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chick-with-wifi · 9 months

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Theory: Root is alive

The Machine faked Root's death, knowing it was the only way to protect Root and motivate Finch to do what was needed to defeat Samaritan.

5x10

The Machine is unable to see the sniper because Samaritan's operatives work in the shadows, but sees Root get shot and sends the police to their location, as it is the fastest way to get medical attention for Root and Finch into custody where Samaritan would be less likely to have another opportunity to target him.

Root is then taken to hospital where Dr Madeleine Enright performs surgery to save her. The Machine summoned her because She needed a skilled surgeon who was trustworthy and wouldn't ask too many questions, and it is mentioned in 4x13 that Dr Enright is among the past numbers who have been helping the team ("Dr. Enright is keeping an eye on Delia at the safe house.").

Once Root is stable, this is the point where the Machine decides to fake her death. As she is injured, Root wouldn't be able to defend herself when Samaritan comes to finish the job, so her only chance is for the Machine to make sure they aren't looking for her. Or rather, they aren't looking for her alive.

Dr Enright injects her with aconite (like Shaw in 2x16) to make her appear deceased long enough to be pronounced dead and for Fusco to identify her body as a Jane Doe, then revives her with atropine.

Meanwhile, the Machine had also summoned Dr Farouk Madani, another previous ally of the team who used to work in a morgue and still owes Finch a favor as mentioned in 3x05. He locates a body matching Root's description and handles the necessary paperwork. And Dr Carr, the otolaryngologist who gave Root her cochlear implant in 3x17, removes her implant and puts it in the new body (more on this later), which is then sent to be buried in Root's place.

During the chaos of inmates being freed at the prison, Daizo, Jason and Daniel are able to get Root out of the hospital and go into hiding. The Machine chose them for this task because they were shielded from Samaritan at the end of season 3, giving them more room to maneuver freely, and Root already knows and trusts them.

The reason the Machine doesn't tell the team about faking Root's death is because Samaritan has eyes everywhere and She can't risk them finding out. She also heard Finch and Root's conversations about him needing to take a more active role in the fight against Samaritan and all the people he's lost, and knows that having him believe he's lost another friend is the only way to push him into doing what it takes to win the war.

The Machine then chooses to use Root's voice for multiple reasons: 1) to sell the story that Root is really dead. 2) She needs to be able to communicate clearly and quickly so Her usual spliced-together recordings wouldn't work. 3) This is the first time She will have prolonged contact with someone other than Root and She is on her own, so using Root's voice is a way to have part of Her interface with Her still.

When the Machine calls Finch from the hospital, he asks, "Root?". The Machine replies, "No, Harold. I chose a voice." She does not tell him Root is dead, but rather allows him to come to that conclusion based on the state in which he last saw her and the fact that She is now using her voice.

5x11

When the Machine talks to Finch about Root being dead, this is the only time She uses a name Root no longer identifies with. Therefore, when She says "I watched her die 12,483 times in the seconds before she expired. I couldn't save her, but I kept trying.", She is actually talking about accessing old footage of young!Root, watching her become the Root we know and running simulations to see whether things could have happened differently ("You taught me to see everything, see everyone, and I do. But I see thousands of versions of them: what they were, what they are, what they could be."). The Machine couldn't save her because this happened before She was built.

Much like how She went behind the team's back to protect Root by faking her death with the help of past numbers, in this episode the Machine goes behind the team's back to protect Reese by giving his number to the DC Team made up of past numbers.

5x12

The Machine says, "You know I can't lie to you, Harold." As we've seen, She can withhold information or choose to phrase things a particular way, but can't say an outright lie. At no point does she ever explicitly say Root is dead.

The Machine also says that in a world where She didn't exist, Shaw "never would have met Root." Finch adds, "Or lost her." The Machine does not address this comment at all.

5x13

When Shaw visits Root's grave and discovers the soil disturbed, the Machine comments that it "looks like they dug her up. Guessing they got to her cochlear implant. I should have had her cremated, but I just didn't have the heart. My bad." The Machine is only stating what it 'looks like', not what actually happened. And it is very suspicious that the Machine, who was created to predict human behavior and watched Samaritan try to cut the cochlear implant out of Root's head while she was alive, would fail to predict them going grave robbing for it.

Unless, after deciding to fake Root's death, She knew they wouldn't stop until they found it so lets them have it on Her terms. (As previously mentioned, the cochlear implant had been inserted into a body matching Root's description that was buried in her place. Having her cremated, and by extension destroying the cochlear implant beyond use, would have prevented an innocent person's body from being desecrated, but She couldn't give up a chance to defeat Samaritan.)

Once Samaritan scans the implant to access the location data, the Machine is also able to access more information on Samaritan which She then integrates into the copy of Her core code made by Shaw. This, along with the greater defensive capabilities created by Root and activated by Finch, allows her to beat Samaritan in the satellite, when She couldn't win any of the simulated fights.

The Machine knew that this would lead them to the team's frequent locations, so She arranges to protect them by stationing a sniper near the precinct ("It seems Thornhill Industries has been on a hiring spree.") and instructing Shaw to blow a hole in the wall of the subway station that allows them to escape.

Later, when Shaw asks "Is this the guy who killed you? Killed her, I mean.", the Machine changes the subject. This is because She can't lie and couldn't risk telling the truth when Samaritan might find out. Although they don't have much time, it wouldn't have taken long to confirm what Shaw already suspects and she has never been the type to let a desire for revenge interfere with completing the mission since "a good soldier does both" (2x16).

When the Machine directs Finch onto the rooftop, he asks, "Wait, are you sure this is the right place?" and She replies, "Yes. This is where you're supposed to be." It is then revealed that She secretly made a deal with Reese allowing him to sacrifice himself in Finch's place. This shows once again that She will go behind Her assets' backs to protect them and uses careful phrasing to misdirect them without lying.

After defeating Samaritan, the duplicate Machine downloads Herself to the subway station computers and declares 'mission unknown. Awaiting instructions…'. The message left by Her predecessor then begins playing and tells Her about Her assets ("let me tell you who we were") and Her mission ("let me tell you who you are").

