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may8344 · 5 years ago

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The Journey of a Forgotten Solider (Levi x OC)

Relationships:

Alana Frey (OC)Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Original Female Character(s)Levi Ackerman/Alana FreyFurlan Church/Original Character(s)Furlan Church/Alana Frey

Characters:

Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)Furlan ChurchIsabel MagnoliaAlana Frey (OC) - CharacterErwin SmithHange ZoëPetra RalGunther SchultzEld JinnOluo BozadoKeith ShadisSpecial Operations Squad | Squad Levi

Additional Tags:

Graphic Description of CorpsesBlood and InjuryViolenceMurder

Summary:

Alana Frey, a girl born in the Underground City, longed to see the true sunlight every morning that she would wake up. Alongside her comrades: Furlan Church, Isabel Magnolia, and Levi, Alana’s life as a thug continued with no way around it; until the sudden day she and her companions were offered the deal of a lifetime.

“Once you complete this job, not only will you be generously compensated for your work,

but you will also earn the right to live above ground.”

Word Count: 2.1k

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Chapter 12: Worthless Game

Levi began to move with blind rage. Attaching his hooks onto the murderous Titan’s stomach, he hurled himself forwards. Rotating himself, he sliced through the skin with a clean cut. A limp, bloodied hand fell out of the Titan’s belly.

Quickly, the ravenette firmly placed his feet on both sides of the cut and took a strong hold of the body part, yanking it out. Only half of Furlan remained intact; the other nowhere to be seen. Levi carried his fallen friend to the ground, gently resting him on the dirt.

The four remaining Titans did not wait for him to grieve. Instead, they started stomping towards the black haired man in an attempt to eat him. The one who had killed Furlan was the first to try and reach out.

But Levi didn’t hesitate.

Embedding his wires into the bleeding Titan once more, he swerved around its flailing arm. With a large pump of gas, he spiraled straight towards its face, stabbing his two swords into its eyes. Unlocking his blades from the handles with the push of a switch, he jumped off and applied another pair, leaving the murderous one blinded. Within less than a minute, he took down the remaining four, slicing their napes with ease; the fourth one he killed by cutting up its arm and around its neck.

Levi landed on the ground, not very affected by the stamina it took to deal with Titans. With a click of his tongue, he turned towards the last Titan, who couldn’t figure out how to remove the blades from its eyes. Walking towards it menacingly, the ravenette bellowed emotionlessly. “Hey. Do humans taste good?”

With ease, he flew up to its neck and stood his ground on the Titan’s back. “Hm? Were they tasty?” His glare only grew as he shoved a blade directly in its neck.

“Answer me.”

[~]

Erwin and Mike made their way over to the steamed area on their horses that surrounded Levi. “It’s the steam from fallen Titans,” Erwin noted.

“To have defeated so many at one time…” Mike thought out loud, shocked by the sight in front of him. “Was it him?”

Levi stood on top of the recently killed and steaming Titan, slowly making his way down. His blades were dulled down from the cutting, so he pushed the switch once more to release his weapons. As he walked, a small thump was felt on the front of his shoe. With wide eyes, he glanced down on what he bumped.

It was Isabel’s severed head.

Dropping down to his knees, the ravenette’s shaky hand slowly turned it over, face up. The girl had dirt all over her face; even in her eyes. Dried blood painted her colorless skin and leaked from her neck. Unable to look at the sight, he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth, carefully sliding the redhead’s eyes closed. Small tears leaked from the stoic man’s eyes at the idea of being alone again. Both Furlan and Isabel had been brutally murdered in front of him, and Alana was nowhere to be found.

“Hey! Are there any survivors out there?” Erwin’s voice cut through the air from a couple of meters away.

Levi’s eyes darted towards the noise and his face slowly scrunched up with anger. His target had decided to come to him after all of his friends were gone. Before he knew it, Erwin had already neared him on his brown horse.

“Levi!” He called, now only a small distance away. “Are you the only one left?”

He received nothing but silence and a glare, just like when they originally met in the Underground.

“The corpses of these Titans… You did this alone?”

Not wanting to hear anymore from the blond section commander, Levi jumped up and hurled his small body towards the taller male. Successfully hooking his elbow around his target’s throat, Levi shoved his arm forwards, slamming Erwin into the mud below. Being able to balance on the horse, Levi hadn’t fallen on his face. Instead, he landed on his feet and glared down at his dirtied opponent.

Mike immediately grabbed his weapons and hopped off of his horse, ready to attack.

However, he was cut off by the sound of Levi’s newly embedded blade slicing through the air. “Stay back,” he threatened.

The man complied with his demand, but kept his sword raised in case of any sudden movements. A cold sweat dripped down the side of his face, mixing with the leftover rain droplets that fell from his hair.

Levi continued his path towards the section commander. “Erwin.” Once he was only a meter or so away, he raised his sword next to blond’s throat. A rough, low shout left his mouth, “I’m going to kill you, you bastard! That’s why I’m here!”

As both of the men stared each other down, a moment of silence was met. Erwin slowly reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, looking down. “So they all died? I see…” Pulling out an envelope, with a red-wax stamp holding the contents inside, Erwin’s eyes met Levi’s once more. “This is what I supposedly have on Nicholas Lovof.”

Levi’s eyebrows snapped together, anger coursing through his veins. “So you knew? You knew we were after you, and yet--”

“Unfortunately, you were too late.” Ignoring the arguing thug, Erwin continued by tossing the envelope aside. The small stamp opened and small, white papers flooded the ground. There was not a single word written on any of them.

“Hey, what are you trying to say here?” Levi asked, his hands beginning to tremble.

“It was a bluff.” He answered straightforwardly.

“Huh?”

“I knew that Lovof was embezzling. The military funds left over from the suspension of the Survey Corps these last few years. I spread false information because I wanted definitive proof to back him into a corner.” Erwin explained. “This is Lovof we’re talking about, and he’s cautious. I thought he would make some kind of move first to confirm the existence of the documents. As I expected, he hired you three.

“If he’d made a move then, there’d surely be some trace. Following those back, it didn’t take much time for the proof to fall into my hands. I was able to pick up on him because he made a move from his end.”

Levi clicked his tongue, losing his patience. “Knowing that much, why did you bring us into the Corps?”

“One reason was your exceptional military prowess. And another… was to use you as partners to throw off Lovof. But there’s no longer any need for that. The real documents are currently in the hands of Commander-in-Chief Zackly. It’s all over for Lovof.”

“It wasn’t… worth throwing away their lives!” Levi screamed at the section commander, anger spilling past his bared teeth. “They were nothing but pawns in your worthless game.” Slowly pulling his sword from the blond’s throat to the side, he prepared to slice down with all the strength he had left. “Well, you lose.” He swung down, hoping to decapitate his enemy.

However, that didn’t happen. Holding the blade in his strong--now bloody--grip, Erwin glared up at Levi, his own teeth clenched as well. “Worthless game? Who’s the one… who killed my subordinates or your friends? Was it me, or was it you?” Pulling the weapon away from his throat, the blond continued. “Do you think that if you had come to attack me together that the three of them would have made it out alive?”

“You’re right,” Levi quietly admitted. “It was my conceit. My damned pride is to blame…”

“No! It was the Titans!” Erwin yanked the ravenette’s sword away behind him as his face got closer and closer to Levi’s. “Where did the Titan’s come from? Why do they exist? Why do they eat people? We don’t know! We are completely ignorant.” To the silver-eyed man’s displeasure, the blond kept inching forward, voice booming. “As long as we stay ignorant, they’ll keep eating us. We’ll never turn the tables on them by staying inside the walls.

“Look around you!” Pointing behind him, he aimed his finger towards the far, empty horizon. “In this wide open place, there are no walls, no matter how far you go. Here, there might be something to free us from our despair.” Continuing to spread his ideologies onto Levi, Erwin’s voice rose more and more. “But there are people who would keep us from leaving the walls. They stay where danger can’t reach them, obsessively thinking only of their own profits and losses.

