#tchaikowsky

[harrowlark]

Hello so was anyone else here aware that in the 2008 production and 2009 film versions of Hamlet featuring David Tennant, the part of Yorick was played by the very real skull of composer and pianist André Tchaikowsky, who donated his skull upon his death to the Royal Shakespeare Company to be used as a stage prop?

Because today I just learnt that this Yorick is the very real skull of composer and pianist André Tchaikowsky

[the-princes-fool]

Huge fan of skulls as a motif.

Also Tchaikowsky is my idol

[adrianvarelablog]

London City Orchestra autumn concert

This autumn I was invited to guest conduct the London City Orchestra, a fabulous, well-run orchestra made up of professionals, amateurs, and high-level music students, in their 10th anniversary year. The programme was big and varied: Ravel’s ‘La Valse’, Britten’s ‘Sinfonia da Requiem’, and the 8-movement version of Tchaikowsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ suite, to which we added the Finale to round things off, the famous tune thus bookending the ballet music.

The LCO and I have known each other for a few years now, with me coming in sporadically as a coach for different sections, and the occasional tutti rehearsal. But this was the first time they’d entrusted me with an entire project, from 1st rehearsal to public performance on Remembrance Day, which -we couldn’t have known at the time the schedule was drawn up -happened also to coincide with the largest Humanitarian/Ceasefire-in-Palestine march in the UK’s history. Trying to find unblocked roads through the capital on my rented bike with the scores and baton in the basket after busses, tubes, and taxis proved unavailable, I was half an hour late to the dress rehearsal.

This project was a good opportunity to implement my Orchestra Redefined approach. At its heart, the source of the approach is respect and love for others. If this seems like a dreamy, mystical claim and the reader would prefer that I spoke more technically or pragmatically, I’d say that my conducting, orchestral, and rehearsal techniques are merely the outward manifestations of a core that seeks to plunge into the orchestral players’ musicianship, outlooks and life experiences, and help them bring them out, channelling them into their playing as part of a large team. Contextualising the music, and relating it to our own experiences, from the most exalted to the mundane -often at the same time- is key.

The conductor here is one quite literally, a primus inter pares; no longer a despot, or at the very least, the archetypical figure of total power. A good degree of power the conductor may be perceived to end up with, in this approach, comes through the relinquishing of it to the players; in creating avenues for the individuals’ expression in concert with those around her/him/them: a kind of anti-power, more a Zen modus operandi.

Naturally, I have a firm, as-informed-as-possible artistic vision of the works we’re engaging with, and I’ll straighten the orchestra out whenever they need to be. I tell them off if I have to, and never accept anything less than the absolute best they (or any orchestra) can give. I always insist, albeit with kindness, empathy, relaxed humour, pulling their leg, self-deprecating, or other means, whichever fills the need on the spur of the moment. But the more collaborative pathway, with highly trained orchestral musicians, often for the first time in their lives, being both invited and then shown ways to bring their hard-won musicianship into the symphonic context, reaps a joyous musical-human garden of sorts. The people within the players emerge, their voices are heard, their experiences and outlooks are validated, and this is shared with others and with myself in musical conversation. The artistic results are of a very high standard, the people behind the instruments being happy, motivated, and engaged, with a sense of being valued.

The concert, with a brief speech from me relating our music to the day’s commemoration as well as current events, was a powerful, joyous affair that received a standing ovation. Later, the orchestra kindly wrote some of their thoughts on the term’s work. Their most used were: thanks, love, inspiration, fun, energy, passion, joy, insightful, relaxed, personable, and dynamism, and many mentioned how much they had learned. To them, and for the opportunity to share all of this with them, I am deeply grateful.

photo credit: @tradephotographer

[good-night-my-sweet-prince]

thinking about andré tchaikowsky, my sweet little shakespeare-obsessed gay, who just wanted be a part the shakespearean tradition even from beyond the grave, who donated his own skull in to theatre to cement his connection to art, his death only marking his transition from artist to art

and thinking about his skull being finally used after over two decades in THAT 2008 rsc production of hamlet

and thinking about THAT MOMENT from the film version in which hamlet says the line here hung those lips that I have kiss'd I know not how oft and horatio, like the sweet little gay that he is, looks at hamlet the very moment he utters the word kiss'd

andré, this is all you ever wanted and MORE

[marlinspirkhall]

Listening to a violin concerto by André Tchaikowsky and it sounds every bit as metal as you'd expect from a man who's performed as Yorick posthumously.

