rose_griffes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rose_griffes) wrote2012-02-09 06:39 pm
rose_griffes) wrote2012-02-09 06:39 pm
Entry tags:
Person of Interest ficlets: Shooting Range (Joss Carter)
Ack, I have to do work-related stuff. This took longer to finish than I expected.
But hey, look, tiny fic completed for halfamoon! Yay!
Five drabbles (exactly one hundred words each)
Joss Carter at the shooting range
rated PG
I don't know much about gun culture or use, so feel free to point out any errors. (Yes, I'm American. Most of us learn about guns from our shoot-em-up movies rather than from personal experience. Also, google doesn't know everything, especially when the person using it doesn't know the right questions to ask.)
2011
Taylor's hands are steadier than last year. Yet she still feels a terrible mixture of pride and dread. Her son is fourteen years old. She'd been competing in marksmanship contests at his age; now she wonders if her mother had that same blend of emotions when Joss had held a gun back then.
Taylor gives her a pleased smile after he finishes the round. He's so careful as he handles the weapon--just as she taught him. Joss smiles back and tries not to think about how even the sex talk was easier than watching her baby boy shoot a gun.
2009
Adriana had been the one to suggest it; they'd never agreed on a name, since preferences ranged from whimsical to vengeful. Either way, the unnamed shooting group had stayed together for four years now. The only rule: no talking about men at the firing range, though drinks afterward were another story.
Joss trades her usual Sig for a Glock and shoots a lopsided heart into the paper target with her next round. Afterwards she hands the paper to Marie with a mocking grin. They aren't talking about men right now; doesn't mean she can't tease Marie about the upcoming wedding.
2004
Mud and heat; neither was unfamiliar to her, even while holding a gun. Outdoor ranges always have more interesting setups than indoor ranges. The police inspector here is a hard-ass who likes to intimidate female candidates as they try and pass the shooting test. His worst was nothing compared to some of her experiences in the Army. She bites her lip to keep from smiling as he yells something else at her right before she pulls the trigger.
He's not an obstacle. She wanted this; she was going to get it, and the NYPD would be fortunate to have her.
2002
Joss's father had been content to let Mama remain a spectator most of the time. Joss doesn't have that luxury: she's about to be deployed. Her mother needs to know how to handle the weapons she's leaving in the safe. Just in case... and Taylor needs to be reminded about gun safety from someone with knowledge.
Joss pushes down her own fears about Afghanistan, about Taylor losing his father just months ago, about all the things she can't control; instead she focuses on what she can do right now. Calmly she talks her mother through the best stance for firing.
1985
Sometimes he still sounds like a drill sergeant when they're at the firing range. Joss wants to snap at him with the same tone, but it's pointless; Dad just laughed when she tried it once. Besides, it isn't really that bad. None of her friends get to do anything as cool as shooting guns with their dads.
She's good at it, too. Her male cousins are bigger, but they can't shoot as well. Dad doesn't even complain about paying the entrance fees for the contests; instead he shows off her trophies to visiting friends. That's embarrassing but kind of cool.
But hey, look, tiny fic completed for halfamoon! Yay!
Five drabbles (exactly one hundred words each)
Joss Carter at the shooting range
rated PG
I don't know much about gun culture or use, so feel free to point out any errors. (Yes, I'm American. Most of us learn about guns from our shoot-em-up movies rather than from personal experience. Also, google doesn't know everything, especially when the person using it doesn't know the right questions to ask.)
2011
Taylor's hands are steadier than last year. Yet she still feels a terrible mixture of pride and dread. Her son is fourteen years old. She'd been competing in marksmanship contests at his age; now she wonders if her mother had that same blend of emotions when Joss had held a gun back then.
Taylor gives her a pleased smile after he finishes the round. He's so careful as he handles the weapon--just as she taught him. Joss smiles back and tries not to think about how even the sex talk was easier than watching her baby boy shoot a gun.
2009
Adriana had been the one to suggest it; they'd never agreed on a name, since preferences ranged from whimsical to vengeful. Either way, the unnamed shooting group had stayed together for four years now. The only rule: no talking about men at the firing range, though drinks afterward were another story.
Joss trades her usual Sig for a Glock and shoots a lopsided heart into the paper target with her next round. Afterwards she hands the paper to Marie with a mocking grin. They aren't talking about men right now; doesn't mean she can't tease Marie about the upcoming wedding.
2004
Mud and heat; neither was unfamiliar to her, even while holding a gun. Outdoor ranges always have more interesting setups than indoor ranges. The police inspector here is a hard-ass who likes to intimidate female candidates as they try and pass the shooting test. His worst was nothing compared to some of her experiences in the Army. She bites her lip to keep from smiling as he yells something else at her right before she pulls the trigger.
He's not an obstacle. She wanted this; she was going to get it, and the NYPD would be fortunate to have her.
2002
Joss's father had been content to let Mama remain a spectator most of the time. Joss doesn't have that luxury: she's about to be deployed. Her mother needs to know how to handle the weapons she's leaving in the safe. Just in case... and Taylor needs to be reminded about gun safety from someone with knowledge.
Joss pushes down her own fears about Afghanistan, about Taylor losing his father just months ago, about all the things she can't control; instead she focuses on what she can do right now. Calmly she talks her mother through the best stance for firing.
1985
Sometimes he still sounds like a drill sergeant when they're at the firing range. Joss wants to snap at him with the same tone, but it's pointless; Dad just laughed when she tried it once. Besides, it isn't really that bad. None of her friends get to do anything as cool as shooting guns with their dads.
She's good at it, too. Her male cousins are bigger, but they can't shoot as well. Dad doesn't even complain about paying the entrance fees for the contests; instead he shows off her trophies to visiting friends. That's embarrassing but kind of cool.
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Gotta wonder how different stories like "One For The Money" would be if the awkward lead female character learned about things like gun safety and use from someone like Joss rather than a conveniently adjacent, attractive hunky guy.
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I think it's literally the unthinkable idea in Hollywood. After all, you can't have a phallic symbol like a gun onscreen without, y'know, a dude to go with it. *eyerolls* (I didn't see that particular movie, but I know the cliche well enough anyway.)
Thanks for commenting!
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This. THIS is perfect, and exactly Carter. <3
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Carter's mixed feelings about seeing her son handling a gun ring true--that even the sex talk was easier than watching him shoot, but she still wants him to know how including proper caution.
Carter shooting a heart with a round for her friend's upcoming wedding was awesome. I like the thought that she's got a longstanding group of female friends who all shoot together, because it's rather sweet.
I agree that the one with Carter's mom is probably my favorite though. It hits my protective kink that she wants her mom to be able to shoot and her son to get a refresher on gun safety since she's not going to be there soon.
And I liked the structure, how guns are one of the things that have defined Carter's life and made her who she is.
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Heh, totally making up for the lack of female interactions on the show with that. Because we get these fantastic female characters week to week, but they almost never talk to each other.
Thanks for commenting!
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The thought of having Joss (or someone like her) teach the female lead in "One for the Money" gun tips made me go mmm at the femslash possibilities.(I haven't seen the movie either--is that the one loosely based on Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books? Because if so, we're probably not missing much. I enjoy the books, but I think Katherine Heigl was the female lead and she is so not Stephanie imo.)
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Great job with Carter's timeline for gun use and her character development.
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