That Other Character, but the rest just kind of happened ?? me, playing a brand new character in a rp ???? sounds fake ??? what can i say my dudes the skeleton got me good

----- ❀ her label is the libertine, meaning her item she put n the time capsule was the watch ! long story short, it was her dad’s, who died unexpectedly very close to the time of the carnival. he claimed the watch to be a family heirloom, but they found out after he died that that was bullshit, and it was worth nothing, and since he lied about it, the sentimental value was gone, too. not to be emo but the watch broke as he fell, so the hands are stuck at the time he died ( well, he didn’t die instantly, but it sure as hell wasn’t long after ) so that’s.............fun. fixing it would cost more than the watch was worth, so they didn’t bother. ebony’s parents had fought just before he died, and he’d been kicked out their home, so his parents blamed ebony’s mum, and ebony’s mum blamed herself, too, but she was so angry about the watch that ebony didn’t let it out of her sight ?? just in case her mum smashed it or threw it away. so when they went to the carnival, eb just kind of ???? had in on her ??? and she didn’t intend to put it in the time capsule it just sort of.................happened ?? but even though she was only seven at the time, she hasn’t regretted it ? like looking back on it now as a messy as fuck adult, it was the right thing to do ? he never took it off, so having it in the house would just be a constant reminder of ‘hey, your dad’s dead ! and he was a liar, too !’ so allowing her seventeen years to mourn his death and come to terms with it, and then getting her hands back on the watch, was smart ? obviously she didn’t think that far ahead at the time, but.

----- ❀ she’s actually back in town because of the time capsule. ebony is always full of surprises, and anybody who knew about the watch, whether they put something in the time capsule too, or she just told them about it on her travels, might be surprised she’d go back to lorfield for a broken watch ? she,,,, cannot commit to anything ?? let along a tatty old watch ?? and when things get too real, or too tough, she just.........ditches. she just can’t deal with stuff, it makes her feel trapped and claustrophobic, and she just cannot deal with it ?? sometimes she just ditches hangouts and friend circles, and sometimes she’ll skip town entirely, it really depends. but anyway, the watch had lost some of it’s detail in her memory in seventeen years, and that alone is enough to give her a reality check, like how long it’s actually been, how important things can be, how she’s actually quite glad to have the watch back ? she always thought it’d be bigger, too. like it’s a little bulkier than what she’d choose if she was just.............buying a watch, because she’s got thin wrists, but because she was only seven, she just ??? always thought the watch was bigger ???

----- ❀ anyway, her label. the libertine is defined as ‘a person who behaves without moral principles or a sense of responsibility, especially in sexual matters.’ on the main, and ‘a person, especially a man, who freely indulges in sensual pleasures without regard to moral principles.’ on the ol’ google. for ebony, it expands from just sexual immorality, into immoral everything, but including sex. she drops everything at any given moment, and does so with ease; she has no responsibilities and will own up to none of them even when they do become present. and morally she’s just.......... wrong ? she knows what is morally right and what isn’t, she just can’t allow that to influence how she does things ? she doesn’t think before she does anything, which means that half the shit she does is on impulse, and is then regretted. she doesn’t think ‘the libertine’ is a very flattering label, tbh ? not because of the sexual attachments to it, or because of the flakiness, but mostly just because it’s true.

----- ❀ personality wise,,,,,,,, she a mess. like i said, morals ? she doesn’t know her !!! she’s hard to be understood, doesn’t like anybody trying to understand her, but wants somebody in her life who does understand her. the problem is, she doesn’t even understand herself. she really doesn’t mean to be selfish, she genuinely doesn’t, but she is ? but on the other hand, she’s kind ? pretty gentle ? very forgiving ? expels all kinds of confidence that she just does. not. have ? but she’s selfish and flaky and craves things she doesn’t let people get close enough to have ?

----- ❀ she changes her appearance quite a lot tbh. might take a hot minute for some people to recognise her at times, depending on what she looked like when she knew them ?