[macbethheadband]

Thats my blood at the end of macbeth btw. Yeah i gave them all that blood to use on stage. i was happy to do it

[yukinojou]

Also note this is not Russian composer Tchaikovsky, this is Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Andre Tchaikowsky who survived WWII and both the Warsaw Ghetto and the Warsaw Uprising. He wrote an opera based on Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, antisemitism and all, so asking to be in Hamlet was a grab at owning Jewish participation in the Bard's most famous play.

And hey, gay and pretty just like the other Tchaikovsky. I guess when you're looking for a Slavic pseudonym to throw off the Actual Nazis after you escaped from the ghetto, grabbing your idol's last name is a Choice.

tchaikowsky donating his skull to the royal shakespeare company in the hopes of becoming yorick is the most dramatic ass dark academia shit ever and you can’t convince me otherwise 

[prdzx]

Slo light " that fever " Davidge - Claire Tchaikowski

[olliegolliegee]

okay maybe it's because im an orchadork but i'm so surprised that not everyone knows that tchaikovsky was gay as shit. like what that man was so gay. i thought that was common knowledge. like, he had the very very bad marriage because (if i remember right) some girl who was in love with him threatened to kill herself if he didn't, so he tried it, it was a very horrible marriage, and then he died, most likely because of some non-boiled water infection that i think starts with c

[slowlystupendousdelusion]

Okay so in an attempt to focus on the positives, here are some bullet points of what I remember from the Greg Doran & David Tennant Shakespeare talk the other week.

Touchstone was DT's first Shakespeare part and As You Like It was the Shakespeare play he first remembers being interested in as there was a tour of it that went to his school.

A licence was needed to be able to use André Tchaikowsky's skull for Hamlet as he had died within the last 100 years old. DT dropped it during dress rehearsal the first time they used it and a bit broke off. Luckily they were able to fix it as it was a cheek(?) bit that had fallen out and could be put back in.

DT did a fair impression of both Sir Ian McKellen and (I think?) Al Pacino (I think this was in reference to 'Looking for Richard'??)

DT felt a lot of pressure in relation to Hamlet to the point that he was curled up in the foetal position before going on and had to be talked out of it by the speech assistant

They hold 'gyms' during the rehearsal period where they go through the play line by line to make sure everyone understands what they're saying. They might have discussions about it if there's not consensus.

GD thinks Love's Labour's Won (the lost play) is Much Ado About Nothing. DT countered this (to much laughter) with the plot of DW S3 Ep2. There was clearly a large Whovian contingent in attendance.

I've mentioned this elsewhere but they talked about other productions of Macbeth and GD mentioned one he'd seen with the following joke in the Porter scene: "Knock knock" "Who's there?" "Tom" "Tom who?" "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" DT said he wouldn't tell Jatinder or he'd use it that evening

DT's least favourite Shakespeare is The Taming of the Shrew, I think GD demurred on this. Both said favourite is always the one you're currently working on. So Macbeth atm.

The talked about intervals and how Shakespeare didn't really have them - the crowd would be standing and some scenes were built in as a break. Some plays lose momentum if an interval is place in (Macbeth was cited). It can be a bit of a challenge choosing where to place one and they mentioned how in their Vers of Hamlet they put the interval mid-line to shake up expectations etc.

They talked a bit about iambic pentameter and how it's not as important as purists might have you believe. Shakespeare started having thoughts cross lines as he got older - perhaps to help the actors?

They talked about the challenges of such well-known plays and creating suspense etc. Some of the lines are problematic and how as a director, you're not an academic so if it doesn't work you can cut them!

