#like. owens got her out of prison so fast! he was like ''oh that's not a problem don't worry about getting arrested'' when really that

[mlchaelwheeler]

hot take: I didn't love El hitting Angela. Yeah it's satisfying to see a bitch get rocked but the fandom treats it like such a girlboss moment when that really wasn't meant to depict a healthy response. El has a potentially fascinating relationship with violence to explore, so narratively it's fine that that happened except that it kinda went nowhere. I guess she saw that her actions have consequences when she got arrested but then they just dropped it and she didn't seem to think anything of it or grow from it (unless I'm not thinking deep enough thoughts?). I know she had much bigger fish to fry, but I felt like we needed to see her interact with or at least think about Angela one more time to wrap that all up. Idk I love El but the whole bullying arc felt so 2D to me.

#you're SO CORRECT #the way that the bullies in s4 felt so stereotypical and 2D compared to troy and james in s1... yah #while i so support el hitting angela (bc she deserved it) i do think that el didn't really care about the consequences #like. owens got her out of prison so fast! he was like ''oh that's not a problem don't worry about getting arrested'' when really that #should've been a big deal! el needs to learn that she can't just use violence to solve problems #while yes that's how she was trained in the lab. in the real world you can't just go around smacking people in the face #also in 4x01 when she tried to use her powers on angela. was she gonna kill her right there ?? what was her plan #bc el has learned that whatever she does. someone will just make it go away for her #she's gotta be more careful about her actions fr #a hot take perhaps but an incredibly based one <3 #ask sarah

[jackiequick]

Operation Baby Rescue - Fast & Furious Fic 🏁 (Part 2)

Val Toretto x Deckard Shaw

Check out the backstory to the character and couple here

Operation Baby Rescue / Fast & Furious Fic 🏁 (Part 1)

—

Val reread the note more than twice and groans, can’t believe what she just read onto the real reason why Dom kept working with the bad side of the story. She has his son. She took a breath and looked up at Santos who pointed with a smile to take a look in the back.

She nodded and busted open the door, stepping inside to see a rather older woman she hasn’t seen before hanging over Deckard’s body. “How lovely..” Val mutter and took a seat across from her, with the man in question in the smack middle of them. “Sorry, haven’t met you before..who are you?” She asked.

The older woman gave her a cheeky grin and shook her head. “Bloody idiot didn’t think of mentioning me to anyone, did he?” Said the woman sending a small glare to Deckard’s unconscious face then glance back at her, “I’m Magdalene Shaw, dear.”

“Sh-Shaw? As in his mother, Shaw.”

“Ah, so you heard of me?”

“He mentioned his mother once or twice. Nice to finally meet the face to the name.”

Mama Shaw smiled, “You’re prettier than your brother said and humorous, i like you. Too bad my idiot son, didn’t bother to tell me about you!”

Val snickered and nod, “We should make plans for a lovely brunch, just the two of us. Let’s wake up him.”

Magdalene Shaw took a syringe stabbing it into her son’s chest. Deckard gasp glaring at her, “Jesus mom, your supposed to avoid the nerves!”

“Oh shut up.” Replied his mother, putting the syringe away, “Don’t be such a baby. That’s for also not telling me about her.”

“What?”

Deckard’s upper body slowly turned to his left, his eyes widen at the sight and groaned, “Oh hell..”

“Not happy to see me, Deck?” Asked Val, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed waving at him.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Clearly Dom didn’t tell you, I’m coming.”

“Of course he’ll ask his sister. I’m guessing you met mom.

“She’s lovely, we’re having brunch if we survive this.”

“Oh no..”

His mother smirked, “Oh yes. That’s what you get for not introducing me to her earlier!”

“We’ll discuss this later! Did Toretto hold up his end of the deal?” He asked, looking at both woman.

Magdalene held up a communication device, that looked like a smart watch to track Cipher with. “But you can’t do this on your own, it’s got to be 3 of you.” She explained.

“Fine, we got contacts.” Deckard said with a shrug.

“No, you’re taking your brother. Toretto knows where he is, it’s called the devil’s bumhole or something.”

~~~

Val tried not to laugh as she corrected her, “It’s called God’s eye. And we’ll take Owen.”

“No we’re not! He’s a lost cause.” Deckard remarked, not liking the idea.

“He’s your brother, Deck.”

“Yeah so?”

“We should take him, we need someone to help as back up.”

“I can call one of my guys back home, get the job done much easier.”

His mother added onto Val’s response and started to cry, “He’s your brother. My son, your family. And our family don’t die, bloody..how can you talk like that about Owen i can’t believe you! You gone and upset me, why can’t you just listen to us and..”

Deckard sigh looking around and said, “Oh come, mom. Ok, I’ll take him!”

Mama Shaw grinned knowing her son fell for that trick every time and wink at Val. “He’s too easy.” She said, slapping her son’s chest, “Now, how long have you two been together?”

“Oh mom!” Deckard exclaimed annoyed and slightly embarrassed at the question, taking Val’s hand, “This is why I didn’t want you to meet her.”

“How long, Deck?”

“Since 2011. It’s been a going on for a while now, we’ve all seen each other every couple times a year.” Val answering and chuckling brightly, squeezing her boyfriend’s hand.

His mother gasp, “How long were you gonna hide this from me? You’re own mother! Have i’ve not taught you anything?”

“Mom, I didn’t think i needed to tell you. I was prison for more than 2 years, for god’s sake!” Deck tried to explained and sigh, “..I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“At least kiss the sweet girl, she must’ve thought you were dead for half a day. Us women deserve more from you Deck.”

“I can handle this. You two meeting wasn’t on my agenda for this..”

~~~

Val leaned forward watching the two and smirked, “She’s right, you scared the shit of me after Dom fake shot you.”

“You’re just as worse. Come here, you.” Deck said as he rolled his eyes and cupped her cheeks pressing his lips onto hers, giving each other a taste of how much they missed each other, “I’m sorry, we couldn’t tell you.”

“It’s alright. I must’ve known Dom was planning something else involving you and the team.”

“I promise we’ll go on another vacation after this, your choice.”

“Let’s get to work then.”

——

Val packed up her guns and the carrier, waiting for the Shaw brother to stop bickering. “Boys! Seriously?” She yelled, looking at the clock.

“Sorry, love. We’re planning out who flies first.” Deck replied and kiss her cheek.

“I still can’t believe i get called back to action, to see my brother in a relationship with what used to be my enemy.” Owen said looking over and scoffed.

“Shut it.”

Within 4 minutes, they stood up and out of the drop zone. Placing their helmets, as they flew behind and beyond the plane that belong to Cipher. Owen in front opening the back of the plane as the three of them stumbled onto the track, holding onto crates closing the back door.

Removing their helmets, Val took a breath, fixing her handheld set and pushing hair out of her face. The brother talked quickly, Val instructed Owen to take the pilots while her and Deck searched. Cipher got alerts about them being on the plane right now and got pissed.

“Surprise.” Deckard said looking over his shoulder at the security camera and the next two smirked. The doors open as the 3 shot down a few agents Deckard instructed Owen to wait for his signal before following Val down the halls safety.

The two ran down the hall fighting a few guards reaching the room, that carrier the package. Owen signaled his brother that they’re in position, Deckard slide open the door as Val’s jaw dropped at the very package in front of her. A bouncing baby boy in his crib babbling, reaching his hands in the air.

“Hello chulo, hi. I’m your Tia Val.” She said calling him ‘cutie’ in Spanish as he gushed at her making grabby hands.

Without a second later she picked him, bouncing him on her hip. He curled comfortably into her chest. She nuzzled her cheek onto his head, “You’re so cute. Deck i think i want one.”

Deck chuckled as the baby boy grabbed his finger and he replied, “We’ll see about that, love. He’s a very handsome boy, seems to like us. A happy kid, for sure.”

He opened a comm link to Dom, waiting for the other line. Once he did, Deckard announced, “We got the package, Toretto. All 12 pounds of him.”

As he did, the baby smile bouncing and babbling, “Ya!..yeahhh da..dada..da.”

The two chuckled at him, in love with the kid already. Val can only imagine the sigh of relief on Dom’s face as she cradles the little guy in her arms. Deckard smiled at the two of them, cooing at the kid, imagining his lady as a mom one day.

Deckard placed the baby boy in a carrier, covering his ears with headphones as the kid just softly smiled at him. He turned up the volume of the music being Alvin and The Chipmunks. Val gave him a look, “Seriously? That song?”

“What? He like it.” Deckard replies turning back to the baby, “You good?”

The baby boy just made a satisfying sound as if to say, ‘yeah i love this song. We’re good.’ Val cracked a laugh, placing a kiss on her nephew’s forehead before nodding towards the door with her gun.

Deckard looked down with a soft look of reassurance to the boy and said, “Alright little man, this might be a little scary but its’ gonna be a lot of fun.”

—-

Once the door open, Deckard held the carrier jabbed and punched a two men as Val pointed her gun shooting down two more. The two took cover, switching off who gets the carry the boy next. Like a game of hop potato. “How’s the music? Good?” Deckard asked the kid, who was in his own little world waving a hand in the air replying to his question.

Val pinned and kicked a few men off balance and onto the glass table, even shot once in the chest, satisfying herself. Deckard scoffed dragging one across the bar on the wall, slamming him against a few glass as he shot a few others.

“Going for a ride.” He said, sliding the carrier over to her, as Val catches it with her foot like a Soccer ball.

She heard her nephew giggle which cause the girl to smile in return, “You like that, huh kiddo?” Val slide the carrier in between a few seats safely, “Back in a sec, keep watch.”

Deckard and Valentina stood back to back, holding up their gun to the soldiers who glared at them, they shot down two. Deck leaned forward, causing her back to rest against his, holding Val securely spinning around as she kicked a few steps onto the soliders. Once he dropped her onto the ground, Deckard dodged a few punches swiftly whooping a couple of asses successfully along the way, eventually throwing one across the room breaking the glass shelf in between them.

Val dodged a couple of punches and switch places using items such a bowl to slam a few heads. She crouched down in front of the carrier, “Where’s that handsome smile?” Baby Toretto smiled brightly listening to his music. “There is it!” She added, picking up the carrier blocking a couple of bullets, spinning to shoot the very who shot at her.

“How dare you shoot a baby? No respect!” Val scoffed and looked over shoulder jokingly signaling him, “You heard Deck?”

Deckard peeked his head from the other side of the wall after punching some guy. He scoffed at the man, “You were gonna shoot a baby? You sick bastard!”

He turned the carrier toward windows and stepped over to the male guard with a smug smirk slamming his head into a table multiple times until he passed out while fighting off two more.

Val noticed a huge guard charging at them and she scoff in annoyance, “Ugh! Another one of you? Aren’t you tired yet of this game?!” The man flipping her over and slammed her against the table, swinging her around like a rag doll as glass shattered around her as Val tries to fight him.

Before he can get a strong shot at her, Deckard came in swinging and slammed the man across the room yelling, “Hands off, asshole!”

He quickly pulled her up from the ground checking her face. Concern was laced in his eyes, scanning for any damage aside from the hits they already took to the head. “Are you okay? Did the bastard hurt you badly?” Deck asked.

“N-no, I’m alright I think..” Val reply noticing a few cuts on her man’s shoulders from the fight, “Are you okay?”

“Ah, I’ll live. We’ll get bandage up later.”

“Yeah, and next time you take the big guy.”

The two crack a few smiles, running over to the baby carrier to check their special package, making sure no more guards or soldiers coming in anytime soon.

—

Deckard wink at her before checking on Baby Toretto with a soft smile, “How we doing, buddy? Good?” The baby was clapping his hands with the brightest toothless grin he ever seen.

“There’s that handsome smile!” Added Deck grinning from ear to ear, before looking back at his lady, “I love the little guy.”

