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autisticshadowthehedgehog · 1 year ago

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Sonic Prime Extended Universe HCs - New Yoke

so we know that the Shatterverses aren’t “real,” full universes, just distorted reflections of the Prime that aren’t fully-formed, hence why there’s only like 6 people and two locations. However fucking around is fun fun fun so I’m just gonna do a post for each universe dissecting where the other Sonic Universe characters would be and what they’d be up to. Please for the love of GOD add your own ideas/hcs in the comments I want us all to melt into creativity mush.

NEW YOKE

Team Chaotix are lowkey rebels. They pretend to be model citizens while aiding Rebel and Renegade’s forces from the sidelines. Well, when I say “they,” I mean all of them but Charmy. He is noooot the subtle type so they just hide him inside. This keeps him alive but his zoomies are insane. House has been on fire at least twice.

You guys know Fiona’s backstory in Archie where she was besties with Mighty and Ray and they tried to revolt and it didn’t end well? Yeah I feel like that literally happens 1-1 here; Mighty and Ray think Fiona is dead, she’s digging her way out of isolation. The boys are on the run and NOT having a good time.

The other 1-1 is Whisper’s backstory. oops

Tangle and Jewel are in the Resistance; Tangle’s a fighter obvsly, Jewel works espionage/organization/keeping Tangle from dying.

SatAM Freedom Fighters are literally just doing the same shit. However without Sonic they’re missing their most crucial team member (the Distraction™) so they have to be way more sneaky and careful. then again if there IS a New Yoke!Sonic he could very well be here so maybe they’re all just vibin

StC Freedom Fighters are here too; their resistance is way smaller and they can’t do a lot but they are doing their BEST okay?? Porker and Tekno are making some kickass robots and Shortfuse is a huge win for them. Johnny was their main fighter and uh. well. right before the Sonic Incident™ he kinda got blasted just like in canon. Sorry buddy

Vanilla and Cream are hiding the chao in their basement. Literally, they dug out a basement to function as a makeshift chao garden so that the little guys wouldn’t get killed by the mass roboticization. It’s not going too well because chao need clean water to survive and there’s only so much they can get. They’re not involved with the rebellion though; they’re doing all they can to keep themselves and their chao alive, and without meeting Amy or Sonic they’ve never made contact with the main cast. Perhaps, similar to Advance 2, they make contact when Vanilla gets captured for roboticization and Cream teams up with the rebels to rescue her?

Tikal peekin out of the ME cause she hasn’t seen Knuckles in a while: what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck

If we assume Robotnik has control of the Continents too, I like to think the Sonic X humans are running the rebellions over there. Chris has built Helen a rocket-powered wheelchair with guns on it and she is a little bit too happy about it

Elise is under a ton of pressure to keep her kingdom alive with the new dictatorship; they’re constantly checking in on her and roboticizing “criminals” in her kingdom and she hates it but if she objects they all die. Not having a good time!!

If Blaze is in this dimension she’s got a bit more freedom than Elise what with her superpowers; I feel like she probably has isolated her kingdom from the rest of the world while desperately trying to defeat oncoming invaders all by herself with her fire powers (+ with Silver maybe?). One day she goes too far and passes out, only to be saved by little Marine who encourages her to keep fighting.

Zeti peekin down at the planet below cause they’ve been seeing a lot of explosions lately: lol nice

actually Zeti would be a HUGe threat if they decided to invade. these bitches control electronics and you know what 90% of the planet is now

Sticks is THRIVING. Girl expected a robo-pocalypse for years and it finally came and now she’s rescued a few stragglers and they have a mini-civilization in her bunker in the woods. She often leads attacks on the robots just to fuck with the Council and also cause she thinks it’s fun.

Babylon Rogues aren’t on the Council’s side but they’re also not really helping the rebellion. They just run around stealing shit like they normally do

Surge and Kit happen after the Sonic Incident™; Starline tries to recreate Sonic’s power and it goes. about as well as you’d expect.

and finally, OUR BOTS:

the Edgy™ Scratch and Grounder concepts from Underground production are Real™

the reason we don’t see Orbot and Cubot here imo is that they’re running factories in farther areas. Not well but they’re doing an adequate enough job they haven’t been scrapped yet

Snively is also running a factory somewhere, but his obsequious nature might get him roboticized just out of annoyance one day.

Breezie is considered their most dangerous robot. She’s a shapeshifter and can disguise herself as a normal mobian in order to get information on the Resistance; they’re constantly terrified that anybody could be Her.

Robotnik JR is here too, also a shifter; he’s made to be a robotic duplicate of the Chaos Council for certain public appearances in case of assassination attempts.

Decoe and Bocoe I don’t see as being here, but I dO see Bokkun as being WAY scarier than funny here. He is a detonation-bot and he’s damn good at his job and he’s a scary lil gremlin guy

Hope lost most of her family and is living under the Chaos Council’s ““care””. She absolutely hates them and is trying to aid the Resistance, but she’s under constant observation and thus can make no actual contact with them. Every now and again she’s been able to delete a file or turn off a camera. There’s no telling how many of them she’s saved with these small acts. They don’t know she exists.

Belle and Sage are not here... yet.

#sonic prime #new yoke city #new yoke #sonic prime au #mine

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sadquickchristmassnowman · 1 year ago

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random community rankings (because if there’s one thing I love it’s a good List)

(disclaimer just because something is ranked last does not mean I think it’s horrible!!! (although sometimes it does.) it just means I like the ones above it more.)

christmas episodes

1. 2x11 abed’s uncontrollable christmas

2. 3x10 regional holiday music

3. 1x12 comparative religion

HUGE fucking gap

4. 4x10 intro to knots

halloween episodes

1. 2x06 epidemiology

2. 3x05 horror fiction in seven spooky steps

3. 1x07 introduction to statistics

4. 4x02 paranormal parentage

paintabll episodes

1. 2x23 a fistful of paintballs/2x24 for a few paintballs more

2. 6x11 modern espionage

3. 1x23 modern warfare

4. 4x13 advanced introduction to finality (this one barely counts as a paintbal ep but I’m including it)

birthday episodes

(this one was really really difficult I would die for all three of these)

1. 5x11 g.i. jeff

2. 2x10 mixology certification

3. 2x19 critical film studies

animated episodes

1. 2x11 abed’s uncontrollable christmas

2. 5x11 g.i. jeff

3. 3x20 digital estate planning

season premieres (is that what they’re called? whatever. you get it)

1. 3x01 biology 101

2. 1x01 pilot

3. 6x01 ladders

4. 5x01 repilot

5. 4x01 history 101

6. 2x01 anthropology 101

season finales

1. 6x13 emotional consequences of broadcast television

2. 3x22 introduction to finality

3. 2x24 for a few paintballs more

4. 4x13 advanced introduction to finality

5. 1x25 pascal’s triangle revisited

6. 5x13 basic sandwich

seasons

1. season 3

2. season 2

3. season 1

4. season 5

5. season 6

6. season 4

pls rb with your rankings (of any number of these categories or add new ones!!) I would like to start some Tumblr Discourse™

#I love making lists and I’ve had these all either in my head or notes app for months so I thougjt I’d share #I’m about to drive for 4 hours so I’m hoping to come back to people yelling at each other #jk jk but I am looking forward to reading peoples’ lists and hearing opinions!!#I’m posting this before I get on the road to hopefully set up a huge dopamine hit in 4 hours #tumblr interactions=happy chemicals #okay I think I’ve successfully made the tags unnecessarily long (a sadquickchristmassnowman essential) so #gooodbye #community #nbc community #community nbc #community tv

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whistwhistler · 2 years ago

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some thoughts on jane tennant & kate whistler and the awful takes i’ve seen on their characters so far...