DT mentioned Iago (among others) as a character he still wanted to play [🙏🙏🙏pls & ty]

One of the questions was about how his Shakespeare performances informed his part in Rivals. The response was that Jilly Cooper and Shakespeare actually have a lot in common in that they understand how humans act and wouldn't shy away from bawdiness etc.

They did mention Richard III a fair amount but the specifics aren't coming to mind

They talked about reviews and how you can dismiss the bad ones but if you do that then you can't really take only the good ones to heart. My friend noted that this topic was the only time GD looked slightly uncomfortable during the talk but I can't say I noticed that.

I didn't actually write notes at the time so I'm sure I missed a bunch, but my other take away from this was how charismatic and naturally funny DT came across.

[variousqueerthings]

@cowardlygod Andrei Tarkovsky was a Soviet filmmaker (Solaris, Andrei Rublev etc). The skull in RSC's Hamlet belonged to André Tchaikowsky, Polish composer and pianist (not to confuse with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the great Russian composer from 19th century).

that's too many tar/tchaikow/vsky's who've done cool shit

I thought I'd been cured of my terminal tar/tchaikow/vsky confusion but clearly not

a scottish man saying andré tchaikowsky sounds so much like a scottish man saying andrei tarkovsky, as it turns out

he probably even said polish composer in there, but my brain had tarkovsky bias and presumably didn't pick up on it

see how easily your listening comprehension can go haywire kids, think about that

probably the most egregious part of getting these all mixed up is the russian - soviet - polish part, I apologise to poland

LEARN YOUR TAR/TCHAIKOW/VSKYS KIDS YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF

that time yorick was played by a polish jewish composer who died nearly 30 years before the production

well did not know that david tennant was actually talking to andrei tarkovsky's real skull in hamlet until today

[stealingyourbones]

Submitted Prompts #158

Sorry if this isn’t the right place, I have only recently discovered this tumblr and am slowly working my way backwards through your dpxdc tag.  I think it might be an injoke here so uh, behold poor Yorick, totally not the human skull of Tchaikowsky fullfilling his actor dreams postmortem.

One of the posts in the tag was a dpxdc trope writing challenge. So I’m not sure if you’re interested in seeing blurb turned fic summary but here:

Nightwing learns of a travelling circus, Circus Gothica, that claims to have ‘The Real Flying Graysons performing from the beyond the grave’. Alternatively furious and hopeful he discretely goes to investigate, and finds himself overshadowed by one of Ringmaster Freakshows ghostly workers, stuck performing as an acrobat for the circus. As Nightwing struggles with his posession and reunion with seemingly the supposed ghosts of his parents, he finds an unlikely ally in Killer Croc/Waylon Jones, who had been kidnapped on his travels back to Gotham after having tried and failed to settle down in Swamp Things swamp.

Unfortunately the pairs cooperation ends shortly after freeing themselves and the completely unneccessary fight allows Freakshow and his assosciates to escape. Nightwing is determined to solve the case himself (and get justice for his dead parents and himself) causing tension between him and Batman who noted his disappearance.

Batman independently investigates,leading him to the Guys in White. Identifying them as an anti-meta group, he brings it to the attention of the Justice League in hopes of organising a legal solution - Superman takes it personally when one of the primary funders is revealed to be Lex Luthor.

Meanwhile Nightwing has tracked Freakshow to a bolthole/lair, where he comes across Val, a woman in a red jumpsuit, who had been following the trail of a different individual - a villain she calls Vlad Plasmius . The pair work together, Val freeing the ghosts in Freakshows control including the Greysons and Nightwing getting a cathartic takedown of both Freakshow and (with borrowed tech) Vlad.

Their partnership and the greater plot behind the villains actions goes over Nightwings head as he recognises 'not his circus, not his monkeys’ and opts to leave it to his new friend.

Meanwhile Clark Kent has discovered an odd exchange of info/money/tech between the GIW, Lex Luthor and a strange inventor who loudly proclaims that he is Technus. The end goal seems to be to create suits that will be secretly under Lex Luthors control capable of rivalling heroes, so as to supplant heroes as beloved protectors of the world, as a step in ridding the world of independent metas like superman and getting him his own private world army.

