#one of the times when team ISN'T breaking and entering (technically)

[thankstothe]

🧾📈~

[pedripics]

What’s pedri’s actual position

the great thing about Pedri is that you can play him in a variety of roles because of his technical level and how smart he is. he has played in pretty much every midfield position you can think of, at las palmas he played a lot as a winger or 10 as well.

personally, i prefer to see him playing deeper in the midfield rather than higher up and i think the majority of the people will agree with me on that. for me, the most beautiful version of football comes to life when Pedri has the ball at his feet. that obviously happens a lot more when he plays deeper. LCM/ DLP with a lot of freedom to go forward is imo THE position he should be playing long term because from there he can give you passes, control, rhythm, offense, defense, literally everything you could ask for simply by using the ball the way he does. part of what makes pedri so great is not just his obvious talent but also his awareness and IQ, there's only so much you can learn or train, sometimes players just have that instinct and pedri has it. he has excellent ball control and ball-carrying abilities as well as ball protection, and he's also quite impressive with 'pre-assist' passes and long balls. he's also very press-resistant and is able to squeeze the ball out of tight situations because he manages to find spaces that don't exist. one of his most important assets is his ability to control the pace of the game to his liking. my dad lovingly calls him football's 'Dr. Strange' because it seems like he sees all the options and just picks whatever version of play he wants for himself and the team. and that brings the team calmness. xavi once said that barça is a completely different team if pedri is on the pitch. you could perfectly see that in the away game against psg or in last weeks game against valencia. the second he entered the pitch, he made a difference because of how he slowed down the game to barça's (and his) advantage. without him we ran, with him they ran. when Pedri got injured the team often struggled without him, not just because he is obviously a talented player whose qualities are missing but also because they are used to relying on him to decide the pace for them. xavi once said that Pedri gives them a break and that when some players have the ball, his heartrate goes up, however, when Pedri has the ball, it goes down and he relaxes. Flick and pretty much any coach Pedri has played under have said the exact same thing. Why Xavi decided to move Pedri further up the pitch last season after demanding more than 100 passes per game from him just months prior I will never know. Obviously, sometimes depending on the opponent and, well, squad availability it is necessary to play Pedri further up the pitch. DLF's use of Pedri at the Euros is a great example of this. I know a lot of people weren't a fan of it and just from an enjoyment point of view I agree. It's not a great experience to see Pedri making 20 or less passes per game. But it was exactly what DLF and the team needed. DLF knew that he wouldn't face deep blocks (or rarely so), which is why it made sense to have Pedri in the most crucial zone because of his ability to hide himself and create space where there isn't. Pedri is so good at basically every position in the midfield that he has to play out of his preferred position because others cannot do the same. Yes, he saw less of the ball but for Spain that wasn't necessarily a problem because they didn't sustain pressure, they were happy to come up and down the pitch, and just look at the amount of chances Pedri managed to create even with very little touches. Personally, I don't like that style of play a lot, but it's how DLF wants them to play. And therefore it was understandable to use Pedri like that instead of the version we all prefer. That's why I don't like comparing international football to club football. If the team's structure is right, he can be brilliant as a 10. He mainly played there during his time at Las Palmas. The problem is that you can't isolate him there. You still need to give him some freedom

[neirmetes]

Alright LMK fandom I have a possibly crack (and niche) fic idea for a reader insert. Specifically sun wukong x reader but I'm a slow burn bitch so it's not gonna seem like that for the better half of it

Here's the pitch:

Wukong finds an old and possibly very dangerous artifact, what it does isn't important since it's literally just a Mcguffin. Funnily enough though, it's also doing part-time as a trophy to a local e-sports event. Mk and the gang have to get the artifact before it falls into the wrong hands. And also because Wukong just might want it a little bit, y'know just to have. For whatever reason they can't just steal it, so they actually have to try and win it.

Not only do they suck at this particular video game (It's probably Valorant or some other fps games) but they also just don't have enough members. (I imagine Tang, Pigsy and Sandy are actually just hopeless, while MK and Mei have at least played some shooters. Wukong really wants that artifact. Red Son can optional be dragged in too) In addition, you have to be a certain rank in-game to even enter the competition.

Finally entering from left stage: the reader, who is a pro gamer

Acquaintances with Mei, Reader does that thing where you pay them to carry you to higher ranked lobbies and get more RR. So Mei calls them up for that exact thing.

This is where we get a proper look into just how bad they are at the game.

MK chose the coolest looking character and stuck to them despite not knowing shit about how to play the character

Red Son can't aim for his life, and can't seem to get a hang of any of the characters

Wukong stuck with the healer character but uses all the heals for himself, completely ignoring the rest of the character's abilities

Mei is admittedly the best out of all of them, going in and killing at least two enemies. However she rushes in without teammates and dies pretty quickly after

Finally, none of them know the callouts because let's be honest videogame callouts is its own language.

All this is admittedly pretty frustrating for the Reader who threatens to leave them. 'I don't care how much you pay me at this point, it isn't worth it'

So while the others frantically explain that 'it's to save the world' and 'it might be dangerous if we don't'. But all the Monkey King has to do is piss them off and out of spite, Reader is gonna coach the hell out of them.

Smash cut to montage time where they slowly work on their skills and figure out how to work as a team (If I stick with Valorant, I could honestly go into detail on what playstyle they would have and how it works as an actual comp) As well as grinding the game to get the needed ranks

Whatever the video game, Reader fills in for support as much as necessary. They seem disgruntled by it the whole time and needs plenty of breathers between games to calm down. because hOW CAN I HEAL YOU WHEN YOU'RE ACTIVELY BEING SHOT

Now, we pause the epic gamer montage for some team bonding. The gang takes a break to do more physical activities! MK and Wukong convince (Mostly MK but Wukong never goes against it) the Reader to try out training with them, Mei thinks it'd be cathartic to let the Reader race. Reader gets to meet the Two dads and Sandy. All around fun stuff outside the godforsaken video-game. We also learn a little bit more about the Reader. (This would be a good time to amp up the romantic shenanigans as well) As much as she can be very mean during the game, they're honest to god very thoughtful and considerate. Though one could note that it technically follows over to their role as the healer/support. Why are they so rude and angry in-game then?

Well I'd tell you but at this point I might as well write the fic as I've went overboard with this post already

[asoulofatlantis]

Kevin appearantly knew Dingo and he is the one who introduced him to Van.

And we have our favorite Assasin-Couple back! Huray! I love my Nadia and you should too! She is great and always says the right things at the right time ♥

So much about lore... XD Don't you have work to do Kevin?