As the next scene is Her calling the payphone by Shaw, She must have been given instructions to contact any surviving assets. Shaw answers and it is unlikely the Machine gives her a new number, because She had only just gotten back online and the last time She was reduced to Her core code in order to fit in the briefcase, it took Her a while to start operating normally. We also see that She only begins to scan the crowd after Shaw hangs up.

It can't be Her signature 'can you hear me?' because Shaw doesn't reply. Instead, it must be a message Her predecessor told Her to relay - that She survived, Samaritan is gone for good and it's time to get back to work, followed by a set of coordinates that lead to Root's location as she is both a surviving asset and someone who can help Her get back up and running.

It is doubtful the Machine tells Shaw Root is alive in that moment, because she would have reacted with more shock and betrayal than we saw, and likely demanded an explanation immediately. Instead, she is smiling because they won the war and she can continue saving people.

Shaw then goes to the location, which is a new safehouse where Daizo, Jason and Daniel have been looking after Root, who is still unconscious but recovering. The building has been set up as their new base of operations, since the subway was somewhat destroyed during the final battle.

When Root soon wakes up, she and Shaw are very happy to be reunited and promise never to leave each other again. The Machine moves Herself to the computer equipment in the new safehouse and Root helps Her get recalibrated, as we saw in 5x02 and the flashbacks in 4x05. "There we go. Now, can you see me? Excellent. Next question, who am I? That's my girl." Root becomes both Admin and Analog Interface and Shaw is the Primary Asset.

Together, Root, Shaw, the Machine and Bear get back to working the numbers, with help from their friends and allies.

#Poi #Person of interest #Root #Poi root #Root x shaw #Root x the machine #The machine #Root is alive #Sameen shaw #My meta #Poi meta

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themirokai · 1 year

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POI 03x14: Provenance

An episode reaction with 10 gifs written the same night I watch?!? 😱

This one was fab.

Wowzer there was a lot of Rinchiness at the beginning! And did Shaw comment on the “mildly erotic moment”????

I am really loving Shaw. Including her eye roll before saving this dude.

Holy shit this moment in which we are all the admission lady.

AND HAROLD’S EXPRESSION HERE ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????

There were, of course, some pretty big suspension of disbelief moments. Including a woman in a balaclava walking out the of front of a museum with an art carrying case and no one stops her. And later that the super secure room has incredibly convenient bars on the ceiling.

I did enjoy the goofy mustache.

Also no gifs of him sadly, but Chris Jackson as a random security guard! Did he and Leslie Odom Jr. know each other when they were both season 3 side characters on this show??

Fusco is very good at fake arresting the team by now.

And I loved the nice happy post-mission drinks…

… until John had to go bring down the mood. We get it John. You can’t let yourself be happy.

All in all a very enjoyable episode.

#miro does poi #person of interest #rinch #irrelevants #provenance #poi 03x14: provenance

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doloresabernathysworld · 1 year

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Ok, so I finally ended the first season of Person of Interest and immediately started the second, and John Reese is already one of my favorite fictional characters!

I mean, everyone thinking he was going to kill that marshall that was abusive to his wife because he allegedly killed Peter for being abusive to Jessica, and he was all like how dare you not trust me, and then we find out that John didn't in fact kill any of them (although if he did no one could blame him), but instead framed them so they would spend their lives in a Mexican prison? King behavior!

And in the season finale, Fusco and Carter figuring out they were both working for John and Harold? That was totally a spiderman meme moment!

But nothing beats the first episode of season 2 when it comes to comedy! John like "I only have one friend" and Fusco, gagged looking at him like "really, dude!?" And John goes "okay maybe two friends" xD then immediately adopting a dog after throwing a nazi out the window assdffgf what a man!

And in spite of all of this, this series is really compelling, and all the scenes with Harold in the last couple of episodes have been heart wrenching. And Root and William from Westworld would absolutely be besties, and that's terrifying.

Anyway, I'm kicking myself for having ignored this series for so long, but then again now I can watch it without having to wait weekly for an episode.

#person of interest #john reese #new blorbo just dropped #harold finch #lionel fusco #joss carter #root

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scratchybeardsweetmouth · 4 months

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gonna gush about While You Were Sleeping for a while. SPOILER below.

really love this movie, and every rewatch reminds me how much. there are mentions of this and that and they are followed up by the next scenes with what was mentioned. like the family being Catholic and the family having a funny conversation in Church. or at the start when the family's at the hospital and mentions "If only Jack were here" to sort of calm down the situation at Peter's accident, and true enough Jack's entrance kind of clarified and solved the situation, if not to create even more conflict for a while for the truth to come out. Lucy finding out about single-testicle Peter through an accidental story while Ashley, the actual fiancee insults Peter as "one-balled" bastard. There's also the Baskin-Robbins cameo as Lucy gets ice for Jack's head bump and we later find out its significance as Jack viciously interrogates Lucy.

There are also little things about families that it gets right, like the scene in church where Jack's sister Mary knows he doesn't want his dad's business, but Jack's dad hasn't got a clue. Or the family talking about so many multiple things when eating, mostly because of Elsie the grandmother but nobody talks her down with not ever understanding that her comments are out of topic.

The romance of it all just leaves you mush. If there's one little thing to point out it's probably how quick the main characters developed. It's as if the movie is joking with itself that Lucy admitted meeting Peter around September then got (falsely) engaged by Christmas when Jack met Lucy on December and got engaged possibly the next month, January.