I think there’s a particularly harmful narrative out there that has been started that Jane “uses & abuses” the people around her (namely, Whistler) when she needs something or when she’s in trouble and I just think that’s incredibly antithetical to who she’s been designed and created to be as a character. Do you really think the writers would a) do that to Vanessa (or Tori), b) be so careless in handling an incredibly complex, woman of colour (and in senior leadership, no less) who has been involved in the espionage game and all the toxicity surrounding espionage, war, intelligence and politics in this current political climate and c) write female friendships/working relationships to be so toxic in an age where females doing literally anything on tv are scrutinized for no good reason? Do you think that maybe, just maybe, it was intentional from the start to highlight how at the core of Jane’s being, that she’s not an inhuman byproduct of what the CIA creates its operatives to be?

NCIS: Hawaii, so far, has been deeply intentional in the way the seasonal story arcs/thematic arcs are crafted. Everything about each season has led up to what happens in its finales. The first and second season has established and zeroed in on the theme of family/found family/etc., and that’s not something that’s just thrown in there because it sounds pretty or cute. The theme of family is constantly reinforced because it’s the backbone that drives this series. Ohana. It’s what sets the Hawaii office apart from the other shows. It’s not as dark, gritty, violent, or depressing, and that actually works to its advantage. Family drives every aspect of this show and its characters. And you know what else? Family is messy. And while I still have my own grievances on how they’ve focused so heavily on Jane (again, for obvious reasons), her family/kids, and her past and not so much the other characters (yet), I also believe it’s worked to their advantage. I haven’t seen a show do flashbacks and retrospective character study on its characters, and do it well, in a while especially for a “police procedural.” For us to even have flashbacks and character-centric episodes is a gift for a procedural, and we have to remember that. We’ve seen bits and pieces of Jane’s past, and now we see how it all plays into this storyline of how her past is coming back to haunt her. Jane is a woman who fiercely loves and cares deeply for those who are close to her heart, but even to those who cannot fight for themselves, or are in deep trouble. That was made so beautifully highlighted in 2x18. That’s what makes her an incredible boss, an incredible leader, and most importantly, a wonderful friend. Has your boss ever invited you to their office for a drink? Let alone to their own home with an open door policy? Has your boss risked their life to rescue not just themselves but others who are wounded and are in desperate need of medical attention, all the meanwhile being badly injured themselves? Jane’s life revolves around family and caring for others because it’s something she was deprived of as a child. Her mother was not around. She did not have siblings. She had a loving father, but with him being in the military, she would have had to move from base to base. Her childhood would not have been steady. Friends would have come and gone. Her entire life was on the go. She’s had to fend for herself growing up. She’s had to stand up for herself. Jane Tennant is a woman who is deeply informed and shaped by her experience and leverages that to be the person she needed as a child to those around her. It’s what has made her an extraordinary SAC. But Jane also isn’t perfect. She has flaws, and they’re making themselves known in this finale.

So now, despite Jane being the Special Agent in Charge of the Entire Pacific Rim™, she also has a past. We can’t ignore that. Jane Tennant has a past. And it’s a CIA past. And from the sound of it, it’s a past she’s not particularly proud or fond of. We can see that Jane’s CIA past has deeply affected her, as it should. You’ve all seen (in some shape or form, fictional or non fictional) the extent of what the CIA is, what it represents, the shadiness and the dark side of how it operates, and what its people are capable of. We know the toxic culture of secrets, lies, deadly surprises and betrayal that can follow with being involved with the CIA. Jane has been involved with all of that. And she is still, unfortunately, involved with that despite having switched agencies and careers. She no longer is a covert CIA operative, she is the SAC of the NCIS Hawaii office. But that doesn’t mean she won’t slip back into covert CIA operative mode the moment she finds out she’s in danger. Like everyone else, Jane has a fight or flight response... She just happens to do both. So what does this mean?

Well, if Jane is in danger and it involves her extremely dangerous, shady CIA past, everyone in her life will inadvertently be in danger as well. Why else would Ernie call Jane out that she was being shady? She doesn’t really have a choice. She’s played the intelligence game long enough to know that secrets, information, and data can get people killed. The people she’s dealt with are extremely dangerous, and if they get the slightest idea of who is important to Jane, they will stop at nothing to eliminate those around her to hurt her. To torture her. Can you imagine the weight of that? Knowing that your past has put your kids at risk for being targets? Your closest friends, your colleagues - your family? Hell, I’d be shady too. Jane is incredibly smart. She knows the loopholes, she knows what angles to play. She knows the risks she has to take. She has been through it and knows exactly how to manipulate and play the system. That’s what makes her such a polar opposite to the character Kate Whistler is.

Okay, enter Kate. Because I know what you’re all thinking. What was the point of reinforcing the family theme with Kate with the amount of Jane/Kate interactions we’ve had all season only for Jane to use her to get into the bank in Venezuela and then handcuff her to a column in a kitchen, basically leaving her to dry? What was the point of all of this if Jane going rogue anyway is going to put everyone in danger? Wouldn’t Kate be pissed as hell for Jane getting her into this mess, risking her career, putting her in danger, etc etc etc? Well, I’m glad you didn’t ask, because I’m still going to tell you anyway.

Short answer, Kate didn’t see it like that. Long answer, Kate Whistler isn’t a chump and is a foil to Jane Tennant’s character. Aka, Whistler is everything that Jane is not, and yet, is everything that Jane needs. I’m not saying Whistler is an antagonist (maybe it seemed like she was in the first season, but we’ve seen how she’s grown since then - keep this thought tucked away in the back of your minds for later). But why else would they have introduced Whistler the way they did in the pilot, if they weren’t going to use her to balance Jane out? And vice versa? Why else have they spent so much time developing Whistler’s character, despite her being an agency-adjacent character (AKA, a non-NCIS character on an NCIS show)? Why have they spent so much time writing scenes and moments between the two women and developing that friendship? One, it’s because they’re establishing Whistler to be just as an important part of the NCIS team despite her being interagency, and two, it’s because Jane and Kate both need each other. And most importantly, they trust each other. Keep this thought pinned. Trust. Whistler looks up to Jane, despite her sticky way of operating. And Jane looks up to Whistler because of how brilliant she is. How unlike Whistler is to herself. Jane recognizes that Whistler is someone she needs in her corner; not because she has malicious intents of using Whistler for what she can do, who/what she knows, and what she’s capable of, but because Whistler is just wired differently, and she needs that - dare I say, craves that. Jane has spent so much of her life depending on and trusting people like Maggie who are like her, only for people like Maggie to betray her in the end. She knows that Whistler will never do that, because she knows what Whistler is driven by (protecting the intel/secrets/data to the highest degree, etc.) Whistler knows, understands, and can play the intelligence game just as well as Jane can, and Jane sees how much of a breath of fresh air she is. And for Whistler, despite Jane’s way of not doing things by the book, it’s yielded results. Jane’s methods have worked, and that’s what Whistler has seen and understands of Jane and who she is as a leader. She sees and appreciates Jane’s ideology as a leader, reminding her of the kind of person, perhaps one day, the leader (ASAC, SAC) she wants to become.

And that’s why she’d listen to Jane in going to Venezuela.

Okay, let’s back it up a bit. Jane’s methods have worked.

... But they don’t always do.