Lapis looks adorable!

EXCUSE ME?! Don't you betray me now, Lapis!

Appearantly Kevin is back to hunting heretics and Swin and Nadia are not having it, given their oath to never kill again. (Appearantly Rufus founds are all used by the girl's expensive exploits? ^^' I guess it isn't easy for a former and technically speaking "dead" governor to find a new job either, huh? ^^' Poor Rufus.

Currently doing some side-mission meeting Marielle and the two Dancer-Girls whos names I also can not seem to remember ^^' Also meeting Jack and Halle.

All old man in Trails a weird XD

Eien has been mentioned a few times already. I wonder if we ever met her in person in a game. Like... as a moving model and not just in a picture or manga or as a book story XD

Yes Rufus, have you visited your brother and his adorable little girlfriend who apparently grew big boobies by bow? XD

How can you say that? Your brother loves you, despite all the (sometimes literal) backstabbing you have done!

Okay entering the second part of the Day 2 playthrough. 2 1/2 hours left and the new Stream is already going strong once again with Rean mostly doing some sidemissions. So we should be able to get through that part a big quicker this time despite the golden child being there ^^'

But back to Kevin and Rufus who are done now playing cards.

And were at Grim Garten now. And now we are back and talk a bit about the backstory of our Desert-Town which only survived because Hamiliton did something to save their water-supply or something like that.

Kevin can use this technique to see somewhat what someone did in the past and he chose Dingo here for some reason I do not fully get yet.

Kevin is really rough on Swin and Nadia here. Telling them he might have to "silence them" if things go wrong. No idea why he is so hard on them tho. Maybe he doesn't trust them fully because of their past?

But I guess there is no need to worry. There is no way to break these two. Ever again.

Kevin tries to teach them that sometimes, to protect each other, they might have to kill (no wonder he isn't working with Rean, he would go nuts with that kind of thinking...) and Swin just said that if Nadia dies, he dies too. This is so romantic, even tho in a very fucked up way ^^'

Kevin has decided to test the picnic Squad in a battle it seems. And as we right as Rufus-Team that means after all those year I can FINALLY kick that mans ass! Wohoo! Now I am looking forward to playing Kai myself one day XD

Kevins Stigma has become quite colorful it seems ^^'

They won! (Yes to kicking Kevins ass after all those years of hating him XD) And now he accepted that they can be trusted and is willing to go on with them to whatever exactly his goal is if they want to.

Nadia playfull mentioned Ries and I love her even more for it ♥

(At this point, I think the reason she is not with him is because of what he wants to do... she would have stopped him for sure.)

We got a flashback of Risettes first encounter with the ASO and I love how the camera focused so much on the Van and Agnes cutness of that first time. Ah... I miss that. I wish it stayed and Elaine stayed away... *achem* Sorry. The shipper in me is... uh... yeah... lets move on...

(In the meantime on Reans Stream they are backing cake XD Oh! I have to remember to check that scene out, there was a small flashback to a part of class7 so maybe they mention what someone else is doing...)

(Not to selfe: Fight with Lucrecia in Grimgarden. Appearantly Rean gets an Alisa tease... and then flirting with him? We will see tomorrow!)

[*achem* I almost had an accident because in the dark I did not see a bike on the stream coming right at me when I crossed a road so I am a bit in shock still. Thankfully nothing happened, but my mother stopped me in her panic while already halfway on the street and... uh... doesn't matter, I am just a bit out of it right now. So not sure how much sense the rest of my reaction will make. But I try! So back to it!]

Hammilton is having secrets with Dingo... uh was having secrets with Dingo ^^'

OBVIOUSLY! Guys! NEVER trust people in lapcoats in a Trails-Game XD

It seems like Hammilton is using some sort of "fake" Genesis to do certain things. Appearantly, the whole thing with the water drying up in the Desert City was her manipulating reality or something like this.

Okay. With Kevin deciding to be back to beeing called the "Heretic Hunter" his route ends end we get into the intermission. Were we play a bit with our new Enforcers Friends while actually mixing our 3 teams.

This is Hajimari all over again XD

Dealing with Ouroboros is mildly exhausting in this game ^^'

Isn't that still a freaking spoiler at this point in the game? Or did she already mention that in the connect-event with Van? Seems to obviously important to mention in a connect-event tho.

Ups! Novartis went a bit too far adressing Agnes and Van is now in full protection modus. (Not that I am complaining... XD)

[alegitlegend]

{Moments of Vulnerability meme | Alone}

Steve could have made for an excellent actor. Celebrating a case closed ~exonerating an accused Rainbow Warrior Tight-End from the murder of his sweetheart, and getting a good confession from the actual killer~ he smiled and nodded along with the team's jokes, the comfortable camaraderie amongst them. They talk about weekend plans. He brushes off a lunch invite, a get together later on Sunday with Danny. Affable as ever. But Beth is the one who has known him the longest. Maybe she doesn't register on his radar and does have his walls so high that she can't see over them. Whatever the case, she can see that beneath his facade, something isn't quite right. Technically, what she's doing would be considered breaking and entering. In reality, she simply used the spare key from its hiding place. By the time he gets home, food is in the oven, rewarming. Arancino's signature meat topped pizza for him, with some Longboards chilling in the fridge. Cacio a pepe pasta for her and a bottle of Amon Ra. Tiramisu for dessert. Maybe a hallmark of her cousin's influence on her but she has good taste. She isn't surprised when he finds her in the kitchen, armed and potentially angry or just shocked. She can't quite tell. Beth turns slowly and holds her hands up. "You can put dat away, I'm unarmed," she murmurs with a hint of a soft and apologetic smile. She turns slowly in place; she stands barefoot in a bandea bikini top and a floor length broom skirt. Her hair falls long and loose down her shoulders. "I'm not armed an' I really doubt I could even land a hit if we were to get in a fist fight." When she faces him again she puts her hands down with a sigh. "Somethin's botherin' you. Could see it in your eyes. Feel it in the air around you. Thought you could use some real food in your belly and maybe an old friend to talk to, ya know?"

Of course the former Seal, turned task force leader had things on his mind, more things then he really wanted or cared to share with the team at least not before he had more information to share with them. Right now all he had was the toolbox his father had left for him with Champ on it, a clue his father had hinted at right before Hesse had pulled the trigger and ended his life. The items in the toolbox left him with all kinds of questions and very few answers. Yet. The team knew of the toolbox but not everything involved in it.

