#yes i do personally identify with zoe

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

So, controversial topic. taking in count that in a month, the webcomic "scarlet lady" is gonna end ¿what are your feelings about it?

I know that there's people out there that don't like it for the chloe salt, but i have to admit that the damnation that chloe went through, at least for me, gave her more agency than canon, for the fact that it wasn't manipulated by outside forces like canon did, it gave her the right to choose to be better or worse.

Another great element is that it does what canon refused to do: five back Adrian his agency by letting him vent his frustrations AND let him realize that his father is a bastard.

If you don't agree, that's more than excellent, i want to know your take in this topic, that being positive or negative 😄👍

My friend, you are talking to a big Scarlet Lady fan, so I'm happy to give my thoughts! Get ready for some gushing and in-depth discussion of the adaptation process. That's really what all fanfiction is, but Scarlet Lady is more of an adaptation than most since it's a true canon rewrite that often requires you to know canon to fully appreciate its jokes and meta commentary.

Before we get into it, I want to give a link to the comic for those who haven't read it. The artist/writer is @zoe-oneesama and this is page one of the comic. I'd follow the comic link if you haven't read it as the comic is nearing its end, so going straight to Zoe's page will spoil you on elements of ending.

General Thoughts on Adaptation

Adaptation is an art, not a science. There are things that are objective elements of a story. Things you really cannot change if you want people to feel like you're telling an adaptation of a given tale. But there are also plenty of elements that are more subjective. Things some people might consider vital, but that aren't truly necessary to stay true to the story's core. (Yes, the character core thing applies to stories too!)

For example, to be a Cinderella adaptation, you need to have some sort of big reveal moment where "the prince" finds Cinderella, but that moment doesn't need to involve a slipper and the prince doesn't need to be an actual prince. My favorite modern Cinderella adaptation is A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song and it twists both of those elements while keeping the major story beats in place, making it fully deserving of the Cinderella label while also being its own unique story that isn't a straight retelling, it's an adaptation.

I bring all this up because, as readers of this blog may have already guessed, Scarlet Lady does a lot of things that I personally would not do when adapting Miraculous. A big one being that I prefer a more complex take on Gabriel, but that's simply a matter of preference. A complex Gabriel is not a requirement for adapting Miraculous. Complex Gabriel vs comedic villain Gabriel is just a choice you have to make when it comes to adapting canon because canon is such a mess that both options have straight up backing in the source text. Even if they didn't, Gabriel's core role - villain - is one that leaves you a lot of room for interpretation based on other factors that we'll talk about in a second.

I'll close off this section with this: having read all of Scarlet Lady, I'll be so bold as to say that Zoe and I almost perfectly align when it comes to identifying the flaws in Miraculous because I've agreed with pretty much every change she's made. She did a fantastic job staying true to the core of canon while also telling the story she wanted to tell. It's not the way I'd redo canon, but it doesn't need to be for me to call it a fantastic story. Plus a lot of the different choices I'd make come down to narrative style and tone.

Narrative Style and Tone

I'm a novelist at heart, which means that I favor serialized storytelling. For those who don't know that word, it means stories that are one coherent whole just broken into chunks. Stories where the order matters. You can't start watching at a random episode, you have to start at the beginning. And skipping an episode usually means that you'll have no idea what's going on.

Miraculous is not a serialized show. It's primarily an episodic show, a word that means that episode order doesn't matter. Every installment stands alone.

Obviously Miraculous isn't completely episodic, but that's fine. Purely episodic narratives are rare these days. Most stories have at least minor serialized elements even if those elements are often ignored for multiple episodes at a time. This is where both Miraculous and Scarlet Lady fall. They're mostly episodic stories with serialized elements popping up every now and then.

Miraculous does this element poorly because it acts like it's a purely episodic show and then takes that to an absurd extreme. Rules, characters, and lore can never be counted on to stay the same from episode to episode even though that's not actually how episodic stories work. Scarlet Lady doesn't make this mistake. It understands that episodic narratives should have STORIES that stand alone, but that the WORLD the stories take place in must stay consistent.

Now that we've gone over the basic format stuff, let's talk about tone.

Generally speaking, tone is the vibe of your story. It can be serious, silly, dramatic, and so on. One of Miraculous' biggest flaws is that its tone is all over the place. It's a silly romcom that brings in serious topics in serious ways and then handles them with all the grace of a hippo performing ballet in a china shop because of course it does! Those topics are horribly suited to the show's overall tone so it has no way to properly address them.

This is one of the many things I love about Scarlet Lady. It takes the show's absurdist tone and honors it. That's why Zoe's version of Gabriel works so well! He's a silly cartoony villain in a silly cartoony comic as he should be. It's also why my versions of Gabriel tend to be more complex. More serious serialized narratives are where more serious complex villains thrive. Neither option is better than the other, it all comes down to how you're adapting the original work. Zoe's choices are perfect for her version's style and tone. If mine are even close to that good for my preferred style and tone, then I'll be a happy author.

Narrative Weight & The Chloe Thing

This is getting long, so I'll end with a note on Chloe since you brought her up as it's another great example of the fact that there are very few choices that are inherently right or wrong when it comes to adaptation.

I don't know if I'd say that I'm a Chloe fan, but I certainly don't hate her. I also love what Zoe did with the character! It's a prime example of a thing that I've talked about before: the issue with Chloe is not a lack of redemption. The issue is that Chloe was given too much narrative weight to be what canon made her.

Quick definition: narrative weight is the importance a narrative places on a person, event, thing, etc. The more time you dedicate to an element of your narrative, the more weight that element has in the eyes of your audience. The more they expect the element to matter. The way that you develop the element will also shape audience expectations.

In the context of canon, Chloe has more development than almost any other side character. We know more about her family, her childhood, her personality, and so on. This was an absurd choice for canon to make because Chloe is not actually important to the story they told. You could pull her out of canon and almost nothing would change. Gabriel can make akumas do whatever he wants so, lore wise, he didn't need Miracle Queen. In fact, he arguably shouldn't have made Miracle Queen. He could have just taken the miracle box and jumped right into the plot of season five. Similarly, Chloe being mayor was an absurd one-note moment that's easily replaced with something more logical.

Because of this, there are a lot of things you can do when adapting Chloe. Everything from turning her back into a one-dimensional mean girl to redeeming her to what Zoe did: take Chloe's narrative weight and petty brat behavior and lean into both to make Chloe a main antagonist while also acknowledging the fact that Chloe is a messed up teenage girl who needs some serious help. I'm super excited to see the end of Chloe's arc in Scarlet Lady as I think it's going to be one of my favorites in the fandom. That is admittedly not a high bar as I'm very picky when it comes to Chloe content. I think most of it falls flat because most of it fails to let Chloe hit some sort of rock bottom when she absolutely needs to if you want to do anything interesting with her. She's not the kind of person who will easily change or see the error of her ways.

Conclusion

Scarlet Lady is a fantastic adaption of Miraculous and Zoe is a fantastic and funny adapter. The comic might not be to your tastes - and that's fine, nothing has universal appeal - but it's still a great example of how to honor source material while doing your own thing with it, which is a true skill. One of the problems with many modern retellings and reboots is that the people running the show don't understand how to adapt a narrative. They take far too much creative freedom and end up with something that doesn't feel anything like the source.

If I found out that Zoe somehow got hired to adapt something I love, then I wouldn't have any concerns. I'd have no idea what she'd do with it, but I'd be confident that it wouldn't spit in the face of the thing I love. I'd personally read a hundred Miraculous re-imaginings with her at the helm.

[maniculum]

Medieval Scorpion Rating System

I was thinking last night that I wanted one of these if I'm going to be collecting images of medieval scorpions. Kind of idly considering it.

This morning, one of my mutuals tagged me in another picture of a medieval scorpion, and I thought I had better write something up if this is going to be a Thing. (I've spent too long teaching introductory composition classes to be comfortable scoring things without a rubric.*)

So. Medieval scorpions will be rated on Accuracy and Pleasantness. Accuracy is a checklist, Pleasantness is vibes. As follows.

Accuracy

Is it some kind of Small Scuttling Beaſtie? (1 point)

Does it have pincers? (1 point)

Does it have some sort of exoskeleton or shell? (1 point)

Does the tail have any kind of visible stinger? (1 point)

Limb count. (1 point)

As far as limb count goes, the target number is 10. I know that the pincers are pedipalps and don't really count as limbs -- or, rather, I'm pretty sure that's the case; I'm a medievalist, not an entomologist. I don't think medieval artists are going to recognize that, however: I'm pretty sure the scorpion's "eight legs and, separately, two claws" configuration would not strike them as meaningfully different from, e.g., the lobster's "ten legs, two of which are claws" setup. Also using 10 makes the math easier. So each scorpion starts with one point in this category, then I will subtract a tenth of a point for each leg/claw/limb under or over the target number.

Pleasantness

The key question is "how would I react to seeing it in person?" Scored out of five points on the following scale:

0: I will see this foul Beaſt only in my nightmares, gods willing.

1: Get it away from me immediately.

2: This thing is ugly as hell but not actively upsetting.

3: I don't want it in my house, but it is a perfectly fine Beaſt and I do not object to it. (This is where a regular scorpion scores.)

4: This is an aesthetically pleasing Beaſt and I would be thrilled to see it in person.

5: I would love it and squeeze it and call it George.

Penalties

Subtract one point for any of the following wild inaccuracies:

Wings

Obviously mammalian (requires fur and four legs to count)

This is identifiable as another, different real-world animal that is not a scorpion.

So there you go. I have a System now. And yes, I will take submissions of medieval scorpions -- tag me in a post or send it as an ask or something. (Please include the manuscript number or a link or something.) I'll also go back, rate the ones from the original effortpost, & throw those in the queue.

* "But Mac," you may say, "on the podcast you and Zoe regularly rate medieval stories, and I've never heard you mention a rubric there." If I had been smart, I would have made one when we started. I just feel like it's too late now, since we have dozens of stories that have been rated without a rubric. I'm not making that mistake again.

[hbt-fangirl-4-life]

Marinette has TOXIC FRIENDS

Okay, there is something that I have noticed that I feel like nobody ever talks about. ALYA IS TOXIC(including most of Marinette’s friend group). Weather you believe me or not this is why I think this:

-they believed lies/rumors that lie-la 🙄 said on multiple occasions.

-The episode (season3, episode23,”ladybug”) where lie-la accused Marinette of stealing her necklace and pushing her down the stairs. People from her best friend group including her bestie friend ,Alya, believed her for a moment. 

-(With personal experience an NON-TOXIC friend is supposed to be on your side until you're proven guilty (or just stay by your side in general.))

-In a recent  episode (season5,episode 20,”Revelation”). Marinette is accused of calling lila an idiot. When Lila runs out the room (fake crying like the fake b***h she is) Alya said something indicating that she believed that Marinette called Lila an “idiot” (she is more than just that). 

Quotes from the episode:

“I’m sorry I'm going to withdraw my candidacy. Marinette convinced me. She’s right to call me an idiot and to say that what i’m trying to do is pointless” -Lila

“I didn't say-”’-Marinette 

“I’m having a really bad day. The truth is I didn't quit. Gabriel Agreste fired me. I loved helping people so much, being their assistant on their Alliances, and now I feel completely useless. So, when I saw Chloe, I was convinced that this could be a new way for me to help myself be useful, to feel like I,too, might belong somewhere. Even though wherever I go there's always someone rejecting me. But if marinette is right, and there’s no hope for Chloe, Then there's no more hope for me either.” -Lila

“I think you went a bit too far. You shouldn't have called her an Idiot!” -Alya(aka marinette's supposed best friend)

-The only healthy friends that Marinette has are Adrien(her bae), Luka(ex bae), Kagami, Zoe, Tikki(kwami),Melynn(forgot how to spell her name), and Ivan. (probably more i just am to lazy to list them all)

-If you watched the episode you should know that Marinette did not indeed call Lila an “Idiot” 

-Yes we all know that Marinette has always not liked lila but marinette would not give lila the reaction she wanted or the time of day. 

There is so much more evidence that Marinette's friend group isn't very healthy for her but these are the main ones that stuck out to me. In conclusion Marinette needs to learn how to identify who is a real friend and who isn't. She already has enough on her shoulders with being the Guardian and having to get the miraculous from the monarch (and attempting to defeat him). She has to balance her double life and having healthier friends would lift some off her shoulder. 

*come back from the dead*

This took far too long to write but here it is. Finally, something to actually post on Tumblr. I hope you enjoyed reading. My bad for any mistakes I made. 

[gryfflepuffinthetardis]

Secrets and Lies

Season One Masterlist

Charm and Harm

Summary: The BAU are called in to investigate the CIA’s counterterrorism unit on a mission to save one of its informants and identify a mole in the unit while Zoe has to call in help from an old friend who the mole may had wronged.

Warnings: Killing, Mentions of terrorists; JD; Mistrust of the CIA; Mention of torture; Mention of sexual assault

"A wise man once said, 'be careful who you let on your ship because some people will sink the whole ship just because they can't be captain'."

Albert Einstein said, "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge in the field of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods."

Spencer, JJ, and Garcia walked out of the elevator

"We have a CIA escort, okay?" Garcia said, "It's weird and a little scary."

"What do you suppose this is all about?" JJ asked.

"Call me cynical, but considering it's 2:00 am, I doubt it's good news." Spencer said.

"You are a genius." JJ said.

They entered the briefing room where Morgan, Elle, Hotch, Gideon, Alexander, and Zoe already were.

"The CIA's counterterrorism unit is engaged in a mission to save one of its informants." Hotch told them, "They suspect one of their agents is a mole, and until the identity of that mole is discovered, they've locked down the unit."

"This gives us the opportunity to profile the UnSub up close. Go ahead."

One of the CIA agents spoke into his watch, "Start the video feed."

A man appeared on the monitor.

"John Summers was the CIA's best field agent in the Middle East. Three nights ago he was found in his home in Washington. He'd been tortured and murdered." Pictures of his body appeared on the screen

"CIA made it look like suicide." Gideon said.

"How'd you like to have that job?" Spencer said, grimly.

"Look at the wound patterns." Zoe said, "They come from two distinct angles. Different heights. One's right-handed and one's left-handed. He was defintely tortured by more than two people."

"Are you sure?"

"I've been tortured and seen torture enough to know." Zoe said.

"Hotch, what was Summers working on?" Elle asked.

"Aaliyah Nadir. Had been beaten and sexually assaulted at the hands of her husband, Hassan Nadir. That's how Summers flipped her and got her to work for the CIA." Hotch said.

"And what's the husband's story?" JJ asked.

"He's a diplomat for the Saudi government, but he's a fundraiser for major terrorist organizations." Zoe said and they looked at her. She just shrugged in that way she did.

"Aaliyah gave Summers intelligence on terrorist organizations the CIA had never been able to penetrate, organizations Hassan, her husband, funneled money to."

"And Hassan realized he had a leak?

"Yes, but he didn't know who." Hotch said, "For Aaliyah's protection, Summers never revealed her identity to the CIA until about eight weeks ago. CIA arranged papers for her and Summers brought her and her children to the US about a month ago."

"Only Summers knew where he hid her." Gideon said.

"What did Hassan think happened to his family?" JJ asked.

"Car accident. Bodies too disfigured to identify." Hotch said. "Only the CIA knew it was staged until Hassan arrived in Washington last week under diplomatic cover."

"Only someone in this unit could have given Hassan the information about his family." Spencer said.

"And now he's here looking for her." Morgan asked, "Why us?

"Over the years, I've conducted psychological evaluations on every field agent in that unit." Gideon said.

"You work for the CIA?" Garcia asked.

"Not officially."

"And I may or may not have been sporatically in contact with this unit before the BAU." Zoe said.

"You were?" Spencer asked.

"I didn't speak to them personally. It was more just sending them what I profiled. And then I was kidnapped by terroists for six months and they really wanted to know about that but almost everyone in that prison ended up dead."

"The train's running and if we stop this mission, even for a second, Aaliyah and her children are as good as dead." Hotch said.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

They left the elevator in the CIA building

"Don't remove your firearm." Gideon told Spencer who was about to do so

"US soil. Federal building." Hotch said.

"Just your cell phones. Non-negotiable." Gideon said.

"The moment we walk in there, the UnSub's going to know we got him cornered." Morgan said, "We don't hand jack over."

They walked through the scanner, the scanner picked up, Hotch's hip gun and his ankle gun. Spencer's gun. Then Zoe's right hip gun, her left hip gun, her left ankle gun, her right ankle gun, her left thigh gun, her right thigh gun, the gun tucked into her front, the gun tucked into the small of her back, her gun concealed in her bra, the guns inside her jacket, and her micro pocket guns in her leather jacket.

The man behind the scanner gave her a look as she was carrying thirteen guns. She just nodded at him like, what's up?

They stepped through the unit when Bruno Hawkes who had called them on the case came out of his office

"Special Agent Hotchner." Hotch introduced himself with a handshake.

"Oh, I know who you are, and your team, too. Doctor Noble-Valdez. I am very sorry for the ordeal last year." He said.

"By ordeal, you mean me and my ex-boyfriend being tortured for six months by terrorists?" Zoe deadpanned.

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, that makes it better." Zoe had a bite to her tone and less professionalism in her eyes than usual.

"I've got the personnel files all set up for you guys. Video, whatnot, it's all there in the conference room. Now, if you have any questions, feel free to talk to my senior officers. This is Gina Sanchez. She's the Associate Director of Field Operations. And that guy up there is Kruger Spence, the Assistant Director of Operations. The lady with him is his second-in-command, Olivia Hopkins. And, uh, thank you for coming."