Alas, the moment you’ve all been waiting for - Jane’s habits of slipping back into a covert, secretive, protective and shady operative, is not working. Jane going rogue is not working.

And yes, it puts others in danger. It puts herself in an immense amount of danger.

Okay, so that part was obvious, so what am I getting at? Once again, I’m glad you didn’t ask (because I did, for you), so here we go.

As we can see in next week’s promo, Jane is kidnapped, and is being tortured by Adrian Creel, a dangerous person from her past. Not only that, but is someone who she thought was dead. Both her past and present worlds are colliding, and she’s now scrambling to do damage control. So she goes rogue. We have to remember that Jane is highly intelligent, calculated, and cunning. That combination of words is absolutely fucking terrifying if used for harm instead of good. But that’s not who Jane is. And we saw that in a flashback.

This is what sets Jane apart from the person that Maggie Shaw is. Maggie is a textbook CIA operative. She has little regard for those who cross her and will do whatever it takes to get a job done. Spies are trained to not get attached to others. To push aside their emotions and feelings. And despite Maggie having a soft spot for Jane and becoming a mentor/mother figure to her (which makes her betrayal so deeply wounding to Jane not having a mother of her own in the picture), Maggie and Jane are fundamentally different people. One sees people as assets, assignments, collateral, or worse - collateral damage. The other sees people as human beings. One is completely unaffected by betrayal. The other is deeply affected. One is unfazed by death. The other is. You catching my drift?

Jane’s CIA experience has shown her how terrible the world of espionage can be. How messy, interwoven, terrible, and haunting it can be. Right now, it’s haunting her, and coming back to bite her in the ass. So what do you do when your past is coming back for you in the present? You pull every stop necessary to protect those you care about the most. To protect your family, the people you’d easily lay your life down for. Jane is not the kind of person that would intentionally get others she cares about into messes, nor is she the kind of person that gets people into messes that she herself wouldn’t be able to pull them out from. These are calculated risks Jane is taking. It’s not that she doesn’t know or think that her actions won’t cause problems for herself or others later on, she absolutely knows and understands the weight of every outcome and every choice she has to make. She wouldn’t put her team or colleagues in more danger than they need to be. Please understand this language. She can’t protect them from everything that could possibly happen, but if she has the smallest chance of controlling what she can control, then she’ll put herself on the line first. So she’ll make the choices that have the least collateral damage. She voluntarily pulls herself off the case from NCIS to protect her team. She would rather risk herself getting fired or killed before there’s a slightest chance of danger coming towards her team. She reaches out to Whistler, not because she doesn’t care about Whistler as much as she does with her own team or doesn’t care about her enough to not put her in harm’s way, but because Whistler is the only person she can trust right now (and that’s a massive thing for Jane after being betrayed by the one person she thought she’d never, ever get betrayed by). Jane knows that Whistler is absolutely vital in ensuring that whoever is after her, will never be able to reach Whistler, her team, or her kids. Her team can’t do that (lead her to Venezuela) for her. In a weird way, Jane knows that she cannot do parts of her mission alone, but she also recognizes that she cares too much about Whistler to fully let her accompany her in a mission that she knows that she may not come back from alive. This is the grey area of the espionage game that Jane is playing. Jane going rogue and the espionage world is not black and white. Things just aren’t that easy. And it’s baffling that so many people think “well if Jane would have just been honest and let her team help her they wouldn’t be in danger.” It literally doesn’t work like that. Why else would they continue to highlight the stickiness of Jane’s CIA past? Why even highlight the CIA at all? Simple: to show how drastically different NCIS is, how NCIS operates, but also how much Jane has changed since getting out of the spy game, and how much she’s affected the people around her because of the person she is. It’s not that she’s gone rogue and isn’t letting people in and is putting everyone in danger like everyone sees it to be, but she’s trying to keep everyone safe from how deep and messy things are when they’re not taken care of (i.e. “I made a mistake and I need to fix it”), and how much of a splintering effect it can have if not dealt with the way things need to be dealt with (and I mean “dealt with” in the CIA terms of killing someone). For Jane, Creel cannot know that Whistler helped her get close to him (despite her not knowing Creel was alive this entire time, just that someone has impersonated her and has emptied out the account). Creel cannot know that Jane has kids. Creel cannot know that she is in charge of multiple offices full of NCIS Agents and American government personnel. Creel cannot know anything. The stakes are so fucking high.

Jane is involved in a war that has now involved death, and will continue to do so. And she’d rather it be Creel’s, or hers. What if Jane had allowed for Whistler to accompany her to the house of her impostor in the name of not keeping Whistler in the dark? What if Whistler had been the one that was shot instead of Charlie-1 because none of them had vests on? Or conversely, what if Whistler had been kidnapped along Jane and had been the one getting tortured by Creel in retaliation of what happened to him?

Jane would never forgive herself if harm (or death) came Whistler’s way. So handcuffing Whistler to the column was genuinely to protect her. Not because she’s an ungrateful asshole who just uses Whistler for access or that she doesn’t trust in Whistler’s ability to handle herself in the field or that Whistler wouldn’t have her back, but because Jane knows the violent outcome of what this will be. And she’ll do everything in her power to avoid Whistler (or anyone else in her life that is important to her) to become collateral damage or fall victim to her dangerous past. It’s not that Whistler is a rookie that Jane can’t trust to have her back in the field; it’s that Jane can’t afford for harm to come her friend’s way: for Whistler to get injured, tortured, or die on her account. Jane can’t afford her closest friend to fall victim to something they will never come back from. It’s not perfect, it’s messy, but it’s Jane’s way of keeping her safe. Once again, Jane is built like a spy. Secrets and lies and shiftiness is unfortunately, a part of her DNA. But she also isn’t a heartless, unemotional, ghost of a shell. She cares so deeply for the ones she loves, and it motivates her to do the things she needs to do to keep them as far away from imminent danger as possible.

Okay, now back to Whistler. (I told you it was long)

I think what was greatly overlooked was Whistler’s reaction. She wasn’t angry, hurt, or betrayed by Jane cuffing her to the column. Frustrated, yes, but Kate immediately recognized the gravity of the situation that Jane is in, and once again, worries for her friend diving headfirst into danger. Kate doesn’t yell at Jane, she calls out her name because she fears for her friend’s life. Listen to the tone of their exchange closely. It’s not one that’s done in anger or rage. Both of them know how dangerous this has become. Again, Kate isn’t a poor chump that walked into Jane’s mess. Whistler understood what Jane has asked of her to risk. She didn’t like it, but she also can’t stand around and do nothing while her friend is in danger. Of course she’s going to help. Whistler understands immediately what Jane has walked back into. Whistler knows exactly who Jane is from her time in the DIA. I have no doubt in the back of my mind that she’s run extensive background checks on Tennant and the team while she was at the DIA because of how much of a liability the NCIS team was with the DIA (hence, her having to liaise and almost babysit them in terms of data sharing and collection.) Whistler has seen Jane’s dossier, and she’s probably studied the woman’s profile like she would’ve studied material from grad school or studied a profile on a terrorist. That’s what made Jane Tennant the bane of her existence, but it’s also what fascinates her the most: how unlike Jane is for someone that has worked for the CIA. That Jane puts others first, treats her team like they’re her family, and fiercely cares for them. This baffles Whistler to the core, because she’s worked with CIA/NSA/DEA/all government acronyms type personnel. She’s worked with spies. She’s interrogated terrorists and traitors. She knows the formula of what makes a covert operative. Jane has been everything but that. And on top of that, Whistler has worked with upper brass. She’s worked with bosses, admirals, generals, commanders, ASAC’s and SAC’s. She’s worked with people who don’t care about you unless you have impressive accolades and accomplishments that are worth listening to. So for her to cross paths with SAC Tennant... It drastically changes the way that she sees world; the people that she works with, has worked with, and it changes the way she approaches things. Whistler is a type-A personality; likes to plan ahead, likes to know exactly what is going on; every detail, and overarching piece. DIA Whistler would never have allowed for this to happen - in fact, she probably would’ve been the one to inform the brass about what was going on and would immediately have Tennant arrested for treason. But Kate Whistler, friend of Jane Tennant sees that her friend is in need of her help, and that’s what informs her decision to help Jane and go to Venezuela, despite her not actually knowing what the outcome of this entire thing will be. Despite the high risk she’s taking. Despite the fact she could very well lose her job over this if things go south. Despite seeing how much her friend has shifted back into fight or flight CIA mode. Whistler realizes how much danger Jane is in. So no, she’s not angry.