----- ❀ tbh i can see a lot of the people she knows / used to know being all kinds of annoyed with her ? like it’s very much a case of, you think everything is fine, you’re getting on great, but then the real shit happens and oh look ebony’s gone. she just can’t ???? deal with anything ???? so she doesn’t ??? it’s infuriating, especially as a person who she may have ditched at some point ? and it’s so clear WHY she disappears. she thinks her problems will be left behind, but they just catch up to her eventually and she just won’t admit that maybe that means she’s the problem, and that she can’t just abandon everything all the time and expect that to fix things. there are so many things in life she can’t control, and it’s just so overwhelming to her, so when she can control things, like where she stays and who she’s with and who she wakes up to in the morning, she does ? and when she is called out on her bullshit, she’s so casual about it that it’s believable ?? and she knows she can’t be like this forever but owning up to it and putting a stop to it means having to admit it, and some things are buried so deep that it’ll take work to put them right or to deal with them, and it’s just so much easier for her to ignore it.

----- ❀ i’m working on a full bio for her, but it may take a while since the last bio i wrote was about six thousand words ( yikes ! ) but for now, she has stats !

----- ❀ gender is messy and ebony’s just accepted that tbh. her pronouns are she / her, but she does appreciate it when people use they / them if she hasn’t, like, explicitly said what her pronouns are ? idk, she just doesn’t want people to forget that she’s not A Girl™ ? bc like just bc she presents femininely and mostly identifies as the gender she was assigned at birth, doesn’t make her any less nb ??? u know ??? like even pals she’s said this too, and they could even be nb themselves, she’s still convinced they’ll ? not see her as nb and just ?? forget she’s not a woman ? on that note, though, she doesn’t mind being referred to as a girl on ????? her own terms ??? like her mobile header literally says ‘sad girls club’ but ? on her own terms, y’know ?? anyway, if we could refrain from referring to her as like ‘the girl’ or ‘the woman’ in replies, that’d be great !

----- ❀ tldr: ebony is everybody’s least favourite messy, woke, flaky, but soft, angel forward slash demon, who has mastered the ‘art’ of a) never dealing with anything ever b) crying then acting like she’s never cried in her life and she’s fine five minutes later and c) subtly leaning over the bar at work, claiming it to be because she can’t hear her customer, but it’s actually so her shirt gets caught and gets pulled down a little. bc tips. plus fun. plus it makes her feel smug. i hate her.

okay so..........keeping it short went well then. but i’m honestly so tired rn so this may not even make sense, and i may have to go to sleep and get stuck into replies and starters and whatnot in the morning, but i’m v excited to be here and plot with your kiddos !! i kind of lowkey suck at plotting, and messaging makes me anxious, but i shall try my damn hardest, and H O N E S T L Y everybody’s characters look so fecking good i’m cryin

edit: i threw together a connections page, that i will update and do properly when i’m more awake !

#lorfieldintro #❀ — ʜᴏᴡ ɢᴏᴅᴅᴀᴍɴ ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ɪ ᴀᴍ ﹙ooc.﹚#god i'm so tired i hope this makes ................................ a Little sense at least #but also i've already got ims ( i love u ! ) so if i don't reply rn I'M NOT IGNORING YOU YOU ARE LOVED i'm just v tired and might #be heading to bed !!!!

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falkenscreen · 5 years

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Spider-Man: Far From Home

Peter Parker says “friendly neighbourhood” Spider-Man one too many times.

We’ve already seen him (on his first of now two trips to Germany) take on an armada of Avengers, a band of tech-heavy mercenaries, fight for the fate of the universe and, as Nick Fury astutely points out, travel to outer space.

Sure there’s plenty of comics to draw from with Spidey foiling muggers about Queens but it’s a very tangled web to weave (I promise it’s just the one) to now pretend he’s only really accustomed to the ‘smaller’ stuff.

Strangely enough, Far From Home actually takes place on a lighter stage than its precursors and, for a welcome change of pace, that faced doesn’t threaten to destroy all life in the universe or even nearby planetary realms.

Somehow ill-content when otherwise ever-ready to at least help from the sidelines, Fury-ous machinations whir into place to ensure Spidey at least shows up on the day. Contending with giant recognisably human shaped ‘Elementals’ who turn up in the form of wind, water and else to wreak havoc on European capitals, wherever they are, so is the very mysterious, power-wielding Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) to fend them off.

Suffice to say, there’s a shrewd twist on all this Marvel lore.