As he walked away, Zoe clearly gave him a sarcastic smile. People were looking at her. She didn't blame them. They knew things about her that were classified to the team. Including that she shouldn't be there. She was technically on a list...

"Neither of you ever mentioned Bruno Hawks." Hotch said

"You never asked." Gideon said.

"Eh." Zoe shrugged.

"How long have you unofficially been working for CIA?" Hotch asked.

"Long enough to know who and what we're dealing with." Gideon said.

They all entered the conference room and Hotch closed the door behind them.

"We're looking for what the CIA classifies a Type A personality. Overachiever. Highly adaptable. Well-educated. Virtually unshakable." Gideon said, " Manipulative enough to persuade a loyal foreign national to betray their country, a wife to betray her husband. Most importantly, this UnSub long ago accepted the reality they will be summarily executed if caught." He had looked out the window and then turned back to the team, "Life means nothing to this UnSub. Not his own life, not his family's, not his colleagues', certainly not ours, and certainly not theirs." He pointed the the missing family on the monitor.

"One of those agents turned against everything they believe in. Why?" Hotch asked.

"Well, they stopped believing. Maybe it was about ideology." Morgan said.

"We need to find the stressor. A major event that caused them to turn. Love. Revenge. Economics. Ideology."

"The intelligence community's mantra says, 'Increase the parameter of your enemies' paranoia.' Right now, we're the enemy. Whatever you see or are told, please trust no one but me."

"Gideon, you're going to want to take a look at this surveillance video." Garcia said, appearing on the monitor with JJ.

"What is it?"

"Uh, it's you. It's your name next to a whole slew of MPEGs. There's one that says 'John Summers.' It's three hours long.

The video showed Gideon in his car, talking to Summers through the window, but it was taken from a little bit away, hidden.

Shoot, go.

"When was this?" Hotch asked.

"Three days before he was killed."

"Who called this meeting?" Summers asked Gideon.

"Does that matter?" Gideon asked him.

"Every detail matters."

"Why?"

"It can only be one of four people." Summers told him.

"Why is that important?" Gideon asked.

"Whoever requested this wanted more than just an eval from you."

"Did you know they were filming you?" Morgan asked.

"I assumed they were." Gideon said.

"Taking in all factors discussed, age, rank and field status, and if you eliminate all non-field agents, we're left with a total of sixteen candidates." Spencer calculated.

"All of whom are in this unit." Elle said.

"We have to assume the mole has an exit strategy." Gideon said.

"Only now we're blocking the exit, and the only way out is through us." Hotch said.

"Zoe, we need all hands on deck," Gideon said.

Zoe raised her eyebrows as she understood his meaning. "I can call J.D., but I can't guarantee he'll cooperate."

"Why wouldn't he?" Morgan asked.

Zoe clenched her jaw.

"He's... different. He's impulsive, he has trust issues, he doesn't cooperate, I mean, he's my ex-boyfriend."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Hawks presented the BAU to the unit, "Now, we all know why BAU are here. They have their job and we have ours. And we're down to the wire on this. Aaliyah Nadir risked everything, and now she and her children deserve our fullest attention. Let's find her."

It was four at night, so getting a hold of J.D. was difficult. Zoe was still on "hold" essentially, she had connected her phone to an earpiece that was in her ear now.

She stared at a video, "Hey, guys, take a look at something." She said when Gideon and Hotch returned. She pointed at the screen, a nearby car. "Right there. That's a woman sitting in the passenger seat of that car." She took the remote and the screen zoomed in and optimized the picture.

"Looks a lot like Aaliyah." Elle stated.

"Why would he leave them in the car, unless he knew he was being videotaped?" Hotch asked.

Gideon took the remote from her and played the tape, replaying the scene from earlier.

"Who called this meeting?

"Does that matter?"

"Every detail matters."

"Why?"

"It can only be one of four people."

"That's not true." Gideon said, "Anyone in this division could have insisted upon an eval.

"Why narrow it down to four?" Elle asked.

"Well, he rightly suspected Hassan came to the US because he knew his wife was alive." Morgan asked.

"And that someone in this agency was working for Hassan." Spencer said.

"If we don't discover who the mole is before they find her, she and the kids are dead." Morgan said.

"Zoe."

"Still on hold. I'm seriously about to go down to that prison and shove a pitchfork up their..." Zoe said, clearly very annoyed.

"Garcia." Gideon interrupted

Garcia and JJ appeared on the monitor.

"Right here, boss."

"How many agents in this unit were actually in Saudi monitoring US interests?" Gideon asked.

Garcia did some typing, "Uh, four."

"Let me guess. Bruno Hawks, Gina Sanchez, Olivia Hopkins and Kruger Spence." Gideon said.

"Four-for-four."

"See what else is on the tape.

"All right."

The two BAU blondes disappeared from the monitor and Gideron gently placed the monitor down. "John Summers would have only trusted seasoned agents, of which, in this unit, there are only four."

"So he guessed that the mole had to have been one of his four bosses." Zoe said.

"Before he put in for Aaliyah's extraction, he wanted to know which one not to ask." Morgan said.

"We need to match up with them, one-on-one." Gideon said.

"But there's six of us." Zoe said.

"You, sweetheart, will be switching between all four. You've seen the most darkness, you can recognize trauma." Alexander said.

"But..."

"Sweetheart, you have the best insticnts the BAU has seen ever. You worked with this unit."

"Barely. I insisted on being as far away from the CIA as possible. I don't really trust them. They deal with politics more than the FBI and I think politics make people distrust each other. It breeds bad people like our UnSub."

"Exactly. There's a reason you're on a list and the CIA still had to let you in here because you're that good at profiling." Alexander said.

Zoe huffed, grumbling under her breathe. Now she had to interview four CIA agents while she attempted to get her exteremly uncooperative ex-boyfriend to cooperate and help the CIA of all people.

"Kruger Spence, assistant director of operations. Recruited at the age of eighteen after graduating from M.I.T." Gideon said.

"It says he had six years of experience as a weapons systems designer and an IQ of one-ninety-seven. He butted up against the system and didn't deal with authority. They moved him into field operations in China for eight years before transferring him here."

"Olivia Hopkins, divorced mother of two. She spent nine years in field operations in Europe. She also visited Riyadh with Krueger." Elle said.

"I got Gina Sanchez. West Point graduate. Black belt in two martial arts. Served in Iraq doing psychological operations with military intelligence. She joined the C.I.A. Speaks three languages, including Arabic." Morgan said.

"Bruno Hawks, deputy direction of operations. Extensive field ops in the middle east and Europe. Did his military service with Jason Gideon." Hotch said.

"One thing I've learned over the years profiling CIA agents, spies are some of the smartest liars in the world. Be smarter."

Zoe suddenly slammed her hand on the desk. "Finally! I got through to you." She looked at the others. He picked up. J.D. I need your help... of course, you heard." She lifted her hand in incredulity.

"What?" Morgan asked.

"He's speaking in Old French for some reason. J.D. J.D.! Stop speaking like you're a Frenchman from the thirteenth century. You're from New York!" She looked at the others, "It's going take a while to get him to cooperate. Give me ten minutes."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Zoe finally got him to stop speaking Old French and talk like a normal person.

"Why would I help them? They never helped me. The CIA is one of the reasons I'm stuck in the locked box in the middle of nowhere for the rest of my life." He argued.

"And the fact that we're trying to save a woman and her children's lives doesn't sway you?" She asked.

He didn't reply. She didn't think it would. He wasn't emotionless, he just... felt less for others... except when it came to her.

"Alright, how about this since the only thing outweighing your IQ is your egomania. We worked with this unit two years ago. That means it's very real possibility that it was this mole who informed the terroists about us and got us kidnapped."

"You really think so?"

"Would I lie to you?" She asked.

"No." He admitted, honestly. "I hope you wouldn't. Will they pay for it? They work with the CIA."

"J.D. If they compromised us, then that means I will blame them for what happened as much as I blame myself." She said, steely cold.

Knock. Knock.

Zoe turned to see a more awakward-looking than usual Spencer. "Zoe, I'm about to talk to Kruger.

"Who's that?" J.D. asked sharply.

"No one." Zoe said. "Just a coworker. You're sure this line won't be compromised?"

"Are you doubting me?" He asked, cockily.

"Don't be cocky."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

"We can't circulate a photo of a woman who's supposed to be dead." Krueger told Zoe and Spencer.

"We realize that, but..." Spencer said.

"Look, I appreciate you have a job to do, but so do I." Krueger said and got to his team of agents

"All right, start looking at where Aaliyah would feel the most comfortable. Arab-populated areas...

"This guy sounds like a real numbskull when it comes to profiling. You sure he has an IQ of one-ninty-seven?" J.D. asked.

Zoe and Spencer exchanged looks at Kreger's strategy plan.

"Actually, you might wanna start by profiling Summers." Spencer said.

"Be my guest. Aaliyah's about to be brutally murdered in front of her children." He said, rather condescending to the two and he looked at Zoe. "Got nothing, sweetheart?" Zoe narrowed her eyes at him in a way that reminded him of so many of her female family members.

"Tell me this guys IP address, I'm gonna ruin his life." J.D. said but Zoe ignored him. "No one talks to you like that!"

Kreger turned back to his team, "Okay. Where were we? Let's put some teams together."

"John Summers was obsessed with his own security." Zoe said.

"Aren't we all?" Kruger groaned out, exasperatedly.

"Can you shut up for five seconds and listen to the actual profilers?" Zoe snapped.

J.D. clapped over the line.

"He didn't care about money, or possessions, or family. All he cared about was his job. He was a classic control freak, a meticulous paranoid." Zoe explained in a mocking somewhat condescending tone.

"A loner who chose to live outside the community," Kreuger realized.

"In an environment that he could control." Zoe said.

"All right. So he would have placed Aaliyah outside the community in an environment only he could control or have access to."

"May-maybe." Spencer stammered, "on the other hand, he might..."

Krueger held up his finger to silence Spencer, "Alright. New deal. I want you to search the areas surrounding Summer's apartment..."

"So, we're looking for industrial sights, uh, storage spaces, warehouses." Zoe cut in. "Basically anywhere that can hide a grown woman and her two children but still have the ability to keep them from suffocating."

The team moved out as if Krueger had given the order and he looked at the two young agents, impressed. "That's good. Thanks."

"Oh, and sweetheart? Don't ‘sweetheart’ or condescend me again. We may be young but we are geniuses, we're as successful as we are for a reason." Zoe growled.

"That was mucho sexy, Zoe."

"No, no, no, no. Don't do that." Zoe said and she turned to Spencer, "I'm going to Morgan and Gina."

She arrived to them and said, "Well, Kreger's a jackass. I set him straight.

"I commend you." Gina said, slightly deadpan, and said, "I don't think I could have a job where I had to sit and talk to people all day."

"Okay, wait a minute, it's not all psychobabble. Trust me." Morgan said.

"We get our fair share of action." Zoe said.

"I'm sure you do. Here's something you might find interesting." Gina said and spoke to her coworker, "Joystick, come around thirty degrees, fifteen by thirteen north. Zoom in two miles." The computer she was on zoomed in on the Earth and into Virginia, to a neighborhood.

Morgan frowned and leaned forwards, "Wait a minute. That looks like my neighborhood. That is my neighborhood. That-that's my house and that's my bike."

"What kind of bike does this guy have?"

"Something inferior to my bike." Zoe told him and Morgan gave her a look.

Gina zoomed in on Morgan's house and a white spot moved around the green outlined furnature.

"You have a dog."

"Yeah, yeah, I got a dog. That's Clooney." Morgan chuckled.

"Well, it looks like Clooney's on the couch." Gina said.

"Okay, so you know where I live. I like that." Morgan said.

"Tell me does this guy ever flirt with you?"

"He knows how many guns I carry." Zoe told him and she looked at Gina, "- You also knew where Summers lived."

"That's my job." Gina said.

"Your job to make it look like suicide?" Morgan asked, "You stood over the dead body of a friend and a colleague, you stuck a shotgun in his mouth, and you pulled the trigger?"

"Yep." Gina said, but there was clearly not happy with it.

"Must take a psychological toll, no?" Morgan asked.

Gina turned to Morgan and Zoe. "Let's get one thing clear. We all write a letter just like the one Summers wrote."

"Yeah, I know. When the CIA joined my cousin's anti-terroism task force, they tried to get me to do the same. I wasn't putting up with that shit." Zoe said. "Writing a suicide note is one thing. Shooting the brains out of your friend's corspse's head is another."

"That doesn't mess with your mind just a little bit?" Morgan asked.

"I'm neither disillusioned or confused about what I am, what I do or what I have done."

"Somebody here is. Why else would they rat out their own people?" Zoe asked.

"You'll have to ask them."

"Did it bother you what you had to do to Summers' body?"

Gina turned to her and countered, "Did it bother you when you had to do your job and arrest your boyfriend?"

J.D. grew quiet.

"Yes. But I didn't do it because it was my job, I did it because it was the right thing to do. I could've easily let him go but I didn't. I thought about it but I didn't. It only bothered me because I pushed him into doing it. It's my fault and if the mole here is the same, it's just as their fault. And they should remember what Maze was capable of before fucking with me." Zoe said with a cold danger in her voice and then she walked off.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

She joined Elle with Olivia who looked like she was being bothered by a child peppering her with questions when she was trying to work.

"CIA looks a lot like the FBI." Elle said, "This is a real boys' club. Must be tough being a woman here."

"Get to the point, Agent."

"Well, she's a real ray of sunshine, isn't she?"

"Divorced, lost custody of your kids." Elle said, "That didn't help your career, huh?"

Hopkins slammed the file she was working on shut and started to storm off, demanding Are you interrogating me?

"Just questions." Elle said.

"You're doing your job. We're doing our job." Zoe said.

"You want answers, look in my file."

"That's not how profiling works, agent." Zoe said.

"I did. During an operation in Europe you were taken hostage." Elle said.

"For which I received counselling."

"But it didn't help. Your marriage fell apart soon after." Zoe said.

"How does this help you?" Hopkins asked them, crossing her arms.

"It would take a major event for someone to turn against their country, don't you think?" Elle asked.

"A major event like what?"

"Like one that's not in any file." Zoe said. "I've was taken hostage too... multiple times and I know what does and doesn't go in files when it comes to that."

"What happened to you over there?" Elle asked but Hopkins didn't reply.

"I know what people like that do." Zoe said, "Did they attack you? Did they torture you? Did they rape you?" Zoe's tone didn't have the hostility that Elle's did. It was blunt yet... understanding of that the situation.

Hopkins didn't reply.

"Olivia!"

"That's enough." Kreger said, "This is in violation of her civil rights."

Hmm. That's interesting. Mister Condesending's ego isn't big enough to defend Hopkins.

"Until they find the sleeper and we find Aaliyah, all rights are revoked." Hawks said.

"And they wonder why we refused to work with the CIA." J.D. said.

"Where were you on the night that Summers was murdered?" Elle asked. The rest of the team and the CIA agents they were following had gathered around.

"I was with her in her apartment." Kreger confessed.

"Well, you're a married man. At some point you must have left to get back to your wife, right?" Gideon said. Kreger just looked at Hawks. "You wake to an empty bed?"

"Yes, I did." Hopkins said and looked back at Elle, "Are we done here?"

"My wife will testify that I arrived home at 1:30 am." Kreger said.

"We all know none of this'll ever reach a court." Hawks said.

"Look, if you want to arrest us for having an affair, be my guest." Kreger said.

"I'll deal with you two later." Hawks said and Olivia walked off.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

A few minutes later, Zoe noticed that the CCTV monitors were down and having a bad feeling, she went after where Olivia went to find Olivia's body. She was in front of a computer slumped over it. The bones in her neck were pushing against her skin in an unnatural angle. Her neck was broken... just like Summers'. She felt for a pulse but there wasn't one.

She fetched Gideon and brought him to the room.

"When I saw the CCTV monitors were down and Olivia hadn't returned, I thought I'd better come looking for her. Her neck was broken. She must've been killed just after we all saw her." Zoe told him.

"Have any agents seen the body?" He asked.

"No."

"Good. We can use this to our advantage. Get the others."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

They gathered the rest of the team, informing them of what happened and brought in the remaining possible moles: Hawks, Kreger, and Gina into the room the team had set up in.

"What? What's going on?" Hawks asked.

"What are we doing here?" Kreger asked. "You're pulling us away from our assignments? There's a woman out there whose life depends on us."

Gina looked around and asked, "Where's Olivia?" Kreger also looked around until Zoe spoke.

"I'm sorry but Olivia Hopkins was murdered ten minutes ago. Her neck was snapped. Just like John Summers."

Kreger scoffed, "What are you talking about?" Gina looked at Hawks. "You're lying. Where is she?" He looked around at them as Gina looked at him, "Look, people don't just get murdered inside the CIA." He turned to Gina to see her, looking at him, "What are you looking at?"

"I realize the enormity of this, but Hassan Nadir is still out there looking to kill his wife, and I need every agent on this." Hawks said.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Zoe entered Hawks' office with Gideon as Gideon stared at Gina at her chair.

"What do you think it would take for somebody to betray their country?" Gideon asked.

"If I knew that, you wouldn't be here. Or is this the part where you two profile me?" Hawks asked.

"I've done that for over twenty years and for free.

"What'd you come up with?" Hawks asked.

"Well, you don't smile as much as you used to, but the Rogaine's working." Gideon said.

"You need to quit your day job."

"You've strived your entire life just to seek the approval of your father. Obsessively tried not to make the same mistakes he made. The emotional cost wipes the smile off your face." Gideon said.

"You know, my kids, they don't even know who or what their father really is." Hawks said.