This doesn't mean he won't talk about it in time but now is not the time or the place. After all not only are they all celebrating the close of a successful case but everyone is happy, enjoying the time to relax and he really doesn't want to be the one to spoil everyone's moods even though he knew that none of them would hold it against him if he were to do so. So he kept it to himself.

Of course he did feel someone watching him but he pretended not to notice Beth's eyes watching him even though he knew she was the one who knew him well enough to know that something was bothering him but he was not about to bring it up here at the office while they were doing their best to relax.

So when he arrived at home later that evening after work ended and enjoying a few drinks with the team and found his door unlocked to his house suspicions made him draw his 9mm from the holster on his hip and reached forward, slowly turning the knob and carefully but slowly pushing the door inwards and stepping through, the scent of food cooking drawing him toward the kitchen and the otherwise enticing smells.

His weapon remained in his tight grip, experience keeping him from letting down his guard entirely. He entered the kitchen with his weapon aimed directly center mass at the woman cooking in his kitchen, shock and a trace of anger showing on his face as he focused on Beth standing only a few feet away from where he stood just inside the kitchen doorway.

The tension that had filled his body when he had thought he had an intruder slowly eased, allowing him to lower the weapon and flick the safety back on before he reholstered the weapon once more and focused on Beth again. And shook his head and heaved a sigh, allowing a trace of a smile to flit onto his face, "You're damn right you'd never land a hit if we were to get into a fist fight." He stated.

Another sigh escaped when she pointed out the obvious. Of course she had known something was bothering him. She knew him better than any other member of his team thus far so of course she could tell. An amused grin widened though, letting him be more at ease than he had been at the office previously. "So you thought you'd break into my house and cook me dinner instead of asking me after work?" He teased.

He did appreciate her effort though and he could use a listening ear, especially someone who would know and understand better than the rest of his team at this point. "We'll talk. After dinner. But first, let's enjoy the food, yeah?"

[howtofightwrite]

Hi! My MCs are two teen siblings who live in a fictional town in New Jersey. I want them to be like amateur private investigators who get evidence and compile files and send them to the police or something? (Everything they do to get info about crimes would be legal even though they don't have a licence.)

That's not how this works. So, I'm going to point something out first, this is a fundamental defect for most of the Armchair Detective Mystery sub-genre. So, nearly every PI story, and the vast majority of mystery lit runs afoul of these issues. It also leads into the the humorous Murder She Wrote Serial Killer Theory, which, if you're unfamiliar, is a brilliant bit of shitposting.

Mucking around in a criminal investigation is (generally speaking) illegal. This may not, technically, be obstruction of justice, though, that's the most likely charge. In New Jersey, you're guilty of obstruction of justice if you “obstruct, impair, or pervert the administration of law... ...by means of any independently unlawful act.” In your specific example, that's the theft of evidence (probably, technically, “theft of movable property.”) It doesn't matter (as much) that they handed it over to the police after the fact, it's that they took it in the first place. Additionally, breaking and entering (formally identified as burglary under NJ law) is another, “unlawful act,” if your characters gain access to the crime scene via stealth. (Also, a conviction burglary is one of the crimes that will permanently bar someone from getting a PI license in New Jersey.)

The reason this matters is a little more complicated. It comes down to the chain of custody, so, I'm going to step back and explain the fundamental discrepancy between the mystery genre and reality.

In a mystery novel, the job of the investigator is to unravel the puzzle of events that lead to the original crime, and then use that information to identify the perpetrator.

In the real world, the job of a criminal investigator is to collect irrefutable proof of what happened (somewhat obviously this isn't always the case), and hand that over to the prosecutor. Fictional examples of this are the police procedural, which is a distinct genre from mysteries.

This is where that cliché tension you'll find a lot of police/detective thrillers kicks in. It really isn't enough to, “catch someone,” you need to have the evidence to prove the perpetrator was responsible, and that evidence needs to be admissible in court. (Meaning, it can be used.)

The chain of custody is a log of everyone who interacted with a piece of evidence from the time it was first discovered until the trial. This is very important for establishing that a piece of evidence was not tampered with. If the prosecutor is unable to prove that the evidence is in an unaltered state, then it's very possible the defense will be able to exclude it. At that point, if the evidence was critical to a thread of the investigation, that entire thread may be excluded. For instance, if a murder weapon is excluded, and that weapon lead to the search of the defendant's home, anything recovered in that search may be excluded as well.

Somewhat obviously, if a piece of evidence passes through the hands of an amateur teenage investigator, that's going to seriously undermine its credibility. “So you're telling me, that an entire investigation team couldn't find the murder weapon in the victim's apartment, but a couple highschoolers broke in and found it in five minutes?” This is also ignoring that it can be very easy for an amateur to accidentally destroy evidence. For example, when they found the murder weapon and picked it up, the exact position of the weapon was lost (which can be vitally important evidence), and it's very likely they will smudge or destroy prints on the weapon. Further, even if they hand it over to the police, any resulting search warrant, and evidence collected, would be vulnerable, because the piece of evidence that pointed the police in that direction would be in question. (Now, in reality, it wouldn't be quite this clear cut. And, there are concepts such as, “inevitable discovery,” that can potentially protect elements of the investigation.)

If you remember back to last week's post, I mentioned that the best way to frame yourself is to investigate the crime you're accused of, and ironically, this creates a similar situation. Your characters are breaking into crime scenes, and in the process leaving behind forensic evidence of their presences (something which is likely to be discovered.) In some cases, where they've been on the premises before, that may be excusable, but if it's someplace that they don't frequent, or if they accidentally alter the scene in a way that indicates they were there (such as getting blood spatter on their shoes), they can quickly become suspects. If they suddenly show up in the police station with the murder weapon, that would be pretty suspicious, and if they tried to be clever (such as by anonymously mailing the weapon to the police), that's going to cause the police to burn time and resources hunting them down. (Ironically, diverting police resources like this is a crime in its own right, though I'm not sure what the formal name is under New Jersey law.)

Ironically, simply the act of investigating a crime is a pretty good way to become a suspect, unless you have a good reason (such as being an insurance investigator, or a licensed PI hired by a lawyer after an indictment has been handed down), and even in those cases, they're going to be working with the police, and reviewing their work, rather than doing things like poking around crime scenes without supervision. (Worth knowing that a PI might actually poke around the crime scene in person, but, it wouldn't be via breaking in. Again, if convicted of burglary, it would permanently cost them their license.)

