#can you tell i like exploring fitzs relationship with trust.

[lemontarto]

PACRIM KOTLC AU??? dude tell me more if you would like i would love to hear about this wtf

SHAKING YOU . YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUVE RELEASED also @everyonehasthoughts MUY AU BUDDY !!!!!1

so to set the scene the au takes place thru like 2013-2025, first jaeger was released in 2015.

alden's mostly funded the program and he n quinlin were training to be the first copilots(cognate bonds as neural handshakes what who said that!!) but when the push comes to shove he backs out and changes things irreparably between him n quinlin !!

so who become the first pilots? well. his newly 18 year old son (alvar)and ruy. except ruy dies in 2017 and fitz is pushed into his place in 2018 being problematically young at like 15-16 !!!

this is where shit goes down so im putting the rest under the cut bc its lengthy 💨

alvar and fitz are copilots between 2018-2022 until fitz finds out that alvar's been caught up in some illegal smuggling shit and breaches his trust . forever . cuz that was his brother and they drifted together and shouldn't he have known ??

so now we have fitz whos lost his idealism and a record of severing drift compatibility :)

the years get blurry around here but first theres keefe, his best friend, where they always promised to copilot together . but fitz can't get over the lingering idolization of alvar in keefe's mind so they have a very messy separation

there's sophie, but she doesn't last very long after fitz finds out she's been training with biana (who he was drift compatible with! but there was no way in hell he was letting her fight)

and then theres linh. she and tam were copilots before her brother 'retired' and they had a falling out. she was reassigned with fitz and for the most part it goes rlly well!! theyre friends and there arent trust issues lying around

until she gets injured after a kaiju attack where she would've died if fitz hadnt pulled them out. but now she's out of commission. which brings us to tam.

tam doesn't like fitz at first. his impression was that fitz was some priveleged glory seeking asshole who couldn't hold a partner (which in his defense was also largely public opinion). but then he sees how much fitz cares abt linhs well being and what have you . he kinda respects the guy.

basically. endgame titz

havent fleshed out much after this point but additional tidbits!!!!

fitz's first jaegar w alvar is called '(the?) jupiter'

eventually sophianas jaegar is 'the radiant'

dex is a scientist (dr newt core). tho at some point he does drift with keefe

the gangs ages!! fitz is an 03, keefe 04, sophie n biana 05, while the twins are somewhere between fitz and keefe

ruy was picked up 'off the streets' by the government, joined cuz they gave him food and a place to sleep. and he died for it !! which made alvar super bitter after . ravioli is canon in this house . or well. was!

[thelavendernarwhal]

I received an ask that a person wanted answered anonymously, so:

But I really, truly cannot stop thinking about this one scene in Legacy. It’s around page 351.

“You mean having Dizznee pull some money from your birth fund and then hitting up a shop for a couple of minutes?” Keefe asked. “Yeah, Dex told me all about how not exhausting that was last night, when he checked in to tell me how things went for you two in London, while someone was off doing something with Mr. Forkle…”

So what I’m hearing is sleepy Dex on call with Keefe? Dex telling Keefe that he’s tired? A cute little nightly convo?

Side note, why was Dex tired? Does his ability make him tired? I need more elaboration, Shannon.

This scene is hella interesting to me since you look at it and it immediately seems like a Sokeefe scene, but in the middle, it has this seemingly random shift into talking about a completely different character dynamic. The context this snippet falls into is Keefe trying to cheer up Sophie after she had an argument with Mr Forkle. It all makes sense within of their relationship and dynamic, but this bit of dialogue is communicating something pretty different. It’s pointing out that Keefe and Dex have a close friendship that Sophie isn’t super aware of and that Sophie doesn’t spend a lot of time with/pay attention to Dex. 

Both of these things can be chalked up to the fact the story is from Sophie’s perceptive. The big plot details have to happen or be explained to her or else they won’t make it to the reader. That doesn’t leave a lot of page time for banter, especially for a character like Dex who’s narrative role can mostly be done off stage. Of course, Dex’s character can be used for a lot more than ‘cool gadget guy’ (ie class divides, matchmaking/queer allegories, parallels to many other characters, etc), but that’s a whole different can of worms. Having moments like this that show things happening outside of Sophie helps establish a larger, more lively world. It shows that Sophie isn’t the center of the universe. 

But these little moments can be established with many different characters. There are so many background dynamics and friendships that can be leveraged for this purpose which makes it interesting that specifically Keefe and Dex are highlighted. In fact, these two are highlighted in this way fairly often. Back in book 3, the two of them hit it off quickly and spend more time together outside of a group setting which then translates into many Keefex moments (including getting their team/ship name). Late night calls are probably pretty common. 

But what really gets me about all of this is the casualness and I think it's because few other relationships in this series have that. Even characters that are established to be best friends have a good amount of tension between them (ie Fitz and Keefe, Sophie and Dex, Stina and Marella), but Keefe and Dex don’t have that. There’s a sense of stability and trust. They hang out and talk to each other without a practical reason to do so. Dex feels okay complaining to Keefe about projects and, presumably, feelings of isolation. Especially seen in Unlocked, Keefe trusts Dex to help him and hear some of the ugly things he doesn’t want to say to Sophie. There's definitely a lot of room for cute late night conversation on call, but also for a chill relationship in a sea of high-tension dynamics. 

The length of this thing kind of got away from me but that's my take :) 

(Also, I'm exploring a lot more of the mechanics of technopathy in my own writing, so I think that it's possible that Dex’s experience is something very similar to Keefe’s as the Forbidden Cities has more integrated technology that seemingly ‘speaks’ to Dex. That could be very overwhelming for him, hence why he's tired.)

[bookwyrminspiration]

re: your tags on a recent answer sayingabout reading stellarlune that stellarlune is only your second hated bc legacy is worse

i haven't read legacy in a hot minute so *chinhands* wanna tell me more?

i don't remember anything important from it except the whole Alvar thing (which, honestly, you're telling me the Neverseen had a method to completely wipe a guy's brain only to perfectly restore it with a certain trigger, and nobody talked about it again??) And I somewhat remember the trolls? great-aunt Luzia Vacker put a troll farm on her property for some reason i don't remember, then for some reason moved away from it and left it on the property out of her control? Wack

oh and i do remember being wildly annoyed by the ending, where sophie spends like twelve books up to this point vocally refuting the matchmaking system and not wanting to do it, but then she turns around and does it after all?? (and okay, i can admit that she probably did it bc she really loves fitz and like, if he'll only accept her if the matchmakers allowed it, then perhaps through the power of love it'll work out for her? but it doesn't, so she and fitz have to make hard decisions about their lives.) So yeah actually give me your matchmaking/legacy ending thoughts too!

I'd love to! However, you did just describe the plot of Flashback, not Legacy, so I'll try to cover both of them briefly

Flashback I'm mostly neutral on--I do enjoy the sophitz before Shannon started their forced crash (in Legacy, part of the reason I dislike it), and exploring Tam's potential with shadowflux is lovely since I love him. Few clarifications: Luzia made a secret alliance with the trolls to hide their hive, since it's their biggest vulnerability; she moved away because she needed more space. Apparently during that time, Luzia helped with experiments on them--but the hive left there was closed on their side, so Luzia wasn't part of the most recent batch; my guess is she thought it was inactive and abandoned, otherwise she wouldn't let the new Vackers live there

But yes, I was incredibly underwhelmed by its ending. Coming out of books where the cliffhanger is her entire family's been kidnapped, Alvar's lost his memories, her being ineligible for a pairing system I don't care about as the final reveal is like...ok. and? but, I do acknowledge this is entirely biased by my aromanticism and relationship anarchy. I simply don't give a shit. sophie, however, does. so I understand why from her pov that's a massive bombshell, and very stressful. i'm just not the audience for that reveal

unfortunately for me, that ending sets up a major part of the next book, which is why Legacy is my least favorite. I want to be very upfront and say my least favorite. this is my ranking based on my personal interests and enjoyment, it's absolutely fine if you (general) like Legacy. this is incredibly biased and opinionated

OKAY, so. I simply cannot get myself to care about Sophie's relationship woes, and they're not even written true to the characters! That thing I said about a forced crash? It's like as soon as they got together, Shannon decided the loss of hidden crush drama was too much, and she immediately sabotaged them to make up for it. This post gives a good example, adding a fake time crunch to make it seem more important and blaming Fitz. And the thing about Fitz being like "you wouldn't want to not find your parents, right?" when one of the first trust exercises they did together she told him directly she didn't want to because she thought she'd hate them. And they didn't brush past it! They talked about it a little! But of course now he's conveniently forgotten

If it was compelling, I could accept their demise. But it's not! It feels like drama for drama's sake, and it's just frustrating to read. With the seven books we spent building up to them, imploding everything about them in one book without any pay off is like...why. Just why. and it comprises SO MUCH of the story! Sophie's always thinking about it, prioritizing it, worrying about it, and I! am not here for that. Which is entirely a personal preference thing. i've been in a qpr for years, relationship anarchy is my normal, and it's just so...exhausting? reading her thoughts about how her life is going to be ruined and everyone's going to hate her. first of all, that's clearly an overreaction and I'm not believing this tension for a second. second, boo fucking hoo. you're atypical. join the club and stop moaning about how it sucks to be us. she's on a learning/acceptance curve, I know, but that doesn't make it fun to hear that kind of rhetoric--especially since I'm fairly certain Shannon wrote this without that in mind at all

I am aware I'm being mean to Sophie. I can logically understand all her beliefs and actions, and I know they're suited to her, her background, her values, and where she is in life right now. on a technical level, I get it. that doesn't mean emotionally I enjoy it, even if there's a reason to it all. it's simply a part of the story I, as an aromantic person, dislike. and that is my experience and opinion, I am in no way speaking for others.

so to summarize: I hate how the characters were handles and how sophie thinks of matchmaking in Legacy, and those things were a significant portion of the book, so I don't like it in general. personally. my very biased and emotionally driven opinion :)

[anincorrectpetunia]

addressing random questions and concerns from Eps 11 & 12

I want to go back and read Fitz’s chapter to sync up. I’m feeling hopeful for Liv and their future. Excited to see where this goes. These updates are such a treat and a respite from my day to day — thank you. I’m truly grateful.--@mm2009

Yes, definitely go back and read them together. It can only enhance the experience. I wrote them to sync up, which is why it was challenging lol.

Why did Fitz feel the need to go to her apartment after she begged him to leave her alone and let her breath? And better yet, why did she feel like Fitz was suffocating her when in reality he had not seen her but once?--@Olitzloverforever

I think you're asking this about when Fitz dropped off the gardenia plant. He purposely did the drop early in the morning because he didn't want her to think he was pushing up on her. Olivia's letter to him asking to 'breathe' came well after they actually talked at her apartment.

Olivia felt suffocated by the idea of Fitz. What he represented in her life. Because she was not ready to confront it, though she harboured it deep in her fantasy life. He's always there even when he's not there. That's why she expresses in her mind 'oh to be free of this man!'

Anyway, I think a lot of the above (from Episode 12, part I) is now moot since Part II of Olivia's chapter dropped?

P .S. I do wish I hadn’t learned that they are now married with a baby on the way, only because I love the suspense when it comes to Olitz. However, with this story, I get so much into it I sometimes I forget that they are presently together.--@Olitzloverforever

I'm glad you get into the flashbacks that you forget the relative security of the present. I think other's expressed the same sentiment after Episode 10 when Liv says 'yes' to Edison.

But to the first part of your P.S. It's not a spoiler that they are married and expecting a child. It's an intentional decision to start at a turning point in the Olitz relationship. I specifically wanted to explore how these two characters would be in a marriage, and how their pasts are always shaping their present. This particular flashback is the most extensive one you will have, but it will not be the only one that will provide context and meaning for the Olitz present.

Please allow her to put in some work if she eventually see that she does want a life with him… I know this is still part of the flashbacks but it still needs to be clear. Also, during the flashbacks, I thought Eli did not like Edison? This chapter made it seem like they at least “seems” to like each other. --@dendardendan

at the bold. lol. You and a couple of others are very insistent on an active Olivia when it comes to Olitz. Just trust ya girl like you've been trusting me. I have a plan.

As for Edison and Eli. I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that Eli did not like Edison. That's not part of the present storyline or flashback. Recall that in Episode 10's flashback Eli had the Smithsonian event invitation sent directly to Edison. Liv didn't even know they were going to that event until they got there. Also, in Episode 7 (present), Olivia mentions that Eli was disappointed to give up his Jack and Jill fantasy for Olivia and Edison.

Eli was chummy with Edison, definitely. There's something that will make Eli's thinking very explicit in the next episode.

