They talk, they communicate their feelings, they treat each other with respect, and then they hold hands like that? I'm clawing my face. (Also, I was racing to tumblr to ask you to gif the handhold, so here we are.)
they make me wanna scream until the wallpaper peels off if we're being quite honest here!!!
(also my giffing list is so long rn but that hand hold jumped to the top of the list immediately when i watched the ep and just be sure you will see it again and again)
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Gods damnit, Arc, I did _not_ need to be yeeted back into MI fandom!
But since you're doing it anyway ( :D ), care to ramble on Ethan's complicated relationship between sex between friends, sex in a relationship, and sex on a mission?
I don't know if I can delineate that much but it does dovetail into my reading of Ethan as ace. Because wow the self recognizes the self, that boy has intense vibes. Sex neutral ace is my read from him.
I'm finally watching MI1 tomorrow with some friends, but I've seen a lot of scenes from it and the vibe I get from Ethan is very unethical slut boy who then goes through a massively traumatic event that almost permanently damages the mechanism that lets him trust and rely on other people.
When we reach the McQuarrie Trilogy and catch up with Ethan, there's a lot of interesting stuff with gender and sex going on. Notably, in GP, Ethan does not get a love interest at all and while he's a joy to watch and the camera loves to frame him in compelling ways, it's not really sexy at all. We spend a lot of the movie thinking he got left by Julia, then we find out she's dead, then we learn she's alive and they still love each other but can't be together.
All of that is super compelling to me. In Hollywood Action Movies, I find the lack of sexual tension and love interest to be refreshingly weird. I'm trying to think of another action hero who gets treated like Ethan does, and the only thing that kind of came to mind was Cobb from Inception, but even then there's shipteasing with Arthur and Ariadne (and also Nolan's gender politic is a treacherous wasteland, so bad example anyway).
In Rogue Nation, the trend continues and honestly gets even more odd to me. Because on paper, Ilsa should be Ethan's love interest and there's small moments like escaping the opera and the body search int he car, but both of them are outliers. Hell, when they meet, Ethan COMPLIMENTS HER SHOES which is. About the least heterosexual thing ever.
Ilsa is extremely important to Ethan and I think he loves her, but after the big climax, their huge moment of intimacy is a hug. Which makes me go wild, it's so interesting that there's not even a goodbye kiss.
Pairing that with how Ethan treats Benji in RN and how structurally he's the love interest-- BUT EVEN THEN Ethan is so fucking careful and guarded with how he touches people. I keep thinking about Ilsa in Morocco, coming out of the pool and how its potentially a Bond Girl Moment but the camera doesn't linger on her much and Ethan keeps his eyes on her face. There's no leering, there's not even checking her out. IT'S JARRING. I LOVE IT.
And then in Fallout, there's the White Widow thing, which makes me want to scream. That moment when the White Widow kisses Ethan out of the blue and Ethan is fucking stone-faced, like the ace vibes are wild.
It's not just that he doesn't react so oooh he must be one of My People, but there's also how Fallout makes you feel Ethan's age. Ethan spends 90% of Fallout looking tired and sad, and it's almost like... on some level he's not even willing to put on the show anymore. He's not going to crank up the charisma and woo people to do what he wants, he can't be fucking bothered, and I feel the gravity of him so acutely every time I watch it. The only time he really has that big lovely smile is when he's talking to Benji and Luther in the beginning, which makes it a genuine charisma, a genuine urge to relax and grin and share a moment with people he loves.
But as soon as the job says he should maybe seduce the White Widow bc she's clearly into him, he's just. Not there for it.
Anyway the ace vibes are off the charts. Does Ethan Hunt fuck? Possibly, but it has to be with someone he trusts and they're probably going to have to be the one to suggest it. If you invite him to Netflix and Chill, he's going to be in the kitchen heating up popcorn kernels in a cast iron because you gotta have popcorn for movies. Then you say "actually how about sex" and there's a two second lag as he processes that and goes "Oh yeah sure that sounds like it could be fun too."
However many seasons in and I had not seen Ryan's "Abby's gonna kick rocks" video! Hell of a way to end a year, laughing this hard!
Hi lovely! So wonderful hearing from you! ^u^
And awwwww, I’m so happy that Ryan’s vid made you laugh. I couldn’t believe my ears when Ryan says that (I was watching that live... well, live. So you can imagine the shock!) and I still love it so much, Ryan was overflowing with joy when he said that, when he defended Eddie’s territory against Abby. ;)
Thank you so much, hon! And happy new Gregorian year to you! If anyone’s looking for my ask tag, it’s here. xoxox
You're killing us with all this soft fic! And looking at Eddie and seeing "pillow! mine!" is such a mood.
ISN’T IT
feather light fall
eddie/buck, soft pillowness and comfort
“What?” Eddie says, frowning.