But she sure as hell isn’t going to sit around and do nothing either.

This is where things get real juicy, because once again, DIA Whistler would never. But FBI Whistler has spent enough time around Jane Tennant to know the kind of person she is and her value of others, that people are the priority. And when people are in danger, she will stop at nothing to come to their aid. This entire season has highlighted Whistler coming to Tennant’s rescue in sticky situations (2x08, 2x11, 2x18) and some being situations she didn’t particularly like, but have followed her and/or sent aid, or has gone to rescue Jane herself. And so far, the finale has been the culmination of that. Not because Whistler’s a pawn in Jane’s game, but because of the incredible growth that has transpired in Whistler’s character to become someone who will take risks for others, despite every ounce of her being saying otherwise. To play things safe, by the book. Whistler’s unlearning her patterns and habits of going by the book, being a stickler for the rules, because not everything in life will happen by the book. Having a relationship with someone you work with isn’t in the book. Having a drink with your co-worker at her home after having a 50-cal gun aimed and shot at you by a Yakuza member isn’t in the book. Your friend having a dangerous CIA past isn’t in the book. Not everything is in the book. Whistler is starting to see that. Whistler could’ve easily packed her shit up and angrily gone home. But she stays to go after Jane to try and rescue her. Because that’s who Whistler is.

So, finally, what’s the point of all this again?

Ah, yes. The Tennant-Whistler relationship and how it will be affected by all of this. (Oh, yes, sorry. I forgot to mention this is actually the thesis. I just hoped you would entertain my thoughts long enough and read this far, so if you did congrats. But also, I’m sorry.)

There’s a few articles out there already teasing how this will affect the team in the future - how Jane’s secrets and past will affect everyone, and immediately, how this whole “come with me to Venezuela and help me but also I’m going to handcuff you in the kitchen to keep you safe even though I might die” discourse will affect Jane and Kate’s relationship moving forward. Because on the surface, Tennant asking Whistler for this massive favour feels incredibly transactional and one sided. But if you’ve been watching the same show as everyone else has, this wouldn’t have happened if their relationship wasn’t built slowly on trust. The Whistler we see now isn’t the same Whistler that was introduced to us. The Whistler that helps Jane in Venezuela is a Whistler who, like Jane, is being formed by her experiences, which informs the decisions she makes. The Whistler we see now is someone who would lay their life down for their friend because she knows that Jane would do the same for her. The Tennant-Whistler relationship, aside from the romantic Kacy relationship, has pretty much been the forefront of this season. The tension/disagreements, the favours, the seeking out wisdom and advice, comfort & encouragement, coming to each other’s (mostly Kate coming to Jane’s) rescue. If I may be so bold to say, I actually don’t think this will affect the others as much as it will affect Jane and the choices she’s made. It’s very Jane-centric. It will be Jane-centric in the way it shapes her as a boss, a leader, and a friend. Everyone else is very secure in who they are, in their ability, and who they’re working for. It’s Jane that needs to see that she cannot continue acting on the lone wolf mentality. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t say that I think this is still very much building into NCIS Hawaii’s overarching theme of family but also how this now could be flipped on its head in later seasons as we explore more of the other characters and their pasts. But like I mentioned earlier, Jane has a past. But so does everyone else. And they needed to establish Jane’s character, all her strengths as well as her flaws, in order for people to see why she goes the absolute lengths that she does to protect who she loves (I’m still so convinced that Whistler’s DIA past and involvement in various top-secret assignments and the many people/contacts she has everywhere will also come back to haunt her in the future and when that time comes, Jane will 110% return the favour Whistler has constantly been doing for her by coming to her rescue this entire season but that’s a theory for another day), but also why the people she loves will also do the same for her (Jesse’s line in the promo, “I’d put my life on the line for you”, and Whistler coming to her rescue literally 4x this season). Jane wouldn’t abuse that. We know that Jane is going to be fine, but in light of these revelations, Jane is going to have to make some major changes regarding the way she operates as a person as a result of what happens from this entire situation. We already know that the season will conclude in its trademark ohana-esque manner (thank you promo pics), but it’s not to say that this won’t cause tension in the future. Family is messy. I can’t stress this enough. But all of them are mature enough to understand that what Jane was doing, was ultimately to protect them all. Even Alex understood the gravity of the situation. They might not like it, but they understand. And that’s an important word - the understanding. They will come to the realization that the damage control Jane was doing was very much for their safety, despite how in the dark they all felt. It’s not invitation for them to be petty, bitter, or angry with Jane. When they find out that Charlie-1 is dead and that Jane was kidnapped and tortured, they’ll see just how dangerous her past life is, and why Jane did what she had to do. Because getting shot or being kidnapped or tortured could have easily been one or more of them, had Jane not played her cards right.

Back to the Tennant-Whistler dynamic. I think Whistler and Tennant are going to continue to have their moments, but I think the establishment of this dynamic (over, say, Jane’s dynamic with Kai, Lucy, Jesse, or Ernie) has been so vital this season, a) because it shows not only how much trust has been built between the two, but how fundamentally different their dynamic will be moving forward from how Jane and Maggie’s relationship was, b) how Kate has never really had a friendship or relationship with someone like Jane ever, and aside from her own relationship with Lucy, and how much Kate also needs Jane as a figure in her life. Both women have been able to lean on each other for support and both women recognize how much they need each other. They see each other as equals; they are each other’s professional/career match (and I will die on this hill despite Kate being significantly younger than Jane, but I think Kate’s career has invited her to tables that people her age would never normally be invited to, but because of her intelligence, high capacity and ability to see things quickly and put things together has placed her higher up quicker than anyone else) and c) the theme of Whistler coming to Jane’s rescue this season will eventually come to a reversal where Whistler will find herself in trouble and will be needing Jane’s support or even rescue, and Jane will be there for her. They’ve hinted at how equally dangerous Whistler’s job is this season. They’ve hinted at Whistler being in the field more, gaining more experience. They’ve hinted Whistler leading teams, working with CI’s, setting up sting operations and leading join efforts in busts. They’ve hinted at the kind of criminals she deals with (serial killers, terrorists, assassins, etc.) This undoubtedly is going to come into play in the future.