The problem with Far From Home is that it only gets interesting or even good in its second half. Contenting itself with a happy-snappy summer vacay for Peter’s class across Europe at the outset, to the film’s credit this and the other plot dynamics which might seem ludicrous or teeming with happenstance start to make sense as the curtain comes down.

Marvel #23 fills itself with meta-commentary on the extent to which the MCU and indeed our own world have come to value and perceive superheros, most prominent among them Tony Stark. There’s a surprisingly cynical undercurrent running through Far From Home relating just how much we are willing to take for granted not only the presence of superheroes but by virtue of their seeming infallibility their intentions, and too abundantly rely on, as Marvel has always stressed, perceptibly flawed individuals to always do good by us.

To the matter of the MCU itself, there’s a pretty funny blink-and-you’ll-miss-it gag on this universe’s own in-universe superhero flicks which are the only films available to Peter on the flight over.

Following Homecoming’s lead in expanding this universe beyond its titans and to those more significantly affected by what might be a regular day for the Hulks of the world, Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) also gets a bit more to do. Some of her line delivery (fairly given the writing) is about as forced as the later season gags in How I Met Your Mother, but she does get to fire a gun in one of the film’s more entertaining moments.

Gyllenhaal; the issue is that he, like this film, is only interesting for about one solid half of what runs for two hours-plus, even if he does imbue scenes which in the hands of most other actors would be boring with some intrigue and charisma. An about average performance for one of the most interesting actors working today in Hollywood, he’s still ace as always and on the occasions when Gyllenhaal has good material to work with Far From Home noticeably reaches its heights.

Too best when exploring some of the trippy visual experimentation the likes of which were so better achieved in Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse, alas; unlike its predecessor here such treats are barely sustained beyond minutes or less when they do arise. Thankfully, Far From Home did however take some cues for scene transitions. Several working seamlessly and with no unnecessary padding at all, the film adopts stylistic, action-orientated rather than situational transitions as if you were still snug at home flipping pages.

Tom Holland is very good and he’s fairly the best on-screen Spider-Man to date, balancing the acrobatics, action sequences, alter ego and awkward schoolboy routine more convincingly and endearingly than either Maguire or Garfield. Zendaya, playing a much more nuanced iteration than Dunst, does very well; too getting some of the best laughs as MJ. Australia’s own Angourie Rice, with limited screen-time, noticeably manages to sell all this much better than a lot of her co-stars.

Jacob Batalon and Martin Starr, both returning as Pete’s best mate and teacher respectively, don’t see nearly so many of their gags land. More a consequence of the writing than their performances, the screenwriters simply relied on tired shticks, and in the case of Starr’s a stock-standard uninspiring tour leader bit, being funny, with Batalon in particular tasked with a one-joke romance subplot that’s stretched out for the entire film.

Starting fairly on the nose with the music choice (even if it’s an excellent song it just clashes), Far From Home goes yet further in it’s opening moments to acknowledge that this universe has entered a new “phase.” In a film that doesn’t always choose it’s words carefully, the Producers obviously haven’t seen Team America either given the title cards make reference to, for instance, “Prague, Czech Republic” alongside “Newark, New Jersey.”

Touching on the immediate fallout from Endgame, had Far From Home explored the effects of what is here called “the blip” in more detail and the consequences of half the universe disappearing this might have proved more memorable. But, hey, there’s landmarks to destroy.

On the subject of CGI, cast your mind back to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. Remember that scene where Goblin is lecturing Spidey on a rooftop, or chasing him in the streets atop the glider, or fighting in the final confrontation? They all have something strange in common and it’s that the actors, absent any enhanced graphic imagery (though fairly with some practical effects) just get to work their magic all on their own. The difference is it looks and feels real and it’s such a refreshing change from an onslaught of still excellent digital generation to just watch a couple of really strong performers hang out in costume. Far From Home comes close and notably there’s a very similar exchange atop a roof between Mysterio and our webslinger, but there’s nothing here where it’s apparent the performers got to straightforwardly emphasise their own theatrics rather than that colourful others could build around them.

