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detectivedreameater · 4 years ago

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Caught With Your Hands In The Cookie Jar||Jane and Marley

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @jane-the-zombie and detectivedreameater SUMMARY: Marley goes to dispose of the last of the evidence keeping Erin in jail. Only problem is that Jane wanted to see the evidence, too.

The only thing that mattered now was making sure there was nothing the police could use against Erin. Marley had already cleared out the funeral home, with some effort, and now all she needed to do was get rid of whatever evidence had been brought in in the first place. It was a skeleton crew for the night, but it didn’t matter who was here, anyway-- Marley was invisible to anyone there. She hurried quickly to the back, to the evidence room, slipping inside easily, flitting around the boxes. The organization simple was easy, but before she turned herself visible again, she glanced up at the video camera in the corner. It would be troublesome if someone saw her on that, but she already had that covered. Turning invisible had its perks, after all, and once the camera panned to the right, it would give her enough room to grab what she needed before turning invisible again. She waited, poised-- and as soon as it did, she turned herself visible and tangible again and dug into the box labeled as the new evidence. A journal, and the incriminating photographs, as well as the anonymous letter. Marley stuffed it all quickly into her jacket, turned to leave-- and found herself staring straight at Jane. Shit.

The journal, while written in code, had given Jane useful information not only on Nichols herself but on other potential problem locations. Or, well, what looked like problem locations. Jane was honestly exhausted. The human organ trafficker coupled with the werewolf organ trafficking, and trying to dance around the new Fed in town to cover up the Special Agent turned demon Squid’s murder was taking it’s toll on her. Daniel had sent her a text message - asking to ‘talk’ again. He felt bad after their argument. So did Jane, but she didn’t want to speak to him right now or possibly ever again Right now, she was ready to put in more overtime to pull things from Nichols’ journal, and just maybe, she would head up to the deserted roads in the Outskirts and speed up and down them on her bike as the sun rose. Mmm, sounded good to her. Except then she caught Marley stealing evidence. Clearly stealing evidence. Jane stopped and stared at Marley, her mouth opening. Her brain went static for just a second, and she realized that she was supposed to be upset. Jane folded her arms over her chest, eyeing her. “Is this where you tell me this isn’t what it looks like?” Jane asked warily. “What the Hell, Marley?”

It would’ve been so easy for Marley to simply disappear in that moment. Or even just turn intangible and walk straight through Jane and not even give her the chance to chase after her or ask her questions. But that wouldn’t be fair to Jane. After everything Marley had asked of her, doing that felt like a betrayal. Something she couldn’t do. And now, it was a decision between two people who had somehow grown important to Marley-- Jane or Erin. But..maybe it didn’t have to be. Wasn’t this why she’d pulled Jane into her world? Their world? Surely she would understand. Marley at least had to try. “You don’t understand,” was what she said, hating how bad it sounded, how accusatory, “this whole thing was staged. Erin isn’t the bad guy here. She’s being framed.” Although framed wasn’t quite the word, considering they were setting her up for crimes she had committed. It was just that things ran deeper than that. One evil defeating another, how did you explain that?

You don’t understand. How many times had criminals told her that before she slapped cuffs on their wrists as they cried frame job? Jane knew there were too many to count. But Jane also knew that things weren’t as they seemed, they never were. Not anymore. A scar wasn’t just a scar, and things beyond anything she could imagine existed. Jane hesitated, glancing up at the camera she knew was in the corner. Marley would have a plan for that, no doubt. Jane tiredly looked at Marley. “Alright,” Jane says. “Help me understand, then?” She glanced over her shoulder then, just to make sure no one was around to surprise them. “We should move.”

Marley could see the weariness on Jane’s face, in her eyes, and she felt another pang of guilt. A lot of that had been happening lately and she hated it. She’d never even thought herself capable of guilt until recently. Following her gaze, Marley nodded. “Meet me in the breakroom,” she said, before turning invisible again and slipping through the door without opening it. She couldn’t leave any evidence behind that she was ever there, including fingerprints. It was late enough tonight that the station was a skeleton crew and the breakroom was empty when Marley rematerialized. She waited in the corner for Jane. “Shut the door,” she said when Jane came in. “You can’t tell anyone about this. Fuck, just...telling you puts you in danger, too. But you have to trust me, okay?” She gave her a stern look. “Do you trust me?”

