#chuck analysis

[michael-simps-for-adam]

@heavensmostadorableangel pointed out the fact that Michael has a trend of using family and their safety to manipulate people into agreements. 

(We’ve seen him do this three times over the course of supernatural: the first when he uses the fact that Mary is in danger to get John to agree to hosting him, the second when he has Zachariah torture Adam to get Dean to agree to become his vessel and the third when he has Zachariah promise Adam that he’ll be reunited with his mom if he agrees to be his vessel.)

I wonder where Michael learned this method was effective? Was it by trial? Character analysis? Or did he learn it from someone? Someone who’s a master manipulator? Someone like Chuck?

Now this isn’t me excusing Michael’s behavior - what he did was plenty shitty - but I honestly wouldn’t put it past Chuck to use this method (using family & their safety) to manipulate his kids, the archangels. I mean, its already canon that Chuck is an abuser. It’s slightly less obvious but also widely accepted in our community that Michael is one of the many beings Chuck abused. 

So let’s say Chuck does this. He threatens Michael’s siblings’ (Lucifer, Gabriel, Raphael) safety and manipulates Michael into doing his bidding. Michael, being the victim of this strategy, sees how effective it is. So when he gets into a similar situation where he’s the all powerful one and the lesser beings aren’t cooperating, what does he do? Fall back on strategies he knows - first hand - will work.

[victorianoir]

Your taaaaaaaags!!! Prepare to be heart warmed. Ugh. You’re right, “[Chuck’s] the cutest fucking person [Sarah’s] ever met in [her] life and sometimes [she] seriously can't even handle it.” Hence the paper throw. Like l want to do the whole cheek squish thing or give a huge hug to the nerd, l can barely imagine what happy feelings are trying to push their way out of Sarah’s chest. If there were no cameras in the Orange-Orange l like to think she had half a mind to tackle him.

The thing I love about Sarah, though, is that she really does take her job very seriously. At the end of the day, the fact that the CIA creates a barrier between our OTP getting together for three seasons aside, Sarah Walker is an AMAZING CIA agent. She’s incredibly professional, she’s deadly, she’s a tactical genius, she is basically a female Bruce Lee, and she’s the best shot the CIA probably has as far as gun stuff goes. And she takes her work seriously, she takes the missions seriously. And yeah, some might’ve felt Sarah went too far with the job where Chuck was concerned--how she protected him not just physically, but took care of his emotions and mentality as well, how she supported him in every way--but she never once lost her footing. Through everything, even when she let her feelings for him overwhelm her, she never wavered when it came to protecting him. 

You see it right in the second episode. She’s already supporting Chuck, making him feel at ease, enough to the point that he can’t even function without her helping him when he’s trying to land that helicopter. He pointedly asks for her. And she calmly talks him through landing it safely. But the second he’s safe on the ground, she lays into him. Deservedly. And she does it to make a point. He needs to listen to her, not take what she’s giving him for granted. Her harsh words are necessary and they jolt him back to a place where he’s like “Oh right. She’s here to protect me, even if it means protecting me from myself.” That’s the sort of loyalty to duty she has. She’s SO SERIOUS about her job.

And that’s why she’s so freaking admirable in the way she handles her relationship with Chuck. Even if it hurts us as we scream at the TV screen “OH MY GODDDD JUST ADMIT YOU LOVE HIM AND MAKE BABBIIEESSSS!”, she’s so incredibly steadfast in her determination to be the CIA agent who does her damn job every. single. time.

So I’m not entirely sure she would jump him in some of those scenes we see them in. Because she believes (whether she’s wrong or not) that part of her job is keeping that handler/asset distance between them, even though she does have feelings for him. (And by this point, very strong feelings.) She believes that breaking that rule would mean she’s compromised. And a compromised agent cannot do the job that’s required to keep Chuck Bartowski safe. I personally think that even if the CIA took cameras away and stopped the surveillance, she wouldn’t act in those moments in a romantic way. The kiss in front of what she believed to be a bomb that would kill them both broke the rule, but she gets a pass since she thought she was about to die. (shrug)

I think that’s such an incredible trait. Seriously. Will-power is a phenomenal trait that I think gets either misidentified as stubbornness, or slammed in fandom because it keeps ships apart. Or it gets brushed aside/ignored completely. But Sarah has a massive heart. She’s physically, emotionally, and mentally strong, even with all of her self-doubt and self-hatred because of the things she’s done as a CIA agent, and a con artist’s daughter/accomplice before that. But her will-power is extraordinary. She’s in love with this man, and he continues to do things that catch her by surprise and make her fall deeper and deeper. And still, she’s so steadfast in doing whatever she has to in order to keep him safe. She knows beyond all doubt that she’s the ONLY one who can do it. She trusts NO ONE else to protect Chuck the way she will. So she needs to do whatever she can to stay. And that means not breaking that rule...Or at the very least, since she’s already pretty compromised, making sure nobody knows it, most of all Chuck himself. (Fat chance, you bad ass bitch, ‘cause HE KNOWS. He’s just a good freaking man and though he might not entirely get WHY, he respects the shit out of you and won’t make his move without your full cooperation.)

ANYWAY.

[sarahwalkermissionlog]

So you know when Sarah has the mission log and says she loves chuck and she doesn't know what to do about it? Day 564? (The gift set you recently reblogged) I know it would be about a year and half since they met, but any idea as to what episodes it would be around?