"But they know there's absolutely nothing you wouldn't do for them." Gideon said.

J.D. scoffed, bitterly, "Wonder what that's like."

"Who says, you know, our kids need to know everything about us?"

"Or that our parents need to know everything about their kids." J.D. said but Zoe didn't quite know what he meant by that.

"Trust me, we're not that interesting." Gideon said.

"I beg to differ." Zoe said. Twenty years in and her parents and father figures in Rossi and Gideon were still her heroes.

"Who do you think it is?" Gideon said.

"I'm so close to it, Jason, I honestly can't tell." Hawks siad, "But I will say this, I'm glad you're here."

"You feeling okay?" Gideon asked and Hawks tilted his head, "I mean, you lost two of your people. Two colleagues. Two friends."

"I've lost plenty of those along the way." Hawks said, "I just feel pissed off." Zoe furrowed her brow, something didn't sit right with her. Even for a CIA agent, Hawks' emotions didn't quite fit his words. She had seen agents after they lost friends. She had seen anger... after a while, the anger's not as impulsive. It would've fit more to be tired with his reaction. Tired of it all. Tired of the guilt. But that's not what he said. The human response would be to feel guilty. "Someone is going to pay dearly for what they've done."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Zoe had excused herself and joined Morgan and Hotch in following Gina, "You lined us all up to see how we'd react to Olivia's death." She said, "What did you see?"

"You stared straight at Kruger like you were trying to deflect blame onto someone else." Hotch said as Gina sat back down at her desk.

"You are wasting precious time. Time she doesn't have." Gina told them as she, "Now, unless you having something useful to ask, we're trying to save lives.

"So are we." Zoe said, "This is how we do it." J.D. said something and she said, "You're getting a call."

Gina furrowed her brows but then her phone rang. "It's our tech analysist."

Gina picked it up to see that she was right, "Patch her through. It's for you." Then she walked off and Garcia and JJ showed up on Gina's monitor.

"Garcia? talk to me."

"That virus that knocked out the CCTV."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It was downloaded into the system three weeks ago."

By who?

"Kreger."

Well, that was easy. Almost too easy.

Morgan and Zoe went across the room to where Elle and Spencer were questioning Kreger. "Just because I lied about Olivia doesn't make me the mole."

"No, but the virus that took out the CCTV monitors does." Morgan said.

"It originated from your computer." Zoe explained.

"Then whoever put it in my computer is trying to frame me." Kreger exclaimed.

"Olivia was looking for something. She didn't find a thing. You know why?" Morgan asked, "Because all of your files have been erased."

"Do you really think if I was the mole, I would keep files that would incriminate me?" Kreger demanded, "Those files were erased to make me look guilty."

"It's what I would do." J.D. said.

"Looks like it's working." Elle said.

"Garcia's calling." Zoe said.

"Morgan, your girlfriend's back." Gina shouted.

They went back to Gina's computer. "Garcia, it's Morgan. Go."

"Can she not see that?" J.D. asked.

"Hey, listen, that virus left a back door into the CIA mainframe."

"Yeah, so?"

"So I sort of went ahead and used it to find out who ordered John Summers' psych eval with Gideon." Garcia said.

"Who was it?"

"Well, that's what's so weird." Garcia said.

"Who, Garcia, who?"

"John Summers." JJ said.

"Summers? Why would he order his own evaluation?" Morgan asked.

"So we'd ask that question ourselves." Spencer said, "Guys, we missed something on that tape."

"We better figure out what it was before Hassan's friend in here beats us to it." Morgan said.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

They watched another part of the footage, Summers was now in Gideon's car with him, "Presidents come, presidents go. One thing always remains: the people that run those presidents."

"People like you?" Gidoen asked.

"Me?" Summers laughed, ironically, "No. No, no, I'm an expendable pawn, but I got wise to their game."

"Game? What game?"

"Battleship. I'm the ship at sea. They try to sink me." Summers said.

"What the hell is this guy talking about?" J.D. asked in Zoe's ear and she shushed him.

"How do you cope?" Gideon asked in the video.

"Compartmentalization. Separate and seal every aspect of my life."

"How does that work?"

"One part of the hull is compromised, the rest of the hull remains intact." Summers said, "I stay afloat."

"Wow, he's really sticking to this ship metaphor, isn't he?" J.D. said and Zoe shushed him again.

"And what about a direct hit?"

"Then I have a box that I put the really important things in, a sort of insurance policy."

"Against what?"

"Sudden death. Keep it safe from those who appear to be friends."

"That's the only thing he's said that's made sense."

"I forgot how much you talked. Shush!" Zoe shushed him as Morgan paused the video.

"What?"

"J.D.'s yapping." Zoe said and then nodded to the video, "Summers was trying to tell you about the mole."

"If they were following Summers, how come they don't know where Summers put Aaliyah?" Morgan asked.

"You couldn't follow Summers through a desert. He was that good." Gideon said

"So they followed you." Hotch said.

"So Summers must have known they'd be filming him." Morgan said.

"They always are. Smile." Zoe said.

Garcia and JJ appeared back on the monitor.

"Garcia, let's review the tape again." Hotch said.

Garcia and JJ conversed amongst themselves.

"He sure likes boats." Garcia noted.

"He refers to compartmentalizing his life like the hull of a ship. Yeah, and then he talks about a box."

"And putting something inside the box as an insurance policy."

"He was telling Gideon how to find Aaliyah." Garcia said.

"Summers' cover in Saudi was for a shipping company." JJ recalled.

"Okay, um, what about a shipping container?" Garcia asked, "That's a box. That's a big box."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." JJ agreed as Garcia typed, "The only shipping port near Summers' apartment in Baltimore, it's north up the I-95 from Langley."

"Garcia, I love you." Hotch said.

Zoe heard J.D gasp.

"J.D.?" She asked. "Guys, something's wrong?"

"Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"Someone just hacked into this feed." Garcia said.

"We just found out where Aaliyah is. But so did someone else." Hotch said.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

The office was as frantic as the CIA seemed to allow themselves to now that they knew where Aaliyah was

"I can have a chopper on the roof fueled and ready in two minutes." Gina said.

"Yeah, but there are thousands of containers at that port." Hawks said. "What makes you so sure Aaliyah's in one of those containers?"

"Why don't we send in a SWAT team? Split them up." Elle suggested, "Have them search in grids."

"Why? Because Hassan has diplomatic immunity, this mission can't exist." Hotch said.

"It's not Gina." Gideon said and Gina looked up at him, shocked.

"Yeah, obviously." Zoe said.

"Morgan, Zoe, take Gina with you." Gideon ordered.

"Wait, this is my command. These are my people." Hawks protested.

"We have jurisdiction here, and there's nothing you can do to stop us." Hotch said.

"This is my career on the line here." Hawks said.

"No, this is Aalyiah and her two children's lives on the line here." Zoe said, bluntly.

"You always trusted me, right?" Gideon asked and Hawks asked, "Trust me now."

Hotch and Elle approached Kreger, "Come with us."

"This is crazy. Bruno." Kreger protested yet he gave up his firearm anyways in resignation.

"Come on, let's get moving!" Zoe urged.

"Use the thermal imaging. Search every container for body heat." Gina said, "You can walk us in and direct us when we get there.

"J.D.'s doing that too." Zoe siad.

"What, how?"

"It doesn't matter! Hurry up!" Zoe shouted.

"Green, Adams, Duncan, come with me."  Gina instructed.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

"How'd you know I wasn't the mole?" Gina asked Zoe as they got on the chopper.

"Your profile. Highly intelligent, strong-willed. That's because of your dedication to what the CIA protects. You're a good person, you may do morally dubious things but so have I. When it comes down to it, you do the right thing even if it comes to disobeying orders, unfortunately that's not what the CIA likes to hear."

They arrived soon and ran through the port of shipping containers that kind of smelled like fish.

They're somewhere on the east side of this port." Gina said, "You guys, take that area over there. Morgan, Zoe, let's go."

They kept on running as they were informed Hassan had found them and was in the container.

"This is crazy, Gina. We're just running in circles."

"J.D., your directions are not helping at all, now stop screaming in my ear!" Zoe shouted and she touched her other comm, "Reid, come on, help us out here. Give me something."

"A hundred meters southwest of your current location." Spencer said.

Zoe took off running, "Come on!"

She came upon a particular container that caused both Spencer and J.D. to speak, saying different things in the other ear.

"Okay, you're both talking but I get the gist." She said.

"Make the arrest. It's FBI jurisdiction. You're in charge." Gideon said.

When they reached the container, Morgan, Gina, and Zoe pulled the doors open

"FBI!" Morgan shouted

"Let her go and put the gun down." Zoe shouted and he narrowed her eyes at him. He didn't obey, "I said, put down the gun or I will shoot you. I can still arrest you if I cripple you with a bullet!"

He let Aaliyah go and put the gun on the floor, holding his hands up.

"Diplomatic immunity, my friend." He said, smirking at her, she knew he recognized her, maybe not personally but from photos perhaps.

Zoe grinned at his underestimating her intelligence, "Uh-uh. You got it wrong, my friend. You see this container hasn't passed through customs." Hassan's smirk fell. "Officially, we're not on US soil. Summers was a smart man."

Suddenly Gina pressed the barrell of her gun into the back of Zoe's head.

"That he was. Drop the gun."

"Lower the gun, Gina!" Morgan shouted, now pointing his gun at her.

"No, keep your gun on Hassan! Do not give him the chance to hurt Aaliyah and the kids." Zoe shouted.

"Morgan, what's going on?" Gideon asked, the screen kept flickering to static.

"You still certain that Gina isn't the mole?" Hawks asked.

Crystal.

"Angel?" Alexander asked, pleadingly.

"Morgan? Zoe? What's going on?"

"Gina's holding a gun to Zoe's head." Morgan said.

"Well, get it away from her!" Alexander cried.

"When she drops her gun!" Gina shouted but Zoe didn't move.

"Zoe, just drop the gun!" Morgan shouted and J.D. joined in, she relented and handed Gina her gun.

"Gideon, we got a situation here." Morgan said as he and Zoe shielded Aaliyah and the kids and Gina held a gun at Hassan.

"Gina, don't do this. Gina, don't do this." Gideon said.

"I don't take orders from you. Bruno, what do you want me to do?" Gina asked.

"Cover their eyes. Cover their eyes." Zoe said, "he's a monster but they shouldn't witness this."

Aaliyah covered her children's eyes as she pleaded, "Please, please stop this."

"Bruno?" Gina asked.

"You know what to do."

"Say it." Gina requested.

"It's not your call."

"I told you from the start, this was strictly in-house." Hawks said to Gideon.

"This is not your call." Gideon gritted to Hawks.

"Gina, what are you waiting for?"

"An order." Gina said.

"Finish him." Hawks said and then he repeated it, "Finish him."

"Gina, don't do this." Gideon pleaded.

"You're going to cut the visual feed, right, Bruno?" Gina asked.

"Of course. Cut it, now. Cut it!" The visual feed was cut off, followed by four gun shots.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

"I want to thank you, Jason, for your help." Hawks said when he turned back to Gideon.

"Why?" Gideon asked, "Why'd you turn against everything you believe in?"

"What are you talking about?" Hawks asked.

"When someone asks you how you feel about losing one of your colleagues, the only human answer is, 'I feel guilty,' isn't it?"

"But as you so brilliantly deduced, Kruger Spence is the guilty one." Hawks said.

Elle handed Hawks a note they had handed Kruger earlier. It read: We know it's not you. Bruno is the mole.

He just chuckled, "Ridiculous." He scoffed, "Absurd."

"The only thing that's absurd is your arrogance." Gideon said, "to believe you could get away with this."

"Unfortunately, with Hassan now dead, you have no proof." Hawks said.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

They had turned off their microphones and arrested Hassan.

Zoe checked on Aaliyah and the kids.

"You're going to be all right." She reassured them. "They're a little dehydrated and malnourished but nothing a little hospital food can't fix. You should get checked out just in case. I don't see any signs but better safe than sorry."

"Sorry about that. I had to find out if I was right." Gina said when Zoe walked away from the kids.

"No problem, believe it or not, you're far from the first person to hold a gun to my head." Zoe told her.

"How'd you know it was Bruno?" Morgan asked.

"Because Agent Gideon believed in me, and there isn't a reason in the world to kill a man who knows as much as Hassan does." Gina said.

"Except one." Morgan said.

"The same one that made Bruno and Hassan kill Summers. Self-preservation." Gina said.

"Looks like Gideon was right." Morgan said.

"Yes, it does."

"He usually is." Zoe said. "Same as that eval. You disobeyed a direct order."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Spencer put down the phone and said, "Actually, Hassan is alive and well." The smugness on Hawks' face falls. "He's en route. That's all the proof we'll need."

Hawks looked at Gideon and stepped closer to him, "You are a fool if you think they're going to put me in prison with all that I know."

"Why'd you have to kill Olivia?" Elle asked.

"Economics." Gideon said, "Olivia was looking into your financial records when you snapped her neck."

"So she knew your dirty little secret." Elle said.

"Which one? I have so many."

"You were looking to cash out using Hassan." Elle said.

"Mmm-hmm. Twenty million from Hassan will go a very long way to helping occupy my mind on a beach somewhere." Hawks said.

"The only beach you'll see is on a postcard I send you from my vacation." Gideon said.

"Did you tell them about my daughter?" Alexander asked.

"It was so I could prove myself to Hassan, so he could trust me."  Was all he said.

Alexander balled his fists and was clearly itching to empty his gun into Hawks so Hotch stepped in front of him.

"Let me have your gun." Gideon said.

"You know, I think the consequences of what you're doing to me, my friend, are going to be a lot harder to live with than you think."

"No, I think that's what happened when you gave my daughter over to those terrorists." Alexander spat.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Zoe, Morgan, and Gina returned on the chopper. She was quiet as she gathered her things. An act of closure upon her while J.D. ranted in her ear.

"Thank you, J.D. For everything." She said.

"It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has. But we can't do this again. And you know why."

"Yeah, I do. Bye, my rebel love."  He said and he hung up.

Zoe took the ear piece out of her ear and looked down at it. She sighed heavily and pocketed it.

"What I don't understand is why he invited us here." Spencer said as they exited the conference room.

"He didn't. Summers did by asking for the eval." Hotch said.

"When I put the call in, Bruno had no choice." Gideon said, "He had to find outwhat I knew and keep me close."

"Bad choice."

"You said you'd send a postcard of a beach. You lie." Alexander said.

Yeah, you hate the beach." Spencer said.

"Beaches are for storming." Gina shrugged.

"Only if ordered to." Gideon said.

"Thank you." Gina said and shook Gideon's hand and the team went to leave while Morgan flirted some more with Gina.

"So how are you and J.D.?" Elle asked.

"Uh... I think I might visist him during our two weeks coming up."

Spencer frowned.

George Orwell said, "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

*I actually quite like Kreger, not necessarily his character but the foil he is to Spencer. They're both stated to have exceptionally high IQs, they were both reqruited to agencies at young ages from good colleges after skipping grades, and if you've watched half way through season twelve there's another thing they have in common. But Kreger is arrogant and condescending and rude to those who he thinks are beneath him, like he was to Spencer before Spencer proved to be just as smart as him. Spencer is kind to everyone, he values everyone's contribution, despite his intelligence he doesn't think his intellect is better than others, he knows he's a genius on paper but doesn't think that it can truly measured.*

*Gina originally knew Zelena but I feel like I already have too many cases that will connect to Zoe*

——————————————————————————————————————————————

[lukesunbornn]

this is a callout post @ rick riordan for making two of the most heartwrenching deaths ever about stars so now i can’t look up at night without crying

[sixth-light]

Hi, I have a question as a non native English speaker. Both wot and tog employ native Dutch actors and I wonder if native English speakers can hear them having an accent or is Dutch just so similar to English, that they don't have one? I personally can't hear one but I'm not really good with accents anyways so I'm curious.

Short answer: yes, both Marwan Kenzari and Josha Stradowski have distinct Dutch accents if you know what a Dutch accent usually sounds like in English. They aren't strong accents and they definitely don't come out on every line because they're good actors who've obviously had good vocal training, but it is possible to hear. Same way Madeline Madden and Zoe Robins go Aussie/Kiwi on the odd word but you'd probably need to know where they were from to identify what was happening.

Now, do all native English speakers hear their accents - probably not. I actually started to lose my ability to distinguish between Australian and New Zealand accents in short snippets of speech when I lived in the US for five years (it's back now!) even though usually to native NZ English speakers that is a very clear difference. Another great example of this is people praising the CR cast for their 'English' accents which are...like...perfectly fine American media fantasy 'English' accents, but very clearly not actual English accents if you, e.g., are familiar enough to distinguish between regional/class English accents (let alone Welsh, Scottish, and Irish.) Hearing accents takes experience and regular exposure, your brain has better things to do otherwise than store that information.

[redheadedbrunette]

also idk how to word this rly, but what level of perfection do think Cyrus held Erica to? like perfection as a spy? or just perfection in general? i also like to think that while yes, Erica was wary of people before Joshua (bc of what Cyrus told her) she was just mainly awkward, and then Joshua came along they were besties, the dynamic duo, then he died and she was like “oh Grandad was right to a degree” and she became sort of “Ice Queen” (bc it was given to her by Zoe, a first yr so-) -t1sb

Okay, so I think Cyrus held Erica to pretty high standards in terms of being a spy, because anything but perfection is *going* to compromise the mission and the standard has to be high even if people don’t meet it every time. That being said, I do think that a significant portion of the pressure Erica feels come from herself. Like, she’s got all this potential to be the best spy in history, and every time she doesn’t meet that benchmark she failed (which isn’t me projecting my own perfectionist tendencies onto her even a little bit, no ma’am).