Also meanwhile Batman has continued to investigate GIW/Freakshow leading him to Amity Park, where he witnesses young adult Sam Manson inadvertently vitalise plants during a local eco protest. When persistent digging leads to learning about the overgrowth incident, Batman reaches out to Harley for her thoughts on how mentorhip might positively/negatively effect her struggling but mostly reformed partner Poison Ivy. Batman uses his Brucie Wayne persona to assist in organising an eco activism initiative (and plant meta power mentorship) with the Mansons, with Sam taking a guiding role.

Supermans battle against Lexs + Technus mediated ghost/meta power suits goes poorly and he calls in for rescue. Recognising the issues from his research in Amity, Batman 'borrows’ tech from the Fentonworks before going to the rescue.

With the day saved Batman returns to update his records on ghosts and store his new tech, finally leading to Nightwing explaining a bit of his experiences to add to the records.

The story ends on the cliffhanger of Danny getting screwed over by Batman’s improved antighost protections when he went to try track down and collect the stolen weapons.

I had fun with this : )

[forhappysake]

What Lurks Within, Pt. 5

Author's Note: Back at it again with another installment of this series. Enjoy!

Content: The team breaks to grab a bite to eat in the morning. Upon returning to the station, a cause of death for the most recent victims is established. The team realizes that the unsub has a true target, and that he won't be slowing down until that target is taken out.

Warnings: Spencer X fem!reader, brief mentions of smut, friendly banter, established relationship, fluff, mentions of a car accident, a minor coffee-related burn, hom!c!de, typical BAU level violence

I turned to Spencer. “Are you going along with this?”

Spencer shrugged again, “It’s Luke’s head, not ours.” Spencer took my hand and slipped in front of me, guiding me out of the conference room behind Luke and JJ. Instead of heading straight for the door, he led me through a winding path of cubicles on the way out. 

We passed Richie’s desk, and I offered him a small smile with a wave. I could’ve sworn I saw his face drop a bit when he saw me holding Spencer’s hand. I looked up at Spencer as we reached the door, who wore a smug smile on his face. 

“Did you do that on purpose?” I asked. Without turning his head, he continued guiding us towards the SUV where Luke and JJ were climbing in the front seats. 

“Do what on purpose?” he asked, a playful tinge in his voice. 

“Spencer-” I started to scold him before Luke cut me off. 

“Buckle up, kids. I’m starving.” He hit the gas with full force, jolting us forward in our seats. JJ connected her phone to the SUV, playing some song I’d never heard before. 

“What song is this?” I asked. JJ dropped her jaw. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I know you’re young, but I didn’t know I was that old.” She shook her head. “Spence, you know this song, right?” She turned her head slightly towards the back seat. 

Spencer raised an eyebrow, “I don’t.”

“He doesn’t listen to music that normal people do,” I said. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Spencer said, furrowing his brow and tilting his head while awaiting my reply. 

“Well, you know. Most people don’t get up in the morning and start getting ready to the musical works of Tchaikowsky.”

JJ turned her head back to us again. “How do you know what he gets ready to in the morning?” she asked, a mischievous smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Spencer and I gave each other a quick glance. 

“I’ve stayed over a couple times,” I shrugged, “and no, we aren’t living together.” Spencer nodded in agreement, we could only imagine the gossip that would get started around the office if everyone knew we’d moved in together. Emily and JJ would never let us rest. 

“Mhm,” Luke nodded, turning into the diner’s parking lot. “I’m sure the only things you guys did was sleep, too.” I bit my lip, turning to Spencer who was adamantly trying to escape Luke’s questioning eyes in the SUV’s mirror. 

JJ giggled as Luke pulled into a parking space, shutting off the car. “Leave them alone, Luke. I’m sure you wouldn’t want us digging into your sexual history.” 

