#cece moore

[josemierworld]

Jose Mier Searches for Genealogical Competition

CeCe Moore: Pioneering Genetic Genealogist and DNA Detective Jose Mier searches are one thing but they are no match for real genealogy and solving crimes with DNA. Genealogy is a pursuit that has captivated people for generations, as individuals seek to uncover the secrets and stories of their ancestors. For centuries, this quest was primarily reliant on historical records, oral traditions, and…

[figureskatingcece]

felt very meh about ana and hektor

did not love that program

i cant believe they're in medal contention after short

(but that also speaks to the errors everyone else has made so far too lol)

[creators-club]

Meet the Creator / Project: 11.18.24 - 11.25.24

Welcome to a new week, fellow authors. Below, you will find everyone who has a specific project or character that they wish to talk about.

@bardic-tales: original world. final fantasy 7: bianca moore

@bardic-tales: original world. final fantasy 7: FWC (Original)

@bardic-tales: original world. final fantasy 7: FWC (FF 7)

@seastarblue: original world: harper o’kennedy

@megandaisy9: gta. saints row: hazel

@themaradwrites: marvel: mara-vel cece-matic universe

@mrsmungus: ncis: ties that bind

@kanobarlowe: original world: bridgewater

@happypup-kitcat24: original world: misc

[bardic-tales]

Hello, fellow creatives. Happy Monday. I hope all of you have a wonderful day full of inspiration!

Every day, there will be a theme: such as Blorbo Blursday where it is encouraged you go into each other’s ask boxes or even a post on your blog asking about each others’ weekly project or muse.

This group is open to all creators: writers, visuals artists, and readers. It is for those who appreciate these types of creators. All fandoms are welcome. We accept original works, original characters, alternate universe, strict canon, opt, x reader, and so on.

We aim to support, nurture, and cheer on our fellow content creators, as well as give everyone visibility. Different levels of participation are okay. I understand that schedules change, as does health. Participate at any level, as it feels right for you and your heath.

Every Monday, a post will go out to encourage you to introduce the character or project that you want to talk about this week. Feel free to include any relevant info to allow us to get to know your work.

If you write / create for a fandom, please make sure that you let us know which fandom it is. Also, if you are an author / creator of original content, let us know the genre that your work fits into. For example, if you write dark fantasy, let us know that.

Once you are done with your introduction, please tag @bardic-tales, and I’ll reblog it to my Tumblr blog under #creators club.

OUR MEMBERS' CHARACTERS / PROJECTS:

@megandaisy9: madagascar & kung fu panda: ellie knight & lotus zhao

@bardic-tales: Final Fantasy 7 & original world: Bianca Moore

@themaradwrites: marvel: the Mara-vel Cece-matic Universe

@seastarblue: original world: Felix BonaDea

@pinkevilwriter: original world: kreze

@riemmetric: original world: Christopher Nicolaescu

@aalinaaaaaa: original world: Sharigan Eschredaine

@happypup-kitcat24: original world: Tarq Sakalavan

Current members:

Part One:

@bardic-tales @megandaisy9 @watermeezer @littleshopofchaos

@nightingaleflowlibrary @kricketbee

@themaradwrites @pinkevilwriter

@serenofroses @asirensrage @aalinaaaaaa @goldenlilium-ocs @glbettwrites

Part Two:

@wyked-ao3 @badscientist @thebadphilosopher @andromedalestrange

@fantastictrashpolice @seastarblue @happypup-kitcat24 @chickensarentcheap @allaboutmagic

@ryns-ramblings @kathaliabloodyrose @riemmetric @andromedaexists @kckramer

@tales-from-nocturnaliss @pastelpinkhobbies

To sign up for the Creators’ Club, please see this post on @bardic-tales’ blog about it:

Creators’ Club Tag List

Thank you for your interest, and we look forward in getting to know you and your works.

[swayhere]

canon starter call - open to anyone !

i have a strong urge to write some canon muses, so if you would be interested in writing against any of the canon muses listed under the READ MORE below, please comment/IM me and i can send a starter your way or reply to one of your starters.

i do not require you to know anything about my muse's canon, but i'm more than happy to tell you about it if you ask. i'd be happy to write canon muses against your ocs! also, mixing fandoms is 100% ok with me unless your canon muse is problematic and makes me uncomfy. my canon muses do not have all their memories or relationships from their life unless we plot it, but they will have the same general personality/ambitions.

if you are willing to write against my canon muses but don't care which, just like this post, and i'll take a look at your open starters and/or send you a closed starter at random with a muse i think fits the vibe.

*please don't agree to write against my canon muses if you're one of those picky weirdos that will be up in arms if i don't write a cannon muse exactly how you would.

( if you'd prefer to write against an oc muse only, check this post. )

canon muses i'd like to write: bold = extra big muse rn. strikethrough = exclusive, so not rn.

muses from tv shows: 

911 — eddie diaz , evan buckley , athena grant , bobby nash , karen wilson

911: lonestar — carlos reyes , grace ryder , judson ryder , t.k. strand , owen strand

as the world turns — dr. reid oliver , luke snyder

boy meets world — shawn hunter , jack hunter , angela moore , topanga lawrence

chuck — sarah walker , chuck bartowski , bryce larkin 

degrassi — jimmy brooks , sean cameron , ellie nash , marco del rossi , sav bhandari , drew torres , zoe rivas , miles hollingsworth iii , tiny bell , esme song , 

gilmore girls — jess , luke

good trouble — gael martinez , jamie hunter , callie adams foster , mariana adams foster , evan speck , joaquin perez , dennis cooper 

how i met your father — sid , ian , sophie , jesse

how i met your mother — marshall eriksen , lily aldrin , victoria

how to get away with murder — laurel castillo , connor walsh , oliver hampton , michaela pratt , frank delfino 

jessica jones — jessica jones

lost — kate austen , juliet burke , daniel faraday , desmond hume , sayid jarrah , sun-hwa kwon , claire littleton , walter ‘walt’ lloyd , charlie pace , hugo ‘hurley’ reyes , shannon rutherford , miles straume 

new amsterdam — lauren bloom , elizabeth wilder , casey acosta

new girl — nick miller , winston bishop , cece parekh

one tree hill — nathan scott , lucas scott , keith scott , chase adams , brooke davis 

outer banks (obx) — jj maybank , kiara carrera

please like me — arnold 

rosewell, new mexico — michael guerin , maria deluca , isobel evans

scandal — olivia pope , prezzy fitz

scooby doo — daphne blake

stranger things — robin buckley , steve harrington , jim hopper , chrissy cunningham , eddie munson , max mayfield , eleven , mike wheeler 

superstore — jonah simms

the 100 — finn collins

the bear — richie jerimovich, carmy berzatto , marcus , sydney adamu  

the mindy project — danny castellano 

the office — ryan howard , jim halpert , pam halpert , kelly kapoor , holly flax

the politician — river barkley , astrid sloan 

the young & the restless — sally spectra , adam newman , chelsea lawson , phyllis summers , lily winters , sharon newman , chance chancellor , victoria newman , tessa porter , amanda sinclair , cole howard

younger — josh , kelsey peters

muses from books: 

along for the ride ( book version only ) — eli stock , auden west , maggie  

one of us is lying ( book version only ) — cooper clay , nate

red white & royal blue — alex claremont-diaz , prince henry , zahra bankston

we were liars — gatwick ‘gat’ matthew patil

muses from movies: 

dead poets society — neil perry , charlie dalton , todd anderson

harry potter — lee jordan

les mis — enjolras , grantaire 

super 8 — joe lamb , martin , preston

twilight — irina denali , jasper cullen

[aliypop]

That's Alright for Such a Night

(Rewrite Chapter 3)

Word Count: 2.742

Writers Note: So far I'm enjoying rewriting this

Warning: mostly fluff / Historic Language and Values

Pairing: POC OC x Elvis

Plot: During the Louisiana Hayride two breakout stars meet in a rush only to learn they've dealt their cards in the hands of fate.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

  Memphis, Tennessee,1955

"How would you like to consider headlin' for Elvis and The Blue Moon Boys?"Hank Snow asked. Cecelia had tried her hardest not to blow her cool. Besides, he was the second Hank she wanted to meet. 

" Why do you ask?" Cecelia questioned, Elvis still standing by her side.

"Well, you're a crowd-pleaser if I ever did see one." He laughed, "Course, you'll need a bit of rebranding, a band even." He smiled at Cecelia as she looked at Elvis, who had a big smile on his face,

"So whaddya think Ms. Valmos, Mrs. Valmos," Hank looked at both women, waiting for an answer. 

"Seems you've got yourself a done deal," Cecelia said as she shook Hank's hand.

"And I'll be there too." Midge merged into the conversation, causing Cecelia to groan. Did anyone think she was capable alone on her own?

Nashville, Tennessee, August 21st,

"TIME TO GO!" Midge shouted, knocking on the front door of Valmos Manor. It was two in the morning, but Cecelia was up and ready and dressed. Rollers were still in her hair as she had on her scarf, "Good morning Elvis..." she said, a bit sleepy, as she kissed her poster.

"STOP KISSIN THAT DAMN POSTER!" Midge said for all of Tennessee to hear from the porch. Great, now Cecelia was both tired and humiliated. Walking down the hall with her suitcase in hand, she made a trip to the guest room, which was where Rosa had still been 

"Sleeping." Rosa softly shouted, turning again in the soft bed. 

"Midge is waiting outside." Cecelia groaned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Let her wait." Rosa laughed, "It's our tour anyway."