And I’ve gone into my thoughts on Joshua before (basically that having him be a red flag parade isn’t terribly interesting to me), but as far as Erica’s relationship to other people in general, just because Zoe is the one who gave her the Ice Queen nickname earlier that year specifically, that doesn’t mean that her more anti-social tendencies weren’t manifest from long before that. Going back to most of her drive for perfection being internal, I think she’s trying to be as tuned in and focused on being the best and her peers not only aren’t on her skill level, they’re also not on her intensity level. Given that Erica identifies Joshua as the most promising undercover agent the agency had seen (or something to that effect), we can assume that Joshua had at least a similar level intensity, and that was probably what they bonded over. I could see him *maybe* making a joke about something sketchy, but it my book it would have to remain a one-off incident, because if it was a more regular thing, I could see Erica getting at least a little suspicious, and the scene is the farmhouse hits so much harder if she didn’t see it coming. Y’know?

Also, for that scene you described, I’d make it less about comparing Ben and Joshua and more about how Erica is so tired of living her life isolated and she’s not going to that anymore because if the last year and a half has taught her anything, it’s that people need other people in their lives (we can tie this back to Ben as the first person to really demonstrate that it *can* be done while still being a successful spy, but it’s not a necessary requirement). She doesn’t know that Ben’s not going to betray her somewhere down the line (seeing as she doesn’t have view we do of this all being a children’s series with Ben being the audience insert), but that’s not the point. That’s not why the relationship is so significant.

[inmyarmswrappedin]

One of the choices Druck made in s2 that I’ve never really been particularly enamored with is having Jonas fall apart instead of Hanna. Like... Here’s the thing. In Skam, Eva fell apart and started drinking more heavily to give Noora a reason to go to all these parties she didn’t want to go to because William would be there. Eva’s substance abuse was a plot device for Noora’s plot. Once Noora and William kiss, Eva’s substance abuse goes away because Noora now attends these events willingly. That’s why Eva’s substance abuse in Skam sucks, because it’s not a part of a larger arc for Eva. (In fact, after s1, Eva doesn’t have arcs anymore, really.)

In Druck, Jonas’ substance abuse is 100% a part of Jonas’ larger arc. Yes, it is partly used as a plot device in that he gets drunk with Axel and Sara that one time and they vandalize the school -- but it’s also the reason why Jonas doesn’t notice Matteo becoming more withdrawn, and is then referenced throughout s3 as Jonas stops smoking weed, starts swimming, starts hooking up with girls (because without weed, his nether regions are performing better... apparently), and is part of the scene where Matteo comes out to Jonas. Jonas’ substance abuse informs his actions in s2, s3 and tangentially even the Abiball ep, as he became involved with Abi Chaker because of his substance abuse. 

Meanwhile, not only does Jonas’ substance abuse do nothing for Hanna’s character, but, much like Eva, Hanna never gets an arc after s1 either. Sure, she gets plenty of solo social media content, but like Sam (who also gets a ton), this content never materializes into an arc on the show proper. After s1, Hanna really only exists to react to Jonas’ actions, date someone else to make Jonas sad, and talk about boysssss. Even the anniversary of her mom’s death is about Jonas! And how Jonas is the only one who gets her. 

Compare with Skam Austin, which also had their Eva abuse alcohol. Iirc, Austin also used it as a plot device to get Grace to go places (or at least, I can’t remember why else Grace would’ve gone to Daniel’s party that time he serenaded her). But then, it didn’t go away once Grace and Daniel got together, and at that point it became part of Megan’s larger arc. It is still going on in the s2 finale clip, and so we have to assume this was a thread the writers intended on picking up.

And the thing is, this is part of a larger pattern with Druck, where they’ll take traits and plot points that were given to girls in Skam, give them to boys, and then make them more interesting than they were in Skam. It happens with Eva’s substance abuse (which was given to Jonas as aforementioned), Noora’s panic attack (given to Axel), and then the Sam/Abdi sideplot, where Abdi is the one who gets to have an arc and realize he doesn’t like sex with no strings attached, whereas Sam remains static as a character.

Personally, and specifically when it comes to the Skams, I’d rather storylines where girls may do things that make them look pathetic, embarrassing, awkward, etc. but which make them better rounded characters with their own arcs and character development, over having them be flawless and flat while the boys get to have all the character development and interesting scenes that involve lots of character work.

That’s one of the things I wasn’t super sold on with Druck’s gen 1, and tbh, for me it has to do with Alex Lindh (a dude) being the head writer for s1 and s2, as well as a consultant for s4. It just felt like overall he was interested in boys being dynamic characters, and girls not being ~pathetic~. 

However, this is something that I noticed almost right away has changed with Druck’s new gen. Like, with the new kids, the things that happen are pretty much always to service the girls’ storylines or characters, and not the boys’. Nora, Ava, Fatou, Zoe and Kieu My are all flawed characters with their own bigger or smaller character arcs. Mailin is less developed, but she’s still more developed than Josh or Finn, for instance. And when Mailin is used as a plot device, it’s in the service of Nora’s or Ava’s storyline, NOT a boy’s. When Sporty Spice does something mildly interesting (like talking to Nora on NYE, or resurfacing in the countryside for a social media detox), it’s not to develop his character or give him an arc, but rather to create conflict for Nora and Fatou. It’s for the GIRLS’ arcs. The only (so far) male-identified character who seems to have an ongoing arc is Ismail, and for all we know, he won’t remain male-identified for long. 

[fanmoose12]

Partners

Characters: Petra Ral, Levi, Hanji Zoe x Levi Genre: Action / Mystery / Romance Rating: T

Detective!au

Summary: when Petra was promoted to a detective and partnered up with legendary Levi Ackerman, she felt like the happiest person in the world.

But, as she soon found out, detective Ackerman she used to admire so much was actually a far cry from the ideal policeman Petra thought he was. He was rude, harsh and easily annoyed. And, in addition, he still hadn’t moved on from the death of his previous partner - detective Hange Zoe.

Chapter 8/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Сhapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Сhapter 7

Petra was walking down a street with a slight spring in her step. Today would be a good day, she could feel it. Entering the precinct, she was filled with a sense of giddy trepidation.

She couldn't wait to see Levi. Last night's events seemed like a dream to her. Meeting detective Hange, almost getting into a fight with her and then watching her reunite with Levi - she couldn't quite believe that it actually happened. But it did, and now Petra wondered if the change in Levi would be visible.

Would he drop the gloomy, irritated facade? Would she see him smile?

Ah, Petra was so excited!

She was so excited, so lost in her world that she didn't pay much attention to her surroundings. So when her forehead collided with someone else's, she got quite a surprise.

Petra jumped back, immediately apologizing. She lifted her eyes and met the icy stare of her partner.

She gulped. So he didn't drop the gloomy facade.

"Good morning!" she squealed, feeling her cheeks burn in embarrassment. Levi continued to bore his eyes into her, and Petra fidgeted, unsure of what to do and not knowing the reason for his anger.

She watched him beneath her eyelashes - Levi's face was pale with dark circles under his eyes. His shoulders were hunched and his posture was tense. Petra's eyebrows knitted together, it was all wrong.

She could explain the circles under his eyes, Levi met his long lost partner after two years of separation, of course, he didn't get much sleep last night. There was probably a lot they needed to discuss, and maybe... They did other things too. But why was Levi so frustrated now? Did something happen between him and detective Hange? Did they have a fight?

"I was waiting for you," Levi said finally. "Put your things in the office and come to the forensics department. I'll be there."

And just like that, Levi was gone. Petra stared after him, confused and bewildered. He reunited with his beloved partner just yesterday, wasn't he happy about it?

She didn't have the time to ponder about it, though. Whatever was the reason for Levi's tenseness, she didn't wish to anger him anymore. And so she needed to hurry. Petra whirled around, heading to the elevators. Walking inside, she pushed the needed button with a heavy sigh. It looked like another long day was ahead of her. 

***

When Petra entered the forensics department, Levi was the only one there. He was standing in the middle of the room, his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed in deep thought, as he studied the stack of papers in his hands.

"Hey," Petra called timidly, gripping the side of the door tightly. "Where is everyone else?"

"Moblit and Nifa are busy in the dissection room," he answered without looking up. "They'll be here soon."

"Alright," Petra softly stepped inside. "Did you find something in there?" she gestured to the papers.

"Nothing that could give us a definite clue," Levi said, obviously annoyed by this fact. "The victim was dragged, just like the first time. The drug was injected into her neck, though, and not administered orally."

"Maybe, the killer was in a hurry?" Petra suggested.

"Possibly," Levi nodded. "Maybe, he didn't have the time to woo her like the last victim. Maybe, he needed to kill her that night because— oh," his eyes widened and he froze for a second, gripping the papers tighter. "It makes sense now," he whispered.

"What does?" Petra frowned, confused.

"Nothing," Levi shook his head. "Something Hange told me. I need to check it first. There is another thing, though."

"What?" Petra leaned closer, looking at papers behind Levi's shoulder.

"The jacket, there is a trace of Hange's DNA."

"So? You already identified it yesterday."

"Hange’s DNA is not the only one they found," Levi took out small package. "Here, look at this.”  

Petra snatched the package from his hands, curiously looking it over. She was quite disappointed to realize that inside was just a single hair.

"Isn't it..." she squinted a bit. The hair was brown. "Doesn't it belong to detective Hange?"

"No, hers is slightly different. The color is richer. And this one curls at the end."

"Alright," Petra had no choice but to agree. Apparently, she was talking with an expert, with someone who had spent a lot of his time staring at detective Hange's hair.

"Besides, it was confirmed that this hair doesn't belong to her. Obviously, it's from the killer."

Tall man with curly brown hair, Petra suddenly remembered. So the witness was right after all?

"Zeke most probably isn't the killer," Levi announced after a few seconds of tense silence. "Hange says there is no way he could be involved."

"And you believe it?" Petra asked carefully.

Levi hung his head. "I'm not sure. On one hand, no else has the motive for these killings. On the other, Hange is sure it's not him."

"How is she, by the way? Was everything alright last night?" Petra's gaze shifted from one corner of the room to another, unable to meet Levi's eyes. Fighting with her nervousness, she wriggled her hands behind her and continued. "You just seem a bit tense today, and I couldn't help but wonder why. I, well, maybe I just expected you to be a little bit happier. Yesterday you've found out that your beloved is actually alive so—"

The papers fell from Levi's hands. Petra shut her mouth immediately, eyes snapping to her partner's face. They stared at each other for a long moment, the heavy silence hanging over the room. The strained atmosphere was destroyed by Levi's quiet curse.

"What the fuck Petra?" he crouched down, frantically gathering the papers. "We— four eyes and I are not—" he closed his eyes, scowling. "We are not lovers, for Christ's sake! How could you even think about it?"

"You... are not?" Petra stared down at him, her mouth agape. There was no way she could read the signs wrong. It was obvious!

"Of course we are not!" Levi snapped. "How did you come up with nonsense?"

Well, where Petra should even begin?

"You care so much about her!" she decided to start with the most obvious clue.

Levi raised an eyebrow, looking up at Petra from his position on the floor. "Don't you care about your friends?"

"Of course, I do," she huffed, resisting the urge to stomp her feet in frustration. Levi wasn't seriously trying to use the friend's card. She saw them yesterday, their relationship was obviously much more than simply platonic.

"You grieved for her for two years!"

"Just like any close friend would do," Levi replied. He rose up, fixing his tie and giving Petra an unimpressed look.

She wasn't going to give up so easily, though. There should be something, something Levi wouldn't be able to deny.

And then she remembered.

"The witness!" she pointed her finger at Levi's chest. "The concierge at detective Hange's old place, he recognized you! So you shared an apartment with her!"

"Don't be absurd," Levi waved her off, still completely unfazed. "I just visited her a lot. Hange could never wake up in time for work, so I used to visit her place to wake her up. Sometimes I came to make her dinner or clean that junkyard she called her home, that's all."

That's all? Levi woke her up in the mornings, they frequently had dinners together and he helped to clean her apartment? And they weren't in a relationship? She couldn't wrap her head around it. She saw them together, what they felt for each other was undeniable. Could they not see it?

"But—" she stuttered, unsure how to follow up.

Levi sighed. "Even if the subject was quite questionable, your dedication is admiring, detective," he patted her shoulder, walking past her. "However, your deduction was wrong."

It was not and she knew it. Petra knew she was right. She could do nothing, though. If Levi himself didn't notice his true feelings, she wasn't the one who could make him see. He had another partner for that.

"If you have any questions regarding the case," Levi said when he was already in the doorway. "Wait for Moblit and Nifa. If you need me, I'll be in Erwin's office."

"Ah, okay," Petra answered feebly, watching the door close after him.

A moment later, however, another door opened. Nifa and Moblit walked inside.

"Petra!" Nifa squealed, hurriedly taking off the protective goggles and gloves. "How was your date? Did you enjoy it? Did he like your look? Did you two kiss? Did—"

"Nifa," Moblit smiled forcefully and squeezed her shoulder. "Take a breath and pay attention," he nodded at the papers in Petra's hands. "Detective Ral obviously didn't come here to discuss her personal life."

"Ah, yes," Petra finally snapped out of her stupor. "I did come here for work purposes, but," she laid the papers down on the nearest table. "I have a question too. It's kind of personal?"

"Oh?" Nifa pressed hands against her chest, her eyes alight with curiosity. "Spill it already."

And well, how should she begin? The straight approach was the easiest one, she decided.

"What is the nature of relationship between Levi and detective Zoe? Levi just told me they aren't lovers but is it really true? I mean, they're so..." she bit her lip, thinking. The word close didn't quite cut it.

Nifa interrupted her musings, clasping her shoulder with a grin. "Ah, frustrated much with their relationship? Welcome to the club, dear," she announced chirpily.

"Wait," Moblit raised an arm, coming to stand directly in front of Petra. He loomed over her, his hazel eyes boring into her with unusual seriousness. "You discussed this with detective Levi? And why did you talk about detective Hange as though she is..." his voice cracked on the last word. Moblit closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "As though she is still alive?"

"Oh," Petra cast her eyes down, thinking. She forgot that Levi wasn't the only who cared about Hange. Should she tell them? Or should she keep it a secret? Levi said that he trusted the guys from forensics department, but how much? Would trust them with the secret of his partner?

In the end, it was the pain and misery in Moblit's eyes that pushed Petra to make a decision.

"The thing is..." she cleared her throat, not knowing where to look - at Moblit's nervous expression or at Nifa's confused one? "Detective Zoe is actually, well, she's alive."

"What?" Nifa's hands flew to her face.

Moblit squeezed the edge of the nearest table, using it as his support. "What..." he began quietly, uncertainly. "What are you talking about?"

"She survived the explosion,” Petra explained softly. “I've met her last night. In our office."

"You've never seen her though," Nifa frowned. "How can you be sure it's really detective Hange?

"Well," Petra's lips curved into a faint smile. "Levi had seen her too, so..."

"Oh," Nifa breathed out.

Meanwhile, Moblit sat heavily on the chair, covering his eyes with a palm.

“I don’t know how exactly she survived,” Petra added. “But she’s alive.”

Silence fell over the room. It lasted for a few more minutes, and then Nifa cried out in joy, lifting her hands in the air.

"Detective Hange is alive!" she exclaimed it with the biggest smile. "We should celebrate! Moblit, make us tea! And bring my apple pie!"

Despite his shaken state, Moblit was on his feet instantly, ready to fulfill Nifa's request.

"Thank you for telling us," he whispered to Petra, giving her a quick hug. "It means so much to me."

"Sure," Petra patted his back awkwardly.

"Right," Moblit took a step back, letting her go. "Now, the tea."

"So," Nifa sat down, putting hands under her chin. "How our detective Hange is doing? Does she still look so cool?"

"I don't know..." Petra scratched the back of her head. "She has a patch over her left eye now, though."

"Ah," Nifa sighed dreamily. "So she looks even cooler now."

"Don't mind her," Moblit advised, as he put the tray with tea and pie on the table in front of them. Petra thanked him and joined Nifa. "She just used to have the biggest of crushes on detective Hange."

"Oi, shut up," Nifa smacked his arm. "As if you're that different from me."

"I don't have a crush on Hange," he denied, glaring at Nifa. "I just admire her a lot. Platonically."

"Oh, sure," Nifa huffed. "Should I tell Petra about that time when you invited Hange on a date, Mr. Platonic Admiration?"

"It wasn't a date," Moblit said stubbornly. "I just had a spare ticket to a very interesting science exhibition, and I knew Hange likes this stuff, so I decided to take her with me."

"Tell her," Nifa nudged, sending a piece of pie in her mouth. "Tell Petra what happened next."

Moblit sighed. "She agreed to come with me."

"And?" Nifa prompted further, smiling slyly.

He turned his face away. "And then she showed up together with detective Ackerman."

"Oh," Petra rubbed Moblit's back soothingly. "It must have been rough."

"It was okay," he forced a smile. "Besides, Nifa here," he pointed his fork at her with a smug look. "Used to have a crush on both of them."

"So what?" Nifa shrugged. "I don't deny it. They both look very good and have you ever seen them in action? Once I watched them spar with each other in the gym. It's the hottest thing I've ever seen."

"Eugh,” Moblit cringed. "However," he turned to Petra. "You should have seen how she tried to flirt with them. It was hilarious. And a bit awkward, since none of them really noticed her attempts."

"Yeah," Nifa agreed solemnly. "As smart as they are, they are so oblivious," she shook her head. "They're too focused on each other."