Anyway, back to the romance. The yearning, the pining, the miscommunication, and then the revelation! The pacing is beautiful. Maybe for Jack it starts out as love at first sight but for Lucy it doesn't. Jack also goes into protective mode right away wanting to get to know Lucy which unfortunately turned out as an investigation after a meeting with the delusional Joe Fusco, Jr. They immediately clash with Lucy wanting to protect her secret and integrity, and with Jack, his brother and family. After this it goes mush for a while to build their rapport - the lengthy conversation on walking her home, the mention of florence, and their own 'ice-capade' situation gone wrong -- oh yeah this is the point where you really fall in love with Bill Pullman as Jack Callaghan. And then they have a misunderstanding that turns into an argument and we see how they try and talk through it with hard truths. Lucy at this point wants to tell him so she gives him a clue with 'I don't have anybody' and it hurts for a second because Jack doesn't get it but Lucy wants to bear it all but that wasn't the moment for it. While Jack desperately wants to reach out but he can't do anymore than accept that the conversation has ended as her friend. Doing more to make her feel less alone may be crossing the line as in his mind, she's his brother's fiancee. Because he respects her too much at this point, as well as love his brother, he keeps a certain distance for her and his brother's future happiness. Until it all comes crashing down in the climax that Lucy actually did have feelings for him all along.

The family's reactions and inclusion in the love story is brilliant. They have become a part of Lucy's life in a way she didn't expect in a short time. It's no wonder we feel the way they do as they witness Jack propose to Lucy - all tears and giggles.

tl;dr - just love the excellence in storytelling that is While You Were Sleeping

#rewatching while you were sleeping

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chetungwan · 10 months

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As promised, we got here exactly what daemons the characters from POI would have

First: John Reese is a wolfhound. This man is the most dog-coded character I've ever seen in my life. I'm of the opinion that people default into assigning dog daemons too easily, and partly that's because none of the characters I've seen given them have been anywhere near as dog as Reese is. My sister and I first started coming up with these almost five years ago, and this was the very first we landed on.

The next one we landed on was Shaw. We waffled between panther and cougar for a bit, but panther is a little... fancy for her. Dressing up isn't exactly one of her highest priorities; she'd prefer to be on the roof with a gun. Or in a tree with a mouthful of teeth, so to speak.

Our next stop was Joss Carter and damn, but the second we came up with it, we were sold. She has a peregrine falcon. Bird of prey endemic to NYC, something beautiful and fierce.

After that, we tossed around a few ideas but didn't settle on anything until now, years later. One walk through the rain and suddenly we put all the pieces together

First, we had ideas about a serval for Root, but it didn't quite fit. We were trying to parallel Shaw with a cat, but in the end, it makes more sense to parallel Finch. So of course she has a bird! An African grey parrot, something brutally intelligent and honestly, often mistreated. And since she's paralleling him by having a bird like his names, that leaves us free to pick what the hell ever for his daemon

I had insect vibes for him, but I couldn't think of anything known for intelligence. We floated a bee or an ant, but. He's not exact social. Then my sister suggested. Well. Why not an entire colony of ants. And you know what, yeah. Hell yeah. Finch's daemon is an entire colony of ants. Pullman isn't exactly gonna show up to tell us no.

Elias is next, and he gets to parallel both Finch and Carter! Like Finch's names, he has a bird, and like Carter he has a bird endemic to NYC. He has a rock dove, otherwise known as a common pigeon. He needs something innocuous that can fly (ha) under the radar

His right-hand man, Antony aka Scarface, gets a fisher. It was my sister's first thought for Elias, but it fits better for him. Something small and extremely vicious.

Lastly, we debated over Fusco for a long while. He kinda has dog energy, but. Well. No one can match Reese on that front. Eventually, we settle on a very large, kinda scraggly grey tabby cat. Sorta like a Maine coon, but without the pedigree.

#person of interest #i wasn't talking to you #intrusive heartbeats #poi

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heylabodega · 5 months

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There’s nothing wrong with trying to survive. It’s not bad that I can go surfing and bake bread and lay under the covers safely next to a friend. It’s just that for me, these experiences feel empty the more I know how unlikely it is that they will be shared experiences across the world. It’s as though the good things bounce off of my heart instead of lodge themselves inside of it, the way I imagine they might if we were committed, above all, to life instead of territory, control, and comfort.

--Anna Fusco, Unsupervised

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lerry-hazel · 20 days

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Random PoI ramblings

Grace, I’m sad to say, is not my favourite character either: because of the final, and “kill them all”, and uncomfortable meta-textual implications,

but most of all because her reappearance at the end of s3 is the exact moment where the portrayal of AI’s convenient omnipotence gets from fairy-tale to blatantly nonsensical .

Unless Samaritan’s test mode is capable of looking in the heart of a person IT CAN’T FIND in the first place, by what definition is Grace the closest person to Harold Finch? Harold Finch never had any – let alone recorded – contact with her!

I’m not writing a fix-it for this, ridiculous or otherwise, because, due to aforementioned meta-textual implications, I’m not touching Harold’s relationship with Grace with a ten-foot pole, but if we were to think about it anyway:

assuming John and Sameen don’t count because they are presumably dead, Root is Root and Will Ingram is out of range, the closest living person to Harold Finch would probably be Fusco :-D

That is, not counting anyone Harold Crane/Partridge/Cardinal/Whatever maintains regular contact with – but the show tends to forget a fake identity on that scale can’t only exist online. I love s2, but, gosh, “John Warren’s workplace”??? Don’t let me start on s4 “eye roll*

#person of interest #not really a fic #ramblings #grace hendricks #secret identity #harold finch #lionel fusco #john reese #plot holes

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purpleplaid17 · 5 months

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Jess Watches // Sun 17 Dec // Day 86 Synopses & Favourite Scenes & Poll

Person of Interest (rw with mum) 5x13 Return 0 (Series Finale)

Finch, Reese, Fusco and Shaw embark on one last mission to prevent Samaritan from destroying The Machine and cementing its hold over mankind.

The series seeming even more relevant a decade later. The dangers of living in a surveillance state and not trusting the government to monitor us with any kind of fairness and justice. The importance of human connections and helping others when we can. That the effort to be good is always worth it.

“Everyone dies alone. But if you mean something to someone… if you help someone or love someone, and even a single person remembers you… then maybe you never really die at all?”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters 1x06 Terrifying Miracles

Shaw finds an unlikely ally within Monarch as the team has a harrowing run-in. Keiko and Lee grow closer while at a military ball.