“It’s understandable. The clouded eyes of mankind, blocked for a hundred years by the wall… they can’t see the other side. What about you, Levi? Have your eyes remained clouded?” Inevitably inches away from each other's faces, Erwin had a tint of pleading in his powerful voice. “Will you kill me and return back to the dark Underground? We won’t give up on going outside the walls. Fight with the Survey Corps, Levi! Humanity needs your skill!”

The sun was now beginning to shine brightly over the land, the clouds beginning to disperse. At this sight, Levi remembered the first breath of freedom he had shared with his friends the moment he had left the walls. The exhilaration of not being confined had flooded the four of them. The smiles of his friends.

Levi’s blade fell from his handle, showing he wasn’t a threat, just like he had done in the Underground months prior.

“From here on out, there’s no deal.”

[~]

“Hurry! We’re heading for the Supply Wagon Team to get dry sound grenades. We’ll reform the Corps using that point as a base.” Erwin said, riding his horse as if nothing had just taken place.

“The Titans might become more active once the weather clears up better,” Mike added in.

“We’ll meet with the Vanguard leaders before the losses become any greater. And we’ll return alive!” Erwin declared.

Levi turned a final glance towards where the steaming Titans laid, sprawled over the ground. But more importantly, he looked towards the last place where his friends were, now nothing more than corpses.

Soon, just as Erwin had suggested, the trio met up with the Supply Team, who had significantly less members. “I’m relieved to see that some of you survived the storm,” he said with a small smile. “If you can, gather any stray squads and rally them here. This will be our meeting point.” The blond commanded as he hopped off of his mare and ran up to one of the wagons, digging through it to find any sound grenades left. Successfully finding a couple, he ran back to his trio and nodded. “Let’s move towards the Vanguard and rally in the rest of the squads.”

The section commander led the other two around the outside squads, trying to group the remaining soldiers back to the wagons. There were many casualties throughout the Corps, but they were successful in securing the safety of the soldiers that still were standing. “Levi,” the blond turned to the smaller male, “there should still be another squad on the right side of the Vanguard. See if you can locate them. If not, head back to the Supply Team.”

Levi nodded and complied with his order. He led his brown horse towards the right side, where he left his fallen friends, and scanned over the horizon for the remaining squad. Across the distance, he couldn't spot a single living soldier.

Just as he was about to turn back, a distant clomping noise was made behind him. Leading his horse towards the noise, Levi attempted to find what he assumed was the stray horse, hoping there was at least one survivor.

Nearing closer, the figure was more visible. There was the brown mare and two soldiers riding; one injured and unconscious. "Help!" The awake soldier yelped. "She's injured really badly!"

Levi pulled his horse up next to the survivors. The one who guided the horse was a boy with shaggy brown hair and bright amber colored eyes. Blood stains were present all over his uniform and he looked traumatized. With spare bandages, he had tied a wounded soldier to his back. She had long, black hair and a torn, bloody uniform. Her wounded head was wrapped with bandages along with her torso, arms, and legs. The gear that she wore was smashed against her body. On her left hand was a beaten, silver ring.

And around her neck was a blue, tear-drop necklace.

"Alana?"

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Thank you for reading <3

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

#shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #levi #levi ackerman #fanfic #levi x oc #oc #attack on titan fanfiction #levi ackerman x oc #furlan church #isabel magnolia #alana frey

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inkedsoldier · 5 years ago

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Chew the Bullet - Chapter Two

A Modern Warfare series

Casey Vos is a liaison officer for the Dutch Special Forces. She has been stationed in Afghanistan and Syria, but now works everywhere they need her assistance. Specialized in counterterrorism and intelligence, she is unmistakably a great asset for the upcoming Taskforce 1-4-1, under the command of Captain John Price.

A/N: Here it is – the official chapter two of Chew the Bullet. I’m going to slowly introduce all the characters while following the storyline of the gaming series, starting with the most recent campaign of Modern Warfare (2019). English is not my first language, but I’m getting better at it. Please, if you see any errors, let me know so I can fix it. It’s much appreciated. Well, I hope you enjoy! And please leave a note, vote or message with your thoughts! Bravo team out.

Warnings: action.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

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When Kate stops talking Casey knows there is a problem. She’d known her since she started working as a liaison officer for the Dutch Special Forces, and Kate Laswell isn’t capable of silence unless her brain is in complete overload. The American station chief was like a female mentor to Casey. A retired CIA agent once told her that “when it comes to unconventional information warfare, Kate Laswell rewrote the book.” She had saved tens of thousands of lives, and was a respected contact for multiple actors in the world of military and intelligence. “Kate?” Casey said softly in the hope to get any answer from the officer.

Hearing her name, she checked the time on her watch. “Echo 3-1 and a team of marines just took off to check out one of Barkov’s depots on the edge of Verdansk, Casey. I need to inform the colonel about this intel. We don’t want an international incident with our prints all over it.” Casey gasped, “Alex?” Her pulse skipped the moment she heard his name. Alex and his team had played a key role in one of the special operations Casey was working on two and a half years ago. Working together with the Special Activities Division of the CIA gave her a lot of happy, but also sad memories. The tall American operative had stolen a place in her heart – they were like brother and sister. An attempt to assassinate the Wolf back in the summer of 2017 took a wrong turn, and he probably still believed she was killed in action. Nobody would have survived a drop off that cliff in Georgia, but she was lucky. They deliberately chose to keep her survival under the radar for safety reasons. “Yes… Alex. I’m going to inform Norris. I’ll call you back as soon as I have more information about this,” Kate informed the liaison officer before ending the call.

11:53 PM U.S. Military Base, Kastovia

Her feet pounded the tarmac as fast as her legs could carry. Luckily, her office wasn’t that far from Colonel Norris’ location. Out of breath she entered the tent, “Colonel, we may have a problem…” Looking over his shoulder he saw the blonde coming up from behind him, “Too late, Laswell. We’re live.” This wasn’t the response Kate was expecting so she decided to take action, no matter what the tall marine was going to do afterwards. “Not until I say so. Watcher to 3-1, how copy?” she spoke into the microphone.

11:57 PM Verdansk, Kastovia

Alex and the Marine Raiders were only a couple of clicks away from the depot when he heard the station chiefs voice in his earpiece. “Station chief Laswell, send traffic,” he replied looking at the men around him. “General Barkov has sent a new shipment of chlorine gas to his depot, but his mercs are prepping to move the chems into Urzikstan via convoy, tonight.” He knew the mission was to retrieve and secure chemicals, but he wasn’t expecting they were on a clock. Not even to mention the extra mercenaries they could expect on site. “You’re still clear to engage, but live fire on Russian military is prohibited. We cannot have an international incident.” The risks of the job were clear, but the rules of engagement were something he could not always follow. “No guarantees Russian army won’t respond on this, Kate,” he clarified while prepping the drop. “Understood, Alex. Just locate the gas, commandeer Barkov’s trucks, and get off the X before the tide turns.” The two men in front of him roped down. “Copy, Watcher. We’ll handle it,” he confirmed before joining the marines on the ground. “We need to keep this on a tight loop. Barkov’s men are moving the gas tonight,” he announced.

The trees surrounding them in the darkness were thick and old with twisted roots. The path wasn’t visible at first, but it didn’t take them long before they spotted the first two guards at the ridge. “Psst. Heads up,” the marine on the front spoke through the comms. “Two mercs, no uniforms.” The team slowly approached the men, staying out of sight. “They’re game, drop ‘em.” The two Russians went down and they moved up the path to have a clear view of the base. “Echo 3-1 to Blue Viking 5, call for fire. Stand by for target conformation,” Alex called in. With one of the binoculars he scanned for any activity at the depot. There was a vehicle coming up to the main gate, probably contractors. And someone was guarding the surrounded area from the tower on the left of the entrance. No sign of the presence of Russian military cleared them to take the next step in the mission. “Blue Viking 5, this is Echo 3-1. Troops in the open, south gate. You are cleared hot.” Within five seconds the base lit up like a Christmas tree. “Echo 3-1, good effect on target. Viking is RTB, good hunting,” the operator confirmed through the comms.