“Me too. He’s one of the funnest rescue I’ve ever had.” Val joked, making a silly face toward her nephew who giggles in return.

Val walked into the room that held Cipher holding the gun straight to her face, a piercing look laced with such attitude and seriousness. “You bitch.” Is all she said at the blonde in braids.

“Fair. How did you find me?” Cipher asked, noticing Deckard walking in behind her holding his gun with a glare and gentle placed down the baby carrier.

Deckard smirked as hee answered the question, “A friend gave us a tip.” He revealed Dom’s famously worn cross necklace, tossing it over to his lady, who caught it.

“Clever.” Cipher said with a smirk, “You’re also out of bullets, Deckard.”

“Like i need a gun to take care of you.”

“Also very resourceful, I’ll give you that.”

“You have a lot to answer for Cipher. What you put both of ours families though, my mother. I’mma make sure that never happens again. Not to anyone ever again!”

“You should know by now, you messed with the wrong crew. Especially when my brother’s really calling the shots around here.” Val added, “It’s simple really, stop you for the damage you caused.”

Cipher scoffed, “Only one fault in your pretty plan.”

“What’s that?” Deck asked, with a glare.

“Only one of us has a parachute.”

Within not even a matter of seconds, Cipher grabbed the raven black backpack that held a parachute inside, opening the doors flying out. Val raced after her causing her to almost hit her fist and slip out of the plane, gasping and yelling out in frustration at losing Cipher. Deckard noticed the baby carrier sliding towards the door as he jumped to grab it quickly, but almost being able to reach the buttons to shut the door.

He grunted as he noticed her almost slipping out of the door, Deckard reached towards her forgetting about closing the door for a moment and pulled her back. Once Val was near the doorframe of the bay, she grunted pushing the baby carrier away safely as both their feet hit the button to shut off the plane door, sliding down closing them in safety.

Deckard lays with his back against the floor and banged his fist against the wall, “Damn it.”

“We tried.” Val responded with a annoyed sigh, laying down next to him.

“No more racing after the enemy.”

“Or planes for a while.”

“Agreed.”

The two stayed there for a moment to catch their breath, with a slight smile but those smiles only grew once they heard a sudden giggle and sweet babbles.

Val sat up first pulling the baby carrier towards them chuckling, “What you laughing at, huh?”

“Told you this will be fun.” Deckard added with a chuckle and winked at the baby.

Baby Toretto giggled some more looking up at them with huge chocolate brown eyes that reminded Valentina so much of Dom and Elena. She remembered Elena she called the sweet baby boy Marcos as a middle name but Dom should be the one to give him a first name. She adored the name Baby Marcos Toretto but she was also interested to see what name Dom picked out for him.

The baby giggles once again, snapping her out of her thoughts. Deckard’s voice that held a smile caught her attention as well, talking to Baby Toretto with a quick wink. He stood up, lifting up the carrier with him and informing his brother to talk to the pilot to land soon. She watched Deck take Marcos out of the carrier and bounce him in his arms chuckling. It made Val wonder how Deck would be as a father one day, seeing him being so sweet and loving towards the baby.

“You alright?” He asked, reaching out his hand to help her off the floor as he carried the baby with the other.

She took it and stood up, “Huh? I’m good.”

“You seemed lost in thought for a moment there.”

“Just seeing you with him, had me thinking about you as a dad.”

Deck smiled and joked eyeing her for a moment, “You’re not pregnant, aren’t you?”

“No!” Val laughed and playfully slapped his arm, “I’ll leave the baby making to my siblings.”

“Okay good, but you will make a good mom one day.”

“And you’ll make a good dad.”

Baby Marcos Toretto had a toothless silly grin waving a hand up and down, as the headphones stayed on his head playing ‘Alvin and The Chipmunks’ on repeat. Val reached out to tickle his belly, then bopping his nose as Deckard bounced him for a moment catching his attention, fixing his headphone.

The pair knew the next few days would be interesting, since they headed off to a select safe house to take care of the boy with Owen’s help while Dom and the crew finished settling the mission for Mr. Nobody.

—-

Thank you so much for reading! What did you think it? Let’s discuss if you like. Please remember to like, comment & share! ✨

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @t-nd-rfoot @topgun-imagines @ohgodnotagainn @morgan108 @yetanotherwells @hanlueluver @blackheart-beauty @gcthvile @mandylove1000 @rooster-84 and etc

#fast and furious #the fast and the furious #fate of the furious #the fast and furious fic #deckard shaw #my ocs #dom toretto #baby toretto #dom and letty #owen shaw #f&fedit #fastedit #fanfiction #fast and furious au #fast and furious franchise #deckardshawedit #plane fight scene #baby rescue #furious 7 #mia toretto #brian o'conner #roman pierce #tej parker #love story #fluff #fast x #fast and furious 6 #fast five #hattie shaw #deckard shaw x reader

[honeyspence]

a year in clueless love

the love story that is you and spencer reid. follows a year of the two of you being hopeless (and very stupid) romantics. 

tw: teeniest bit of spice, mentions of canon typical violence and guns

a/n: doesn’t really follow a specific episode or case. kind of all over the place. also i picture like,, post prison reid in this? who’s a little more confident and up front but still terrified of losing you/ getting hurt. enjoy!! :)

In retrospect, it had been obvious. The way the two of you sought each other out in every room, like it was gravity. They way it didn’t matter if you were on the jet, on the field, or just at Quantico, the two of you were always touching each other. Thighs pushed together, hands brushing under the table, an arm around your shoulders, elbows bumping against each other; always touching. The way you were able to communicate by just looking at each other, which Garcia was convinced was simply telepathy. All in all, you probably didn’t do the best job at hiding whatever was going on with you and Spencer, and it didn’t exactly help that your family/ best friends/ colleagues were the FBI’s top profilers. They pretty much had it figured out before the two of you did.

In January, Morgan and Garcia decided to keep track. Keep track of the moments you and Spencer were so obviously, deliriously, stupidly falling in love. Morgan had to restrain Garcia from squealing every morning when Spencer brought you coffee and every evening when he walked you to your car. In January, the BAU took a case in Kansas; your first case on the field with the team. You tried your best to hide the nerves, but Spencer, of course, noticed as soon as you were on the jet.

“You okay?”

“Yup!” you say, a little too enthusiastically. Spencer raises an eyebrow. “You suck at lying.” It's a bit worrying, how you’ve only known each other for a couple months but he knows you oh so well already. You quirk a smile at him.

“I’m fine, really. I guess.. I’m just a little nervous. Wanna make a good impression.”

He laughs, and you wish you could replay it as soon as it’s over. “You’ll do great. Everyone already loves you- especially Hotch.” (This is true, Emily told you she hadn’t ever seen Hotch smile until the day you brought him his favorite coffee and a bagel on his birthday.) “Thanks Spence.” You nudge his shoulder with your own and try to ignore the butterflies in your stomach.

Of course, this exchange didn’t go unnoticed. Morgan, everso dedicated to his “make Spencer find love” mission, added it to his list and texted Garcia so fast you might’ve thought it was an emergency.

In February, Emily and JJ joined Morgan and Garcia in their list making, inspired by an exchange they had witnessed in the office. On a dreary Monday, you had brought a bag of M&Ms and were dropping handfuls in your team’s hands, rambling about how Monday was your favorite day because you got to see your team. When you arrived at Spencer’s desk, smiling broadly at him, hands outstretched with slightly melted, rainbow chocolate, how could he say no?

(He briefly remembered that he hated germs, but with you, he couldn’t bring himself to care.)

Emily’s jaw was practically on the floor.

“JJ,” she whisper-screeched. “Did you- Did you see Spence just-”

JJ is equally shocked. Spencer Reid didn’t even shake hands, much less take warm candy straight from someone’s hand. But of course, to him, you weren’t just someone. Garcia notices this quickly, and in minutes, the three of them are huddled with Morgan, who wastes no time in showing them his ever growing list.

In March, the team went to Chicago. The weather takes a bitter turn, and while you’re outside surveying a crime scene, a horrid wind hits. Spencer immediately noticed your gentle shivering, and without wasting a second, tugs his own jacket off and wraps you in it. His hands wrap around your own, warming your numb fingers without a second thought.

(Again, for a split second, he recalls that he hates germs and that your hands are probably sharing millions right now, but when he sees your grateful smile and feels your hands in his own, he can’t bring himself to give a damn.)

“Thank you Spence,” you sigh through chattering teeth, leaning slightly into him.

The cold turns the tip of Spencer’s nose pink, and it's all you can think about for the next week.

In April, the team had a particularly rough case. 5 children kidnapped, only 3 rescued. The parents of the two lost children’s reaction in front of the team was the worst part.

Rough cases affect everyone in different ways. Morgan gets broody and refuses to talk. Hotch writes in his notebook and facetimes Jack, reminding himself of the good things he has. Emily likes to sketch, says that the pattern of lines calms her. Rossi, believe it or not, chooses to meditate. JJ finds peace in baking, making enough to feed your team for days. Spencer, of course, turns to his books.

In April, Spencer learns that you get touchy. Of course, you already were, but after particularly bad cases, it’s a little more extreme. Hands constantly somewhere on someone (usually Spencer) whether it be hand holding, hair braiding, or cuddles. You just wanted to be near someone. In April, Spencer was that someone. A blanket wrapped around the two of you on the jet heading home, Spencer fighting a blush. Hands knotted together under the blanket, your thumb moving back and forth slowly on his hand. Your head on his shoulder, his head resting gently on top. His fingers thumbed at his book, but in all honesty he was too focused on you, already half asleep in his arms.

In May, Rossi has a birthday party. The team gathers at his home, where everyone enjoys his famous pasta and what is probably far too much wine for 4 in the afternoon.

Wine drunk FBI agents are a lot more fun than you ever expected. You spend the afternoon laughing far too hard at Rossi’s old stories and playing hide and seek with Jack and Henry. You also spend far too long avoiding Derek’s pointed looks everytime Spencer holds a door for you or pours you a drink or, in Derek’s thoughts, does something that proves Spencer is so clearly head over heels in love with you.

In May, as the evening dies down, Rossi plays music you’ve never even heard before. Some old classical stuff you had never cared for, but when you see Spencer’s eyes light up with joy at the opening notes, you make a beeline to Rossi because you would do anything, including make yourself listen to classical music, just to have a reason to make Spencer’s eyes shine with happiness like that again.

“What song is this?” you ask Rossi, who gives you an incredulous look.

“You spend all this time with boy wonder over there and you can’t recognize Beethoven?”

You swat at his arm. He laughs at you, tells you it’s Moonlight Sonata, and then winks at you.

He very much knows why you asked, and his suspicions are proven true because right after, you practically skip towards Spencer.

He elbows Hotch and whispers under his breath, “I think our blind love birds might finally have a moment here.” The two of them quietly move the rest of the team inside, and suddenly it’s just you and Spencer outside.

In May, Spencer thinks he drooled when you told him you loved Moonlight Sonata. In a moment of what he can’t decide was brilliance or utter stupidity, he says to you,

“Will you dance with me?”

You’re a blushing, stuttering mess immediately (although he’s not much better), but you manage to tell him yes, absolutely.

In May, as the sun sets slowly, he takes your hand and you dance. He’s wonderful at it, and you’re dreadful, but he couldn’t care less because he has the most beautiful girl on the planet dancing with him. He can hardly believe he’s not dreaming, even when you trip over his feet and apologize a million times, because all he can think about is how beautiful you are, how the pink and orange glow of the sky lights you up like a goddess.

He twirls you, holding your twinkling gaze and biting back his absolutely massive smile as your green dress flows around you over and over again, the white flowers on it dancing with you.

(He never realized how much he loved green until he sees you in it. Then again, he thinks he’d love a garbage bag on you too.)

The air smells like spring and his cologne and his smile makes the butterflies in your stomach flutter so. Damn. Hard.