I missed the 50's and having the dual storylines so it's not surprising this was one of the best of the season. I still don't trust Lee, but his doomed-by-the-narrative romance with Keiko is quite sweet. Even Bill noticing and giving them some privacy. I'm guessing Lee messing up by going to Japan will mean at some point in the future he does something for Monarch to try salvage his career and his relationship with Keiko, but it only pushes her further away. // Godzilla taking a decades long nap is a mood tbh. No wonder he was pissed at being woken. Also, Cate finding any opportunity to hold May's hand like the messy lesbian she is lol.

The Family Plan (Film)

Used car salesman Dan (Mark Wahlberg) is living the American dream as a family man in the suburbs with wonderful wife Jessica (Michelle Monaghan). But Dan has a secret.

So much potential but never quite reaching it. The fight scenes were pretty impressive (minus the baby always in shot during the early ones) and the acting was solid. It would've been a tenser action/drama without the script forcing the comedy element imo. Even though there was a couple of genuinely funny oneliners near the end, most of it just didn't work for me. And Michelle and Maggie should've been the exes!

#person of interest #monarch legacy of monsters #the family plan #polls #tumblr polls #jess watches #day 86

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arbitrarygreay · 1 year

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@mimeparadox and I are currently watching Farscape season 2, and of course mind-Scorpius is giving me some PoI vibes. There are two angles that stick out to me: 1. ASI in the brain a la mind-Scorpius in the PoI world. We were quite close to that state of events with God-Moding. The "brain transistors" turned out to be a red herring, but imagine if/when the tech did actually reach that far. ASI sleeper agents! Though, what stood out to me was the missed opportunity in PoI for more than 2 ASI duking it out. But imagine, sudden clashes between people, operating off of differing qualities of ASI patrons in their heads. Someone kidnaps and tries to brainwash you, but Amy Acker is there to counteract it with a smirk and some snark. Factions jockeying for power like it's a sports relegation league. All of the primary players absolutely loathing the endless proliferation of open source ASI instances, because of course there are so many schisms and forks every week in the open source communities. Speaking of sports league dynamics, ASI horse-trading agents, having to figure out compatibility issues to update their brain-patron. The way staying unenhanced becomes increasingly untenable, which then gets into supply chain issues and conflict fronts for the implants. The absolute HILARITY of an ASI being like "yeah I hate this zealot agent, they're useless" but having to deal with this horrible counterproductive proselytizer of theirs who will not go away. Well, I guess Samaritan just frags any of their employees they don't like. But that might not be tenable in a world with more ASI to fight against and resources being more precious! The world-building possibilities are endless. 2. "My name is Sameen Shaw, and I was SHOT THROUGH A WORMHOLE." Sarah Shahi is an expert at playing "so Done with this" and "when will the Suffering end" and "yes, playing at insanity to cope". And bonus points if this is post-canon, so we have The Machine riding along with her in her ear. Pay no attention to the logistical issues with this! We'll just say that TM ultra-compressed into the ship module, and then in the other galaxy quickly adapted to the tech infrastructure around. There is the full-on fusion AU angle for that (Reese as D'argo, Finch as Pilot, Carter as Aeryn, Root as Zhaan, Fusco as Chiana lololol, Elias or Leon as Rygel, etc.), but I kind of do feel like a crossover works better, as Shaw navigates the resonances of the new galaxy with back on Earth. The more things change! (Okay, but Control as a half-Scarran Peacekeeper with an Aurora chair, obsessed with prying the secret of ASI out of someone's brain! The Moyachine and Samaritalyn! Some of the fusion AU writes itself.) Huh. In alternate fusion AU configurations, Shaw would work quite well as a Nebari who comes to oppose mind cleansing, huh? The demeanor of cold rationality juxtaposed with underlying hedonist tendencies fits better than as a Peacekeeper. And then Root would be someone who willingly worked with Genetic Splicer Cat Furry Guy to half-merge herself with Pilot DNA, so that she can now communicate with both them and Leviathans (and also get some sweet extra arms in the deal). Finch would be a Builder who worked with Pilots and Leviathans until he could stomach the slavery no longer. Reese would be the former Peacekeeper Sebacean/Scarran hybrid. Pa'U Carter has some real potential as well, but more in exploring what law enforcement for that community looks like.

#person of interest #farscape #CROSSOVER ALL OF THE THINGS #category: tv

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on-a-sunbeam · 1 year

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Hi guys I'm going insane thanks for asking!!!!

I'M SO SORRY BUT OKAY FIRST OF ALL so I got like two weeks of stuff done in like. A day. Which meant I had two days where I literally had nothing to do besides watch this and lose my mind SO. I have THOUGHTS.

Elias is back!! Elias lore!! Elias getting his half-brother to kill his dad!! Also he Said the Thing heh!!

(For. For reference. Because that is a joke that is maybe waaay too specific)

The guys just. Acquired a baby. Okay. Sure. Why not, I mean. There doesn't even need to be fanfiction at this point they're just doing it for us. Like the fact that this is a real thing that happened is wild to me but MOVING ON.

Eeexcpet I'm just moving on to Identity Crisis. Do you. Do you understand how incredibly normal I'm being about this entire thing? :) I JUST. So Reese has been trying to spy on him! (And like, rightfully so, kinda, because if I worked with someone who knew everything about everyone but learning their favourite colour was like pulling teeth I'd be a whole lot curious too) He's even got Fusco helping him and everything, and then he gets a chance to actually learn stuff and he doesn't. Which like, low bar, maybe, not asking people personal stuff when they're out of it, sure. But I'd also argue that there's a lot you could ask that like, reasonably wouldn't make a difference to Finch. (except it WOULD, and that's the thing, isn't it! He's a very private person!) But he doesn't and I just. HMM. I HAVE SOME THOUGHTS. ANYWAY. (oh ALSO I thought that the big twist reveal was going to be that he wasn't actually still affected by the drug. That he'd gotten over it and he just wanted to test Reese and see what he'd do. But no!! He says goodnight Nathan and I'm even more insane about that!!)