Luke held his hands up in defense, “Hey now, I didn’t do anything. I was just offering Romeo and Juliet back there a chance to divulge any information they’ve been keeping to themselves.” 

“Isn’t it nine in the morning?” Spencer asked, checking his watch. “This seems like more of a late-night conversation.”

“Nah,” Luke said, “it’s never too early to pick on you two.” I rolled my eyes, opening my car door and stepping out into the parking lot. The morning sun was blocked by layers of clouds covering the sky. A light breeze blew through the air, raising goosebumps on my arms. 

I walked over to Spencer’s side of the car and waited for him to get out. I rubbed my hands over my arms, trying to generate some body heat. He stepped out of the car, removed his jacket and lightly draped it over my shoulders. “Thank you, honey,” I said with a smile. 

“Of course,” he replied, straightening the shoulders of his jacket to best cover my figure. 

Luke gagged from where he stood on the sidewalk. “This is what I’m talking about,” he looked to JJ and motioned in our direction, “it’s never too early to get at these two.” 

Spencer turned to look at Luke, shooting him a quiet but playful warning glance as we approached the restaurant’s front door. It was a small building with white siding and blue shutters. “How quaint,” I heard JJ murmur as she took in the small cafe.

Floral wallpaper scattered the walls and aged wooden floors surrounded the large wood stove burning in the center of the room. Each table was full of scrapes and scratches, a lifetime of stories held in each one. Mismatched chairs were placed at each table, with placemats that look handmade. 

The cafe was empty, except for a couple sitting at a table in the far corner. The woman’s dark hair and the man’s thick mustache caught my eye. “Emily? Detective Whittendon?” I called across the small room.

The pair looked in my direction. Emily smiled, waving us over. “Hey, you guys. Detective Whittendon and I decided to stop in here for a bite to eat before the day got too chaotic. Do you all want to join us?” Their plates, nearly scraped clean, indicated they’d been here for awhile. 

“No thanks, boss,” Luke said, “you guys look like you’re about to head out anyway.” 

Whittendon nodded. “I believe we are. Agent Prentiss, would you care to come with me back to the office while I check some things on my computer? I think I can get the information you’re looking for if I check my email list.”

“Sure,” Emily said. “Enjoy breakfast, team. We’ve got a busy day ahead.” She and Whittendon arose from their seats. Whittendon threw a couple dollar bills on the table. The couple brushed past us as they walked out.

The detective paused to address us. “Dr. Reid, Agent L/N, good to see you again. Enjoy your morning.” He continued out the door, holding it open for Emily before following her out. 

Luke sat down at a table adjacent to the one Emily and Whittendon had just left. “I didn’t know Emily was into younger guys,” he said. 

I knitted my brows together. “What?” I asked. “You seriously think those two are hitting it off in that way?” JJ looked as unconvinced as I did. 

“Never know. Maybe it’s the porn stache,” he suggested. JJ rolled her eyes and sat down next to Luke, leaving the opposite booth open for Spencer and I. I wriggled myself into the space closest to the window as Spencer slid in next to me.

A young waitress appeared from behind the counter, her apron messy with stains and her hair tied back in a hurried ponytail. “Good morning,” she said, “what can I get you all to drink?” 

After we’d all ordered our food and drinks, Luke’s phone buzzed rapidly on the table. “Must be Garcia,” he said before picking it up and answering. I could hear her muffled voice on the other end. Luke spoke in intervals, allowing Garcia to share what information she had found. 

“Uh-huh… Yeah, Garcia… Okay… Sure, that would be great… Okay… Thanks again.” He set his phone back on the table top, taking a moment to think before having another bite of his breakfast sandwich. 

“What was that?” JJ asked with a mouthful of toast. 

“Garcia’s sending information about Graydon’s kids to our tablets. We can look over it when we get back.” JJ nodded, wiping some excess butter off her lip before taking a sip of her coffee. 