Also, worth noting that New Jersey uses the same license for both private detective agencies and security guard services, and the law is written from the perspective that a company may be doing both. Additionally, employees are licensed under their employer's license. In this specific case, if the investigator did something that would cost them their license, that would only apply to that employee, not their employer.

Another issue for the amateur investigator is, they (basically) never have access to a lot of the critical evidence. One of the most important pieces of evidence in a murder investigation is the corpse itself. Forensic evidence can establish critical information, such as time and method of death. However, your amateur investigator has neither the technical capability, nor the necessary access to the corpse to conduct an autopsy, and, as discussed above, wouldn't be able to provide credible evidence to the police (unless, of course, they were the coroner assigned to that dead body, in which case, they should have a pretty solid grasp of why you wouldn't want to get into an illegal investigation.)

So, is any of this a problem for a mystery novel? No, not really. Mysteries, as a genre, aren't particularly interested in the reality of criminal investigations. Crime thrillers tend to view these issues as minor annoyances. Well written procedurals tend to pay attention to these elements, and try to draw their drama from the intricacies of the system, while poorly researched procedurals tend to leak back over into using all the clichés from thrillers.

Mysteries are a formulaic genre. That's not a defect, but it is critically important to remember when you sit down to write one.

This leads back to that glorious shitpost. No, Murder She Wrote (1984-1996) was not about a serial killer who gaslights random people into in confessing that they murdered her victims. However, it is a hilariously credible explanation for how Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) proceeded to investigate over 250 murders in her spare time. However, this is a consistent issue with a lot of serial armchair detectives, where, over time, the intended premise becomes more absurd than the idea that they really are the common thread between the killings.

So, can your teenagers investigate crimes in New Jersey without breaking the law? No. But, if you're wanting to write mysteries investigated by a pair of New Jersey teens, that doesn't really matter. Reality is something that is only tangentially relevant to the genre.

-Starke

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[thevindicativevordan]

Why isn't Nightwing a bigger deal? He has all of Batman's skills and Superman's faith in humanity and is arguably the most beloved hero in the DCU, but most people seem to know him either as the leader of the N̶o̶t̶ ̶J̶L̶ Teen Ttians or just Robin.

Thank you for asking me about Nightwing, I've been wanting to write a piece about him for a while now. The short version is that everyone who claims Dick becoming Nightwing was him "moving out of Batman's shadow and becoming his own man" is completely wrong.

Dick Grayson is a fantastic character, someone who saved Bruce Wayne in-universe both by forcing Batman to grow up a bit, and the countless times he saved Batman's life as his partner whether as Robin or Nightwing. Dick saved Batman in the real world as well, hard to believe but Batman was actually in danger of being cancelled due to poor sales early on. Enter Robin, a young daredevil audience stand in the creators hoped would get kids interested in reading Batman. And it worked! Sales on Batman doubled once Robin showed up which is crazy to think about, but Dick Grayson has always been a popular character. Cartoons like Teen Titans, Batman: The Animated Series, and The Batman only helped grow his audience.

Character-wise, Dick Grayson really does fill a number of crucial roles in the DCU. For Batman, Dick is proof that Batman is a positive force. Meeting Batman helped change Dick for the better, helped him heal after his parents died. With Dick, Batman can take comfort in knowing that yes, he has made a difference in the world for at least one orphan boy, which is all he wanted when he lost his parents himself. To the wider DCU, Dick is a friendly face who convinces others that Batman is competent and not a complete asshole. He took this kid in, trained him to be one of the best heroes the DCU has seen, and did it all out of the kindness of his heart. That someone like Dick can confront the evils of Gotham and not break means there's still hope for that city. As Robin, Dick has led the Titans and is an icon in his own right as The Sidekick, the original, the one every other Robin is built around copying or contrasting. The one all other superhero sidekicks are drawing on as a basis. As Robin Dick Grayson is very much on Batman's level.

Just not as Nightwing. As Nightwing, Dick has been a second rate Daredevil which means he's a third rate Batman (fully prepared to get hate for this but I've read and enjoyed the Miller and Bendis DD runs so I feel entitled to my opinion). A typical Nightwing run tends to go like this: Moving to Bludhaven (which is Gotham... but WORSE!), Dick Grayson usually enrolls in a pointless job we don't care about in order to provide some meaningless soap opera drama that doesn't go anywhere. Patrolling the city as Nightwing, he fights a variety of bad guys who are usually rather lame and unthreatening, with his big bad being a Kingpin knockoff called Blockbuster. Villains are fought, long running plotlines are set up, then everything is abandoned because it's Batfamily event time, and Dick has to run back to Gotham in order to play sidekick again. Usually his involvement is completely superfluous and it would've been better if the writer had gotten to opt out. By the time we finally get back to Nightwing's solo plotlines, the audience has usually ceased to care and the run gets cut short.

That's how Nightwing has been since the New 52 at least. Anyone who thinks that's "becoming their own man" is out of their mind. Dick is so thoroughly in Batman's shadow that he got shot in the head and spent a longer time as "Ric" which everyone fucking hated and sold like shit, than he did as Agent Grayson which was extremely well-received. Reiterating: Ric went on longer than Grayson because of a fucking Batman plotpoint Tom King wanted where Bruce was sad and cut off from the Batfamily because of Dick getting shot. Not just calling out King either, how many times was Kyle Higgins Nightwing run derailed because of Scott Snyder's crossovers? Or how about that entire run getting dumped to the side because Johns wanted to out Dick during Forever Evil, a Justice League/Lex Luthor story? DC has repeatedly made their contempt for Nightwing clear, he's Batman's sidekick still in their eyes, and he serves whatever story role the Batman writer wants.

Hell his best stories tend to have been the ones where he's not Nightwing. He was Robin in a good chunk of the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans run. Morrison really showcased his depth as a character when they wrote him as Batman, their time with Dick under the cowl was actually one of the first Batman runs I ever read, and no Nightwing run has ever matched it in terms of quality in my humble opinion. Scott Snyder's work with DickBats also was a high point for the character, showing Dick as competent and examining his relationship with Gotham and the Gordons. King and Seeley gave him one of the best comic runs with Grayson, a series where he wasn't even a "superhero" technically! When it comes to actual pre-New 52 Nightwing runs that are highly recommended where he *is* Nightwing, there's Chuck Dixon and uhhhhhhh... Tomasi's brief run before Dick became Batman? It's not exactly an overwhelming list.