He whispers to you, “You’re beautiful,” as you rest on his chest, still slowly swaying to the music.

In May, you both leave Rossi’s house with your hearts doing cartwheels.

In June, Owen from 2 levels down asks you to coffee. Tells you he thinks you’re beautiful and that he would love to get to know you. You say yes, trying to ignore the tiny voice telling you that you didn’t want Owen, you want someone else.

In June, Spencer realizes he is hopelessly, terribly, ragingly jealous. He sees you talking to Owen, the gentle touching between you two, the moments of quiet intimacy Spencer realized he wanted with you so. Damn. Bad.

In June, Spencer just wants to go back to May. The night you two danced to Moonlight Sonata, your feet tripping over his and your perfume surrounding him. He curses himself for not telling you right then that you were all he wanted. He desperately wishes he had had the damn guts to kiss you that night.

In June, you go on two dates with Owen before ending it. He was funny, sweet, kind. But he didn’t go on tangents about The Illustrated Man with you. He didn’t bring you coffee in the morning or wear cardigans to work.

In June, Spencer is quietly overjoyed when you tell him you ended things with Owen, that he just “wasn’t right for you.”

In July, he was terrified. A case gone horribly wrong ended with you in the ICU, a bullet lodged in your side. In the bathroom of the hospital, he cried, thinking about how desperately he wished it could have been him. Should’ve been him who took the bullet, should’ve been him in critical condition. How badly he wishes he told you how he felt about you the moment he saw you with Owen. When he comes out, Morgan wraps his arms around him and he is scared.

When the nurse comes out, he braces himself for the worst, pushing the panic down. The thought of losing you- he can’t bring himself to look up when she stands in front of him. When she says that you’re alright and resting, he nearly collapses with relief. When she says you can have visitors now, he is immediately on his feet and rushes until he is by your side.

You sleep as he sits on the chair next to you, far after the rest of the team leaves. Hotch had asked him to get back and get rest, but he refused, instead sitting on the hospital chair with his hand holding your own, like he had all those months ago when he gave you his coat in Chicago.

He watches your gentle breathing, thinking about how peaceful and happy you look in your sleep, despite your recent brush with death. And when you wake up, he presses your hand to his lips and tells you with teary eyes to never, ever scare him like that again.

“I’ll try,” you yawn. “You didn’t have to stay here, ya know. You need to sleep.”

“As if I can sleep when you’re here. Nope, no way. Idiot.” He says, and you hear how his voice is slightly choked up as he starts rambling about how having visitors in the hospital is statistically more beneficial. You can’t quite lift yourself up yet, but you grab his hand and bring it to your own lips as he had done, and press it there for a moment.

(He is blushing. So hard he trails off and stops talking, instead too focused on the way your lips on his hand are so soft. So pretty and gentle and pink and-)

“Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you for staying. I don’t know what I would do without you.” You say, your heart pounding.

The team comes back in the morning and finds both you and Spencer fast asleep, his head on your hospital bed, your hands knotted tightly. Morgan complains about how long his list has gotten.

In August, Spencer asked you on a date. Well, he doesn’t call it a date. He calls it “dinner with a friend.” But he desperately wants to call it a date. He picks you up from your apartment with a bouquet of pink tulips.

“Spencer! You didn’t have to do that,” you say, batting his arm while trying to hide your delight. (No one had ever bought you flowers on a date before.)

But Spencer is so busy staring at you, all dolled up in a little red dress you just knew he’d love.

“N-No- I mean yes, yes I did,” he stumbled. “I mean, you look… you look stunning.”

He takes you to a new Italian place, where you eat on the terrace under the stars and he absolutely refuses to let you touch the bill. He talks to you about his mom, about Mexico, and at the end of it all, he tells you that you make him feel safe. Like he can be himself and ramble on and on; like he can breathe. In August, Spencer drives you home and walks you to your doorstep with your arm looped through his own, your head on his shoulder.

In August, Spencer kissed you so gently, so carefully in front of your front door you think he feared you might break. He held you like a porcelain doll, delicately but oh-so tightly. His lips up against yours, timidly, softly, sweetly, and you felt yourself melt into a fucking puddle when he pulled away and rested his forehead on yours.

In September, you took him to your favorite bookstore. It was a tiny place with a flower garden in front and shelves lined with hundreds of books. It smelled like coffee and old books and lavender, and when you walked in, arm and arm with Spencer, you knew this was heaven. The two of you sat at a little table in the corner for hours, drinking coffee and sharing doughnuts and reading. So much reading. When you finally leave, he buys you the three books you had been reading (at his recommendation.)

“No- no Spence stop!” you say, trying to wrestle his arm away from the checkout. He just laughs at you and pays for them.

In September, Spencer asks you to be his girlfriend outside of the bookstore. He was a clumsy, nervous wreck, but he was finally your clumsy, nervous wreck.

In October, you and Spencer were a secret from the rest of your team. Work lives and personal lives just needed to stay separate, you decided.

(The irony of this was not lost on either of you.)

October was spent with kisses in quiet corners and sneaking into hotel rooms like high schoolers when you were traveling for cases. It was a month of countless movie marathons and Spencer falling asleep with you in his arms, countless mornings of driving each other to work and Spencer’s hand on your thigh. Longing stares at each other from across the office, little doodles and notes left on post-its on each other's desks. Hands knotted together under tables, quiet hugs whenever they seemed the least suspicious. Spencer bringing you flowers on every date, you kissing the tip of his nose in thanks and smiling when it always turns pink.

(He still says it’s from the cold. You’re starting to think you just have that effect on him.)

Of course, when you work with profilers, they tend to notice these things. Yet, none of them put together that you and Spencer were actually together. They just kept building their now massive list and watched the two of you fall even harder. Watched you take Garcia’s unicorn stickers and leave them on Spencer’s cheek, where he would leave it there for hours. Watched Spencer bring you a new book every Monday and then discuss it with you every Friday.

In October, Spencer had you pushed up against the wall of his apartment, his shirt halfway unbuttoned and yours already halfway off. Gentle kisses up and down your neck, hands wandering up and down your body. Pulled you into his room, stared at you with those warm brown eyes you absolutely adored. Your hands in his hair, his mouth on your own when someone knocks on the door.

“Maybe,” he pants breathlessly against you,”Maybe if we ignore them, they’ll just leave.” You’re in no position to argue; you have no desire to stop. You hum in agreement and pull him back to you when the knock gets harder and you hear, “Spencer! Open the door, it’s Garcia and Morgan!”

Your first instinct is to literally hide. The worst two people to find you like this, but here they were. Spencer convinces you this is a bad idea and throws you your clothes as the two of you scramble to look presentable and like you were absolutely not doing what you absolutely had been doing.

In October, you thought you managed to convince Morgan and Garcia that you two were just hanging out. They left Spencer’s apartment in a whirlwind of giggles and were elated. Needless to say, the rest of your team was alerted to your antics within the next 10 minutes.

In November, you had the “big confrontation.” Also known as Hotch pulling the two of you into his office with a stern look.

(Which he was actually struggling very hard to hold because he was so-very-happy-Spencer-was-happy and the-joy-radiating-off-the-two-of-you-was-quite- frankly-contagious.)

He tells you not to be all over each other in the office and to remain professional and blah blah blah, but Spencer swears that Hotch actually smiled when the two of you left his office.

In November, your team is overjoyed. Garcia tears up when you take Spencer’s hand in front of the team. Morgan and Rossi offer to throw a party the first time they watch Spencer kiss you on the cheek. JJ and Emily squeal when you sneak your arms around Spencer’s waist while he packs up. And Hotch, Hotch struggled to hide how goddamn happy he was. He was so thankful every time he saw you together, because you radiated smiles and happiness and joy, which was something he knew Spencer always needed more of. When Spencer fell asleep on the jet after a grueling case, his head on your shoulder and your head gently on his, Hotch couldn’t resist taking a picture.

For your 3 months, Spencer brings you a gift on your way to work. He’s a burning, blushing red when he hands you the package wrapped messily (and very sweetly) in pastel pink wrapping paper, your name scrawled across the top and decorated with hearts, making your own heart glow.

When you open it, you think your heart actually manages to burst. He bought the two of you fluffy gray cardigans, each with an embroidered pink heart on the right. He’s looking shyly at you, a hand rubbing the back of his neck, a blush still dancing on his cheeks, as if he can’t tell how much you absolutely adore it.

You make it obvious when you fling yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his neck, burying your head in the crook, and you can feel him exhale the nervous breath he had been holding. He smells like fresh laundry and old books and the cinnamon cake you made that morning. He holds you like you’re his lifeline, and you feel his smile against your head.

“I’m so glad you like it, I was so nervous and I- I didn’t know you’d think it was stupid-”

“Shut up.” You kiss him. He shuts up.

“I love it Spencer.”

In November, you learn Spencer gives the best presents and the best hugs.

In December, you have your first fight. It was stupid- you had been working a case and Spencer had asked you not to go to the suspects house with Emily because you resembled the unsub's type. You went anyways, and as Spencer feared, the unsub went ballistic when you tried to apprehend him and you were separated from the rest of the team.

He took you into his car and stole your gun. He pressed it to your temple and attempted to drive away with one hand, but Morgan saved you. Shot straight through the window and into the unsub’s head, his blood all over you. You stumbled out of the car where Morgan grabbed you and hugged you. Took you back to the team, where Spencer could barely look at you.

You reassured him you were fine afterwards nothing had even happened, but he didn’t care. He had asked you, and you had ignored. You were so close to leaving him. Forever. In December, Spencer left the jet and went to his apartment without saying goodbye to you for the first time. In December, you avoided each other for a whole week.

In December, you went to his apartment with a book in your hands. A peace offering. He answered the door in your favorite blue cardigan and you let it out. You apologized, pouring your heart out, and you said it. And to your absolute relief, he wrapped his arms around you and apologized as well. And he said it back.

In December, Spencer Reid told you that he couldn’t bear to lose you. That the thought of it had made him realize- he was head over heels in love with you.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds #derek morgan #aaron hotchner #spencer read x reader #spencer reid gif #spencer reid blurb #mgg x y/n #mathew gray gubler #spencer reid story #spencer reid one shot #spencer reid x you

[theexpanse]

DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! That alert is for the people of Earth, considering that the last shot we saw on season 4 of The Expanse was of Belter villain Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander) sending cloaked asteroids hurling toward our fair planet.

The impending arrival of those asteroids in season 5 of the show — which premieres Dec. 16 on Amazon Prime Video — is especially bad timing given that one of our favorite Earthlings, burly Rocinante mechanic Amos Burton (Wes Chatham), just happens to be on his way to Earth himself. And judging by this exclusive first-look season 5 photo we have of a blood-splattered Amos (above), things are not looking too hunky-dory for the bearded wonder in his hometown of Baltimore.

What awaits Amos down on the surface? What will happen when Naomi (Dominique Tipper) finds out her long-lost son Filip (Jasai Chase Owens) is an active part of daddy Marcos' team? And why should we be keeping our eyes on Mars for clues as to what's to come? We chatted with Expanse showrunner Naren Shankar to get the scoop on season 5.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So is season 5 just going to be book 5, Nemesis Games, or are we going to see some season 6 in there, or some new bridge material like you did last season? What are we looking at?

NAREN SHANKAR: You know how it's worked over the years. It's like certain story lines get pulled forward, other stuff gets pushed back sometimes. Character elements get combined into other stuff. There's definitely some elements of book 6 in this season, I would say, but it's largely drawn from book 5.

Let's start big picture, and then we'll drill down on a few things. If I just walked in and said, "What's the big crux of season 5? What's the big story you're telling here?" What would you say to that?