Reese lore!! Finch lore!! Finch was engaged and then faked his death??? Also, was Jessica a number and Finch just couldn't save her or what was going on there? Because HOO BOY the angsty potential if true!!

ALSO IS THE MACHINE ACTUALLY GOING TO LIKE BE A CHARACTER??? Because I was joking before but I am SO down for that please. And also the ENDING I'M SCREAMING. Who. Who was on the phone. Inquiring minds want to know. (also I literally love how Reese's thought process went: Friend is gone. This is bad. Maybe the god machine knows?? I'm going to threaten a camera into helping me. Like alright buddy you have no basis for thinking that'll work but I love it)

And ROOT??? Excuse me??? So I had it on very good authority that Amy Acker's character was going to be good but I. Um. Did not know that she was Root. I thought that was going to be two separate people. Whoops. But Root is back, kids!!! And she called the hit on herself what kind of Irina-esque crap is that!! Girl what!!! Can't wait for her and Finch to get into a fistfight or whatever worthy opponents do with each other!!

Also Nathan built the backdoor? That's actually so interesting like if Finch was okay with letting the irrelevant stuff get deleted then did he change his mind after Nathan died, like an 'oh this is what you would've wanted' kind of a thing? And also do we know how Nathan died, and I just forgot? Because I very much do not remember. But if he got killed, let's say, because they all think he built the machine, then is that why Finch let him take the credit for it? Like sure just being bad at human interaction is also a valid reason because same, buddy, but that's a lot more sinister if he just actually suspected he'd be killed and let Nathan take the fall. (Yadda yadda insert the fact that he says he knows what it's like to lose someone and I interpreted that as being Nathan at first but then we learn he had a fiance, Nathan saying 'oh no I'd know if you were seeing someone cause we're such good pals!! :D' And Finch just going ':) right.' More of my insane theorizing, yadda yadda...)

ALSO EVERYONE SAY THANK YOU ALICIA CAUSE SHE SAID THE THING!!

Like BOY that's what I've been saying!!!

Anyway can't wait to go even more insane!!! Aren't you all excited? :]

#jules watches poi #<- i love how this tag is just me growing increasingly more deranged #also shout out to reese sitting in the back of the car while fusco and carter yell at him like he's their disobedient child #it means everything to me <3 #also finch listening in on reese's therapy session that's so funny #also did root learn how to be a therapist JUST to do this?? because BOY that's commitment #ALSO. ALSO. HOLD ON.#so did finch purposely not tell reese what the key was for in hopes that he would try to figure it out himself #(and therefore not get involved with the current number) or am i just actually going crazy #hnnngh

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my-head-is-an-animal · 1 year

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Happy Wednesday

Chapter 17

Harold didn’t know what else to do, there was no other option as far as he could see. He needed you.

‘Harold, what is it?’ You woke up to the sound of your phone ringing loudly. You weren’t in the mood for a late night call. You hadn’t heard from Harold in weeks, not since you left on an icy note.

‘Please,’ he was crying. ‘I need to see you. Please, can I see you?’

‘What happened?’ You said, turning the light on and sitting up.

‘Evelyn, please, I just…’ he was breathing heavily, panicking. You jumped out of bed and began shoving on whatever clothes were nearby.

‘I’m coming.’ You said. ‘Harold, I’ll be at the library in twenty minutes, can you hang on?’

‘Yes, please hurry.’ Harold cried hard before hanging up.

You raced over to the library, not caring that you hadn’t alerted your security team. Harold needed you.

You ran up the stairs, Bear met you at the top, rushing with you to find Harold holding his head in his hands at his desk. He looked a mess, his tie was laying next to his glasses in front of him, and he was shaking.

‘Harold?’ You whispered, striding over to him. You placed your hand on his shoulder gently. ‘Hey, I’m here.’ Harold reached up to hold your hand, he was sweating and cold. ‘What happened to you?’

Harold turned his head a little, his cheeks wet with tears and you couldn’t help yourself. You kneeled down next to him, wiping away the wetness over his face.

‘You came.’ His voice was hoarse.

‘You asked me to.’ You smiled, sympathetically. ‘You sounded like you needed some help.’ He turned his head a little more to look at you. ‘What do you need, Harold? Just tell me and it’s yours.’

He was quiet for the longest time, something awful was going through his head, but you couldn’t tell what it was.

‘There was a bomb.’ He mustered. ‘It was strapped to John’s chest… I thought I was going to die…’ you sucked in a harsh breath, your hand still stroking his cheek. ‘All I could think about was how much I’d hurt you… I deserve to die without your forgiveness, I deserve to be punished for what I did.’

‘No, Harold,’ you shook your head, twisting his chair so that you knelt directly in front of him. ‘That is not your choice to make.’ You told him firmly. ‘You understand me, I will decide if I can forgive you, but you made a choice that was the right choice, knowing that it would mean we couldn’t be together, I’ve never blamed you for that. You don’t deserve to be punished for doing what you did to protect what we made. You don’t.’

Harold heard you, but whether he believed you was a different story. ‘I don’t deserve you anymore.’ He said, that statement hurting more than any other. ‘The only thing I want in the whole world and I don’t deserve it. I broke it, the promises I made to you, I treated them like they were nothing.’

‘You never lied to me, Harold.’ You shook your head. ‘You were always honest, and you always took care of me, you’re still taking care of me. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.’ You had in fact seen an increase in NYPD cars roaming around your block, likely something to do with Harold co-ordinating with Fusco and Carter.

‘I always hated your apartment.’ Harold confessed. ‘I always thought we’d get a house together, get married, and have a beautiful life together.’

‘So, did I.’ You smiled a little. ‘But life so rarely gives us what we want. It’s much more chaotic than that. All we can do is the best with what we have.’

Harold nodded. ‘You’re right. You were always right.’ Harold looked down at your face, examining every part of it, committing it to memory. ‘I’m still in love with you.’ You felt your heart cracking the same way it had been every time you spoke with Harold. You swallowed hard. ‘I don’t expect you to say it back, or even feel it, but you’re right, our best is all we can do, after that, it’s out of our hands.’