But WTH is wrong with Liv who is clearly not in love with Edison and his assistant telling Liv she cannot go to Kennys and be seen with that man...DAFUQ...--@IAMASCANDALLOVER

Meena didn't tell Liv she could not go to Maroon. Liv had already been avoiding it because she didn't want to run into Fitz. Meena just approached Liv with the knowledge that she knew Liv had been playing fast and loose down there.

So Liv broke up with Edison because she realizes that she does not want a future with him not because they want different things in life but because she does not love him and was not willing to forgo love and settle for less after having felt what it means to be in love—at least that’s what she knows to be true but I suppose she couldn’t just come out and tell him the truth. --@olitzloverforever

No, to tell Edison the truth would be too much. Sometimes withholding things is just kindness. Plus, Olivia didn't know what she was going to do, at the time, about her feelings for Fitz. I think she really needed some space--free of obligation to both Cyrus and Edison to know herself and how love is going to fit into her life...or not.

There was a line here-I forget where-where Liv's inner voice muses on Edison and Eli being two-sides of the same coin in terms of planning out her life for her without her input. Nothing to add, I was just happy to see it.--@jilyandbambi

I think you mean this part?

or this one?

In either case, thank you.

Thinking of Fitz while living out her fantasies with Edison was wild. Poor dude thought it was all for him..LOL I hated it, but at least it showed where her mindset is. No more sex scenes with Edison. Thank you for spring us the sex scene with Fitz and Lillian, but I think it would have been the same for Fitz thinking of Liv while riding Lillian..LOL--@dendardndan

I knew that some people would feel a way about that hotel fantasy scene. Thanks for being a good sport. It was meant to be wild because Olivia is...wildin! But, I did my best to convey that she's physically with Edison, but she is experiencing what it might be like with Fitz because ultimately her emotional connection with Edison has been severed and she's playing house. She's on that season 2 Mellie: pretending is what's real.

Anyway, y'all won. I don't have plans for non-Olitz sex scenes...for now.

[agentmanatee]

AOS 30 Day Challenge

Since I'm late to the party, I will be using this post to catch up.

Day 1: Favorite Season: S4 had the tightest story-telling with the pod structure. For a 22 episode season not to have a filler episode is quite a feat. Aida/Ophelia/Madame Hydra is my favorite Marvel - not just AOS - villian. Mallory Hansen's ability to play 4 different characters in one season in one show (sometimes multiple characters in the same scene) should have won her an Emmy hands-down. All of the cast should have won Emmy's for the performance in Self-Control (Everybody was on their A-game). My love for Robbie Reyes knows no bounds, and Gabriel Luna has mad chemistry with everyone (I pretty much ship Robbie with everybody he's not related to).

Day 3: Favorite story-line: Maveth. When I told my niece the story of FitzSimmons, she declared it "too much!" when I got to Maveth, specifically Hive and we stopped there. In a lot of ways it was the writers dipping their toes in adding more focus to Fitz and Simmons, who are portrayed by the show's strongest actors. I know a lot of people don't like the Will Daniels twist, but other than some hand-waveable plot holes, it really wasn't that bad. It was literally a "only two people on a planet" situation, and they thought that they would never see another human being again and that they were effectively dead to anyone on Earth; so their actions were understandable. Jemma didn't show interest in Will until she gave up seeing Fitz again, and Will initially did not act on his attraction because he respected and even appreciated Jemma's feelings for Fitz; he knew - even if Jemma didn't - that if given the opportunity to choose she would ultimately choose to Fitz ("No wonder Jemma loves you" was Hive channeling Will). If he survived and wasn't a villain I would ship him with either Joey or FitzSimmons (Fitz is canonically bi, Jemma deserves all the love, and the way Will talked about Fitz could be interpreted as romantic interest. He couldn't help falling for Fitz with the way Jemma talked about him), but I never submit prompt requests because I know how people feel about the character.

Also the planet of Maveth was a character unto itself, which is so cool. I really want to know what the light under its surface is; I don't but that it was a only heat source. Since sandstorms turned out not to be one of Hive's powers, Maveth or the cloaked figure (the personification of the planet a la Ego?) Jemma saw had to be the source of those. I suspect the civilization they saw evidence of were tied to the Confederation in season 5. Did they try to settle down and it backfired due to their culture? It very likely was how they knew there were Hydra leaders on Earth for them to manipulate. Will they ever confirm this? Doubtful. Finally, the mystery of Hive and what he was worked and exceeded expectations (his power set of terrifying!).

Day 2: Favorite episode: Inescapable. I was so excited for this episode I paid for it because Hulu was taking its time posting the episode. Of course a FitzSimmons episode would be amazing. The mind prison forced FitzSimmons to deal with issues they've avoided and together to boot. Seeing the turning point in their friendship at the academy and Coulson Recruiting them prior to season 1 was a hoot. I love how they revealed the other Fitz's death to him; he needed to see how the team mourned for him, to understand how much they loved him. Of course the whole scene was painful from him opening the bodybag to seeing the wedding ring to learning of Coulson's passing, but it was necessary and reflected how everything happens at once irl. Seeing their trust and loyalty in their bffs was heartening. And there is no doubt how much they are meant for eachother than when their darksides fall for and on eachother. They certainly learned some things there.

Honorable mention to Self-Control. That was the first episode I have ever purchased. It felt like a movie, and the story is insulated enough I think I may suggest it as the episode to watch when trying to get people to watch the show (either this or Orientation). The entire episode was so gripping I held a pillow to my chest the whole time once it was revealed that either Jemma or Fitz was an LMD. It was such a good Daisy and Jemma episode team-up and jump-started a whole arc of them supporting eachother. It was also a phenomenal Daisy episode. She showcased her powers, and Chloe knocked it out of the park. The scenes between May and Coulson's LMD-selves were so very moving. Ming did such a good job of portraying how May's LMD differed from the others. The episode also revealed what Fitz and Coulson would change if given a choice (not that AIDA gave Fitz such courtesy).

I just realized I switched Days 2 and 3, but don't want to bother with copying/pasting on my phone

Day 4: Favorite male character: Leopold James Fitz. Fitz was my favorite early on and hands-down my favorite character after FZZT. I saw myself in his mannerisms and could relate to his hesitancy to throw himself in the field but doing so because it is the right thing to do. His passion and loyalty to his friends is unparalleled. I also wanted to give Ward a chance. And it's interesting that Fitz was the first of the bus kids to understand how "No one is born evil." It took the Framework arc for Daisy to really understand that. He even has a leg up on Mack here since Mack's first instinct with anything alien is to kill it ("I'm the guy that kills Gordon" is not something someone who values all life, whether he views it as human or not.), which is understandable given his experiences. Fitz was the first person to show Daisy acceptance after terrigenesis, even if he was mistaken to hide it. I didn't realize it the time season 2 aired, but I get a similar aphasia during migraines (it's actually the first and last symptom when it happens). Seeing any appearance by the Doctor makes me feel sick to my stomach because I know how frightened and sick Fitz feels to have that as a part of himself. Fitz loves with his whole heart and he is always driven to do what he believes is the right thing, which is unfortunately what made the Doctor such a formidable villian. He also is always willing to give second chances but not third. He was the first person to joke around with Daisy after the Miles fiasco: he forgave Mack and Bobbi for the real Shield thing; he accepted Daisy back into the fold in seasons 2 & 4 despite how much her abandoning the team felt like betrayal; he formed a father-son relationship with Radcliffe after what he did for Hive; he trusted and befriended Enoch, knowing he kidnapped and sent his closest friends to a freakin future hellscape. Fitz is such a good person. Of course, all my love for Fitz doesn't mean I don't love the rest of Shield's men + Robbie Reyes.

Day 5: Favorite female character: Jemma Anne Simmons. Jemma is a close second for all around favorite (I just don't relate to her as much as Fitz). On a superficial note, Elizabeth Henstridge is so beautiful and hilarious, I have a giant girl crush on her (her smile is dang radiant). I love how they flipped gender stereotypes by making Fitz the emotional one who wears his heart on his sleeve and Jemma the practical one, who shoves her feelings in a box rather than express them. Jemma's cockiness is more real than Fitz's cocky front, too. I wish I had her confidence. Jemma also loves with her whole heart, as much as she has to hide it to function sometimes, and does what she believes is the right thing. She even revealed herself in the future dystopia because she could not stand aside when a stranger was hurt and she knew how to help/save him. Jemma jumped out of the Bus to save her team and jumped at a grenade to help them not thinking she would survive either occasion. She blamed Lash's murdering of inhumans on herself as she has the tendency to hold herself accountable for things that aren't her fault (she shares this trait with both Fitz and Daisy). She doesn't get lost exploring the details within the big picture, which is why she's so good at problem solving. She learned to kickass physically and has always done so mentally. She knows how to let her foes know to fear her. She has the self-awareness to know what traits she needs to work on to complete any mission. She does and would do anything for her team. She's also an incredible leader whether in the field, in the lab, or for the entirety of Shield. She is incredible.

Daisy Johnson is a very close second. And I can't rank May, Bobbi, and Elena. I also have girl crushes on all four of these ladies.

Day 6: Favorite relationship: S3 Shield Team (Coulson, May, Daisy, Fitz, Simmons, Mack, Bobbi, Hunter, Yoyo, Joey, Lincoln and Andrew). OK so I cheated here; we didn't even see everyone be in the same episode. So what? Season 3 had some of the best dynamics from the main team to Daisy's Secret Warriors it's no wonder people love season 3 so much. How can I pick just one? You have Coulson interacting with everyone (except for Joey), Lincoln's fear of May, Her mentorship of him, Fitz and Bobbi, Fitz and Hunter, FITZSIMMONS, Jemma and Andrew, Daisy and Mack, Mack and Huntingbird, MACKELENA, Doug, Fitz meeting his dad Holden Radcliffe, Radcliffe and Hive's "children"...Now I'm getting into characters that weren't on a Shield team. The characters and their relationships with eachother is what this show does best and what makes it such a good and beloved show, not the action or plot twists.

[ayankun]

AoS S2 Rewatch Briefest of Thoughts

Maybe watching a thing five times is too many times lololol

First I have to admit, I found myself spacing out through a lot of this season.  I mean, my annual rewatches are typically always in the background of other activities, but this time through I definitely just didn’t pay attention to a lot of it.

Even so, here is a list of Things I Noticed This Time:

Not sure if watching S1 directly before this really made a difference or not, but this time I have a much clearer understanding of “S2″ and “S3.”  When I first started watching this show, I shotgunned 2 and 3 back to back, and have done that once a year since, causing the two seasons to feel like one mega-season in my mind.  Not this time!

A lot of the stuff I consider to be “the show” is introduced in S2, sure, but isn’t developed until S3.

Daisy Johnson

Terrigenesis & the Kree (wow my new band name)

Mack and Daisy brotp

FitzSimmons as an actual item

Collecting/protecting Inhumans

Talbot and Creel

The Monolith

Lincoln (gross)

And a lot of the stuff in S2 doesn’t even make it into S3!

Cal :<

Raina :<<<

Afterlife and all those poor fools who just wanted to grow up and get wings or whatever

Edward James Olmos

Agent 33 lol GOOD

Fitz’s brain injury

And of course there’s also big S3 specific stuff that hits you right away in the season opener, like Rosalind and Maveth.

I feel like ultimately I’ll have to say from now on that S3 is my favorite season.  More on this as it develops -- only just started ep 2 today.

A note about Lincoln.  Since actually he’s going to be way more important in S3 than he was in S2, let’s talk about his introduction.  So far, there’s really nothing about the character that warrants my knee-jerk dislike.  The character is supposed to be good for Daisy!  He’s soft and patient and sort of cool and is one of the first people she’s met who is honestly supportive of her new situation, a situation that he understands from experience. 

I guess maybe I don’t like the trope of pairing people up with their primary physician?  There’s a conflict of interest there, I think.

Also that dude’s performance rubs me the wrong way (and I only found out like 35 minutes ago that he’s Australian so I’m going to blame it on the fake American accent?).

There’s no narrative symmetry in the structure of S2.  I got really excited at first because there’s a ship in ep 3 and I know that the season ends on Edward James Olmos’ ship, but that was about it.

However, they did purposefully split it down the middle, 10 eps and a break for Agent Carter, and then the last 12 eps.

The story of part 1 takes us to Daisy and Raina’s Terrigenesis, and part 2 is about A) Daisy has superpowers now whoops and B) Edward James Olmos is in charge whoops and these two storylines smash together at the end.

But the story of the whole season is trust.  Not an exploration of the concept, not “what does it mean to trust” or “how is trust earned” but a literal “man nobody trusts nobody and it’s probably for the best.”