I'll give you the theme, because that's probably the easiest way to look at it. The theme really is about the sins of the past. To one extent or another, that's every single story line, whether it is Naomi personally confronting the fact that she had a son with this very charismatic, and now quite violent, revolutionary-type leader. Whether it's Amos connecting to his past, or going back to Earth for reasons that we're not quite sure of. Whether it's Holden's past with unleashing the protomolecule. Whether it is the past geopolitical history of the Belt, and its relationship with the inner planets, which we see through Avasarala.

That's really what the season is about. It is connecting all of the things that we have done in our lives to the moment of the present that we are in. It's like everything comes to a head all at the same time.

We ended season 4 with Marco letting these asteroids off towards Earth. What do you want to say about that impending arrival?

Well, it's coming. It's coated in stealth, so it's very hard to see, and there's a whole bunch of them. From the end of season 4, the last image that we left with was Marco looking at the plotted trajectory of all of these asteroids. The last image that you see is a whole lot of them that are lined up to hit Earth in its orbit. So, they're coming.

Let's segue from that to Naomi. What's Naomi's mission here? We see a little bit in the trailer with Marco, and her son. What is she going to look to do here in season 5?

Well, I think at the end of season 4, the message she sent to Fred Johnson was, "I need to get in contact with my son. I'm calling in that favor that we set up way back in season 1. I'm calling in that favor. I really need to find my son, because I'm afraid that his father is going to get him killed."

It's that she understands, or she's seeing that Marco is on the rise, and she knows the kind of person that he is. After years of feeling like, "I can't reconnect. I abandoned him. I left my kid," she's determined to reach out to him, and try to save him from somebody that she thinks is really a terrible person.

What is awaiting her when she gets in contact with her son and sees who he has become?

Well, I think maybe the way to answer that is, the reunion that she is hoping for is probably not the one that she's going to get.

I mean, we saw what happened with that airlock at the end of last season.

He doesn't bake her a cake.

What's Holden's take going to be on Naomi and the spot she's in, and this mission that she's on?

The two of them are together. The question marks of, "An Earther and a Belter, can we be together?" They have chosen each other. They've chosen to be on the Roci. They've gone through a tremendous amount. That's true for the whole family. That's true for Amos. It's true for Alex, the group. It's like the most warmest and connected beginning for them that we've ever seen. I think that that's an interesting outgrowth of the fact that we really took our time building up that family unit from season 1 on.

After the events of season 4, after everything they went through on Ilus, it's like they are a bonded group that… It's just their chosen family. It has that feel to it. There's a connectedness and warmth to the relationships of all of our four main people on the Roci, and that's reflected in Holden and Naomi.

It's part of the fun of getting into deep runs of shows if you do them properly, is that you really do develop the relationships. If you think about where these guys started in season 1 to where they start in season 5, it's a pretty interesting change. And it feels believable, because you're taking the time to actually set it up. We're starting Holden and Naomi from, I think, a very warm and supportive place at the beginning of season 5.

I want to ask you what's happening on Mars, and if there's anything there that might be something that might connect later to, say, book number 7 and what we may be seeing down the line a bit on The Expanse? Obviously, there's some long-term stuff happening in Mars that you may be planting some seeds for.

Yes! Absolutely. See, this is spoken like a book reader. There absolutely is, and we actually teed it up at the end of last season, as Bobbi got involved in the black-market arms trade. There are little pieces of it that are popping through the surface even then.

Part of what was going on at the very end of season 4 was they were selling stealth composites to Belters. Those are the stealth composites that Marco uses to coat the asteroids. And, if you look really carefully at the end of season 4, it's Filip who's one of the Belters that is blowing up things on Mars.

Bobbi doesn't know who that is, but that's Filip who helps blow up that salvage yard at the end of season 4. But, absolutely the tip of that conspiracy that we started at the end of last season plays an incredibly important role in season 5.

As you talk about the Belters, I gather that we are going to be seeing more Belter factions. What it was like to think of all these different subgroups that we're going to see, and the different motivations and things they might have? I imagine that was pretty fun to put together.

It really was. Again, I think one of the things that we've really tried hard to do to really dimensionalize the conflict. It's like, you're seeing every side of it. We've driven down into Earth. We've driven down into Mars. We've driven down into Belt. We've driven down into the independent faction of Holden and the Roci gang.

In terms of the Belt specifically, at the end of season 4, Drummer walked away from the OPA. She walked away from politics and Fred Johnson, and didn't take Ashford up on his offer of being his XO. She struck out on her own, trying to create a life for herself in this very tumultuous world. Well, politics, and war, and strife, they have a way of finding you. It's hard to avoid them. What we're going to find from her in season five, her story line speaks to that very directly.

One of my favorite stories in all the books is Amos going to Baltimore. I'm really excited to see that. What can you say about his time back on Earth?

I think you're going to love it. It's one of the things that I have been looking forward to doing for years. We talked a lot about it because The Churn is a fantastic novella. What we've done over the course of the series is, we have found a way to express these novellas into our narrative in a way that they're not really done in the novels proper.

You're going to get that. I think people who have read that novella, especially, but I think fans in general, even people who've never seen the show, they're just going to love this. It really is one of my favorite story lines we did this season.

What can you just say about what he's facing there, or why he's going there?

Well, without giving too much away, there have been times when Amos has had a chance to go back to Earth, even at the beginning of season 4, when the Roci was in orbit around Earth. Amos didn't go back down there.

Reaching back into season 3, when that reporter Monica Stuart was interviewing him. She was talking about, "Isn't it funny that you got the name of a mob boss?" He said, "Oh, it's a common name in Baltimore." And, "Oh, yeah, how'd you get out there? You ended up in the lottery really fast." There's a lot of mystery attached to Amos' backstory around Baltimore. Without telling specifically why he heads back, you're going to get a lot of answers to it. Things are going to feel really, really satisfying because it illuminates a side of him that nobody else on the Roci gets to see. Nobody else really knows, but the audience is going to get to go with Amos to experience it.

Speaking of Amos on Earth, what can you say about the possibility of seeing Clarissa Mao again in season 5?

I don't want to spoil anything. [Laughs] She's down there, I suppose.

I think I know where she is too.

We did see at the beginning of season 4 that she's in prison. The story lines in particular this season have such depth to them, and it feels like you're just getting really into these characters' skin in a way that we haven't done to this extent before. So we're really excited for people to see it.

#the expanse #amos burton #naomi nagata #james holden #naren shankar #article #interview #news #s5 #link in source

[calzona-ga]

The Season 15 finale of Grey’s Anatomy dropped a lot on us, from Meredith and Owen’s declarations of love (to DeLuca and Teddy, respectively) to Bailey’s firing of three doctors to Jackson’s disappearance. Here to help us process it all — and hint at how the events of “Jump Into the Fog” will impact Season 16 — is showrunner Krista Vernoff, who also wrote the bittersweet hour.

TVLINE | Let’s start with the firings. Obviously, Grey Sloan isn’t really going to lose Mer, Alex and Richard, right? [Laughs] It was a big swing we took, and I can’t promise that Grey Sloan isn’t going to have to do without those doctors, at least for a while. I mean, they got fired!

TVLINE | What prompted Meredith to tell DeLuca — when he was behind bars, of all times — that she loved him? Was she afraid of what dumb thing he’d do next to prove his love? I think she told him because she had come to terms in her own time with what her fear [of saying it] was about. I also think, whether it was conscious or unconscious on her part, he couldn’t walk after her to talk about it further, so she could still take it at her own pace.

TVLINE | It just happened to coincide with this worst case scenario of him being in prison. Was it the worst case scenario, though? Because she said it, which I think a lot people didn’t expect she would, and I think he didn’t expect it. It’s a scary thing for her, and he gets that. The fact that she said it at all is big, big, big growth for Meredith.

TVLINE | I was really torn about Owen and Amelia — glad to see them happy but mortified for Koracick. Is there anything you can say to Teddy/Tom fans to make us feel better? [Laughs] Well, I would say that you can glean from the finale that there’s more telling in that story. We didn’t cut to Tom putting together that nursery for no reason. But the fact is that so often in life, complicated love stories come at a cost. There is collateral damage. We want to believe that love is easy and smooth and perfect, but sometimes we create a bit of chaos in our wake, and that’s what we have here.

TVLINE | There were two conversations I especially loved in the finale. The first was the one in which Maggie stood up for herself to Jackson. It felt like a break-up to me. How about you? It felt significant, for sure. It did feel like one of those fights that you don’t know if you can come back from.

TVLINE | Was she right — that he loves her but doesn’t like her? Was he right that she doesn’t respect “Mr. Monopoly”? I know from painful experience that love is one ingredient that makes a relationship work, but if you just love each other and don’t like and respect each other, then love alone will not make it last. I think they were kindly and somewhat lovingly acknowledging that he keeps wanting her to expand. And I don’t know that she ever would have called him Mr. Monopoly. I don’t know that she ever sat around feeling like she didn’t respect him, but the way that scene evolved, it just felt like one of those really awful fights that you don’t realize you’re in until you’ve said the thing you can’t take back.

TVLINE | How worried would you recommend we be about Jackson? [Chuckles] It’s worrisome.

TVLINE | And it seems like the kind of scare that could make her realize, “Oh — even when I was super ticked off at him, I was terrified of losing him.” That’s exactly right. I am proud of the design of that cliffhanger, because we don’t know if they’re going to make it as a couple or why Jackson disappeared into the fog. It gives us as writers a lot of exciting places to go potentially.

TVLINE | The other talk I loved was between Link and Amelia. It seemed like it was setting us up to get to watch them get together all over again without them having to break up… That is a possibility, yeah. Amelia shows a lot of maturity in that moment in acknowledging that she does have feelings for Link, but she dove into him super fast. She still has to grieve [losing her relationship with Owen]. As she walked away and the feelings were coming, I think that performance is so beautiful by [Caterina Scorsone].

TVLINE | Jo and Alex seemed to get over a hurdle. But I was surprised that Mer was the one who told him about what happened in Pittsburgh, not Jo. Was there a discussion about “Wait, this is Jo’s story to tell”? Jo feels so broken and is so regretful of the way she’s been treating him, and she can’t find the words [to tell him what she found out]. Sometimes it’s really hard to talk to the person you love the most. And in the penultimate episode, Jo gave Meredith permission to tell him. Jo can’t put it into words — she’s had five episodes to put it into words to Alex, and she can’t do it. And somehow Meredith pushed her to the point where she could voice it, and in voicing it, she began to feel a little better. But she didn’t want to be the one to go tell Alex. I think the messiness of that is very real.

TVLINE | I was surprised — and glad — that you gave Levi and Nico a happy ending for the season, but I’m also worried. We don’t know yet if Nico got that out-of-town dream job he applied for. Have you decided if he got it? I haven’t decided yet, but I can tell you that Alex Landi will be recurring for us next year. We love him and [Schmico].

#grey's anatomy #Krista Vernoff #TVLine

[stargleeksil-blog]

Criminal Minds S07E03 “Dorado Falls” review

Episode 03 – Dorado Falls

Hey y’all!

So this episode’s name is too vague for me to make speculations about what might happen ... hoping for something witty and awesome.

Let’s see what happens.

And she’s officially back :)

“Hey, good morning.”

Okay, now I want Prentiss as my BFF. Seriously. Free coffee in the morning before work? Perfection.

“Oh, look at you spoiling me. Thank you.”

“Where’s yours?”

“Oh, I quit caffeine. Trying to relax more.”

“Well, don’t relax too much. You got ten hours of takedown and arrest procedure training to rectify.”

“Since when?”

“Since the hearing.”

“Am I the only one?”

“Prentiss, you’ve been away.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess I can’t complain.”

“Well, especially not to your trainer.”

“Oh! You’re doing it?”

“Don’t get too excited. I’m about to put you through the wringer.”

“You can believe that.”

Oh my goodness, Prentiss’s look of excitement and then confusion is killing me.