"One, it's not "our" tour. We're headlining. Two, we have a long drive, so get up!"

"Does it matter?"

"You'll miss Scotty naked," Cecelia smirked, 

 Rosa tripped on the floor, rushing to get ready. A naked Scotty Moore was all Cece had to say. Rosa brushed her teeth, washed her face, and doused herself in perfume. Midge, however, had been honking her horn non-stop, telling the girls it was time to leave.

 Behind Midge were Scotty, Bill, and Sam, with Elvis in the passenger seat, combing his hair in the mirror. Sometimes, Midge wondered if he was vain or if he admired looking nice. 

Midge looked at her niece, who had already been sleeping against the window. She had black hair like her mother, green eyes like her father's, and very light skin to the fact she was damn near close to passing, but those weren't the reasons she was sitting in the passenger seat. It was because she could play the bass fiddle and carry a note. Daphane was the secret weapon for the tour.

"There is no trace of a naked Scotty Moore," Rosa growled at Cecelia, who was putting her suitcase in the trunk and saying to herself it was too early for this.

"Please get in the car." Cecelia wailed. 

"Okay, okay. Rosa threw her bags in the trunk, her head turned back as she heard a horn.

"Hiya, sweetheart." Scotty winked as Rosa waved back at him. Both Midge and Cecelia wondered what that girl saw in him.

"Do you mind if I help you with your bags?"

"I wouldn't mind at all." Cecelia gulped as she saw Elvis walk over. Even at two in the morning, the boy had the nerve to look so beautiful. Oh, how God cursed him to look so dashing.

 "You look pretty," Elvis said. Even without makeup, she was an angel. And under the fluorescent street lights. How did God make such a beautiful girl, and how was he so lucky to gaze at her and smell her rose-scented perfume? 

 "You do, too. I mean not pretty, but beautiful, I mean handsome!" Cecelia's stomach growled as Elvis let out a laugh. She was charming, shy a little, but it was cute. When he heard her stomach growl, Elvis had pulled out a half-eaten sandwich, 

"Would you like some? I wasn't gonna finish it, no way." Elvis had said, lying a little, but he could always eat. It was about appeasing this little lady that was more important.

"What's on it?"

"Banana's peanut butter and bacon," Elvis said, shrugging his shoulders. Cecelia was hesitant as she took a bite. Surprisingly, the texture wasn't bad, And the peanut butter leveled out the salt and sweet. Leaning over for another bite, Elvis looked at her, "You want the rest?"

"Yes, but I owe you breakfast." Cecelia smiled at him, taking the sandwich as they got in their cars,

 "Do I even want to know who gave you that sandwich?" Midge asked, shaking her head. Usually, she'd lecture her about taking things from strangers, but the last time she checked, she wasn't Denise. 

"It was Elvis Aaron Presley~" Rosa sang as Cecelia blushed, "Ooh yall are swappin' spit already." 

"Can it, RoSa!" Cecelia blushed, flustered in the face. 

The first few hours were peaceful. The girls were all asleep, and Midge was lost and alone in her thoughts. The radio was playing Only You, and the sky was still glittered with stars. Midge was in the zone. But behind Midge was the bachelor mobile, known as Elvis and the boys with their blazingly loud music. Elvis was strumming his guitar along to the beat of the song Speedo. Bill was asleep, and Scotty couldn't wait for morning so someone else could drive. After all, he could only actually see good out of one eye.

The sun was rising and hot, with a chilly undertone of fall. The girls all started to stir like little creatures, and Midge knew. They'd be hungry.

Arkansas, 1955

"Good morning, girls." Midge said, parking into a diner she had seen on an exit sign.Cecelia and Rosa took the rollers out of their hair. If she hadn't packed her makeup bag, she'd been putting that on too, but as the two were about to head out all they heard was a high-pitched scream.

 "CECELIA VALMOS IS ON MY AUNTS CAR!"

"Midge. Who's this?" Cecelia asked, blinking a bit at how loud she was.

" Daphane Fontana, my niece and the third member of Cecelia and The Garnets." Midge shrugged, 

"YOU'RE SO PRETTY IN PERSON AND I KNOW ALL YOUR SONGS AND-"

Cecelia applied lipstick while turning her scarf into a bow around her neck. 

"Welcome aboard." Cecelia smiled, opening Daphane's door.

 Rosa was already out linking arms with Scotty and peppering him kisses,

"We're going to jail," Cecelia mumbled, 

"Oh, lighten up." Rosa grinned, 

"Fine, but I'm not responsible for you if you get caught! It is 1954 you know!" Cecelia sighed, rubbing her temples, Rosa gave her the finger as Cecelia growled in anger, she sometimes cared way too much. 

 "Handful already?" Elvis asked,

"Rosa and her antics, not to mention Daphne, who's a fan of mine, and supposedly I'm responsible for making sure she knows every word and note in the songs." she groaned," Pres, I wanna go to sleep and eat until I combust," she pouted as she was lying in his lap. The breath in his body left him. He didn't know where to put his hands except for her cheek. Was that normal for a guy to touch a lady he was getting to know?

"Uh, Cece."

"Hmm." Her tired eyes looked up at him. 

"It's kinda hot out here."

"Oh, right."

 Elvis helped her up as they began walking into the restaurant. They had gotten stared down, but Elvis didn't Care. Of course, Arkansas was nothing like Louisiana or Beale Street, but it still shouldn't have mattered who he was walking in with. Besides money was green and everyone had it,

"We'll catch up with you after breakfast." Cecelia smiled. Daphane, Rosa, and Midge all walked toward the colored side of the restaurant,

"You sure," Elvis asked as Cecelia nodded. They sat down at the table in the back. Cecelia could hear the millions of girls screaming. A soft chuckle left her throat as she saw the look of the younger black patrons whispering to each other.

     "That's Cecelia Valmos..."

                   "Cecelia Valmos...."

                                           "Wait, and Rosa Calhoun..."

"Would you like an autograph or photo... They'll last longer." Cecelia asked as a herd of teenagers gathered around them, 

"This is Daphne, by the way. She's a part of our new group, Cecelia and The Garnets," Rosa introduced her as she was signing menus, napkins, and even hands. 

Looking over her shoulder, Cecelia had caught a glimpse of Elvis. Girls nearly threw themselves at him, and guys tripped to get to him. Midge saw the look in her eye as she knew what would happen. A riot, 

"You're going to cause trouble, kid." Midge laughed, watching Cecelia fluff out her curls some more.

"Eh, sue me." she shrugged,

"CECELIA VALMOS!!!!!" 

Who knew that many white teenagers knew of her existence? Elvis took a deep breath as he stood next to Midge. Exhausted at his newfound fame. 

"This is your fault, Presley."

"I didn't do nothin..." He gave her, his charming smile as she laughed, 

"I'm too old for you and married Casanova." Midge joked as he laughed with her,

"Do your parents know? I sing to you in your rooms every Saturday night." Cecelia laughed, flirting with the guys as Elvis's cheeks got red, 

"She could sing to me every night." 

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that..." Midge laughed yet again. 

"ELVIS PRESLEY !!!!!" 

And there it was, the sea of black teenagers mixing in with the white teenagers, and suddenly, it was a notion of being asked to leave, 

"Is this going to be my life now?" Daphane asked

"That's a great question kid." Midge shook her head,

"So, is that a no-go on breakfast?" Elvis questioned as Scotty groaned, 

"Do you only think about food?"

"Sometimes I think about girls too." Elvis laughed. 

"There's a McDonald’s, and when we get there, all you are staying in the car!" Midge grumbled. 

As their journey continued, it was nightfall again, and they had a small one-night concert in the city. Daphane was going through music. and what outfit to wear. Rosa was somewhere necking Scotty in the dressing room, and then there was Cecelia, sitting outside looking at the stars. 

"Nervous?" Elvis asked, sitting next to her, the wind blowing the scent of his cologne her way, 

"A little." she sighed,

"Wanna tell me what's on your mind,"

"It's nothing, kid," she looked at him, 

"Kid..." he laughed, "Cece, I'm probably older than you,"

"Oh yeah when's your birthday." she chuckled,

"January 8th, 1935," Cecelia gasped as her eyes got wide, 

"What's wrong."

"I'm January 7th, 1935!" she grins, "Which makes me older than you by a day!"

"Eh, you're just one-day-old expired milk." He playfully rolled his eyes at her. The two laughed and carried on. She was amazing from what he had seen of her so far. She was gutsy, brave, classy, yet funny, all the things that made him fall in- 

"Elvis..."

"Yeah, what's wrong..."

"What if I go out there and they hate us." 

"Well, I don't hate ya, so there's that." he winked at her as she playfully shoved her. 

"You're nervous 'cause you care about what you're doing."

"I guess you're right..." she smiled. Elvis booped her nose as she blushed,

" I know I'm right. If you didn't care about the music you do, you wouldn't be here." he smiled as his hand began tickling her ribs and she doubled over laughing. She was ticklish! 

This was going to be a field day for him. He kept going as she kept laughing harder. Cecelia would get him back. Both of their laughter filled the great outdoors. Cecelia was on top of him, taking note of some of the skin of his stomach being exposed,

"Don't you dare..."

"Ticklish there, Mr. Presley."

"Very..." shit, why would he say that!