Look there has been good work done with Nightwing, I'm not claiming there hasn't been. Tim Seeley wrote a great run with Nightwing Rebirth. Seeley fleshed out Dick's Rogues Gallery with cool new ones like Raptor, he brought back old foes like Dr. Hurt (why oh why couldn't you have brought back Flamingo too?), he gave Dick's world some character it solely needed. Bludhaven under Seeley is pretty much the only time I've really felt like it lived up to being Dick's city.

The problem with fictional cities is you have to put in the work to give them the character of real cities. You have to make the cities feel like characters in their own right. Gotham is the best example of this, it's a character all it's own, one that tells you a lot about Batman and his cast. In contrast Bludhaven is usually one of the worst. Any place that wants to claim to be worse than the city that is built over the gate to hell and gets wrecked every other month by the Arkham freaks has to really put in the work to compete. Simply put, Bludhaven typically fails utterly. There's nothing about it that makes you really buy it's worse than Gotham, I mean does anyone really think Nightwing's Rogues wouldn't get their lunches eaten by Batman's? No, no one genuinely buys that. When Bludhaven claims to be worse, it just comes across as tryhard, an attribute that does end up telling you about Nightwing in unintentional ways.

So Seeley didn't do that. Instead he created a city built for a hero like Dick Grayson. Someone who is bright and flashy, but does have an element of darkness to him. Someone who loves the spotlight, but often uses it to obscure. Seeley turned Bludhaven into Las Vegas, and that was the fucking best concept for Bludhaven I have ever seen, it makes so much sense. Las Vegas is the "Entertainment Capital of the World" and isn't that the perfect city for a hero who got their start working in the circus? Isn't the aesthetics of the gleaming casinos, the glamorous sex appeal of the performers, and the spectacle of the shows, all being used to cover up the seediness of mob bosses meeting backstage perfect for Nightwing? It's so utterly unlike New York City, yet Las Vegas is still dangerous, it's got a crime culture all it's own. Seeley used it to great effect, as did Humphries during his brief run, and I will always be pissed that DC didn't continue to use it. That should have stuck around and been the definitive look for Bludhaven.

How Seeley's take on Bludhaven was treated feels like a small scale version of how Nightwing in general gets treated. Whenever creators pitched ideas for him, if editorial thought there was potential to break big, they asked for those ideas to be repurposed for Batman instead. Anything big or good gets repurposed for Batman or tossed to the side so Nightwing can go back to his default: having irrelevant adventures in a city that is supposedly worse than Gotham but can't live up to it. Just like how Nightwing is supposedly better than Batman but never gets to show it. Goddamn it's so frustrating seeing his potential get wasted like that.

The Nightwing book should be one of DC's most ambitious books in terms of storytelling. You can go from traditional superhero stories, to romantic soap opera, to spy stories, to crime noir, to horror, to cosmic adventures, and ALL of them would fit because Nightwing is someone who has a foot in both Gotham and Metropolis. He's got friends everywhere on every team, and has been a hero longer than most Leaguers have at this point. No reason DC should still be afraid to let him loose and insisting on hewing close to what Dixon established almost over 30 years ago is only holding him back. At the very least get him some better Rogues, why the hell didn't he get to keep Professor Pyg? That's Dick's villain not Bruce's! Bullshit that they didn't let Dick keep him. Hopefully Flamingo comes back, with a slight revamp I think he'd make a great reoccurring Nightwing Rogue.

Luckily it does look somewhat like Nightwing fans have reason to be optimistic. While Taylor isn't to my taste, DC clearly views him as a "big" writer, and that they put him on Nightwing says a lot. Taylor has been selling well so far, so hopefully he gets to tell his story, hilarious that even he lampshaded having to write Dick running over to Gotham for another tie-in after Taylor's big opening arc was all about Dick committing himself and his money to Bludhaven. Scott Snyder is apparently working on a Black Label Nightwing book which will explore how he's a different detective than Bruce. The Gotham Knights video game has him as one of the main stars, and while Titans is... controversial, it's one of the most popular streaming shows and Dick is the main character. There's a lot of content coming that features him in the starring role, and that will only help his star rise further.

For the first time in, well, ever it feels like DC may be serious about elevating him. Time will tell if it pays off, but I for one choose to be optimistic that the 2020s will be a turning point for Dick Grayson where Nightwing becomes hugely popular in his own right. Not just as Batman's sidekick.

[vole-mon-amour]

7x09.

Cat-boy Aaron Hotchner, anyone? :3

I like how Strauss is technically their boss, even Aaron's, but when she says that she's coming with the team, everyone (I promise, it's not just Emily) immediately looks at him & he's like, "Welp, don't look at me. I'm not happy about it, either, but I can't do anything about it."

Just before starting this episode, I was thinking that every time Strauss shows up, I want her gone, I'm totally ok with the team without her & then there she was again. I don't want her to become a regular. She's pointless.

They came to a military campus that raises teens into soldiers. Spencer's first interaction with its commander: peace sign. Lol. He's not wrong, though.

Smiling & joking Dave? Smiling and joking Dave. <3 "It knows better", lol. You dork.

Every "well respected institution" always hides something & often respect in those means fear and threats. You tell her, Dave. The way she's so into politics & Dave just doesn't give a fuck. He only cares for what's right & to solve the case.

And we're back to 'Dave' in front of the entire team (and Strauss). <3

That smile. <3 David so clearly disliked this place & is proud of the kid for not breaking, and I'm proud of David. I love him.

Then why the hell did she come? No one benefits from that. Write her off already.

WRITE! HER! OFF!

Aaron be like, "Not another one of this." Give this man a break.

Aaron's face—

Call me delusional, but there's an immediate change in Aaron's voice when he talks to Dave. They're talking about the case, yet they still enter their own world of familiarity and trust for a second.

You yourself started drinking, including during working hours, and now you're blaming everyone else without taking the responsibility for it? Sure, Jan.

I don't care if Strauss got cancer of whatever, her plot-line is inconsistent (and any terminal illness isn't excuse to become an alcoholic as well). She leaves for what, 3 months? With Aaron taking on her responsibilities? Then she comes back drinking & there's zero explanation for that. C'mon. Do something logical about it.

P.S.: There's some special energy from David and Emily's interactions. I don't ship them, but I certainly can understand why some do. I wouldn't want to see it in the show, but I imagine it being worth exploring in fanfiction. I might as well just read it & they shouldn't be lovers at all. I'd take Dave dating Aaron & sharing about that with Emily over dinner/drink/some quality bonding time.