"So," Petra gripped the cup tighter in her hands. "It's true? They aren't a thing?"

Nifa laughed. "They're most definitely a thing. They just don't know about it."

"Oh."

"But, since detective Hange is alive, they have time to figure it out," Moblit smiled encouragingly. Then the smile vanished from his face, as he fixed Nifa with a strict gaze. "We, however, don't have the time. Finish your tea and get up. We still have a lot work."

"Yes, dad," Nifa whined.

"I need to get going as well," Petra smiled, finishing her tea. "Thanks for the conversation and for the snacks, but Moblit is right. The work doesn't wait. I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye!" Nifa waved her hand. "We'll be waiting for you to come back!"

Petra waved back and then headed to the door, still smiling softly.

 ***

On her way to the office, at the opposite end of the hallway, Petra saw a familiar figure. Her first instinct was to run and hide. To her dismay, however, he already noticed her.

"Detective Ral!" Sannes called, hurrying to get to her.

As he came closer, Petra noticed that he wasn't alone - a young, dark-haired man was trudging after him. Petra didn't recognize him. Was he not from the precinct?

"I haven't seen you yesterday," he said, as he finally caught up with her.

"Had been busy with a case," Petra mumbled, staring at Sannes' companion. He wasn't a part of the police, she was sure of it. His clothes - buggy shirt and ripped jeans - further confirmed her suspicion. Who was he then? And why was he making her feel so uneasy?

"A case?" Sannes' companion asked, flashing Petra an awfully smug grin. "You're talking about the recent murders, right? I've heard they're pretty gruesome," even as he said this, the smile didn't leave his face. Petra's skin prickled in alarm. There was something about this man - she couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly - but something about him was disturbing. Her guts feelings were screaming, telling her to get away from him.

"Do you have a suspect already?" he continued, oblivious to her discomfort. Before Petra could even start thinking what to reply, the man beat her to it. "I've heard Zeke Yeager is the culprit, is it true?"

"It's not," Sannes interfered, the smile on his face wavered, turning into a grimace. He grasped the elbow of his companion, his grip so tight Petra wondered if it would leave bruises. "Forgive him, Ral. He's a new intern, and there is much he has to learn."

"For example, he should know that Zeke Yeager had been dead for two years," Petra offered with innocent expression.

"Um, yeah," Sannes nodded. He avoided looking her in the eyes, and watching him squirm, Petra internally cheered.

"Anyway, we should go, I was just finishing giving him a tour around the precinct."

"Good luck," she smiled. "Hope you'll enjoy your new workplace, intern," she added, not bothering to hide the sarcasm.

The intern glared at her, breathing heavily. He obviously wanted to say something, but the grip Sannes had on his elbow and the death looks he had been sending him, persuaded him to keep his mouth shut. Sannes gave him a rough shove, pushing him in another direction.

"See you, Ral," he said and walked away.

Petra watched them go, the cogs turning in her head. How could this man know about Zeke? Except from her, Levi and Captain Erwin, no one could know that he's considered a suspect. No one could know that he's considered alive. Then how did Sannes find out? How did this man find out? Who was he? Why did he make her feel so nervous? And where did she—

Oh.

Petra finally remembered. The witness testimony. The tall man with dark curly hair. He fitted the description perfectly. Could it really be him? Why would Sannes conspire with a killer, though? And why would he ask after Zeke? Could it be that—

No, Petra rejected the idea even before it was fully formed in her mind. It was too outlandish, ridiculous.

However... Her gut was telling her otherwise. She needed to check it. And she already knew how to get closer to the truth. It wasn't a good plan, stupid even, Levi would never agree to it. Luckily, Petra knew someone, who could help.

She turned around, heading into another wing of the precinct.

She needed to find Oluo.

 ***

"Erwin?" Levi called, knocking on the door of his office. "It's me, Levi. Are you in here? Can I come in?"

"Wait for a bit please!" Erwin shouted behind the door. "I'm busy."

"Asshole," Levi muttered, leaning against the wall. "First calls me here and now he's busy."

Just as he prepared to glare at the door before Erwin finishes with whatever he was doing, his phone started vibrating in the back pocket of his pants. He took it out, staring at the screen. He received a message. From unknown number. Frowning in confusion, he opened the message.

Still alive and kicking. Don't worry shorty :D

Levi huffed. He didn’t worry. He was just slightly curious about her wellbeing. Before he could start typing his response, two new messages appeared.

don't give erwin shit btw. He kept it a secret because i asked him to.

don't you dare punch him, levi. I will know. And I won't be pleased about it.

Levi rolled his eyes, feeling the familiar annoyance stir inside him. The annoyance he hadn't felt for two years. He bit down a smile, typing a quick reply. 

Just as he was finishing, the door to Erwin's office opened. Nile Dawk, the captain of special enforcement unit, and Dot Pixis, the captain of property and crime scene unit, walked out.

Dawk looked grim as he pushed past Levi, not sparring him a glance. Pixis, however, was as cheerful as always.

"Good day, detective," he said, clasping Levi's shoulder. "How are you doing?"

"Great," Levi pushed himself off the wall. "Excuse me, Captain, but I need—"

"Of course," Pixis winked. "Have a nice, productive shift!"

"Sure," Levi mumbled, giving him a weird look.

"What the fuck was that about?" he asked Erwin as soon as he closed the door to his office. "Since when you're buddies with Pixis and Dawk?"

“It’s important to maintain a friendly relationship with other units.”

“Don’t give me that crap,” Levi plopped down onto a chair in front of Erwin’s desk. “What are you planning this time?”

Erwin turned his face to the side, hiding a smile. “It’s too early to tell.”

“Whatever,” Levi mumbled, sitting back in the chair. If Erwin wanted to keep his secrets, so be it. He didn’t give a shit.

No, Levi instantly corrected himself. There was one secret that he did give a shit about. And Erwin kept it from him purposefully.

“Don’t you dare punch him,” the voice in his head reminded him. Of course, it was Hange’s.

The temptation to defy her was big, but he'd try to keep it together. For her sake.

"So?" Levi crossed hands on his chest. "What did you call me here for?"

"Ah, yes," Erwin got to his feet, reaching the cupboard next to his desk and taking two cups from it. "I wanted to ask how you're doing," he started making tea for them, facing away from Levi. "It was a difficult day for you."

"That it was," Levi agreed, boring his eyes into Erwin's back. "But it got better. I met someone. An old friend."

"Oh?"

He continued watching Erwin, waiting for his reaction.

"Yeah, four-eyes said hello."

Erwin froze. Just for a second, but he did.

"Levi, I'm sorr—"

"No," Levi said harshly. "No, you're not."

To his credit, Erwin didn't try to protest. He carefully put the teacups on the desk and then sat back in his chair.

"For how long?" Levi asked. "For how long did you know?"

Erwin sighed. "For almost a year."

Fuck. Levi gripped the arms of a chair so tightly the old wood creaked. He wanted to kick the desk in front of him. Wanted to take that damn teacup and smash it against the wall. How could they? How could they hide it from him for so long?

"You know how much I care for her," he began, his voice calm despite the emotions swirling inside of him. "You knew how much I grieved, how much I've missed her. And you let me suffer."

"I know that you feel betrayed, Levi. I know that you're angry," Levi scoffed. Angry? That was an understatement. He was fucking furious. "But you must understand - I couldn't tell you."

"And why the fuck not?"

"Hange asked me."

"But why? Why did she ask you to keep it from me?"

Erwin's eyes softened. "You know why, Levi. You know why she wanted to keep you away. You wouldn’t let her go. And you wouldn't have let her follow through with her plan."

"So you agree with that idiotic plan?"

"No," Erwin answered firmly. "I want to get Zeke as much as she does. But I'm not going to sacrifice Hange's life to do it."

Levi exhaled. He didn't even know it, but he was afraid to hear Erwin's answer. He was afraid that he lost an ally in the battle against Hange's stubbornness and martyr complex.

"So you have another plan?"

"Yes," Erwin nodded.

"And Hange doesn't know about it?"

"Not yet."

"That's why you're conspiring with Pixis and Dawk, right?" Levi guessed.

"Like I said," Erwin clenched his jaw, determination shining in his gaze. "I'm working on it."

After hearing this, most of the tension left Levi's body. He slumped in the chair, reaching out for his teacup.

"That's it?" Erwin raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to even punch me?"

Levi made a face. "Hange asked me to spare you."

Well, she didn't ask, but ordered him. Obviously, Erwin didn't need to know that.

"Ah, I should thank her then," Erwin chuckled. "She saved my life after all."

"Don't be so dramatic," Levi rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have punched you that hard. Maybe, just broke your nose or jaw."

"Yeah," Erwin winced, rubbing his nose. "I'm glad we could avoid that."

Levi was glad too. If he really broke Erwin's nose, it would be such a mess. There'd be so much blood, and he'd have to clean it all by himself. Yeah, good thing they avoided it.

"Something still bothers you," Erwin noted, lifting the cup to his lips. "Care to share it with me?"

As always, Erwin was right. There was something that he couldn't stop thinking about. It plagued him ever since that kiss Hange planted on his cheek. And it began tormenting him after his morning conversation with Petra.

"Do Hange and I look like a couple?"

Erwin choked, coughing and spluttering tea all around his table. Levi tsked, rushing to Erwin's side to clasp his back a few times.

"What the fuck Levi?" he croaked out in between his coughs. "You can't just ask things like that."

"What?" Levi frowned. "It was a simple question. Petra mentioned it today. She thought, no, she was convinced that Hange and I," Levi cringed a little. "That we are romantically involved."

"Well," Erwin straightened in his seat, wiping his face with a handkerchief. "She's not the only one who thinks about you two that way."

"What?" Levi's eyes widened. "Who is it?" he demanded.

Erwin smiled. "Pretty much everyone at the precinct thought you were dating."

"But we— we did not," Levi protested helplessly.

"I know," Erwin comforted him. "Why does it bother you, though? It's just gossip, you were never the one to care what people say behind your back."

"And I still don't. I just— something happened last night," Levi closed his eyes for a second, recalling that small moment. "Hange— she kissed me. On a cheek!" he clarified, seeing Erwin's shocked expression. "You know four-eyes, she doesn't know what personal space is, but— it made me feel, I don't know, warm inside? I wanted her to do it again," he paused, taking a breath. This convention was making him feel so damn embarrassed, but he already started it. May as well finish it. "I remembered then, that warm feeling. It appeared frequently before you know," he shook his head. "Hange's death or whatever the fuck it was, but I was too busy then to stop and think about it. And after Hange was gone, I didn't really want to think about it. So, what do you think, Erwin? Could it be—"

"I don't know," Erwin said earnestly. "I'm not an expert in relationship, Levi. Especially, em, that kind of relationship, but... You have time. Hange's back, and I'll make sure, do my damnedest to make sure that she's back for good. You can figure it out together."

"Together, huh," Levi repeated. He liked the sound of it.

After all, that's when Hange and he were at their best. When they were together.

 ***

Back from the dead for less than a day and already getting on my nerves, four-eyes?

Staring down at the phone, Hange grinned. As she thought about his grumpy face, the grin grew wider.

"What are you smiling at?"

Hange quickly put the phone back into the pocket of Levi's coat. She looked up and saw Pieck and Porco stare back at her.

"Just a text," she said, shoving hands deep into the coat's pockets.

"A text?" Pieck arched an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you've got yourself a date or something."

"I don't have a date or something," Hange mimicked Pieck’s voice, earning a glare from her. "Just a friend."

Pieck continued to watch her with narrowed eyes. Hange looked back, still grinning.

"Is it a new coat?" Porco asked, interrupting their staring contest. "It's nice."

"You've got the wrong size," Pieck commented. "It's too small on you."

"Ah," Hange scratched the back of her head. "It was the last one."

"Hm," Pieck finally looked away. "We should go. The faster we deal with the job, the better."

"Aw, you don't want to spend more time with me, Pieck?" Hange nudged her in the side. "And here I thought we were becoming friends..."

Pieck sighed, shifting her gaze to Porco. "Bye, Pock. Talk to you later."

Then she started walking and Hange had no choice but to follow.

"So," she began, falling into step with her. "What Zeke wants us to do?"

"Check some of the local businesses, demand the protection money, threaten if they refuse. The usual stuff."

Hange let out a barely audible sigh. She hated this kind of work the most. Looking into the pleading faces of helpless owners, taking from them more than they could give - it was the worst. She still had to do it, though. She had to keep her cover. At least, today Floch wasn't her companion. Pieck, as sarcastic as she was, was a much, much preferred partner.

"You're spacing out again," Pieck's bored voice brought Hange back to present.

"Huh? I'm not."

"You've been doing it a lot today,” Pieck continued, ignoring her protest. “And you... you look happy. I don't think I've ever seen you smile so brightly before. Let's take a turn here," not giving Hange the chance to answer, Pieck grabbed her elbow, stirring her a bit to the left. "It's a shortcut."

"You really don't want spend more time with me than absolutely necessary," Hange noted with a grin. "Don't you enjoy our friendly banter?"

"I do," Pieck said, making Hange whip her head to stare at her. There was a small, bittersweet smile on her pretty face. "Truth be told, I'm going to miss it."

Blinking a few times, surprised by Pieck's words, Hange chuckled. "You're making it sound like I'm going away soon..."

"Don't you?"

Hange stopped abruptly.

"What are you trying to say, Pieck?" she asked, carefully observing her companion.

"I may not be as smart as you Hange,” Pieck huffed. “But I'm not dumb. I notice things too. Zeke's worst nightmare came to life, didn’t it? Your memories, they came back?"

"I—"

"And that means we're screwed, right? You'll take revenge on Zeke and us for lying to you."

"How?" Hange whispered, shocked by Pieck's perception. And here she thought she was so smart, so careful. "How did you find out?"

"It's in your eyes. Well, eye," Pieck sent her a sympathetic look. "It was confused before, lost. Now there is nothing but determination in your gaze."

"You've been staring at me a lot, Pieck," Hange teased, trying to clear the tense atmosphere. And mask her nervousness.

"That's my job."

"Does Zeke know?"

"No," Pieck started walking again, looking straight ahead. "And he won't know. Not from me at least."

"What?" Hange ran to catch up to her. "Why won't you tell him?"

"Because I understand," Pieck replied simply. "Because Zeke ruined your life, lied to you again and again, using your skills and intelligence. Because if I were in your place, I'd be filled with rage and desire to make him pay."

"I..." Hange swallowed a lump in her throat. "Thank you, Pieck. When— when shit hits the fan, I won't involve you. You'll be able to escape, I promise."

"Oi," Pieck smacked her arm. "I didn't tell you this because I wanted to get on your good side, weirdo."

"I know," Hange smiled. "I was going to do it anyway. You..." she faltered, pressing fingers to the patch on her face. "You've been there for me. You've helped me. You could have gotten in trouble with Zeke for that, but you still decided to help me. I won't forget that."

"Don't involve Porco," Pieck blurted out. "I know I'm asking for too much, but—"

"I get it," Hange cut her off. "Your safety won't mean a thing, if he's not safe too."

"I— yes," Pieck nodded. "You really get it."

More than you know, Hange thought, as an image of a certain scowling midget appeared in her mind.

"For how long have you known?" Hange she asked Pieck casually. "About me getting my memories back?"

"Almost a year."

So she figured her out almost instantly. Not bad, Hange decided with a weird sense of pride.

"And Zeke? He still hasn't caught up?"

That was weird. Zeke was exceptionally smart. Could it really be that he still didn't know?

"Maybe, he suspects it. But I think he doesn't want to believe it."

"How come?" Hange frowned. She was utterly confused. She always thought that if Zeke were ever to find out about her memory coming back, he'd deal with her instantly.

"Because he needs you. Don't sell yourself short, Hange," Pieck scolded. "You're valuable to us. More than you actually realize. You've been two years with us, and during this time we managed to keep ourselves completely below police's radar. Our profits raised, our gang became bigger and we found ourselves new allies. And all of it because of you."

Hange lowered her head, completely flustered. It was a while since anyone had praised her so. There was another thing she needed to know, though. She promised Levi she’d look into his case. And she needed to be sure. If Pieck was right and Zeke actually valued her, then...

"You said Zeke needs me, right? Would he listen to me? Does he value my opinion?"

Pieck knitted her eyebrows together. "Something happened," she didn’t ask, simply stated it. Hange was impressed with her more and more.

"Yes," Hange nodded. "While you and Zeke were on your trip abroad, two women were murdered."

"So? A lot of people die in this city."

Hange shook her head. "Not like this. The way these women were killed - it's obvious that someone is trying to set Zeke up," Hange didn't give to shits about Zeke, anyone who tried to get him behind bars was a friend. But they've taken two innocent lives. And they hurt Levi. She wouldn't let them get away with that. "If I tell him about it—"

"You'll have to tell him the truth then. About your memory coming back. It won't end well, Hange," Pieck warned.

"I know," If Zeke will find out about it, it'd destroy all of her carefully constructed plans. She was willing to take that chance, though. Her revenge could wait. "I won't be facing him alone. I— I'm planning on bringing backup."

"Backup?" Pieck repeated incredulously. "You'll have to find someone good, someone who would be able to make him reconsider killing you on a spot. Someone who can actually scare Zeke."

"Don't worry," Hange grinned. "I know just the guy."

And taking out her phone, she typed a short message.

Hey partner, wish to remember the good old days?