Jane values family over everything else. But she also realizes that she can’t just use them when she needs something. She’s going to have to learn how to let her family in, and she’s going to learn that family isn’t transactional, but unconditional. And I think that’s the angle they’re going to play in the latter half of this finale, as well as building into future seasons. The lone-wolf thing will never work. We’ve seen it with Kai in the pilot. We’ve seen it with Lucy (especially in 2x19). It’s not going to work for Jane either. I mentioned earlier, Jane is not perfect. Nobody is. She’s going to have to unlearn things from her past, and she’s going to have to work towards letting people in. She’s going to have to learn to take her own advice. Yes, she’s been badly burned, and being in the espionage game has traumatized her. She’s got literal scars and experiences to show for it. But the beautiful thing is that she has a family surrounding her that will be with her every step of the way - she just has to let them be there for her the same way she’d be there for them in a heartbeat. Yes, this can be so hard to do when you’ve lived on your own and had to fight for yourself for so long, but NCIS Hawaii wouldn’t be NCIS hawaii without these incredibly important themes and arcs, and I’m thankful they’re exploring this with Jane. We’ve gotten a taste of how fiercely protective Jane is with her team and family. When a situation in the future calls for her to step into action, she absolutely will lay her life on the life for her colleagues and team the same way they would for her. I think Jesse’s line to Tennant will be the turning point for her, and she’ll do better moving forward. They needed to do this in order to set up the future story arcs for others in future seasons. Family is messy. But we’re all in it for the ride, and so are they.

#NCIS Hawaii #oh man I’m tired #Jane Tennant #Kate Whistler #maybe I’ve seen too many spy shows #but the takes I’ve seen on both women are ridiculous #anyway #I will defend Jane and Kate with my life

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wizardnuke · 11 months ago

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this is a short essay response of a meta this is batshit insane. im still on my shadowgast honeypot meta. this makes no sense. i have. citations.

also i wholeheartedly believe that up until the nicodranas incident, caleb was never fully himself around essek because 1) his latent spy training alarm bells went off as soon as he met him 2) caleb is an ex-volstrucker in an "enemy country" where he knows there's an empire mole and knew that essek was hiding something. he didn't know what. i don't believe that he thought it was All That. but caleb is extremely paranoid. right are we following. meanwhile he and the rest of the m9 were getting into essek's head bc essek had thee distinct disadvantage of being 1) alone 2) very nervous all the time 3) juggling contact with the bright queen and da'leth and just like, having a Bad Time, and the m9 popped in and he realized "ohh some people don't spend their lives in social espionage hell" and proceeded to, not at first but eventually, also assume that caleb was included in that statement (dairon implied that someone, likely the empire mole, had to have given that volstrucker the shank, and it's not confirmed that essek did but like. he did. and then he got over that paranoia a little bit because caleb is a good actor) and anyway my point is. i don't think essek really saw caleb outside of that double honeypotting scheme (which was beginning to devolve into a one-sided honeypot, with caleb still on the job while essek was slipping) and half-made plans to get caleb killed, and probably the false security of working with him (and veth) to make that spell, My Point Is. essek slipped. essek fell for it. he didn't fall in love with caleb, but he liked him and saw him as a peer and a friend.

and then the first really barefaced, honest thing that caleb ever said to him was "yes, friend, what are you doing?" echoing essek's mention of having friends to da'leth, and then following that with "i would love for you to see the sunrise, so if there is a reasonable explanation, we would love to hear it" anyway the first time that essek really saw caleb as who he is- an actor stepping away from a role, a spy, a grim counterpart to jester's concern and compassion ("what are you doing?"/"do you want to sit down?"/"i hold his hand")- and someone who still despite all that wanted to think the best for essek because he had more or less up until that point fully duped the m9! caleb didn't suspect a thing, he was just being paranoid!

the. the first time that caleb dropped some of the act- he went from honeypotting him to handling a crisis, the crisis being "essek is freaking the fuck out and we don't have time for this, we are actively in peace talks and essek could blow everything up if he slips, so im going to say what he needs to hear", paraphrased from a talks machina that's probably off yt and i don't really care to look up, but he wasn't lying to him. he wasn't telling him that it was all okay, because it wasn't, but "the difference between you and i is thinner than a razor" is caleb recognizing what essek is and saying that he's barely any different, both in terms of atrocities committed (whether that's true or not is another story but my point is that caleb believes it) and in terms of the game they were playing - essek lost that game. bad. he lost it real bad.

essek sees caleb for the first time when he's been caught and the person that he thought of as a friend sits in front of him and flatly tells him "i am going to kill you unless you give me a reason not to, right now". that's caleb. that's Caleb Widogast™. that's the guy that made a deal with beau and fjord that they would keep each other on the right path. that's the caleb that wants to get rid of ikithon. that's the caleb who misses his parents. that's the caleb who has hope for astrid and wulf. he wants to have hope for essek too- "you were not born with venom in your veins, you learned it". he's not lying about having hope for essek, he's lying about how much hope he has. and he's trying, desperately, to instill some of that hope in essek. and isn't that. like. thee caleb thesis. determination, despite a lack of hope. "you and i are both damned, but we can choose to do something and leave it better than it was before".

#umm caleb is sooo much. he is so. single-mindedly determined to change the empire while he also 100% thinks he's a horrible person #that is some insane cognitive dissonance. i adore him #<- and that relates. to his dynamic with essek. it does #'you were not born with venom in your veins' he's lying and hes telling the truth and that applies to both him and essek. i hope this helps

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punkysdilemma-blog · 2 years ago

Photo

Nokiawave™ was a term applied by designer David Rudnick on twitter in 2018 to refer to thriller/action films that incorporated:

“mid-to late 90s fascination with "Budapest" as an impossibly sexy backdrop of spy intrigue”*

He went on to apply the label to several films of the era:

“provisional NOKIAWAVE shit-tech espionage canon (please suggest additions, ambiguous depictions of eastern europe as one enormous physical black market a plus) Mission Impossible (1996) Goldeneye (1995) The Saint (1997) The Bourne Identity (2002) The Jackal (1997) Ronin (1998)”

The ideas behind what connects these films was more seriously written up by Jacob Lindgren at Mubi who suggests a post Cold War malaise where the certainties of good and bad (Communism vs. Capitalism, East vs. West) dissolved in a post-communist, post-modernist swirl of corruption, consumerism and civil conflict** (most notably in the former Yugoslavia) that defined the West up until September 11th attacks.

*Rudnick’s original thread on twitter here

**Adam Curtis’s provocative documentary essays have explored this period extensively, Hypernormalisation is a good entry point and well worth a watch.

#film #film criticism #Nokiawave #Nokia #90s #culture #Goldeneye #Mission Impossible #Ronin #Bourne Identity #David Rudnick

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the-curious-wordsmith · 2 months ago

Note

Is the silver tree worth playing?

Good question! Now how do I answer that.

Many don't like the grindy nature of the game, and that's understandable. There's also no echo function, nor is there a way in-game to view other endings with the same character. (There is something of an archive for much of the text somewhere, but I don't count that.)

So why even bother?

Well, for me, much of the fun is in roleplaying. Sure, the player character is just (not-)Willem van Rubroeck but involved in military espionage and way too many other things, but actions beget reactions and it's fun to think of how things tie together for the Monk That Goes Through It™. (That, and I know how the endings go. I'm aiming for a specific one, but the road there is long and painful in a way that my excessively imaginative self can call reflective of the character's state of mind. Why are they even here, again? They aren't sure anymore. Alas, where else can they go but onwards?)

Reading is also quite rewarding, at least for me. (I need Yasmeen Khan's writing injected into my bloodstream.) Of course there are the meatier (please excuse me, I'm hungry) paragraphs from the storylines which rend the heart until it can pump no more, but I've found that even little tidbits of challenge fail text themselves fail not to entertain and linger in the mind. I love getting blackout drunk with the Princess! I love waking up in a ditch with two goats and a purse for no discernible reason! I love almost getting killed by a beautiful leopard!