Upon arriving on the base they had a run in with some of the survivors of the blast, but nothing they couldn’t handle. The team cleared the outside area of the base and moved up towards the warehouse where the gas was stored according to the intel. When they opened the entrance door and put on the gas masks for safety, someone killed the power. “Go white-light,” one of the marines advised. “It’s pitch black in here.” Alex took point and guided the marines through the storage space, killing the last of the men on base. All he needed was one flashbang and some bullets. They managed to get the power back on, but a surprise was waiting - the guys they just killed were Spetsnaz, Russian army. “3-1 to Watcher… Barkov’s hired guns are Spetsnaz. We got Russian army KIA – we need to bug out now.” Kate reacted immediately, “Negative. Command wants mission accomplished on this. Not our choice.” It was never their choice, so the comment didn’t surprise him. When he climbed on the back of one of the trucks, he took out a small stick to verify if the barrels contained the chemicals. With a swap and a click, the stick turned green. “Jackpot. PID on the gas.”

Quickly they moved to the jeeps waiting for them at the back. It was time to load up and get out of this shithole. He entered the vehicle and took shotgun. “All stations, we are Oscar Mike to the RV, watch your sectors.” Kate responded, “Good work, Alex. Rally at the hook point for egress.” Out of nowhere a burning truck came bolting down the hill and bullets sprayed all around them. “Back up, back up!” Alex yelled, but they were too late. “All stations, we are under attack, hitman is taking heavy contact from unknown forces,” the marine next to him said before they got hit by a RPG. The car rolled over and everything went black.

Everything hurts and time slowed down. “Watcher to 3-1. How copy?! Alex, do you read- Over!” The world was spinning as he saw one of the marines come up to him with his weapon in hand. “I got you, I got you 3-1.” He pulled him out of the burning car and searched for cover, but he got shot and killed instantly. Two masked insurgents approached as the badly wounded marine in front of Alex struggled to get up. “Who the fuck is this!” he yelled before he got hit by another bullet. As the only survivor, Alex tried to focus on what they were saying - these guys are definitely no Russians. And when they found out the team they just ended were American the panic started. Just as fast as they appeared they drove off with the trucks filled with the chlorine gas. Alex lifted his gas mask and struggled to sit up. “Echo 3-1 to Watcher,” he coughed. “Alex, what happened?” the station chief asked. “Terrorist attack- Multiple marines KIA. Gas stolen. We need EVAC, now!”

11:55 PM Scotland Yard, London

Casey and Kyle returned to the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service after the raid in South London. They managed to bag up most of the evidence they found in the townhouse, and a few officers stayed back to clean out the place and check if they missed anything. She couldn’t stop thinking about Alex on her way back to the Yard. Suddenly the phone in her pocket started to vibrate. She tapped the green icon on the screen, “Hello?”

It was the familiar voice of Kate on the other end of the line. “Casey, the operation is compartmentalized. Alex found the gas, but securing it went wrong. The team got ambushed and multiple marines are KIA.” Casey’s eyes widened, “What about Alex? Is he alive?” was the first thing that she asked. “Multiple Russian forces were heading his way, but we got to the exfil in time.” She crumpled down on the ground against the wall. “What do you need me to do?” She tried to get her thoughts together. “I just spoke to General Lyons. The Kremlin has suspended all deconfliction channels, the Sixth Fleet is pushing into the Black Sea… and the chemical weapons are now in the wild,” the American sighed. “I told her that intelligence is our best weapon, but she didn’t want to hear anything about it,” she continued. “Okay, so what are you saying?” the Dutch lieutenant replied. “I called Price, Case. We need his help.”

This day got even more complicated by the minute now. First Alex, and now John Price. Two people who thought she died on their last op together. “I know what you are thinking, Casey, but I can’t think of a better team to handle this situation. We need to fix this! The weapons could be heading to Paris, New York…” Kate didn’t need to finish her sentence, because the twenty-seven year old knew what was coming next, “London… I understand, Laswell. But don’t inform them about my involvement yet. You know I will help you, but I want to be the one to tell them about the fact that I’m not somewhere rotting in a ditch at the crossroad of Western Asia and Eastern Europe.” Kate exhaled slowly, “We knew this day was coming the moment the Wolf would get back on the grit. I know it’s not going to be easy, but we will do this your way, Case. What about the intel you recovered tonight? Did you find anything that can help us right now?” Casey glanced at the file on her lap, “No, not yet. But I’ll contact you as soon as I find something we can use.”

Masterlist

Want to get tagged in upcoming chapters? Let me know!

Taglist: @imahardcase @yvessaintrogers

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sailorsanghelios · 6 years ago

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HALO FOR BEGINNERS PART 1: A NOT SO BRIEF INTRO TO HALO

So Microsoft has recently announced that The Master Chief Collection for Halo, is coming to Steam, opening up the Halo universe to many new players who haven’t been able to play before thanks to not owning an Xbox.

So in celebration of this, I’ve decided to put together a little series thats basically a Beginner’s Guide to Halo, for people who only know it for its stereotypes involving its multiplayer play.

This series is mostly aimed at popular video game fandoms on Tumblr, so you might catch me making some comparisons (especially to series like Mass Effect that actually have some tropes in common with Halo)

However a couple of things before I get started for real

1.This guide will only be talking about the original trilogy of games, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3. There are three other games in this game bundle, Halo 3: ODST, Halo Reach and Halo 4. However I haven’t actually finished ODST, and I haven’t played the latter two in over half a decade, so I really don’t feel equipped to talk about them in length.

2. Halo deals with a lot of heavy content. Along with the obvious blood and gore, there’s a lot of body horror involving the Flood (though if you can stomach say… Telltale’s TWD, its probably about at that level of squick). Heavy themes that are core themes of Halo include genocide, religious based trauma and abuse, child soldiers and medical experimentation on humans. I don’t believe Halo CE has much in the way of individual triggers to look out for, but Halo 2 has an extended torture scene that includes stripping someone naked to humiliate them and Halo 3 has several sequences involving a female character being violated mentally. So if anything these things are extreme triggers you can’t engage with, then I say you should listen to your gut.

3.I will not talk about the multiplayer aspects of Halo much (except to discuss stuff involving co-op maybe) as this series is meant to kind of explain more outside of multiplayer stereotypes.

4. Halo 2 and 3 are pretty hard to talk about without mentioning spoilers for the games that come before it. If you’d like a totally spoiler free experience, I’d recommend skipping anything where I mention these games. Also for the sake of my own sanity, I am not treating the Flood as a spoiler, because ...well it hasn’t been for almost 20 years, and Halo has since reached a point where you can’t really talk about it without mentioning them.

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So I guess I should start at the very beginning?

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE HALO MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION?

The Halo Master Chief Collection is a collection of the first four Halo games, and ODST, and soon Reach will be added too! Its sold at the equivalent price of one retail game, so you’re basically getting six games for the price of one.

It was released for Xbox One in 2014, to coincide with Halo 2’s tenth anniversary. It was infamously buggy at the time, (probably because it was rushed for the aforementioned anniversary) but most of these bugs have been fixed, and they even added in ODST as an apology gift! The PC version should not contain these bugs. (though there’s a decent chance it might contain bugs related to PC porting, especially for Halo 3 and beyond which have never been ported before, but that’s just speculation).