[qvid-pro-qvo]

do you have a favorite Criminal Minds episode overall? Do you have a favorite for each character?

mmmmmmm very good question to think about as i comfort rewatch :) also, probably gonna do favorite here and not best, because i think those are two separate questions. you’ll also see my bias toward earlier episodes here. whoops. 

favorite episode overall - this is a tough one, but i LOVE the episodes where we see the work of profiling, and in some episodes this is really shown as an art form. i would have to say “seven seconds” (3x01). i love the enclosed space the mall serves as geography, i love how they interview the family, i love the way they bounce off of each other. i could watch this episode every day. shit like this is why criminal minds is great. there are other episodes that i could classify as favorites but probably fall into the category of character episodes. 

this unsurprisingly got long, like novel-lengthy, so i’m sticking the individual characters under a cut.

hotch 

aaron hotchner. there’s a reason i write fic for this man, besides the fact that i feel like in later seasons he is the epitome of one note most times. we see him smile every so often, but i also think i latch onto earlier episodes because we see so much of his care for those he cares for. i LOVE “lessons learned” (2x10) for him. i LOVE the way he is so blatantly shown to adore haley and jack. i think this is one of the episodes that speaks volumes across the show, even as his humanity kind of gets stripped away in the later episodes. i think this is a great intro for emily prentiss, too, but i don’t put it with her because while she does shine, i like other episodes for her better. the foyet storyline, of course, all the way through its conclusion in “route 66” (9x05). i really love the way we see his adoration for haley and jack, i love the way we see him grapple with his guilt, and. fuck. i just care about aaron hotchner a lot. also i can’t not say “it takes a village” (7x01) - beard hotch? inspired my first ever fic for him? yeah.  also, i think it also shows the things he is willing to do for his team, because i truly think that if any member of the team was in that situation, he would be there for them and do the exact same thing. hypothetically. 

rossi 

rossi isn’t my favorite character for a variety of reasons, namely because i never really felt connected to him and i think he... is a tool for the writers to bring things out of left field. but i think a huge growth moment for him and for me in terms of appreciating him as a character is “zoe’s reprise” (4x15). the rossi that comes back to the bau is definitely one who is a lot of things, and this episode pretty much expertly breaks down every wall that he’s put up since he left. we see him empathize with a victim, see him get told off when he tries to use money to fix the situation, we see him reflect on the consequences of his actions and the way that even though he’s kind of an ass when he first comes on, there’s more underneath. like i said, he’s not my favorite character, but this episode does a good job of working in much needed humanization of him. also, of course, the dinner scene in “proof” (7x02) could be an episode all on it’s own. “as a family.” you’re so right, rossi, you’re so right. 

derek 

god, i fucking love derek episodes. i love, love, love derek morgan. i high-key think that shemar moore does some of the most incredible/versatile acting on this show, and i’m not even speaking in hyperbole. we can talk about microexpressions from hotch and mgg’s portrayal all we want, but the way shemar moore delivers a man who suffered from some of the worst childhood trauma and creates a layered character with some of the most incredible empathy towards others on his team and victims is just jaw-dropping. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again - derek is the most emphathetic character and the most in tune with the rest of the team. he is 100% the character who knows what others are feeling and actually acts on it. his relationships with spencer and penelope and emily -

but the episodes. there are tons of points in episodes focused on other characters where he shines (”penelope” and “mayhem” are two that come to mind) but honestly? “profiler, profiled” (2x12). not because of the trauma, but because how derek reacts to the trauma. we see him go through the five stages of grief when it comes to watching his persona, his shield, crumble around his team. we see him get taken apart and put himself back together. it is one of those episodes that makes me cry every time i watch it. derek confronting carl buford, that scene - f u c k. that’s all i have to say. 

penelope 

i absolutely adore my girl penelope. her character-centric episodes are some of my absolute favorite in the show. and it’s more like, i see a lot of myself in her even if i don’t absolutely identify with her personality (i am not nearly as sunshiney, unfortunately). so for her, i have to go with the classic “penelope” (3x09) for one. first of all, i think that the way the team cares for her is so vital. she is the heart of the team. and this episode shows it. more than that, i think it also shows how important a role she plays when she’s fully functioning, and we get reminded of how much she so desperately cares for others. i rewatch this episode often. another one for her is “exit wounds” (5x21). once again showing how much she cares for others, and also a really good/great/awesome derek and penelope moment. i love how often we get reassured that the team wants her exactly how she is, and she doesn’t have to change to catch the bad guys, and the moment where she says she looked into that man’s eyes so he could see something brilliant and bright as he died? god. sticks with me. 

emily

now. i’m not gonna lie. i think while i simp for hotch, emily is the most interesting character in the canon besides derek. i think while there are some problems in terms of continuity in her storyline, i think her journey in season six is one of my absolutely favorites to rewatch. i love watching her manipulate doyle. do i think the show could’ve done more in terms of fallout? yes. do i care? not totally. it’s a procedural, i get it. i love emily prentiss (probably am in love with her). i think her introduction in “lessons learned” is expert. while “demonology” (4x17) isn’t my favorite episode overall (i felt a disconnect with the story they were trying to tell in terms of unsub), i think for emily it’s such a brilliant look into her psyche and the way she thinks about her past. and i think “lauren” (6x18) is awesome at making the audience really look, watching her grapple with the consequences of her actions, her breakdown when she hears garcia’s message and having to quickly put herself back together... yeah, i love it. another one? “minimal loss” (4x03). i LOVE minimal loss. not only because of the story and the unsub, because emily throwing herself verbally in front of spencer to protect him is one of the top tier moments in the show. her and spencer’s relationship... fuck, so good.

spencer

there is a reason that spencer reid sticks around through fifteen seasons and it is because he is the soul of show. no, i’m not kidding. i think there is a lot of development that happens with spencer and when his individual relationships are highlighted the show shines. i think when the show, well, showcases his ingenuity it thrives. one episode that i just rewatched that comes to mind is “derailed” (1x09). the intensity of the episode is highlighted by spencer’s moments of humor, humanity, and intelligence. i like “revelations” (2x15) for the same reason. we see his genius through the eyes of the team and we’re just as in awe of him as hotch and gideon are. (did he get the support he needed after that episode? no, and i’ll die mad about it.) also his relationship with his mother, i will cry about it at any moment of the day. i LOVE their relationship, i love the way they develop, i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the fact that we see the both of them throughout the whole series. “the fisher king, part two” (2x01) and the growth moments between the both of them - like, god, rip my heart out kind of love. fuck, and don’t even get me started on HIS empathy. the way that he reaches out to so many people who are suffering through his ability to just... listen. he doesn’t overlook anyone. he can’t. he knows what it feels like. some examples i love “the uncanny valley” (5x12) and “coda” (6x16).

jj

jj. there’s a lot i could say about jj, but i will say this. i do think liaison jj is more interesting, inherently, than profiler jj, and i do think that her character is reduced as the series goes along. i honestly think she is more of an equal with the rest of the team when she is liaison and plays that role. i will say, though, that i think her own exhibition of empathy, namely through the way she is willing to take the brunt of communicating with victims and families, is brilliant throughout the show. she does so much and i wish we saw her do even more (also she is canonically one of the best shots on the team, and i LOVE that). my favorite episodes for her is “risky business” (5x13), because as someone who has lost a friend in the same way jj lost her sister, i really felt for her and i think this gave us so much insight into WHY she does what she does. and “the longest night” (6x01) because her speech impacts the unsub almost as much as it impacts me. there’s a reason hotch wants her to be the one on the radio waves, and she nails it because she’s competent and incredible and... yeah. i do love her.

[s1i9d]

Miraculous Ladybug: Season 4 Trailer Breakdown

Yes it is the time to be alive, which is Ladybug. It's been about a year and a half since the show returned (excluding the New York and Shanghai Specials) And the official YouTube Channel has released the trailer for Season 4! Find the video here!

Now this post will contain spoilers for Season 4. If you do not want to be spoiled about the 4th Season (especially 401 & 402), do not go further. If you do not want to learn future episode names and episode content, do not read further.

I have seen the first two episodes of Season 4 (401 "Truth" and 402 "Lies") but I haven't seen the other episode released. (406 "Furious Fu") I will not watch it until 403 to 405 release officially. So please no spoilers for any episodes beyond 401 and 402 in the messages.

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3 & 4 OF MIRACULOUS LADYBUG

00:01 - 00:04 - A monk-type person seems to be jumping rooftops on Paris. I identify this as a Tibetan Monk from the Temple we saw in "Feast". That's a discussion for later.

00:05 - 00:08 - Marinette opens the new Miraculous Box. We saw this in 401 "Truth". We saw that it opens like that because of Marinette being the new Guardian: she is full of surprises and the Miracle Box does reflect that. One thing I do find interesting is when the Miracle Box opens with all the Kwamis coming out, each sector of the Miracle Box has its own colour and its own pocket universe. So perhaps the ultimate "Ladybug is Pokemon" argument is real.

00:09 - 00:11 - Adrien points Marinette to a door in their school, and it leads to what seems to be a green energy room. It reminds me of a portal, but I have no idea what this portal does. It's maybe the most cryptic thing in Ladybug's history as a show, right next to Gabriel and what happened to Emilie.

00:12 - 00:27 - Things from "Truth" and "Lies". Romance drama stuff sandwiched between Gabriel repairing the Peacock Miraculous. Nothing really to say here, so let's move on.

00:28 - 00:29 - Marinette and the Startrain. I don’t know where this is from, but we’ll wait and see.

00:30 - 00:32 - Marinette and a new character in Francois Dupont's art Studio with Thomas (director of the Ladybug Movie in "Animaestro"), Alya, Nino, Ivan and Mylène. Zoe and Marinette look at each other with Marinette's hand on Zoe's shoulder. I would say "THAT'S GAY" but this is Miraculous Ladybug, so not happening.

00:33 - 00:34 - Alya pulls in Marinette for a hug as she seems to be feeling low. All of their girl friends join in to hug Marinette. This is one of my favourite parts of Ladybug with Marinette and her friend group.

00:35 - 00:42 - "Truth" and "Lies".

00:43 - 00:46 - The Kwamis reluctantly return to the Miracle Box as the Monk in the beginning of the trailer summons them all back. He seems to be trying to take away the Miracle Box from Marinette since she seems to be suprised by what is happening. Perhaps she isn't a full realised Guardian, so they believe she doesn't deserve to be the Guardian.

00:47 - 00:59 - Truth and a bunch of ShadowMoth stuff. (Small note here, he is absolutely fabulous and rocking the new look.)

01:00 - 01:01 - Ladybug throws her Yo-Yo on the Rooftop of a building. I don't know what this is.

01:02 - 01:10 - ShadowMoth and "Truth".

01:11 - 01:12 - Rena Rouge is casting an illusion spell. This is actually interesting since I didn't think Alya would ever be Rena Rouge again! Since Chloe revealed all the non-Ladybug and Chat's hero identities, they would have to stop being Miraculous holders. But if the justification is that Chloe is making all of it up for attention, it would work since no one believes her.

01:13 - 01:15 - The Monk is trying to fight Ladybug and Chat on a rooftop. Seems fun.

01:17 - 01:24 - A bunch of clips from that new girl being the Bee Miraculous holder?? There's her transformation sequence, her jumping on rooftops, even fighting what seems to be a Gorilla sentimonster? If I'm correct, this is probably "Queen Banana" where Chloe gets akumatised to defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir.

01:25 - 01:26 - Timebreaker, Horrificator, Reflekta and Princess Fragrance are all roaming around the city of Paris. I think this somehow ties in to the original hug with Marinette, Alya and the girl group. Maybe Marinette is too busy for them, and they want to help but she can't let them in because of her identity and responsibility as Ladybug and the Guardian. Perhaps they get Akumatised because they think Marinette doesn't trust them.

01:27 - 01:30 - Aside from a small clip from "Truth", there's a whole freaking pink portal that Ladybug and Chat are swimming through! It seems related to that scene with Adrien pointing to the door in their school.

01:30 - 01:32 - Lady Wifi is releasing pent up frustration and anguish so strong that it actually breaks her connection with ShadowMoth. Who is seen kneeling on the ground in agony. This is an insane amount of emotion, even for Alya.

01:33 - 01:34 - "Lies"

01:35 - 01:36 - A bolt of red lightning crashes down to the football stadium Ladybug and Chat Noir are in. There is a frame where you can see the Monk, and Ladybug is holding the Miracle Box. So I wouldn't be surprised if these were the same episode.

01:37 - 01:39 - We get a glimpse of Rose's transformation sequence!!! I love Rose so much, and seeing new heroes is always spectacular.

01:39 - 01:46 - New sequences, and a charm of sorts that looks like a bee??? I think this is a car key to summon whichever Miraculous Ladybug wants, without having to go back to her house to get it.

Fun! Exciting! Can't wait for more!!!

[nostalgicbones]

☕ how well do you think the deh movie portrayed your favorite themes of the show?

ohhh i love this question!! i guess, first i need to identify my favorite themes 🤔 might be spoilers for the deh movie below, if that bothers you!

the mystery of connor and how we as an audience never get to truly know him: you know, i was nervous about this one. i’d been burned by the novel putting canon words in connor’s mouth, and i was worried the addition of a song meant there would be too much added, that it would ruin the feeling of him being a conglomeration of each character’s idea of who he was. but a little closer was one of my favorite additions, it didn’t ruin the effect, it just gave a tiny piece of closure we didn’t get in the musical. i missed ghost connor and disappear but i understand why that wouldn’t translate well to film, and i actually think it made it more clear how little we know of the real connor.

the complexity of grief and how each person responds differently to loss: god, yes. i was nervous about what they’d do with requiem, since it’s staged very abstractly to account for each character’s participation. but when they started showing larry at work, cynthia at the grocery store, how their grief followed them everywhere they went… and zoe, my baby girl, driving recklessly in the hopes of feeling something, anything that isn’t numbness—it really got to me. i also really loved how they made a collage of the voices into a picture of connor in you will be found, leading up to larry breaking down, that made me bawl. i think zoe’s conflicting feelings of trauma from connor’s treatment of her, competing with her desire to have been loved by him anyway, was really apparent in kaitlyn’s performance.

confronting the lies we tell ourselves and others to get through the day: listen, i think this one can be wildly misinterpreted. i don’t think confronting lies is always coming clean, at least in the sense of a public spectacle—but you do need to learn to tell yourself the truth, and make amends to those you’ve hurt personally. anyway, i was a bit disappointed in the lack of jared since he’s the most fluent liar of the bunch. but the addition of the anonymous ones added a new layer of this idea of pretending to be okay, of putting on a mask for everyone around you, that really resonated with me. and evan’s return to ellison park during words fail was heart wrenching and powerful. but evan coming clean online at the end was… unnecessary in my opinion, i’ve never felt the need for a public apology and find it rather disturbing teens growing up these days have their mistakes broadcast for the internet to see.

being enough regardless of your accomplishments or failures: god, the most important piece of the puzzle. this is a thread that runs through every character—and it did come across in the movie, if watered down from the stage version. the lines in disappear were sorely missed, and how nobody knows what they’re doing in anybody have a map. but they nailed it in evan’s arc, how inadequate he feels at the start, and how the lies build him up only to come crashing back down. “i already know you, and i love you” remained, and continues to be a foundational message of the show, i think. alongside “today at least you’re you, and that’s enough” and “he’ll hold on and he’ll keep going (until he sees the sun)”. i really liked how the orchard played out, the simultaneous warmth and distance from zoe hitting just right for me. it’s closure, but in a realistic sense. making peace with the incomplete picture he has of the murphy’s, how he doesn’t get to see them put back together. he hurt them, and he has to live with that, live with himself in the wake of that. and he’s still worth something, he still deserves love and healing himself in spite of it all.

that was really long lol but if you read all that thanks for being interested in my thoughts!! i do think the movie captured the heart of the musical, which is all i could have hoped for. ​it was fun for me to decide what the most important themes are to me, so thanks for giving me the opportunity to do that 🥰

[rametarin]

I didn’t want to reblog another long post, so I’ll just say my own thing here.

Gatekeeping fandom is good, ackshully.

Especially since we have a certain pattern of person, call them, “SJWs” if you want, that deliberately creep into a fandom with their values and shamelessly, deliberately, use it as a platform. They CONSCIOUSLY do this. They DELIBERATELY do this.

And then they have the audacity to see false positives and imagine dog whistles everywhere of things outside THEIR orthodoxy in the fandom being -isms, or -gnies. Accusing the people already there of being “out of date” and “toxic”, when it’s neither toxic nor uninclusive- it just isn’t rearranging itself to accommodate Intersectional Feminism or giving Intersectional Feminists voluntary control over everything from how something works to how it’s defined.

That to them is tantamount to being Nazis. And that’s kind of how you can tell they’re the same sort of daft, disingenuous fucks that wrap up socialist or ancom shit in supposed social progress. And if they could they’re reshape EVERYTHING to match their sensibilities, because their sensibilities are, “our way or you die.”

If you spend enough time peeking through academic papers and colleges you even learn there’s a thing many of them do. Which is, “Queering,” characters on purpose, to make them unpalatable or untouchable to cis/het people. That’s culturally like raising a flag on something to annex it and landgrab it.

And if you say, “hands off, this character isn’t gay?” They pivot and declare you’re just a homophobe whom is afraid of change, tell other people that and then talk in the broad bruckstroke about, “society is really so homophobic/afraid of new ideas. :c”

These people don’t even want to be part of that fandom for the sake of being in the fandom. They just want it because they want the fandom to perpetuate their values and parrot their beliefs and spread it to everybody else that wants to participate in that fandom. Do you like this popular thing? Okay, you can have popular thing, but only if you hug this Courtney Love doll and buy it and pet it and love it as part of the package deal!

