Five Things: Highlander and Alias
Sep. 7th, 2006 10:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThe AP's birthday complete with birthday surprise went well. Am now off to Düsseldorf, but tried to get some more "Five Things" done; the later two are also an attempt to get back into an Alias frame of mind, though I've yet to find the time to do the damm research for my ficathon story....
Five things Methos appreciates/likes about Joe Dawson, for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gehayi
1) The fact Joe is mortal. Methos really tries not to get close to any other Immortals, for obvious reasons, though it doesn't always work (see: MacLeod). Mortals, on the other hand, are safe(r) to become friends with - they're not after your head, they die, you can move on - and he does regard himself as Joe's friend.
2) The fact Joe knew and liked Alexa (as in: really knew her - Duncan just met her briefly) and, when they're in the mood, sometimes can tell Methos things about her he never had the chance to find out in the few months they had together. How this squares with the Methos maxim about mortals being safe to feel affection for because of the moving on aspect, I do not know.
3) Joe's loyalty and friendship. Methos knows he's reliably good at charming people when he needs to and of course he's manipulated Joe, but charme and manipulation only get you so far. They certainly don't ensure someone like Joe Dawson keeping your secret when you're infiltrating the very organisation he's sworn to protect. So he doesn't take them for granted.
Keeping access to the Watcher data file after Adam Pierson quit through Joe isn't half-bad, either.
4) The free beer. Methos isn't as beer-addicted as some people seem to think, but ever since the Egyptians came up with it, he liked the stuff. He's also a natural free-loader who doesn't like to pay if he can help it in any way, never mind all the accounts under other names he has.
5) The fact Joe's entire life, starting with the loss of his legs and not ending with nearly getting executed once or twice, has somehow failed to make Joe into a cynic. Cynicism is easy, which Methos knows since he's a cynic himself. Joe, on the other hand, is shrewd but not cynical. It's fascinating.
Five Conversations Jack and Arvin Never Had, forviolaswamp
1.) The one that starts with "Jack, I know you'll resent this, but I did a more thorough check of Laura's background, and..." They never had it because Arvin only did a routine check at first, which didn't unearth Irina's true identity. And later he had reasons for not wanting anyone else to investigate Laura.
2.) The "Arvin, I'm a double" one. Jack thought about saying this from time to time during the years after SD-6 got established until the day Sydney got recruited (after which it became redundant). He thought about it each time it occured to him that he was basically doing to Arvin what Laura/Irina had done to him. Then he considered someone else might actually land Arvin in jail, plus frankly, life at SD-6 offered more challenges than life at the CIA proper. It also occured to him that this line of thought, too, might have been something Laura might have gone through. On those occasions he either got drunk or found someone to torture for information.
3.) The "how dare you recruit my daughter?" conversation. The reason why this one never happened is that Jack knew at the time it wouldn't be much of a conversation: he'd kill Arvin. The fact he did not want to risk that is something he does determinedly not think about.
4.) The "Jack, you're a double" conversation. The closest they came to having this one was when Jack told Arvin he gave Sydney a second call sign to explain what Dixon had heard. At this point, Arvin gave him a "you've got to be kidding me" look, which invited a confession, but Jack was his usual deadpan self. Among the very mixed feelings Arvin had about this definite proof his suspicions about Jack were correct, there was the awareness that if he said it out loud, Jack would be forced to try and kill him, for Sydney's safety if for no other reason. Hence silence. Later, of course, Arvin realized how to use Jack and Sydney in his bring-down-the-Alliance scheme, and that was another reason not to have this conversation at all.
5.) The "Jack, Nadia is dead" conversation. Arvin actually had the phone in his hand - his hand that was still bloody from checking Nadia's wound, while the other hand was holding page 47 with Sydney's face. He didn't think in clear sentences at all at this point, but he could see it: call Jack. Jack comes here. But then he would see it with Jack's eyes, and no, it wasn't that Jack would assume murder, Jack would regard it as a horrible accident. Which would make it even worse. Because it could not be random, it had to be destiny, or he would lose Rambaldi in addition to Nadia.
So he calls Prophet Five instead.
If he thinks back to the moment, "Jack, Nadia is dead" isn't what he remembers not saying, though. It's "Jack, help me".
Five Things Arvin Sloane truly appreciated about Laura Bristow, foreirena
(note: not Irina Derevko - these are things he appreciated before he knew who she was; some of them he appreciated later, too)
1.) She made Jack happy. Really, truly, deliriously happy. More than anything else - always save Sydney - ever did. For over half a decade. Of course, Arvin also resented this, but that didn't stop him from appreciating it.
2.) The sex. Which was free of any tenderness, passionate and sometimes as rough as you could get without leaving permanent marks. Yes, he did feel guilty. But he kept justifying it to himself as a way to keep that darker side of himself completely away from Emily. Of course, then he started to feel concern for Laura and that scared him; it was a betrayal he couldn't explain away. He also realised she was in a position to blackmail him, which he found infuriating. Through it all, though, he appreciated sex with Laura.
3.) Laura played a mean Monopoly and completely used her feminine wiles to make Jack surrender hotels and important streets to her. Some of the fun parts of the Seventies: the endless tournaments, during which Emily kept the bank and Jack sooner or later had to fold while Laura and Arvin fought it out to the end.
4.) Her laugh. Laura Bristow had a chuckle that wasn't just erotic but dared you to look at your own absurdities.
5.) She died. This saved his marriage and though it broke Jack, it meant he had Jack for himself again. Not that he was proud of the dizzying relief and the sense of hope and satisfaction that came along with the "damm, this is horrible for Jack and Sydney" part of the news, but he's aware he felt it. (He also felt a regret he still was in denial about years later.) "Appreciation" is one way of putting it.