If the PC version is identical to the Xbox version, the Master Chief Collection is essentially a download pass for these games. You download and pick and choose which ones you want! For example on my Xbox I don’t have the ODST from MCC loaded on because I already have the vanilla Xbox 360 version loaded to emulate (which I still haven’t finished but YOU KNOW). This allows you to play the games you want and not waste space and download time on the ones you don’t.

Halo Combat Evolved is ported based on the 2011 10th anniversary version that updated the graphics. Halo 2 received a brand new (and absolutely STUNNING) graphics update specifically for this release. Halo 3 and beyond are straight up ports with the original graphics, though with a much better frame rate.

SO WHAT EXACTLY IS HALO?

OH…. umm I guess maybe I should talk about that too.

Halo is as most people know, a sci-fi first person shooter. From 2001-2010 the games were released by Bungie. When Bungie left Microsoft to make the Destiny series, Microsoft kept some employees behind and hired some new ones to create 343 Industries which is their in house team to make Halo. The first game released by 343 Industries is Halo CE: Anniversary in 2011, and the first game released based on original content is Halo 4 in 2012. This post series though will mostly focus on Bungie content.

So Halo: Combat Evolved came out in 2001 and its...basically the reason the Xbox is a THING. If it weren’t for Halo, or even if Halo had been a multiplatform release, the Xbox probably would have gone the way of the Sega Dreamcast. Halo: CE had many innovations for the first person shooter genre at the time, including a two gun limit where you have to strategize your choice in weapons, a very complex AI system for the time, and basically revolutionized multiplayer for FPS games as we know it.

Halo would have been the best selling game for the original Xbox if it weren’t for Halo 2’s release in 2004, and Halo 3 basically was THE title for the Xbox 360, when it came out in 2007. The later games haven’t been AS successful, but still have a very loyal fanbase.

ENOUGH WITH THIS HISTORY LESSON, WHY IS HALO ANY DIFFERENT FROM CALL OF DUTY?

First things first.. I know there’s a lot of posts going around rn, talking about how well….overly militaristic many FPS games are. I will say I DON’T believe Halo is on the same level of some of these games. I’ve never heard of it having any military involvement in production, and I’d say its about as militaristic as Mass Effect is, as in the protagonists are in the space military, and the plot revolves around that.. The backstory of Halo if anything, paints the military in a very gray morality light AT BEST. So if you’re worried about this being a game that over-glorifies military stuff, if you’re okay with Mass Effect’s portrayal of a human space military, you’ll probably be fine with Halo.

SO I have not actually played Call of Duty or games like that as surprisingly I actually really don’t like the FPS genre, and Halo is the only FPS game I like. I will say though, Halo is definitely not a totally generic shooter, the way Call of Duty is stereotyped as. It has a very interesting plot with a lot of layers, and very unique lore, that still plays on familiar tropes. (and I’ll get into some of that later.)

At least one selling point I’ll say, is that unlike many modern shooters, Halo is STUNNING. It uses color very well, and has many beautiful maps, and especially in the remastered games you could just look at the environment for days. So the fact it has a color palette outside of gray and brown is definitely enough to set it apart.

I will say if you like Mass Effect for its alien lore and world building, there’s a very good chance you’ll like Halo too. The fandoms have a lot of overlap, and actually have a decent amount in common despite the fact one’s a shooter where you kill aliens and the other is an RPG where you…. you know with the aliens.

SO WHAT IS THIS PLOT YOU SPEAK OF?

I plan to go more in depth into this in my next post, but I figured for this intro post I might as well tell the basic gist of it. There will be some loose spoilers for the sake of the summaries making sense.

Halo Combat Evolved, is about a lone human ship that has escaped the destruction of the planet Reach, which was the last thing between Earth and the Covenant, a race of aliens hell bent on wiping out humanity for religious reasons. The ship makes a “random” jump to what they think would be the middle of nowhere, but in fact brings them to a ringworld that is worshipped as the foundation of the Covenant religion. Both human and Covenant land on this ring and a fierce battle assumes as they try to take control of it. Halfway through you learn that there’s...surprise! Zombies! Called the Flood, a spore like species that turns people into zombies and their only drive is to consume everything in their path. It turns out Halo, is a weapon to destroy them but…. It also destroys every living thing in the galaxy, so it turns into a mad dash to make sure that a) no one activates it and b) the Flood are able to be stopped without it before they leave the ringworld.

Halo 2 takes place about a month later, and is a split campaign between the Master Chief and the Arbiter, who is the disgraced commander of that fleet you were fighting in the first game. The Master Chief side of the story involves the Covenant finally making it to Earth, and the discovery of a second Halo ring, and the fallout of both of those things. The Arbiter side of the story involves him trying to restore his honor within the Covenant, by becoming a suicide soldier fighting for their faith, but as he does missions for his prophets, he learns the amount of lies and hatred his religion and society are built on.

And Halo 3 is basically...the convergence of all these stories. Its very hard to talk about without mentioning spoilers, and without going in depth about world building related stuff, which is the focus of my next post.

The final thing for this intro is….

WHAT IS HALO’S GAMEPLAY LIKE?

Okay so… I’m not going to talk about the controls, because I imagine they’ll be very different from mine, as an Xbox player. And I’m very biased because Halo is the first game I ever played on a controller as a kid, so I don’t really have an objective way of describing them. But the fact the controls were easy for me as a seven year old, probably makes them pretty easy to learn in general.

Because Halo is a linear story, the game is split up into levels. In the vanilla releases of the game, you need to play them in order to unlock them all, but in MCC that is NOT the case, and you can skip levels. I really do not recommend doing this though the first time around for obvious reasons, but once you’ve completed the game, you can just play the segments you like! And trust me there are certain levels you’ll hate (like the Library… I will tell you right now you will hate that level.)

There’s four difficulty levels, Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary. Easy is well..super easy. This is the mode I used as a little kid. However I don’t think there’s any shame in playing at this level, in fact I usually use this difficulty for my first playthrough so I can get through the story with no difficulty. Normal is well...normal. This is the difficulty I usually play at, its probably the most realistic in terms of enemy strength vs player strength. Heroic is basically pretty hard but not like...obscenely hard, but enough to be a big frustrating unless you know the game really well. And Legendary is… well super extra hard. Play Legendary if you enjoy having everything murder you, with no mercy. Also Halo 2 has a significantly harder campaign then Halo CE and Halo 3.

In the vanilla releases of the games, starting with Halo 2, there are items called Skulls you can collect that add difficulty or some extra fun to the game, but you have to collect them in the Legendary difficulties of the levels. This is NOT the case for MCC, and they’re all available for you from the getgo. I really don’t recommend using them for your first playthrough unless you really want a challenge, with the exception of the silly ones like Grunt Birthday Party (which spits confetti for headshots to Grunts) that don’t actually affect gameplay.

A lot of other gameplay stuff is really hard to generalize since Halo is a series where the gameplay tends to be pretty different between games, such as with HUD features and such. But those are some general miscellaneous game things they all have in common.

So yeah, thats it for my intro to my...intro to Halo. I’ll get started on the next one talking more indepth about the factions and what not, when I recover from...writing this.

#halo shitpost hour #halo #i have been working on this all day until i was happy enough with it so ahhhh #i have nothing resembling an idea when the next part will come out right now i just need a nap

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cosplayclans · 3 years ago

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Game Path to Nowhere The Chief Female Cosplay Costumes

#Game #cosplay clans #cosplayclans #cosplayer #cosplaycostumes #cosplaying #costumes #cosplay #anime cosplay #cosplay costumes #anime #Path to Nowhere #Path to Nowhere The Chief Female #Game Cosplay Costumes #Path to Nowhere Cosplay Costumes #The Chief Female Cosplay Costumes #Path to Nowhere The Chief Female Cosplay Costumes #Cosplay Costumes #Game Path to Nowhere The Chief Female

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moonsglare · 8 months ago

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Hey, sorry for ranting to you but I am currently at my wit's end and I saw that you didn't enjoy ShaRahu so here's me ranting. So sharahu is currently trending on X/twitter rn and gods the level of mischaracterization is off the charts because why do they keep on making "Oh, Rahu may look like a top but she whimpers and is always collared", like are they reinforcing the shipping shenanigans that is prevalent on hetero ships? "Oh, that man (who is significantly taller than the female) isn't the top lmao. He's a puppy for the fl, always obeys her commands, the sub in the rs, fl rides him and he whimpers when she calls him a good boy." Like tell me that Sharahu isn't just a reinforcement of the existing gender roles in fandom shipping.