(I don't love falling asleep in court repeatedly but I can't help it, I get terrible sleep. I still can't believe that's actually in the text and not just my headcanon.)

So to answer your question... If you're a kindred spirit, I'd say it is indeed worth playing. This is a daydreamer's seal of approval. Meddle with the fate of the (potential) Fourth City. We're halfway there. All shall be well.

I'm also trying to write something from my character's perspective. There should be more fics on Ao3. That's how you know this game has me in a chokehold.

#📔 - WRITTEN JOURNAL #🕯️ - Correspondence #Fallen London #The Silver Tree #please keep in mind that i haven't finished the game yet #also i need to stress that i do not think the game has no flaws whatsoever #i am simply sharing my own reasoning for. Enjoying it so much. Evidently #i'm RAMBLING let me RAMBLE

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miss-cydonian · 1 year ago

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Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Review (If you want to read, of course).

Disclaimer 1: ⚠️HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD⚠️

Disclaimer 2: I’m not a professional movie reviewer, this is just my opinion™. I’m not a good writer either, so you’ve been warned. Also, this is my first time writing a review, a “proper” one.

These are just the main points that I have some critiques of.

That being said, let’s do this.

Alright, let’s organize this by chapters:

Chapter 1: Gabriel and The Entity

So Dead Reckoning introduce us to the new antagonists of the franchise, a man that goes by the name “Gabriel”, the major antagonist that Ethan Hunt used to know, before his time on IMF and a super intelligent AI, named “The Entity”.

The very brief plot explanation is that Ethan and his team are trying to stop said AI and Gabriel before everything goes awry. To stop them, Ethan must acquire a key that unlocks The Entity, rewriting its programming and setting things back to default mode. Or, as Ethan wishes, to destroy the AI completely, leaving no one to control it.

The whole AI plot is interesting. McQ and Tom took things more on the Sci-Fi route. And yes, you could argue that all MI movies are of a Sci-Fi nature, but that was narrowed down to the gadgets that they used. Here, this AI has gone rogue and seemly gained consciousness and is acting on its own, posing itself has a real threat to the whole digital world as we know, playing a huge role in the narrative as a real enemy.

And there’s Gabriel, the threat to the physical world. He was responsible for the death of a woman, named Marie, and it is implied she was close to Ethan. To be honest, I didn’t feel connection to this whole backstory plot, because it was shown merely seconds on screen. I was hoping they would show more of them interacting to make the audience feel something for her death, but unfortunately, that was not the case. Maybe in Part 2, will see more of this backstory unravels.

If a had to change something, would be that Gabriel was, somehow, involved in the deaths of Ethan’s first crew, back in the first MI, that I think, would get me more invested in Gabriel and his backstory, and be a stronger motivation for Ethan to stop him, he would be afraid that the same would happen to this new crew that he grew so close to.

Chapter 2: The Death of Ilsa Faust

This is a tricky one.

Ok, first of all, I don’t believe Ilsa is dead, but McQ could easily pull a “Kingsman move” and do that. After all, a death of a major character in which the protagonist cares about can be a great driving force to move the plot forward. The reason I don’t think she’s dead is because that would be too easy. Her death didn’t have the enough impact in my opinion and the characters didn’t seem very shocked by it.

Now, there’s some possibilities here. First, she survived, and Ethan gave her the “final choice”, a release from her espionage chains for good, but that also would be too weak of a plot, and it was discussed in Rogue Nation by Ilsa herself, her wish to just get away from everything and everyone with Ethan, but they're never really free from this world.

The other possibility would be that Ethan and Ilsa calculated a final plan, just the two of them, and which she is the main key (HA!) to this said plan, and is just waiting for the right moment, to be in the right spot, in the right time. That would give “Dead Reckoning” its true meaning of the word in the movie, at least, the meaning that I know of. The problem with this possibility is the whole “Deus Ex Machina” thing, in which is also overused in movie media.

As I said, it’s a tricky one. Guess I’ll have to wait and see.

Chapter 3: The Action and Found Family

There are two things I love about the MI franchise and that is: the action scenes, the commitment and passion Tom Cruise has to realism and to deliver a proper action scene that deserves everyone's attention, being a car chase or a fight, and the train scene, holy shit, THAT train sequence in Dead Reckoning... And the second thing is the found family that was formed since Ghost Protocol. To tell you the truth, I really begin to enjoy MI with Ghost Protocol and the other titles that came after it, and seeing the familiar faces every movie was so good and had me hooked in the franchise, especially Benji Dunn, played by Simon Pegg, he’s, by far, my favorite character. Dunn brings a lot of expression and personality to the movies and is a major backbone of the group, alongside Ilsa and Luther. Basically, Ethan can’t live without them, and them, without him.

This found family is what makes Mission Impossible movies unique and differentiates itself from spy movies overall and I’m glad this choice was made, and Ethan didn’t fall into the “Lone Wolf” personality of most protagonists of this kind of genre have. I’m excited to see where McQ and Tom are going to take the characters next in Part 2 because I felt that Benji, Luther and Ilsa didn’t get enough space in Part 1 compared to Rogue Nation and Fallout.

Conclusion

Is the movie worth seeing? Yes, absolutely. Dead Reckoning brings a lot more in action, sequences that will really have you in the edge of your seat, recurring characters that you know and probably love (at least love Benji, ok? He’s trying his best), breathtaking visuals, the cinematic and photography are marvelous! This movie had my full attention from beginning to the end and I can’t wait for Part 2.

Rating: 4/5 ⭐

#the cydonian alien is rambling #mission: impossible #mission impossible #mission impossible dead reckoning #mi7 #mi7 spoilers #mission impossible spoilers #movie review #tom cruise #simon pegg #rebecca ferguson #ving rhames #hayley atwell #vanessa kirby #pom klementieff #ethan hunt #ilsa faust #benji dunn #luther stickell

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cervicrazed · 7 months ago

Note

walt + all the other named members of his species

GAH this one took so long whoops

Haven't technically introduced other members of The Jek just yet, but I'll throw in one lil guy I've been rotating in my mind

OC Lore under the cut! (body horror cw)

^ Walt's "Human" form ^ 'Standard' Jek form

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

Walt-> a year or so after I made Wilton, I made Walt(on) - they weren't originally gonna be in the same story so I didn't notice there was only a vowel difference between them🤦🏽 I fixed this by having Walt choose his name to be similar on purpose, unknowingly bonding the two forever afterwards

Iniko -> originally heard it from an amazing artist of the same name! Really liked how it sounded so I looked more into the etymology & started crafting the story from there (working backwards this time around)

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

The Jek as a species are as old as fear itself - but Walt is around 80 or 90 years old by the start of the Dead Wood plotline

Iniko is about 15 years older than Bambi

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

Walt -> There've been a few, but Wilton is the only one he would die for. Since emotions are all he can see/smell, he often forgets that others can't tell what he's feeling just by looking

Iniko -> Not yet. They're a bit too preoccupied plotting revenge to think about anything else

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

All Jek feed on Nightmares, but as an individual, Walt's favorite are ones that involve the dreamer being chased by A Creature™ (Adrenaline is particularly sweet)

Iniko enjoys the taste of paranoia the most - it's not as filling as a full on nightmare, but it's in a much richer supply

💼 - What do they do for a living?