Leaning too heavily on the 80’s-inspired bits and only really becoming engaging following very generic fare with the peculiar second act about-turn, the end-credits are too something to hold out for and like Gyllenhaal ensured this was a worthy watch.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is in cinemas from July 1

#xl #reviews #spider-man #spiderman #marvel #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #far from home #spiderman far from home #spider-man far from home #spider-man: far from home #tom holland #jake gyllenhaa #jacob bata #martin starr #angourie rice #zendaya

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turtle-paced · 7 years

Text

GoT Re-Watch: Fine-Toothed Comb Edition

Sorry for the delay - Easter, exams, that sort of thing. But here we are at the start of season six, isn’t that exciting?

6.01 - The Red Woman

(2:11) It’s a lovely opening shot of the Wall and Castle Black, at least.

(2:57) Anyone know why Sam’s dog cares so much about Jon? The showrunners just haven’t done the work to show the direwolves are magically significant.

(4:41) Yes, Jon is dead. This scene is moving at a glacial pace. I mean, you should dedicate time to allow the viewer to process a major character’s death, but we’re getting almost as much time to show Davos and Dolorous Edd reacting to Jon Snow’s death as we saw Sansa react to the deaths of Robb and Catelyn.

Get used to comments about the scene moving slowly. I spent most of season six hollering “GET ON WITH IT” at my laptop. The pacing in this season is absolutely shot to hell, and it’s not because they didn’t have enough plot or potential plot. They absolutely did. But once again that plot was compressed to maintain “shocks” and big end-of-season events, leaving the characters to make small talk for multiple episodes.

(5:02) Edd trusts the men in this room, who we’ve never seen before. It’s like they’re placeholding for other characters, characters who may have been shortsightedly killed off earlier…

(6:20) It took us about four minutes to inform three characters of Jon Snow’s death. Nothing else. Just establishing he’s dead. Glacial.

(7:20) “But I never once disobeyed an order.” This line is, I think, supposed to tell the audience that Thorne is loyal to the Watch and killed Jon out of what he saw as necessity; the telling-not-showing thing leaves me with the impression that Thorne is going for the most facile loophole imaginable, “well he never told me not to kill him.”

(7:40) Then we end up with tense problems. No, not that sort of tense. “Jon Snow was going to destroy the Night’s Watch.” How? By letting the Free Folk through the Wall - oh. Shit. A bit late, huh? The lack of the Pink Letter has led to this problem: if letting the Free Folk through the Wall alone was enough to kill Jon over, it was enough to shut him up on the wrong side of the Wall for. Instead, the mutineers let Jon and all the Free Folk through, then killed Jon, which fixes nothing and causes even more problems.

(8:08) More tense problems. “What he thought was right would have been the end of us.” Okay, smartypants, but the Free Folk are still through the Wall. Your problems still exist in the present. Just because the writers know this plot is effectively over for the season doesn’t mean the character should.

(8:56) Davos is clearly at a bit of a plot loose end, with Stannis dead. His motivations aren’t completely clear - while he liked Jon, and I can understand that he’d prefer to work with Jon over the mutineers, I’m not sure what he thinks he’s accomplishing.

(9:40) Oh wonderful. This scene. Timer on!

(9:48) “The kennelmaster’s daughter. She smelled of dog.” Profound.

(10:05) Okay, stop, because this is bullshit. Myranda was absolutely afraid of Ramsay, as we saw back in season five, and it’s really damaging for the show to say she wasn’t after the fact and leave it as the last word.

(10:40) I still don’t know whether this is Ramsay hamming it up or being genuinely sad. One’s a waste of time and the other’s offensively privileging the abuser’s perspective of his victim without chance for rebuttal.

(10:50) And timer off! That was a minute and ten seconds of Ramsay mourning for Myranda, for the same plot and character effect as we could have got if Ramsay just shrugged off her death entirely in two lines.

(11:20) Poor Roose. He got stuck with the recap. Ramsay defeated Stannis, Ramsay married Sansa yes yes we watched season five, more fool us. Not to mention his only plot function is to nag Ramsay ineffectually.

(11:45) “[The North] won’t back us without Sansa Stark.” And yet we will see just as many Northern lords back the Boltons as the Starks, and twice as many sit the fight out entirely.

(13:01) I wrote it back when I first saw this episode: this river is here so the writers could include an exchange with Sansa wanting to give up and Theon spurring her into greater courage. Even now Theon’s telling her just how bad Ramsay is and she really needs to believe him - I think she knows already. This wouldn’t be so bad in isolation, but it doesn’t stand in isolation. It’s not even an isolated event in this episode. There is a consistent pattern of the writers writing Sansa as weak so that others (usually male characters) can show their strength.