Though I’m totally with her on that one. Why is Derek so excited on putting her through the wringer?

“Workplace massacre this morning at Synalock Incorporated. That’s in Charlottesville, which his practically in our backyard.”

“That’s a high body count.”

“Yeah, eight victims in total. All employees, including the CEO.”

Damn.

”Five shot, three were stabbed to death.”

“A gun and a knife. That’s highly unusual.”

“It could be two killers.”

“That would be the first time for a workplace killing.”

“Their business in Internet security for corporations. They didn’t have video surveillance?”

“They just moved into a new building. They didn’t have time to set up their system yet.”

“How is it no one saw anything?”

“The killer was prepared. Highly organized. This was premeditated.”

“He kept his emotions contained.”

“Pretty hard to do for the typical workplace killer who’s mentally ill or outraged about some perceived injustice.”

“The high body count indicates a hell of a lot of rage.”

“One employee, John Owen, was MIA. Local PD haven’t been able to locate him yet.”

Oops.

“Any unhappy clients?”

“Or a domestic situation among the employees?”

“Don’t know, but your friendly neighborhood genius girl will find out.”

“Bottom line is a mass killing is a classic show of force. It’s a way to become known. Which is why suicide, often by cop, is usually part of the plan.”

“So where’s the unsub?”

“He has a reason to stay hidden. He’s not finished yet.”

Well, fuck.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Men are not prisoners of fate, but prisoners of their own minds.”

“Absolutely. These are Agents Rossi and Jareau and Dr. Reid.”

I love his cutesy little wave.

“Of course. As soon as we make our assessment.”

Someone needs to put a plug in that whole media coverage before the cops arrive thing.

“So what do we know about the missing employee so far?”

“You said the CEO’s office was ransacked.”

“JJ.”

Let’s go investigate.

“The position of the body suggests he was one of the last ones killed.”

“He tried to escape and almost made it to the exit.”

“Jane Burney and Vinia Dev were here. Jane tried to run, Vinia didn’t.”

How does he know that? Because he’s the most genius genius to ever genius my genius.

...

And, you know, maybe he’s good at his job ... maybe.

“She’s half under her desk, which means she tried to hide and the unsub found her.”

“So these three were stabbed and the rest were shot to death.”

“Yes, but the bloody footprints all seem to come from the same pair of shoes.”

“Given the evidence, if there were a second killer, he’d be hard-pressed to get away without leaving tracks.”

“If there was only one unsub, he used his gun first, emptied his magazine, didn’t have a replacement, and resorted to using his knife.”

“He’d have to be physically fit or at least intimidating enough to subdue so many people.”

“If this were highly premeditated, he would have brought enough ammunition to kill everyone.”

“Unless he had a single target.”

“He killed the rest of them because they were witnesses.”

“We need to figure out who his first victim was.”

“These are contracts Synalock had. What was the unsub looking for?”

“Maybe he was a client searching for his own contract to hide any connection to Synalock after the murders.”

“Ah, everything’s digital these days, though. The hard copy’s just a backup.”

Oh my cute fossil, Rossi.

“So the unsub’s looking for an object, an old record, something not on a computer.”

“Huh. Rossi, check this out.”

“So, uh, Werner was worried enough about his safety to be armed.”

“And he didn’t have time to go for his gun or didn’t perceive the threat to be immediate.”

“Or keeping a gun around was out of force of habit.”

“He was a veteran.”

“A naval officer by the looks of it.”

“A decorated one at that.”

“He was awarded the Navy Cross in 2000.”

“Something else used to be here.”

“Another picture frame.”

Ruh-roh.

“Blood splatter overlay patterns indicate victim number three was over here.”

“Victim number two right here.”

“And finally victim number one right here.”

“Adam Werner was killed first?”

“Looks that way.”

“Which means the unsub made it all the way in here without alarming anyone.”

“He wasn’t threatening.”

“That’s why Werner didn’t pull the gun we found in his office.”

“He could have been the missing employee.”

“He may have taken that photo form his office if he was in it.”

“Why would an employee be interested in Synalock’s contracts?”

“Maybe this is about one client.”

“He could be after specific company information.”

“He had another motive besides killing.”

“It was clean and fast.”

“He sliced through the left carotid and abdominal aorta, major arteries that would bleed out quickly.”

“They all took two .45s to the chest, except for Adam Warner. He took four body shots and one to the head, execution style.”

“Definite overkill.”

“Somebody was angry with the boss.”

“Somebody with hunting skills.”

“Or a law enforcement background?”

“Talk to me, little genie.”

“Well, since you know how to rub my lamp, your wish is my command.”

Facepalming, grinning and giggling all at the same time here.

“I checked the Synalock client list, and the Defence Intelligence Agency is new to them, so there really isn’t anything to report, and everyone else is crazy happy with their service.”

“No complaints logged in?”

“Zero. I’m talking every high-tech blog, every chat room, glowing accolades. No one had anything contrary to say about Synalock.”

“Any employees have a history of domestic disturbances or stalkers?”

“Not that I’d violate privacy laws to check, she says, but the answer is no.”

“So Synalock is clean.”

“As a whistle.”

“Which reminds me …”

“You know how to whistle, don’t you?”

“You just put your lips together and blow.’

Oh my goodness, I love this ridiculous goddess and hunky chocolate adonis so freaking much.

“I love it when you talk old movies. Later, baby girl.”

“With all the overkill on Werner, there’s got to be a personal connection.”

“We’ve located John Owen, the missing employee. He’s been at a Doctor Who convention in San Diego since Saturday. It was a scheduled vacation.”

“Lucky guy.”

“I’ll say. That’s supposed to be an awesome convention.”

Dead here. Because I know I will never find a man as perfect as Spencer in real life.

“So if it wasn’t someone connected to the workplace, who is it?”

“You know, given the precision of the kills, it could be someone with a military background.”

“Or a professional hired by a business competitor.”

“A hit man would just kill Werner. Killing the entire office seems unprofessional.”

“Werner was a Navy veteran. He had DIA contracts. He had close ties to the military. It could be someone from his past harboring an old grudge.”

“Trooper, issue a Be on The Lookout to law enforcement for a physically fit male in his 30s to 40s, possibly a veteran. He appears nonthreatening and blends in easily. He’s armed and extremely dangerous. He most likely will kill again, either himself or others, very soon.”

You know, as serious as this is, the whole “Luke, I’m your father” thing is just too much for me and I cannot control my giggles.

“Are we sure the unsub is their son?”

“Luke Dolan called Synalock early this morning. Garcia confirmed it.”

“Know many 60-year-olds with a boombox?”

Not anymore. Which is sad.

“Trying to mask the sound of gunshots?”

“Could be. Or he was torturing them with sound.”

That metal music was definitely torture, bro.

“Why were they bound and gagged in the closet? Why not just kill them right away?”

“Maybe he was trying to get information from them.”

“About what?”

“Go ahead, Garcia, you’re on speaker.”

“Okay, Luke Dolan was in the same Navy unit as our CEO Adam Werner. That would be the 212th. They were both communication clerks at Camp Patriot in Kuwait. I’m sending all this information to your emails now.”

“Any other family?”

“He has a wife, Jenna. They’ve been separated for years. She lives in Bethesda with her eight-year-old daughter.”

“We need to bring her in for protective custody and to interview her. Send local PD and have our nearest unit meet them.”

“Done and done.”

Duh.

“Okay, it looks like he served thirteen years, honorable discharge in 2005. And now a VP of a biotech company. He was never a Synalock employee.”

“So what happened to this guy?”

“He was separated from his wife about a year ago, but that’s a bit far back to be a trigger.”

“Well, he’s on a rampage of some kind. What if mentally he was reliving a combat situation?”

“It could be post-traumatic stress. Everybody could look like an enemy.”

“Prentiss, this was a close-knit family.”

“Look at them.”

“They couldn’t have been more proud of their son.”

“How bad would his disorder have to be to make him kill his own parents?”

“Post-traumatic stress disorder rarely turns people into killers, but soldiers with PTSD have been known to strangle their wives in bed while having flashbacks or nightmares, believing they’re on the battlefield.”

“In 2005, an Iraqi war vet assaulted two people in Las Vegas, believing them to be enemy combatants.”

“So Dolan’s having a sustained flashback.”

“Pathological disassociation is one of the markers of complex PTSD, although Dolan has been stateside for six years. An escalation of the symptoms is possible, but it would be rare for them to appear out of nowhere.”

“Well, he seems to have made a successful transition to civilian life.”

“Well, at least on paper it does.”

“We should find out if he’s had any symptoms since he left the navy. It could have been the catalyst for the separation.”

“I’ll have Garcia check his records.”

“Hotch, Dolan’s been going through this.”

“Look, old mementos and journals from his days in the service.”

“He didn’t come here just to kill his parents. He came to get something.”

“He’s on some sort of mission.”

“The car’s washed, spotless inside, there’s no paint separation or rust.”

“This accident was recent.”

“I agree.”

“The Navy’s in his blood. he would never let that go without getting it fixed immediately.”

“It might have triggered his condition.”

“I’ll have Garcia run the plates, check for any recent accidents.”

“So, Dolan left his sedan and didn’t take the parents’ car.”

“He was smart enough to know it’d be tracked.”

“He’s either on foot or he’s stolen another vehicle.”

“If he’s capable of doing this, he’s rational and clear-headed enough to evade his perceived enemies.”

“So despite any mental incapacity, he’s still performing at a high level.”

“Just got word the local PD’s at the wife and daughter’s house.”

“Dolan’s unpredictable when he’s on a rampage. We need to go wide. We need to get the profile to the press.”

“Luke Dolan is a Navy veteran we believe is suffering from PTSD.”

“A recent trauma may have triggered this. He is experiencing pathological disassociation and may believe he’s in a combat situation.”

“What this means is, to him, everyone is a potential enemy. Do not underestimate him. Despite his mental state, he has extreme survival skills.”

“Right now, we believe he’s within a 250-mile radius of Roanoke. He is armed and extremely dangerous.”

“It is important that you do not approach him. He believes that he is on a mission, and if threatened, he will kill. So if you see him, stay away and notify the authorities.”

I’ll tell you whatever you want, gorgeous.

“One thing’s been bothering me is the first victim, Adam Warner, was given the Navy Cross in 2000.”

“We weren’t at war.”

“Exactly.”

“You have to show extreme sacrifice, risk life and limb to win the second-highest medal of valor.”

“So what did he do during peacetime to deserve it?”

“So, Garcia’s discovered part of Dolan’s military records were encrypted.”

“I just got the complete file to the Pentagon. He wasn’t a clerk. He was a Navy Seal.”

“Let me guess. Adam Werner was, too.”

“Yeah. Werner was the seal team leader, Dolan was his number two. Their unit was part of JSOC. They were involved in twenty highly classified missions.”

“Which missions were in 2000?”

“Uh, only one. Operation Dorado Falls.”

“See what you can find about it.”

“Will do.”

Good.

“That changes the profile.”

“Definitely.”

“How so?”

“Navy Seals are screened carefully for vulnerability to PTSD. They’re resistant to it.”

“So why would a trained Navy Seal kill his commanding officer and his own parents?”

“I don’t know, but it’s gonna be a lot harder to find him. Very few people on this planet are capable of stopping him.”

“Luke Dolan just evaded a roadblock near his wife’s house. They searched the surrounding area. There’s no sign of him.”

Well, this just turned from crap tp shit.

“Did you notice any recent changes in Luke’s behavior?”

“Did he ever mention Dorado Falls?”

“A mission he was on.”

“Is that why you two separated?”

“You weren’t a priority to him?”

“He had an exit strategy.”

Oh that poor woman. Her husband had an exit strategy from life and she took it personally.

“Okay, so it turns out 6:20 Friday night, Dolan got in a car accident in Bethesda.”

“That must have been after he dropped off his daughter.”