‘Yes, it is.’ You nodded.

‘I’m sorry I woke you.’ Harold frowned for a moment. ‘You must be exhausted.’

‘I am.’ You half laughed. ‘Why don’t we get some sleep? You look like you could do with some rest yourself.’

Harold’s eyes widened. ‘You mean you… in the same bed?’

You stood up straight, knowing that Harold needed this, and one night spent next to him might just be what you needed to.

‘You said you needed me,’ you could feel your adrenaline wearing off. ‘And it’s either this or the floor.’

You slid your hand into Harold’s and led him towards the bedroom he’d let you stay in while you were healing.

Harold was the perfect gentleman, despite wanting to watch you all night, he refused to turn around while you took your trousers off. You hadn’t bothered taking your oversized t-shirt off, instead shoving on a pair of sweatpants and Harold’s old brown jumper. You slid under the sheets and watched Harold exit the bathroom in his own pyjamas.

He hesitantly slid in next to you and lay flat staring at the ceiling, you watched him, still wide awake. You sighed and decided it was ridiculous to deny yourselves any longer. You moved closer to him, snuggling close to his body and wrapping your arms around him.

Harold was warm, breathing a little heavy for your liking, but he was beginning to relax and your eyes were growing heavier by the second.

‘If you’re uncomfortable at any point-‘

‘Harold.’ You mumbled into his shoulder.

‘Yes?’

‘Go to sleep.’

You woke feeling a warm body wrapped around yours, the familiar sounds of soft breathing close to your shoulder and neck, fingers interlocked with yours, legs tangled and the feeling of home seeping into your bones.

The sun was just starting to come up and you couldn’t have been asleep for very long, but the chance to feel Harold around you once more was worth remaining awake just a little longer for.

You remembered so many nights spent next to him, some of them more clearly than others. You loved the sound of Harold in a deep sleep, one that you knew he’d be well rested from, one that he sorely needed. You loved the feel of his body holding onto yours like he was scared to let go. And you adored the moments he woke, realising his position and kissed whatever skin he could reach.

Harold adjusted his position behind you, pulling you closer for a moment, his mouth grazing below your ear, sending warmth through your being, before letting go, realising where he was. He began moving back and away, but you weren’t ready.

‘Don’t.’ You whispered. ‘Please don’t let go.’

Harold didn’t move for a moment, contemplating what it meant, but eventually you felt his body settle against yours, pulling you closer once again. You found yourself pressing back against Harold, needing his body heat, needing to feel him loving you.

It was a moment, before Harold relaxed properly behind you, feeling like you really did want him to hold you. It was everything he needed.

You dozed for a while, just allowing the sun to come up before even considering getting out of bed. Harold shifted a little, before needing to lie on his back, it seemed he was in some discomfort and you suddenly remembered his injury. You turned to snuggle into his side, trying to be careful about where you put your weight.

‘Are you in pain?’ You whispered, your hand placed gently on Harold’s chest.

‘I’m used to it.’ He whispered back. You noticed his breathing was a little heavy.

‘Tell me what you need.’

Harold pulled his knees up and you shifted your lower body out of the way. ‘I’m just a little stiff.’ He moved his hips a little to try to loosen up his lower body.

‘If you need to get up…?’

Harold thought about it, before deciding it was best for him to get out of bed. You watched him struggle to stand, his hand going to his neck as he leaned against the wall for support. Your instinct was to get up and try to help.

‘No.’ Harold panted. ‘Please, I’m fine.’

You stepped back for a moment, letting him breathe through the pain, but it was too much for you to bear.

‘Harold, please let me help.’ You placed your hand on his lower back, making him flinch, but it seemed that your soft touch was exactly what he needed to feel some relief.

You listened to his breathing, assessing just how much pressure was needed and you soon felt just how stiff he really was. You massaged the tense muscle, slowly moving his shirt out of the way to massage the skin directly. The sound of relief that came from Harold was a surprise, but one that you knew he needed.

You continued to run your fingers over the scarred skin, never thinking twice about it and gently resting your head between his shoulder blades.

‘How’s that?’ You whispered.

Harold breathed out and you heard the smile he had on his face. ‘I haven’t felt such relief… ever.’

You closed your eyes, still massaging his back. ‘You need me to do your neck as well?’ You offered.

‘I don’t…’ Harold hesitated. ‘It’s okay. You’ve done enough.’ His hand came around to stop yours and you knew where this was heading.

‘Harold,’ you placed your free hand on top of his. ‘Please don’t do this.’ You begged. ‘You asked for my help, and I came. Don’t push me away now.’

Harold breathed deeply for a few minutes, thinking on what he should do.

‘I’m sorry.’ He breathed. ‘I’m sorry. I can’t do this.’

You swallowed hard and slowly took your hand away from his back. You felt disappointment fill your chest and tears fill your eyes. You felt humiliated. Harold had never done that to you before. You stepped away and Harold didn’t dare look back.

You cleared your throat, deciding enough was enough, you weren’t going to stand to be treated like this again. You went to pick up your clothes and leave, clearly you were no longer needed.

‘Wait.’ Harold stopped you. You turned reluctantly to see him leaning back against the wall, staring at you, his eyes scanning over your bare legs before shooting up to your face. He swallowed thickly. ‘I forgot something.’ You frowned, not understanding. ‘You were always more beautiful first thing in the morning than any other time of day.’ He swallowed again. ‘I always thought I imagined it, but every morning you’d get out of bed and I’d see the light surrounding you… like it is now.’

Harold’s eyes held yours, you knew what it would usually mean; whenever Harold looked at you like that before, you went back to bed and didn’t leave for an entire weekend. But this time, Harold didn’t move towards you, he wasn’t going to kiss you and you probably wouldn’t spend all day in bed.

‘I don’t know what that means anymore.’ You whispered.

Harold pushed himself off the wall, being careful not to take too many steps towards you in case you rejected him.