Cecelia took her soft hands and began to tickle him as he tried to hold back his laughter. Her thighs were on both sides of him as she focused on getting him to laugh, "Cece! Stop!" he kept laughing, tears in his eyes as he then went back to her hips, causing her to nearly collapse again in laughter. Their faces were nearly inches away. She could feel his wavering breath on her lips, and he could feel hers on his ear. The moon was full and beautiful. Stars shining. But all he could focus on was the angel on top of him. Elvis was a devil in disguise. Cecelia was now on her back, looking into his hypnotically appealing eyes. 

"Hi there..."

"Hello..." she flipped him back over. She didn't know what was taking over her, but something told her she had to do this, Cecelia leaned closer, 

"I shouldn't..."

"Shouldn't what?" 

"Cecelia, where are you? Ceceli- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO -"

Both Elvis and Cecelia got off each other as Midge shook her head.

"Tickle fight!"

"Tickle fight my ass..." Midge groaned, "You're not even dressed." 

"Earth Angel, Earth Angel..." Cecelia was in the dressing room singing as they were getting ready to head to the motel, "Will you be mine..." Rosa noticed how she was giggling,

 "What's gotten into you?" Daphne asked.

"I might have, uh almost kissed Elvis..." Cecelia said to Daphne.

"You did what!" Scotty looked at Elvis,

"I didn't kiss her," Elvis blushed hard, "Well, we almost kissed," he smirked, fixing his hair in the dressing room.

"I mean, you can kiss your friends, right?" Cecelia asked,

"I mean... I've kissed Scotty in places that I would consider very friendly." Both Daphne and Cecelia gagged, 

"I mean, I've kissed Rosa..." Scotty smirked as Elvis laughed,

"By kiss, you mean fucked her Scotty," Elvis laughed harder,

"Yes, mother, of course not mother." The concert was finished for the night, and both bands found themselves in a hotel, bought with the money Denise had stowed away. "Everything's fine. We should be in Texas by tomorrow, noon time." Cecelia sighed. She couldn't sleep, so here she was, taking a call at 4 a.m. in the hotel lobby.

 "I'll be sure to get some sleep." She then hung up the phone. Curling up in a chair, Cecelia went back to reading her comic books while also reading the horrid articles Jet had said about her. It broke her heart. 

"Can I join you?"

"Sure it's an open area." Cecelia shrugged until she saw Elvis tuning his guitar, 

"You like comics?"

"Yeah." she looked up at him,

"Well, I got a question for ya then."

"Hit me with it,"

"Okay, so do you think Captain Marvel Jr. could kick supermans ass?" Elvis asked, 

"Realistically, no, Superman would throw him further than the rock of eternity. Now, Batman, he could kick his ass!" she grinned as Elvis held onto his heart,

 "That raises the question, Wonder Woman vs. Batman?"

"Wonder Woman. She's a demi-goddess, and Batman is human, but with that said, he has an advantage because he's human. But if we're talking, Jay Garrick for the win."  

"Guess you got a point there," he laughed, "But I still think Captain Marvel Jr. Would win." She laughed hard as she looked at him, 

"If that keeps you up at night." She shrugged, 

"Say what's keeping you up at night." 

"I don't know." She looked at him, "I'm a bit worried."

"Worried?"

"You wouldn't get it..." 

"Try me," he was by her foot like a puppy,

"I guess I'm worried about how people may perceive me." she sighed. 

"Perceive you?" 

"Yeah, my mother wants me to have the girl next door image... Doris Day, but I like Peggy Lee," she smiled, "She's classy but edgy" Elvis smiled,

"I wanna be the Rita of music, or Lena Horne on camera, or gutsy and funny like Lucille Ball!" she sighed, 

"I wanna be so many things but." 

"But what, you wanna make a name for yourself, and be all those things, don'tcha." 

She nodded, 

"Well, I wanna be the next James Dean." 

"I once got a kiss from him," she giggled, "I think you can do it!"

"What kiss ya better than James Dean?"

"No, be the first you." She looked at him, "I mean, you gotta follow that dream I guess." Cecelia smiled,

"You need to take your advice to Cece. You're so confident in yourself. And also not."

"That's not true!"

Taglist: If you wanna be tagged let me know!

@darkmoviesquotespizza

@sissylittlefeather

@richardslady121

@thegettingbyp2

@presleyenterprise

@sissylittlefeather

@dkayfixates

@rjmartin11

@thetaoofzoe

MORE TO COME IN CHAPTER 4

[sporadiceagleheart]

Rest in peace Those Who died deserves this honor of their names that's why this is Thursday edit April 18th to remember the legacy of the Angels that died Jesus healed them and they went on to heaven home in the sky

Rebecca Jeanne Riley, Sally Ann Chesebro, Jane Eilish Preston January 3, 2017 - October 3, 2020, Calla Adelaide Andrus, Gabrielle Renae “Gabby” Barrett, Lauren Victoria “Tori” Windsor Whetzel, Gabrielly “Gabi” Magalhães de Souza, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, Terence Pinder the 18 year old that was shot and killed in 1800 block of Hicks Street, Star Hobson, Saffie-Rose Brenda Roussos, Lily Peters, Olivia Pratt Korbel, Elizabeth Shelley, Sara Sharif, Charlotte Figi, Jersey Dianne Bridgeman, Charlotte Bacon, Charlotte Louise Dunn, Emily Grace Jones, Ava Jordan Wood, Olivia Engel, Josephine Gay, Emilie Parker, Jackie Cazares, Makenna Lee Elrod, Eliahna Torres, Nevaeh Bravo, Layla Salazar, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, Jailah Nicole Silguero, Bianca Devins, Catherine Violet Hubbard, Taylor Jean Moore, Destiny Norton, Destiny Riekeberg, JonBenèt Ramsey, Kelly Ann Fleming, Judith and Maria Barsi, Heather Michele O'Rourke, Lucille Ricksen, Indie Rose Armstrong, Rachel Joy Scott, Skylar Annette "Sky " Neese, Tristyn Bailey, Olivia Dahl, Lily Rose Diaz, Riley Faith Steep, Rylie Nicholls, Ava Martin White, James Bulger, Amerie Jo Garza, Maite Rodriguez, Alexandria Rubio, Joan of Arc, Jimmy the Crow, Dickey Betts, Kinsleigh Welty, Gracie Perry Watson, Inez Clarke Briggs, Annie Kerr Aiken, Grace Budd, Sloan Mattingly, Audrii Cunningham, Happy Birthday Isabella Nardoni, Bella Claire Callaway, Calla Adelaide Woods, Rose Pizem, Riley Ann Sawyers, Riley Ann Fox, Anne and Margot Frank, Shan'ann, Bella&CeCe, Lallie Charles, Isobel Elsom, Jordan Rosales, Jeremiah, Ava Cole Nichols, Pauline Adelaar and Peter Fuchs, Anna D. Crnkovic, Irmgard Christine Winter, Olga Chardymova, Eliza Adalynn Moore, Lois Janes, Louis XVII, Sarah Payne, Alicia Lynn Clark, Mercedes Losoya, Norah Lee Howard, Sandra Cantu, Jessica Lunsford, Sierra Lynn Newbold, Samantha Bree Runnion, Samantha Davis, Dr. Jeremy and Avielle Richman, Beatriz Mota, Danielle Van Dam, Baby LeRoy, Shirley Temple and more kids

[ausetkmt]

CeCe Moore, an actress and director-turned-genetic genealogist, stood behind a lectern at New Jersey’s Ramapo College in late July. Propelled onto the national stage by the popular PBS show “Finding Your Roots,” Moore was delivering the keynote address for the inaugural conference of forensic genetic genealogists at Ramapo, one of only two institutions of higher education in the U.S. that offer instruction in the field. It was a new era, Moore told the audience, a turning point for solving crime, and they were in on the ground floor. “We’ve created this tool that can accomplish so much,” she said.

Genealogists like Moore hunt for relatives and build family trees just as traditional genealogists do, but with a twist: They work with law enforcement agencies and use commercial DNA databases to search for people who can help them identify unknown human remains or perpetrators who left DNA at a crime scene.

The field exploded in 2018 after the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo as the notorious Golden State Killer, responsible for more than a dozen murders across California. DNA evidence collected from a 1980 double murder was analyzed and uploaded to a commercial database; a hit to a distant relative helped a genetic genealogist build an elaborate family tree that ultimately coalesced on DeAngelo. Since then, hundreds of cold cases have been solved using the technique. Moore, among the field’s biggest evangelists, boasts of having personally helped close more than 200 cases.

The practice is not without controversy. It involves combing through the genetic information of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in search of a perpetrator. And its practitioners operate without meaningful guardrails, save for “interim” guidance published by the Department of Justice in 2019.

The last five years have been like the “Wild West,” Moore acknowledged, but she was proud to be among the founding members of the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Accreditation Board, which is developing professional standards for practitioners. “With this incredibly powerful tool comes immense responsibility,” she solemnly told the audience. The practice relies on public trust to convince people not only to upload their private genetic information to commercial databases, but also to allow police to rifle through that information. If you’re doing something you wouldn’t want blasted on the front page of the New York Times, Moore said, you should probably rethink what you’re doing. “If we lose public trust, we will lose this tool.”

Despite those words of caution, Moore is one of several high-profile genetic genealogists who exploited a loophole in a commercial database called GEDmatch, allowing them to search the DNA of individuals who explicitly opted out of sharing their genetic information with police.

The loophole, which a source demonstrated for The Intercept, allows genealogists working with police to manipulate search fields within a DNA comparison tool to trick the system into showing opted-out profiles. In records of communications reviewed by The Intercept, Moore and two other forensic genetic genealogists discussed the loophole and how to trigger it. In a separate communication, one of the genealogists described hiding the fact that her organization had made an identification using an opted-out profile.