“Lie down,” Buck repeats, hands on his hips.
Eddie rolls his eyes. “No, Buck, this couch isn’t big enough.”
“It’s a three seater,” Buck says, a touch of a whine in his voice. Eddie resists the urge to roll his eyes again and just stares. Buck’s face falls. “Eddie.”
“Please,” Bobby says from the kitchen, “just do whatever he wants.”
Hen snorts. “As a parent, that is the worst advice.”
“Except where Buck’s concerned,” Chim chimes in.
Eddie sighs, finally shifting on the couch until he’s settled, hoping nobody else wants to use the couch. Buck looks pleased, knees on the arm of the couch. Eddie knows what he’s going for and almost complains again, but while there’s not really enough room for both of them, it isn’t the first time they’ve stretched out on the couch together. Buck gently lowers himself on top of Eddie, and Eddie can see the looks being exchanged by the rest of their little family and pointedly ignores them.
“Why do you always have to do this?” Eddie grumbles as Buck gets comfortable.
“Because you’re soft,” Buck says quietly, words spoken into the curve of Eddie’s neck. Eddie lifts a hand, pressing it to the back of the Buck’s head. “You make everything less.”
Well. There’s not a lot Eddie can say to that. He turns back to the TV, feels the tension slowly bleed out of Buck. Before long, his breath has evened out, the others are distracted with dinner, and Eddie plays with the strands of Buck’s hair.
______
Buck hovers awkwardly in the doorway.
“Come on,” Eddie says, lifting the comforter.
“Thanks,” Buck says quietly, coming into the room and sliding in next to Eddie. “I know this is awkward—”
Eddie curls around Buck as soon as he’s settled, hands on his stomach, nose nestled at the top of Buck’s spine. “It’s not,” he says, wanting to reassure Buck. “You don’t have to ask.”
A pause. “Don’t I?”
Eddie frowns, knows Buck’s choosing now to say it, when they’re not looking at each other. He hates having conversations like this, but he knows Buck finds it easier, sometimes. He squeezes Buck and kisses the back of his neck. “No. You know I’d give you whatever you want?”
“Eddie,” Buck says quietly. He lets out a slow breath, hands tight on Eddie’s. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Eddie agrees, placing another kiss on Buck’s neck.
It doesn’t take long for Buck to change positions; to sprawl out on top of Eddie, head tucked under his chin, legs tangled together. Eddie turns his smile into Buck’s hair and closes his eyes.
____
Eddie gasps awake, shaking. The remnants of the nightmare drift away and he rubs his hands over his face, making a face at his sweaty hair and skin. “Fuck.”
There’s soft movement on the other side of the bed, and Buck sits up, pressing a hand to Eddie’s back. “You here?”
“Yeah,” Eddie manages to get out, closing his eyes. “I’m here.”
“Okay.” Buck doesn’t press, just rubs a hand over Eddie’s back. “You wanna lie back down?”
Eddie shakes his head, but does, resting on his side so he can see Buck. Buck is staring at him through the darkness, fingers on the mattress between them. “I need—”
“Whatever you need,” Buck says quietly, but with force, “I’ll give you.”
The words crash over Eddie and he’s gasping, reaching for Buck before he can stop himself.
“I’m here,” Buck assures him, rolling back with Eddie on top of him. He holds the back of Eddie’s head, lets Eddie tremble and sob out the emotions left in the wake of his nightmare. When he calms, Buck’s neck wet from his tears, Buck whispers, “I’m here,” again.
Eddie feels vulnerable, but now that he is, he finds it easier to talk. “Can you,” he asks slowly, not sure what he’s actually asking for, “lie on me?”
Buck sucks in a breath, but immediately says, “yeah. Come on.”
Rolling over, Eddie gets settled, and then Buck presses up against him, hand against Eddie’s chest. The weight feels good, keeps him in the moment, and Eddie buries his face in Buck’s hair.
“Okay?” Buck asks quietly.
“Better,” Eddie says, and closes his eyes. “Thanks.”
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Here's the thing I kinda want to know. How fast did Buck have to look, either at her coat or her badge, to clock that Eddie's doctor was a cardiologist? (Our perceptive and smart boy, at it again!)
right? hyper-aware when it comes to anything wrong with eddie!
They gave the boy who nearly drowned a tsunami warning and the one buried alive a mudslide warning. As much as fandom clowns, the showrunners have the biggest shoes of them all!
they said “oh you want them dealing with TRAUMA?? you want them dealing with the worst moments of their lives again?? okay♥️” and i am Scared tbh
Re the Senator/Bodyguard hallway kiss-fake dating: "this is actually more like the precursor to fake dating oops maybe i will continue it someday if there is interest"... there is 1000% interest! That is amazing!
sjskfkf okay okay i need to learn some stuff about american politics real quick first but i guess this is happening