Re: 2/3 Gibbs!little_ozzoJanuary 18 2010, 11:21:24 UTC
If we get an episode where Gibbs visibly counts to ten to control his rage, I'm considering this canon. He totally ordered those tapes online, while the rest of the team was doing all the work, and played them while working on his boat. And he ahted them, but he's a Marine, not a quitter, so now he's trying really hard to follow those, like, twenty steps to a more fulfilled life. I bet he had real trouble getting around the concept of "feeling" words.
Oh noes, he does say "real". It makes such a difference, because it does just totally put down Tony in the kind of way that most functional parents would never do - and yes, I think he's totally unaware of it, which is the worst thing - well, the saddest thing, because that's not dislikeable, it's just ... sad. And when Tony was all like, you could have given me some support when I decided to become a cop, I think he is genuinely perplexed that Tony didn't assume his silence was support - like, he really thinks that by not saying anything, he was fulfilling his parenting duties. Which does make me think about his mom a lot, because to be ignorant to that degree about how to interact with a kid, after eight years of being a father, he clearly must have had little to no experience with Tony in those eight years. His mother sounds slightly on the other side of crazy, but also like she maybe smothered him, a little - so it was like he went from one extreme to the other - and then, insanely, came out the other side kind of unbelievably functional.
And he did it all by himself! He is like, the least needy person, ever. I am so proud and pleased for him. That is my absolute favourite thing about Tony, though, that fundamentally he is good - he is naturally nice, but because he's also a giant kid (and yes! yes! He is choosing to have fun and act up and generally be a giant goof because he has that choice, and why not?) and he's not superman, he makes mistakes (Jeanne!) and ends up hurting people (Jeanne!) and he hurts himself because I think he uses his hereditary powers of deflection to avoid ever feeling like he's needy. This episode feels like such a giant therapy breakthrough! I saw it said somewhere, regarding Tony making a decision not to be like his father, that maybe his becoming a cop was pretty much exactly doing what his father would never do! Cop/conman. That look Sr. shot Gibbs ... he looked a little threatened, I think, because you know how we talked about Gibbs just not quite understanding Tony, sometimes? I think he understands Sr. much better than he initially did Tony, because maybe Sr. is exactly what you would expect Tony to be, under the deflection and charm, except Tony's surprisingly moral and honest and good, whereas Sr. is self-serving and has built his entire life on lies. And maybe a little bit of Sr. thinking that he and Gibbs are in competition, which, I don't think Gibbs ever set out for it to be like. He kind of presented hismelf to Sr. as an interested party, but with no claim for Tony's affections - possibly because he knows he already has them. Hmm. I don't know. Sr. is so very self-absorbed, but then he did apparently come to see Tony to tell him face-to-face about his money troubles, which suggests he has a tiny moral backbone. Like, half a vertebrae of decency. I just think he doesn't understand quite the extent of Tony's resentment.
Oh, how I laughed when Tony said he didn't think he'd be back for another hour - I also love that it kind of shows that he wasn't going to rely on Gibbs to whack him out of his familiar fallback behaviour of drunkeness and handcuffing pretty girls. He was going to try it, and see what happened, but he pretty much snapped out of it as soon as he saw that his father had complete ignored his request. (Tony said "please", and his dad ignored it. :-( ) I love the idea of Tony goofing off secretly for years without Gibbs knowing - like, he doesn't just act up for attention, he acts up because, well, partying's fun!
Re: 2/3 Gibbs!chreeskoJanuary 27 2010, 20:41:26 UTC
I still can't be coherent about this episode. I love it so much, but it's almost like there is just too much squee material for my brain to handle, so I just sit there and get this dreamy look on my face and take three weeks to reply to comments. ♥
I really do think that his father had little-to-no contact with Tony while his mother was alive. He seemed to think that it was a normal state of affairs (and fulfilling his duty as a father) to completely ignore his son, even immediately after his wife died. Maybe she was unhappy after they married and took refuge in smothering her son and maybe even kept him away from her husband as punishment. :o(
I love the idea of Tony deciding not to be like his father. He did open up to Gibbs at the very end, even though he apparently didn't intend to, so maybe he made an executive decision right then and there to not hide the truth so much, at least not from Gibbs. And, really, I just can't get over how awesome Gibbs was in this episode. The way he stepped in in the squad room to save Tony from being steamrolled by his father! Eeeee! I just. I love him so much! He was just so there for Tony. It makes me a little crazy to think about it.