And as part and parcel of the demanding to not just define the fundamentals and parameters of a fandom, they also demand to reinterpret the history of said fandom based on how out of orthodoxy to their values they find it to their own beliefs. So, was the hobby primarily done by white men in the past? Then naturally they’ll automatically paint it with a broad brush and say, “this hobby was very unwelcoming to non-whites and women in the past because of icky homophobic and misogynistic men!” Regardless of how many authors were beloved by the fandom that were female, regardless of how many women were equal fandom members before- they weren’t the Intersectional Feminist types of fans, so clearly they were “closer to the Daughters of the Confederacy than real people,” right? That’s how that works, apparently.

So yes. We had a taste of this in the 90s, but the feminists/radfems at the time weren’t trying to infiltrate the fandom and take it over to be about feminism. They were shaming boys and other girls for liking the big booby comic book girls as sexist and objectification and trying to get comic fans to abandon comics in order to pressure the companies economically into changing.

“These comics are written and drawn by MEN! MAAAAALE GAAAAAAAAAZE!!! Sexualized girls are only okay when WOMEN are drawing them and writing them for the authenticity!” And there were not many women that either liked comic books or wanted to BE in them, so they’d maintain that impossible standard to try and coerce the boys to FIND women for the sake of having a woman on staff, just to assauge their, “icky boys aren’t allowed to do this without me declaring it wrong” qualm.

And true to form for Progressives, give an inch and within a short period of time they just want more, and declare what was offered before was just to mollify or patronize them. “Oh so women can tidy up and do the low work. Why no female CEOs in the company yet? Why not Editor in Chief?”

But the way the Intersectionals do it is new. Rather than just stay outside the fandom because “yuck it offends my sensibilities, it shouldn’t exist,” they try and appropriate the fandom and then contribute rules and policies for it.

We saw this in the years leading up to Gamergate. The Subverters infiltrated video game journos, got incestuous and buddy-buddy with both Triple A industry people and independent game creators and traded favors, financial, sexual and other, for good reviews. Folks like Anita Sarkesian trying to make a name for themselves by already being insiders and getting plugged by the conspirators to LOOK like she was anything more than a plant for that cause, using other peoples video game playing footage in her critique videos, styling herself a holistic “girl gamer” and waxing poetic about “those awful neckbearded dudebros questioning my gamer cred! Tch!”

And so that romantic boogyman became a thing that they perpetuated. “The gatekeeping, woman hating, manbaby Gamer.” Where they then added in racism and male chauvinism and traditionalism and transphobia because you know you can’t just leave it at “misogynist.” Not, “in this society.”

Gamers protesting and demanding that game journalist magazines state their relationships to the creators for full disclosure got them retaliating asymmetrically, though. The FBI investigated all those, “threatening and trolling social media messages” that supposedly got Zoe Quinn and Sarkesian to leave their houses, “for fear of an attack,” and they got nothing. A few of them were caught doxxing themselves on purpose on 4chan. Quinn herself being part of the SomethingAwful’s Crash Override forums, where they’d do shit like this to troll and harass people for fun. They KNOW how to false flag and make it look like a bunch of angry dudebros did it.

Statistically the number of harassing egg names was far lower than the messages either girl received that was NOT harassment or threats, merely replies they didn’t agree with or didn’t appreciate. And yet they still ran around screaming about “all those misogynistic dudebro gamers” that were “harassing and doxing them.” And that boogyman became the party line. That Gaming and Gamers were full of toxic, misogynistic, racist manbabies SOooOoOooOO intimidated by, “women finally in what they feel are THEIR spaces,” that they’d try to run them out.

That’s how they interpreted it and that’s how the history books they write will repeat it.

They try and make a great big public show about “entering this toxic space” to flip it and civilize it, but what they’re really trying to do is officially own it. As a fandom, as a space and as a culture. And that entails being able to say what goes, what’s acceptable and what’s not, and set the tone and culture for that space. Meaning, to be able to gatekeep the product.

Rather than just decry the product, they decide they’re just going to mutate the product by slow assimilation, until the product doesn’t even resemble the original product anymore. They do this shit with comic books, videogames, and now they’re working on doing it to beloeved novels and their fandoms. It’s like forcibly marrying them to terrible people, so you can never have a fandom WITHOUT those people in your space trying to insist their interpretations of things are original canon, ever again.

And the sickest part is, these people DO NOT stop at fiction. That’s why this shit is called Cultural Marxism. Because it’s not much different from the way communists and socialist guerillas act and operate when it comes to land, resources and industry. They take over public spaces and forums and use a combination of instittional corruption, terrorism and violence and vandalism in order to destroy or silence competition.

They’ve even infiltrated the Linux community and taken over most of that, via Linus Torvalds’ daughter. You can’t have ANYTHING around these people, because they just sit and wait and conspire to come in and make even a simple community mural to revolve around whatever social issue and specifically their philosophy’s take on it being THE only valid take on it that everybody else must now interact with, good or bad, but they can’t ignore it anymore.

This is, also, partially why they hate it when fandoms are gatekept by singularly powerful individuals. Like say, authors of their own works. They don’t like singular owners of enterprise and property, because it prevents the mob from taking them and then dictating TO the creator, “this is the PEOPLES property now. WE decide, as the most powerful clique, what is true and real with it and what isn’t.”

Because like what happened with Frank Oz of Jim Henson Studios. An activist gay writer declared that Bert and Ernie’s relationship was “canon gay,” because he wrote them as canon gay lovers. There was a great big information cascade as all these affiliated journo companies published articles about how “happy they were to see Sesame Street and the Children’s Television Workshop as representing LGBT people in public!”

Frank Oz spoke up, set the record straight, “These characters were made by me and a friend and were meant to depict a platonic male-male relationship. They aren’t gay but I’m glad you could identify with them.”

That poor old man caught so much shit. They called him a homophobe, said he was, “stealing Bert and Ernie from them,” that he should just shut up and “let people have this.”

No. Fucking no. These people are fucking conspirators, believe wholly in dominating and taking shit over by moving their people into a thing until they have the warm bodies and the institutional authority to crowd out oppositional voices, then have the audacity to SCREEEAAAAAAM bloody murder about the dangers of anybody else organizing to contest them because, “The Nazis are gathering to attack us poor innocent minorities!!” Counting on the ignorance and unsuspecting nature of people to not know such a thing is fake or the totality of the situation.

That’s why they’ll keep this shit on the downlow and call anybody that accuses them of doing shit like this a liar or a tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist. Demanding evidence, in bad faith, knowing there’s little to no way to PROVE any of this UNTIL they’ve done it, and then declaring you to be invalid since you can’t prove the conspiracy.

Because if you can’t prove it with evidence, they’ll simply say you’re a Nazi trying to smear “good people.”

[dascarecrow]

Marinette’s Many Dates - Marinette and Her Allies

Thought I’d give you a look at what’s the deal with Marinette and her friends in this story of mine.  

Marinette is the star of the show of course. She’s dealing with a lot of problems that I’ve outlined already (Miraculous stuff, issues with classmates) and also has commissions she’s been working on. Her social life has been hectic to say the least. She’s been so stressed out that she starts subconsciously doing design work without even realizing it (of course the fact she’s brought along her materials for designing says quite a bit by itself) It gets so bad that she’s actually gotten through all of her commissions and is still looking for something to do. Her friends recognize how bad things have gotten and convince Marinette to try the dating service. You can guess where it goes from there. We have some tragic laughs with Mari here. 

Her circle of friends has been overhauled a bit. The usual trio of Adrien, Alya and Nino aren’t as close with her because of the problems Lila has been causing but I’ll get to that in another post. Needless to say her circle of peers is pretty different here. 

First there is Chloe. Yes I’m making her a better person here. That’s my choice. One of the deviations here is that she actually got over herself and managed to grow as a person. She’s an actual friend of Marinette’s here because that’s always fun. This is still the Queen Bee though. She still has a sharp tongue but uses it more for not so harmful snarking. Her efforts at being a better person involve channeling her pride and ferocity into helping people. Unfortunately this also means dealing with others on an equal level, which she’s not that great at. She’s trying but her social skills are a tad rusty.  I am bringing Zoe and all of the family drama that would entail into this as something interesting to do with Chloe. One of the things I am sticking to is that she still exposed herself as a hero (in order to impress her mother. I don’t know if that was the case in the show but I have little interest in digging around to see if I’m right or not.) and has to be retired as a hero. I’m debating if I should stick to that and have it that she never gets the Bee again or allow her to regain it. Either way while she’s not happy about the decision she does make peace with it as for the best. Also she wasn’t Miracle Queen, that was Mayura who was akumatized. I’ll explain what happened there in the actual story. 

Her friend orbit now includes Rose and Juleka a bit more prominently. The two found out about Lila’s lying (Rose is in contact with Ali and would obviously tell Juleka) and are firmly on Marinette’s side now. They aren’t too happy about how Lila’s influence is making everyone worse but also know trying to help them right now is an exercise in futility so they’re focusing on helping Marinette as much as possible. Pigella and Purple Tiger both start making more regular appearances. Pigella because her ability can outright snuff out the emotions that power Akumas and Sentimonsters with the strength of hope. Purple Tiger because due to shenanigans with Chat Noir she needs a more combat capable associate.  

Alix is also a more prominent friend to Marinette. No real reason why I just think it works. Not sure about Bunnyx yet. We’ll see what happens. 

Nathaniel is the last classmate who’s in Marinette’s friend orbit now. Unlike the others who get sucked into Lila’s corruptive game he identifies far more with Marinette as a fellow artist and also he remembers that Marinette is the reason he and Marc have a partnership now so he’s on her side. If the boy gets a Miraculous soon I’ll put it in. 

Now for outside of the class. 

Marc is in the same boat as Nathaniel and has the bonus of not being in the same class as Lila so good vibes there. 

I have seen stories where Aurore is a friend of Marinette’s and thought I would include it here. (Not sure if that has any basis in canon but this is fanfiction) Will definitely consider giving her a Miraculous. 

Luka is still enamored with Marinette but for one reason or another they didn’t start dating. It’s mostly on Marinette’s end because Luka is having his own problems (The Jagged Stone reveal still happened here) and she doesn’t want to burden him with more issues. Not that this stops certain people (Chloe and Juleka) from wondering, very loudly I might add, why Marinette won’t date Luka given that he’s available, in an emotionally turbulent time in his life that could be assuaged by the love of the right girl and most importantly into her. Luka wasn’t exposed in the Miracle Queen battle so Viperion is still active and in fact gets called on a bit more. He does take her use of the dating service in stride, even if he is a bit heartbroken that she seems to be avoiding him as a romantic partner, and shows a great deal of patience and maturity with her choices. He understands that things are going on in her life right now and maybe she just wants something that isn’t a big commitment. I do have Luka as the quote-unquote “True” pairing of the story for those who don’t appreciate crossover ships. 

Kagami fills an interesting role. She and Adrien do try dating but he decides it won’t work out and cuts things off . She’s not exactly happy about this but does find some solace in her friendship with Marinette, especially now that they don’t have to compete with each other over who gets to be with Adrien. And events transpire to show that Adrien may not have been the boy she thought. She supports Marinette in anyway that she can in her dating and along the way may discover that Marinette makes her feel the way she thought Adrien would. Depends on my mood. Like Luka she wasn’t exposed in Miracle Queen so Ryuko gets to stay active. And oh does she have some words for Chat Noir. 

The final important ally Marinette will have will be Su-Han. I’ll skim over the details of how that meeting wound up going in the actual story but he will be a helpful ally to Marinette. He essentially realizes that Mari is a girl thrown into a war with the barest minimum of warning and assistance and recognizes that regardless of rules and codes she is a Guardian and has done the best she can in the role. He helps out by teaching her the ways and knowledge of the Guardians, such as the Akuma resistance technique, and pretty much takes over where Fu left off. Basically where Fu was Obi-Wan, Su-Han is Yoda. He is a lot warmer than he was in his debut episode and does what he can to help Marinette, both in her life as a civilian and as a Guardian.   

[extraneousdominomask]

Family.

This was, technically, Elyna’s second ever Día de Muertos.

That first autumn had bled into winter in a blur. Things in the house had been hectic, and tense. Understandably tense. Justifiably tense. Even without the exceptional circumstances, the ghost of a murderer hanging over this lovely home, it was easy for traditions to slide a little. It had taken a lot of careful effort to “adopt” her.

Oops. She was doing it again. The thing her therapist had pointed out where she didn’t classify the things that happened to her as real, because she didn’t see herself as real, but everything she felt was more than real so it only made sense to drop that habit and accept herself.

It had taken a lot of effort to adopt her. Yes.

That was what had happened. About fourteen months ago, this family, this wry and well-liked pillar of the local community, had revealed that they actually had a second daughter. Older and taller and much more purple than the pre-existing daughter. And they included her in everything. Last night, she had shared a wonderful Hallowe’en with them.

And now it was November 1st. From one holiday right into another.

Sly wasn’t a particularly spiritual man, despite - because of? - all the actual, literal undead creatures he had battled in his youth. He loved a good excuse to celebrate, though. As well as the big, basically secular holidays, he was happy to join his wife in her own traditions. The Montoyas and the Foxes were spread across pretty much the entire Spanish-speaking world and beyond, and at this point Carmelita essentially just picked her favourites. Factoring in all the globe-trotting they had both done, separately and together, the household’s annual calendar was… interestingly blended.

So, an archetypal Hallowe’en was always followed by a traditional Día de Muertos. It wasn’t a total shift in tone - it was important to remember the deceased with love and good humour, something this household could produce in industrial quantities - but there was a certain reverence to proceedings that was noticeably absent on the preceding night of pumpkins and candy and horror films.

Carmelita took this fairly seriously. That was why Elyna was dreading it.

Sly had stepped out, taking B with him. An annual raid for clearance candy. A shared activity Elyna preferred them to keep for themselves. This was her best shot. She had no idea how she was going to get through this conversation, even removing the possibility of her father bursting in with a poorly-timed joke.

‘Her father’. She reflected on those words as she stalked towards the living room. Sly Cooper was the source of half her genetics. The necessary ingredient that made her a test-tube baby instead of an unfeasible clone. And despite a… tense first meeting, she hadn’t had much difficulty accepting the fact he was her father. It was exactly that. A fact. His overtures of friendliness, everything he did to make her feel welcome, came with a solid, scientific basis.

His wife, though… 

Elyna let herself into the living room. It already looked so different from the makeshift movie theatre it had been last night. This was a small town, with an almost suspiciously low crime rate. There wasn’t that much work even for the Chief of Police, and that leftover energy meant quick and efficient decorating and undecorating and redecorating. 

The only survivors were the skeletons, grinning and painted, specific to Día de Muertos but certainly not out of place last night. But the pumpkins and cobwebs and big orange candles were gone. The back wall had been cleared, making space for several beautiful ofrendas. 

Elyna’s eye lingered on one corner, distinct from what was otherwise a sea of severe foxes. A photograph was the focal point, per tradition. It depicted two raccoons. One had black hair and sharp, intelligent eyes - still noticeably green in the otherwise faded colour palette. She was giving the camera a quiet smirk. The other was only identifiable as a raccoon by the hint of his striped tail sneaking up through the bottom of the frame. His arm was lovingly around the woman’s shoulders, but his face was totally obscured. 

Every year, Carmelita asked if Sly seriously didn’t have a better photo of his father, and every year, Sly would make a fresh joke about the man’s lifelong animosity with cameras. Just another tradition. Another ritual, part of the smooth running of the holiday.

“Your grandparents.”

Carmelita was adjusting a small figurine of an acoustic guitar with pinpoint precision, getting it in exactly the right spot relative to a smiling ancestor. But she had heard Elyna come in, and knew where those hazel eyes were focused.

“Conner Cooper, and his wife Beatrice,” she continued. “B is named after both of her grandmothers, actually. It’s made easier by the fact Sly’s mother preferred to be called Trixie.”

Elyna took another look at the bulk of the ofrendas, remembering her sister’s full name. “But, um, Zoe’s not up here, right?”

Carmelita smiled to herself. “Not yet she isn’t. Or my father. Too stubborn. At this rate, they might both outlast you.”

It was a harmless joke. One Elyna had to stop herself from hearing as a threat.

Carmelita straightened up, turning thoughtful. “We’re overdue for a visit,” she said. “I thought we had introduced you, but apparently not.”

These sorts of forgetful exchanges were becoming rarer. Elyna fiddled with a stand of her black hair - she was growing it out, and still getting used to it, and didn’t need distractions right now. Didn’t need to think about how she never met her father’s wife’s parents. Her step-mother’s parents. Her step-grandparents.

This was her chance. Her best shot. She should just follow her training and seize the moment. Without fear.

“I have a question,” she mumbled. “About this, I mean.”

“Oh?” 

“I, uh,” said Elyna, “have no idea whether I should put up a picture of my mom.”

The living room went silent.

Silence was one of the reactions Elyna had been expecting, and it was honestly one of the better ones. But that didn’t make it comfortable. “It’s just,” she attempted, “it’s kinda unclear to me if it’s all your family, or just the ones you…”

“The belief,” said Carmelita, crisply, “is that by setting up an ofrenda you’re inviting that person’s spirit into your home.”

“Right.”

“So you do it for people you want in your home.”

“Right,” said Elyna again, quieter.

A few moments passed. And then Carmelita sighed. Her posture, which had become rigid, uncoiled a little. “There’s no one answer,” she said, more diplomatically. “The spirit of the holiday is remembering the togetherness of family. But we both know that’s how things should be, not how they always are. Not everyone is so lucky.”

“I’m sorry.” Elyna was back to fiddling with her hair. “I know it’s a stupid question.”