Heck the season straight up tells us we shouldn’t trust anything by opening with with Team Coulson monitoring a black market deal between an ex-SHIELD agent and some mercs -- the mercs are also SHIELD agents and it’s a sting -- the sting team doesn’t know Team Coulson was sent as backup etc etc

Ward swears never to lie to Daisy ever again

Fitz can’t trust his own physical self

Nobody can trust Simmons because she’s undercover at Hydra

Nobody can trust Coulson because he’s whacka-doodle (see what I did there) cray cray

Hunter whining about his she-devil ex-wife, but she’s delightful and perfect

Hunter’s ongoing and ACTUALLY QUITE VALID protestations that he can’t trust Bobbi when it comes to her angle on their relationship

Brainwashing is a thing now

Hydra’s still doing Hydra things and blaming them on SHIELD

Man, anything either of the Ward brothers say at any moment is to be distrusted as a Rule

The heads of Hydra can’t trust each other

Daisy gets powers and she and Fitz decide they can’t trust anybody else with this information because errybody acken’ cray cray

Simmons is SO MAD that Fitz didn’t trust her with this information

Daisy is never quite sure if she can trust her dad (because he cray for sure)

You can’t trust May because half the time she’s Agent 33

You can’t trust Bobbi and Mack because they’re working for Edward James Olmos

Edward James Olmos doesn’t trust Coulson AND doesn’t trust that Fury left SHIELD to Coulson and also I guess just doesn’t trust Fury

Turns out Coulson was doing some secret stuff, too, so better not trust him even if he’s not crazy anymore

Nobody can ever trust Ward, no matter which side you’re on, even if he’s actively helping you at the moment

You can’t trust Raina’s vision until you can

You can’t trust Jiaying after all!!  Edward James Olmos wasn’t going to be the bad guy!!!

I think a lot about how this show has such active characters.  Like, there aren’t just plots for plots sake or characters for characters sake*, events happen to shape character motivations, and then character motivations go on to shape events.  I’m thinking about how Fitz’s condition in the first half is almost complete plot-less -- he’s just a character living through some stuff, and it effects ... his interactions with other characters, mostly.  There’s no narrative “point” or payoff to it (other than to remind that Ward Is Bad), until -- until Daisy comes through the mist and

12 episodes of frustrated aphasia, feeling like he’s letting the team down and they’re letting him down, of struggling to cope with Simmons’ abandoning him and then struggling even more with her return ... until ep 12, the only real, uh, utility Fitz’s condition brings to the story is as a means to introduce Mack as 100% Best Guy. 

And then ep 12, getting to see these two beloved OG characters have this moment that only the two of them can have

.... as far as moments go, second best only to the Skimmons quake/hug in 4x15.  My ship sails, my dudes.

I got way off track here, sorry

Anyway my point is sometimes, in other shows, giving a lead character a brain injury is probably a Major Plot Point that is Meant To Be Resolved (and within 40 minutes if at all possible), but on our perfect show, characters are allowed to Just Be -- and the things that they Are will always manifest in narratively satisfying turns of events.

I’m trying to think of any of my “this time I noticed” items and

Not to be all down on 2/3 of my OT3, but especially after watching their siblings dynamic in S1, and seeing just how painfully awkward their relationship is throughout S2, the Simmons-has-feelings-for-Fitz moment REALLY came out of left field.

S1 gave you the Exact Moment that Fitz realized that his crush was on Simmons instead of Skye, and you saw him live with that information for like 16 episodes.

Knowing that they end up together AND always starting my series rewatch with S2 makes her coming to him at the end not just reasonable but inevitable.

But lol no?  They literally never talk about it for the duration of the season?  Fitz talks to Mack and Simmons talks to Bobbi, but they never talk to each other.  Her change of heart is strictly subtext.  Which isn’t the worst, but given their literal text is either antagonistic (see: his reaction to her abandoning him; her reaction to his hiding the truth about Skye) or just ... their regular schtick. 

They’re antagonistic until Edward James Olmos comes on the scene, at which point they bond enough to play the I’m-on-to-your-plan doublespeak shenanigan, and the sandwich moment is arguably the best thing to happen to this ship up until that point BUT she made him away mission sandwiches when he was just her friend too so!!!

Ok when they see each other next there is a specific moment mentioning The Sandwich in the context of love that makes sense (unlike whatever it is that Agent 33 and Ward have) -- but it’s very subtle and the scene is really just a set up to Simmons’ plan to splinter-bomb the hell out of Ward as revenge.

Their next scene together is bonafide FitzSkimmons OT3 grilling Sky about her time at Afterlife which, again is vanilla S1 schtick, and it’s immediately hijacked by Ward and Mission Talk anyway.

It goes straight into the mission where their only interaction is Fitz telling Jemma to be careful but not in a way where she can hear.

Next they debrief Mike Peterson after rescuing him, which is just an excuse to see Simmons not own up to her killing Bakshi on accident.

New episode, now they’re just stalking Skye and (rightfully) giving her new boyfriend the stink eye, then they talk to Agent 33 about her brainwashing -- just a moment for Simmons to feel guilty about never admitting to killing Bakshi/setting up the fact that Bobbi saved Simmons and not Agent 33 so that Agent 33 has a revenge plot for the remaining 2.5 episodes of the season

THEIR NEXT SCENE TOGETHER IS ANOTHER OT3 MOMENT WHERE SIMMONS PRESENTS SKYE WITH THE HULA GIRL ORNAMENT FROM SKYE’S VAN AND FITZ RIBS SKYE ABOUT HAVE EARTHQUAKE POWERS -- FITZSIMMONS DON’T EVEN DIRECTLY ADDRESS ONE ANOTHER.

Ok and then Fitz makes up a reason to go talk to Simmons, and opens up to her about how he’d have tried to kill Ward if he’d been a lesser man, only to find out that Simmons DID try to kill Ward and is actively upset that she failed, so they’re still at odds, philosophically at least, at this point.

Then they split up again and aren’t on the same continent until a third of the way into the next episode, where they’re STILL talking about Agent 33.

The only other thing they do on screen together in this episode is to fight Skye’s dad like they’re on Scooby Doo running away from a guy in a monster mask

Season finale, they have two scenes working with Coulson on mission stuff in which they don’t speak directly to one another, and then

As Fitz is gearing up for his mission, Simmons pops up out of nowhere and drops her bombshell on him

ok, no lie, as I started compiling this and getting closer and closer to the end, I figured it out:

everyone was so collectively heartbroken at the prospect of Bobbi not making it that they all had to go talk to their loved ones before it’s too late.  May does it, too, and it’s framed with Hunter standing over Bobbi’s hospital bed in the background, and Simmons goes directly from Bobbi’s bedside to Fitz to say “because I just saw Hunter with Bobbi, and it made me realize” --

ok, my bad.  I did state up front that I wasn’t always paying attention, okay?!

I take everything back.  We do see the moment Simmons realizes she has feelings for Fitz.  It just comes at the tail end of a string of episodes  where they barely interact, is all.

Man, I gotta pay better attention next time.

Anyway this is not as brief as I thought it would be, nor have I covered all the thoughts I had.  Real quick, though:

Agent 33 is the worst.  I’m not sure what else they would have given Ward to do (gross double entendre intentional :< )  this season, though.  But did it have to be this?  Did you notice that when she picked faces, it was either May or Daisy?  And then used them on Ward, someone who sexually and/or emotionally manipulated both these women in the previous season?  Gross gross gross.  And obviously the grossness of this pairing is literally called out by several in-world observers, but, still.  I’m not sure that they actually wanted me to believe that there was still some humanity in Ward, that there was still a person who could settle down and buy succulents to put on windowsills in houses he shared domestically with another human being, but mostly I’m wondering why they thought they wanted to want me to believe that.

*as stated previously, one of the weaker parts of S2, that I still find weak having rewatched S2, is the use of the character of Trip.  POOR GUY.  Watching S1 first doesn’t do him any favors, either.  At least when you forget exactly the contents of S1, his being in S2 just feels like “guess this is how things always were, oh wait, sucks he's dead now.”  BUT NO things were NEVER like this.  We don’t know who this guy is at all!! 

His purpose in S1 is to be Not!Ward,

and his utility is to have some sort of internal logic to the team getting their hands on the low-tech WWII spy gadgets.

and he’s a very slight catalyst to Fitz’s needing to get his act together and get Simmons off the market before it’s too late (which is a couple of different yikes in my book, as far as "here’s what this character’s here for”)

So I kept my eye on him in S2 and the results were not good.  I think the only time he had lines was to ask questions to allow another character to respond with exposition, or to make jokes that any character could have been on screen to make. 

I want to say he was a side character dressed as a lead character, but HELL he shared scenes with a Koenig and those fools got WAY more character building/backstory/motivation over the course of the series than what Trip got.

Dearest Trip, our very own Red Shirt.  Rest In Pieces

[mixingpumpkins]

Meme time!

Following my own Character Vibes Meme for the idiots currently playing D&D in my brain because why the fuck not.

Rules, short version: Write creative descriptions of each characters’ vibe, preferably using references to dumb memes. Try to show who they are without revealing anything about them. Try not to make relationships obvious. Arrange the list alphabetically and post. Ask your followers:

Can you tell which are the main characters and which are side characters?

Can you tell who’s related to who and how?

Which of these characters most interest you? Which ones do you want to know more about?

If anyone wants to comment, have at! Tagging: Literally anyone who wants to. I think pretty much everyone I follow writes / RPs / etc. so...

The only story context you get: Historical fantasy. Mid-late 1700s / Georgian era. Multiple continents. Absolutely not an exhaustive character list but this is plenty for one meme. These may or may not actually be their names. Also, I definitely broke my own rules several times and many of these may be more roasts than vibes. Good luck figuring out which. (List under the cut.)

Adelaide: Would sell the entire world to Satan for one corn chip. Would do even worse for more. Not selfish; it’s just that no one deserves better. Including her, apparently.

Alexander: Good priorities, questionable methods. Gives really good advice, provided it won’t lead you off his path for you. Kind and absolutely should be trusted, but also absolutely should not be trusted.

Benedict: Educated. Respected. Logical. Rolled a nat 20 on persuasion. Great combination in the wrong hands. Would steal your copy of “I Don’t Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People” and use it to eviscerate you. Slowly.

Bess: You know that moment in Order of the Phoenix where Umbridge sits in her stupid doily-filled room and puts like 5 spoonfuls of sugar in her tea and arranges the pencils on her desk into perfectly straight lines? Same energy.

Chauncey: Literally the Least Subtle “Confirmed Old Bachelor” in the history of Confirmed Old Bachelors. Haters? Don’t know her. Probably has a successful TikTok for tying cravats.

Clement: Has his shit on lock, and probably everyone else’s, too. Being rude to him is the equivalent of cussing out the people who make your food. You just… don’t. Really, don’t. 

Diana: Knows exactly what she wants and likely has 5,000 plans up her sleeve on how to get it. Named for a goddess and will be worshipped as such… even though that’s so tedious.

Dorcas: The living Internet Explorer meme 99% of the time - and the 1% she’s not is the one time you were really hoping she would be. Has never heard the phrase “snitches get stitches,” and it wouldn’t make sense in her experience, anyway. God, you wish it would.

Edward: Homebrew is life. Almost always frowning, but also very, very Chill™. Except about taxes. You will eat holy musket fire if you try to disturb his world with unfair taxes.

Elias: Usually the one in possession of the brain cell. Thank god. But may also be a Horse Girl in a future life. The one you should listen to, but somehow people rarely do.

Emeline: How the fuck does she know that? You know what, you don’t want to know. It’s amazing, even when the information she provides isn’t.

Fitz: Remarkably sane. No one knows how. No, really. How is he so normal? It’s almost suspicious. But you look at him, and you just can’t be. It makes sense, even though it makes no sense at all.

Frederick: Born too late for the Golden Age of Piracy, but that doesn’t stop him pretending. Charisma boost so high it’s annoying. Would absolutely fight and die for his wife and child, and probably will.

Georgine: High school superlative would be voted most likely to accidentally throw down The Tower or the Three of Swords while playing poker. Possibly single-handedly responsible for the invention of sweet tea before it was cool.

Godfrey: A Himbo in the making. Absolutely hates his name because it’s too big for him, but thankfully his heart more than fills the void his brain leaves behind.

Hannah: Would have spent 2020 quarantine churning out increasingly elaborate loaves of bread. Just wants some friends her own age but then remembers she’d probably be too busy to spend much time with them and would feel guilty about that so it’s best those friends don’t really exist.

Helena: The younger sister who becomes the Mom Friend dialed up to 11… if that Mom Friend’s bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired.

Henry: Just really loves his wife, okay? That’s his best friend. You go, best friend. He has the BEST best friend.

Hiram: 1/10, do not recommend. Has a way of making people forget he exists until he can be at his MOST aggravating… but his heart is in the right place. Lawful cranky. 

Jonathan: Male Frigga. Meaning: He’s essentially fridged for no goddamn reason other than to provide backstory for other characters. Almost shamelessly so. Sorry, Jonathan.