[lutawolf]

I had a question swirling in my head for a while now, but didn't know how to best phrase it without it potentially coming off as offensive. But you kinda mentioned it in the latest Kinn as Dom post yourself, so I'll jump right onto that.

As a Dominant to a sexual submissive, you have to recognize when they need to lead. There are times when they are knowledgeable and it would do harm to not recognize it.

Basically, the question I had in mind was along the lines of "How do you reconcile dominance with cases of lack of (technical) expertise/competence?"

Making good decisions means making informed decisions. But everyone's human with limited capacity and skills, and we live in a world where things get more complex by the day and sought education focuses on hyper-specialization most of the time. How do you correct a dominant who is right in the midst of doing not the most efficient, an uninformed or outright bad decision without overstepping? (And how do you keep sticking to it, when you are absolutely sure if it's a bad, bad take? Since a Dom can overwrite a subs choices, as I understand?) If it goes really awry, I'm guessing the rescind your trust and submission will happen, but before it goes that far, how do you make one, who isn't recognizing on their own, understand/stop without breaking anything yet? I'm guessing it kinda boils down to broader beats of mutual respect and good communication, and knowing each other well, but I was curious about more practical cues/advices.

(I was also wondering if there anything about that which might even transpose to strangers. Like there are these cases of those clichéd wannabe alpha-individuals trying to dominate e.g. a meeting or something. If you do know things better, taking reigns yourself and kicking them off their high horse isn't so difficult. But hell is the aftermath with such individuals often a pain in the butt. I have been wondering the longest time how you could feed up good information the most elegant way without breaking those alpha-prides, but also not wholly rescinding being credited for your part towards the better result.)

Hey hey,

If we got lost in the woods. It would be team work that saved mine and my husband's ass. I can find water, food, make traps, and loads of other thing. I however, can't find my way out of a paper bag. I have zero sense of direction. So, it would be stupid of me to not recognize that and follow him back to civilization. As we often nature hike, this has happened a few times.

A Dominant doesn't mean all knowing. If you know more, then you need to let them know. It's how you address them that is key.

Example: I fucking put Dominante instead of Dominant on the recent post. Here comes the lovely iffy, "hey question Luta, but why Dominante" Now, honestly I don't need to be tiptoed around that much. However, I highly appreciate the amount of respect she showed me. Only a bad Dom would be unappreciative of how she handled that.

The same would go for situations in the work force. It all in how you word it. Being respectful will get you much further with a Dominant, than trying to enter a pissing contest. Example: A Dominant is putting something together wrong. "Hey, I've done this a few times already. I would love to help if you don't mind?" Nobody but a jack-ass is going to argue with that.

Just because there is difference in the power balance doesn't mean no respect. Well unless you are a slave to Master but that's deep submission and it is consented to. Anyways, in anything other than deep submission there should be respect on both sides.

Hope this was helpful 💜💜💜

[hotchley]

i dunno how angsty u like ur angst bc like. imagine an abusive gideon after rossi left. a gideon that is so kind and nurturing to reid that no one thinks he's taking advantage of hotch (like making hotch take the blame for things he did that he knew were against protocol, or having hotch be his outlet for verbal abuse). snide comments about how hotch isn't living up to his expectations, hints that rossi left bc of hotch, suggests the entire team hates him. i dunno one time gideon just loses it (maybe an unsub is taunting them throuh the phone) and he gets so worked up he socks hotch good. and hotch doesn't even react bc he's gotten used to it, to gideon being aggressive towards him (at least it's just hotch he hates bc gideon makes sure hotch knows he love the rest of the team) he doesn't even notice the entire team is horrified. and hotch apologizes for causing a scene and wipes the blood from his split lip and just continues on with the profile like gideon didn't just punch him. like i have this idea in my head of gideon breaking hotch down and rossi coming back bc he'll rot in hell first before letting aaron think he deserves anything that gideon did to him and also giving the team a piece of his mind bc when did aaron stop being a member of their team?? bonus: haley is horrified she ever suggested they name their kid after gideon.

tw: abuse

additional disclaimer: I in no way believe Jason Gideon was as bad as I am about to make him about to be. Nor do I believe he ever hurt anyone this badly, this is all in relation to this particular ask. He is going to be Out Of Character in order for it to happen.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT ANON.

Like I like my angst angsty, but this is on another level and honestly, I’m mildly concerned by how much I want to write a full-blown fic about what happened in between Rossi leaving and returning. I even have three lines.

The day David Rossi resigned from the BAU was the day Aaron Hotchner learnt to hold his breath. The day Jason Gideon resigned from the BAU was the day Aaron Hotchner exhaled. And the day David Rossi returned, his hug feeling like home, was the day Aaron Hotchner breathed easily.

But like... Jason Gideon that never really wanted Aaron on the team because when he looked at him, he saw the man he could have been if he hadn’t gotten so caught up in hunting monsters. And he resents the way that Hotch doesn’t just follow him blindly. The way he challenges him. The bond he has with Rossi. So in the beginning, it was small things. Comments about his appearance, or his tone, or tiny little things that Hotch is used to.

Rossi leaves and makes Aaron lead profiler and Jason needs to know why, but Hotch doesn’t have the answer. It’s the first time Jason actually shouts at him, and Hotch has tears streaming down his cheeks. Gideon calls him pathetic.

When Reid joins, things get slightly better because Jason loves Spencer. Hotch hopes he can blend into the background, but he can’t because when Reid messes up, it’s his fault. When Morgan runs into danger, it’s his fault. When JJ gets overwhelmed, it’s his fault again.

And Reid adores Gideon so much that he doesn’t pick up on it. Nobody does, because Hotch is good at covering it up and Gideon always plays it off like a joke. Morgan thinks things are a little off, but it’s probably nothing. It’s terrible after Boston. Gideon needs someone to be angry at and Hotch is right there. 

Nobody realises because Hotch technically has more power than Gideon and Gideon is always so gentle with them. After Tobias Hankel, it’s non-stop. In fact, it’s worse because Gideon will just be like: are you sure you want to do that? Won’t *name* say *quality* if you do? 

He punches him once, and only once. It’s where nobody can see them, and Gideon lies when they enter the station again. Nobody sticks up for Hotch because they don’t know what to do, he’s so private.

Gideon leaves and Strauss- a woman who had fought tooth and nail to get where she got to- also exhales. She tells Rossi that something hadn’t seemed right at all, that the two week suspension was to get him away from Gideon for she’s not a profiler, she doesn’t know if she’s right.