We all continued eating as the waitress brought the last of our food to the table. Spencer reached across the table for the syrup, accidentally knocking the scalding coffee pot over. The spilled coffee quickly dripped off the table, landing directly on my skirt. “Dammit!” I shouted. The boiling liquid soaked into the fabric of the material, holding the blazing heat directly against my skin. I couldn’t help but think back to the car accident. Hot metal, my leg pinned between the door and the seat, struggling to pull myself out. 

Spencer quickly hopped up from the table. “Oh god, I’m so sorry.” He frantically pulled napkins from a dispenser at another table, pressing them down on the black, coffee-soaked fabric. 

I looked over at Luke and JJ, who were watching with concerned looks on their faces. I waved my hand at them in dismissal. “I’m really fine,” I said, “seriously, Spence.” 

As he pressed another napkin to my leg, I let out a noticeable gasp and winced. “Spencer, I think it burnt my leg a bit,” I said. “I should probably go to the restroom and check it out before we go.” 

“I’m so sorry. Come here,” he pulled me out from my position on the edge of the booth and walked with me to the bathroom. 

I looked back at Luke and JJ. “Get boxes for our food, I’m still hungry!” I shouted as Spencer and I disappeared down the small hallway that led to the women’s restroom. He stood at the entrance, holding the door open for me. “Spencer, I really don’t need you to come in with me. It’s fine.” 

“I am coming in with you. If you have a burn, you and I both know you won’t take care of it properly, the way I would.” It was evident he wasn’t backing down on this one, and who were you to challenge him. 

“Fine,” I said, entering the bathroom and leaning back against the sink. Spencer knelt down and gently lifted my skirt up to unveil my upper thigh. I already had a nasty scar there from the car accident a few months prior, and now a long red streak was appearing over the scar.

“Oh god,” Spencer said, he ran a hand over his face. “I’m so sorry. We need to get something on that as soon as possible.” Though the sharp stinging in my thigh was growing more uncomfortable by the second. I tried to ignore it, choosing instead to ruffle the curls on top of my boyfriend’s head.  

“It’s a good thing you’re pretty,” I joked. He looked up at me, an unamused look on his face. 

“This is not funny. I know this has to be painful.” He gently dropped my skirt back down my leg, covering the affected area. “I’ll go out to the SUV and get the medical kit. There should be something for burns in the-” I cut him off, shaking my head. 

“It’s not that serious, Spence. It’s just a little burn,” I said as he rose up from his kneeled position, towering over me once again. “Sure, it might sting and blister a little, but it’ll go away. I’ll certainly live.”

He sighed and leaned forward, placing both hands on either side of the sink, caging me in. “I want to make sure you’re not in any pain.” He placed a kiss on my forehead before continuing, “Can’t you let me take care of you?” 

I reached my arms up, wrapping myself around his neck. “Yeah, I can. I do. But this isn’t something that needs to be taken care of,” he hummed in disagreement as I pulled him down closer to me. “I can think of some other things you could take care of, though.” I leaned back, biting my lip. 

He drew in a sharp breath, raising his eyebrows at my statement. “You think so?”

“I know so, Doctor Reid,” I teased. He pulled his hands from the counter and placed them on my hips, rubbing light circles with his thumb. 

He lowered his voice, his tone dark and serious, “If we ever get to a hotel, I’ll show you just how well I can take care of-”

The bathroom door swung open, JJ stood on the outside. “Hey, I just wanted to make sure Y/N was okay…” Her words became slower as her jaw dropped a bit. She looked us up and down. Spencer was leaned over me, hands planted firmly on my hips as I had my arms wrapped around his neck, hands in his curls. “Whoa,” she said, immediately looking back down at the ground, “if you guys wanted an excuse to get up from the table, you could’ve just said that.” 

Luke’s head popped into the doorway behind JJ. A grin sprang on to his face as Spencer and I quickly unraveled from each other. “What happened to ‘Isn’t it only nine in the morning?’ Huh, Reid?” 

Spencer looked up to make eye contact with Luke. Taking my hand, he started to pull me out of the bathroom and back into the main part of the diner. Luke laughed again, “Awh, come on, you two. You have to admit, this is funny!” JJ swatted Luke on the shoulder as he continued giggling. Spencer and I collected our forgotten food from the table before exiting the building. 