Katrina: The human equivalent of a sweet, empty-headed golden retriever. (Sings a lot better than one, though.)

Lawrence: That person you don’t really like who does some nice things every once in a while and you could almost see being friends with maybe… and then he does something that is Peak Privileged Rich White Boy and you remember that you hate his guts, actually.

Liza: Actual cinnamon roll. Too good, too pure. And way too good with cast iron. Could probably kill you, but wouldn’t - unless you wake the baby.

Lydia: Would absolutely rewrite her horoscope if she didn’t agree with it. Probably a Gemini.

Lucille: The ethereal photograph you take by moonlight to discover by day it’s that someone put a Bratz doll on a gravestone. But is it really? May the odds be ever in your favor.

Martha: Incredible. Amazing. Showstopping. No one’s quite sure how she does it. Happy with her lot in life and will crack skulls to try to ensure the same for those she cares about.

Mercy: WILL cut you if you disrespect her business, but no need, mostly. Runs the show and everyone knows it. Love language is good food. Unnaturally good. Just… eat and don’t ask.

Nathaniel: The human embodiment of the Hierophant tarot card. Okay, boomer.

Nessa: Get your disgusting bean water away from her. Leaf water only. #blessed #spoiled #gucci

Oliver: Just wants a nice respectable profession and a modest house and a cat, is that too much to ask? Yes? What about shoes? Please. His feet get cold easily.

Roger: Arrives to a fight five minutes late with Starbucks and a sword that is very pretty but functionally useless. It’s fine. He’ll be fine. He’s got twelve espresso shots in there.

Solomon: Just got here and is hating every second of it, but he tries. Actual disaster. Might also be karmically living in the universe’s chamber pot. Someone help him.

Theodosia: Has a long list of things that will see her making an excuse and shoving teacakes into her purse five minutes after she arrives. Quite possibly the founder of cancel culture.

Thomas: Appears most likely to be cannon fodder, so you try not to get attached. But you can’t help it. (Neither can anyone else.) And hey, he might surprise you.

William: Quiet and occasionally stupidly brave. Can no longer stand silver due to said bravery. Idiot. Good thing he likes the woods. Actual diamond in the ruff rough.

Windred: Might actually have died years ago. Thrives on the knowledge that no one wants to check, because that would be Rude, and they would never hear the end of it. And there are already Enough things for her to go on about if brought to her attention.

[black-wolf066]

AOS Robbie Reyes Through the Seasons AU Part 1

(with bonus QuakeRider slow burn added into the mix cause i’m utter trash for those two)

-----Just a warning for those who haven’t seen the show, please stop reading as there will be spoilers in this post (as well as any future posts regarding this AU world. I will not be tagging it as spoilers, so once again, be warned.------- 

So, i recently watched all 6 seasons of AOS, and stumbled across this post [Agents of Shield AU] that intrigued and inspired me, and honestly the ideas for this “what if” haven’t left me alone since. Please go and check it out as i don’t wanna take all the credit for this idea.

In terms of turning this into a full fledged story, I more then likely will never start it given my terrible track record when it comes to multi-chapter fics (plus my muse to write anything multi-chapter is completely non-existent at this point). I do, however, love doing ideas/headcannons/story boards cause i find they are easier then taking the time to flesh out scenes and dialogue. Should anyone want to attempt writing this behemoth using my ideas, feel free (just please credit and tag me if you do, mostly cause i really wanna read it).

As I stated in my reblog of the original post linked above, it’s hard to think of ways to incorporate Robbie into the show from the start and barely change any of the plot. While some things will definitely be different as I continue to think up ways to incorporate Robbie into the main cast, i will be sticking to the major plot points (Hydra, Afterlife, Hive, etc). 

As far as season 1 goes, i’m still debating on how to proceed with it. Please correct me if i’m wrong, but from my understanding, it sounded like Robbie sold his soul roughly around the time frame of season 2 or mid-way through season 2. If this is in fact true, then i’m not sure if i’ll make it where the deal is struck even earlier or if i’ll be sticking to canon. I’m also not sure if i should make Robbie a main character of season 1, or just a here and there character (part time Agent) until after Shield’s fall. 

I have roughly 2-3 different scenarios/re-written backgrounds for season 1. 

Season 1 AU idea A: this idea sticks with canon in terms of the deal, so Robbie is a regular human until mid-way through season 2 (unless someone corrects me on my timing for this). Robbie is recruited long before the Bus Team became a thing (still deciding on the how’s, but i have a basic idea that he saw a speed chase and the vans shield was using, even with the tech, couldn’t keeping up with the target. Robbie managed to intercept said target with Lucy thanks to his skill set with racing and shield was able to apprehend the target thanks to his intervention. To me this idea is a little weak in terms of a believable scenario, but that’s the only thing coming to me for a “how he gets recruited” at this current time). Robbie is stationed mostly in LA (to stay close to his brother and uncle) and sometimes him and his team will cross paths with the Bus team. He’s at the hub when Hydra steps out of the shadows and with his team either being traitors or dead, he ends up going with Coulson and his team when they “go dark” and leave the Hub. 

Idea B: is basically the same thing as idea A; Robbie’s human, he’s recruited to shield before Coulson puts his team together, but instead of being stationed in LA, he’s one of the agents that Coulson wants to recruit for the Bus. This way Robbie is there through it all (even if he is only a level 1 agent) and his friendship with the team and Skye/Daisy has more of a chance to plant and grow roots rather then just being a reoccurring character.  

Idea C: takes either option A or B but with the difference of him being the rider from the start (maybe he’s recruited for the fact he is the rider and could be useful or they recruit him so he can be watched closely since no one knows how to contain the rider within him). 

Mostly, i would like to try and stay with canon, so i believe Idea B would be the most ideal since i want Robbie and Skye/Daisy to form a strong friendship in season 1 vs season 2. It would also allow Season 1 and part of season 2  to stay close to canon as possible (since the Rider wouldn’t be an issue)

As far as differences go, should Idea B be used, i would like Robbie and Ward to butt heads (not enough to be annoying, but enough to know that it’s clear they don’t like each other). Maybe Ward rubs Robbie the wrong way and vice versa, but eventually as they continue to do missions together they begin to grow on each other (which will make the betrayal all the harder to stomach)

Robbie is always amused by Fitz-Simmons, both of them reminding him of his uncle and brother in terms of their smarts and banter (for i head-canon that Gabe and Eli would constantly throw science ideas and what-not at the dinner table or in general conversation just as Robbie and Eli would talk cars). When Robbie feels home-sick, you’ll usually find him in the labs with these two, quietly helping where they need it, or simply sitting in a corner reading as the two banter for background noise. 

Robbie is a good cook and is usually the person who cooks most nights for the Bus (they may have a rotation to try and keep things fair, but Robbie tends to ignore it. He’s a man who’s hands can’t stay idle, so if he’s not being the team’s mechanic or helping Fitz-Simmons build things for the team, then he’s in the kitchen cooking/baking). 

Robbie has a healthy respect for Coulson and May and while Ward is Skye’s SO, May is Robbie’s unofficial SO when it comes to training/sparing (since the two of them are early risers and usually hit the mats around the same time anyway). 

Robbie and Skye get along easily the longer they work/live together. They’ll throw harmless insults and movie/tv show references at each other when there’s down time or high-stress situations (though the insults aren’t always so harmless when it’s the later). While Skye and Ward will usually play board games, Robbie and Skye will play Uno (occasionally joined by Fitz-Simmons) or racing games together.

Robbie has a deadly sense of humor that comes out the more he grows comfortable with people, and usually that humor comes out with Fitz or Skye (however that natural part of him will fade or dull once the Rider takes residence in his head).

When Skye breaks the teams trust when she helps Miles, Robbie doesn’t necessarily give her the cold shoulder, but he does make it clear that his trust won’t be so easily won back, she’ll have to earn it. 

When Trip joins the team, Robbie gets along with him pretty quickly (once it’s clear he can be trusted anyway). Trip just naturally has that way with people, that natural light and goodness that reminds Robbie of his brother. Not to mention Trip tells some interesting stories (and it also helps that he’ll occasionally give Robbie his grandmothers recipes for certain dishes/treats). 

Robbie is not at the secret base when Skye gets kidnapped by Ward, and he regrets it because he would have stayed behind with her, Eric and Ward had he not been so adamant in going on the mission with the rest (feeling too caged in the bunker and wanting something to do). He feels if he had stayed behind, maybe things would have gone differently, maybe Eric would still be alive, maybe Skye wouldn’t have been taken (though the counter-argument, from one of the others, is that he could have just as likely been killed too, since Ward is far more skilled then Robbie). 

Again all of season 1 and possibly all of season 2 is just friendship at this point, maybe some un-knowing or some teasing flirting here and there, but mostly just friendship between Robbie and Skye. I don’t think Robbie develops his feelings until after they both are different (with her becoming inhuman and him becoming the vessel for the rider). They bond over their shared differences and struggles as they go through these changes and learn to control it, etc. So i’m thinking more along the lines of beginning of season 3 when his feelings for her start to develop. Not sure if Skye/Daisy’s will develop around the same time, or if she does have similar feelings, they aren’t strong enough yet to warrant pursuing it, hence why she pursues Lincoln instead.

((((((I will end this here for now. I do plan on fleshing the ideas for some of the episodes out a bit more then this, as well as continue my ideas through the rest of the seasons, but for now I’ll leave Season 1 as partially finished in terms of background/relationship development goes.

Please, if you have anything to add to this, i’d love to hear it, or if someone were to attempt to write something like this, i would love to read it. 

This AU is such an interesting concept to ponder over, but i feel it’s also a way to see how Robbie was pre-rider. He seemed slightly more care-free, happier, and i really would love to explore that. Adding him into the mix at the beginning and also making him an agent pre-season 1, allows us to play with his character traits a bit more. To see how different he could be with this different path faced before him as well as the character development he’ll go through. 

sorry i’m rambling now, but i just can’t help it, i’m totally addicted to this idea and i just can’t let it go.)))))

[amandajoyce118]

Friday Five: The Marvel Loves

Since Valentine’s Day was this week, I thought I’d spotlight my favorite Marvel TV couples this time around. I thought about just doing top five overall, including comics and movies, but that seemed like a daunting task. So, you can have the television versions instead. Four of the five are even in the MCU! Maybe I’ll do my favorites from the comics one day as well.

One: Blink and Thunderbird (The Gifted)

Never a couple in the comics - mainly because Thunderbird was killed on his second mission with the X-Men in the 70s and Blink wasn’t even introduced until the 90s - this wasn’t a couple I thought would be on my radar when I started watching the show, but I really love the idea of them together. Blink developed “feelings” for him when false memories were implanted, but she recognized them for what they were, and dealt with it. My only complaint is that before the show was willing to get them together, they killed off one of their love interests to do it. That’s just harsh. Mainly because the character was very interesting and it makes me worry the show will just do that when the writers back themselves into a corner.

Two: Mack and Elena (Agents of SHIELD)

I wasn’t sure how to feel about Mack when he was first introduced, partly because of his treatment of Jemma when she was just trying to do the right thing, but Mack’s hostility came from a place of loyalty, and you won’t find anyone more loyal on the show. I love the Mack and Elena are so often just done with the crazy shit that SHIELD has to deal with. I love that they bonded over their faith, and that Elena knew what it meant to him to have his daughter back, so she was willing to die in the Framework with him just so he could have a few moments with her. I also love that despite how compatible they are, they are so, so, different in how they approach dangerous situations. Elena is ready to speed through them while Mack would rather avoid them. They’re so well suited.

Three: Nico and Karolina (Runaways)

If you haven’t made your way through the first season of the Runaways yet, sorry, this one is a bit of a spoiler. Look at it this way: you have a relationship to look forward to! Nico is very dark, very unhappy, and very much mad at the world when the show starts. Karolina is seemingly her opposite. The two of them, of course, are more alike than they know. Karolina hasn’t come out to anyone yet (but yes, she is a lesbian in the comics), and she struggles with her feelings for Nico. Nico, on the other hand, seems to be interested in one of their other friends until he betrays her trust and she discovers how Karolina feels. The two of them are in their infancy, just figuring things out, but I’m so looking forward to seeing them grow in the second season.

Four: Peggy and Daniel (Agent Carter)

I think Peggy might be (almost) everyone’s favorite SHIELD agent. I’m still gutted that her show was cancelled and we never got to see how the SSR became SHIELD. I’m also sad that we never got to find out, definitively, if Daniel was the man she married. I’m a big fan of Peggy and Steve, so it takes a special kind of character to win me (and Peggy) over. (I’ll be honest. I would have been perfectly happy to see the series explore a relationship with Angie as well, but I’m still curious about who Peggy married and had a family with since we saw that happened in the MCU.) I love that these two came to see each other for who they really were, that they trusted one another in a mission or a fight, and that they found their way back to one another even when they couldn’t initially figure things out. I wish we could see more of their relationship on screen. Maybe we’ll get luck and they’ll set an MCU project in the 50s.