Five things Methos appreciates/likes about Joe Dawson, for
gehayi1) The fact Joe is mortal. Methos really tries not to get close to any other Immortals, for obvious reasons, though it doesn't always work (see: MacLeod). Mortals, on the other hand, are safe(r) to become friends with - they're not after your head, they die, you can move on - and he does regard himself as Joe's friend.
2) The fact Joe knew and liked Alexa (as in: really knew her - Duncan just met her briefly) and, when they're in the mood, sometimes can tell Methos things about her he never had the chance to find out in the few months they had together. How this squares with the Methos maxim about mortals being safe to feel affection for because of the moving on aspect, I do not know.
3) Joe's loyalty and friendship. Methos knows he's reliably good at charming people when he needs to and of course he's manipulated Joe, but charme and manipulation only get you so far. They certainly don't ensure someone like Joe Dawson keeping your secret when you're infiltrating the very organisation he's sworn to protect. So he doesn't take them for granted.
Keeping access to the Watcher data file after Adam Pierson quit through Joe isn't half-bad, either.
4) The free beer. Methos isn't as beer-addicted as some people seem to think, but ever since the Egyptians came up with it, he liked the stuff. He's also a natural free-loader who doesn't like to pay if he can help it in any way, never mind all the accounts under other names he has.
5) The fact Joe's entire life, starting with the loss of his legs and not ending with nearly getting executed once or twice, has somehow failed to make Joe into a cynic. Cynicism is easy, which Methos knows since he's a cynic himself. Joe, on the other hand, is shrewd but not cynical. It's fascinating.
Five Conversations Jack and Arvin Never Had, for
violaswamp1.) The one that starts with "Jack, I know you'll resent this, but I did a more thorough check of Laura's background, and..." They never had it because Arvin only did a routine check at first, which didn't unearth Irina's true identity. And later he had reasons for not wanting anyone else to investigate Laura.
2.) The "Arvin, I'm a double" one. Jack thought about saying this from time to time during the years after SD-6 got established until the day Sydney got recruited (after which it became redundant). He thought about it each time it occured to him that he was basically doing to Arvin what Laura/Irina had done to him. Then he considered someone else might actually land Arvin in jail, plus frankly, life at SD-6 offered more challenges than life at the CIA proper. It also occured to him that this line of thought, too, might have been something Laura might have gone through. On those occasions he either got drunk or found someone to torture for information.
3.) The "how dare you recruit my daughter?" conversation. The reason why this one never happened is that Jack knew at the time it wouldn't be much of a conversation: he'd kill Arvin. The fact he did not want to risk that is something he does determinedly not think about.
4.) The "Jack, you're a double" conversation. The closest they came to having this one was when Jack told Arvin he gave Sydney a second call sign to explain what Dixon had heard. At this point, Arvin gave him a "you've got to be kidding me" look, which invited a confession, but Jack was his usual deadpan self. Among the very mixed feelings Arvin had about this definite proof his suspicions about Jack were correct, there was the awareness that if he said it out loud, Jack would be forced to try and kill him, for Sydney's safety if for no other reason. Hence silence. Later, of course, Arvin realized how to use Jack and Sydney in his bring-down-the-Alliance scheme, and that was another reason not to have this conversation at all.
5.) The "Jack, Nadia is dead" conversation. Arvin actually had the phone in his hand - his hand that was still bloody from checking Nadia's wound, while the other hand was holding page 47 with Sydney's face. He didn't think in clear sentences at all at this point, but he could see it: call Jack. Jack comes here. But then he would see it with Jack's eyes, and no, it wasn't that Jack would assume murder, Jack would regard it as a horrible accident. Which would make it even worse. Because it could not be random, it had to be destiny, or he would lose Rambaldi in addition to Nadia.
So he calls Prophet Five instead.
If he thinks back to the moment, "Jack, Nadia is dead" isn't what he remembers not saying, though. It's "Jack, help me".
Five Things Arvin Sloane truly appreciated about Laura Bristow, for
eirena(note: not Irina Derevko - these are things he appreciated before he knew who she was; some of them he appreciated later, too)
1.) She made Jack happy. Really, truly, deliriously happy. More than anything else - always save Sydney - ever did. For over half a decade. Of course, Arvin also resented this, but that didn't stop him from appreciating it.
2.) The sex. Which was free of any tenderness, passionate and sometimes as rough as you could get without leaving permanent marks. Yes, he did feel guilty. But he kept justifying it to himself as a way to keep that darker side of himself completely away from Emily. Of course, then he started to feel concern for Laura and that scared him; it was a betrayal he couldn't explain away. He also realised she was in a position to blackmail him, which he found infuriating. Through it all, though, he appreciated sex with Laura.
3.) Laura played a mean Monopoly and completely used her feminine wiles to make Jack surrender hotels and important streets to her. Some of the fun parts of the Seventies: the endless tournaments, during which Emily kept the bank and Jack sooner or later had to fold while Laura and Arvin fought it out to the end.
4.) Her laugh. Laura Bristow had a chuckle that wasn't just erotic but dared you to look at your own absurdities.
5.) She died. This saved his marriage and though it broke Jack, it meant he had Jack for himself again. Not that he was proud of the dizzying relief and the sense of hope and satisfaction that came along with the "damm, this is horrible for Jack and Sydney" part of the news, but he's aware he felt it. (He also felt a regret he still was in denial about years later.) "Appreciation" is one way of putting it.