“He suffered minor injuries, he refused medical treatment.”

“Well, his wife said he was fine when he left her.”

“What was his mental state after the accident?”

“Normal. Field sobriety test came up negative.”

“That wouldn’t rule out drug use.”

Well, crap.

“I’d consider schizophrenia, except he’s the wrong age for the first psychotic break. It could be an aneurysm or a brain tumor.”

“Well, one thing’s for sure. He’s having a mental breakdown, but what are the specific features of it?”

“He’s not living in a past time and place, he’s living in the present, with the capacity and intelligence to evade law enforcement.”

Wow, that woman is rattled. Though any sane woman would if her husband was forced out of their house at gunpoint and she was left wondering what the fuck is going on.

“Mrs. Milgram …”

“Ma’am, listen to me. The FBI is in charge of looking for your husband, but I need you to try to remember what Luke Dolan said.”

“Yes, you can.”

“Just close your eyes.”

“Ma’am, I believe that you can.”

“Just listen to the sound of my voice and you’ll be fine.”

“Just try.”

“Close your eyes. There you go.”

“Just relax and breathe. Very good.”

“Now, what were you doing before he broke into your house?”

“Does he think your husband did something to them?”

“Does he mention Dorado Falls?”

Yup.

“All of the Milgrams’ cars are still here, so he must have taken the General in whatever vehicle he came in.”

“He talked about gaslighting. He thinks someone’s trying to purposely distort his reality.”

“He said his parents had been replaced.”

“He sounds delusional.”

“You know, he might have Capgras syndrome.”

Huh?

“It’s a delusional disorder in which one believes that their friends and loved ones had been replaced by impostors.”

“Sort of like Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

“It typically involves only one sense, such as sight.”

“Basically, the neural connection between the visual cortex and the emotional center of the brain becomes severed, so that looking at a loved one doesn’t elicit the same emotional response one would expect.”

“So you think they’re an imposter.”

“And the interesting thing is that the auditory connection remains intact, so that if they were to hear a loved one speak and not see them, they’d think that they were real.”

“What causes this syndrome?”

“It’s unknown in 60% of the cases, but the rest have an organic cause, such as a tumor or head trauma.”

“He was in a car accident Friday.”

“People with delusional disorders don’t become killers, though.”

“True, but Dolan’s background as a Navy Seal, his knowledge of secret missions, plus Capgras syndrome, could result in extreme paranoia.”

“It’s the perfect storm.”

“Is there a cure for this?”

Nope. Shit.

“So this guy’s stuck with it.”

“He’s not killing for the thrill of it, he does it because he believes he has no other choice.”

“He murdered his best friend and his parents because he believed they were imposters.”

“So if he were to see his wife and daughter, the results could be deadly.”

“Dolan kidnapped the General and didn’t kill his wife because he had never met them before.”

“There may be another reason. He wants contact.”

“Our primary goal right now is the safe recovery of the General.”

“We could. But your help would speed things up.”

“You’re smart enough to see the upside, I’m sure.”

“You help and it goes well, you get your ticket punched.”

“You don’t and it goes south, well, the weather’s not too bad outside the beltway.”

“You know why Dolan’s so worried about this mission?”

“Were there complications?”

Oh damn. She don’t mess around.

“We think his car accident triggered a delusional disorder.”

“We need to know who Luke was close to.”

“Is this Lieutenant Luke Dolan?”

“Sergeant Major David Rossi, United States Marine Corps, retired.”

“I volunteered to call you.”

“I knew your dad, Luke. We were in boot camp together at Parris Island.”

“He’s a good man.”

“Still triangulating a location. Hold on.”

“Now, we can talk, but first I need to know that General Milgram is safe.”

“What’s up with the music?”

“I have no idea.”

You know, I am getting real tired of these writers stealing my thunder.

“Why did you kidnap the General?”

“Do you think we’re holding them?”

God. This guy is off his meds. And pretty bad.

“What have you got, Garcia?”

“Getting closer. We’re in the warehouse district. Stand by.”

“Got it! 3352 Spring Street.”

Go! Go! Go!

“Let’s go.”

“Release the General and then we can talk about your family. He’s innocent.”

“Luke, do you think your father would approve of what you’re doing?”

“Start what?”

What the fuck is this nutcase talking about?

“Why don’t you tell us your side of the story?”

“All right.”

“Dorado Falls was the name of a boat off the coast of Cape Town. It was owned by a South African diplomat who was selling nuclear secrets to Iran.”

“So what’s the big secret?”

“There isn’t one. Don’t get me wrong, lives were lost, but there’s been far worse missions.”

“His mind chose Dorado Falls to build a conspiracy around.”

Well, shit.

“This can’t be it.”

“Garcia, it’s an empty lot with a cell phone repeater. Give me a rundown on the buildings in the area and the years that they were built.”

“All over it like cat hair on a sofa.”

Someone zap her here so I can kiss her.

“Btw, I can usually locate a cell phone within three meters, but sometimes there are circumstance beyond my control, like physical barriers blocking a signal, not being in the satellite’s direct line of sight, which bounces the signal to a repeater.”

“Garcia, tell me you’ve got something.”

“Oh, sorry. Yes, I have something.”

Oh my God, she is the cutest thing ever.

“There is a hotel built in ’74 that is scheduled for demo, and there is a warehouse scheduled for loft conversion that was built in 1928.”

“All right, walls were thicker in the twenties.”

“What’s the address of the building?”

“More GPS signal interference.”

Come on, baby.

“Exact address is … 291 Hope Street.”

“291 Hope.”

“Intel failed to identify … two children aboard the boat.”

“You had to shoot those kids, didn’t you? They were witnesses. Just like everyone at Synalock.”

“Listen, Jenna and Ally are safe.”

“I’ll make you an offer. You let Milgram go and I’ll take his place.”

“But you need insurance. I get that. Let me take his place. Because I’m not just a guy behind a desk.”

“I was a Marine with boots on the ground, just like you.”

“I know what you’ve been through.”

“I want you to get your family back.”

“Where’s Hotch and Morgan?”

“The Spring Street address didn’t pan out. They’re searching the warehouse right now.”

“Luke, I need your exact address.”

“Clear.”

“We got the General. He’s still alive.”

Where the fuck is Dolan?

“Yeah, he used the radio to mask the sound of his movements.”

“We’re on the move.”

“This was all part of his plan to find out who was holding his wife and daughter.”

“But you never said you were FBI.”

“He saw the number I called from. He recognized the FBI prefix.”

“So, what, he’s on his way here to Quantico?”

“I know the head space he’s in. he feels alone right now. There’s no risk he won’t take.”

“As a Navy Seal, he did training here. He knows this place.”

Seal everything.

“An FBI police officer was just found shot to death in the academy parking structure.”

“He’s already here.”

Shit.

“Dolan’s photo’s already been sent on all internal servers.”

“He’s probably changed his appearance already.”

“And he’s got thirteen floors to hide on.”

Fuck.

“We should make a general PA announcement.”

Hey, I know that weirdo.

“No. He believes he’s on a rescue mission that he can pull off. As long as he thinks that, he’ll stay calm.”

“I’ve got hundreds of employees in here and you want me to do nothing?”

Seriously, dude?

“Garcia, I need you on the building’s operations computer.”

“Ready and able, sir.”

“Dolan’s got a police radio. I want all alerts sent through ha secure tactical channel.”

“We can’t take that risk. You’ll be safe in here.”

Good, keep them safe.

“He knows how to be invisible.”

“I got him. He used the dead officer’s ID to enter the seventh floor.”

“Seal if off. Nobody in or out.”

Oh boy.

“Navy Seals never start a mission without an exfiltration plan. Check the exterior and elevator shafts for riggings.’

“Turning exterior cameras now.”

“A member of the seal team said Dolan’s an expert in explosives, disabling and building them.”

“Also be on the lookout for explosives.”

Fuck.

Wack calling, let Rossi handle it.

“Hello.”

“Yes. I was hoping you’d call, Luke.”

“Where are you?”

Shit. He’s there with a fucking bomb and fucking shit I am not okay with this.

“Okay, okay. Easy, easy.”

“Oh, my God.”

“All right, Luke, you don’t want to be aiming that around.”

“Snipers have the building covered.”

“You’re in the crosshairs right now, I can guarantee that.”

“I’m the one you want. You can let my team go.”

“Start an evacuation.”

“Can we evacuate everyone in three minutes?”

“Prentiss, I need his wife in here.”

“No one is seeking revenge here. You’ve created this conspiracy in your own mind.”

“To protect them from you after you murdered your own parents.”

“Your real parents are dead.”

DUDE! What the fuck are you doing?!

“You want to know what’s really going on? You were in a car accident three nights ago and you suffered a head trauma.”

“You don’t believe that’s her?”

Shit.

“Jenna, can you talk to him about something personal, something that only the two of you would know about?”

“When you see your family, you think that they’re imposters, but it’s all caused by an illness.”

“You’re sick, Luke.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Luke, you have to close your eyes.”

“Because you need to know that your wife is real and your eyes will trick you.”

“Close your eyes.”

“First Jenna’s gonna cover up your eyes.”

Shit.

“No! No!”

“JJ, let me have him.”

“Get him out of here!”

“Get him out of here!”

Ah crap, it all went to shit.

Orson Welles: “Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for a moment that we’re not alone.”

“No, I didn’t mandate it.”

Wait. So Hotch didn’t mandate the training? Oh boy, my puppy really stepped in it this time.

“Hey.”

“Uh, Hotch didn’t order my takedown recertification.”

Busted.

“Do you want to tell me what’s really going on?”

“I just thought we both could use a refresher.”

“You mean you thought I could use it.”

“You’re nervous about me being back.”

“Emily …”

“What … you think I’m gonna mess up the team’s rhythm?”

“I get it. But just come out and say it.”

“Morgan.”

“Okay, fine.”

“Yea, I am nervous.”

“But not about you.”

“About me.”

“Emily, I thought I lost you, and I blamed myself.”

“Now, you’re back, but I don’t want to be worried about losing you again and get distracted.”

“So you wanted some reassurance.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Morgan, I cannot imagine what you went through.”

“It was seven months of hell.”

“How can I make it up to you? I will do whatever it takes.”

“Just give me ten hours of training.”

“Okay, you got it.”

“Shooting range on Sundays.”

“I’m there.”

“And my morning coffee and a neck rub every day.”

“Oh, buddy, you are really pushing it.”

Morgan, you little shit!

Whew. So aside from the craziness of this entire episode, because - hot damn! - this episode was so cute! Morgan dealing with his mixed feelings about Prentiss coming back and being worried he might lose her again, it’s just the most adorable subplot there is.

Also, I just found out that Reid likes to go to Doctor Who conventions, and it just made my day.

Also, I love how they address PTSD and general trauma-coping in military veterans. It’s seriously refreshing how they keep addressing all issues in human psyche around the vast country of the USA. Amazing.

And so, on this ... positive? ... note, I thank you all for keeping on following this stuff.

I’ll see you all next time and - in the meantime, enjoy the rest of the photos of Shemar Moore I’ve been hoarding.

#Criminal Minds reviews #Criminal Minds #reviews #s07e03 #dorado falls #aaron hotchner #Thomas Gibson #derek morgan #Shemar Moore #dr spencer reid #Matthew Gray Gubler #Penelope Garcia #Kirsten Vagnsness #Jennifer Jareau #jj #aj cook #emily prentiss #Paget Brewster #david rossi #joe mantegna #max martini #franklin delano roosevelt #orson welles #poodle #puppy #baby boy #god of chocolate thunder #chocolate adonis #baby girl #tech kitten

[zrtranscripts]

Season 6, Mission 35: Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling

Answers are a prison for oneself

[motor rumbles]

SAM YAO: Yeah, I know what Amelia says about Valmont, but - !