Size Difference = check

FL is cold but reveals a soft side to ml = check

ML always listens to what FL says or does = check

Sexual roles are flipped so FL is dom and ML is sub = check

ML is stoic, angry, and aggressive to others but is soft to FL = check

FL is femme and cat coded = check

ML is masculine looking and dog coded = check

Sharahu is just hetero but Yuri. Not bashing the others for shipping it, it just makes me mad that Path to Nowhere is getting famous just because of ShaRahu and they just keep on mischaracterizing them. It's like the green yuri manga, where the 'guy' was just a girl who is masc looking and the fl is the femme in the rs. Like if PtN is getting famous, then show the lore. Show Zoya and her drive to make Syndicate a better place, only to be used as an instrument to destroy Syndicate by the Underground and as evidence by the East Side that Syndicate and its citizens are just inferior, useless, and a source of Mania. Heck, even the Chief is more interesting than sharahu. Chief is an amnesiac who is suddenly thrusted into this role by the higher-ups, not knowing that Paradeisos just extracted everything they could from the Chief, but obviously they couldn't take everything . Pre-amnesiac Chief was revealed to be a prisoner, a prisoner to their creator and Paradeisos, someone who is with the expedition from more than 100 years ago, someone who isn't 100% human and is evidently connected with Mania and the Perishing Star, someone who is akin to a cornered animal trying its best to protect itself only to be used as an experimented subject. I don't wanna elaborate since you already play the game hahahahha

I just wish that Path to Nowhere is getting famous not because of ships, but because of its lore and characters. If the game's ships are getting famous, then just explore the characters, stop mischaracterizing them just so they could reflect the current shipping tropes. And I know that people have a huge problem to self-insert MC's but I wish that they stop removing Chief from the narrative. Heck, I view Chief as their own character since they are so fleshed out. sorry for ranting hehehe

honestly ur so right anon. i won't go into detail about my feelings to sharahu because i've already mentioned them in previous asks and i personally truly dislike constantly shitting on something so i'll leave it at that, but yeah. it is a bit saddening to see aisno's incredibly fleshed out characters somewhat reduced to ship tropes, and more so when the trope completely goes against their character lmao i'm happy that aisno are getting their flowers for being pretty outstanding devs/writers, but i guess this is just one of the pitfalls of having a large fanbase :/

#sev.responses #a little funny how i've become anti-sharahu central #i'd prefer to recieve less asks abt sharahu in the future though mainly because again i don't enjoy publicly hating on things others enjoy

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aion-rsa · 5 years ago

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Attack on Titan Recap: Essential Moments to Remember Before Season 4

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Many anime series are able to grab a hold of mainstream audiences, but the kind of attention that’s surrounded Attack on Titan is on a whole other level. The anime series only has three seasons, but it’s taken over seven years for it to reach its finish and the enthusiasm towards the property has never waned. Attack on Titan looks at Eren Jaeger and his fellow resistance fighters who wage war against man-eating beasts known as Titans.

What initially started as a war story with monsters has evolved into a truly epic character study and masterclass in serialized storytelling. Each season of Attack on Titan changes the game in significant ways and its upcoming fourth and final season is set to do so once again. Attack on Titan’s highly anticipated concluding episodes premiere this week, so here’s a breakdown of the series’ biggest and best moments leading up to its finish.

Eren Reunites With The Colossal Titan

Attack on Titan is well aware of the disturbing nature of its titular creatures and right from the first episode they feel like a serious threat that are nearly impossible to overcome. Eren Jaeger swears that he’ll get revenge after his initial encounter with these beasts and the loss of his mother, but the fourth episode of the series is when an older and more prepared Eren finally mounts his attack. It’s thrilling to watch the Survey Corps in action for the first time, but it’s all punctuated by the surprise return appearance of the Colossal Titan. Eren has never felt more ready and his attack on the beast has become one of the most iconic images from the series.

Eren And Mikasa Murder Some Slave Traders

All of the relationships in Attack on Titan resonate, especially when they’re put in a pressure cooker of emotion where death becomes an everyday occurrence. The bond between Eren and Mikasa is one of the most powerful in the whole series and the origins of how these two met is the perfect backstory for their tortured souls. Mikasa becomes orphaned by two slave traders and Eren can’t help but try to settle the score, despite being just a child. The messy endeavor leads to both Eren and Mikasa taking the lives of these corrupt men and becomes the catalyst that forever bonds them.

The Introduction Of The Talking Beast Titan

Season two of Attack on Titan doesn’t waste any time and features the introduction of a powerful and mysterious new creature, the Beast Titan. At this point there have been several Titan varieties, but the Beast Titan is the first one that can talk and demonstrate that Titans can actually be an intelligent, complex species. The Beast Titan has crucial ties to Eren and becomes a big obstacle throughout the show’s future. The immediate spectacle that the Beast Titan poses and the insight that he provides on Titans’ and their past begins the second season’s focus on this unusual world’s history.

The Female Titan’s Assault On Levi’s Squad

The Female Titan is a foreboding figure from its first appearance and Annie guarantees that it remains one of the more brutal villains in the series. Attack on Titan‘s first season depicts Levi as one of the most accomplished and brilliant fighters on the Survey Corps, which makes his team’s destruction at the hands of the Female Titan all the more devastating. If anyone is able to take out this Titan it’s Levi and his team, yet the Female Titan destroys nearly all of Levi’s support in minutes. In an instant Levi’s squad goes from one of the Scouts’ greatest assets to no longer existing.

Eren Gets Eaten By A Titan

“The Struggle for Trost” arc during Attack on Titan’s first season features some revelatory moments as the Scout Regiment defends against the Titans. Out of nowhere, Eren gets swallowed by a Titan, which makes for a great cliffhanger, but the anime keeps the audience in doubt for several episodes before it’s revealed that Eren’s still alive. His absence is just long enough that it begins to feel like the character is actually gone and that someone like Mikasa or Levi will shift to become the new lead.

Kenny Ackermann Attacks Levi And His Squad

Season three of Attack on Titan expands on the past of many characters and early on Levi experiences an unwelcome reunion with the one who trained him as a youth, Kenny. Kenny is pure anarchic energy and the ambush that he launches on Levi and his men is easily one of the most impressive animated sequences in the series. This new villain instantly stands out and even though this sprawling fight takes many lives, it’s the personal history between Levi and Kenny that gives it such an impact. This is a visceral introduction to Kenny’s character, which beautifully comes full circle by the time he reaches his end by Levi’s side.

The Bond And Promise Shared Between Historia And Ymir

Attack on Titan deserves immense credit for how it takes two background characters like Ymir and Historia (formerly Christa) and turns them into the heart and soul of the anime’s second season. Historia and Ymir have both lied about their paths, which are tragic for different reasons. There’s an unlikely, yet genuine, love found between these two characters that teaches a lesson applicable to the entire cast. The characters’ passionate exchange about the future is a deeply touching moment in a show that’s filled with pain and it retroactively makes Historia’s actions during season one gain a lot more weight.