maybe Sr. is exactly what you would expect Tony to be, under the deflection and charm
I wonder if this explains Gibbs' attitude toward Tony in S1. It definitely fits with what we were discussing before about how it wasn't until S2 that Gibbs grasped the fact that there were layers to Tony. He was dealing with Tony in the way that he would if Tony didn't have anything beneath the surface, maybe? It was working, but not super duper well, but then Kate and McGee joined the team and Gibbs discovered that Tony is awesome and reliable. Like, I think Gibbs had affection for him even in the early days and knew that he was a good investigator (he never would have lasted the two years he did when we met him in S1 otherwise), but maybe he didn't like Tony very much.
Tony said "please", and his dad ignored it.
Ugh, that is so sad. But I love that Tony even asked -- I don't think he would have if Gibbs hadn't been there because I don't know if he would have opened himself up to the possibility that his father would ignore him again if it weren't for Gibbs. I did like that show hit upon that parent-child vibe where, no matter how old you are or how competent you are or how independent you are, your parents will always feel the need to tell you what to do. It's just that other parents don't completely and totally suck at child-rearing, so that when they do tell you what to do when you're 60, it's a mild annoyance instead of yet another instance of your father trampling on your feelings and treating you like an idiot.
I was thinking about when Tony said, "He is who he is," and why he covered for his father. He seemed so resigned throughout the ep that he and his father weren't going to connect. (But he also didn't let it stop him from saying what he needed to say!) Tony probably thought that his father wasn't proud of him and didn't love him, and that's why Sr was so cold and distant. And I bet he has a subconscious need to just please his father and gain his approval that probably explains why Tony couldn't stop himself from reacting the way he did. If he could explain to his father where he was coming from and show him that he was a competent adult, then they could start to resolve their problems. In that context, I think the "I love you" was kind of horrible. Because then it turns out that his father does actually love him and isn't horribly disappointed by him, but still acts in the exact same way he has for Tony's whole entire life. I guess it could have been freeing for Tony to learn that he wasn't the defective one in that relationship, but it has to suck to have absolutely no hope of having a relationship with your father, ever, because your father is not a very good person.
Heh, I thought Gibbs might explode when Tony said that he didn't expect Gibbs for another hour. Just. Why is he so awesome?! How is it even possible? Also, handcuffs Like, not the fake lined cuffs, he used his actual cuffs! Wait, was Tony the one that had the pink fuzzy handcuffs in his desk drawer back in S2 or S3? *!!!!!!!!!!* OMG.
Re: 2/3 Gibbs!little_ozzoJanuary 29 2010, 12:35:09 UTC
Hee, no worries, it's had the opposite effect on me - I keep trying to verbalise my squee and words just fall nonsensically out with no coherence!
I think for him to be so utterly unaware of what he was doing after Tony's mother died as being wrong, that lack of contact had to present even before she died. And, oh, going from a huge amount of attention to barely any must have been hard enough, but if that attention he got in the first place was due to an ulterior motive, not just out of love, even if it crazy-lady love, must be even harder.
Oh, Gibbs! He's always been really awesome, obviously, but there have always been things he's done that make me frustrated with him, because he is so fucked up and when it comes to his team, he's shown really crappy moments of leadership - but then he goes and out-awesomes everyone in this episode (except Tony). When he gets things right, he gets them so very right! My love for him may have fluctuated before, but with this and Faith, it's cemented.
... but maybe he didn't like Tony very much.