Walt -> Fulfills the role of a Boogeyman-esque urban legend to keep potential trespassers away from his family. Not to say he doesn't enjoy it, as the fear he inspires is it's own reward.

Iniko -> political subterfuge/espionage; despite having no interest in whatever politics are going on. Their services can be bought, but not with money; they'll only take the job if you agree to do something for them first (you may live to regret it).

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

Walt -> Painting! He can't actually see the final product, but part of the fun is hearing Bambi and Wil try and guess what the art depicts

Iniko -> Enjoys studying and growing plants since they're the only living thing they can't mimic very well

🎯 -What do they do best?

Walt -> he's a skilled strategist! Prides himself on staying at least two steps ahead of everyone else; unfortunately doesn't mean he's never wrong

Iniko -> Mimicry! They've perfected their shapeshifting into an art - even being able to seemlessly mimic the voices & cadence of others

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Walt -> Loves spending time with his family! Wil and Bambi are his entire world. Holds nothing but righteous rage towards Casters (magic users) - he blames their greed for driving The Jek to (near) extinction

Iniko -> Loves the feeling of 'getting away with it' & gossiping. It's a valuable way to get information, but they easily + inadvertently get too involved with local affairs. Hates everything about the Rader family, especially Bambi.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

Walt -> Dutifully watching and waiting for his daughter to grow. It took her a year and a half before she was ready to pluck out of the ground

Iniko -> Finding out they had a sister this whole time!

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

Walt -> Watching Wilton waste away to disease. While happy there was a way to revive him, Walt's not sure he can survive losing him again

Iniko -> Finding out they had a sister this whole time.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

Walt -> kinda? His 'human disguise' hasn't really changed that much, but his 'true form' has changed at least 3 times

Iniko -> as of rn they don't have a design yet 💀 I'm workin on it!!

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

Walt -> i wanted to make an OC based off supernatural's leviathans + that balerina girl from Cabin in the Woods (2011) bc I really liked the idea of a person's head/face being nothing but teeth

Iniko -> Getting this ask & watching Boy Kills World (2024). I haven't made another Jek character since Bambi, kinda wanted to change that thanks to this ask!

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

Walt -> Animated Dark Comedy, but bonus points if the hypothetical director can pull off the live action practical effects

Iniko -> Dark Fantasy Revenge Thriller....like The Prestige (2006) if there were monsters as well as magicians

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Walt -> Masc but not exclusively + Demisexual

Iniko -> Agender + Asexual

🙌 - How many siblings does your OC have?

Walt -> one, but he suspects they're long dead by now

Iniko -> one, and they hate her

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

Walt -> Was stolen from his family shortly after sprouting; still aches for that lost connection but tries to make up for it with his new family

Iniko -> Relentlessly hateful towards their parents. Doesn't want to kill them, but not out of mercy; they want to take everything away from them first.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

Walt -> teef. They make drawing him take foreverr but it's always worth it to me. Pincushion of a creature

Iniko -> their antagonist status. Dead Wood's been desperately needing one for a while now and they're a very fun fit

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

Walt -> admittedly haven't drawn him in a while ...gotta change that

Iniko -> been drawing them a lot trying to figure out what they even look like. Haven't settled on a design I like yet

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

Walt -> nah. He'll live forever, which is much more tragic

Iniko -> maybe? They're too new for me to want to do that

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

Walt -> I guess technically he has all of them?

Iniko -> the only fear they have is of failure

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Walt -> his father in-law, an ancient forest demon

Iniko -> their sister, a moody teenager

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

Walt -> Easter, 2015...9 years...

Iniko -> as I'm writing this... a month or so?

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

Walt -> 14...

Iniko -> 22 💪🏽

#ask game #deadwood #the jek #new guy on the loose!#doodles dropping shortly (i need to sleep first)#apologies to the two people who look forward to these - it took way longer than it should've 😭#body horror cw #peanut gallery #oc lore

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liebgotts-lovergirl · 2 years ago

Text

Fire On Fire: Chapter 26 Part 1

(Ch. 25) ... (Ch. 1)

II Gallery II Symbol Guide II

Summary: Just a girl stretching her wings.

WARNINGS: The usual espionage stuff, Lewis Nixon's functional alcoholism lol

A/N: Sorry y'all, Ik it's been a hot minute!! I've been Going Thru It™ again lol, as one does, but I'm back again momentarily! We'll see how long this lasts

Taglist: @latibvles @softguarnere @brassknucklespeirs @mccall-muffin @lieutenant-speirs @emmythespacecowgirl @holdingforgeneralhugs @parajumpboots @hxad-ovxr-hxart @sleepisforcowards @indigo-luvers @ax-elcfucker-blog @chaosklutz @mads-weasley @vibing-away @eightysix-baby @ithinkabouttzu

Contemporary: December 1st, 1944. Resistance Safehouse, Signy-l’Abbaye, France.

Alix was always uneasy when it stormed but especially at night.

The downpour battering the rooftop overhead, the howling wind and deafening thunder, the pattering droplets pelting the tree leaves outside in the darkness, all of it was to the enemy's advantage.

It could mask the sound of approaching footsteps, swallow the screams of any victim, even disguise gunshots.

If an attack was coming, it was bound to come during a storm.

So naturally, when she thought she heard a rattling coming from the back door, Alix stopped her pacing and dropped into a crouch, her usual dagger in one hand and a throwing knife in the other as she crept behind a small, sturdy end table and waited.

The moment the door creaked open, the spy sprung from her hiding place as her training kicked in. Forcing the intruder to the nearest wall, a knife pressed against his throat before he could blink, Alix was about to remove his hood with her other hand just as he spoke with a voice still somehow as languid and droll as a Sunday morning:

"Oh good, you're still sharp."

The OSS assassin instantly took a step back and sheathed her knife.

"Goddammit, Nix," she groaned, releasing a breath she hadn't even known she'd been holding.

"You scared me half to death. How’s Joe doing?”

“Well hello to you too,” her case officer deadpanned as he tossed back his hood and began to unbutton his coat, clearly somewhat miffed.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, you only almost skewered me is all."

“Yeah, sorry about that," Alix commented over her shoulder as she checked the door lock. "Anyway, how are my boys? How's Joe and Skip and-"

But turning around, she was in an empty room again. With a roll of her eyes, the spy weaved her way back from the hall and into the living room where Captain Nixon was making himself comfortable--albeit dramatically-- in his usual armchair, a thick folder in his hands.

"So, what's the dope?" Alix piped up brightly and her handler barked out a laugh.

"Well Liebgott seems to've designated himself protector of the pack, by the look of things. Wherever they go, he goes too. I don’t know if you asked him to do that or…?”

“I didn’t,” Alix replied as she struggled to wrap her head around why Joe would even bother.

“Well regardless, I come bearing gifts," he announced, leaning forward to plop the folder onto the coffee table, sending a cloud of dust billowing towards the ceiling.

“If that's another after-action report, vaffanculo," Alix remarked, taking a seat on the sofa across from him.

"I've already typed up at least ten of them for you today, Nix, and my hands are cramping. You want it done, do it yourself."

"Oh c’mon, relax," Nixon scoffed, taking a swig from his flask and lowering his voice to an exaggerated stage-whisper dripping with sarcasm.

“What is it, Runt, ‘that time of the month’ or something?”

“Just finished actually, not that you care,” Alix bit back and her handler visibly recoiled.

“Didn’t need to know that,” the thirty-something replied, making a face reminiscent of Gio's when the family doctor had given him castor oil for his stomach troubles.