(14:08) But the hug is very nice, especially as the panning out to show both of them together conveys that the comfort received is mutual.

(15:03) I swear, nothing a Stark or Stark-adjacent character does is allowed to succeed. Theon says Sansa’s dead, not an unreasonable proposition given the fall plus the run through the frozen landscape plus the river, and immediately this guy says “liar.”

Incidentally, imagine if this guy had been all like “dead? We better go look for her body!” “But sir, the footprints -“ “I said, we had better go look for her body! We will be searching in that direction over there. It will take us hours. A shame nobody’s looking at the road north right now.” Same plot outcome, but conveys that disloyalty is something the Boltons are having problems with.

(15:50) Deaths: 1. Brienne’s kill.

(16:21) After a brief exchange of blows that shows how the choreography has gone downhill (a hit to the sword made Brienne spin away dramatically at one point), deaths: 2. Brienne’s kill again.

(16:42) Deaths: 3. Pod’s kill.

(17:01) Deaths: 4. Brienne’s kill. Another injured man, who says “no, please” before Brienne cuts his throat with what can only be described as an expression of savage glee.

(17:13) Deaths: 5. Theon’s kill.

Hey, you know who hasn’t done anything in this scene? Sansa. I am so reminded of the hill clan attack back in season one, where Catelyn just tucked herself up next to a boulder and didn’t get in the way of any of the fighting…in spite of picking up a knife and killing a man herself in the book. Sansa has not done so much as shout “behind you!” or something like that.

(17:32) And now’s the time to talk about Brienne’s appearance. Last season she had to choose - kill Stannis or save Sansa. Here at the beginning of the season we see that that choice has zero consequences. Brienne gets to do both. There isn’t even a cost to her relationship with Sansa. It completely undermines that moment of choice. What is even the point of writing that choice if it doesn’t make a difference?

(18:03) Not to mention the choice Brienne made undermines her sincerity in this offer. Brienne will do anything for Sansa, anything, I say, there is no knight more dedicated to a lady - oh wait hang on a tic personal vendetta over there just gotta pop out in this crisis situation for a bit of revenge murder.

(18:10) Theon nods his approval of Sansa accepting Brienne’s vows. Which one of them has met Brienne before, again?

(18:28) Goddamn it. This starts off so promisingly, with Sansa gathering herself to accept Brienne’s vows formally, but then she freezes up and needs Pod to prompt her. This instance is especially bad, as Sansa remembering her manners in trying situations is her jam. Nobody expects Sansa to be perfectly put together through all this - but we’ve already had two instances in this episode alone (the river, the fight) of Sansa needing the help of others. At this third point, it’s time for Sansa to demonstrate her own strengths.

(19:27) It’s good that our first sight of Cersei involves her fiddling with with her much shorter hair. It shows us that the haircut meant something to her.

(19:46) What’s odd is that Cersei is completely alone. She’s still being accused of things like murder and treason, but she is completely unattended by anyone. Which could be an oversight, but as we’ll see later, Margaery (accused of perjury), is constantly shadowed by a septa.

(20:02) We have multiple shots of Cersei traversing the castle to go greet her daughter. Padding! How would we understand that Cersei walked through the castle to greet the boat if we did not see her walking through several other rooms first?

(20:16) Myrcella’s shroud is indeed gold.

(21:29) This discussion of bloated Lannister corpses has got to be some sort of reference to the putrefaction of Tywin’s corpse on his bier…but it’s not the fact that Tywin’s body succumbed to biology and decayed, it’s that it did so while lying in state. It’s the same thing as Tywin’s magnificent white charger taking a dump in front of the Iron Throne after the Blackwater.

(22:01) Show!Cersei continues to be a far better parent than book!Cersei, able to recognise that her daughter was a separate person whose desires did not necessarily align with her own, and able to value those differences.

(22:16) While I’m comparing writing to Catelyn’s scripting, this bit from Cersei, “she was nothing like me, no meanness, no jealousy, just good” reminds me of Catelyn’s monologue in 3.02 reminding everyone that she’s a horrible, horrible person.