I think it could be. I know there's a lot of fic and fanon out there that have Tony and Gibbs having a special bond pretty much from the moment they meet, and I'm totally guilty of thinking this too, but I'm coming round to the idea that it really wasn't the case. I wouldn't be surprised if he instantly thought Tony was a reliable guy with good instincts, and an ability to bounce off Gibbs in a way that caused neither suicidal or homicidal tendencies in either of them, which is why he kept him on for those two years before S1, but it wasn't until S2 that he realised there was more to him than just a good backup. I don't even know if there was an obvious turning point, maybe more of a gradual thing once they got Kate and then McGee. You know in Dead Man Talking, when Tony mentioned being immature the last time he stayed with Gibbs? I think that the previous sleepover not being a good experience might be an indicator that he was still treating Tony as 2D back then, but agreeing to let him stay over - that's maybe a sign he'd spotted at least one layer.
I really love the way they play parent-child vibes in this show. Gibbs, Tony and Ziva all really felt like they were kids in their interactions with their fathers, and all rebelling against them in some way or another. It's just that their parents have clearly had some serious problems with communication, and that's made their children even more defensive when they start interfering or trying to control them than other, more healthily-raised children. The "He is who he is" line definitely pushes for my favourite line of the episode, among many, LOL, but it was just so tiredly accepting.
In that context, I think the "I love you" was kind of horrible. Because then it turns out that his father does actually love him and isn't horribly disappointed by him, but still acts in the exact same way he has for Tony's whole entire life.
I think that's the biggest discovery Tony made - he was at a fairly healthy place in his life, expecting his father to be his usual heartless, uncaring self and dismiss the points - but making them anyway, yes! - but his father then reveals that he does love him, but still dismisses him. Like, when Tony says that "it must have been hard, being left alone ...", he's almost giving his father an out, or an excuse for his behaviour, that he was too devastated by his wife's death to cope with his son competently - but there wasn't any reason at all other than that his dad just isn't nice and doesn't have a clue. God. Devastating. (I'm not even going to try making a point of this right now, because the incoherent squee would be unreal, but Gibbs can be a heartless bastard sometimes too, right - but he at least has his reasons?)
Tony totally did have the fuzzy handcuffs in his drawer in that early season! Ah! I! Just! Gibbs hands in that upside down shot of him from Tony's perspective?!?! Awesome! ♥ ♥
Re: 2/3 Gibbs!chreeskoFebruary 3 2010, 05:43:11 UTC
Gibbs is so different than he was at the beginning and yet, strangely, he's also more similar than he's been for the past couple of years. I know I've said that I really had a hard time with a slashy relationship between them at the beginning. Actually, I didn't even particularly like Gibbs back then. Objectively, it's awful to work for someone who veers between yelling and saying nothing, expects his employees to have no life whatsoever, and withholds praise and encouragement like he's only got two pieces left and needs to ration. He gave me flashbacks to some awful bosses. But the newer, softer Gibbs will be a better manager because his major issue seemed to be being a bastard and trying to keep people away and not lean on anyone.
I know there's a lot of fic and fanon out there that have Tony and Gibbs having a special bond pretty much from the moment they meet, and I'm totally guilty of thinking this too, but I'm coming round to the idea that it really wasn't the case.
Hee. I was actually thinking of your fic when I wrote that, but in a good way. ;) I could go either way on the special bond. I don't think a special bond would necessarily preclude Gibbs from not getting Tony's awesomeness. On the show, Gibbs definitely has an exasperated fondness for Tony as well as a strong desire to never see anything bad happen to him. He just happens to not know him very well at the beginning, which makes sense (sort of, as much as anything on this show does) when considering Gibbs' incredibly screwed up mental state at the time. He was completely denying that his wife and daughter ever existed and had instead buried himself in work. He did get married a few times, but he also simultaneously isolated himself emotionally.
In the scenario you wrote, it makes sense to me that Gibbs would care about Tony and have some weird connection to him (his gut = ♥), but he's basically dealing with a stranger. Maybe some teeny tiny part of Gibbs couldn't help but be resistant to the fact that he was essentially forced together with a stranger because if they didn't do it now, they would never see each other again. But that's just me projecting my issues onto your story, which was totally awesome even without my issues.