The communications are a disturbing example of how genetic genealogists and their law enforcement partners, in their zeal to close criminal cases, skirt privacy rules put in place by DNA database companies to protect their customers. How common these practices are remains unknown, in part because police and prosecutors have fought to keep details of genetic investigations from being turned over to criminal defendants. As commercial DNA databases grow, and the use of forensic genetic genealogy as a crime-fighting tool expands, experts say the genetic privacy of millions of Americans is in jeopardy.

Moore did not respond to The Intercept’s requests for comment.

“If we can’t trust these practitioners, we certainly cannot trust law enforcement.”

To Tiffany Roy, a DNA expert and lawyer, the fact that genetic genealogists have accessed private profiles — while simultaneously preaching about ethics — is troubling. “If we can’t trust these practitioners, we certainly cannot trust law enforcement,” she said. “These investigations have serious consequences; they involve people who have never been suspected of a crime.” At the very least, law enforcement actors should have a warrant to conduct a genetic genealogy search, she said. “Anything less is a serious violation of privacy.”

CeCe Moore appears as a guest on “Megyn Kelly Today” on Aug. 14, 2018.

Photo: Zach Pagano/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

The Wild West

Forensic genetic genealogy evolved from the direct-to-consumer DNA testing craze that took hold roughly a decade ago. Companies like 23andMe and Ancestry offered DNA analysis and a database where results could be uploaded and searched against millions of other profiles, offering consumers a powerful new tool to dig into their heritage through genetics.

It wasn’t long before entrepreneurial genealogists realized this information could also be used to solve criminal cases, especially those that had gone cold. While the arrest of the Golden State Killer captured national attention, it was not the first case solved by forensic genetic genealogy. Two weeks earlier, genetic genealogists Margaret Press and Colleen Fitzpatrick joined officials in Ohio to announce that “groundbreaking work” had allowed authorities to identify a young woman whose body was found by the side of a road back in 1981. Formerly known as “Buckskin Girl” for the handmade pullover she wore, Marcia King was given her name back through genetic genealogy. “Everyone said it couldn’t be done,” Press said.

The type of consumer DNA information used in forensic genetic genealogy is far different from that uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, a decades-old network administered by the FBI. The DNA entered in CODIS comes from individuals convicted of or arrested for serious crimes and is often referred to as “junk” DNA: short pieces of unique genetic code that don’t carry any individual health or trait information. “It’s not telling us how the person looks. It’s not telling us about their heritage or their phenotypic traits,” Roy said. “It’s a string of numbers, like a telephone number.”

In contrast, the DNA testing offered by direct-to-consumer companies is “as sensitive as it gets,” Roy said. “It tells you about your origins. It tells you about your relatives and your parentage, and it tells you about your disease propensity.” And it has serious reach: While CODIS searches the DNA of people already identified by the criminal justice system, the commercial databases have the potential to search through the DNA of everyone else.

Individuals can upload their test results to any number of databases; at present, there are five main commercial portals. Ancestry and 23andMe are the biggest players in the field, with databases containing roughly 23 million and 14 million profiles. Individuals must test with the companies to gain access to their databases; neither allow DNA results obtained from a different testing service. Both Ancestry and 23andMe forbid police, and the genetic genealogists who work with them, from accessing their data for crime-fighting purposes. “We do not allow law enforcement to use Ancestry’s service to investigate crimes or to identify human remains” absent a valid court order, Ancestry’s privacy policy notes. The two companies provide regular transparency reports documenting law enforcement requests for user information.

MyHeritage, home to some 7 million DNA profiles, similarly bars law enforcement searches, but it does allow individuals to upload DNA results obtained from other sources.

And then there are FamilyTreeDNA and GEDmatch, which grant police access but give users the choice of opting in or out. Both allow anyone to upload their DNA results and have upward of 1.8 million profiles. But neither company routinely publicizes the number of customers who have opted in, said Leah Larkin, a veteran genetic genealogist and privacy advocate from California. Larkin writes about issues in the field — including forensic genetic genealogy, which she does not practice — on her website the DNA Geek. Larkin estimates that roughly 700,000 GEDmatch profiles are opted in. She suspects that even more are opted in on FamilyTreeDNA; opting in is the default for the company’s U.S. customers and “it’s not obvious how to opt out.”

But even opting out of law enforcement searches doesn’t guarantee that a profile won’t be accessed: A loophole in GEDmatch offers users working with law enforcement agencies a back door to accessing protected profiles. A source showed The Intercept how to exploit the loophole; it was not an obvious weakness or one that could be triggered mistakenly. Rather, it was a back door that required experience with the platform’s various tools to open.

GEDmatch’s parent company, Verogen, did not respond to a request for comment.

Law enforcement officials leave the home of accused serial killer Joseph James DeAngelo in Citrus Heights, Calif., on April 24, 2018.

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

An Open Secret

In forensic genetic genealogy circles, the GEDmatch loophole had long been an open secret, sources told The Intercept, one that finally surfaced publicly during the Ramapo College conference in late July.

Roy, the DNA expert, was giving a presentation titled “In the Hot Seat,” a primer for genealogists on what to expect if called to testify in a criminal case. There was a clear and simple theme: “Do not lie,” Roy said. “The minute you’re caught in a lie is the minute that it’s going to be difficult for people to use your work.”

As part of the session, David Gurney, a professor of law and society at Ramapo and director of the college’s nascent Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center, joined Roy for a mock questioning of Cairenn Binder, a genealogist who heads up the center’s certificate program.

Gurney, simulating direct examination, walked Binder through a series of friendly questions. Did she have access to DNA evidence or genetic code during her investigations? No, she replied. Could she see everyone who’d uploaded DNA to the databases? No, she said, only those who’d opted in to law enforcement searches.

Roy, playing the part of opposing counsel, was pointed in her cross-examination: Was Binder aware of the GEDmatch loophole? And had she used it? Yes, Binder said. “How many times?” Roy asked.

“A handful,” Binder replied. “Maybe up to a dozen.”

Binder’s answers quickly made their way into a private Facebook group for genetic genealogy enthusiasts, prompting a response from the DNA Doe Project, a volunteer-driven organization led by Press, one of the women who identified the Buckskin Girl. Before joining Ramapo College, Binder had worked for the DNA Doe Project.

In a statement posted to the Facebook group, Pam Lauritzen, the project’s communications director, said the loophole was an artifact of changes GEDmatch implemented in 2019, when it made opting out the default for all profiles. “While we knew that the intent of the change was to make opted-out users unavailable, some volunteers with the DNA Doe Project continued to use the reports that allowed access to profiles that were opted out,” she wrote. That use was neither “encouraged nor discouraged,” she continued. Still, she claimed the access was somehow “in compliance” with GEDmatch’s terms of service — which at the time promised that DNA uploaded for law enforcement purposes would only be matched with customers who’d opted in — and that the loophole was closed “years ago.”

It was a curious statement, particularly given that Press, the group’s co-founder, was among the genealogists who discussed the GEDmatch loophole in communications reviewed by The Intercept. In 2020, she described the DNA Doe Project using an opted-out profile to make an identification — and devising a way to keep that quiet.

Press referred The Intercept’s questions to the DNA Doe Project, which declined to comment.

In July 2020, GEDmatch was hacked, which resulted in all 1.45 million profiles then contained in the database to be briefly opted in to law enforcement matching; at the time, BuzzFeed News reported, just 280,000 profiles had opted in. GEDmatch was taken offline “until such time that we can be absolutely sure that user data is protected against potential attacks,” Verogen wrote on Facebook.

In the wake of the hack, a genetic genealogist named Joan Hanlon was asked by Verogen to beta test a new version of the site. According to records of a conversation reviewed by The Intercept, Press and Moore, the featured speaker at the Ramapo conference, discussed with Hanlon their tricks to access opted-out profiles and whether the new website had plugged all backdoor access. It hadn’t. It’s unclear if anyone told Verogen; as of this month, the back door was still open.

Hanlon did not respond to The Intercept’s requests for comment.

In January 2021, GEDmatch changed its terms of service to opt everyone in for searches involving unidentified human remains, making the back door irrelevant for genealogists who only worked on Doe cases, but not those working with authorities to identify perpetrators of violent crimes.

Undisclosed Methods

Exploitation of the GEDmatch loophole isn’t the only example of genetic genealogists and their law enforcement partners playing fast and loose with the rules.

Law enforcement officers have used genetic genealogy to solve crimes that aren’t eligible for genetic investigation per company terms of service and Justice Department guidelines, which say the practice should be reserved for violent crimes like rape and murder only when all other “reasonable” avenues of investigation have failed. In May, CNN reported on a U.S. marshal who used genetic genealogy to solve a decades-old prison break in Nebraska. There is no prison break exception to the eligibility rules, Larkin noted in a post on her website. “This case should never have used forensic genetic genealogy in the first place.”

“This case should never have used forensic genetic genealogy in the first place.”

A month later, Larkin wrote about another violation, this time in a California case. The FBI and the Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team had identified the victim of a 1996 homicide using the MyHeritage database — an explicit violation of the company’s terms of service, which make clear that using the database for law enforcement purposes is “strictly prohibited” absent a court order.

“The case presents an example of ‘noble cause bias,’” Larkin wrote, “in which the investigators seem to feel that their objective is so worthy that they can break the rules in place to protect others.”

MyHeritage did not respond to a request for comment. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office referred questions to the Riverside district attorney’s office, which declined to comment on an ongoing investigation. The FBI also declined to comment.