My typical guess is nearabouts Chuck Versus the Predator. Maybe after that one. During it...? Because it’s soon after those events that she takes Chuck and runs at the risk of her career and freedom when she learns he’s going to be locked away in a bunker. (Or worse, let’s be real.) It’s a huge massive sacrifice she is making and she does it without blinking. Because she loves him. 

Even if it’s still super dangerous to admit that to Chuck because his safety is more important than anything, and telling Chuck might make him do something foolish...or it might distract her from protecting him if she allows herself to get lost in him. 

So yeah. I always think it’s somewhere around Predator and Broken Heart. I mean, all of the digging she does to find Chuck’s dad in Broken Heart is pretty telling of how she feels. And I wish we got a hint as to what was in that letter she left on his pillow!!!

Hope that answers your question!!!

[victorianoir]

per your fics that have a lot of will they/wont they. i think it'd be more enjoyable if you had a triangle. like throwing another female character in there that chuck is interested in. because if Chuck isn't going to get anything from Sarah, he's obviously going to look for it elsewhere like he did in canon. just a piece of advice. :)

I think that you and I disagree on what was going on with the characters. That happens all the time...different viewers see different things. But the problem with your idea is that whole concept of “well if you are giving me anything, I’ll get it from over here” makes Chuck sound like he’s super entitled.

And I never saw him that way. He had moments when he pushed Sarah a little too hard, but he recognized it and pulled back a little. But he never felt like he was entitled to her love. It seemed like it was always the opposite. Maybe he saw that she had some sort of feelings for him here and there, and maybe it made him frustrated, wondering why she held back so much. But I also felt like he was incredibly observant and understood more than Sarah thought. Which is why the idea bothers me that he would have that attitude about it.

For Lou, I think he was legitimately interested in her. Not seriously, but she was cute and didn’t put up with bullshit. And she was nice. And as far as Jill was concerned, that ugly buttface shit-eater manipulated his overly trusting nature, his need to see the goodness in everyone. She used him again. Played him again. And tore him to shreds again. He had history with her.

So it wasn’t, “Sarah won’t give me anything, so I’ll go with this girl”...

And I don’t like the entire concept of it. Like I said, it feels too entitled and not like Chuck at all.

While I’m not opposed to other women, I sometimes think triangles are too easy. People love to read about/watch characters being jealous and I don’t know, I guess I am not all that excited about the jealousy storylines. It’s cute here and there, sure. But I’ve noticed fans are super gung-ho about jealous Sarah. Maybe feeding off of that whole scenario with the gorgeous perfect bad ass woman showing vulnerability over a nerdy geeky comic book loving guy?

I don’t know, but I don’t like it much. And I probably don’t write it well. It’s too easy to just throw a third party in there and be like OOOOO LOOK SARAH IS JEALOUS AND NOW SHE ADMITS SHE LOVES CHUCK!

She is way more complicated than that. And so is Chuck. :)

[victorianoir]

I trust ur thoughts on Chuck, so I have a question. Charah's a very physical couple. Holding hands/little touches. While they're dating/married, they always r touching/holding hands/caressing. Before they r official even, they linger on every touch. U think it has to do with them holding back 4 so long? Especially thinking of when he gave the bracelet and vs the colonel before the dinner. Then when they r together, they appreciate those little things? Ur thoughts? Am I crazy? :P haha

First of all, you are not crazy. Hahaha! Or maybe you are, and we’re all a little crazy. (shrug)

I think you’re right about them holding back for almost three years, and how that makes it all the more precious once they can do little things like holding hands and touching because they’re REALLY together. That makes total sense and I’m with you on that. 

But I’d also add that they’re both pretty physical from the get-go. Not always in a romantic way. But reassuring touches and things like that seem to be the norm with both of them. Perhaps Chuck more than Sarah. He responds to physical touch. And I think Sarah recognizes that in him early on, which is why she does things like put a hand on his shoulder, or taking his hand, rubbing a hand over his back, nudging him, hugging him, etc. So I think physical touch came naturally to them even before they were really together. They both respond to it.

And Sarah really isn’t big on talk. She’s more of an actions speak louder than words kind of girl. Even when they’re still at odds, after Devon’s kidnapped at the beginning of season 3, Sarah just wraps Chuck up in a silent hug and squeezes him. 

But I do think that once they get together after “Versus the Other Guy”, they’ve finally gotten to experience what it’s like to really explore the depths of physical touching (they have so much sex, is what I’m saying) and those small touches like holding hands, caressing, etc. become that much more fueled by intimacy rather than simply friendship. And I’m sure they touch a lot more.

Yeah, I do like your theory though. Especially after they have tasted the whole vigorous making out almost-sex forbidden fruit, so to speak, in Barstow, during the difficult period afterwards, that morning is probably implanted in their minds and bodies. Once Sarah shut that laptop in Paris and told Chuck to shut up and kiss her, it was most likely an explosion. All of that tension. Just KABOOM.

 I mean, they hopped a train to who even knows where with a sleeping compartment primarily to have more sex. They were literally running away from everything, Chuck’s family, their jobs...so that they could continue having sex. 

I mean, I love them so much. Hahahahaha!

Look at these doofuses.

[victorianoir]

Oh your tags about the TAKE THE SHOT SARAH scene are sooooo spot on I never thought about that! but it's true though! if Sarah hadn't been so confused about her feelings the whole episode, she would have been able to take the shot without thinking even. but they all confused her too much and she wasn't confident in her ability! woooww puts a new spin on that!

It's just my interpretation, but it always makes me wanna smack Bryce in the back of his head. He maybe mostly means well, but I think he's also jealous and kind of being a little shit at the same time. 

All of the characters totally don't get the point of what happened with Sarah right then.