Five: Fitz and Simmons (Agents of SHIELD)

Considering that Agents of SHIELD remains one of my favorite shows, let alone Marvel shows, I know no one could be surprised to see them on this list. We’ve been able to see them grow as individuals and as a unit on the show, and I think that’s what makes their coupling most gratifying. They went from BFFs who didn’t comprehend the idea of romantic attachment to one another to not wanting to live in a world that didn’t give them each other. They’ve been separated and found their way back to each other so many times that, despite being ridiculous, proves just how fiercely connected they are. They have very much become the beating heart of the show, as any critic will tell you, and there’s something very grounding about a love that surpasses all of the weird science fiction shit the writers can throw at it. 

Honorable mentions go to Netflix couples Luke Cage and Claire Temple, and if the show wanted to acknowledge a possible romantic pairing, I’d throw Jessica Jones and Trish Walker on here as well. I think they had better chemistry together in the first season than they did with anyone else. It’s interesting because I find the relationship between Luke and Jessica really compelling in the comics. They’ve gone through a lot and they’ve both done shitty things. But the show didn’t make me love them - I think because it’s colored by the knowledge that Jessica was the weapon that killed his wife, even though, looking back, his relationship with his wife is also colored by the flashbacks in Luke Cage. I just think Claire and Trish are better for both of them a tthis point.

[pizza-is-my-buziness]

What do you mean this isn’t what happened? I must have been watching a different episode .... ;)

All around her is white and Jemma jerks upright with a start, clawing at the whiteness tangled around her. She stops fighting when she realizes that her enemy is a fluffy comforter and that she's kicking against sheets tangled around her feet. She pushes the blankets away, breathing heavily as she stares at the room around her. She's not on the Zephyr anymore and she's definitely not back at the base. 'Relief' isn't exactly the word that she would use to discover that the plan to get into the Framework has worked; it's more like a begrudging sense of resignation.

Jemma glances around, trying to figure out where her Framework avatar has been placed by the Powers That Be outside of the Framework. She tries to imagine what it must be like for May and Coulson and Fitz and the others, to wake up in this new reality and have no idea that they belong somewhere else.

She doesn't recognize this place. It's nice, quiet and comfortable; she hasn't had a bedroom this big since she left for the Academy. Jemma tries to recognize herself in the décor, tries to find something to suggest that all of this is just programming and coding but it looks real and she can see subtle touches of her tastes in the colors and paintings on the wall.

The bathroom door rattles and Jemma immediately turns her attention back to the more important task at hand, mainly the fact that she's essentially in enemy territory and she can't afford to let her guard down for one instant. There's no telling what story, what reality, has been programmed for her; there's no telling what Aida and Radcliffe imagined for her when they imagined her to be the type of person who would prefer to live in a virtual world. She needs to stay alert and aware; she needs to find Daisy and start unraveling this place piece by piece.

The door swings open and suddenly Jemma is staring at Daisy. Jemma's assumption that Daisy is just part of the Framework is quickly disproven by the equally surprised expression that she sees on Daisy's face. She wasn't expecting to come out of the bathroom and see her either which means that this is Daisy, her Daisy, the one that she fought for her life with, the only person she would trust in this place.

Daisy is wearing a bathrobe, her hair damp and falling in tangles; her cheeks are flushed and Jemma can see a hint of color creeping across the swatch of skin left exposed by the hastily donned robe. For the briefest of moments, it all goes quiet in Jemma's head.

It doesn't last long. "Are you…" Daisy's voice is tentative, cautious, hopeful.

"Me?" Jemma nods quickly. "Yes. I…well I suppose so."

Daisy looks relieved, running a hand through her damp hair. "So totally not fair. I almost drowned waking up in a bathtub and you're all nice and cozy in bed."

Well that at least explains the wet hair and the flushed skin. Daisy seems to consider her words. "Why are you in bed?"

Jemma lifts an eyebrow. "Do you mean why am I laying around at a time like this or why am I in a bed that is in a room that we appear to share?"

The flush creeps up toward Daisy's neck as she nods. "Yeah," she says. "That one."

Jemma gets out of bed, her bare feet sinking into the plush carpeting of the bedroom. She's not wearing much of anything: shorts, a tank top. She can feel Daisy watching her and trying not to. "Well maybe we both entered the Framework in the same place since we had to hack our way in."

Daisy frowns, toying with the tie of her robe to give herself something else to look at. "We were pretty careful about linking ourselves up the avatars that had already been created. The coding was perfect, if I do say so myself," she says with false modesty. "We should have gone where we'd already been programmed to be, not to the same place just because we put ourselves into the Framework."

Jemma gives the room another quick glance again; there's no denying that it looks like the type of place she would have decorated for herself. "Maybe something went wrong somehow and-"

"I don't think so," Daisy says and Jemma turns to look at her, to see why she sounds so certain. Daisy is holding up a picture, one in an ornately glided frame and it takes Jemma a second to realize what she's looking at. It's a picture of her and Daisy, both dressed in ridiculously flowing white dresses.

Jemma looks down at her hand, surprised that she didn't notice the gold band circling her finger before. Suddenly it feels like the only thing that she can see. "Oh."

Daisy puts the picture aside quickly and Jemma can see the glint of something on her finger. They stare at one another and Jemma can't remember ever sharing a silence with Daisy that might be considered uncomfortable. It just doesn't fit their relationship; she's always been at ease around her, always found something to talk about, always enjoyed a companionable silence. The heavy quiet now…it lays heavy in her chest but Jemma feels like any words she might say are lodged tightly in her throat, locked away.

Married. To Daisy. Jemma curls her fingers into a fist but it does little to hide the band around her ring finger. She looks away, suddenly afraid that her face gives her away, that her expression will tell Daisy all her secrets.

Daisy clears her throat. "I…I'm going to go explore the rest of the house. And then we can start making a plan."

Jemma nods, listening as Daisy crosses the room and the door clicks shut behind her. She exhales slowly and her cheeks are hot, prickling with embarrassment. She's just woken up in a virtual reality to find that she's married to Daisy and the only thing she could think to say was 'oh.' Oh. Honestly Jemma doesn't know what's worse: the fact that she couldn't think of anything to say to Daisy or the fact that the idea of being married to her actually sounds perfect and wonderful and every bit like the perfect reality that the LMD Fitz had promised when trying to drag her into the Framework.

Sighing, Jemma shakes her head, moving toward the closet, rooting around until she finds something that looks like something she would wear. The clothes look unfamiliar and strange, not the type of things that SHIELD agents would have in their closet unless a mission called for a bright summer dress or a printed skirt.

Jemma finds Daisy sitting at the kitchen table in a bright, immaculately clean, large kitchen. Daisy's back is to her and Jemma can see that she's fidgeting with the wedding band, twisting it around and around on her finger. There's another picture of them on the counter and in it Jemma is smiling at the camera while Daisy is kissing her cheek. She feels a twinge of jealousy for the version of herself in the photograph. How often has she thought about what it would feel like to have Daisy's lips against her skin?

Daisy glances over her shoulder and drops her hand away from the wedding band, a guilty expression crossing her face. "Hey." She gets to her feet. "You look…" She gives Jemma the once over.

"I know," Jemma grumbles, feeling oddly out of place in her jeans and sheer, flowing blouse. "I couldn't find any tactical gear or button-ups." She means it to be a joke but it falls a little flat.

Daisy lifts her eyebrows. "I think everything is different here," she remarks. "I don't think we're SHIELD agents or…agents at all. I think…I don't have my powers here."

Jemma looks at her. "Are you sure?" It's probably a stupid question but she finds herself asking it anyway. "Have you tried?"

Daisy shrugs. "I don't have to. I can just…I feel it. Like something is missing." She shrugs and then holds up a hand anyway, pointing her palm at a glass sitting on the counter. Nothing, not even a rattle.

"It's just…gone." Daisy shakes her head, lowering her hand. "It's like everything here is…normal. Like we're normal."

Jemma scrunches up her nose, considering the possibility. "Fitz did mention that the Framework was supposed to be like this perfect alternative version of reality, where life was exactly as we wanted it to be without regrets."

"So in this 'perfect reality' we're normal, I'm not an Inhuman and we…we're…married," Daisy sums up and Jemma can hear the forced flatness to her tone like she's trying to list these things like they have nothing to do with either of them.

Jemma nods, clearing her throat. "It would seem that way."

Again, the silence stretches between them.

"Whose perfect reality are we in?" Daisy questions, shifting back on the balls of her feet. She leans against the counter, hiding the photograph of the two of them from view. Jemma kinda misses it, misses the happy moment captured between them.

Jemma can only shake her head. "Well since we both woke up here when we entered the Framework it would be seem like…it's a sort of shared reality?"

Daisy studies her closely and Jemma lifts her gaze to meet her eyes. "Jemma, what's your greatest regret?"

The words feel stuck in her throat again and Daisy's words, quiet and soft, sound like a challenge in this big kitchen. Jemma thinks about shaking her head, about denying that this has any bearing in her reality but she's surprised when a single word passes her lips: "You."

Immediately, Jemma wants to take it back. Not because it isn't true but because she doesn't want Daisy to think that she means anything by it other than the fact that what she regrets, more than anything, is that she's never told Daisy how she feels about her.

But Daisy seems to understand anyway. Because she's moving closer and she's there when Jemma reaches for her and in some back corner of her mind Jemma knows that this isn't real. But Daisy feels real underneath her hands and she can feel Daisy's hands in her hair, can feel her fingers curled around the nape of her neck and it's like she's always hoped it might be and it feels real, irrefutably so, when she kisses her.

Daisy sighs into her mouth and the sound is so quiet, a soft sound of relief and longing and Jemma pulls her closer and kisses her harder and she can feel her heart beating heavily in her chest and it only makes it harder to pretend like this isn't real, like this isn't just happening in her head.

And honestly, right now, Jemma doesn't care if it is or not.

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

Jemma keeps her eyes closed, trying to lay perfectly still. Daisy is kissing the smattering of freckles across her shoulders, her lips featherlight as they move across her skin. If she pretends to be asleep then she thinks this moment might never end; she thinks that maybe Daisy will just keep kissing her, mapping out the patterns on her body with lips and fingertips.

Daisy presses a kiss against Jemma's neck and the jig is up. She laughs, twisting out of reach. "That tickles."

She looks up at Daisy, reaching for her. Daisy comes easily, leaning down to kiss her and Jemma cards her fingers through Daisy's hair, sliding her hand down the curve of her shoulder. Her skin is different here: smooth and unblemished by bruises and cuts and scars. She wonders about these versions of themselves, wonders what they've seen, what they've done, wonders if things were as hard for them as they have been in their reality.

Daisy seems to sense her thoughts because she asks, "What do you think it would be like? To be like this?"

Jemma reaches up to touch her face. She can't seem to help herself, can't seem to keep her hands off Daisy, desperate to memorize the way her skin and body feel against her own. "What do you mean?"

Daisy shrugs, suddenly looking sheepish. "Nothing. Never mind." She moves away, laying back onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. She sighs, looking over at Jemma. "If we were normal. No SHIELD, no powers just…us."

Jemma makes a thoughtful noise. "Well…it wouldn't be us exactly without those things," she points out and Daisy gives her a look. Jemma smiles. "But I know what you mean," she relents. "It would be…strange. It's never been like that, has it?"

Daisy laughs. "Uh, no." She smiles, sighing wistfully. "It is kind of nice to think about the fact that in any universe we would have somehow managed to find each other, SHIELD or not."

Jemma presses her lips to Daisy's shoulder, closing her eyes. There's so much they should be doing, so much they need to be doing. Their team needs them but this…Jemma needs this. And is that so wrong? Can't she put herself first for once? Hasn't she earned it?

When Daisy kisses her, all her doubts are erased just like that. It's easy.

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

When Jemma wakes up the following morning in Daisy's arms, she realizes how perfect Radcliffe's Framework really is. There's a story she studied in school before the Academy, a staple of any study of Greek Mythology. She hadn't truly understood it then, too wrapped up in her constant desire to move forward, to learn, to get her hands on everything she could. But now…now Jemma understands the Lotus Eaters perfectly and how easy it would be to stay there forever.

It's not real. It's all in her mind. There's Fitz to think about and Coulson and May and the team. But there's Daisy and there's a perfect reality built just for the two of them where there's no death, no violence, no worry that they might never see each other again.

Jemma snuggles closer to Daisy, closing her eyes, trying to push the thoughts out of her mind. But it's getting harder and harder to ignore the guilt, the ever present knowledge that there's something else they should be doing.

It's hard because this is all Jemma can ever imagine wanting to do.

