@theothervonkarmagirl (prosecutor!verse Clara)

She was wandering up and down the halls of the prosecutor's office, Detective Skye and Prosecutor Von Karma still weren't back from the crime scene investigation yet. Gina, as Ema's protégée had been shadowing her, but the forensic expert asked Gina to remain behind. Considering the crime scene this time was in a butcher shop, maybe having Toby around wouldn't end well, specially if the boy got hungry.

Passing through the hall, the diver spies a girl sitting on one of the hallway benches, just outside of Maria Von Karma's office.

"Ah, are you Prosecutor Von Karma's daughtah?" She speaks up with her thick cockney accent.

Toby pipes up, still cradled in Gina's arms, his tail is wagging and he is excitedly panting. New friend?

@fumalsamakah / min - chul & gina!

She adores creatures like this, like him — she can smell the strangeness. He tastes on her mouth the way that the Aragami do, living organisms that aren't living, a facsimile of it, tiny, devouring monsters taking the shape of an animal. She supposes that makes him the animal.

"If I put a bullet through your chest, would the monsters in you turn the flower black?" Somehow, it sounds more like a flirtation than a threat — and it isn't either, really. GINA RARELY THINKS OF SUCH THINGS, too much bloodshed in her skull to make space for romance. But she only hunts monsters, not humans who're close. ( she'd have to blow her own brains out if she did! ) "I'd love to see."

Which of your OCs is most likely to be able to identify any pride flag from looking at it? Which OCs know only a few? Who's most likely just to make something up?

The St. Florian's Crew (Siv, Jay, Cat, Kyle, Max, Gina) could probably identify any flag, though Siv might get a little confused if it debuted between 2015-2018, since she was dead between those years.

Team Hex (Hailey, Cassandra, Jay, Arya) could do most, but might get a little confused on the obscure ones. Arya, despite being over 2000 years old, manages to nail every single one.

The Requiem Trio (Liah, Qiara, Marie), despite all being some flavor of LGBTQ, probably wouldn't recognize that many, given that they're from the distant future and the flag designs have probably changed by them. However, Liah could probably name every single pride flag, as long as they're the versions from her time.

None of my Star Wars OCs would recognize our universe's pride flags, since they're in an entirely different place in the cosmos from the rest of my OCs. However, when it comes to recognizing their universe's flags, Pyrrha would absolutely suck at it, given her extremely sheltered upbringing.

In the Odyssey-verse, Vanessa and Matt would be best at identifying pride flags, and Victorie, Dolores, and Aldrich would be the worst, given that they're all immortal vampires and aren't 100% up to date on modern culture. Dolores might be able to get a few, but she still uses a flip phone so we'll see.

Ellis doesn't really understand the human concepts of gender or sexuality, so they might be able to recognize the color schemes of the different flags, but they wouldn't really be able to explain the meanings of them. Their human companion, Gabi, would probably be able to identify all but the most obscure ones.

Overall, excluding potential flag differences bc timelines or universes-

Most likely: Cory, Pippa, Matt, Vanessa, Jay, Liah Thalia

Least likely: Director Hawke, Ellis, Aldrich, Victorie, Pyrrha

pll verse octavia: the seasons 1&2 version (this is also basically a modern verse)

loses her mom at 16 and atom shortly after. i haven't figured out circumstances yet but he's killed and octavia falls apart a little.

i haven't answered laura about gina and don't know when or how her death happens, but she also loved gina very much and feels that loss very deeply

atom is the final straw after losing her mom and gina. she and atom grew close, much to bellamy's dismay, and he gave her a sense of solace after losing aurora and gina. losing him sent her into not only grief from his passing, but unresolved grief from her mother and gina's deaths that she had buried. she begins to party to cope with this grief, and finds herself spending a lot of time with a new crowd. she'd never really liked noel and his group, feeling like they were bullies who thought they were better than everyone, but they give her a wide access pass to parties and alcohol and more importantly, distraction.

her most important relationships suffer during this time. she gets lost in her grief and becomes disconnected from her best friend, ryan, and she loses a lot of trust with bellamy for her partying and rebelling. she doesn't have the words to talk about how deeply she's struggling, and doesn't have a name or understanding for the depression she's found herself in. he's just become a sole parent and is struggling in his own ways, and she causes him a lot of stress that she later regrets, and worries that he'll never fully trust her again. moreover, she carries the feeling that he's secretly sick of her and wants to be away from her.

when alison disappears, she's filled with a lot of anger regarding the difference in reactions to atom and alison's deaths. no one seems to care about atom, who was poor and underprivileged and alone, but rosewood is never the same after a pretty rich blonde girl goes missing. likewise, the world keeps spinning after gina and aurora's deaths while no one can let go of alison.

whatever status she might have built for hanging in the same crowd as noel or retained from her friendship with ryan (who is popular on the other side of the spectrum, being a lovable class clown type that everyone likes) is crushed when she has a panic attack after a prank at a party that someone catches on camera and posts online. she freaks out after that and isolates, not having a lot to do with anyone.