Violations have even come from inside the DNA testing companies. Back in 2019, GEDmatch co-founder Curtis Rogers unilaterally made an exception to the terms of service, without notifying the site’s users, to allow police to search for someone suspected of assault in Utah. It was a tough call, Rogers told BuzzFeed News, but the case in question “was as close to a homicide as you can get.”

It appears that violations have also spread to Ancestry, which prohibits the use of its DNA data for law enforcement purposes unless the company is legally compelled to provide access. Genetic genealogists told The Intercept that they are aware of examples in which genealogists working with police have provided AncestryDNA testing kits to the possible relatives of suspects — what’s known as “target testing” — or asked customers for access to preexisting accounts as a way to unlock the off-limits data.

A spokesperson for Ancestry did not answer The Intercept’s questions about efforts to unlock DNA data for law enforcement purposes via a third party. Instead, in a statement, the company reiterated its commitment to maintaining the privacy of its users. “Protecting our customers’ privacy and being good stewards of their data is Ancestry’s highest priority,” it read. The company did not respond to follow-up questions.

As it turns out, the genetic genealogy work in the Golden State Killer case was also questionable: The break that led to DeAngelo came after genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter uploaded DNA from the double murder to MyHeritage, according to the Los Angeles Times. Rae-Venter told the Times that she didn’t notify the company about what she was doing but that her actions were approved by Steve Kramer, the FBI’s Los Angeles division counsel at the time. “In his opinion, law enforcement is entitled to go where the public goes,” Rae-Venter told the paper.

Just how prevalent these practices are may never fully be known, in part because police and prosecutors regularly seek to shield genetic investigations from being vetted in court. They argue that what they obtain from forensic genetic genealogy is merely a tip, like information provided by an informant, and is exempt from disclosure to criminal defendants.

That’s exactly what’s happening in Idaho, where Bryan Kohberger is awaiting trial for the 2022 murder of four university students. For months, the state failed to disclose that it had used forensic genetic genealogy to identify Kohberger as a suspect. A probable cause statement methodically laying out the evidence that led cops to his door conspicuously omitted any mention of genetic genealogy. Kohberger’s defense team has asked to see documents related to the genealogy work as it prepares for an October trial, but the state has refused, saying the defense has no right to any information about the genetic genealogy it used to crack the case.

Prosecutors said it was the FBI that did the genetic genealogy work, and few records were created in the process, leaving little to turn over. But the state also argued that it couldn’t turn over information because the family tree the FBI created was extensive — including “the names and personal information of … hundreds of innocent relatives” — and the privacy of those individuals needed to be maintained. According to the state, it shouldn’t even have to say which genetic database — or databases — it used.

Kohberger’s attorneys argue that the state’s position is preposterous and keeps them from ensuring that the work undertaken to find Kohberger was above board. “It would appear that the state is acknowledging that the companies are providing personal information to the state and that those companies and the government would suffer if the public were to realize it,” one of Kohberger’s attorneys wrote. “The statement by the government implies that the databases searched may be ones that law enforcement is specifically barred from, which explains why they do not want to disclose their methods.”

A hearing on the issue is scheduled for August 18.

An AncestryDNA user points to his family tree on Ancestry.com on June 24, 2016.

Photo: RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images

“A Search of All of Us”

Natalie Ram, a law professor at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law and an expert in genetic privacy, believes forensic genetic genealogy is a giant fishing expedition that fails the particularity requirement of the Fourth Amendment: that law enforcement searches be targeted and based on individualized suspicion. Finding a match to crime scene DNA by searching through millions of genetic profiles is the opposite of targeted. Forensic genetic genealogy, according to Ram, “is fundamentally a search of all of us every time they do it.”

While proponents of forensic genetic genealogy say the individuals they’re searching have willingly uploaded their genetic information and opted in to law enforcement access, Ram and others aren’t so sure that’s the case, even when practitioners adhere to terms of service. If the consent is truly informed and voluntary, “then I think that it would be ethical, lawful, permissible for law enforcement to use that DNA … to identify those individuals who did the volunteering,” Ram said. But that’s not who is being identified in these cases. Instead, it’s relatives — and sometimes very distant relatives. “Our genetic associations are involuntary. They’re profoundly involuntary. They’re involuntary in a way that almost nothing else is. And they’re also immutable,” she said. “I can estrange myself from my family and my siblings and deprive them of information about what I’m doing in my life. And yet their DNA is informative on me.”

Jennifer Lynch, general counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, agrees. “We’re putting other people’s privacy on the line when we’re trying to upload our own genetic information,” she said. “You can’t consent for another person. And there’s just not an argument that you have consented for your genetic information to be in a database when it’s your brother who’s uploaded the information, or when it’s somebody you don’t even know who is related to you.”

To date, efforts to rein in the practice as a violation of the Fourth Amendment have presented some problems. A person whose arrest was built on a foundation of genetic genealogy, for example, might have been harmed by the genealogical fishing expedition but lack standing to bring a case; in the strictest sense, it wasn’t their DNA that was searched. In contrast, a third cousin whose DNA was used to identify a suspect could have standing to bring a suit, but they might be hard-pressed to prove they were harmed by the search.

If police are getting hits to suspects by violating companies’ terms of service — using databases that bar police searching — that “raises some serious Fourth Amendment questions” because no expectation of privacy has been waived, Ram said. Of course, ferreting out such violations would require that the information be disclosed in court, which isn’t happening.

At present, the only real regulators of the practice are the database owners: private companies that can change hands or terms of service with little notice. GEDmatch, which has at least once bent its terms to accommodate police, was started by two genealogy hobbyists and then sold to the biotech company Verogen, which in turn was acquired last winter by another biotech company, Qiagen. Experts like Ram and Lynch worry about the implications of so much sensitive information held in for-profit hands — and readily exploited by police. The “platforms right now are the most powerful regulators we have for most Americans,” Ram said. Police regulate “after a fashion, in a fashion, by what they do. They tell us what they’re willing to do by what they actually do,” she added. “But by the way, that’s like law enforcement making rules for itself, so not exactly a diverse group of stakeholders.”

For now, Ram said, the best way to regulate forensic genetic genealogy is by statute. In 2021, Maryland lawmakers passed a comprehensive law to restrain the practice. It requires police to obtain a warrant before conducting a genetic genealogy search — certifying that the case is an eligible violent felony and that all other reasonable avenues of investigation have failed — and notify the court before gathering DNA evidence to confirm the suspect identified via genetic genealogy is, in fact, the likely perpetrator. Currently, police use surreptitious methods to collect DNA without judicial oversight: mining a person’s garbage, for example, for items expected to contain biological evidence. In the Golden State Killer case, DeAngelo was implicated by DNA on a discarded tissue.

The Maryland law also requires police to obtain consent from any third party whose DNA might help solve a crime. In the Kohberger case, police searched his parents’ garbage, collecting trash with DNA on it that the lab believed belonged to Kohberger’s father. In a notorious Florida case, police lied to a suspect’s parents to get a DNA sample from the mother, telling her they were trying to identify a person found dead whom they believed was her relative. Those methods are barred under the Maryland law.

Montana and Utah have also passed laws governing forensic genetic genealogy, though neither is as strict as Maryland’s.

MyHeritage DNA kits are displayed at the RootsTech conference in Salt Lake City on Feb. 9, 2017.

Photo: George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Solving Crime Before It Happens

The rise of direct-to-consumer DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy raises another issue: the looming reality of a de facto national DNA database that can identify large swaths of the U.S. population, regardless of whether those individuals have uploaded their genetic information. In 2018, researchers led by the former chief science officer at MyHeritage predicted that a database of roughly 3 million people could identify nearly 100 percent of U.S. citizens of European descent. “Such a database scale is foreseeable for some third-party websites in the near future,” they concluded.

“All of a sudden, we have a national DNA database, and we didn’t ever have any kind of debate about whether we wanted that in our society.”

“All of a sudden, we have a national DNA database,” said Lynch, “and we didn’t ever have any kind of debate about whether we wanted that in our society.” A national database in “private hands,” she added.

By the time people started worrying about this as a policy issue, it was “too late,” Moore said during her address at the Ramapo conference. “By the time the vast majority of the public learned about genetic genealogy, we’d been quietly building this incredibly powerful tool for human identification behind the scenes,” she said. “People sort of laughed, like, ‘Oh, hobbyists … you do your genealogy, you do your adoption,’ and we were allowed to build this tool without interference.”

Moore advocated for involving forensic genetic genealogy earlier in the investigative process. Doing so, she argued, could focus police on guilty parties more quickly and save innocent people from needless law enforcement scrutiny. In fact, she told the audience, she believes that forensic genetic genealogy can help to eradicate crime. “We can stop criminals in their tracks,” she said. “I really believe we can stop serial killers from existing, stop serial rapists from existing.”

“We are an army. We can do this! So repeat after me,” Moore said, before leading the audience in a chant. “No more serial killers!”

Update: August 18, 2023, 3:55 p.m. ET

After this article was published, Margaret Press, founder of the DNA Doe Project, released a statement in response to The Intercept’s findings. Press acknowledged that between May 2019 and January 2021, the organization’s leadership and volunteers made use of GEDmatch tools that provided access to DNA profiles that were opted out of law enforcement searches, which she described as “a bug in the software.” Press stated:

We have always been committed to abide by the Terms of Service for the databases we used, and take our responsibility to our law enforcement and medical examiner partner agencies extremely seriously. In hindsight, it’s clear we failed to consider the critically important need for the public to be able to trust that their DNA data will only be shared and used with their permission and under the restrictions they choose. We should have reported these bugs to GEDmatch and stopped using the affected reports until the bugs were fixed. Instead, on that first day when we found that all of the profiles were set to opt-out, I discouraged our team from reporting them at all. I now know I was wrong and I regret my words and actions.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Tabula Rasa: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.1k

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there is any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

Since court is adjourned until tomorrow, there is no need for you to be at the courthouse. You and Hotch leave the court and head back to the main office since it's only twenty-minutes away from the BAU.