Maybe that's a reason that Gibbs was nicer to Sr. He thought he understood where Sr was coming from and that he knew what was underneath his mask. Except he didn't, because Sr was just a horrible father. Maybe he could have changed at one point, but he's spent so many years as the person he is now. I think he can still do it, but it would take him a long time, not just one episode, to change. Tony seemed worn out by the end of F&B, maybe because he really saw his father for the first time. I bet he was really, really happy to get away to Paris for a while.
His hands look so big! I didn’t realize. ♥ I kind of love the idea that Tony started out with the pink, fuzzy ones and graduated to the real cuffs later. :)
Re: 2/3 Gibbs!little_ozzoFebruary 3 2010, 15:32:15 UTC
I think Gibbs is an awesome character, like, one of the best on TV, but back in the early seasons, when his behaviour was unexplained, I found him really difficult to like. And I would have hated to work for him, I think - I can understand him being inspirational, and I can be a little bit insane with my boss when she isn't giving me compliments, because she's kind of got that whole omnipotent, slightly unfair leader thing going on at times. But she doesn't wait, like, a year between one grduging compliment and the next - that's extreme. But now that Gibbs actually seems to be voluntarily reaching out to people himself, he'll probably be much easier to deal with without developing serious stress disorders. (It kind of speaks volumes about the sanity of his team that they do like working for him!)
It's true, he doesn't necessarily need to have a special bond with Tony to know that he's awesome - and in the beginning, he must have noticed that despite being a jackass, he could also produce new leads very fast. And really, I don't think Gibbs would mind working with someone he didn't particularly like or understand, so long as they did what they were told. I'm also hung up at the moment on the idea that Gibbs kept Tony on half because he realised that Tony could play nice with the people he couldn't be bothered with, thus saving him time and effort! I would guess after Stan Burley left - and he must have been good at that sort of thing - he was left a little bit in the lurch. I think maybe one of Gibbs' problems was that he is naturally a leader and, because of that and being a military man and a secret softie, he's totally protective of his people, but that doesn't go hand-in-hand with keeping emotionally detached, hence the out-of-sync yelling and mutism.
When I wrote that, I wasn't thinking too much at all about intent and all that sort of thing, and when I read it back (which I hate doing, LOL) it's such a total AU! But I kind of like the idea that Gibbs was pretty sweet to Tony, and allowed himself to become a little emotionally attached in those quick moments, because Tony was a stranger. It was definitely meant to be a bit of a depressing ending, because if they slept together while Tony was at FLETC, it definitely stopped once he joined Gibbs' team, and because once Tony was no longer a stranger, Gibbs would have to emotionally detach.
That's just so sad, that everyone seemed to be kind of expecting (or at least hoping) there to be something under the smug, detached, charming veneer of Senior, because there is behind Tony, and because most people do have some depth to them. But with Senior, there really isn't, not any more. "He is what he is." Too, too sad. I love it, because it was awesomely done, but I just hate the thought of it.
(Tony being so happy to be in Paris was great! I loved seeing him on the scooter and Ziva's smile behind his back because he was being such an adorable tourist. I pretty much adored the photograph storyline, too. That's the kind of Tiva I like.)
I totally love that - I wonder if Tony has become more or less vanilla since the start of the show? I think he's always been mildly kinky, but not overly so - he can keep up with Abby, but only because she doesn't seem quite as kinky as people assume. Real handcuffs though ... I love it. ♥
Oh noes, he does say "real". It makes such a difference, because it does just totally put down Tony in the kind of way that most functional parents would never do - and yes, I think he's totally unaware of it, which is the worst thing - well, the saddest thing, because that's not dislikeable, it's just ... sad. And when Tony was all like, you could have given me some support when I decided to become a cop, I think he is genuinely perplexed that Tony didn't assume his silence was support - like, he really thinks that by not saying anything, he was fulfilling his parenting duties. Which does make me think about his mom a lot, because to be ignorant to that degree about how to interact with a kid, after eight years of being a father, he clearly must have had little to no experience with Tony in those eight years. His mother sounds slightly on the other side of crazy, but also like she maybe smothered him, a little - so it was like he went from one extreme to the other - and then, insanely, came out the other side kind of unbelievably functional.