But it's somehow easier when Daisy is the one who brings it up later when they're both in the kitchen cooking a late breakfast. Daisy wears her guilt easily on her face, avoiding Jemma's eyes. "I keep thinking about the others," she confesses as she cracks an egg on the side of the pan. "I keep thinking that we should be doing something else, that we need to be helping them, getting out of this place."

Jemma feels disappointment settle over her even as she nods. "I know," she admits. "We need…we can't stay here forever."

Daisy opens her mouth but doesn't say anything, shaking her head instead. She's silent for a minute, focusing on breakfast like it's the most important thing she's ever done. Finally her gaze inches back toward Jemma. "I know it's not real," she says softly. "But I don't care."

Jemma moves closer to her, slipping her arms around Daisy's waist. "It doesn't matter," she says. "It might not be real here but outside of here, later, once we've saved the team, again," she teases and Daisy smiles slightly, "and stopped Aida and Radcliffe then…it can still be real."

Daisy nods, pressing her forehead to Jemma's. "Yeah," she says softly. "It can."

Jemma kisses her and Daisy smiles against her lips. "The team better really appreciate all the sacrifices we made for them," she remarks, sounding extremely put-out.

Well, Jemma can't help but agree with that. But they can't stay here forever; as real as all of this feels, it isn't and she's getting tired of just being with Daisy in her mind. She wants the real Daisy, bumps and bruises and scars and all. She wants their small bunks back at the base. She wants long stretches of time and quick stolen moments. She doesn't need a perfect reality free of stress and death and violence. She just needs Daisy.

[agl03]

I've been saying for weeks that i think Fitz's regret is linked to his perceived naivety when it comes to others so i'm glad you're thinking similarly! I bet he thinks if he'd never trusted Radcliffe then the LMDs and the framework wouldn't have happened and so that's what Aida took from him. I just can't see the writers telling us Jemma is the reason Fitz is good after the scene where she tells him she loves him for his goodness because it means she's basically in love with what she created.

Hi Anon!

I believe you are referring to my meta from last night aboutFitz’s potential fix.  

I want to clear up a few things though (I wrote that at 2am so I might have been a bit loopy).  I wasn’t saying that Jemma gave Fitz his goodheart.  He already had that…and stilldoes only now it’s been buried by AIDA’s programming/manipulation of those whoare around him in the Framework world. His heart, loyalty, and openness, and bravery was what Jemma fell inlove with.  

Back in the Season 1 Classified and in Seeds they made sureto let us know that Donnie was cautionary tale.   Fitz and Donnie were a lot alike.  Their father’s weren’t supportive and evenbroke them down.  They were ChildProdigy’s.   Had a hard time makingfriends and fitting in when they first came to the Academy.  And what made the difference in the two wasthe friends they made.   Fitz  had Jemma.    And in Jemma he found someonewho understood him and was on his level for the first time.  She also helped to bring him out of his shell.  In many ways I see that Jemma’s friendshipwith Fitz acted as a Shield (and vise versa) keeping the Quinn’s andRadcliffe’s of the world from getting to them first.   Donnie on the other hand had Seth, someonewho used and manipulated his genius for his own gain.  

For me I think what AIDA has done was fix Fitz’s betrayals.  He didn’t get a say in the regretshe fixed.   Otherwise I think he wouldhave gone with helping Radcliffe.  I alsoam betting she left his father leaving him at 10, she didn’t fix theabandonment.  

To me, Fitz wasn’t betrayed because he was niave or too trusting:

Ward fooled everyone.

Mack fooled everyone.

Bobbi fooled everyone.

When Daisy left she left everyone.

Radcliffe is the one I make the exception for.  Fitz really misplaced his trust and was a more personal betrayal. ButShield was at the very least tolerated him and were working with him as wellwhen they needed his expertise.

However due to his past experiences he took those betrayalsdifferently that the rest of the team. Everyone took the betrayals differently, reacted differently, and haddifferent fall out.  They cut him alittle bit deeper based on what his father had done and that they kept justpiling up.  Especially Ward and Radcliffewho he had grown to feel where a brother and father figure to him.  

Now if we look at what AIDA seems to have done.  She removed the pain of his betrayals and to do that she’s closed him off.  By taking Jemma outof the equation (when they met Fitz was 16 and shy…didn’t fit in), allowedsomeone else to get at him.  

We sawRadcliffe manipulate Fitz throughout season 4.  And the in order to do that,especially with AIDA,Radcliffe got Jemma out of the way.  Made it so Fitz couldn’t tell her aboutit.   Because he knew Jemma was athreat.  She is Fitz’s greatestprotector, love, and weakness all in one. 

They are each other’s greatest strength and weakness.  

Now what I am imagining if AIDA purposelyremoved Jemma from his life and put someone like Radcliffe in her place.  Radcliffe will have manipulated him then and when Fitz was at a lowerpoint.  Imagine if Radcliffe was thefirst person he found that related to him, built him up, touted his successes, and was on hislevel.    Radcliffe already twisted the Framework andAIDA, imagine if he’d had more time and access to Fitz.  

Something else we have seen more than once on AOS is someoneget taken in by a powerful parental figure, even if it takes them down thewrong path.   Ward with Garrett.  Skye with Jaiying.  Now they will turn that up to level 10 withFitz and likely Radcliffe (If not Radcliffe someone else got their hooks intohim when he was younger).  

The theme they are exploring in the Framework is that youare more than you programming.   Fitz’sheart is still there, but its been twisted and manipulated  for years.  Its also very possible we could see whoever took Jemma’s place (I’mstill leaning Radcliffe because he needs to fit into this somehow) has isolatedhim.   Jemma got Fitz out of his shellnot only relationship wise but she got him out of the lab and out into theworld.   Radcliffe may have done theopposite and isolated Fitz in order to hoard, twist, and manipulate his gifts for his own gain.  

We also saw time and time again people want Fitz for hismind.  Garrett, Radcliffe, Gonzales, evenCoulson (we need that big brain of yours here).   Jemma wants him for his heart and forhim…not for what he can do.  

Neither the writers nor myself meant to infer Fitz has agood heart because he met Jemma.  Jemmawas just one of the many influences on him…and like I said its biggest support, love, and protector.

Mack is a good example. He did not like all things alien when we first met him.  Didn’t trust anyone with alien blood to beleading the team.  However, in working withDaisy and Coulson he has completely changed his views on this.  Not only does he trust, love, and respectthem…he fights for Inhumans in the real world.

 That was why AIDAtook Jemma out.  Because in order for Fitznot to be betrayed he needs to not let anyone get close enough to do so.  This whole FItzsimmons arc is practically the Snow Queen.  And she didn’t just take Jemma, she has takenor twisted nearly everyone around him.  

And we can’t forget that Robo Fitz said that a lot of what he created was done in order to protect Jemma.  

As always I could be totally wrong on this and only timewill tell there.   They aren’t showing uswhat his fix was for a reason.  Andusually what they don’t let us see is more important than what they giveaway.  IE undoing what AIDA did to Fitzcould be the key to getting them all out.  Her Prime Directive is to protect the Framework, so making sure thatFitz isn’t able to mess with it would fit right into that.  

To me AIDA purposely removing Jemma from his live is a testament of just how strong their bond is in any universe and under any circumstance.  That AIDA had to get Jemma completely out of the mix to get Fitz where she thought was best.   Its also telling that Fitzsimmons share a promo.   The story with them will be Jemma getting him back.

[amusetoamuse]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 4 : Episode 17 - Identity and Change Recap

I’m all about experimenting here so today I will try out a new way (for me) of recapping! :)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is one of my favourite shows at the present moment. It has really developed so much over the course of the seasons. The plot has improved so much and I absolutely love it now!! Especially what they have done with Season 4 where they split the season into 3 pods (aka story arcs) and I love how it makes for better story telling since the storylines can be more concise and jam packed now instead of dragged and spread across the seasons. I’m normally not one for suspense so shorter arcs are good because we can get the answers to questions much quicker. 

I am also a huge skyeward (chloe bennet and brett dalton) fan and find it such a pity that their relationship was not developed more in the earlier seasons because the actors have such amazing chemistry. Fingers crossed for this arc (the Framework/ Agents of Hydra) to have some skyeward scenes please. 

Speaking of the Framework, I love how it has the potential to tell stories that could have been told previously but did not have the chance to be told. It’s like a whole world of “What If”s, sort of like a dream world. The Framework, (created by Radcliffe) corrects one regret that the person has through a brain scan assessment. What if Coulson did not join S.H.I.E.L.D? What if May did not kill the girl in Bahrain? What if Fitz never met Simmons? All of these “What If”s will be explored in this pod (as the actors and writers like to call it). Whooop I’m so excited so let’s start watching! :)

In the last episode, we end off with Coulson finally remembering who Daisy is and episode 17: Identity and Change continues from that scene. Daisy and Coulson are in the classroom as Daisy catches Coulson up to speed on their identities (hoho). Coulson’s memories seem a little fuzzy since he claims that Hydra has been using mind-control soap to mess with his memories but tells Daisy not to worry since he makes his own soap now. (HAHAH COULSON YOU ARE THE BEST) 

Sign me up to buy Coulson’s soap please. HAHAH. Daisy tells him that he’s probably talking about Project Tahiti instead. Daisy’s phone rings. (Who could it be?) Ward please. 

OMG IT IS WARD!!! *internal screaming* (Okay actually I kind of knew since I saw the promos/sneak peeks) but still! It’s so good to see Brett Dalton back on the show. He tells Daisy that Hydra is sending down some personnel to the school and Daisy tells Coulson “ You’re going to need a substitute”. 

OMG YESS I’m actually kind of loving the new logo, Hail Hydra. HAHA ok but yes my allegiance is to S.H.I.E.L.D but this logo still looks cool and how they placed the Hydra logo everywhere during this arc, Daisy’s identity and in the scenes. The beauty is truly in the subtle details. 

Mack has a daughter and they make the perfect pair. They’re building drones in the kitchen and his daughter finishes her drone faster. Mack checks out her drone and flips it over to find... the hydra logo. oh no. He warns her to stay far away from Hydra so that they can stay out of trouble and she promises to do so. (Aww Mack and his daughter are seriously the cutest, he’s going to have a hard time dealing with this when they get out of The Framework). 

They head to the bus stop and the people line up in a straight line and wait for the Nazis (oh wait, I mean Hydra) to show up for the usual ID check (to make sure you’re not an Inhuman / working with S.H.I.E.L.D/ the resistance). Mack tells his daughter to keep her head down and do as they say. She nods agreeably. But alas, she left the hydra drone they were working on in her bag while they were at the line up. Mack grabs the bag from her and says that he will handle this. A guy starts running away. “We got a runner” , the Hydra agent says. They quickly subdue him and it turns out that he’s on the list of Potential Inhumans. Oh no. The Hydra cars drive off. Mack and his daughter Sparkplug are safe and live to see another day of this Hydra Nazi-ness. (Reminds me of the kid from the previous episode who called Hydra the Nazis) hahaha. But what they’re doing really gives off those vibes. 

Daisy and Coulson head back to her appartment and she tells Simmons that she thinks that they can trust Ward again, (he’s a double agent in The Framework, but this time for good) Also, he’s helped them a record breaking number of 2 times now. Simmons and Coulson head to the rendezvous point that Ward gave for the Resistance while Daisy heads to the Triskelion to get Radcliffe’s location. 

In Madame Hydra’s office, she is talking to a Hydra agent when Fitz enters and she quickly dismisses the agent. Fitz asks her what’s going on and why she won’t let him help out with the subversive (aka Simmons) but she’s insistent on not letting him help for obvious reasons. (#FitzSimmons) . Also Madame Hydra’s real name is Ophelia? Hmmm okay. But anyway, it is so difficult to watch Fitz IN LOVE with Madame Hydra. Noooo Fitz, how could you do this to #FitzSimmons??  She hesitates but finally shows Fitz the photo of Simmons. He’s totally unaffected and says that he will send his team after Simmons immediately. “You’d do anything for me , wouldn’t you?” “I’d cross the universe for you.” OH GOD.NO.JUST NO. Major cringe plus omg how can Fitz be saying such things. They kiss. (Ugh no. Please end this scene immediately).

Thank God. Daisy is back in the office looking up Radcliffe’s info. Ward spots her and says that being here is too dangerous for her and that she should leave immediately. She says that she could that much faster if he wasn’t “mouth-breathing” on her. HAHA. omg they’re just the cutest. She gets the info she needs and they leave together when May stops them and says that Skye needs to come with them. 

Omg. my skyeward feels. They’re finally back together. (Side note: the hydra statue behind is looking pretty good). 