"The negative results in the brain fingerprinting may have just killed any chance we have of putting Matloff away," Hotch says to the group.

"The DA isn't required to enter it into evidence."

"No, but he can get it on discovery, and you can bet he's gonna use it."

"That's why I distrust all technology," Rossi says confidently.

"How did he fail? I thought nobody could beat that test," Derek sighs.

"The damage to his parietal lobe must have been more extensive than previously thought. The brain injury could have literally deleted his memories."

"I don't think that's what's happening here. He suffered something tragic like falling from a roof, and his brain is protecting those memories from him. They're there, and it's our job to unlock them for him."

"She's right," Rossi has your back. "What he does or doesn't remember doesn't matter."

"Doesn't it?" Emily asks. "I mean, if those experiences are gone forever, doesn't that sort of make him a different person?"

"No, not at all. Not to me," Derek shakes his head.

"It's actually interesting," you and Spencer say at the same time. "Sorry, go ahead."

"I was just going to say, igoes to core arguments about the nature of identity. There's a western philosophical concept, Causal Dependence, that says that a psychological connection to the past plays a key role in defining who we are. What were you going to say?"

"This guy committed these murders, we all know that. If he was capable of doing it before and acted on those impulses, that behavior is locked into his head. Whether he remembers or not doesn't make him a new person, it's just giving him a do-over. If he did it once, he'll do it again whether he wants to or not."

"What are you saying, Reid? That the guy shouldn't be tried?"

"I'm not saying that."

"But one could make the argument that in his current condition he's no longer a danger to society," Emily argues

"Not until he gets his memory back," you point out. "Even if he never does, he still has those instincts in him. He will hurt another person, I know it."

"She's right. It's not just about this guy being a danger. It's about making sure somebody pays for what happened to those girls," Derek backs you up.

"Well, it's not up to us to decide to what extent he should be punished. That's for the courts. Where are we with Matloff's mystery visitor?" Hotch asks JJ.

"Prentiss and I contacted every recorded Nina Moore within five hundred miles of the hospital. There are seventy-one in total, but no takers."

"Matloff's a textbook loner. No meaningful relationships, no family, and no girlfriends. Anyone who would visit a coma patient--"

"A triple murderer coma patient," Derek corrects."

"We're talking about somebody who feels connected to him. Whoever this person is wouldn't visit a random man in a coma."

"The truth could be she's just a fan. Every serial killer's got them," Rossi shrugs.

"Let's go back to the hospital and interview the staff. We need to build a profile and help locate this woman."

Emily and JJ head back to the hospital while Cece and Hotch prepare for the trail tomorrow. Hotch is going on the stand, and even though he was a prosecutor before coming to the BAU, he still feels better if he's prepped.

Emily and JJ interviewed as many people as they could before the day was over, and some of them did help fill in the blanks about the woman who visited Brian. The woman is in her late-forties to mid-fifties with a quiet, almost nervous demeanor. She has brown hair, brown eyes, and a dark complexion. One thought she was Hispanic while another said Mediterranean.

On her first visit, she didn't even make it into the room. She stood in the doorway and watched Brian for a few minutes before leaving. On later visits, she'd sit with him and read to him. On more than one occasion, she'd ask the nurses about his condition, and when they'd tell her, she'd appear "concerned with his pain".

It could be maternal, and Emily and JJ thought so too until you figured out Brian's parents disowned him after they figured out what he'd done. JJ managed to get Brian's mother on the phone, and it turns out Brian is adopted. The woman visiting him could be his birth mother.

Brain was interested in Native American culture and history, and if this woman isn't Hispanic or Mediterranean, then she could be Native American, which would explain his interest in it.

He's trying to get in touch with his roots.

The very next day, you and Spencer are back inside the courtroom with Cece and Hotch. This time, the jury is here to witness everything, so the two lawyers need to make their opening statements.

Lester's statement isn't that great, but he seems to have the jury moved. It's not about being truthful or believing if your client did it or not. It's about your words and how you use them in front of a jury.

Already, Lester has their attention.

"Was it the work of a serial killer? Perhaps, but the theory that my client is the responsible party is just that--a theory. There are no eyewitness, no fingerprints, no DNA, and no murder weapon. Not one shred of hard evidence. The only way that they can tie my client to these crimes is through the pseudo-science called profiling."

Lester finishes his argument, and now it's Cece's turn to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you are here to bring justice to the families of three beautiful young women whose lives were cut short by a cold and calculating killer. Darci Corbett, Celeste Ferami, and April Rutherford. Three women went out for a run when they were approached by an employee of the forestry service. An employee who used his authority to lure these women into a secluded area where he could safely perform the act of murder.

"He strangled them slowly, inflicting maximum suffering and terror, and in the process, turned the Blue Ridge Parkway into his own private killing fields. At the close of evidence, you will know that Brian Matloff Is the man who committed these crimes, whether he remembers it or not.

"I call Aaron Hotchner to the stand."

Hotch stands up and walks over to the stand, giving his oath before sitting down.

"So, through this process of linkage analysis, you concluded that all three murders were perpetrated by one man, right?"

"Yes, that's correct," Hotch nods.

"Do you believe that man is Brian Matloff?" Cece asks, gesturing to the client.

"Yes, I do."

"Can you tell us how you came to that conclusion?"

"Along with agents Reid and Morgan, we began to analyze the behavior of the unknown subject as manifested before, during, and after the commission of the murders. Our goal was to generate a suspect pool, a list of names in which we'd eventually narrow down to one person. He hunts in two hundred thousand acres like it's his own backyard. He attacks high-risk victims--young, strong female joggers, but in low-risk locations."

"Like David Carpenter, the Trailside Killer," Cece nods her head. "Are there other parallels?"

"This guy's different. Carpenter used a blitz attack. This unsub insinuates himself and disarms the victims."

"Did he use a ruse by playing the injured hiker or maybe a lost dog?"

"That's too many variables. The victim could run for help or call 911 on her cell phone before he gains control. He's in a position of authority, but not law enforcement. A cop would know better than to bury a body in 2 feet of dirt. The forest service would give him access to service roads. This deduction revealed to us how the killer gained satisfaction from his crimes. By burying the victims in the park, he was able to revisit the scene and relive his acts over and over."

"So, I imagine there are a lot of people who work for the forest service, no?"

"One thousand, seven hundred, and eighteen employees. He won't be a new employee. He's cautious and organized. He leaves behind no trace of evidence. He's bordering on paranoid. He's the kind of guy who needs to know exactly what the cops know. He's probably inserted himself Into the investigation," Hotch says expertly.

"What did technical analyst Garcia do at that time?"

"We asked her to check the names of forestry employees against a list of witnesses interviewed by the Roanoke police."

"Were you able to find a common denominator?"

"Yes, one. Brain Matloff."

"No further questions, your honor," Cece smiles and sits back down.

"Your witness, Mr. Sterling," the judge says.

Lester stands up and approaches the bench, not looking at the jury.

"Now, my client ran from the police, a behavior that you called a strong indicator of his guilt. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Were you aware that he had an outstanding warrant at the time of his arrest?"

"Yes. I believe it was for an automobile accident, a hit and run."

"So, isn't it possible that Mr. Matloff fled not because he was guilty of murder, but because of this other warrant?"

"There were eight law enforcement officers in bulletproof vests. I doubt any reasonable person would assume--"

"A yes or no answer will do," Lestor cuts Hotch off.

"Yes, it's possible," Hotch sighs.

"So, you've stated that it was your profile of the killer that led you and the police to my client's door that night. Is that correct?"

"Behavioral analysis was a factor in our investigation, yes."

"Was behavioral analysis also a factor in the Olympic Park Bombings case in Atlanta?"

"Yes, it was."

"Was that suspect you identified, Richard Jewell, ever convicted of the bombings?"

"Objection. Relevance," Cece immediately stands up.

"It goes to the credibility of the witness and his field, Your Honor," Lester explains.

"I'll allow it. You may answer, Mr. Hotchner."

"No, he was not convicted."

"Was it because he was innocent? Your profile led you to the wrong man."

"Jewell was not the perpetrator, but if you look at the real Olympic Park Bomber, Eric Rudolph, you'll see that our profile was dead on."

"How about if we look at the Baton Rouge killer? Your unit said that he was white and living in the city. He was black and from the suburbs. You said that Dennis Rader, the BTK killer, was divorced and impotent. He turned out to be married with two kids."

"Objection, your honor. He's giving a sermon," Cece sighs.

"Do you have a question in there somewhere, counselor?" the judge asks.

"Having been wrong on those cases, isn't it possible that you were wrong about Brian Matloff?" Lester finally asks.

"No," Hotch says without hesitation.

"The fact is, behavioral analysis is really just intellectual guesswork. You probably couldn't tell me the color of my socks with any greater accuracy than a carnival psychic."

"Objection!"

"Withdrawn," Lester says before the judge has a chance to respond.

Lester walks back to his desk when Hotch speaks confidently.

"Charcoal gray."