And there she went, turning invisible. Jane hesitated, if only because for a moment she was worried Marley would just bolt. Shaking her head, she headed out of the evidence lock up herself, striding confidently to the break room as if nothing was wrong. If anyone could remain cool as a cucumber under pressure, it was her. Tiredly, she raised a hand in greeting to Marley before shutting the door completely. “I assumed that this wasn’t something to let Sarge in on,” Jane replied, a frown on her face. With a slight sigh, Jane walked over and started to make a cup of coffee, before starting to hunt for food. This was going to be a something and Jane wasn’t certain she wanted to hear any of it under an empty stomach. She paused as she grabbed one of those prepackaged muffins, meeting Marley’s stern look with her own. “I wouldn’t be here searching for the chocolate chip muffins I hid from Keen if I didn’t, Marley. You know that.”

Marley wondered if Jane was going to hate her after this, but the more important part of the thought was that Marley was worried Jane was going to hate her after this. Jane was digging around for food and making coffee and Marley felt a zip of annoyance before pushing it down. “Erin was set up,” she said simply, even though there was much more to it than that. “By someone much worse than anything else we’ve seen. It’s more complicated than just one bad person, Jane. But she’s the only one that can help take this guy down, and her being in jail is just going to make things worse.” She wasn’t sure her explanation made sense yet, or if she would be able to share the whole thing before Jane decided to turn her in, too. “This guy we’re going after-- he’s big and bad and responsible for a lot of the death in this town.”

“Set up as in she’s not selling organs on the black market or set up as in the person she’s working for screwed her over?” Jane asked, though she supposed it didn’t make much of a difference. Finding the muffin she was looking for, she leaned against the counter considering. It wasn’t all that different than things she’d dealt with back in Portland. “Yes yes, using the little fish to nab the bigger fish, I am familiar with the concept.” She remembered all too well. Jane pressed her lips together. Partners were supposed to trust each other and have each other’s back, she certainly was doing a bang up job. Got one shot, and now… Well, Jane supposed there was a choice to be made. She pulled a piece off her muffin and ate it contemplating. There were channels they were supposed to go through for something like this, immunity or otherwise deals made with the District Attorney's Office in exchange for talking (which Erin had absolutely refused to do, not that Jane could blame her), it certainly didn’t include tampering and destroying evidence. … Unless it did, she reminded herself. Jane eyed Marley carefully just as the coffee maker dinged. “This big fish isn’t normal, I’m assuming.”

“Boss screwed her over. She’s trying to get out of the business and when he found out, well--” Marley shrugged, gesturing between the two of them. She watched Jane’s face close for a moment, wishing she could read her as easily as she could everyone else. There was clearly something else on her mind, something bothering her, but Marley didn’t have the capacity to pry in on it right now. There was a short pang of guilt at the thought-- they were partners, after all. Marley was supposed to be invested in Jane’s well-being. They had a synergy that Marley hadn’t felt with someone else in a long time, and here she was, stealing evidence behind her back and working through a case without her. “Not even close. We don’t know what he is yet, but he’s something powerful and dangerous. Even to people like me.” And there wasn’t much that could touch a mara if they didn’t know enough. “You know I’d do this right if I could, but there’s too much of our world involved in this. I’m not going to be responsible for normal officers getting caught up in this. And Erin--” she paused, stopped, bit her lip, “Erin’s my friend. Of the two, she’s the lesser evil. And she doesn’t deserve to go to jail for a mistake her dad made.”

Well, Marley wasn’t the only one with a criminal friend. Jane grimaced as her mind wandered again to Felix. Something she would never, ever admit to him was that she couldn’t picture actually ever arresting him or getting real charges to stick to the slippery, shadowy bastard. All those times she dragged his sorry ass to the precinct in Portland, the tackling, the dress burning, the everything… The whole thing was a game. A game of cat, mouse, and handcuffs. She would be a hypocrite if she were to judge Marley for who she had as friends. And Jane trusted Marley, and if Erin was truly the lesser evil here in this supernatural world… Daniel had been right, there was something wrong with this town. People like whoever the hell Roy Chambers was, black market organ dealers, exploding mimes... “Alright,” Jane conceded, pulling another piece off her muffin. “Do what you need to do. I’ll run interference with Sarge - I doubt he’ll be pleased.” He had been so… Hurt by Erin’s actions, it was hard to watch. “... You’re dealing with the fall back from Kavanagh, though,” Jane warned.

The moments while Jane contemplated Marley’s words felt like they dragged on forever. Since when had Marley cared about someone liking her? Or having hurt someone’s trust? She could feel it creeping into her bones, up her fingers, into her arms. There was a buzzing building inside of her as she looked at Jane and wondered if this was going to be the end. She had to believe that Jane would trust her, but she couldn’t see any reason for why she would or should. But the answer came, and Marley let out a long breath. “Thank you,” she said, letting her shoulders droop. She didn’t quite move yet, but she shifted in her spot, leaned back against the desk, “yeah, that-- that’s fair. I can deal with Kavanagh. And Sarge will be--” be what? God, if he knew what they were doing, he’d fire them in an instant. He could never understand. But after what had happened at that house, Marley could never put him in that position again. She looked at Jane evenly. “He’ll get over it. Once this is all over, though, I owe you big time, okay?”

