vesperass-anuna:

b-isforbombshell:

captainswan-skyeward:

Skyeward in Agents of shield 2x03

so. some thoughts on this.

- he’s baaaaaaaaack.

- ward is, as vesperass-anuna said earlier, calm and lucid. he has slid into his patient, thorough explaining tone of voice. you know, the one he used when he would tell her why it was important to guard her face when she boxed or how to properly disable an opponent. it’s like being at the beach and listening to the surf. it’s steady and constant and very much present. it’s his baseline with her. he can go back to it because it is both nostalgic and comfortable and somewhat safe — in this instance he really does know more than she does and she has to come to him for answers. they’ve been down this road before (albeit slightly more civilized, i’ll grant you) and there are no surprises other than having to be wary about whatever verbal assault she will launch at him — and let’s be real — she’s already brought out some of the heavy artillery at this point.

- and there is something in his voice when he says ‘i was never loyal to hydra’ and it’s that tone. it’s that, c’mon skye, you’re smarter than this, i can’t connect all the dots for you, not when you’re being deliberately obtuse even if you are kind of adorable that way

- and even when she gets SUPER BITCHFACE SNARKY with him (and make no mistake, i love skye, she is my girl, i will defend her forever but let’s just call a spade a spade here, okay?) and he just does the typical ward quiet sigh and stifles his frustration. and it’s like being on the bus all over again and she’s not taking her training seriously; she won’t show up on time and she won’t wrap her hands properly and she says bang bang when she shoots a gun. he can train her to be a field agent all he wants but until SHE wants it, until she has her moment where she commits to it… it’s nothing. it’s ALL FOR NOTHING.

- ward can’t want this enough for her to make her get it. and he knows that skye needs to come to the correct conclusions on her own. it’s just that right now, she’s not reasonable. she isn’t going to listen to any explanation unless it fits within the scope that she has narrowed it down to. and so much is outside that scope and he knows that it’s going to take a damn battering ram to get that viewpoint busted open and he KNOWS it will hurt. and knowing this, ALL OF THIS, in a moment of time — he reins in that knee-jerk reaction to respond in kind and takes the hit.

- EXCEPT. ward’s family has always been a weak spot. and skye — well. she goes RIGHT FOR IT. straight for the jugular, first to draw blood.

- because this girl is still REELING and HURTING and BITTERLY upset about his betrayal.

because hoping for something and LOSING IT hurts more than never hoping for anything.

- and for a second — JUST A SECOND — he gets that streak of anger. not that he would ever hurt her — just that he is SO FRUSTRATED that she REFUSES to see ANYTHING but her viewpoint and he wants to crack it open and force her to see because she’s being so stubborn and naive and it’s going to bite her in the ass so hard — and it serves his purposes to fire back in kind.

- because at their finest; at their beginning — and even at their end — they were CONSTANTLY needling the other person. no one gets under their skin like each other. that is one HELL of a gift. (and a curse.)

“…every family has it’s secrets. yours does too. do you ever wonder why —”

"you know what? my bad. i slipped. talked to you like a normal person. let’s stay on task.’

- we’re not even going to address the way they fire at each other like it’s their job. this is like the physical, visceral edition of battleship: skyeward style. they just pick a trigger point (using that term very loosely here), aim and fire. it’s a direct hit, every time. and the worst part is, that kind of precision aim and accuracy? that doesn’t just happen. that comes with TIME and knowledge. and as much as they may hate it (at times) no one knows them better than each other.

- so ward unfolds his arms (physically making himself smaller, and less threatening to her) and steps back and tells her she makes the rules. because he knows that she needs to feel like she’s in charge.

- and now they’re back to the beginning. where he’s explaining and telling her what she wants to know/hear and she’s able to put aside her FEELS to assimilate the information (as long as it filters in with her viewpoint.)

- he still has to patiently correct her, reframe her view. (it’s like gently nudging her hand up to guard her face when she’s learning how to jab-cross.)

‘…then, they’ll take them out.

‘even if the gifted doesn’t post a threat?’

‘a gifted that refuses hydra is a threat.’

- and here we are again. skye, not understanding how the shades of gray hydra work.

- hydra didn’t succesfully carry out their infiltration because they were BLATANT horrible bad guys. they did so because they were cunning, deceptive little bastards who preyed on all the right things to convince people they were doing what they were supposed to do until it was too late. (and other reasons, which we will not discuss here.)

- so ward is just like. c’mon skye. you used to be rising tide. you, more than anyone, should know how this works. moral ambiguity is their bread and butter — this is how they turn people.

- hydra is ruthless and unapologetic and incredibly manipulative and destructive. hydra is bad news bears. and while skye can see that, and yet remains blind to the faults of shield (because if shield hadn’t had those faults to exploit, there would not have been a successful hydra infiltration) she can’t wrap her head around how the world is all shades of gray rather than black and white.

- and this, i think, will be a huge part of her journey. ward knows it’s never as simple as what’s on the surface. i think if he could protect her from having to learn that lesson, he would. but skye is stubborn as the day is long, and she’s going to have to learn that lesson firsthand in order for it to stick. 

there comes a moment when you either commit to this, or bail.

- she needs to commit to fully understanding it, the global view of the world and not just through SHIELD colored lenses before she will ever really know who she is and what she stands for.

- and in this sense? ward might actually have one over on her.

- because he knows who he is, what he’s done and why. at the end of the night — yes, he is in a holding cell and it’s solitary and HORRIBLE. but he knows what is what.

- skye gets a bed, daylight, three square meals a day. she also has her closest family members lying to her face. this is going to make it SO MUCH MORE devastating when she finds that the things she believed in, sacrificed everything for are not quite who and what they seem. she doesn’t know what she’s truly fighting for. she needs her viewpoint blasted wide open.

and god, this is going to hurt