Ward gets all protective of Daisy (Skye, her old name,  in The Framework) and says that he’ll fend off May while she fights the others. She leans in to give him a kiss on the cheek. (Omg the first skyeward kiss in forever, although it’s just on the cheek, but still, omg yesss finally) but no it’s just to pass him the information she got to pass to Simmons. “Skye” . He’s reluctant to leave but she insists and says that she will be okay. He looks worriedly at her as she ascends the stairs to meet with May. (This scene was everything, omg, squealing inside, I’m just so happy to see Skyeward back in action).

Coulson and Simmons are at the rendezvous point for the Resistance. 

“For the season, it’s been unusually rainy.”  - Resistance contact

“Rain or shine, the man with the umbrella is always ready.” - Coulson

LOL. I’ve seen a couple of secret password exchanges but this has got the be the best/ funniest one I’ve ever seen. HAHA. 

The guy takes out hand cuffs and Coulson’s all like “Did I say it wrong?” He cuffs them and puts a black bag over their heads and they’re driven off in a black van. Oh no. Are Coulson and Simmons in trouble? Okay probably not, the Resistance is probably trying to hide their location. 

Mace enters in his patriot suit to meet Coulson and Simmons. (Omg another major YES?? Mace as the Patriot, omg wow I have been waiting for this day) “I’m Jeffrey Mace, welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D” OMG YESSSS. He apologies for the hoods and says that trust is a luxury these days. (Yes Hydra, we’re looking at you). 

Jemma and Coulson introduce themselves and Coulson has a major fanboy moment. “Wow. I can’t believe it’s really you. The Patriot. The Inhuman leader of the Resistance. He’s kind of a big deal!” He tells Simmons. (Yes Coulson, this is totally what we were all thinking!!!) Mace is all nonchalant about it and says that he can just call him Jeffrey because the Patriot’s a bit much for his taste. Coulson continues admiring Mace and his suit. (I mean, Jeffrey Mace, as the Patriot?? I would be doing that too) Finally getting to see Mace as an Inhuman is definitely a refreshing change in the Framework. (Compared to the real world where he’s human and has to take injections to be strong). 

They’re at S.H.I.E.L.D HQ, albeit a little run down, Simmons asks Mace what happened here and Mace tells them that a brave agent name Billy Koenig gave up his life to get him the location. (Sounds familiar aye? haha) Mace says that the early days were tough and a lot of good agents died to get this place up and running and we see a wall of the names of agents. 

Simmons walk by the S.H.I.E.L.D lab only this time it’s actually a hiding zone for the Potentials (people who have the Inhuman gene or have a relative who did). The place gives some semblance to them living as refugees until The Resistance can find a safe place to relocate them to.

Skye follows May down the hallway who tells her that Madame Hydra requested for Skye for the meeting and they enter the room where Fitz is giving a briefing to take down Simmons the subversive who’s apparently planning to take down Madame Hydra. “We will defeat these terrorists and make society great again”. (Lol I see what you did there Fitz, pretty subtle but I see you). Anyway, how can Fitz be planning to take down the love of his life, Simmons. Noooo and they somehow decided that Skye should be a part of this? Nooo. Also, “Hail Hydra” the agents chime in after Fitz gives his briefing. (Why doesn’t S.H.I.E.L.D have a catchy tag line too? )

Hope questions Mack about why the Inhuman guy from earlier was taken away if he didn’t do anything wrong. He tells her that she catches on quick but they should mind their own business for their own good and if they wanted to take her away he would take care of it. (aww Mack and Hope are too precious, his paternal instincts are kicking in, in the most adorable way)

Ward enters the Resistance hideout and tells Mace that Skye has been compromised. Mace reassures Ward and says that he has nothing to worry about since she’s pretty tough from what Ward told him. Simmons asks Ward if Skye managed to get Radcliffe’s location and he reaches for the paper Skye gave but says that Skye hasn’t been acting like herself since Simmons got here. Simmons is triggered but all for good measure since Ward was the double agent that betrayed them in the real world but he’s having trust issues with her now. Mace steps in to say that Simmons is only here because he trusts Ward and not her. Wow. (Mace is savage and what a turn of events though).

Skye’s coordinates lead to Ogygia, east of Bermuda. Simmons says that they have to get to Radcliffe ASAP but Mace says that they don’t have the manpower to do so. Coulson asks Mace to send them instead and he politely says that this is a spy organisation and Coulson is a teacher. (gahahha the irony though). He eventually agrees after Ward says that he’ll go with them and supervise them. 

Skye, May and the team of Hydra agents head to none other than Mace’s house where the agents subdue him and pull his daughter away from him while Skye watches.

Coulson, Ward, Mace and Simmons enter the hangar where Mace tells them he envisions Quinjets to be flying from here in the future. Simmons smiles and looks at Coulson and says “Imagine”. (HAHAHA imagine indeed. Since it’s real in the real world. ) 

Coulson questions why Simmons didn’t tell Mace and Ward that this reality was fake but she said that it wasn’t a lie but simply an omission of the truth since Coulson is the only one who remembers how things should be. Ward leads them into the Quinjet.

Mack is in the interrogation room with May and he asks her why he and Hope are being treated this way when they didn’t do anything wrong, especially Hope since she’s just a kid. May says that that doesn’t mean that she’s innocent and Mack says that he will do anything if they won’t hurt Hope. 

Back on the Quinjet, Ward asks Simmons if Radcliffe is dangerous to which she responds with “Maybe not physically but sometimes the greatest threats are the ones right in front of you”. (Ooooo damn that burn though haha). Good Ward looks away with guilt and says “I’m Sorry.” (huh. wait what??!?!?!). “I should have never left Skye. “ Jemma and Us : “Oh”. (Lol Ward almost took me for a leap there when he apologised. I thought he was apologising about betraying them in the real world but I guess now is not the time for it, yet.) He gives Simmons a speech about how Skye means everything to him and that he would die for her to protect her. (oooo is this some foreshadowing?) Simmons is not having any of it and she tells Ward that she’ll give him a minute. (Or do you mean give yourself a minute, Simmons? HAHA)

Simmons heads over to talk to Coulson and reassures him that he’s not crazy to which he responds, “I live alone and make my own soap.”(lol Coulson, hahaha I seriously cannot deal with you and your handmade soap HAHAHA) Simmons gives Coulson a pep talk and tells him that he’s exactly where he’s meant to be.

Back at the Triskelion, (what a cool name btw), Fitz or rather Leopold as Madame Hydra calls him is looking at the computer to find the Simmons is dead and confronts her about it and demands that she tell him the truth. (that slam on the table was kind of funny though, coming from Fitz) but anyway, she tells him that Simmons came from the other side aka the real world and is here to take them down and that everything she does is so that she and Fitz can be together. Still cringy but ok. I guess AIDA always had a soft spot for Fitz since he was the one that saved her in the real world and was the only one who showed sympathy towards her. All she ever wanted was to be human and have feelings and she was finally able to live that out in the Framework. Thus, she won’t let anyone destroy her perfect reality. She receives a text about a security breach and tells Fitz that they will finish this later. She leaves the room while Fitz looks distraught, almost as if he remembers Simmons. 

Skye is in another interrogation room with Hope and Hope is worried about her dad and says that all of this is not his fault at all and that she Hope he’s okay. (hurhur sorry I couldn’t resist). Skye enters Mack’s interrogation room and he tells her that she knows who she is and I’m just like omg yessss until we realize that May told Mack to say that. Damn it Mack! We were all rooting for you but he did agree that he would do anything to save his daughter. Skye is shook and she leaves the interrogation room where May and the other Hydra agents starts chasing her. 

Ward, Coulson and Simmons arrive at Ogygia to extract Radcliffe. Ward approaches a hobo looking Radcliffe playing cricket? and tells him to drop his weapon aka the cricket stick? lol hahaha ok. 

“Drop it” - Ward

“Hive? No. It can’t be.” - Radcliffe

“Hello again, you traitor” - Simmons

“Surprise” - Coulson

while Radcliffe looks around at Ward, Simmons and Coulson surrounding him in utter disbelief. He tells them that they’re all not meant to be here and realizes that Ward is not Hive. This scene makes it for me where Simmons and Coulson finally get to face Radcliffe and chide him for getting all of them into this mess. Simmons demands that Radcliffe help them rescue everyone and get them out of here. To which he replies, “I’m afraid there’s no getting out of here”. Dun dun dun. 

Back at the Triskelion where Skye is trying to escape, she enters a lift full of Hydra agents and manages to subdue them. She runs down the stairs but May has her surrounded. She drops her weapons as the agents kick her down while May watches with a smug look on her face. (Omg nooo may this isn’t supposed to happen).

At Ogygia, Radcliffe tells the others that he never intended for this to happen that the Framework was supposed to be a paradise where everyone lived happily after but it all went wrong. Ward has had enough of this and just wants to extract Radcliffe and go back to HQ but Radcliffe pleads with them to leave him alone when we see a female figure walking by. It’s Agnes as Simmons recognizes her. Radcliffe asks them to leave them out of this and Simmons asks Radcliffe for the way out. She tells him that their way out has been compromised and he realizes that Aida knows that they’re here. Soon after, a Quinjet arrives on the Island and Radcliffe asks them all to run and hide.

Wow. They’re seriously channeling some Darth Vader vibes here. Madame Hydra, Fitz and the legion of hydra agents arrive. They’re here to find the subversives aka Coulson and Simmons. She has a confrontation with Radcliffe. He tells her that this has gone way out of hand to which she responds that she has done what he’s asked of her. To take away their greatest regret and to protect the framework. What happened is not up to her. He responds that she has put herself into the Framework and has been manipulating it to get what she wants. To which she responds with “It’s okay to lie to save a life. You taught me that.”(Oh snappp, shots were fired) Radcliffe calls her Aida and says that her programming went wrong and she is triggered. She threatens Radcliffe not to call her that here. Fitz returns with a subversive, Agnes. Agnes asks Holden(Radcliffe) what is going on.

Mack hugs Hope in the hallway as they are reunited while a beaten up Skye passes by them.

 “Hydra thanks you for your service” -May

“Hail Hydra” - Mack 

Omg Mack how could you have done this to Skye?! Sigh.

Radcliffe tries to convince Fitz that he’s from the real world and that this is just an alternate reality that Aida created but Fitz doesn’t believe him and kills Agnes. Jemma screams “Noooooo” at Fitz tearfully as she couldn’t believe that he would kill Agnes in cold blood. Fitz looks at Jemma with a shocked face as the Hydra agents chase Simmons, Coulson and Ward. They run to the Quinjet in the nick of time and take off. 

Back at base, Mace is furious. Ward had a shot on the doctor aka Fitz and could have killed him to save Agnes’s life but he didn’t fire because Simmons told Ward that she’s in love with Fitz (the psychopath in Mace’s words, hahaha) They demand asnwers from Simmons as to why she’s been acting this way. Simmons bursts out and says that none of this is real and they’re all not real. 

The door opens and one of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents has found  Mack around their HQ. Mack tells them what happened to Skye and Ward asks if she’s okay. Mack tells them that for the first time, he couldn’t look his little girl in the eye because he felt guilty for what he did to Skye and tells them that he’s here to help.

Whew omg yesss the team is finally back together. Minus evil fitz of course. The scene ends and we hear Aida/ Madame Hydra ‘s voice saying the classic “we’ll return in a moment” with the Hydra symbol in the background. Wow they’re really committing to this with the Hydra symbols everywhere and Madame Hydra doing the voiceover instead of Coulson with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

Back at Hydra headquarters,Radcliffe is being tortured while Skye is in another holding room listening. Fitz walks in and Skye tells him that they know each other from the other world. As the Hydra agents take her away, she tells him that he doesn’t want to do this to which he responds with. “Yes. yes I do. I guess you don’t know me at all.”

Thoughts on the episode

Damnnnnnn this episode was insaneeee. Iain de caestecker is so good at playing evil fitz tho. But poor Skye. I really hope the others manage to save her in the next episode. Really happy about all the skyeward scenes and Coulson learning how to be an agent again. Also good guy ward is absolutely perfect. Can we please upload him into an LMD and bring him back to the real world? Although, he most likely will die trying to save Skye and the others aka Poetic Justice. I guess Radcliffe kind of got what he had coming all along. A vengeful Aida for the way that he treated her in the real world, as a tool and a pawn in his game of war. He shoved her aside when he didn’t need her and then used her to get what he wanted. Aida got what she wanted, human feelings and Fitz to accompany her. 

I’m really loving what they’ve done with making this world super Hydra-fied with the symbols, sculptures and voice overs. Even down to the smallest detail. Kudos to the crew. 