And he did it all by himself! He is like, the least needy person, ever. I am so proud and pleased for him. That is my absolute favourite thing about Tony, though, that fundamentally he is good - he is naturally nice, but because he's also a giant kid (and yes! yes! He is choosing to have fun and act up and generally be a giant goof because he has that choice, and why not?) and he's not superman, he makes mistakes (Jeanne!) and ends up hurting people (Jeanne!) and he hurts himself because I think he uses his hereditary powers of deflection to avoid ever feeling like he's needy. This episode feels like such a giant therapy breakthrough! I saw it said somewhere, regarding Tony making a decision not to be like his father, that maybe his becoming a cop was pretty much exactly doing what his father would never do! Cop/conman.
That look Sr. shot Gibbs ... he looked a little threatened, I think, because you know how we talked about Gibbs just not quite understanding Tony, sometimes? I think he understands Sr. much better than he initially did Tony, because maybe Sr. is exactly what you would expect Tony to be, under the deflection and charm, except Tony's surprisingly moral and honest and good, whereas Sr. is self-serving and has built his entire life on lies. And maybe a little bit of Sr. thinking that he and Gibbs are in competition, which, I don't think Gibbs ever set out for it to be like. He kind of presented hismelf to Sr. as an interested party, but with no claim for Tony's affections - possibly because he knows he already has them. Hmm. I don't know. Sr. is so very self-absorbed, but then he did apparently come to see Tony to tell him face-to-face about his money troubles, which suggests he has a tiny moral backbone. Like, half a vertebrae of decency. I just think he doesn't understand quite the extent of Tony's resentment.
Oh, how I laughed when Tony said he didn't think he'd be back for another hour - I also love that it kind of shows that he wasn't going to rely on Gibbs to whack him out of his familiar fallback behaviour of drunkeness and handcuffing pretty girls. He was going to try it, and see what happened, but he pretty much snapped out of it as soon as he saw that his father had complete ignored his request. (Tony said "please", and his dad ignored it. :-( ) I love the idea of Tony goofing off secretly for years without Gibbs knowing - like, he doesn't just act up for attention, he acts up because, well, partying's fun!
♥♥♥Oh, Tony!♥♥♥ (Thank you!)
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I really do think that his father had little-to-no contact with Tony while his mother was alive. He seemed to think that it was a normal state of affairs (and fulfilling his duty as a father) to completely ignore his son, even immediately after his wife died. Maybe she was unhappy after they married and took refuge in smothering her son and maybe even kept him away from her husband as punishment. :o(
I love the idea of Tony deciding not to be like his father. He did open up to Gibbs at the very end, even though he apparently didn't intend to, so maybe he made an executive decision right then and there to not hide the truth so much, at least not from Gibbs. And, really, I just can't get over how awesome Gibbs was in this episode. The way he stepped in in the squad room to save Tony from being steamrolled by his father! Eeeee! I just. I love him so much! He was just so there for Tony. It makes me a little crazy to think about it.
maybe Sr. is exactly what you would expect Tony to be, under the deflection and charm
I wonder if this explains Gibbs' attitude toward Tony in S1. It definitely fits with what we were discussing before about how it wasn't until S2 that Gibbs grasped the fact that there were layers to Tony. He was dealing with Tony in the way that he would if Tony didn't have anything beneath the surface, maybe? It was working, but not super duper well, but then Kate and McGee joined the team and Gibbs discovered that Tony is awesome and reliable. Like, I think Gibbs had affection for him even in the early days and knew that he was a good investigator (he never would have lasted the two years he did when we met him in S1 otherwise), but maybe he didn't like Tony very much.
Tony said "please", and his dad ignored it.
Ugh, that is so sad. But I love that Tony even asked -- I don't think he would have if Gibbs hadn't been there because I don't know if he would have opened himself up to the possibility that his father would ignore him again if it weren't for Gibbs. I did like that show hit upon that parent-child vibe where, no matter how old you are or how competent you are or how independent you are, your parents will always feel the need to tell you what to do. It's just that other parents don't completely and totally suck at child-rearing, so that when they do tell you what to do when you're 60, it's a mild annoyance instead of yet another instance of your father trampling on your feelings and treating you like an idiot.