Erwin’s Inspiring Speech And Kamikaze Attack On The Beast Titan

Attack on Titan has traded in rampant death since the very first episode, but that doesn’t make it any easier when tragedy does strike beloved characters. Erwin is a fundamental member of the Scout Regiment and he makes a difficult decision when pushed into a corner by the Beast and Colossal Titan. The Beast Titan hurls boulders at Scouts, taking out many lives at once, but Erwin inspires his men to fight for their cause and to go down as heroes rather than cowards. It’s Erwin’s best moment and it becomes all the more bittersweet by how he’s almost immediately struck by a boulder. Erwin’s sacrifice is not in vain and it heavily motivates Levi’s retaliatory attack against Zeke’s Beast Titan.

The Mysterious Attack Titan Ally Is Actually Eren

The role that Titans play in Attack on Titan continues to evolve in fascinating ways and it’s easy to forget a time when they were just a horde of ravenous giants. The battle for Trost features a perplexing moment when a unique Titan begins to obliterate his fellow kind and looks to be a crucial ally in this fight. This strange behavior culminates with the reveal that this helpful Titan is in fact Eren Jaeger. It’s an important turning point for both Eren and the anime as a whole as it enters into a new relationship with Titans.

Thunder Spears Decimate The Armored Titan

Titans are very deadly creatures, but the Survey Corps develop a rhythm where they’re able to eliminate standard Titans with minimal difficulty. The Armored Titan is a major obstacle because the Titan’s tough exterior makes it impossible to damage its nape weak spot. Hange develops drastic weapons, dubbed Thunder Spears, which get the job done against Reiner’s Titan when they’re put to the test. It’s not only beautifully animated, but it finally marks a solution to a problem that’s confounded the Scouts for well over a season. It’s also a rare moment where Hange’s importance is emphasized.

Eren First Wields The Coordinate Ability

Attack on Titan’s second season concludes on some huge moments, chief among them Eren facing the disturbing Smiling Titan that ate his mother back in the first episode. Eren gets taken over by an avalanche of emotions after Hannes sacrifices himself to keep Eren and Mikasa safe. It initially looks like Eren’s lost his mind, but this fear transforms into confidence once Eren unleashes his Coordinate scream ability, which allows him to control smaller Titans. It’s an amazing new skill for Eren to add to his repertoire, but it also sheds light on why he’s been the priority of Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie: they want to eat him and get the ability for themselves.

Ymir’s Past And The History Of Titans

Attack on Titan’s first season throws many characters at the audience, but it’s the show’s second season where most of its supporting figures get a chance to gain depth. A large focus in season two is the relationship of Historia Reiss and Ymir, both of whom are much more important than the series has previously indicated. Ymir receives a remarkable flashback story that explains how she was worshipped by a deranged cult as a child and turned into a Titan as some bizarre ritual. Ymir is forced to live life as a mindless Titan for years until she happens to consume a shifter and turns back to human. Ymir’s awe over gaining back her humanity and a second chance at life is beautiful and it speaks to her connection with Historia.

Reiner And Bertholdt Aren’t Just Traitors, But Titans

Attack on Titan works best as an action series, but it’s also full of mysteries and the second season engages in a suspenseful “whodunit” of sorts with the identities of the destructive Colossal and Armored Titans. The knowledge that some Titans are actually humans who can masquerade as normal brilliantly makes every character suspicious. It’s still a serious shock when Reiner casually tells Eren that not only is Bertholdt the Colossal Titan, but that he’s also the Armored Titans. These two trusted members of the Survey Corps suddenly are turned into the biggest enemy and they try to persuade Eren to work alongside them.

The Contents Of Grisha Jaeger’s Basement

One of the biggest mysteries in Attack on Titan revolves around what’s inside Grisha Jaeger’s basement. The anime impressively waits three seasons to answer this question and it manages to be more satisfying than anything that the fans predicted. Eren and company don’t just come in contact with Grisha’s diary, which has invaluable information on Titans, but the group sees their first photograph. It’s a stunning moment that’s accentuated by how these characters at first believe that it’s a painting because they’ve never encountered such technology. Up until this point it’s been presumed that Attack on Titan exists in a more archaic alternate version of the past, but the contents of the basement indicate that this is more of a The Village scenario where there’s a gigantic technologically advanced world out there that these characters have been completely ignorant towards.

Armin Nearly Dies And Becomes The Colossal Titan

Attack on Titan’s core trio of Eren, Mikasa, and Armin have been tested in many ways throughout the series, but one of the most emotional moments from the series involves Armin’s sacrifice to aid Eren. Armin has always struggled with confidence, so his seemingly final gesture to stand up to the Colossal Titan and get burned to death from intense steam makes for an honorable finish. It’s also the necessary distraction that Eren requires to finally remove Bertholdt from his Titan form. This scene is heavy, but what follows involves Eren, Mikasa, and Levi arguing over which of their nearly dead friends deserves to live on as a Titan. It’s an incredibly unexpected turn for Armin, especially once he’s the new Colossal Titan.

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stargleeksil-blog · 7 years ago

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Criminal Minds S07E01 “It Takes a Village” review - or more aptly named, PAGET BREWSTER AND AJ COOK! <3

Episode 01 – It Takes a Village

Hey everyone!

So I’m uber excited about this season!

So without any further ado ...

Let’s see what happens!

Wait. Why are my honeys on trial? What’s going on here?

“Three and a half months, sir.”

“Agents Rossi, Morgan and I were there with our technical analyst Penelope Garcia.”

“Seventeen, sir.”

They solved seventeen cases over three and a half months? DAMN.

“Thank you.”

“Why aren’t we in there?”

“They’re just trying to intimidate us.”

“Well, that’s not about to happen.”

“I’m not okay with this.”

“You may not even be a witness.”

“Sir, I’m not worried about me.”

“Don’t they have anything better to do than …”

“Baby girl, this is just what they do?”

“Anything?”

“It doesn’t look good.”

Well, shit!

“How long is she gonna be there?”

“It required a lot of detail.”

“We didn’t have time, sir. Once the subject was confirmed, we had to act quickly.”

“Don’t take the shot!”

“Don’t shoot!”

“I got him!”

“Yes. We put an international criminal with terrorist connections in federal custody.”

Yeah, baby.

Queen Elizabeth: “The past cannot be cured.”

“No one could locate Doyle, except Agent Morgan.”

“After hiding dead ends in that world, Agent Morgan put himself in Doyle’s shoes and knew that he would be looking for his son, Declan.”

“Okay, Emily needed to get Declan a new identity. So she must have used someone she trusted.”

“All right, well, that’s a short list, but it’s probably not even written down.”

“Even if it was, she’d had contacts all over the world.”

“Oh, tell me about it. Two columns – domestic and imports.”

“Hey. You guys seen Spence?”

“He’s at the firing range.”

“Again?”

“Ever since Prentiss died, he …”

“Right.”

“Uh … did you guys just get a new case?”

“It’s just an old one.”

“Do you want some fresh eyes?

“Not just yet.”

“Okay. Um, well, let me know.”

“Shouldn’t we tell her?”

“Garcia, this has been a long shot for six months. Why get her hopes up?”

“What about Hotch?”

“He knows I’m doing this.”

“He does?”

“Not technically, but he knows I’m not about to let Doyle roam free.”

“Does he know we’re looking for Declan?”

“I just figured I’d call him when I have something to report.”

“Okay.”

“But it feels weird not sharing.”

“Baby girl. You don’t have to do this.”

“I know.”

I love how loyal and protective my puppy is.

“Ian Doyle wasn’t at the top of anyone’s list, Senator.”

“I’m thinking domestic contacts. Em was already in the states when she faked Declan’s death, so … Her associates must be in Boston?”

“No, Garcia, she would have covered her tracks better than that.”

“All right, why did Prentiss join the BAU?”

“To have a normal life.”

“She could have gone anywhere with her skill set, but she chose DC.”

“Maybe to be close to her mom?”

“No. No way. That was just by default.”

“Garcia, she did all of this to protect a child.”

“Right. So you’re saying she came here just so she could be close to the kid.”

“And if she did, she probably had people she could trust living right here.”

“Right. So domestic contacts.”