(22:42) Reminding the audience that Cersei is motivated by a prophecy. A prophecy that she will have three children, all of whom will predecease Cersei. The fact that show!Cersei has had four children aside, she also says to Jaime, “you couldn’t have stopped it,” which kind of undoes the whole point of making Cersei driven by that prophecy. Everything she does, she does precisely so she can stop it coming true.

(23:10) “Fuck everyone who isn’t us.” Jaime Lannister’s lack of character development in five words.

(24:00) The way Margaery’s voice breaks over her demand to see her brother - Natalie Dormer is way too good for this nonsense storyline.

(24:36) So’s Jonathan Pryce, walking in with a perfectly executed good cop act. At least, Jonathan Pryce’s acting is perfectly consistent with a good cop routine, in a context where a good cop routine makes an awful lot of sense. The High Sparrow may be sincere in everything he says…

(25:01) …but he’s saying the exact same thing as the “overzealous” Septa Unella, just in a gentler tone. Like with Melisandre, this doesn’t look like religious sincerity, this looks like a trick.

(25:34) In addition to this, the scene accomplished nothing. Nobody has changed their minds about anything. Nothing new has occurred. A minute and a half of episode wasted.

(25:53) Doran’s reminiscing about a dead relative he loved very much. He’s toast.

(26:48) Deaths: 6. Tyene instakills Areo Hotah. Must’ve been a critical hit.

(26:56) Deaths: 7. Tyene kills the maester.

(27:10) Ellaria here gives us a motive rant. She references Elia and Oberyn. She says Doran’s people are disgusted with him, as the guards watch impassively.

(27:43) “Weak men will never rule Dorne again.” Deaths: 8. Doran, killed by Ellaria.

What the fuck happened there? Last season, Doran was a clear good guy in this storyline, behaving reasonably and rationally against the super-obviously-evil Sand Snakes who wanted nothing more than to murder an innocent girl, and he had sufficient support of his guards to arrest the malefactors when they acted. This season, Doran’s a weak man who doesn’t deserve to rule, Ellaria and the Sand Snakes are representatives of girl power even though they haven’t changed their position on revenge murders, and the Dornish guards apparently don’t care about anything beyond murdering weak men.

In itself, this really plays like the villains triumphing. Ellaria gets away with murder and commits another, goes on a fucking motive rant, and disparages someone trying to stop a destructive and futile war against massive internal opposition as “weak.” Obviously bad, right? Right. And yet we get to the end of the season and apparently this is a positive step for the Dornish?

(28:03) Trystane is still on the ship. Obara and Nymeria apparate on board undetected, having caught up with this ship somehow. Okay then.

(28:13) Ah, cousin murder, so empowering. Nobody really cares about kinslaying in Westeros.

(28:42) Deaths: 9. Trystane, killed by Obara.

(28:51) Woman called “bitch”: 1. A wonderful and positive example of women interacting, completely necessary to wind up the scene.

(29:05) “We’re never going to fix what’s wrong with this city from the top of an 800-foot pyramid.” Gosh, if only Dany was more a woman of the people. That’s her problem, her rule doesn’t take the lower classes into account enough. (Back in “Hardhome”, Dany’s problem is that she’s ruling without the rich.)

(29:30) Varys is a eunuch: 1. It took just over thirty seconds to get to that “joke”.

(30:07) This bit where Tyrion gives a coin to a starving woman so she can feed her baby…I’m going to quote from the excellent How Not To Write A Novel, because it pretty well encapsulates my feelings about this bit.

“Perfect people are boring. Perfect people are obnoxious because they are better than us. Perfect people are, above all, too good to be true. […] An unprincipled gold digger who gives twenty dollars to a beggar is enchanting. A crusading human rights lawyer who volunteers at an animal shelter and also pauses on his way to court to give twenty dollars to a beggar makes us gag.”

The narrative’s lost sight of Tyrion’s interiority. The problems he faces are external, not requiring him to change or compromise, not based around his flaws. He already knows the best thing to do - the problem is doing it. But that means that show!Tyrion is now a flat, static character.

(30:35) Abs & pecs: 1.