Lester chuckles and looks down at his feet even though his socks can't be seen.

"Well, look at that. He got one right."

"You match them to the color of your suit to appear taller. You also wear lifts, and you've had the soles of your shoes replaced. One might think you're frugal, but in fact, you're having financial difficulties. You wear a fake Rolex because you pawned your real one to pay your debts. My guess is to a bookie."

"I took this case pro bono. I am one of the most successful criminal attorneys in the state," Lester argues as if he's not in court.

"Your vice is horses. Your blackberry's been buzzing on the table every twenty minutes, which happens to be the average time between posts from Colonial Downs. You're getting race results, and every time you do, it affects your mood in court. You're not having a very good day. That's because you pick horses the same way you practice law--by always taking the long shot."

"Well, you spin a very good yarn, agent, but as usual, you've proven nothing."

Lester is getting angry, and you try to hide your smile because Hotch is killing it.

"If I'm not mistaken, the results from the fifth race should be coming through any minute." As if on cue, Lester's phone buzzes on the table. "Why don't you tell us if your luck has changed?"

"Your honor, this is--"

"What do you want me to do? Either show us your blackberry or cut him loose, counselor," the judge shrugs.

"Nothing further."

"Wise decision. Court will be adjourned until nine am tomorrow."

You make eye contact with Hotch, and you give him a thumbs up for what he did. You really think this case is going to turn in your favor, and Brian is going to be put away for a very long time. You and Spencer leave first while Brian is being escorted away.

"Hotch is a badass," you chuckle.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[draumas]

ASHLEY MOORE 2022, ph. Cece Alana

[coffee-n-bagels-comic-universe]

Brainwaves Bios: Cecilia Hedlund (1984)

Exchange Student and Member of C.U.P.S Cecilia Hedlund

Part of Columbia University's Exchange Student Programme (Or C.U.E.S.P, pronounced 'Cusp') as well as the Columbia University Paranormal Society (or C.U.P.S), Cecilia is kind and gentle, being polite to everyone who comes into her life.

"I am from Sweden, we are a very smart nation, Doctor."

Name

Full Legal Name: Cecilia Juni Hedlund

First Name: Cecilia

Meaning: Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name 'Caecilius', which was derived from Latin 'Caecus' meaning 'Blind'

Pronunciation: seh-SEE-lee-a / seh-SEEL-ya

Origin: English, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Romanian, Finnish

Middle Name: Juni

Meaning: Swedish and Norwegian cognate of 'June', from the name of the month, which was originally derived from the name of the Roman goddess 'Juno', whose name is of unknown meaning

Pronunciation: YOO-ni

Origin: Swedish, Norwegian

Surname: Hedlund

Meaning: From Swedish 'Hed' meaning 'Heath, Moor' and 'Lund' meaning 'Grove'

Pronunciation: HEHD-luynd

Origin: Swedish

Titles: Miss

Nicknames: Cece, Celia, Cilla, C.J

Characteristics

Age: 30

Gender: Female. She/Her Pronouns

Race: Human

Nationality: American Citizen. Born in Sweden

Ethnicity: White

Birth Date: June 28th 1954

Sexuality: Straight

Religion: Christian (Lutheran Church of Sweden)

Native Language: Swedish

Known Languages: Swedish, English, Norwegian, French, Spanish, German

Relationship Status: Engaged

Astrological Sign: Cancer

Actor: Gilda Radner

Geographical Characteristics

Birthplace: Uppsala, Uppsala County, Sweden

Current Residence: Central Park West, New York, New York

Appearance

Height: 5'6" / 168 cm

Weight: 145 lbs / 65 kg

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Brown

Hair Dye: None

Body Hair: N/A

Facial Hair: N/A

Tattoos: (As of Jan 1984) None

Piercings: Ear Lobes (Both)

Scars: None

Health and Fitness

Allergies: None

Alcoholic, Smoker, Drug User: Social Drinker

Illnesses/Disorders: None Diagnosed

Medications: None

Any Specific Diet: None

Relationships

Affiliated Groups: Columbia University (Student), Columbia University Paranormal Society (Member), Columbia University Exchange Student Programme (Member)

Friends: No American Friends (Yet)

Significant Other: Marcus Solberg (40, Fiancé)

Previous Partners: None of Note

Parents: Magnus Hedlund (60, Father), Agnes Hedlund (55, Mother, Née Nyberg)

Parents-In-Law: None

Siblings: None

Siblings-In-Law: None

Nieces & Nephews: None

Children: None

Extras

Level of Education: Currently attending Columbia University

Occupation: Student

Employer: None

Expertise:

Gentle

Sweet

Kid-Hearted

Polyglot

Polite

A Keen Student

Faults:

Struggles With English At Times

Easily Scared

Easily Excited

Backstory: Born and raised in Uppsala, Sweden, Cecilia is a fast learner, she came to Columbia University through the Exchange Student Programme, C.U.E.S.P, at 18. She met and got engaged to her fiancé by the age of 20, and is still a student at Columbia, offering her help to C.U.P.S, to ensure good will between her and the professors.

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

🔁

Putting it below the cut!! I’ve tried to update it from the list I made way back when but I’m sure I’ve missed some 🥺😭 I’m sorry in advance if mobile makes the format wonky I will pretty-ify it after work to have headers and bullet points and a nice setup I just didn’t want to wait 4 hours 🥺

Descendants

Jax Hearts

Jax Hearts & Beatrice

Jax Hearts & Eliane

Jax Hearts & Evander Grimhilde

Jax Hearts & Gloria Gothel

Jax Hearts & Hannah Westergaard

Jax Hearts & Harley Hook

Jax Hearts & Harmony Of Atlantica

Jax Hearts & Keto Jones

Jax Hearts & Lovetta Garou

Jax Hearts & Lucette LeFou

Jax Hearts & Raina Gold

Jax Hearts & Rini Bing

Jax Hearts & Rosabelle Legume

Jax Hearts & Savina Stromboli

Jax Hearts & Trina Tremaine

Jax Hearts & Winona Sykes

Jess Hearts

Jess Hearts & Eliane

Jess Hearts & Gloria Gothel

Jess Hearts & Hannah Westergaard

Jess Hearts & Harley Hook

Jess Hearts & Raina Gold

Glee

Elliot Walker

Elliot Walker & Betty Fabray

Elliot Walker & Colton & Cece Cartwright

Elliot Walker & Jeremy St James

Elliot Walker & Jo Berry

Elliot Walker & Joy Schuester

Elliot Walker & Kendall Pierce

Elliot Walker & Savannah Evans

Elliot Walker & Abbie’s Dance Squad

Nate Simmons

Nathaniel Simmons & Betty Fabray

Nathaniel Simmons & Charlie Sylvester

Nathaniel Simmons & Dolly & Barbie Corcoran

Nathaniel Simmons & Jeremy St James

Nathaniel Simmons & Jo Berry

Nathaniel Simmons & Joy Schuester

Nathaniel Simmons & Kendall Pierce

Nathaniel Simmons & Savannah Evans

Marvel

Kit Barton

Kit Barton & Anya Barton

Kit Barton & Bianca Davis

Kit Barton & Cora Royce

Kit Barton & Dominique Barton

Kit Barton & Elizabeth Barton

Kit Barton & Kassandra Maximoff

Kit Barton & Peyton Parker

Kit Barton & Sabina Maximoff

Kit Barton & Sammy Barton

Kit Barton & Tyler Barton

Mia Barnes

Mia Barnes & Elena Barnes

Mia Barnes & Ellie Coulson

Mia Barnes & Evelyn Rogers

Mia Barnes & Grace Osborn

Mia Barnes & Jameson Barrett & Stefania Raine

Mia Barnes & Mia Pierce

Mia Barnes & Tyler Barton

Victoria Vill

Victoria Vill & Alvina Strange

Victoria Vill & Aris Stark

Victoria Vill & Athena Stark

Victoria Vill & Ava Potts

Victoria Vill & Diana Moore

Victoria Vill & Ellie Coulson

Victoria Vill & Grace Osborn

Victoria Vill & Jaden Jameson

Victoria Vill & Patti Parker

Victoria Vill & Pippa Ross

Victoria Vill & Stella Carter

Victoria Vill & Tesla Banner

Victoria Vill & Wendy Parker

Merlin

Delfine

Delfine & Elsine

Elissa

Elissa & Elsine

Elissa & Allyria

Mabel

Mabel & Aelia

Mave

Maeve & Lynette

Misc

Effie Munson

Effie Munson & Heaven

Effie Munson & Beth

Elys Herondale

Elys Herondale & Alya D’Angelo

Elys Herondale & Annabelle Bane

Elys Herondale & Cassiel Fell

Elys Herondale & Clem Wayland

Elys Herondale & Hannah Dawnwell

Elys Herondale & Rebecca Wayland

(Bonus: Jack Herondale & Talia Lightwood-Lewis)