“Not at all. I’ve always held there’s no such thing as a stupid question.” She put on an expression of exaggerated tiredness. “Or at least I used to say that, before moving in with your father…”

Elyna chuckled at that, and Carmelita smiled. That was always Sly’s strategy for smoothing a bumpy discussion - knowing when to include a soft joke. Carmelita had gotten better at it herself over the years.

“Has this been worrying you for long?”

“It’s kind of been in my head on and off for the past month. Sorry for only bringing it up now. And sorry for…” Elyna sighed. “I shouldn’t even be asking you about this. I know how much Mo- …how much Neyla hurt you both. Obviously you don’t want a picture of her in your living room.”

“The question,” said Carmelita softly, “is do you?”

Said question hung in the air for a few moments, unanswered. Carmelita intently watched the teenage girl in front of her. She looked so much like Neyla. But standing there, her paws awkwardly clasped, her gaze nervously on the floor, she couldn’t be more different.

“Do you know the origins of this holiday?”

Elyna managed to tear her eyes off the carpet, watching Carmelita carefully.

“It’s pre-Columbian,” she explained. “The practice of honouring the dead is rooted in the ancient cultures of Mexico. It was an important part of life for the people who lived there long before the Europeans came.  The modern version we celebrate today is a mixture of those original practices with a Catholic influence. That’s why it’s held on this date, for instance - to sync up with the church calendar. I think it’s important to remember it’s a blend.”

Elyna’s ear flicked. “A ‘blend’? That’s a pretty nice way of putting it. I’m no historian, but Hernán Cortés didn’t just step off his boat and ask everyone to play nice, did he?”

“No,” said Carmelita quietly.

“It’s not a blend. A blend would be if the Europeans and the natives set out to make something nice together. This is some kind of Frankenstein monster made when one group was just minding their own business and someone else came up behind them and-”

It was Elyna’s turn to fall silent.

“Oh,” she said.

Her face scrunched up a little, and Carmelita sighed. “That’s… not what I meant. Or at least not exactly.”

“You only kind of meant to call me a Frankenstein, got it,” muttered Elyna, who was, fantastical circumstances or not, still a teenage girl.

“I didn’t call you anything.” Carmelita’s voice was steady. Not sharp, but steely, leaving no room for argument. She hadn’t thought much about motherhood earlier in her life, but she had always been able to keep a firm grip on an unpleasant discussion, and that was one of the fundamental requirements. “Try not to assume the worst of what I’m saying.”

Elyna stayed quiet.

“But… yes. I suppose it might be an applicable metaphor. You’ve got two sides to you, too. You’re Neyla’s, and you’re Sly’s. You’re the result of some cruel revenge scheme, and you’re a person with your own desires. Who you are now is a product of both.”

“That’s… yeah.” Elyna rubbed her arm sheepishly. “That’s pretty much what’s been eating at me. Neyla was an objectively bad person. And like, I never even met her, so it’s not like I’m attached. Or at least I shouldn’t be attached…”

Not for the first time, Carmelita privately despaired at the uncertainty in the girl’s tone. That therapist had a lot to work through.

“…but the fact is, I wouldn’t exist without her. At all. And that’s… It’s just weird.” She paused. “Yeah.”

“And now all those confusing feelings have a physical problem. Whether or not to put up her picture.”

“Yeah…” 

“I’m not being flippant when I say I don’t know what to tell you,” said Carmelita. “Not everyone in my family tree was a saint. No-one can claim that. But as far as I know, we never had a Neyla.”

“As far as you know,” echoed Elyna. “That sounds like the answer, then. Monsters get written out of the family history.”

“They don’t get invited to parties, at least,” she replied. “Which, like I said, is the spirit. It’s keeping your family close, because you never want to forget their warmth.”

Elyna resisted the urge to scoff. Purely for Carmelita’s benefit - it wasn’t directed at her. ‘Remembering warmth’. There wasn’t any warmth to remember when it came to Neyla. To the brisk, clipped instructions Elyna had been left in lieu of a childhood.

She felt the decision click into place.

“Let’s not do it.”

Carmelita, to her credit, kept her reaction diplomatic. “You’ve decided?”

“Yeah. If the point is remembering the good times, well… A photograph of Neyla is just a waste of space.”

In other circumstances, Carmelita would have shown more enthusiasm for an insult that harsh, that confidently delivered. But she knew to tread relatively lightly, so she just offered Elyna a smile. “Well said. I’m glad I could help.”

“Yeah. Thanks a lot.” Elyna nervously returned it. “I was hoping you’d know what to do. And, I knew that you, y’know… I mean, I can ask Dad for advice on a lot of things, and it’s usually pretty good, but-”

“Happy Skeleton Day~!”

The door swung open, revealing a grinning Sly. They hadn’t heard him come through the front door, but he had no qualms about announcing his presence.

“How’s it going?” His eyes, the same hazel as Elyna’s, fell on the ofrendas. “Oh, wow. These look better and better every year, ‘Lita.”

“Oh, I didn’t do much differently…” said Carmelita, but her face betrayed how much she appreciated the comment.

He planted a kiss on her cheek, then planted himself beside her, husbandly. 

“Where’s B?”

“Oh, she ran straight to her room,” he said. “Pretty sure she’s stashing her candy in a secure location. Or locations. Who knows how many caches she might have…”

Carmelita sighed. “Is that raccoon behaviour, or fox behaviour…?”

“Oh, both. Absolutely both. It’s a marvel she eats anything at dinner.”

He turned his warm smile more towards Elyna.

“So, what are you two talking about?”

“Just, uh, holiday stuff,” said Elyna. “I had a weird question. Carmelita is a good person to ask.”

“She is! Honestly, I just follow her lead.” He glanced over to her. “Speaking of, there’s still a few things to figure out about the big dinner. Bentley and Penelope are easy to cook for, but I like to give Murray new options where I can. Any thoughts?”

Seizing this chance for a tactful retreat, Elyna began to drift towards the door. “I might, uh, go check on B.”

“Good idea,” said Carmelita. “Again, I’m glad I could answer your question. You can always talk to me, Elyna.” That earned a smile, once much less nervous.

“Thanks, Mom.”

There was a pause.

Sly was pretty sure that blushes weren’t supposed to show up through fur, and yet, the lilac of Elyna’s face seemed to briefly veer into a much more reddish purple. Her hazel eyes were wide and unblinking. “mrrghg,” she said.

“Come again?” said Sly, unruffled.

“I said ‘okay bye’,” said Elyna and she was gone an instant later.

The door clicked shut with surprising gentleness. Sly chuckled. “Well…”

He stopped, finally noticing his wife had a similar facial expression.

“‘Lita? Everything alright?”

She blinked, twice, and suddenly she was back. It was still hard to slow Carmelita Fox down. “Sorry. Just wasn’t expecting that.”

Sly’s smile was wry, but his voice was soft. “I was.”

Carmelita leaned against him, and they stood there for a moment, half-embracing in their living room. Logistical questions about dinner plans and decorations fell away, briefly, as they savoured the feeling in the air. What had just happened, and the unique atmosphere of the day, and, of course, each other.

The silence was broken by a soft murmur.

“She’s a good kid.”

“Really?” said Sly innocently. “She doesn’t get it from me!”

Carmelita scoffed. 

“Okay, maybe she does,” he admitted. “I have many wonderful qualities to pass on, as is evident in both our daughters…”

He cupped his wife’s cheek. Lost himself, for a moment, in those deep brown eyes.

“But you’re a better influence than I could ever be.”

Her reply was a kiss. 

The moment passed, slowly, but they didn’t hurry to get back to decorating. It was still early, and they had several hours before the annual dinner they held for Murray and Bentley and Penelope - familial relations just as important as the gallery of photographs in front of them. As the girls engaged in hushed discussion of cheap chocolate upstairs.

“Oh,” said Carmelita. “While she and I were talking, I realized that Elyna’s never met my parents. We should fix that.”

“We should,” said Sly. “Sometime in winter, maybe? Whenever suits your folks. Might take us a little while to get over there, but we could throw in a few detours on the way, really make use of the journey…”

She smiled. “And when did I say we’d be going to them? They’d be perfectly happy to come here. You’re just-”

“-taking every chance I see to go on a trip, yes,” he smirked back. “C’mon, ‘Lita, you can hardly be that surprised. Old habits, etcetera…”

“Are you really so eager to escape?”

She said it as a joke, but he didn’t bounce back with another quip. He stood there, in his living room. His daughters upstairs. His parents watching over him from behind the glass of their picture frame. His brothers and sister-in-law, still thriving, quietly, the same way he was, on their way in a few hours. And, above all else, the love of his life in his arms.

His smile was as warm as his voice.

“Nah. We’ve got something pretty good here.”

[my-fanfic-library]

Something Different {BBC Dracula x Reader} [28]

Masterlist

~^*^~

Something about lying in a bed made Dracula feel a little more human. After the last few hours, winding down like this was the best feeling ever. It was a shame that peace could never last, not even for a vampire.

The door began to receive a beating from the outside. He thought about getting up to answer it, but then he heard it open. Who the hell was storming in? He continued to lie there, hoping he wouldn’t be found. The sound of mumbling filled the apartment, along with the rhythmic slamming of footsteps. Every now and then, it would stop, and then a door would slam and the noise would pick up again.

Finally, as if saving his bedroom for last, the door burst open and you strode in. Dracula pulled the covers up his chest, lying still, watching as you stormed to the bedside. Standing with your feet apart, arms crossed, you glared at him. Boy, you were upset.

“Well?” You began.

“Well...” Dracula repeated.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“Yes, I am naked right now-“

“No.” You cut him off sharply, “where have you been this evening?”

“Out...” crap. You knew.

“Dracula.” You warned. Your voice was cool and angry.

“I may have gone to visit a person...”

“Would that person have been Daniel?” You questioned. Dracula looked at you sheepishly.

“It’s hard to remember the specifics...”

“Perhaps this little fact will help jog your memory - the only thing they had to identify him was his decapitated head on the sofa with his nose and ears missing!” You bellowed, “how could you-?! How could you?!” Your arms flew in the air with your rage. Your face was purple and your eyes were so dark in anger.

“I-“

“Don’t even start with your excuses! I can’t believe you!” You ran your hands through your hair, making a groan of anger, “how could you do this to me?” Your hands flew out again, fingers curling into fists. You stepped backwards, making some distance between yourself and the vampire. You closed your eyes, and then opened them again, “seriously, Dracula, how could you?”

“After the way he treated you,” he defended, “did you really think I was going to let him get away with hurting you twice?” He raised his head to look at you better.

At his reply you made another noise, turning away from him and running your hands through your hair again. Then, you covered your face, sighing heavily into your hands. You were shaking. You couldn’t believe that Dracula had finally derailed. After a long moment, you turned back to him.

“Is this how it’s going to be?” You inquired, clear hurt in your voice, “every time someone hurts me, you’re going to fly into a frenzy of anger and jealousy and tear them to shreds?” He sat up, as if to get up and move towards you and you held up your index finger at him, “don’t.”

“[First]- he made you cry.” Dracula raised his own voice in a moment of anger. Why couldn’t you see the reasoning behind the anger that had lead to such a destructive act?

“You’ve made me cry!” You shrieked, “are you gonna top yourself bevause of it?! You can’t just- I don’t know how you can justify that! Like I haven’t got a vampire hunting me down, my mother is driving my crazy bevause Mark has gone missing and now this!” You smacked a hand to your forehead, the other resting on your hip. You groaned, “is there anyone else?”

“Sorry?”

“Is there any more of my friends or acquaintances that I should know that you’ve killed?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” He sat up to look at you. His hair was disheveled and a little damp.

“Let’s see, you’ve already killed three people I know. Are there any more?”

“Wh-“

“Zoe, Lucy, Daniel,” you listed the names, counting on your fingers, “is that where the list ends?”

“Are you fucking serious? I go out of my way to do everything to protect you and your feelings and this is how you’re repaying me?” He raised his voice, glaring right back at you. How could you distrust him so much?

“Oh, you’re right, I’m so sorry, Drac,” your voice was dripping sarcasm, “I should just get on my knees and thank you for your noble act!” You were giving him such a dirty, nasty look that for a second, he really did believe you actually hated him.

“Don’t give me that-“

“Don’t give you what? Dracula, you killed Daniel! It doesn’t matter if he upset me, the fact of the matter is that you fucking killed him!” You took in a breath, trying to steady your pounding heart and shaking hands, “I can’t do this, Dracula.”

“[First], please, calm yourself down. You’re just in shock. We can talk about this tomorrow. It’s late.” He tried to reason, but the love your eyes had held for him was gone; replacing that look was a flaring heat.

It sent something rippling through his chest, the look of... no love for him on your face. He had so clearly remembered the way you looked at him. You looked at him like he was your whole world, your everything. Right now, it was like you didn’t even know him. It was like he was the person who had blown that world to smithereens. Since when had you had such a chilling angry look?

You brought your hands together, as if to pray and brought them to your face. Your thumbs rested under your chin, index fingers running up along the centre of your nose and parallel to your face. You inhaled deeply as your eyes shut. Your fingers were hot with your anger and heated the cool skin of your face.

“You need to decide if this is how it’s going to be.” You spoke, suddenly eerily calm.

“How what’s going to be?”

“If you are going to learn some self control. Because if you’re going to kill every single person that’s ever wronged me, then... then I’m going to have to leave. Don’t make me leave, Drac.” You lowered your hands to your sides, looking at him. Your face was beginning to lose all emotion.

Dracula sighed. He expected you to be upset. But not like this. Your emotions were all over the place. You didn’t know what you wanted right now and he needed you to realise that it was him that you needed and wanted. He knew it was what your heart craved.

“I don’t want you to leave.” He whispered.

That was the last thing that he wanted. You were the sun in his dark world. You were the beating heart in his still chest. You made up the rest of his being. Every moment he had spent with you, he had felt alive. If you left him, he would go back to feeling like the undead monster that he truly was. Losing his control like that proved that he would always be that monster; but with you around, he could truly feel human. Domestic moments like watching you wake up beside him, having small conversations about things you wanted to do, driving somewhere for your dates, they gave him meaning. He hadn’t had meaning in so long. You had gifted it to him, along with your love and your trust. How could he be so stupid as to deprive himself of that like this?

“Then why did you do it?” You were tearing up.

“[First], my darling, he needed to go. He was no good for you.” That was the truth. He hadn’t seen you fly off of the handle like that before.

“You’re not good for me.” You closed your eyes. Please, don’t cry, you begged yourself.

Slowly, he finally pushed himself up. The only sound for a moment was his slow padding of his feet on the carpet. He closed in on you. His body was inches away from your own and he interlocked your hands by your sides. You couldn’t hold back the small sigh of feeling him again. Being so close to him felt so good after so long. For just a moment, in the silence, you melted into his touch.

“You don’t mean that.” He whispered.

“Yes I do. You’ve killed three people. How can I go to Daniel’s funeral knowing what really happened to him?” You lowered your head, the first tear slipping down your cheek. Your heart was cracking. Your voice was soft and airy with your despair.

He could feel your pulse in your hands. Your warmth ignited him and he finally felt at home once more. Your heartbeat moved through him and it was like he was alive again. You were giving him the chance to feel the movement of his blood, one of the best feelings of being alive. He was so close to losing it.

Please, he thought, don’t take this away from me.

“You did for Lucy and for Zoe.” His voice’s softness matched your own.

“I can’t do it again, Drac. I just can’t.” You pulled away from his touch, “I can’t...” you whispered.

“You also can’t leave me. Renfield-...” he cut himself off. The thought of anything happening to you was too much for him to even begin to process.

The image of your mauled body flashed into his mind and he shut his eyes, lips pressing into a thin line. It made him feel sick. Something like that, something so awful happening to the purest, only good thing in the world - it couldn’t happen.

“I think that’s a risk I have to take now, Dracula.” You locked eyes with him, “you won’t change. Someone else will come along. I know you hold back with Jack for me. But I don’t know how long that will last. For his sake, for my own, for yours-“ tears were flowing down your cheeks, and you were struggling to keep yourself together.

He wouldn’t loose control again. He knew that. It had been the way he knew the pain Daniel had put you through for so long. It had haunted you for so long. Jack hadn’t ever hurt you - Dracula just didn’t like him. It was different. He wouldn’t snap again. But, he didn’t know how to say it. He didn’t know how to promise you without it feeling fake. Maybe he couldn’t promise. Maybe there was always going to be that risk...

You never wanted this day to come. Dracula had made you believe such thing as love again. It was stupid to think that you could love a vampire without consequence. He was looking at you like he was going to break down at any moment. Your mind was screaming at you to leave. He was too dangerous. He had killed in an act of revenge, in an act of jealousy. You couldn’t go through the death of another person close to you. You couldn’t allow Dracula to hurt someone else.

God, why did this hurt so badly?

“Please,” Dracula begged, taking a small step towards you, “don’t do this.” He softens his voice, trying to coax you back to him. His voice broke. Was he holding back his own tears?

“I think... I need to be away from you right now. Please don’t follow me out of this room.”

You turned and Dracula watched as you slipped out of the door. How could you do this to him? How could you so dramatically change your opinion on him? How could you change your heart...? Just like that...?

What was the feeling aching in his chest? Was it heartbreak?

There was a deafening crack as his fist went through the wall. The front door hissed shut and you pressed your back against it, shaking as a loud sob racked through your body. You couldn’t help sliding down the door.

This couldn’t be the end.

Dracula wasn’t about to let you go without a fair fight. You couldn’t just leave him like that. You couldn’t walk away from him and straight towards your doom. This couldn’t happen just because Dracula finally lost control.

How could he let himself loose control like that?

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