#Minkowski threatening to shoot someone 🤝

[hephaestuscrew]

In Ep45 Desperate Measures, Minkowski really needs the SI-5 (particularly Jacobi) to believe that she will shoot Maxwell if they don't back down. In that particular situation, she's desperate to be seen as unafraid and ruthless. If she can convince the SI-5 that she is willing to kill Maxwell, she can avoid having to find out whether she is. Only by giving the impression of being relaxed about violence can she avoid having to commit it.

But her hands betray her. As Minkowski points the gun, Maxwell notices how "her hands are shaking. A lot." Minkowski can't hide that sign of how on edge she is, no matter how much she might want to. Maxwell tells this to Jacobi with a little laugh, giving it as evidence for her certainty that Minkowski won't kill her. Jacobi believes Maxwell's assessment of the situation, but her assumptions are wrong; Minkowski fires that gun with her trembling hands. She's not the sort of person who can kill with steady hands, ruthless and unafraid. But she can still kill.

Later, in Ep53 Dirty Work, Minkowski claims "even in that moment, I didn't mean to do it... the noise. The explosion. It was a reflex. I think it was." I don't entirely believe this explanation of the incident, but I do think there is probably some element of instinctive motion involved when Minkowski pulls that trigger. In which case - contrary to Maxwell's assumptions - the lack of calm suggested by Minkowski's shaking hands could have actually contributed to her shooting Maxwell. If her hands are shaking, her reflexes are probably tensed, and her finger is trembling on the trigger, which just needs one small movement to fire...

[herawell]

#A little bit of Tumblr user hephaestuscrew lore for you#is that I get shaky hands really easily#which makes it frustratingly difficult to hide when I'm even slightly nervous or stressed...#Minkowski threatening to shoot someone 🤝#Me expressing an opinion in a work meeting#Trembling hands solidarity#Another point is that if Minkowski's hands are shaking that badly#it wouldn't be easy for her to aim a gun precisely#She could have missed#She could have shot Maxwell in an non-fatal place#But if her hands are shaking that badly. she has less agency over that element of the situation#and I think Maxwell knows that too but she thinks it increases her chances of survival#because how can Minkowski kill her if she can't even aim the gun steadily?#wolf 359 spoilers#w359 spoilers#the empty man posteth#Oh also. I know that for me the most effective way to make any trembling in my hands (and sometimes my arms and legs too rip) worse#is to realise they are shaking and to really focus on how much I don't want them to shake#And Maxwell draws attention to Minkowski's trembling hands. and uses this observation against her#And I think that might have made Minkowski's hands shake even more dramatically

In Ep45 Desperate Measures, Minkowski really needs the SI-5 (particularly Jacobi) to believe that she will shoot Maxwell if they don't back down. In that particular situation, she's desperate to be seen as unafraid and ruthless. If she can convince the SI-5 that she is willing to kill Maxwell, she can avoid having to find out whether she is. Only by giving the impression of being relaxed about violence can she avoid having to commit it.

But her hands betray her. As Minkowski points the gun, Maxwell notices how "her hands are shaking. A lot." Minkowski can't hide that sign of how on edge she is, no matter how much she might want to. Maxwell tells this to Jacobi with a little laugh, giving it as evidence for her certainty that Minkowski won't kill her. Jacobi believes Maxwell's assessment of the situation, but her assumptions are wrong; Minkowski fires that gun with her trembling hands. She's not the sort of person who can kill with steady hands, ruthless and unafraid. But she can still kill.

Later, in Ep53 Dirty Work, Minkowski claims "even in that moment, I didn't mean to do it... the noise. The explosion. It was a reflex. I think it was." I don't entirely believe this explanation of the incident, but I do think there is probably some element of instinctive motion involved when Minkowski pulls that trigger. In which case - contrary to Maxwell's assumptions - the lack of calm suggested by Minkowski's shaking hands could have actually contributed to her shooting Maxwell. If her hands are shaking, her reflexes are probably tensed, and her finger is trembling on the trigger, which just needs one small movement to fire...