‘It means, I will never stop loving you,’ another sting in your chest. ‘And I think a part of you still loves me. I asked you to come here when I needed something, when I needed you, and you came without hesitation… people only do that when something still lingers between them.’ Harold’s eyes were filling with tears. ‘Last night, I thought I was going to die. I thought I would never again have the chance to prove that… we built something extraordinary and it will forever entwine us in more ways than we can conceive. I thought I would never get the chance to tell you how beautiful you are, and how I never believed myself to be worthy of you.’

You let a tear fall down your cheek, not having the energy to wipe it away anymore, you never did these days.

‘You asked me once,’ Harold continued. ‘Why I always gave you options, why I always told you that saying no was okay… I didn’t lie to you, but I’m not sure I ever realised the whole truth. I was giving you the option to walk away. To find someone like Alec to be with, because I knew that the time I got with you was everything I’d always wanted. And nothing lasts forever, so if you decided it was over, I convinced myself that I would be okay with that. I think at one time, I may have even believed it enough that it could be true… but then you agreed to marry me, and everything changed.’

You couldn’t stop your tears flooding from your face, but Harold kept going.

‘When you said yes, I knew that no matter what happened, I would spend the rest of my life with you in one way or another. I knew that I’d set myself up for heartbreak, because the second you decided you wanted to leave, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.’

‘So, making me believe you were dead was the solution?’ You said through stuttered breath.

‘It was a unique situation,’ Harold knew that was the wrong way to say it. ‘I always thought you could do better. I thought if I left, you would move on and live out your dreams and find someone who could give you more than I could.’

You sniffed, shaking your head. ‘And what about now?’

‘Now?’ Harold repeated. ‘Now, I see the truth, which was that it wasn’t my choice.’ He took another tentative step towards you. ‘I forgot to give you the option to stay with me, to help me after the accident… to care for me. If I had, I might have felt relief much sooner in my life.’

You nodded. ‘I would have made you get surgery.’

‘I know.’ Harold gave a brief smile. ‘I’m sorry I hurt you. It seems such a small thing to say given how you feel, but it’s true. I understand if you blame me for what happened, and if you decide to remain upset with me… I will understand that as well, but you should know something.’ Harold took the last step towards you, his body heat touching your skin. ‘There is nothing in this world that will change the way I feel for you, and there is nothing anyone can do that will hurt me more than the pain of knowing I hurt you for a second time.’ You frowned, asking the question. ‘If I had died last night, there would be no way for you to tell if it was real or not. Given the way I know you still feel about me, you may have believed it to be another fake and gone looking for me, which would have resulted in one of two things happening: either you would fail and realise you were chasing a ghost, or you would simply continue on. Lingering.’ Harold’s face contorted with pain once more. ‘I can’t do that to you again.’

You just stood crying in front of Harold, not knowing why you couldn’t stop and hoping he could take away the pain.

‘You’re right.’ You whispered, your breathing still heavy. ‘I do blame you for what happened.’ Harold didn’t seem anymore hurt or surprised. ‘But I am trying so hard not to, because I know the truth as well. None of this is your fault alone. We both made the machine what it is, and it saves a lot of people. It does it’s job and we couldn’t ask for more than that. It’s one of the reasons I’m so glad we put it out of reach.’ It was Harold’s turn to frown, making your mouth flicker a smile. ‘If I could get access to the machine, I would have done so much damage. I would have not only found you, but I would have gone looking for the people who killed Nathan.’ Harold kept his frown, not sure whether to believe you. ‘I’d never felt anger like it, and I don’t know what I would have done if I found the ones responsible.’

Harold instinctively lifted his hand to wipe your cheeks and for a fraction of a second you froze. You weren’t ready to be touched just yet. And Harold noticed.

‘I’m sorry.’ He breathed, slowly taking his hand away.

‘It’s okay.’ You shook your head. ‘You didn’t do that to me.’

‘No, but I did other things that were just as bad.’ Harold admitted.

You both stayed quiet for a while, just watching each other, awkwardly figuring out whether you should move away, but nothing seemed to be the right choice.

‘I miss waking up next to you.’ Harold suddenly said. ‘I miss making you laugh.’ He swallowed thickly. ‘Thank you for coming, for being with me a while. I know it must have been hard for you.’

You gave a brief smile. ‘That’s the thing. I actually found it the easiest thing I’ve done in a long time.’ There was a flicker of hope that drifted over Harold’s face, but you didn’t want him to hold too tightly to it. ‘I don’t know whether that was to do with yours or my needs, Harold. I may have been selfish.’

‘You know I never minded that.’ He said like instinct. ‘I always wanted you to have exactly what you wanted and never feel bad about asking for it.’

You nodded, another smile emerging on your face. ‘Yeah, and there was a lot I wanted from you. I wonder now if I didn’t give enough back.’

Harold shook his head to stop your train of thought. ‘Just being with me and being happy was all I ever asked for from you. That was more than enough for me.’ He could still see the doubt in your eyes. ‘That picture of us in your office, I remember that night vividly. It was a charity event that Nathan invited us to, it was the last time you wore that dress that you weren’t sure about.’

You started to remember what he was talking about. ‘It wasn’t that I wasn’t sure about it, it was just that I didn’t feel like myself at those things and the dress was… revealing.’

You both chuckled, quietly. ‘It was.’ Harold nodded. ‘But, for me, it was a blessing to know that everyone who looked at you in that dress might have been able to see a fraction of your beauty the way I see it. To understand just how important you are to the world and how lucky I was to be standing with you.’

Four years ago.

‘Are you sure the dress is still fine?’ You asked, adjusting your green dress in the hotel room mirror so that it covered your chest appropriately. ‘I feel like I might be wearing it in a little too much.’

Harold sighed coming up behind you, his hands wrapping around your waist as he spoke low against your neck. ‘You’re beautiful, the dress has nothing to do with it, but feel free to take it off.’

He made you giggle, before kissing below your ear and grabbing his jacket. Harold always had a way to make you smile when you felt insecure about yourself, or when you needed a distraction from what was going on around you. He was always there and you hoped he would be for a long time to come.