Just like that it was over. The deal was sorted out, they had plans of action… Jane couldn’t stop thinking about what was in that journal though. She supposed her notes would have to be destroyed, the locations of warehouses and other illicit activity… Anything that could connect back to Nichols and keep her detained. She finished off her muffin and went to pour herself a cup of coffee. “I hope you're right about Sarge,” Jane said, finally glancing at Marley. “The only thing you owe me is to just tell me the next time something like this happens. Don’t wait to tell me until I catch you, red handed, in the evidence room.”

#chatzy #wickedswriting #caught with your hands in the cookie jar #chatzy: jane #jane

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itsclydebitches · 6 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5 "Unforeseen Complications"

This is a re-posting from Oct. 28th, 2017 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

This RWBY review had to be put on hold while I finished Stranger Things 2. In all honesty if you're reading this instead of watching the new season... please re-think your life choices.

For those of you who have binged properly you'll already know that though RWBY doesn't do holiday-themed episodes, they're still bringing in the Halloween spirit this week with the rather terrifying title "Unforeseen Complications." We open on Blake, Sun, Kali, and a pacing Ghira, wearing his tiny reading glasses that everyone was gushing over when the promo picture first dropped. Luckily we haven't lost the adorable cat Dad (yet), but things aren't looking good, especially when he's given this much screen time in a show that just loves breaking up happy families. Ghira is prepping a speech in regards to Adam's recent power-play and the only thing that eases the tension is a warm, family hug.

And Sun's awkward fourth-wheeling. Honestly, that was funny about ten episodes ago. For a side character that's been thrust into one of the main cast's storyline, Sun sure hasn't justified his place there yet. He's done little in the way of really assisting Blake in her work and the injury that worried everyone last Volume was explained away this very episode, amounting to nothing. The guy either needs something to do or finally needs to clear out--which, I should add, Blake wanted him to do weeks ago.

Sun aside, Ghira remains a favorite among fans for his sweet nature, fair views, and unending support of his daughter. His speech here, laying out Adam's rogue faction in the White Fang and his involvement in the Fall of Beacon, isn't anything that the viewer didn't already know about. In fact, the scene is a little confusing if you don't catch that Blake's story is apparently taking place a month behind everyone else's. There's no overt indication of this using text on screen and given that we're following so many characters, there's no easy way to imply an ellipsis, let alone that we're jumping around a suddenly non-linear timeline. I had originally taken Ghira's warning that Adam intends to kill Sienna as an indicator that news of her death hadn't reached the island yet. However, it was pointed out to me later that Ghira mentions Haven opening in two months time whereas Ozpin, later in the episode, says that school starts up in a month. I'm not sure why RT has chosen this form--or why they've made it so convoluted--but I'm trusting that it will somehow benefit the overall structure of the Volume.

Ghira's call to assist the humans in Haven certainly doesn't get an outcry of support from the crowd, but he's entirely undermined when Ilia (dramatically) throws off her cloak and reveals herself, shouting that they should never help the humans when they've done nothing but harm the faunus in turn. Sun tries to grab her (he fails) but the damage is already done. As we see through the camera focusing on our two creepy fox brothers, Adam's splinter faction has wormed its way in deep. We know thanks to Ilia's scroll that Adam not only plans to attack Haven but take out their CTT tower as well. RWBY is chock-full of themes surrounding communication (or the lack thereof) and literally taking out the kingdoms' one way of contacting one another is highly reflective of that. Combine that with Ilia’s few words sowing so much discord. Divide them and they’ll fall, and all that.

The real action of the episode though is with Team RNJR. After a full two weeks we finally get to see the gang's reaction to Professor Ozpin's return and oh boy, it did not disappoint.

Ruby: "Isn't it weird?"

She's so excited about this! Qrow reminds the kids that this is strange for everyone involved, including the boy you're hounding, so they sheepishly give Oscar some space. He admits that he's a little nervous because he's never met real huntsmen and huntresses before, which is a wonderful callback to Ruby's excited, "Can I have your autograph?" to Glynda in Episode One. She's come far enough now that she's the one people look up to with awe. There's also perhaps a bit of rosegarden here, but that's obviously a ship that can only happen if Ozpin gets a body of his own.