He'd looked about as green in the gills as the Captain did now and Alix rolled her eyes with a snicker.

Men could be so juvenile.

“Then don’t ask, Nix."

“Well it’s not another AAR, alright,” Nixon said airily with a lazy, one-handed mock-bow.

“So you’re welcome.”

“I don’t recall ever receiving a Thank-You for typing all your shit in the first place," Alix pointed out, stretching her legs lazily as she lounged on the couch.

“Well–"

He took another long gulp of his whiskey before continuing,

"You see, Runt, the great thing about being an authority figure is--"

"Yeah, yeah, get your kicks," the spy remarked with a roll of her eyes before cutting straight to the point, leaning forward in her cushioned seat so she could better scrutinize her handler.

"So level with me, Nix: Why're you here? You wouldn't be bringing me a folder that big for no reason and if it's not AAR's...?"

Alix trailed off, some of her long raven tresses escaping from her ponytail as she shook her head.

Gesturing with his flask and sending small droplets of whiskey sloshing onto the moth-eaten throw rug, Captain Nixon motioned wordlessly for her to open the folder.

Obliging, Alix neatly lifted the folder's cover and was momentarily stunned.

Inside was a mountain of paperwork, topped by a red passport with Cyrillic lettering embossed on the front of it, a permanent propiska or residency permit from Moscow as well as additional travel papers.

"So," Nixon asked, barely containing a satisfied chuckle like a proud parent watching their child open Christmas presents.

"How's your Russian sounding, Runt?"

"Probably better than yours," Alix quipped easily as she lit up a cigarette, still waiting for Nixon to elaborate.

Her case officer cracked a grin at her joke.

“Good because you’re going to need it. You've got an assignment."

"In Russia?" Alix was aghast and instantly dropped the folder back onto the coffee table as though it was a hot coal but Nixon barked out another laugh.

"Not unless you have a death wish."

With that, he took another swig of his whiskey before continuing amiably,

"No, your newest assignment is going to be much closer to home. How does Paris sound?"

"Paris?! That's swell!" Alix whooped, swinging her legs off the shoddy sofa and sending her book clattering to the floor in her elation.

"Thought you might like that," Nixon chuckled. "You've read up on Major Kieffer, right?"

Alix cocked an eyebrow.

"You mean Hans Josef Kieffer? The head of the Parisian Sicher…Sicher…"

"Sicherheitsdienst," Nixon added helpfully.

Alix took a grateful stab in the air with her cigarette and replied, "Yeah exactly, that.”

"Looks like somebody read the notes after all," her case officer snarked and the spy rolled her eyes bemusedly.

"Oh don't act so shocked," she scolded with an expression of mock-reproach.

"I do pay attention when I type, you know."

"Could've fooled me" was the sardonic reply and Alix hurled one of the deflated-looking throw pillows at his head, which the older intelligence officer batted away with his free hand.

Alix took a drag of her cigarette, speaking on the exhale and letting the smoke dissipate with her words.

"So you going to fill me in on the op, Nix, or do I have to do everything myself?"

Now it was Nixon's turn to roll his eyes.

"You can read, can't you?" he remarked dryly but Alix crossed her arms doggedly.

"You know as well as I do that nothing important goes on paper, Nix."

"You got that from me, you little shit," he grumbled, taking a final drink before screwing the cap of his flask shut with a slight rattle, muttering something about using his own words against him.

Once the dark-haired man had retrieved a handful of caramels from his rations to snack on, the time had finally come to divulge much-needed information.

"Alright, so here’s the dope," he began, popping a candy in his mouth before steepling his fingers like one of her mother’s gossipy friends at tea.

"Kieffer's birthday is in 3 days and being a public official, it's kind of a big deal so his cronies are throwing him some glitzy gala or whatever to celebrate, some sort of masquerade shindig, you know the type."

The captain took a brief pause to gnaw through his second caramel before continuing,

"By the sound of it, it’s going to be a real Who’s Who of upper-crust Krauts so of course Donovan being Donovan, he got you– Well, ‘Tanya’– an invitation.”

Crumpling up the wrappers in his fist, Nixon gestured vaguely,

"You put on a mask, you dance, you take out some Krauts on the fringes while no one's looking, conduct an interrogation or two...Piece of cake, really."

Alix narrowed her eyes, her mind racing with suspicion. This sounded too easy.

“So what’s the catch?" she burst out. There's always a catch."

"See, this is why I wanted you to just read through the folder," Nixon remarked through a mouthful of his third caramel block.

"If I wanted the third degree, I'd go back to HQ."

"Stop stalling," Alix pressed, beginning to bounce her knee with such anxious vigor that she could hear the floorboards creaking their complaints. "What's the bad news?"

"You can read about it later," her case officer replied cryptically as he finished chewing.

"The Gestapo have an APB out for you so the first order of business is disguise. Everybody-- and I mean Everybody from the SD to the Milice-- is looking for you. Krauts are sick of you flitting away."

He lit up a cigarette, the worry lines creasing his forehead making him appear almost twice his actual age.

"One million Francs to the man, woman, or child apparently, who brings in Der Schwarze Schmetterling– The Black Butterfly."

The Gestapo wanted her badly enough to give her a nickname?

Alix wasn't sure whether to be flattered or horrified.

“And with Le Fantôme making it his personal mission to hunt you down, your cover needs to be rock-solid. No one’s ever seen him face-to-face but he's still somehow gotten hundreds of Allied agents arrested!"

“Then how do we even know he exists?” the spy retorted skeptically. “Sounds like agitprop to me.”

“Guy's all over Kraut radio. Unfortunately, he’s very real–"

Her case officer took a strong puff of his cigarette as though attempting to summon some strength from the smoke.

“And he’ll be at Kieffer’s birthday shindig somewhere, you can bet on it."

"Well, that's just great." Alix remarked facetiously. "Eight different agents in the program and they chose the one with the bounty on her head to go in solo. This oughta be a real cakewalk."

"Hey!” Her case officer's voice rose with indignation and he sat forward immediately, brotherly concern written all over his face.

“Who said anything about you going in alone? You really think I'd abandon you in a goddamn pit of vipers?"

"Maybe I'm a discard" was Alix's automatic reply but the unexpected scrunching of his brows instantly made her regret it.

“Well you’re not," her case officer snapped, hands gripping the chair’s arms, but Alix could still detect the faint pang of hurt in his tone at her mistrust.

After all, Captain Nixon had visited her weekly.

He had kept her updated on the outside world, brought her playing cards from Don so they could play Go Fish and even broke up the monotony by bringing her newspapers when he could grab one.

Even typing his AAR's, she realized, had its purpose: to keep her busy and in the know.

Yes, he'd made a joke out of the task, his perpetual smugness never wavering, but it had a purpose after all.

He had been playing a role, helping her to stay informed without even realizing it, through the guise of simply being too lazy to do it himself.

She must have grown on him some after all.

Alix knew she should probably apologize for doubting him but the memory of him scaring her half to death earlier quickly changed her mind.

No, fuck that, she thought wryly. It'd be a cold day in Hell before she'd apologize to Lewis Nixon.

"So who's my partner?" she asked instead.

"Fresh meat," was the dismissive reply as he reached for the folder. "Now--"

He began rifling through its contents, the rumbling undercurrent of laughter in his voice telling her that her doubts were water under the bridge.

"--if you're done being a pain in my ass--"

Without even a second's hesitation, he plucked a packet from near the bottom of the stack and tossed it over for her to catch before sitting back in his chair with his usual cryptic smirk.

"-- We can get down to business.”

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