(no subject)

[seekingferret]

An Agents of SHIELD plotbunny:

SHIELD gets together, has high level meetings, and decides on an earthshattering revelation to make public. They make a determination that it doesn't have security implications, that the only reason they've been keeping it a secret is to protect the public from knowing too much, and they decide to call the bluff of all the transparency advocates.

The public panics, there are riots, and runs on the supermarkets, the stock market collapses, then SHIELD steps in, pacifies the riots, and says "Now leave us alone and trust us when we say you don't want to know this stuff."

Comments

[morbane]

What about the version where someone leaks some information to a group who "publishes" it in the form of very well-marketed fiction of some kind (movie, stage show, Onion-style parody news)? Information is very close to the truth and controversial; group publishing it claims that it's speculative fiction/commentary; SHIELD is not sure whether to fight to shut it down and draw suspicions, or leave it alone and allow it to be propagated.

[seekingferret]

Exactly. The point of all these stories is that the kind of SHIELD storylines that we're interested in right now are the ones that aren't about fighting but about information control, because that's where our anxiety about the intelligence apparatus is centered at the moment.

[morbane]

I'm amused that every single episode lately seems to end in a resolution to take even more of a cowboy approach to things. As if they weren't operating outside of sensible bounds already! I'm almost expecting Coulson to take a wide-footed stance, put his hand on his hip, and dramatically declare, "Let's be bad guys!"

[seekingferret]

BRING ON THE BUREAUCRACY HORDES.

[morbane]

Heeeeeee.

[morbane]

And yes. We wanted SHIELD; we got SWORD. [unless that is a terrible and mis-aimed comics reference, because then no. SPEAR?]

[seekingferret]

Alas. SWORD is the agency chartered to protect Earth from extraterrestrial threats, in contrast to SHIELD's global homeland orientation. I cannot recall a SPEAR, but can't say it was never a thing.

[morbane]

Ah well. Thanks for the information.