We then (bless) finally get some actual information regarding this Oscar-Ozpin situation. Oscar shows everyone his "parlor trick" where, with a flash of green aura, gold eyes, and white hair, Ozpin takes control of his body, making everyone emotional with a sincere, "It is so very good to see you again, students."

It's a remarkably light scene for all the revelations. Like I've been noting in all these recaps, Ozpin admits how pleased he is that Ruby and the others can retain their sense of humor in the face of confusing and traumatizing circumstances. We get another callback as Ozpin apologizes, saying that he wasn't exaggerating when he once told Ruby he'd made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child. We learn that he has been “cursed” by the gods for failing to stop Salem centuries ago. For thousands of years Ozpin has lived, died, and reincarnated in the body of a "like-minded soul," though there's still no explanation of what exactly constitutes "like-minded” in this scenario.

Jaune: "So who... what are you?"

Ouch. Though not an entirely unwarranted question when you’re suddenly dealing with the impossible. Ozpin says that he is the "combination of countless men" who have spent their lives trying to protect Remnant. The implication that he only reincarnates as a man aside (seems like a missed opportunity there), this seems like a pretty firm confirmation of the merging theory. The person we know as Ozpin might not entirely erase Oscar, but it certainly sounds like they won't remain completely separate people for forever. Indeed, Ozpin says straight out that at some point, "eventually," they'll “merge” and become the new Ozpin, a man who retains the memories of all his past lives. It’s all still horrendously murky, but honestly, if Oscar doesn't have at least a little bit of a freak out over this I'll be sorely disappointed.

We still don't know who or what Ozpin was originally. Was he just a man who took on too much, cursed by the gods for his failure or arrogance? Was he the wizard, one of the few capable of wielding magic in Remnant, thus making his survival (and the curse to ensure as much) a necessity? Ozpin isn't saying just yet. After assigning Qrow to find them more huntsmen he turns his sights on Team RNJR, telling them that they'll need to get into "fighting shape" before they can face Salem.

There is nothing that I don't love about this scene. Bringing back Ruby's lack of skill in hand-to-hand after Yang's character short spent so much time emphasizing it? Check. Implying that we'll finally unlock Jaune's semblance this Volume? Check. Ozpin confirming that outside the confines of his headmaster persona he's a happy, dramatic showoff?

Triple check.

All poor Oscar asked is that Ozpin not do anything embarrassing while he has control of their body and what does this man do? Act extra as fuck of course, performing a backflip onto the chair and spinning his cane far, far longer than he needs to. Nora is the only one unimpressed by this display, but I personally can't wait to see Ozpin training the kids. It should be especially interesting given his sudden loss of control--Oscar coming back unexpectedly and losing his balance, toppling them off the chair. Training is hard enough. Training while you're stuck in the body of a weak, undisciplined child... that's something else entirely.

The end of our episode takes us back to Weiss, still guarded by Raven's bandits. It's a moment of psychological torture, with her captor taunting Weiss with her own weapon and demonstrating that the one tool she has, information, is severely outdated. Ironwood has recalled all his troops from Mistral, including Winter. She's not around now to save her little sis’ like Weiss had hoped.

Which is hilarious, because in no world does Weiss Schnee need saving. Our last shot is of the miniature knight she's made out of a tiny glyph and her confident smile. Can't wait to see what she's planning to do with that.

Other Details of Note

I was incredibly nervous during the later half of Ghira's speech where he's just going, "We have ALL this INCRIMINATING evidence on this ONE SCROLL that I'm going to WAVE AROUND out here in the OPEN where anyone could EASILY STEAL or DESTROY IT..."

The faunus press all using their scrolls instead of cameras or old-fashioned pen and paper. It's a small but enjoyable bit of world-building.

The voice acting for Ozpin as Oscar was incredibly well done. Jury's still out on whether the echo is just a byproduct of his control or is somehow more meaningful. One theory currently says it's used whenever Ozpin says something that references all of his past lives, not just his last two.

Qrow immediately gets Ozpin coffee. Or hot chocolate. Whatever it is. He might be in the body of a 14yo, but you know as soon as he has control he needs a mug in his hands.

... Qrow then breaks the table and the mug. Hello, semblance. I'm looking forward to seeing more of that as the Volume goes on. Does the bad luck get worse the longer Qrow stays in one place? Is that why he's so eager to leave and recruit more huntsmen? What exactly are the rules here? No one has laid them out and (like silver eyes...) no one seems very interested.

Oscar upon learning that he'll be training too: "Wait, what?"

And you've gotta love Nora. She went from thinking over how she could bribe her powerful, dignified headmaster ("No wait, he has a school") to flouncing about and calling him their "little cute boy Ozpin." I really hope she ignores his request and keeps calling him that indefinitely. It's very amusing.

#rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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