“There are surprising few in our nation’s capital. One of which is dead.”

“Ben Corelli.”

“He was the forger. Doyle killed him and Prentiss’s friend. He worked out of his apartment, remember?”

“Yeah. And we processed his belongings.”

“Thanks.”

“This would have been a heck of a lot easier had he gone digital.”

“Garcia, there’s an art to all of this. This guy was meticulous. Definite control freak.”

“Yet he’s dead. He couldn’t control that.”

“There can’t be a lot of IDs for children.”

“Actually, you’d be surprised.”

“Okay, wait a minute. Didn’t Prentiss live in Reston, Virginia, for a while?”

“Yeah. Before we knew her, she rented a big house in a cul-de-sac.”

“Okay, why would she live way out there.”

“To be close to Declan.”

“Who had blond hair and blue eyes.”

“Well, I’m sure they’ve changed his hair color by now.”

“Yeah, but you can’t change those cerulean blues.”

Aww.

“Okay, here’s the nanny.”

“Garcia, she still lives in Virginia.”

“Here’s all I got. Declan’s going to a boarding school in Stafford County. His nanny lives five minutes from campus. All signs point to a really well-adjusted kid. He’s an honor student. He’s playing lacrosse. He’s winning science fairs. It looks like he’s got the life Emily wanted for him.”

Surveillance Derek is hot.

“I knew if I could find him, it was only a matter of time before Doyle did.”

“When I wasn’t in the field, I was there.”

“I set up pole cameras for surveillance.”

“Senator, I needed to protect this child because I knew Doyle would find him eventually.”

“Lock down security on his son and then move in on Doyle.”

“Oh, my God. Oh, my God.”

Why is my baby freaking out?

“It’s him. I’m pretty sure it’s him.”

“It’s blurry and, you know, he’s not like posing for the camera or anything like that, but you said he’d come and see and it’s been a while and now he’s here and –”

“Garcia, Garcia, calm down. Let me take a look.”

How dare they put my goddess on the stand? Well, on the bench ... but still.

“What? No, it doesn’t work that way, sir.”

“Agent Morgan called Hotch – excuse me, our unit chief, When the team downsized, he was assigned to lead an investigative task force.”

Wait. So everything went to shit because of fucking money? God, I hate this world.

“Hotchner.”

“Hey, it’s me. How’s it going out there?”

Out where? Where the fuck is Hotch right now?

“You know, long days, some territorial issues to work out. Nothing surprising. How’s everything there?”

“Hotch, we found Declan Doyle.”

“What?”

Ooh, my puppy is in trouble.

“I’ve had surveillance at his house and his school for a few weeks.”

“Morgan, I didn’t authorize this.”

Whoop.

“I know you didn’t, Hotch, but listen to me. I think Doyle may have found Declan, too.”

“All right, I’m coming back.”

“You want me to wait?”

“Morgan, it could be a trap. You make sure you have eyes on Doyle.”

Oh dear.

“And if it is him?”

“Then you take the shot.”

WHAT?

“Hey, Spence.”

“I can’t find him.”

Uh-oh.

“What do you mean, you can’t find him?”

“The headmistress said Declan got sick and went home.”

“Okay, uh, call for back up and get to the house.”

“We’re already here.”

“You see the agents?”

“The lights are off. I’ll call you back.”

“What – Reid!”

“I’ll check the back. You take the hallway.”

“Must be the nanny.”

“Three bodies and no kid. Doyle’s got him.”

“The squad car that went by got Doyle’s attention.”

“You see that?”

“I’ve got movement.”

“He’s in there.”

“He’s going to the roof. JJ, cover the back stairs.”

“He deserved the same beating he gave Prentiss, but I did not unleash that on him, Senator.”

Ooh, Doyle is in trouble now.

“Have you ever been in the field?”

Oh, Rossi burn!

“Then maybe you can imagine what it was like for Agent Morgan to find Emily Prentiss dying … at the hands of Ian Doyle.”

“Now ask yourself … was it wrong for him to want to take that man out?”

“Doyle, where’s Declan?”

“Where is Declan right now?”

“You expect me to believe you had nothing to do with his abduction?”

“Listen to me, you son of a bitch. I am not playing games with you.”

“If you care about anybody other than yourself, you’ll give me a list of who would have done this.”

“You tell me.”

“Someone does.”

“Because when we followed you to that little rat trap, somebody took him from his house.”

“Somebody else was watching you, Doyle. Now tell me who.”

“Your son is missing. So think.”

“The night he killed Prentiss in Boston. He refused to believe Doyle just vanished.”

I hate Strauss.

“Why are you surprised?”

“He seems genuine.”

“See his carotid? His heart started racing when Morgan told him about Declan.”

“Damn it.”

Huh?

“Rossi, it’s me. I just see one ninja-like guy.”

“Yeah, he came out of nowhere, you sure?”

“And just clipped the camera.”

“I’m sorry.”

Crap.

“Don’t worry, Garcia. You were busy looking for Doyle.”

I love papa Rossi.

“She didn’t see a team on the footage. This was well-organized.”

“One could have cut the camera while the other started in here.”

“So they cut off the power, but no signs of forced entry.”

“So how do you overpower two armed agents?”

“A male and a female.”

“Maybe whoever did this posed at the next shift?”

“Make sense. Everything about them seems efficient.”

“Except they took the time to shove her in the closet.”

“Only Declan and the caregiver live here, so whose stuff is this?”

“You still think Doyle’s behind this?”

Oh God, someone bonk Strauss on the head.

“He’s capable of a lot of things, but being two places at once isn’t one of them.”

“Doyle, I’m gonna ask you one last time … who hates you long enough to take him?”

“Six hours.”

“That’s not about to happen.”

“He didn’t do it.”

“No.”

“He’s on his way.”

“What have you got?”

“Got a top-ten list of Doyle’s enemies.”

“Anybody recently in the states?”

“Richard Gerace’s been here a few weeks. He’s a low-level gun-runner who angrily crossed paths with Doyle. I caught an image of him on the surveillance camera at Declan’s house, confirmed it was him through a scar on his neck.”

“All right. Get me everything you can on Gerace.”

“Yeah. What I just told you is everything I’ve got.”

“Well, that’s a good look.”

“How was the desert?”

I LOVE ROSSI!

“Hot.”

“You seen Jack yet?”

“No. Jessica took him to Hershey Park for the weekend.”

“Well, he’ll love that beard.”

“Yeah, we Skyped every day. He’s not a fan.”

I LOVE HOTCH!

Whoop.

“Doyle, do you consider Richard Gerace an enemy?”

“Tell me about him.”

“Whose problem was he?”

“Why not?”

“That’s correct, sir.”

I don’t know why Jack didn’t like it, the beard was an improvement.

“Hey, Got your message.”

“It’s time.”

Time for what?

“Why? Morgan may be able to break Doyle without her.”

“Declan tried to make a call. She’s on the way.”

“All right.”

“I’ll get Morgan.”

“I’ll tell the others.”

TELL THEM WHAT?

“You get anywhere with Doyle?”

“Doyle doesn’t think Gerace had the guts to take them on. But that’s definitely Gerace on the tape.”

“Welcome back.”

“Thanks. Everyone have a seat.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Everything’s all right?”

“Seven months ago I made a decision that affected this team.”

“As you all know, Emily had lost a lot of blood after her fight with Doyle. But the doctors were able to stabilize her.”

WHAT?

“And she was airlifted from Boston to Bethesda under a covert exfiltration.”

Wait. WHAT now?

“Her identity was strictly need-to-know. And she stayed there until she was well enough to travel. She was reassigned to Paris where she was given several identities, none of which we had access to for her security.”

WHAT!

“She’s alive?”

FUCK.

Called it.

“But we buried her.”

“As I said, I take full responsibility for the decision. If anyone has any issues, they should be directed toward me.”