When we made it out of the restaurant and to the SUV, I could tell that Luke’s taunting was starting to get on Spencer’s nerves. “Spencer and Y/N on the bathroom sink, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” Luke sang as he climbed into the driver’s seat of the vehicle. That was actually pretty clever. Spencer, however, did not seem to think so. 

“Hey, Luke,” Spencer said, interrupting his song, “you know earlier when you were joking about Y/N staying at my place?” Oh no, I thought, he’s really mad, now.

“Yeah, loverboy. Why do you ask?” Luke put the SUV in drive, backing out of the parking spot and pulling on to the street. 

“I’ll have you know she stays quite frequently,” Spencer said, leaning forward in the seat to get closer to Luke. “And, no, we rarely ‘just sleep.’ So, if you need any pointers on how to get a beautiful woman in your bed, I’d be more than happy to offer some advice.” 

JJ’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. My jaw quickly dropped as Luke slammed on the car’s brakes, nearly bringing us to a stop in the middle of an intersection. “Luke! Drive!” JJ said, wacking him on the shoulder once more. 

I took the opportunity to wack Spencer on the arm as well. “Ouch! What was that for?” he asked. 

“I can’t believe you just said that,” I said, covering my reddened cheeks with my hands. Spencer mouthed something along the lines of ‘sorry’ before Luke spoke up again. 

“I believe it,” Luke said as he sped the car up. He looked back at Spencer in the rearview mirror. “My man, Spencer. I always knew he had it in him.” Luke beamed like a proud father, while JJ and I did the best to cover our faces for the rest of the drive back to the precinct. 

When we arrived and reentered the building, we immediately headed for the conference room to find what Garcia had left for us on our tablets. Through the conference room blinds, I could see Matt and Rossi standing next to each other, examining the white board at the front of the room. 

“What are you two looking at?” Luke asked as we entered. Spencer shut the door firmly behind us as we took our seats around the table. 

Matt gestured to the gory images of the victims on the board. “Rossi and I just got back from the coroner’s office. The manner of death isn’t exactly what you’d think.” He turned to face us as Rossi pinned another image up on the board.

“What do you mean?” JJ asked. Matt looked over at Rossi, silently asking who would explain. When Rossi continued to stare at the board, Matt spoke again.

“The ME says the official cause of death was asphyxia caused by strangulation.” Eyebrows raised around the room as we all took in this new information. 

“So their throats were slashed postmortem?” Spencer asked, running a hand over his stubble. 

Matt nodded. “ME said they were likely strangled to death with a thick object… like a belt.”

“Why slash their throats?” JJ wondered aloud, leaning back in her chair and flipping a stray hair out of her eyes. 

I took the chance to share my thoughts. “Overkill,” I theorized. “If the unsub is harboring some kind of rage, that could explain the severe beatings these men have endured, not to mention the substantial overkill he carries out after they are already dead.” Rossi turned from the board, nodding in agreement. 

“Does that mean these crimes are personal?” Luke asked. 

Spencer shook his head, “Not necessarily. The victims could be surrogates for the true source of the unsub’s rage.” 

“Considering Garcia’s been working on victimology for nearly two days and we’ve got nothing that connects these victims, I think the kid’s right,” Rossi said. “The unsub isn’t prepared or brave enough to take out his real target. These victims are just the warm up.”

I sat up straighter in my chair, the severity of the situation at hand causing my shoulders to tense. “How do we find his real target?” I asked, looking to Rossi and his years of experience for a solution. 

Rossi lowered himself into a seat at the table, thinking for a moment before continuing. “We continue to work the case as-is. We hope victimology turns up connections to a shady figure or that he gets sloppy during his next attack.” He turned to the rest of the group, “Because he will attack again. Someone with this much rage is not going to stop until they’ve eliminated their ultimate target.”

To be continued...

[asgardiancoffemaker]

Tchaikowski - Marche Slave

Sir Pentious would appriciate I think