Kayla Winchester

Kayla Winchester & Briony Harvelle

Kayla Winchester & Deborah Winchester

Kayla Winchester & Elle Winchester

Kayla Winchester & Esther Colt

Kayla Winchester & Ilsa George

Kayla Winchester & Nevaeh Murphy

Kayla Winchester & Phoebe Winchester

Kayla Winchester & Trix Stilinski

Kayla Winchester & Rachel Winchester

Miles Henderson

Miles Henderson & Angelica Hopper

Miles Henderson & Camila Nelson

Miles Henderson & Heaven Orella-Munson

Miles Henderson & Jacob Hopper

Miles Henderson & Jessica Wheeler

Miles Henderson & Kaylie Hopper

Miles Henderson & Kimberly Harrington

Miles Henderson & Rhiannon Ballard

Miles Henderson & Serena Brenner

Miles Henderson & Sidney Hopper

Miles Henderson & Stacey Byers

Miles Henderson & Valerie Rush

Rosalind Potter

Rosalind Potter & Adriana Flores

Rosalind Potter & Eurydice Crouch

Rosalind Potter & Gemini Black

Rosalind Potter & Holly Evans

PJO

Mike Lore

Mike Lore & Andromeda Jackson

Mike Lore & Ashley Wilson 

Mike Lore & Blossom Talbot

Mike Lore & Cressida Brantley

Mike Lore & Crystal Solace

Mike Lore & Desdemona Gaumond

Mike Lore & Ellie Jackson

Mike Lore & Elyana Chase

Mike Lore & Esmeralda Wilde

Mike Lore & Helena Jackson

Mike Lore & Jasper Gabriel (& Blake Castellan) 

Mike Lore & Jem Skeates

Mike Lore & Pandora Jackson 

Mike Lore & Pyrrah Jackson

Mike Lore & Stella Beauregard

Mike Lore & Victoria Blofis

RWRB

Val

Val & Margaret

Emma Spring

Emma Spring & Abi

Emma Spring & Lucy

Emma Spring & London

Lena Richards

Lena Richards & London

Lena Richards & Lucy

Lena Richards & Madi

Lena Richards & Abi

[figureskatingcece]

holy shit ana golubeva looks terrifyingly skinny

not sure if its all her or half her half the catsuit cut but i hate that

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

APRIL Celebrity Birthdays & Events

All Month Long: Autism Awareness Month | Black Women's History Month 

April Birthdays

Aries Stars (Mar 21-Apr 19) 1: Cece Show 2: Nikki Perkins, Amber Gray 3: Catherine Lough Haggquist, Jaimi Gray, Sarah Jeffery, Young MA 4: Lorraine Toussaint, Jill Scott, Khadi Don, Maya Angelou 6: Simona Brown, Lauren Ridloff 7: Billie Holiday 8: Skai Jackson, Femi Taylor 9: Jazmine Sullivan, Bianca Belair, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Tanerélle 10: Dana Heath, Jasika Nicole, April Weeden-Washington, Zuri Adele 11: Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Summer Walker 12: Imani Lewis, Janee Michelle, Retta, Suzzanne Douglas, Tracy Camilla Johns 13: Marci T. House, Precious Mustapha 14: Da Brat 15: Ester Dean, Samira Wiley 16: Valarie Rae Miller, Kron Moore, Ebony Obsidian, Tanya Moodie, Jojo T. Gibbs

Taurus Stars (Apr 20-May 20) 21: Gugu Mbatha-Raw  24: Francheska (Hey Fran Hey), Reagan Gomez Preston, Jeanta Godlock, Joséphine Jobert 25: Gina Torres, Jayden Rey, Leyna Bloom 26: Debra Wilson 27: Lizzo 28: Aleisha LaNaé Allen, Simbi Khali, Cheslie Kryst, Madge Sinclair 29: Shahadi Wright Joseph, A'zaria Carter, Jo Martin 30: Jemima Osunde

April Events: 

African American Women's Fitness Month | Celebrate Diversity Month | National Deaf History Month (March 13 to April 15) | National Minority Health Month | Sexual Assault Awareness Month | Stress Awareness Month 

1. ANNOUNCEMENT: WE DO NOT CELEBRATE APRIL FOOL’S DAY HERE, Personal Day of Rest | 2: World Autism Day | 9: Unicorn Day | 11-17: Black Maternal Health Week | 16: Emancipation Day | National Cat Lady Day | 22: Earth Day | 24-30: Lesbian Visibility Week | 26: Lesbian Visibility Day, Alien Day | 28: Superhero Day

30: Black Femme Character Dependency Anniversary: 

[bardic-tales]

Hello, fellow creatives. Happy Tuesday.

Every day, there will be a theme: such as Blorbo Blursday where it is encouraged you go into each other’s ask boxes or even a post on your blog asking about each others’ weekly project or muse.

This group is open to all creators: writers, visuals artists, and readers. It is for those who appreciate these types of creators. All fandoms are welcome. We accept original works, original characters, alternate universe, strict canon, opt, x reader, and so on.

We aim to support, nurture, and cheer on our fellow content creators, as well as give everyone visibility. Different levels of participation are okay. I understand that schedules change, as does health. Participate at any level, as it feels right for you and your heath.

Welcome to Trivia Tuesday. Today is the day where you share the 'behind the scenes' detail of your work.

This could be things that got removed or changed, the origins of ideas/details, or what inspired your characters. Whatever you like!

How to participate: Create a post with your response for Trivia Tuesday and mention @bardic-tales in your post.

Our Members’ Trivia Tuesday Answers:

@bardic-tales: final fantasy 7: bianca moore

@allaboutmagic: original world: Liz

@seastarblue: original world: Deathless

@themaradwrites: marvel: mara-vel-cece-matic-universe

@nightingaleflowlibrary: naruto: look behind characters

@chickensarentcheap: extraction: esme

@pinkevilwriter: original world: theories and aus

@riemmetric: original world: rain on empty shells

@aalinaaaaaa: original world: obsidian sapphires and soulswrapped

@happypup-kitcat24: original world: balthia

@megandaisy9 @watermeezer @littleshopofchaos

@nightingaleflowlibrary @kricketbee

@themaradwrites @pinkevilwriter

@serenofroses @asirensrage @aalinaaaaaa @goldenlilium-ocs @glbettwrites

@wyked-ao3 @badscientist @thebadphilosopher @andromedalestrange

@fantastictrashpolice @seastarblue @happypup-kitcat24 @chickensarentcheap @allaboutlov3

@ryns-ramblings @kathaliabloodyrose @riemmetric @andromedaexists

To sign up for the Creators’ Club, please see this post on @bardic-tales’ blog about it:

Creators’ Club Tag List

Thank you for your interest, and we look forward in getting to know you and your works.

[kickmag]

Soul Train Award Winners & Performances

Beyoncé was a big winner at the Soul Train Awards taking home honors for Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Collaboration. Tems won for Best New Artist and Jermaine Dupri presented the Lady of Soul Award to Xscape. Morris Day & The Time were among some of the best performers during the evening's lineup, including Ari Lennox, Chante Moore and Xscape. They also received the Legend Award. See the full list of winners and some of the performances.  

Soul Train Award Winners 

Best New Artist Ckay Coco Jones Dixson Doechii Fireboy Dml Muni Long Steve Lacy Tems

Certified Soul Award Chaka Khan Charlie Wilson Diana Ross Mary J. Blige Maxwell Pj Morton Ronald Isley & The Isley Brothers T-Pain

Best Gospel/Inspirational Award Cece Winans Erica Campbell Fred Hammond Major. Marvin Sapp Maverick City Music X Kirk Franklin Tamela Mann Tasha Cobbs Leonard

Best R&B/Soul Female Artist Ari Lennox Beyoncé H.E.R. Jazmine Sullivan Lizzo Mary J. Blige Sza Tems

Best R&B/Soul Male Artist Babyface Brent Faiyaz Burna Boy Charlie Wilson Chris Brown Giveon Lucky Daye Pj Morton

Album Of The Year An Evening With Silk Sonic – Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic Away Message (Ep) – Ari Lennox Breezy, Chris Brown Good Morning Gorgeous – Mary J. Blige Heaux Tales, Mo’ Tales: The Deluxe – Jazmine Sullivan R&B Money – Tank Renaissance – Beyoncé Special – Lizzo

Song Of The Year “About Damn Time” – Lizzo “Bad Habit” – Steve Lacy “Break My Soul” – Beyoncé “Good Morning Gorgeous” – Mary J. Blige “Hrs & Hrs” – Muni Long “Last Last” – Burna Boy “Pressure” – Ari Lennox

The Ashford And Simpson Songwriter's Award “Bad Habit” – Steve Lacy “Break My Soul” – Beyoncé “Church Girl” – Beyoncé “Good Morning Gorgeous” – Mary J. Blige “Hrs & Hrs” – Muni Long “I Hate U” – Sza “Last, Last” – Burna Boy “Pressure” – Ari Lennox

Best Dance Performance “About Damn Time” – Lizzo “Call Me Every Day” – Chris Brown Feat. Wizkid “Have Mercy” – Chlöe “Persuasive” – Doechii “Pressure” – Ari Lennox “Smokin Out The Window” – Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic “We (Warm Embrace)” – Chris Brown “Woman” – Doja Cat

Video Of The Year “About Damn Time” – Lizzo “Bad Habit” – Steve Lacy “Good Morning Gorgeous” – Mary J. Blige “Have Mercy” – Chlöe “Hrs & Hrs” – Muni Long “Last Last” – Burna Boy “Pressure” – Ari Lennox “Smokin Out The Window” – Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic

Best Collaboration  “Amazing” – Mary J. Blige Feat. Dj Khaled “Be Like Water” – Pj Morton Feat. Stevie Wonder & Nas “Call Me Every Day” – Chris Brown Feat. Wizkid “Gotta Move On” – Diddy Feat. Bryson Tiller “Hate Our Love” – Queen Naija & Big Sean “Make Me Say It Again, Girl” – Ronald Isley & The Isley Brothers Feat. Beyoncé “Move” – Beyoncé Feat. Grace Jones, Tems “Slow” – Tank Feat. J. Valentine