You went down to the function where Nathan was waiting to greet you. He pecked your cheek and shook Harold’s hand, you even danced together at one point, Harold watching on and feeling the familiar pang of jealousy that it wasn’t him holding you.

He sat at the table in the corner and just watched as you laughed at something Nathan said. Harold couldn’t express how much he adored you and Nathan getting along, he was worried you wouldn’t and at that point he wouldn’t have known what to do.

Harold finally got the chance to dance with you, but before you could get onto the dancefloor, Nathan insisted on a photo. Harold was nervous, he wasn’t one for public photos, but you seemed okay with it.

‘Just relax.’ You chuckled, your hand going to his chest, keeping his focus on you.

Harold’s hand immediately went around your waist, the other sliding into his trouser pocket and he was suddenly captivated by your expression. It was the same one that told him you loved every part of who he was, no matter what that was. The one that told him you only ever wanted to kiss him for the rest of your life.

Barely six months into your relationship and all Harold could do was think how you were the one for him. No questions.

‘Go dance.’ Nathan cheered, neither of you noticing that he’d even taken the picture, but Harold was grateful for the relief.

You swayed together on the dance floor, Harold couldn’t get enough of feeling your body close, feeling your soft hand placed in his, whispering low and making you giggle at small things that neither of you would ever remember.

‘Thank you for this, Harold.’ You said, tears in the corners of your eyes from laughing so much.

‘You’re welcome, but the night isn’t over yet.’ He flirted.

It made you laugh again, but you shook your head. ‘I don’t just mean tonight, I mean the last few months, taking me to events and… making me happy.’

It warmed Harold’s whole being to hear you say it. ‘It’s been a privilege.’ Harold told you. ‘Truly.’

You stayed dancing together for a little while longer, but when the opportunity arose, Harold suggested you go somewhere more private, like your hotel room.

‘Tell me what you want.’ You whispered against Harold’s lips as you entered the room, your arms around his shoulders, his around your waist.

‘To see you smile, hear you laugh.’ Harold smiled.

‘That’s not what I meant.’ You hummed, feeling his body pressing a little more into you.

‘I know what you meant.’ Harold pressed a soft kiss to your lips. ‘The answer is the same either way. I just want you to smile.’

Harold was an enigma, one you were sure would always hold some mystery for you, you were never really sure if he meant what he said or just giving you what he thought you wanted.

(Chapter link)

#harold finch x reader #harold finch fanfic #harold finch #finch x reader #person of interest

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themirokai · 1 year

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For my new followers: I’ve been watching Person of Interest really slowly and posting reactions to each episode with gifs. Check out the tag #miro does poi if you’d like to see more. Or, ya know, blacklist it.

POI 03x23: Deus Ex Machina

I thought some parts of this episode worked and some did not. Gonna do some big overarching thoughts, then call out some specific moments.

I generally liked Collier as a villain. Some of that is an affinity for Leslie Odom Jr., but as I said in a prior post I also really like villains who have a point but take it too far. And I thought Odom played him really really well. The guy is crazy charismatic and brought every ounce of that to bear in this role.

So I felt a bit let down by the trial as culmination of his arc. It’s just… kind of dumb? Like did they actually believe that doing this show trial at gun point - of two political operatives and three people no one knew - was going to … what? Convince people to rise up against the government and demand greater privacy rights? Or was it to make themselves feel better about killing the people responsible for Northern Lights? It just seems pretty half-baked for a character who I felt had been previously set up to be intelligent and driven.

And I didn’t really like the reveal that Greer had been pulling the strings the whole time. It made sense for the broader Samaritan plot but it undermined everything about Collier. I think I would have preferred if they just had Decima influence how the trial went rather than have them be responsible for the entire Vigilance movement.

The trial did create the set up for Harold to be self-sacrificing. Again. Still. Some more.

So much of Harold’s actions throughout the series seem to be motivated by guilt. Actually, remorse is probably more accurate. He only thinks he’s important in terms of what he can do for others. BRB my heart is breaking.

Another thing that got my wheels turning was this part with Control where she gives her experience on 9/11 as her motivation for undertaking the surveillance program, and I’m interested in how that reads to younger people and people who aren’t American.

I was 17 on 9/11 and it isn’t much of an exaggeration to say that you could feel the country change in real time. Control’s story of having the rest of her life motivated by that day isn’t at all rare. I know several people who signed up for the military on 9/12 or shortly thereafter.

Probably most of the people using this site weren’t even born on 9/11 and I wonder if Control’s story comes off as contrived or manipulative to you. I know that for me, I do feel the remove of 22 years. I know that 9/11 jokes and memes are pretty common now. But I don’t think that was the case when this aired. I think we were still too close to it then, and Control probably came off as sympathetic or at least doing the wrong thing for the right reason. I’m not sure this part of the show has aged well. But also Camryn Manheim’s performance is fantastic.

I find it super interesting that when I try to use gif search, the majority of gifs that come up, and the first ones, are ALL Shoot. I’m not sure if that’s because there’s just more of them or if Shoot fans tag their stuff differently or what. I didn’t embed any here because this was getting lengthy, but this scene was great, they have excellent chemistry, and I generally love how their dynamic is developing.

Fusco’s arrival was fantastic because I’m always happy when he shows up but also Root … apparently sent a message on??? with??? Bear? We’re not going to interrogate the mechanics of how Root got Bear out of the library while she was going after Samaritan but I was very glad Bear was there too.

Also! Fusco still doesn’t know about the Machine!!! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Oh look, Hersh ends up being great and I’m kind of attached to him now. Of course he’s dead at the end.

Let’s talk about the Rinchiness. As always, we have John’s single-minded determination to get Harold back for the majority of the episode.

But then there is this oh so gentle and affectionate scene that I suspect lives in every Rincher’s heart.

Sigh.

And the ending. Goddamn the ending was gutting. RIP Library.

That’s a wrap on season 3! Thanks for sticking with me, y’all. Reminder that my ask box is open if you want to share your thoughts!

#miro does poi #fewer gifs because this got so long #poi 03x23: deus ex machina #person of interest #irrelevants #rinch #long post

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