“Any issues? Yeah, I got issues.”

“Oh, my God.”

“At least you’ve got her back.”

“Did we?”

Yes, you did! Puppy, get back on track!

YES!!!!!! PAGET!!!!!!!!!!!!

“I am so sorry. I really am.”

“Not a day went by that I didn’t want to … Really, I … you didn’t deserve that.”

“And I’m so sorry.”

“There’s so much I want to tell you guys, and I will. I promise. But right now I really need to know what’s going on with Declan.”

This is fucking breaking my heart.

“My friend Tom Koehler. He was raising Declan as his own.”

Huh.

“I never saw him, where is he?”

“Go in or out of that house. He was on assignment overseas.”

“But he’s all right?”

“Yes. He’s on his way back now.”

“He got a call from Declan, he called me, and when I landed, Hotch told me that you had Doyle in custody.”

“And because of Tom’s line of work, that’s why you enrolled Declan in a boarding school.”

“I made sure that he, Louise, and I were the only ones allowed to take him off campus.”

“Louise took him home last night because he was sick. Food poisoning.”

“Yeah, a few of the kids had it, apparently.”

“So whoever did this got to him on campus. The knew they only had one chance.”

“Current suspect is Richard Gerace. He’s the most recent arrival into the States.”

“We’ve been tracking his progress through the city, but we came up empty.”

“But we know it’s him because he has the scar.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Gerace gave up on Doyle a long time ago.”

“He said you were the only one who knew Gerace.”

“Which is why I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have the balls to pull this off.”

“There was no forced entry at the house?”

“I had two agents working security.”

“We think Gerace and his partner posed as the next shift, and one of the agents was a woman.”

“She’s the alpha.”

“So we’re looking for a woman who’s getting back at Doyle.”

“And our suspect list just got a whole lot longer.”

“Doyle had relations with all of these ladies?”

“Most.”

Yikes.

“Wow.”

“Hey, can you shoot these into the roundtable room for me?”

“Anything you say, visitor Prentiss.”

“Thanks.”

“I haven’t seen Ashley.”

“Oh, well, she’s transferred to Andi Swan’s unit.”

YES.

I’m starting to like this season.

“Good for her.”

Sure.

“So, how, uh, angry is the team?”

“They’re in shock.”

“Of course.”

Duh.

“Thank you.”

“It is really good to see you.”

“These women are associates of Doyle’s who may have crossed paths with Gerace.”

“Anyone with deeper personal connections with Doyle?”

“Whoever took Declan showed a lot or rage at the nanny.”

“She had been with Doyle since before Declan was born. The nanny represents a caregiver, a mother figure.”

“Who is Delcan’s mother?”

“Doyle told me she was dead.”

“Which one is Declan’s mom?”

“How do you know? Did you kill her, too?”

“She brought tainted cupcakes to the boarding school and just walked right in.”

“Oh, that is creepy. We thought Doyle was bad.”

“Check her out.”

“Yeah, she ran an international prostitution ring before moving on to chemicals. Distribution and trafficking, manufacturing, possession, weapons charges?”

“Went away for three years.”

“That’s it?”

“She hardly seems the mothering type. Why would she take Declan? It isn’t love.”

“Who were her contacts in the States?”

“This is about you, Ian. You just told me you kept her a prisoner for nine months.”

“Seven.”

Like it matters.

“Did Louise help deliver Declan?”

“That’s called revenge, Ian.”

“Chloe didn’t just forget about what you put her through. Chaining her to a bed wasn’t the answer.”

“That was torture, Ian.”

“And you don’t think she spent years figuring out how to do the same to you?”

“She took the only thing you love.”

“What else would she and Gerace have to gain from taking Declan?”

“I need a list of everyone with the kind of money they’re looking for, and anyone else who wants to hurt you.”

“You know, statistically the abduction of a child by its mother, no matter the psychological disposition of said mother, would be one of low risk to a child.”

“She’s got plenty of connections. She could go underground.”

“Is there anywhere in the US where Chloe and Doyle had a history?”

“No. But they do have a lot of ties in Europe.”

“Doyle came up with associates of Chloe’s who have healthy bank accounts.”

“He thinks it’s a trade? For what, weapons? Drugs?”

“Does it matter?”

Nope.

“Garcia, run these names. See if anyone have locals connections.”

“Yeah. What else should I be looking for, you guys?”

“Secluded properties. A legitimate business that requires international bank accounts and trade.”

“It could be mundane. They survive under the radar.”

“Garcia, start with Irish backgrounds. This type of feud could go back generations.”

“Oh. It looks like the Doyles and the McDermotts have a thing.”

“What kind of thing?”

Yeah, what kind of thing?

“Ian Doyle murdered Jimmy McDermott, but his younger brother Lachlan owns an import company.”

“Do they ship internationally?”

“You know it.”

“He has three warehouses, one of which is slated to be demolished.”

“Where?”

“Inner Harbor, Baltimore.”

“Let’s go.”

“No, sir.”

“He’s gone.”

“Over here!”

“Doyle said Chloe would clean house. So what the hell is she doing now?”

“She’s getting out of the country.”

“Gerace was dead weight. She thinks she’s gonna get more for the kid without him.”

“Yeah. Declan’s disappeared.”

“They had him at the warehouse, but now they’re gone.”

“Your ex is working with Lachlan McDermott. How would he leave the country?”

“He hates you, doesn’t he?”

“Then I think we should give him what he really wants.”

“You.”

“A young boy’s life was at stake. I ran the probability of his survival and it wasn’t good.”

“If you want to punish me for taking a risk, then I encourage you to do that, but do not put the rest of my team on trial for something that I suggested.”

“This is calm, and it’s doctor.”

“No, we are not letting him out of here, Reid.”

Wait, he wants to let Doyle out? What the hell is going on in my poodle’s brain?

“Prentiss, I will chain myself to him if I have to.”

“He’ll find a way to escape.”

“No, he won’t, and we’re running out of time. If we find McDermott now, we have a chance to save Declan.”

“New York City, July 2010, referred to as the spy swap. Igor …”

“You can’t change the rules, sir.”

Ooh, don’t mess with my doctor.

“Is Strauss still here?”

“We need full support.”

“Doyle said McDermott’s family imported weapons to a private airfield in Maryland.”

“I fully understand that, ma’am, but I’m telling you, it’s only a matter of minutes before they leave the country with him.”

“We won’t let that happen.”

“I am certain that without this move, there is a good chance that little boy is going to die.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Lachlan McDermott and Chloe Donaghy, this is the FBI.”

“We know you have Dechlan.”

My badass cupcakes

“To ensure his safety we would like to trade. We will give you Ian Doyle and you send us the boy.”

“Hotch, are we really gonna do this?”

“Gun!”

Poodle shooting!

“May I?”

“The journey was not traditional, but this team neutralized four international criminals and saved the life of a young boy in the process.”

“Agent Prentiss, we’re not done.”

“Hey.”

“I never thought we’d be taking one of these down.”

“I already tried. It’s screwed in.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“I got this.”

“Perfect.”

“I also have Sergio.’

“Oh, I knew you would.”

“I need visitation rights.”

“He’s a love, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he takes after his mom.”

“Morgan.”

“I know what you’ve been through.”

“I understand that you’re angry, but I hope that you understand that this is not about you … or me.”

“This was about saving Emily.”

“We need to talk.”

So Emily saved them all XD I love this woman so much.

“So we’re okay?”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

So she’s invited back on the team and she needs to think about it?

“May I think about it?”

“I’m in.”

Emily, you little shit.

“I have a stack of cases on my desk. I’m happy to pass them all off to you.”

“I’ll pick them up in the morning.”

“Emily, uh … what did you tell him?”

“The only people I know who could accomplish that mission just walked out.”

“They do their jobs with integrity, and most importantly, they honor their oath.”

FBI oath: “I will support and defend the constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. That I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God.”