I was thinking about when Tony said, "He is who he is," and why he covered for his father. He seemed so resigned throughout the ep that he and his father weren't going to connect. (But he also didn't let it stop him from saying what he needed to say!) Tony probably thought that his father wasn't proud of him and didn't love him, and that's why Sr was so cold and distant. And I bet he has a subconscious need to just please his father and gain his approval that probably explains why Tony couldn't stop himself from reacting the way he did. If he could explain to his father where he was coming from and show him that he was a competent adult, then they could start to resolve their problems. In that context, I think the "I love you" was kind of horrible. Because then it turns out that his father does actually love him and isn't horribly disappointed by him, but still acts in the exact same way he has for Tony's whole entire life. I guess it could have been freeing for Tony to learn that he wasn't the defective one in that relationship, but it has to suck to have absolutely no hope of having a relationship with your father, ever, because your father is not a very good person.
Heh, I thought Gibbs might explode when Tony said that he didn't expect Gibbs for another hour. Just. Why is he so awesome?! How is it even possible? Also, handcuffs Like, not the fake lined cuffs, he used his actual cuffs! Wait, was Tony the one that had the pink fuzzy handcuffs in his desk drawer back in S2 or S3? *!!!!!!!!!!* OMG.
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I think for him to be so utterly unaware of what he was doing after Tony's mother died as being wrong, that lack of contact had to present even before she died. And, oh, going from a huge amount of attention to barely any must have been hard enough, but if that attention he got in the first place was due to an ulterior motive, not just out of love, even if it crazy-lady love, must be even harder.
Oh, Gibbs! He's always been really awesome, obviously, but there have always been things he's done that make me frustrated with him, because he is so fucked up and when it comes to his team, he's shown really crappy moments of leadership - but then he goes and out-awesomes everyone in this episode (except Tony). When he gets things right, he gets them so very right! My love for him may have fluctuated before, but with this and Faith, it's cemented.
... but maybe he didn't like Tony very much.
I think it could be. I know there's a lot of fic and fanon out there that have Tony and Gibbs having a special bond pretty much from the moment they meet, and I'm totally guilty of thinking this too, but I'm coming round to the idea that it really wasn't the case. I wouldn't be surprised if he instantly thought Tony was a reliable guy with good instincts, and an ability to bounce off Gibbs in a way that caused neither suicidal or homicidal tendencies in either of them, which is why he kept him on for those two years before S1, but it wasn't until S2 that he realised there was more to him than just a good backup. I don't even know if there was an obvious turning point, maybe more of a gradual thing once they got Kate and then McGee. You know in Dead Man Talking, when Tony mentioned being immature the last time he stayed with Gibbs? I think that the previous sleepover not being a good experience might be an indicator that he was still treating Tony as 2D back then, but agreeing to let him stay over - that's maybe a sign he'd spotted at least one layer.
I really love the way they play parent-child vibes in this show. Gibbs, Tony and Ziva all really felt like they were kids in their interactions with their fathers, and all rebelling against them in some way or another. It's just that their parents have clearly had some serious problems with communication, and that's made their children even more defensive when they start interfering or trying to control them than other, more healthily-raised children. The "He is who he is" line definitely pushes for my favourite line of the episode, among many, LOL, but it was just so tiredly accepting.
In that context, I think the "I love you" was kind of horrible. Because then it turns out that his father does actually love him and isn't horribly disappointed by him, but still acts in the exact same way he has for Tony's whole entire life.
I think that's the biggest discovery Tony made - he was at a fairly healthy place in his life, expecting his father to be his usual heartless, uncaring self and dismiss the points - but making them anyway, yes! - but his father then reveals that he does love him, but still dismisses him. Like, when Tony says that "it must have been hard, being left alone ...", he's almost giving his father an out, or an excuse for his behaviour, that he was too devastated by his wife's death to cope with his son competently - but there wasn't any reason at all other than that his dad just isn't nice and doesn't have a clue. God. Devastating. (I'm not even going to try making a point of this right now, because the incoherent squee would be unreal, but Gibbs can be a heartless bastard sometimes too, right - but he at least has his reasons?)