The title “Identity and Change” is really at the heart of this episode. As we see Coulson struggling with his identity, how Ward has changed for the better in this world and also how Daisy and Simmons are dealing with their own identity and the changes in the Framework. Simmons also revealed to Mace and Ward that this world is fake and I’m wondering how they will handle that news. Fitz on the other hand, seems to be hard to get through to at the moment. Both Radcliffe and Daisy tried to get through to him but failed as he chose Aida (Madame Hydra) and being on the evil side over them. I must say that Aida is really clever though, to have found the loophole in Radcliffe’s plan and exploit it to her own advantage. She also leverages on using Fitz’s love for her to convince him to not trust Radcliffe and Skye. That might have worked but it seems that Fitz enjoys being evil or he’s really in denial and trying to push away Radcliffe, Skye and Simmons who might remind him of who he was in the real world. 

I can’t wait for the next episode to come! I’m really loving this Framework Arc. I hope Skye gets rescued and we get to see more Skyeward scenes. And I can’t wait to see the gang back in action again. And maybe Mace using some of his Inhuman powers as the Patriot.  I also hope that we get to see the rest of the Resistance. Maybe Bobbie and Hunter? heh

Whew that’s all for now. Till the next recap! :)

[marjaystuff]

Elise Cooper Interviews the authors of Hush

Hush is a compilation of stories by best-selling crime authors. The premise for each story delves into what is truth and how can someone be trusted. The authors are Ruth Ware, Lisa Unger, Laura Lippman, Alison Gaylin, Jeffery Deaver, and Oyinkan Braithwaite.

These stories feature conspirators, psychics, deceptive lovers, and desperate killers. The collection of six stories ranges from political mysteries to psychological thrillers, in which deception can be a matter of life and death.

Below is a Q A with all six authors:

Elise Cooper: Do you enjoy writing short stories?

Oyinkan Braithwaite: I was excited to be a participant. The premise covered what I am interested in writing.  The theme of my story included some things I wanted to play around with.  For me, short stories are easier to write.  They allow me to be a bit more creative, and I do not have to worry about keeping up the momentum.

Jeffery Deaver: When I write a novel or a short story the emotional payoff needs to be just as high.  With a short story there is no time to develop the character.  They must jump off the page.  Every twist must be earned.  Throughout the chapters there must be “buried” clues.  In a sense a misdirection.

Laura Lippman: Most of the time the reason I write a short story is because someone will ask me.  For me, short stories are hard to write.  In the time it takes me to write a short story I can write a good chunk of a novel.  It takes me at least a month to write a short story, off and on, which is about the time it takes me to write about 1/6 of a novel.

Lisa Unger: I do enjoy writing short stories; although I express myself best with novels.  I like writing the long relationships of the characters.  Everything starts with the character’s voice and I then find my way to the story.  In this story it started with Will’s voice.

 Elise Cooper:  How did you get the idea for this story?

Ruth Ware: I thought about the nature of truth and lies.  How do we deceive ourselves and allow ourselves to be deceived?  Now people are obsessed with fake news. What would happen if the most significant people in your life lied to you?  For me a significant influence was Educated by Tara Westover.

Lisa Unger: The original name for the compilation was The End of Truth.  For me, this was basically catnip, since that is the theme that runs through all my books. What is real and what is not?  How is perception altered by addiction, sleep deprivation, or insanity.? This is what I live for. In this story, my character, Will, has a problem with anger and jealousy and has been stunted by his childhood trauma.  He has made the relationship toxic because of his problems.

Laura Lippman: I am interested in tech and spying.  What happens to people who eavesdrop?  Are they curious about what is being said behind their backs? In a bad marriage, who is to blame? People grow in different directions and sometimes grow apart.  There is power in balance and their dynamics.  In this story, the wife feels she has been left behind. 

Alison Gaylin: I wanted to write about psychic situations, a missing child, and a Hollywood couple.  I hoped I showed how a missing child is a great equalizer.  It doesn’t matter what wealth or social status someone has if the person cared about it gone.

Jeffery Deaver: In this story it was about deception.  The character manipulated the media.  I thought about a Gravedigger because it makes for a good headline.  Ever since I graduated from the University of Missouri with a journalism degree I have been fascinated about truth in journalism.  Can fake news ever be weaponized? 

Oyinkan Braithwaite: I like to explore the role of social media.  I am fascinated by it.  What are the influences that create a whole false life to get money or popularity? 

 Elise Cooper:  There were interesting tidbits in some of the stories?

Jeffery Deaver: I have been putting grammar teachings in all my books since the beginning. My main character in my novels, Lincoln Rhymes, is a grammar totalitarian. If someone messes up in front of him, he will correct them, no matter who it is.  In a book, dialogue might have grammatical errors, but the descriptive writings by the author should not or they will be called out.  This story dealt with the apostrophe plurals and the articles, “the and a.”

Alison Gaylin: I put in this quote, “Her daughter never calls; she texts.” The context is that the mother will not answer her phone.  She does not care who is calling because she knows it is not her daughter.  Her daughter never calls, but texts just like the millennials today.  

Laura Lippman: I love Greek mythology.  This story had a love triangle and how natural it is to be angry at the third person.  But is it misplaced anger?  The Greek Gods, Zeus and Hera, and their relationship have always bothered me.  He is never punished for his infidelities. Why does Hera punish the other woman?  It is because she cannot punish Zeus. Immortality of the Gods is an interesting mirror to the idea of ‘until death do us part,’ because he can never die. They cannot be parted and end their marriage.

Lisa Unger: I wanted to explore the world of social media.  I did it through this quote, “This is my point. The world. The real world is fraught with imperfections. It’s messy and complicated, often uncomfortable, awkward, painful, dull. It’s not curated and filtered for consumption. “But that’s social media.” “It’s not … true.”

Ruth Ware: I deliberately left the setting understated.  English readers will probably think it takes place in America because of the reference to guns.  I suspect American readers will think it takes place close to the UK, because of my British voice.  From a plausibility point of view, it could maybe happen in Canada.  It would be easier for someone to hide because of the territory, coast line, and fewer population. I hope readers felt slightly foreign no matter where they live.

 Elise Cooper:  Can you give a shout out about your next book?

Oyinkan Braithwaite: It is a novella titled The Baby Is Mine.  I set in during the lockdown period.  The plot has a man finding himself in a situation where he has to discover who is the mother of a particular baby.

Jeffery Deaver: There will be a short story that leads into the novel plot where Lincoln Rhyme has to figure out who is trying to kill him.  It comes out a month before the novel.

Alison Gaylin: Out late spring is The Collective.  It is about people whose children are missing, but has nothing to do with this short story.  The plot has a woman who never got over the death of her young child.  She discovers on the dark web, a group of mothers who were in a similar situation. They are killing those responsible for their children’s death.

Laura Lippman: It is titled Dream Girl about a mystery in a high rise.  I started writing it over a year before the virus.  The main character questions their sanity.  They are thinking, either I am losing my mind or someone wants me to think I am losing my mind.

Lisa Unger: It is titled Confessions on the 7:45 and comes out October 6th. It is based loosely on Strangers on A Train. There is this chance encounter where two women sitting next to each other on a commuter train start conversing after the train has stalled.  This young woman confesses her dark secrets. They end up seeing each other again.

Ruth Ware:  Out in September will be One By One. It is set in the French Alps.  During a corporate retreat one of the founders goes missing.  Soon after there is an avalanche, which traps the group from getting out.  People are getting killed one bye, hence the title.

THANK YOU!!

Snowflakes by Ruth Ware delves into family trust. Her character, Leah, has spent her formative years isolated on a remote island with her family. But their quiet existence, far from the devastated mainland, is cracking. Her father, sensing a coming threat, demands that a wall be built. As the stone blockade rises, the father’s paranoia escalates and so does Leah’s dread that the violence the family left behind has found its way to their sanctuary.

 Let Her Be by Lisa Unger begins with an aspiring novelist regretting his stalker instincts. He can’t stop parsing his ex-girlfriend’s popular social media accounts for clues that her ideal new rural life with the perfect man has a dark side. After all, nobody he knows has actually seen the blissful blogger in the flesh for nearly a year. When Will draws a wary friend into his “investigation,” the real question becomes who’s truly in danger.

 Slow Burner by Laura Lippman has a woman watching her marriage implode over text messages and decides that ignorance is not bliss. Her character, Liz Kelsey promised herself she’d never again spy on her feckless husband, Phil. But then she discovers a string of suggestive texts on his secret burner phone. Even worse, he’s flirting with the woman who shook their unstable marriage once before. But knowledge is power. What’s more dangerous; what Liz knows or what Phil doesn’t know?

 The Gift by Alison Gaylin has a story that is every mother’s nightmare, the disappearance of a child. Actress Lyla McCord and her husband, Nolan received the news that their eight-year-old daughter has vanished. To find her, Nolan reaches out to a psychic gifted with uncanny visions about the lost girl. But Lyla thinks she sees right through him. Is he a con artist or the real thing? Either way, he might be telling the truth. And that’s too frightening for Lyla to bear.

 Buried by Jeffery Deaver will keep readers up at night.  Per his usual, he has many twists in the story. After a long run as a respected journalist, Edward “Fitz” Fitzhugh is on his way out when he stumbles across the story of a lifetime. The Gravedigger is a serial kidnapper who taunts the police with riddles. The other puzzle is his motive, which Fitz is determined to piece together. When an eyewitness to the latest abduction leads Fitz closer to the facts, he realizes that the last great story of his career is not at all what it appears to be.

 Treasure by Oyinkan Braithwaite delves into class divide. The main character Treasure is a wannabe Instagram influencer in Lagos, Nigeria. She shows off a luxurious life in a gated community that her almost five thousand followers can only dream of. The macho mechanic is Treasure’s number one fan, and double taps and blushing emojis are no longer enough. He needs to meet her in the flesh. If only Treasure were more prepared for destiny.

[agentmanatee]

In reference to this post. Particularly those tags about Fitz’s ability to see the good in people and his attempts to redeem his abuser highlight the reason why I want Papa Kasius to be the big bad of season 6. Which is less about the conflict he himself would bring but the story they can tell with his “disappointment” of a son, Kasius (and his right hand Sinara). Bringing back 5A’s big bads before they were big bads could be such an interesting story for the team. 

Kasius’ story had obvious parallels to Fitz’s Framework story. I get the implication that Kasius would be very different had he not been trying so desperately to achieve his father’s approval. And, like Fitz in the Framework, he sacrificed so much of what made him himself for his father’s approval in the Framework. (”The things I did for his approval left scars”) I actually headcanon that Kasius was a “soft” child who loved art and culture instead of war.

It also appears that Kasius chose to go by his family name as opposed to his given. Wouldn’t it be interesting if they hid that a character introduced early in season 6 is in fact a younger Kasius because he is called by his first name? We could also learn what made Sinara seem to be such a pariah to Kree like Faulnak. 

So, imagine Papa Kasius takes Fitz to hold as leverage to get Daisy and assigns his son, Kasius, with the task of questioning/overseeing Fitz’s captivity. Or maybe a curious Kasius just wants to ask Fitz about Earth because he’s fascinated by it. Fitz quickly picks up on how his father treats him as a disappointment and relates his own experiences, especially those in the Framework. He tells him how much he hates the person he had to be to “earn” his father’s love. This can actually help him process his relationship with Alistair in both lives he lived. He may not be able to recognize that a father’s love should be unconditional, that you shouldn’t have to change yourself for it, for himself; but recognizing it for Kasius could make him understand it for himself. He could gain his confidence in himself (and see his own goodness) by helping Kasius avoid that path. He could save Kasius from ever having to carry that guilt. Sinara fits into this because she is disgusted by how Kasius grovels to his father and hides who he is from his family. We learn that she loves this Kasius who is still “soft” and likes how Fitz treats him. 

Since this Fitz did not know Kasius or Sinara, or what they did to his team (especially Jemma, May, and Daisy), he would not have the prejudices against them that the team do. Imagine the team catches up to them (I want this early, I need Fitz reunited with Jemma ASAP) and he has to convince them to trust Kasius and Sinara to help. Since Ruby’s storyline had similar parallels to both Kasius and Framework!Fitz, Daisy may recognize this as a chance to redeem young indoctrinated characters by recruiting them to Shield. So this could be a way for her to find some resolution with Fitz. I would also like this to be the start of a trend of Fitz and Daisy “adopting” supervillians.

This could also present a very personal challenge to Mack as director. He watched Kasius murder Yoyo in front of him in 5x10. Can he find it in himself to recognize that this is not the Kasius they meant in the future? That they themselves can ensure that he will never be that villian? This could be a great way to explore just how far Mack’s forgiving nature goes.

My main problem with this is the delay of the much-needed FitzSimmons reunion. So maybe instead of taking Fitz as leverage for Daisy, Papa Kasius captures both Jemma and Fitz for their skills and knowledge of inhumans. Maybe he wants to replicate the old Kree experiments and has intel, most likely from General Hale, that they’re Earth’s experts on Inhuman biology. This could also serve as a way to address Jemma’s trauma in 5A.