(30:53) We see here that the Red Priests are preaching in favour of Dany, as is consistent with the anti-slavery stance they had back in season five. Note also the over-explaining of the effect Dany’s removal of slavery has on politics here. I’ll get back to this next episode, where certain things are under-explained.

(31:10) Abs & pecs: 5.

(31:13) So this sermon here is framed as being the Red Priests preaching that Dany has abandoned the former slaves of Meereen. Yet this speech contains lines such as “the people who love the darkness chased [Dany] away” and “will you fight for your own salvation, now that Queen Daenerys is not here to fight for you?” They’re not preaching of Dany’s abandonment, they’re depicting her as a champion of the former slaves driven out by the true enemy and in need of their activism while she’s gone. This Red Priest asks “will you take up her flames yourselves?” This is an unambiguously pro-Dany message, emphasising continuity between Dany’s cause and the current needs of the former slaves, rather than rejecting Dany as too timid and beholden to the Masters. I prefer to think that Tyrion’s established-to-be-crappy Valyrian is getting in the way, because otherwise he’s really bad at interpreting the messaging here.

(31:37) Oh, that’s Dany’s other problem. “You can’t fight an enemy you don’t know.” Man, if only Dany had thought of finding out who the Sons of the Harpy were. Truly, Tyrion is bringing exceptional insight into this situation.

This show is very clearly only as smart as the writers.

(32:12) Abs & pecs: 6.

(32:33) The burning of the ships (in a nice shot, incidentally) was the only new thing to happen in this scene, and it doesn’t have time to breathe. It’s all well and good to re-establish the situation at the beginning of the season, but we had three minutes checking in with the state of Meereen’s economy, and thirty seconds of a major attack on Dany’s future interests. These proportions seem to me backwards.

(32:48) Meanwhile, in the extremely Irish Dothraki Sea…

(33:33) “You keep coming back. Why?” “You know why.” Ooh, ooh, so do I! It’s because Jorah’s a stalker who cares not a whit about Dany’s repeatedly stated desire not to have him anywhere near her! It’s not a romantic tale of unrequited love but a depressingly common romanticisation of behaviour that’s genuinely dangerous!

(33:45) Daario here explicitly mentions that Dany doesn’t want Jorah the way he wants her (a formulation Jorah accepts), and then calls Jorah’s actions romantic. There’s no subversion. No questioning. The show thinks that Jorah’s disregard for “go away, I don’t want to see you again” is romantic.

(35:10) So these master trackers found a ram that was very clearly killed by a dragon and obvious tracks from a Dothraki horde, and yet it takes that fucking breadcrumbed ring for them to conclude “Daenerys was here, the Dothraki must have taken her.” This is not the LotR movie’s “not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall” (not familiar enough with the books and don’t have the time to reread them right now sorry) - in that story, the pursuers were already on the trail, already aware of who the kidnappers were, and the discovered pin was more proof of life than anything else (“not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall” = “that didn’t drop off a Hobbit corpse, that had to be torn off by someone”).

(35:50) Abs & pecs: 7.

(36:24) Plot-critical speculation about whether the carpet matches the drapes, brought to you by Game of Thrones. Just kidding. It’s not plot-critical at all.

(36:55) So that was thirty seconds of dialogue devoted to two unnamed minor characters dicussing how they’d like to rape Dany. Good use of time, writers!

(37:16) Once again we return to shots of butchered meat in the open air as an indication that these people are primitive and uncivilised. Guess what? Food preservation tech back in King’s Landing isn’t great either - but we sure don’t get the shots saying “look how backwards these people are!”

(37:23) Abs & pecs: 8.

(37:48) Abs & pecs: 9.

(37:55) The women, naturally, are immediately jealous of and threatened by Dany. Of course. That’s what women are like, in Game of Thrones.

(38:41) Then we get this wonderful comedy routine about how stripping Dany against her will would be among the five finest things in life.

(39:23) Look, I know that Dany’s seemingly constant appeal to her own titles back in season two was comical, but she was set down for it back in season two. What’s she supposed to do here, not give her name and as many titles as she can heap on, when the alternative is (as has been so clearly articulated) rape?

(40:19) Here’s the better way of showing how grossly misogynistic Dothraki society is, without solid minutes of rape threats - Khal Moro only backs down when Dany says she’s Khal Drogo’s widow. That gets the message across. We could have saved minutes of rape threats.