Tony totally did have the fuzzy handcuffs in his drawer in that early season! Ah! I! Just! Gibbs hands in that upside down shot of him from Tony's perspective?!?! Awesome! ♥ ♥
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I know there's a lot of fic and fanon out there that have Tony and Gibbs having a special bond pretty much from the moment they meet, and I'm totally guilty of thinking this too, but I'm coming round to the idea that it really wasn't the case.
Hee. I was actually thinking of your fic when I wrote that, but in a good way. ;) I could go either way on the special bond. I don't think a special bond would necessarily preclude Gibbs from not getting Tony's awesomeness. On the show, Gibbs definitely has an exasperated fondness for Tony as well as a strong desire to never see anything bad happen to him. He just happens to not know him very well at the beginning, which makes sense (sort of, as much as anything on this show does) when considering Gibbs' incredibly screwed up mental state at the time. He was completely denying that his wife and daughter ever existed and had instead buried himself in work. He did get married a few times, but he also simultaneously isolated himself emotionally.
In the scenario you wrote, it makes sense to me that Gibbs would care about Tony and have some weird connection to him (his gut = ♥), but he's basically dealing with a stranger. Maybe some teeny tiny part of Gibbs couldn't help but be resistant to the fact that he was essentially forced together with a stranger because if they didn't do it now, they would never see each other again. But that's just me projecting my issues onto your story, which was totally awesome even without my issues.
Maybe that's a reason that Gibbs was nicer to Sr. He thought he understood where Sr was coming from and that he knew what was underneath his mask. Except he didn't, because Sr was just a horrible father. Maybe he could have changed at one point, but he's spent so many years as the person he is now. I think he can still do it, but it would take him a long time, not just one episode, to change. Tony seemed worn out by the end of F&B, maybe because he really saw his father for the first time. I bet he was really, really happy to get away to Paris for a while.
His hands look so big! I didn’t realize. ♥ I kind of love the idea that Tony started out with the pink, fuzzy ones and graduated to the real cuffs later. :)
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It's true, he doesn't necessarily need to have a special bond with Tony to know that he's awesome - and in the beginning, he must have noticed that despite being a jackass, he could also produce new leads very fast. And really, I don't think Gibbs would mind working with someone he didn't particularly like or understand, so long as they did what they were told. I'm also hung up at the moment on the idea that Gibbs kept Tony on half because he realised that Tony could play nice with the people he couldn't be bothered with, thus saving him time and effort! I would guess after Stan Burley left - and he must have been good at that sort of thing - he was left a little bit in the lurch. I think maybe one of Gibbs' problems was that he is naturally a leader and, because of that and being a military man and a secret softie, he's totally protective of his people, but that doesn't go hand-in-hand with keeping emotionally detached, hence the out-of-sync yelling and mutism.
When I wrote that, I wasn't thinking too much at all about intent and all that sort of thing, and when I read it back (which I hate doing, LOL) it's such a total AU! But I kind of like the idea that Gibbs was pretty sweet to Tony, and allowed himself to become a little emotionally attached in those quick moments, because Tony was a stranger. It was definitely meant to be a bit of a depressing ending, because if they slept together while Tony was at FLETC, it definitely stopped once he joined Gibbs' team, and because once Tony was no longer a stranger, Gibbs would have to emotionally detach.
That's just so sad, that everyone seemed to be kind of expecting (or at least hoping) there to be something under the smug, detached, charming veneer of Senior, because there is behind Tony, and because most people do have some depth to them. But with Senior, there really isn't, not any more. "He is what he is." Too, too sad. I love it, because it was awesomely done, but I just hate the thought of it.
(Tony being so happy to be in Paris was great! I loved seeing him on the scooter and Ziva's smile behind his back because he was being such an adorable tourist. I pretty much adored the photograph storyline, too. That's the kind of Tiva I like.)
I totally love that - I wonder if Tony has become more or less vanilla since the start of the show? I think he's always been mildly kinky, but not overly so - he can keep up with Abby, but only because she doesn't seem quite as kinky as people assume. Real handcuffs though ... I love it. ♥
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