Rossi returns because he cannot believe that his Jason would be that cruel. Mean and snarky, yes. But not cruel. Not abusive. Aaron holds on longer when he’s hugged, and Rossi begins to wonder.

Then Hotch starts crying when Rossi says he did something wrong and begs for forgiveness. Says he doesn’t want to hear his failures again. Dave is horrified, and after assuring him that everything is fine, he goes out to the team. Who all feel terrible. He contacts Haley, who says that she watched Aaron as a teenager and then as an adult and then as a profiler and when he left, Aaron went back to being his teenage self. She could never get him to walk away.

Honestly, I now feel like this needs to be added to my WIPs because Hotch Angst. And it would be so interesting to write.

[mementofloreo-archived]

@sorrowmarked || smoochie prompts || hehehehehe[this is cut bc it is SUPER FUCKING long. This is literally the longest thing I've written for you I think]

His team has had a couple of practice matches against the soccer club from Ken's school since they both entered high school, in part thanks to Daisuke's friendship with him. Even without any influence from dark gears or things like that Ken has managed to remain an excellent player with a wide reputation.

Daisuke is unknown, of course. There was no soccer club at his middle school, after all, so he wasn't able to play competitively. He stayed on top of fitness training, even adopting some of the rigorous conditioning routine his sister had used for prep after being scouted by a pro team. Still, with no reputation to boost him he had to earn his place on the main lineup when he entered high school.

...Which he's done, really. He's far exceeded anyone's expectations, especially his own. His drive, his vigor, and his honest love for playing have earned him a lot of strong friendships, and apparently also skyrocketed the morale and motivation of his teammates on more than one occasion. They went from a club thought of as 'not bad, but nothing special' to semifinalists at the prefectural tournament all within the course of his first year. They'd lost to Ken's school, in fact, by a single point shave in the last two minutes of the match.

At his school, first years who join the club via application and not recommendation don't play starting positions in tournament matches(common practice, really). Daisuke still managed to distinguish himself, though. When he was played as a starter in practice matches against Ken's school he was usually placed in a midfield winger position. It gave him some flexibility for movement while relying on the one thing the coach and captain already knew he had, which was stamina.

When their first tournament rolled around, he was put in as a substitute for their attacking midfielder. The position was considered the playmaker, as far as team structure. They were responsible for helping to direct the flow of the team's offensive play, connecting the defensive positions to the forward ones and managing the support for the striker, who was the primary goal scorer(and the position he had played in elementary). For Daisuke, it felt like a test, an opportunity and a show of faith all in one, and so he'd pushed himself past his limits to live up to those expectations.

His fierce, quick, and precise play style coupled with his apparently 'freakish' stamina and adaptability in the position have since earned him a place as its starter as well as the team's vice captain in his second year.

When he was ten or twelve, he'd have been gunning for the striker position. It was flashy and considered the really 'cool' position in most formations.

Now, though, he's stopped caring about looking cool. He wants to play his best, he wants to have fun- and he wants the rest of the team to have those things as well. Realizing that his play sense and his technical skill are best suited to that position when those goals are in mind, he's both content with and proud of his current place.

Ken is a striker. And in their practice matches this season his team has, as usual, come out on top(even if it's usually close).

In the prefectural finals this year, Daisuke's team drags Ken's into a lengthy and brutal double overtime- in the pouring rain, no less. Everyone is exhausted, sore, soaked and filthy. Losing momentum, losing cohesion, desperate for a goal just so things will be over.

...Daisuke, though, ignores it. His burning legs, the sharp pain of his overworked lungs, the chafing of his drenched uniform, the slick ground beneath him and the way the water impedes the ball's movement. He puts himself in a mindset as if he were playing a one on one scrimmage against his sister. She's a professional player on a high ranking team in the highest tier women's league of Japan's professional circuit and has even earned a place on its national team.

If Daisuke's stamina is freakish, then Jun's entire spectrum of skill is on the same level as a natural disaster. The ferocity and lack of hesitation she shows on the field would terrify any normal high schooler, boy or girl, and even a lot of capable players from the men's league.

Which means that even a casual match against her demands ignoring his body's pleas for a break and pushing past its screaming to keep playing at his top form no matter how exhausted he is.

That's the extent he exerts himself to in that double overtime. He's in a state where he barely even registers physical sensation because he's so focused. He barely even registers the directional tips he shouts to the other mid and forward positions, and he doesn't register at all the captain calling for everyone to follow Daisuke's lead.

There's a single thought in his head: keep moving. If he stops or even slows down for just a split second, he knows he'll keep losing steam and he won't get it back. He has to barrel forward no matter what until the game is over. He doesn't pay attention to the faces or numbers of the opposing team. He focuses on keeping the ball in play, keeping his body in motion and staying at least aware of where his teammates are, though he doesn't differentiate between them very well.

When he scoops the ball right out of Ken's grasp, turns sharp, rockets past him, he doesn't know that it's Ken. He doesn't try to close the full distance to the goal either. The moment he sees a small gap in the defense he shoots. For the left corner and with every ounce of strength he has left.

The ball hit's the keeper's open palms- and blasts right through them like they're made of paper, making a loud snap sound and spinning against the net. Daisuke watches it sail in, speechless, and slowly he sinks to his hands and knees, well past being completely spent.

His awareness comes back to him gradually in the several seconds both the players and spectators are left in shock to process the split second reversal and upset of a team that made it to the nationals last year. Even the referees take a few second to declare the clean goal. But once they do, everything erupts around him.

He hears it, registers the shouting and the celebration, the exhausted and frustrated but still impressed acceptance of the other team. And he lets himself laugh breathlessly in relief, still completely unaware that he left Ken dizzily in the dust a few moments ago. Right at that second, he's mostly glad he still pre-medicates with his inhaler before any kind of exercise and keeps it on hand as a rescue. He's going to need it.

His teammates, bless them, have the presence of mind not to jump on him the way they would normally. The captain and Ken make sure he's not injured and help him to his feet, and once he confirms he can walk with some support they help him to the sidelines. The teams shake hands, exchange congratulations. Both for a hard earned victory and a well played match despite a loss. The coaches and officials are able to get the attention of the crowd enough to let the players have some breathing room for a few minutes.

Ken informs Daisuke of exactly what he did in those last few seconds while he digs for his inhaler and then takes a long drink from his water bottle. Daisuke is a little shellshocked by it all now that he's properly registering it, but he's happy all the same. He's helped carry his team to nationals, a first time accomplishment for them.