(41:14) But there’s the plot progression, after six minutes of Dany listening to sexual threats. She’s being taken to Isengard Vaes Dothrak. Six minutes. Alternatively, we could have cut to the chase and shown Dany arriving at Vaes Dothrak. The pacing this season…

(41:22-41:43) We need twenty seconds of following this guy’s shopping trip to understand that this is a street full of beggars, and, gasp! Arya is one of them. You can tell the imagination is running dry, you really can. Earlier seasons would have done this in literally half the time.

(42:16) I do like the out-of-focus background and the very focused street noise, including how we hear the Waif before we see her on screen. That gets across Arya’s internal experiece of blindness nicely for a visual medium.

(42:42) However, I do not understand why this stick-hitting is taking place on the streets, in public. Seems a bit overt for a bunch of covert assassins. Not to mention that once again the Faceless Men can’t teach for crap. Pummeling students is bad teaching, and by all logic will most likely result in a student with broken bones, a deep resentment of their teacher, and an only marginally increased ability to fight with sticks once the broken bones heal.

(43:01) That was two hits to the face, with a staff. God but I hate hate hate what the showrunners are saying about education with this storyline. This is not toughening Arya up. This is beating her up. But it’s all worth it in the end since she becomes a badass assassin!

Did the writers understand what was going on with Alliser Thorne, Jon Snow, and the conflict over training in book one? Randyll Tarly’s attempts to make Sam a knight? I rather think they didn’t.

(43:13) Two more hits to the head with a staff, and a couple of nasty body blows as well. Maybe we can count Arya’s lack of severe injury here as foreshadowing for how she survives that gut wound later.

(43:23) Meanwhile, the other beggars on the street are completely unaffected by the sight of a woman beating the crap out of a girl. Not even “geez, take it off the streets!”

(44:01) Meanwhile, back at the Wall, an armed standoff has developed. I understand that Jon’s supporters are in danger from the mutineers, but this is all just killing time. It’s unnecessary, much like the stuff with Dany, since it neither advances the plot nor develops characters. Skip straight to the fight between the Free Folk and the mutineers. Get to the point.

(45:55) Cut to Melisandre starts here. Just so you all can appreciate how long this scene goes on for.

(46:31) Melisandre looks in a fuzzy mirror.

(46:53) Boobs: 1. What, you think it would be a season opener without tits?

(47:03) Female butts: 1.

(47:39) Gasp! Shock! Horror! Melisandre is old!

(47:44) Boobs: 2.

(47:53) Have a niiiiiiiiice long shot of this naked old woman. Be repulsed and horrified at the fact that women age. The show feels reasonably free to put unattractive naked men on the screen from time to time, but when there’s an unattractive woman on screen, it’s the focus of an episode’s reveal and everything is framed so we can appreciate just how unattractive she is.

(48:01) Female full frontal: 1.

(48:19) Female butts: 2.

So that was the reveal, everyone! What a shocking twist. In hindsight, we can see how knowledge of Melisandre’s true age and appearance makes a huge difference to the plot. Except no, it doesn’t come up again, the only difference is that after this point the showrunners won’t write in topless scenes for Melisandre, because now the audience knows how saggy she really is - it just wouldn’t be sexy anymore. Who needs a whole walk of shame when the same thing can be accomplished in one ponderously slow scene of a woman getting into bed?

The episode is named for Melisandre, and the “important” thing we discover about her here is that she’s old. She doesn’t do anything of plot relevance, and she’s going to be bringing someone back from the dead very shortly. The Red Woman! She’s actually old!

Game of Numbers S06E01

Deaths: 9. Brienne kills three people, Tyene two, and Pod, Theon, Ellaria, and Obara one each. Doran, Trystane, and Areo Hotah were amongst the casualties.

Boobs: 2.

Abs & pecs: 9.

Female butts: 2.

Male butts: 0.

Female full frontal: 1.

Male full frontal: 0.

Woman called “bitch”: 1.

Man called “bitch”: 0.

Varys is a eunuch: 1. Oh, it’s been too long since the last gratuitous mention of Varys’ mutilation!

#anti got #fine toothed comb edition #cw: violence #cw: rape #cw: abuse #only love pads the show #season six

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