NADIA AL HANAKI: She keeps saying it. Not in an "I want to convince you" way. Just in an "I want it to be on record that I said this" way. Same voice she had when she said, "Hatten Hill have been working with the Ministry for months, you mark my words."

VERONICA MCSHELL: Oh. Amelia says Valmont is a very bad person, doesn't she?

SAM YAO: Yeah. I know it's really hard to work out what Amelia means when she says he did bad things. I mean, sometimes with her, it's a compliment. 

But anyway, look. I know what she says about him, but look! Whatever else he's done, he did make a fully life-sized the Village from the 1960s classic TV show, The Prisoner, and used it as a recreation facility for his employees. I mean, I mean, just look at it!

NADIA AL HANAKI: "Where am I?"

SAM YAO: "You're in the village!"

NADIA AL HANAKI: "What do you want?!"

VERONICA MCSHELL: We want to use an old ANNIE terminal here to analyze the vials of the cure the Exmoor Militia gave us. I've been working on reproducing it since the day we got it, and I don't think it can possibly work the way it seems to.

SAM YAO: So, in a way, "You want information!"

VERONICA MCSHELL: That's right.

SAM YAO: "Whose side are you on?"

VERONICA MCSHELL: People keep asking me that. I... I don't think I'm on anyone's side, apart from finding out the truth.

SAM YAO: Oh, ugh. Sorry. It's just a quote from the - oh, never mind. Guys, you've picked up a few zoms on your approach. They must have been Prisoner fans. They're wearing the little hats and capes. Still, time to speed up. Try to lose them.

NADIA AL HANAKI: "By hook or by crook, we will."

NADIA AL HANAKI: Okay, we're losing those zoms. They're speedier than I thought, though.

VERONICA MCSHELL: I like your motorbike, Nadia. It's very fast. Will it be able to go up stairs?

[engine revs]

NADIA AL HANAKI: What do you think?

VERONICA MCSHELL: I think it will. It's uh, it's nice to see you again. To be out on a run together. We're heading for the clock tower. Look, do you see it, Runner Five? When Mr. Valmont gave us the plans of this place, he said that the ANNIE terminal is there.

SAM YAO: The tower! Where Number Two lives?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Who is Number One?

SAM YAO: Oh my God, did you do that on purpose?

VERONICA MCSHELL: I don't know what I did, so no. 

When we get there, I'll use a breaker to take control of ANNIE for a few minutes. Her personality is still fragmented, even though we found a few islands of stability. This part of her won't be able to feed back to Sigrid, so it's safe to do it here. 

We need to understand this cure. It seems to be using a mechanism I ruled out as useless months ago. Did you say Hatten Hill have always been working with the Ministry?

NADIA AL HANAKI: Mhmmm. Yeah. Amelia reckons a few colonies did that - pretended to be on the fence to get stuff out of us, secretly with the Ministry all along. Sam, are we safe to go?

[Rover roars]

SAM YAO: Oh my God, there are Rovers! The big balloon ball things! There's some on the next street along. They're programmed to um, uh, well, it says here "engulf workers and spray them with a Xia-Hifa-patented substance akin to laughing gas"!

VERONICA MCSHELL: Oh dear.

NADIA AL HANAKI: I know what you mean. I don't feel much like laughing, either.

VERONICA MCSHELL: No, I know what substance he's talking about. It will have degraded into constituent components by now. Those Rovers are filled with poison gas!

NADIA AL HANAKI: Yeah, right. Typical apocalypse - think you're getting laughter, get poison. Come on, Five. Let's speed up. You lead the way.

[Rover roars]

NADIA AL HANAKI: My God! Those zoms are speedy. Look at them, back on our tail again!

SAM YAO: Well, maybe they're different zoms. Anyone coming here would have worn Prisoner costumes.

VERONICA MCSHELL: They are the same ones. That one had a rip in his striped jumper, and the other had, ah, no left hand.

NADIA AL HANAKI: We must have circled around to them. These streets are so confusing. We don't seem to be getting any closer to the clock tower.

VERONICA MCSHELL: What was this TV program about, The Prisoner?

SAM YAO: Uh, well, it's a bit hard to explain. It was sort of about how, um... how societies trap you. And they wanted to know why this one person, Number Six, had resigned from his job.

VERONICA MCSHELL: So it was a documentary?

NADIA AL HANAKI: No, it was sort of... well, it was very 1960s. About how people police each other, how we're all watching each other all the time. About how the small community of the English village could be oppressive.

VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes! Abel Township is like that sometimes.

SAM YAO: Really? I mean, well, we try not to be oppressive, I think.

VERONICA MCSHELL: I don't think it's anyone's fault, but... people have been looking at me strangely all year. Everyone wants to know why I worked with Sigrid. My answers are never enough. Nadia, you used to protect me from that a bit, but... then you left.

NADIA AL HANAKI: "Why did you resign?"

[SAM YAO laughs]

VERONICA MCSHELL: Why did you resign?

NADIA AL HANAKI: This is a long conversation, Veronica. Maybe not for now?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Was it because you didn't want to see me so much anymore?

NADIA AL HANAKI: Yes. You knew that Sigrid had taken Owen's body parts and used them for experiments. And I know you didn't want him to be killed, but I couldn't look you in the face.

VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes. I see. That makes sense. Were there any other colonies Amelia said had always been working with the Ministry?

NADIA AL HANAKI: Not sure. Um, maybe Shield Squadron?

SAM YAO: Uh, okay, guys. Uh, I really don't want to interrupt you, but um, that lead zombie is coming for you from the south, and there's a Rover coming from the north. Uh, if you head west, you should get them tangled up with one another. Two birds, one stone.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Worth a shot. Go on, Five. that zombie's got your scent. Head west as fast as you can. You can do it. "You are Number Five."

[Rover roars]

NADIA AL HANAKI: There, look! That Rover has engulfed that zombie!

SAM YAO: More zoms on your tail.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Is this place nothing but zoms? Just a second, Five. Take a look at those zoms. Those are the same ones again, aren't they?

SAM YAO: Aren't they just very, very similar?

NADIA AL HANAKI: Same exact ones. Missing hand, ripped jumper. Same ones. How did they get here so quickly?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Perhaps they used some kind of transport system? Is there anything in the documentation, Sam?

SAM YAO: Uh, hmm. Well, there are little golf carts to get around, but I doubt zoms'd be able to work those. Uh... oh! Oh, oh! No, listen! "For the entertainment of Village visitors, the town is on a rotating platform." I get it! It rotates faster the faster you run, to give you that sense that you can't escape. Oh man, that is genius!

VERONICA MCSHELL: Oh. I've been going in a circle.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Yeah, that's what we just worked out.

VERONICA MCSHELL: No! No, I mean, I've been going in a circle. The faster I went, the faster they went. That's my hypothesis, but I need to test it, find out...

NADIA AL HANAKI: Does whatever you're working on mean we should still head toward the clock tower?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Oh, yes. Yes, now more than ever!

SAM YAO: Right. Uh, so, okay. There's a still point in the center of the town. Get there and take your bearings, and then we'll work out which direction you need to run. Go!

NADIA AL HANAKI: Oh, now I can see it moving, it's quite funny! Get onto the giant chessboard and have a look, Five. See how we were running around the outside circle, and the zoms just kept waiting for us to come back?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes, I think that's what happened. She was waiting for me to come back to her with what she needed.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Is there something you want to tell us, Veronica?

VERONICA MCSHELL: [sighs] I think you might look at me weirdly if I told you.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Maybe that's a reason to say it?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Maybe when we get to the clock tower to use that ANNIE terminal, okay?

SAM YAO: All right. If you jump off now and head for the post office - see it, at the edge? - you'll be just at the path to the clock tower when it comes around again. Five, you take the lead. And... go!

[computer beeps]

SAM YAO: Yeah, so obviously Valmont's only going to put an ANNIE terminal into a 1960s-style enormous computer.

NADIA AL HANAKI: This looks like the sort of computer we could probably break by telling it about the human concept we call love.

VERONICA MCSHELL: I think that's how they sort of did break ANNIE, actually. They tried to get her to care about too many things. That's why she's so fractured. 

Since I first encountered her, I've been trying to work out how we could fix her, but I can only come up with quite resource-heavy solutions. It's sad... she's such a beautiful thing.

SAM YAO: And... the cure? Well, do you know more now you've used this ANNIE terminal to analyze it?

VERONICA MCSHELL: [sighs] Yes. This part of ANNIE completed the analysis easily. The cure works just like I thought it did. Or just like I thought it couldn't.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Break that down for me.

VERONICA MCSHELL: The Minister's cure works in the same way as the one I tried out months ago. I can reproduce what she's done. It's not even hard.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Sorry, Veronica, but if her cure works like the one you tried, why does the Minister have it and we don't?

SAM YAO: Oh. Because the faster you went, the faster she went, right?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Am I the last person in this room to solve the cryptic crossword?

SAM YAO: [sighs] Mm, maybe Veronica should explain. But first of all, you need to get out of there. There are more Rovers appearing every minute. We've activated some dormant system. The place will soon be too full of Rovers to get you out safely.

NADIA AL HANAKI: All right, Five. If I go ahead on the bike, will you bring up the rear behind Veronica? Let's go.

[motor rumbles]

NADIA AL HANAKI: Come on! We can't slow down, Veronica!

VERONICA MCSHELL: I could just tell you how to make the cure, you know. You could memorize it, and then you wouldn't need me anymore.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Get out of the way of that zombie! [zombie splatters] Got it. We're nearly out.

SAM YAO: [sighs] We do need you, Veronica! We need everyone, you know that. We need you, whatever you've done.

VERONICA MCSHELL: I only wanted to know the truth.

SAM YAO: Yeah, and we all know that. And you're helping us now.

VERONICA MCSHELL: In a way, everything that's happened is my fault.

SAM YAO: Well, not everything. I mean, you didn't create Sigrid, or ANNIE, or zombies, did you?

VERONICA MCSHELL: No.

SAM YAO: Well then! [sighs] Guys, those zoms really are getting close. Nadia, take Veronica along the lakeside road. Five, peel right and you can trap them behind that wire fence. Go!

NADIA AL HANAKI: That was handily done, Five.

VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes. It was very good, Runner Five.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Well, you've got a face on you like a wet weekend in [?].

SAM YAO: You can tell her, Veronica. It's just us. I won't tell anyone else.

VERONICA MCSHELL: [sighs] The reason I thought that my formula wouldn't work is that... I've been sharing my work with a few other colonies. Getting them to check parts of my formula.

NADIA AL HANAKI: That sounds very sensible.

VERONICA MCSHELL: I got second opinions from Mackey Colony and Shield Squadron. They've got very good scientists. And Hatten Hill. And the Ministry.

NADIA AL HANAKI: Oh. I see. Mackey and Shield and Hatten have all gone over to the Ministry, haven't they? In fact, we think -

VERONICA MCSHELL: You said they were probably in a loose alliance already, sharing information with her. I thought I was spreading the pieces around, but... I was sending everything right back to her. She just had to wait until it came to her, like those zombies waiting at the edge of the Village. And she got them to tell me it wasn't working.

NADIA AL HANAKI: So her cure is your cure?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes. I think so. At least now I know how to fix it.

[comms shack door opens]

JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five, urgent news. The Minister has begun to broadcast the signal to trigger Moonchild to come to her.

SAM YAO: Have you... heard anything, Five?

JANINE DE LUCA: The treatment Miss McShell and Kytan concocted seems to have worked for you, Runner Five. This is truly wonderful news. But the Minister will expect Moonchild to go to her. This is our one chance for you to sabotage her plans, Five. 

It's time. We know that the Minister has a hidden trigger in Abel, but we don't know what it is. You must pretend that Moonchild has appeared to you so you can learn what the threat to us is. You must go to the Minister now.