Moreover, he had the time of his life with this match, even as exhausting as it was. The frail little kid he used to be would never believe he could accomplish something like this.

He makes a note to himself to call Jun with the news- this isn't the kind of thing he should relay via text. She'd just drop everything and call him to yell about it anyway.

There isn't a formal locker room building at this field, but there's covered areas around the benches and a lot of the seating. Daisuke and a lot of his teammates take some time to rinse the mud and sweat off of exposed skin, towel off, change into dry shoes from their cleats, put their warmups on to keep from catching cold.

Everything is so hectic that when he finally shoulders his bag and shambles off the grounds a half hour later he's completely forgotten that Hikari was planning to try and be at the match.

So when he sees her he's not really shocked, but he does sort of stare at her for a few seconds, brainless.

She's been his girlfriend for less than three months. Having her so openly focused on him is still a new experience. In general he's really not used to being anybody's first priority. He still pinches himself sometimes to make sure he's not dreaming when Hikari ducks under one of his arms to curl against his side on the train or in front of the television.

Still, he manages a weary smile, and greets her. "I'm glad you managed to make it out," he says, and his voice is hoarse, "I know you weren't sure you'd be able to see the whole game, or even be here at all."

He lifts his neck towel and wipes some lingering rainwater off of his face.

...She's a little flushed, he notes. Wearing a decent raincoat and carrying an umbrella. She's just a bit damp, where he's still pretty drenched. (the moisture and humidity add just a touch of wisp to her hair though, lift it just a little from its usual straight line. It's cute.)

A half suppressed laugh trickles out of her as she looks up at him. Daisuke's not very tall- he's right around average height- but he's strong, filling out a lot as he nears the end of his growth period, so Hikari looks almost tiny next to him now. (She certainly feels delicate when he hugs her)

Her eyes are shimmering. It's easy to see she's feeling pretty emotional right now, and she still hasn't said anything. Daisuke rifles a hand through his hair awkwardly.

"...Uh...Hikari-chan?" He asks, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she blurts, beaming, "Sorry. You were just- you were incredible out there. I think you left everyone there starstruck."

"O-oh," he feels himself flush, "Y'think? Those last few minutes I was running on autopilot, so I wasn't really-"

The rest of whatever rambling he was launching into freezes and catches in his throat. If real life came with record scratches or freeze frames, this would be one of those moments.

She's usually the one to kiss him first. He's a little shy, still, not completely confident taking the initiative with affection yet.

But this is- she's never jerked him down by the collar before. Certainly not so suddenly and so sharply that he's actually unbalanced and brought in.

It's a hell of a kiss, to be frank. Firm, held out for so long, her hands moving to his shoulders, pulling herself in as close as she can until he has the presence of mind to lift her at the waist and kiss back.

He's outright dizzy when she finally lets him break away for air, and Hikari is flushed and beaming.

"Uh," he fumbles, "Oh, uh. Okay."

She peppers his face with short, sweet little pecks until he's laughing, and then she hugs him tight.

"I know how hard you worked to get here," She murmurs, "I'm so proud of you. Congratulations, Daisuke."

He tenses just a little in response. Hearing this kind of praise from anyone is always a bit of a tearjerker for him, but from Hikari it's a million times more significant.

"Yeah," He breathes, setting her down and holding his hand out for the umbrella. "...Let's get to the station, though. I want to get somewhere I can change into dry clothes. And then maybe pass out for a couple of hours. I'm beat."

[sentofight]

"Have they said anything yet?" Wylan pushes his way into the room as he addresses Date, peering through the one way glass at the suspect. A file is dropped o to the table as he rests an arm against the glass.

"Stubborn fuck, isn't he. Well. I was able to get a few things on him if we really need to press... but what are you thinking? Is this our guy? At the least I think they saw something. Shame the psync device is still getting calibrated. It'll be another few hours before that's ready."

Date was talking to Aiba prior Wylan entering the room. The detective was watching the suspect for any hint their body language can give. Aiba already noted a change in the suspect’s vitals, when he was asked certain questions, like how his pupils changed, his body temperature etc. All recorded down for thorough examination later on. 

“Aiba, this bastard did it, didn’t he?”

[Date, you know we need an evidence before pointing fingers, right? Though ... his vitals show that. Not to mention, he dodged a couple of questions and it seems he thinks he is getting away, that’s why his demeaner has changed drastically now he is sitting alone in the room.]

“If only we can just throw him into the psync machine and get this over with. This bastard is smiling from ear to ear thinking he is getting away.”

[He will not. We need to figure out how to break him then he is good as behind bars.]

“Aiba, is the forensic team done examining the crime scene yet? Please check with them.”

[Roger. Give me a moment.] the A.I. called the head of the forensic team to inquire about their work and it seems that they have finished and now the detectives can come to examine it again after filling all the extra evidence there. [Date, they have finished. They expect you and detective Rechtur to be there soon.]

“Good. We might figure out something new if we went again--” his attention was shifted when Wylan walked into the room. “Wylan ... yes and no.” Date tucking his hands into his trouser pocket, still staring at the suspect in the interrogation room. Eyes shifted to the sudden thwack sound--the file that Wylan placed it on the desk. “The more information we get the better ‘cuz he is not talking willingly.” Date was tempted to let Aiba leave his eye socket so it scares the heck out of the man but he can’t. It is a recorded investigation and he needs to keep it civil, right? 

Arms folded against his chest, head tilted to the side, thinking about a couple of information. “He DID see something but that’s the problem in itself. Remember the house layout? There is no way he was not inside the living room as he claims he didn’t. There is a wall that stands between the main entrance and the living area. Unless this bastard has some superman vision then he could not have guessed someone was there dead. Though ...a superman vision huh...sounds great to have, huh.”

[No it is not,] Aiba’s voice clear for Wylan to hear. [Pervert old man. You just want to stare at people through the walls.]

“First, not people, just women--big rack preferably. Secondly and technically, you are part of this problem when you let me x-ray things...AND people.”

[Th-That’s not right! My x-ray vision is for the job! you’re screwing around!]

“Riiight, miss shrimp .... Anyway--”

[Don’t change the subject--]

“The crime scene is available to check it again. We might find something we missed the first time. Let our guy over here simmer nicely. Surely, he would not mind staying in her for a couple of hours until we return.”

[Date! You can’t keep him locked in and you know that! He asked for a lawyer, too!]

“Baaah useless details. Who cares? Let’s go. Just say the ...Aiba ate the keys to the investigation room, what do you think, Wylan?”

[EXCUSE ME?]