Chapter 7:
I found this part interesting with Virginia suddenly questioning herself about her objectivity. She was finally where she wanted to be and her analytical side is getting in the way. And Ed’s calm, “like nothing had happened demeanor,” she’d have hit him if not for noticing the way he was gripping his coffee cup. So back to business, for a bit, it seems like they always run back to familiar territory when things start getting hot. They did that to me in Absence.

I absolutely loved the next bit when Virginia corners him about not calling her by name. Ed’s response was sure to get him a backhand had he not told her why. That moment was sweet; I can picture her just coming unglued. And of course he leads her on a merry chase to figure out when he had called her by name. You played that well, as it’s quite likely that she wouldn’t have remembered the incident with Beaver. And the time on the plane might have slipped by her too. Nice touch having her replay the incident in her mind, I wonder where that idea came from? *grin*

Of course Ed doesn’t stop there, he keeps feeding her little bread crumbs about the second time. I can picture her saying, “Well, I’m just going to have to pay better attention in the future.” I see her feathers getting very ruffled now, especially her next statement. When Ed finally admitted that he loved her he almost blurted it out. But it worked well with her response. And Ginny has had enough, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” Right into his lap, I love it!

Yeah, it works well for the story. You've really got an interesting dynamic going on between these two. Most certainly outside the box!

Awesome!

Librarian wrote on Mar 29^th, 2011 at 4:45am:

 
Normal for the condition, yeah. I was formally diagnosed with it, and it really screws your mind up.Remember, Virginia believed she was about to die. (Same thing in Timelash, when she was being strangled) She may have heard Straker's command, but not her name, as Deborah suggested. Straker was fond of her. Lake not Deborah  Whether they'd have an affair, I don't know. In this situation Denise has skillfully set up, I know.    It always bugs me when Lake is put across as a sex pot. She is a career officer, no different than Straker but people pigeon hole her faster. Sex is a pleasure and a human need, only people with narrow minds would think she was slutty because she's slept with Collins and Foster. Alec is portrayed as a ladies' man, but he isn't generally portrayed without morals, better described as common sense. Lake is an independent woman. She isn't always intimidated by Straker. We see that in Timelash, where she teases Straker. How many people could get away with that? No. Straker favors her. I liked her because she was vulnerable under the skin of the scientist/colonel. She wasn't the Paris Hilton of SHADO. (Okay, the hairstyle was questionable  )

As always, Denise, really nice, fun dialogue, light, fast style, well chosen words, you do romance so well, your passion for it comes forth in your material, mostly I agree with the Straker depiction, I didn't enjoy many of your stories but that was solely my feeling that Straker's clash with the press would keep him away from becoming an actor. Mind you, that's just my feeling for the canon. I said before, it's personal interpretation.  Although in your across-the-eras stories he has more women than you see in the Victoria's Secret catalogues    Denise, there's no end of possible eras for you. I'd like to see Straker in Victorian London     or did you already do it?   
I like Lake and Straker as a couple, but a permanent relationship? I'm not sure, I think some part of Straker would be mindful that she had any independent woman's love life, and I see him as consciously or unconsciously conservative in matters like that.
I definitely do not see Collins the way you do, and I plan to use Collins in a story. I always couldn't figure out how Straker could pal around with him during training.Opposites attract, I suppose. I don't think Collins respected him. But that might be my PTSS 

Oh, when they interrupt Straker and Lake, that reminded me of the complimentary champagne scene in Confetti Check, and maybe you could have Straker remember that, and reflect on how Lake is so dramatically different than Mary, and how he had allowed himself to let love blind him in that situation. Lake is a plain speaker, which I felt would appeal to Straker. How Virginia is in his face, the way Alec is, when they believe he's wrong.  Only if you like that idea.

Amelia wrote: "I'd like to see Straker in Victorian London     or did you already do it?"

No.  Someone else and I were discussing such time travel possibilities once, but I thought that the Victorian era didn't give me enough range for fun with Straker.  I really liked him in the Georgian era!  Ooh-la-la!  All that hair!  But then, I've studied the Regency and Georgian eras a lot.  Not so much the Victorian.  But perhaps a Steampunk Straker might be fun! 

Matt,
It was your story that finally made me see that she could get around the damage the writers did to her.  They were just so short-sighted.  If they'd had a woman writer on staff, perhaps she would have been shown better.  Women are quite aware that you don't have to sleep around in order to be independent.  Sex has nothing to do with it.  It's all about attitude.  Even married, a smart woman never loses her independence. 

Quote:


Actually, it's normal, period. Even for people who never develop PTSD. Cops involved in deadly situations frequently report things like not hearing their partners yelling at them or not hearing the gunshots or miscounting the gunshots, or seeing someone shot only to later find out that person was fine. Fire personnel report similar things. The brain is just so overwhelmed that only their training keeps them going.

That's why - in a well run police department - there are incident debriefings for officers involved in deadly situations - so they can get a handle on what they saw and felt, as well as what other officers saw and felt. And to be assured that what they saw and felt is pefectly normal.

In Lake's case, she's gone through SHADO training so she's better prepared than a civilian, but survival (hers and Straker's) is the foremost thing on her mind. Chances are she wouldn't have registered alarms going off around her. Straker might not register them either - he might not actually remember how many shots he fired or had a momentary flash that he'd shot Lake instead.

That's why the on-going training is so important - the body does what its trained to do - climb the ladder, shoot the bad guy - while the brain is still trying to process everything. And that's why it's so important that the people involved in things like that be assured that what went on the them was normal.

But it's also one of the reasons that eye-witness testimony after a high stress situation should never be relied on - it's not reliable. 

I assume that since there was an incident debriefing after the accident, everyone came out without too many problems. (Well, aside from the guys who fell and I hope they survived and recovered as well.)