#zombies run #zrs6 #s6m35 #do not forsake me oh my darling #zr transcript #zrs6 spoilers

[fuhrmana]

i have all the questions! it's gonna be a lot of the same you asked me bc i kept wanting to ask "and you?" after answering each of them! so: 7, 8, 12, 13, 19, 20, 24, 25, 28, 38, 41, 51, 60, 84, 90, 97, 99 (i told you, ALL the questions. but like feel free to skip a few if you don't feel like answering them!)

wooo boy, this got long. . I’m gonna preemptively put everything under a read more.

7: do you name your plants? Weirdly enough, I don’t. I think it’s mostly because I rarely have repeated plants, and I buy a lot of single-season plants.

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings?

Like, I’m not a very artistic person, so mostly I ingest other people’s content to help intensify how I’m feeling. 

12: what’s your favorite planet?

I would say pluto, just to be a jerk, but uh, probably earth 2 or Neptune for the ocean representation 13: what’s something that made you smile today?

I went out for sushi with some coworkers, and we were all making jokes about when we’d make VP, because there have been A Round of promotions lately. The sushi itself would have made anyone smile, but it was also nice to go out and make jokes. 

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?

I have fifteen BEAUTIFUL journals and… I have nothing written/drawn in them. For a few years I kept an online journal but uh, xanga went out of business, and it’s lost to the ether now. 

20: what’s your favorite eye color?

It’s certainly internal bias, but I love green eyes. I mean, not to hate: blue eyes are beautiful, and brown eyes are all dark and broody until the light strikes them and then they are SHOCKINGLY beautiful, but green’s my favorite. 

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

No. 

Well, I mean, if it’s just a matter of trust, there are several people who, if I HAD to, I could share everything with, but I don’t want to. Some things are kept secret for a reason, okay?

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into?

The abandoned green houses by my high school: you had to slip in under a fence and sneak into the ditch and then you couldn’t go into the greenhouses themselves because all the glass was shattered all around them, but there was a little hill you could hide next to (the dude who owned it would literally chase you out with his dogs if he spotted you) and get stoned. Honestly, one the most beautiful places: but very post-apocalypse, with BRIGHT, VIBRANT green grass, and the glass would catch the light and it was spectacular. 

28: sunrise or sunset?

Sunset for sure: which might be west coast bias. You can only watch the sun set at the beach, and nothing is more beautiful 

38: tell us about your pet peeves!

I hate it when public transit is more than ten minutes late. I hate it when people start meetings without closing the door. I am SO grossed out by people who don’t take their dirty dishes to the sink, I’m so mad that dresses don’t all come with pockets, my mom’s insistence that she can always taste yogurt when it’s in a dish, my dad’s inst– you know what, I think I’ve said enough.

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

You know, I’m thinking about one that I have no complicated feelings about, and that’s the series that begins with “The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making”. There have been other books, even a few that have come out more recently, but this whole series warms my cold, old, withered heart. I’m going to buy them for my oldest niece soon.

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them?

Oh, this IS embarrassing but this

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

I’m VERY picky, and I mostly like individual poems, but I love e e cummings, and I get chills thinking “dead has a smile like the nicest man you’ve never metwho maybe winks at you in a streetcar and you pretendyou don’t but really you do see and you are My howglad he winked and hope he’ll do it again”and robert service is fun (and funny!) and I do like wilfred owen, and I adore Mercedes de Acosta, which makes sense because she was a lovely lady who loved ladies. 

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

gosh! I don’t know. I’m indecisive about it. I kind of want to get the work “Truth” tattooed on my hip, so the truth can always be on my side, but honestly…. I just don’t think I like anything enough to get it done. 

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities.

This is very difficult. I’d talk about Berne, but I was only there for a few hours, and I’d talk about Mill Valley but it’s not really a city, and I’d talk about Santa Rosa, but it’s hardly my favorite city, and I’d talk about Sion but you’ve done a better job than I ever could and living in SF has honestly ruined it for me. 

So, Zanzibar. It’s no secret that I loved every part of Tanzania I spent time in, and the week I spent in Zanzibar was magical. Stonestown/Old town was a warren, and you could get lost in a second but it was okay because it wasn’t that big and as soon as you were lost, you’d wander right out, and in the regular city you’d know right where you were, and and be able to wander right back in. 

I ended up on an island with hundreds of tortoises and what looked to be the prison from The Count of Monte Cristo, and we didn’t come back till it was dark and our driver was panicked. I didn’t particularly like the people I was traveling with, so I kept wandering off by myself, much to the concern of a lot of people.

And this song was playing EVERYWHERE, which was… comforting (it had been playing in Shirati as well). It was like every time you turned a corner something amazing or shocking or horrifying was happening, and it was the perfect cap of my trip. 

I’d love to go back someday. 

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

Literally anything by Carly Rae, but I’m particularly jamming to this rn

I still can’t hear Fast Car without tearing up. Songs that make my heart SWOOSH for VERY different reasons: Garotos, Dancing On The Run, Volvo Driving Soccer Mom (or like, all of Everclear?)And a song I’d LOVE to passionately sing for karaoke: Truly Madly Deeply

#about me #meme #music

[winstonhcomedy]

HDWDTW? 12/12-12/15 “They Have Alien Pubes on the Wall?”

What a fun weekend of shows cutie pies. So let’s get right into it baybees!!!

Thursday night I had a show all the way in Harrisonburg Va. It was a show put on by Dawn Davis Womack (clean/christian comedian) at Restless Moons Brewing. I have never done this show before, but I am a little nervous because I am supposed to be doing 20 minutes clean. This isn’t a church clean set, but anytime I am asked to do clean I always worry that I’m going to slip up and really upset/offend the booker. 

I get there and I”m on the show with my buddy Paige Campbell. We get there a little early and do some joking around. Paige and I are shooting the shit talking about how worried we are about it being a clean show. He looks to our left and they have paintings of naked alien women with full bush. He says, “Yes make sure you guys don’t say the f word, but if you have some time please check out our alien pube exhibit.”

Dawn gets there. We talk about some of the other shows we have coming up. I pointed her in the direction of some other bookable clean comics. She mentions a cool opportunity she has, and all in al we are having a good time. 

The host of the show and other half of X2 productions (they put on the show) Steve McClay showed up. He is a super nice guy, and made sure to ask everyone for their credits before the show started. Paige and I’s buddy Christopher Cantrell also showed up, and got to do a guest spot on the show. I asked to go early so I could try to make it to Crozet to do a guest spot on JR Stoffels show at Pro Re Nata. 

Eventually the show starts and we have a pretty solid crowd of about 30+. Steve goes up and gets the show rolling and has an ok set, but everyone is paying attention. After his set is Cantrell’s. He does ok too. It is weird because this is the first time I’ve seen him work super clean (not that he’s incredibly dirty) and you can definitely tell. He had some jokes work well, but others they either didn’t get or weren’t on board with the subject matter. 

Working clean is tough because when someone says clean it can mean a lot of different things. They could mean absolutely no sex jokes, no swearing, just  no f/c/n word, there could be certain topics they don’t want covered 9-11/holocaust/cancer/aids/rape/sex/death, or if its a church they might want church related material. So when you are going earlier in a show, you might not know what that crowd exactly wants. So I was happy to have a couple people go in front of me so I could get a good read on the room.

 I am super blessed and lucky to be able to work clean. I prefer being somewhere in the middle of clean and dirty just because that is more authentic to who I am, but I like working clean. I appreciate the challenge of it, and I do enjoy doing shows anybody can enjoy.

Dawn goes next and she keeps the show rolling. The crowd is into it, but they haven’t been cracked open yet so I am super nervous. I work clean so infrequently I am alway afraid I don't have enough material, or I'm doing such old material I know I won’t have a great time either. So this set I decided to try a lot of stuff I had never done clean before. 

I went up and had a really dope set. I did some jokes I hadn’t done in a super long time and they worked. I also did some new stuff and they worked as well. I did about 22 minutes and honestly I only lost them a few times on a couple topics (scientology for a minute/owing china money). Moments of those jokes worked, but the rest of the set was way better. I’d give it a B. Definitely room for improvement, but I am definitely proud of that set.

I was running late and hopped in my car and headed to Crozet. I went as fast as I legally could, and got there two minutes too late to go up. Which is ok. I got to hang with JR, Abdulla, Keaton Ray, Brock Hall, and I got to watch Jesse Jarvis do about 30 to close out the show. He had a hot set and apparently the whole show was amazing. 

After the show a dude who had seen me before came over and told me he loved my comedy and that he actually knew people I went to hs with. Turns out they were at this show. So I got to catch up with part of the Gantt family (a dope family that sent their kids to the same school I did). It was really awesome catching up and they said they’d catch another show in the future. This was a great way to end the night. I headed home in a great mood. 

The next night I had a show in Lorton Virginia. Rahmein Mostafavi booked me to do a feature set in front of Baltimore comic Tommy Sinbazo (laughfinder podcast)!

The show was at the Workhouse Arts Center which apparently used to be a prison that they converted into a venue for the arts. I got there and immediately was surprised at how dope this place was. I walked in and got to catch up with Tommy and Rahmein. Two incredibly talented, funny, and kind dudes. We shot the shit while Rahmein finished setting up for the show. 

When the show started Rahmein was really working his ass off to get this crowd into it. There was about 30+ people here, and they weren’t a bad crowd. It just seemed really hard to get them on board with stuff. Rahmein did his best, and set me up pretty well.

I went up and had what felt like a horrible set. I did about 23 minutes and I felt like half of it worked. It was one of those sets where you do a joke and it kills, then you try to ride that momentum but you lose them and have to start back over from scratch. 

I had some jokes hit super hard, but I was battling with this crowd for the entire time. They didn’t want to give me anything. All in all though after listening back to it. I did better than I thought. I definitely lost them a few times, but I won them back and even closed super strong which felt good. I didn’t want to leave a shit stage for Tommy. I got off stage and Rahmein and Tommy were both complimentary. For the room that night it was a pretty good set. I’d give it a C. 

Tommy went up and had a super good headlining set, but it was obvious he had to work his ass off too. He closed well, and I got to catch up with them for a little bit more after the show before I headed home to get a good nights sleep before having to go to my cousin’s wedding the next day. 

Sunday was a chill day. I got brunch with some comics, and went by 2nd and Charles. After this I went over to Brandon Beswick’s house and waiting for Kate Carroll to get there since we were all riding down to Cozzy’s together to do the improvised standup show (audience writes topics that comics have to riff on while on stage) that Holly Owens was running at Sunday Funnies.

The drive down was super fun. I love both of those folks a lot. We chatted bout some stuff going on in the scene, our thoughts on comedy, and what’s it like having a bunch of new comics in the area. It was super productive and a good chat. Lot’s of good laughs, and lots of insight.

We get there and legit there are some super dope people on this show. It’s like a ton of my favorite comics from down there. Just good, funny, people who are great to talk to. I got to catch up with one of my favorite dudes in the whole world Garret Barnes and pitch him the idea of he and I ripping off John Mulaney and Nick Kroll’s “Oh Hello” by being two older southern gentlemen and call it, “Oh hey y’all”!

The show starts and because Kate has a show in RVA to get back to, we three go first. Brandon had a super fun and weird set. He did a bit on 11/6 (9/11 flipped upside down) that didn’t kill but it tickled me quite a bit. Then Kate follows up and actually had a suggestion that played into one of her bits. 

I went next and had so much fun. I had the topics of natural disasters, asians, gnnorrhea, waxing, and Samsung vs iPhone. I had fun riffing on all of these, it got playful, weird, and offensive which is exactly how I wanted it to be. I’d give this set a B+. After this we rode back, and I kept dozing in and out of sleep I was so tired. All in all an amazing weekend of shows!!!

OH BAYBEES THANKS FOR READING!! I love you all very much. Hugs and kisses and I’ll see you cuties soon!