eventually she begins to pull her head out, reconnecting with ryan and trying to be better for bellamy. she's isolated at school outside of ryan, but doesn't really feel like talking to anyone else, anyway.

somewhere in there bellamy meets caleb and, seeing that he's homeless and has been staying at the school, invites him to stay with them. this is an adjustment for octavia, who has struggled for awhile with everything feeling unstable and the fear that bellamy is tired of everything-octavia being his responsibility. she struggles with feeling like she's losing him and with his focus on caleb, but ultimately makes room in her life for caleb and comes to love him as a brother. she's crushed when he leaves at the end of s1. she's relieved when he returns and welcomes him back, but is afraid he's going to leave again. ultimately, caleb is really good for her, and they become pretty close. she likes having someone else at the house when bellamy is gone, and grows attached quickly.

octavia continues to struggle with the fear that the rug will be pulled out from under her and she will lose the people she loves, especially bellamy. when he explores the prospect of dating someone he's become close to, all of the new adjustments are too much for octavia. she can't handle sharing bellamy with another person and is afraid she's going to lose him. bellamy can tell that it's too much, and breaks the relationship off. octavia is filled with guilt, because she knows bellamy deserves to be happy and him opening himself up to love again is a big, important thing. she knows she's being selfish, but she's so scared and overwhelmed and doesn't know how to deal with any of these fears.

some time passes, and octavia eventually comes around to the idea after a break in to tasha's place of work reveals the depth of bellamy's feelings, and she sees that she can't keep them apart anymore. she tells him to pursue tasha, and things begin to stabilize.

they get a bit rocky again when tasha and her nephew, christian move in with bellamy, caleb, and octavia. she isn't sure how to adjust to all of these changes, and struggles. but after awhile, she comes to discover she likes having them all around, and starts to see them as family as well.

it helps that she's become more involved with school and less isolated. octavia's participation in theatre goes from using what her mother taught her about sewing to help make costumes for productions to being cast in a play. it's something she's really excited about and it helps her a lot, giving her a healthy outlet for her feelings and a way to reconnect with classmates.

one of these classmates is mona. she never expected to want anything to do with mona; saw her as another one of the rich bullies after she and hanna's transformation and hated the way she talked to people and viewed others as lesser. but she finds herself a bit in awe of her talent and confidence as they work on the play together, and begrudgingly ends up with a big fat crush on her. they talk, and she gets to see more of mona beyond the popular girl façade, and comes to care about her a lot even though she doesn't want to.

she's crushed by the mona is a reveal. she's devastated to learn about the things mona has done to so many people she cares about, and once again finds herself swallowed by grief.

things get better when caleb is finally adopted in between s2-3. octavia's been afraid something would happen to take caleb away from them, including but not limited to caleb deciding he wanted to live with his mother after all, and his adoption is something real and permanent that can't just be ripped away. it means caleb is going to stay, and she very badly needed someone to stay. she begins to feel somewhat stable again, like the family she's gained in caleb and christian and tasha is actually going to last.

Discover the Future of Automotive Innovation

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my  baby  lives  in  shades  of  blue  .  𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒  𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠  𝑎𝑛𝑑  𝑗𝑎𝑧𝑧  𝑎𝑛𝑑  𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒  .  he  lives  in  california  ,  too  .  he  drives  a  𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐯𝐲  𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐮  .  and  when  he  calls  ,  he  calls  for  𝒎𝒆  and  not  for  you  .

@rcsechild

talking to @terrifyingstories means i now have a full fledged t100 oc w/ no name

GINA A. MARTIN. / DOSSIER

TAGS. /

                             iisms || headcanons || aesthetics || visage || wishlist

GENERAL. / all verses

name: Gina Aylin Martin dob: sep 26 (libra)  orientation: bisexual / biromantic traits:        + Compassionate, Diplomatic, Practical, Resilient, Tactful        - Dissatisfied, Passive, Predictable, Smug, Worrier

notable connections: Craig Martin (father), Megan Martin (mother), Bellamy Blake ( friends, former classmates, briefly dated ) , Octavia Blake ( love-hate, plotted with @headstrongblake​​ and open to interpretation ) , Raven Reyes ( friends ) ,

BIO. / t100 verse

affiliation: Ark -> Factory Station (former) , Earth (former) , Sanctum (current as of s7) notable features: multiple stab scars around her ribs and midsection, 3rd degree burns on right side of body ( lower neck, shoulder, upper back, midback )

BACKGROUND:

Born in Factory Station, Gina longed to be a teacher from a young age. She studied to be a teacher on the Ark and worked part time as a research assistant on Go-Sci in the meantime to bring in income to her family. The Martins were not well off- as weren’t most families in Factory Station- but they were an affectionate family, and while Gina occasionally wanted for non-necessities, she didn’t lack love or attention, and in her younger years her apartment was often open to her friends to spend time in as her parents worked opposite shifts.

Gina lost both her parents to the culling, when they volunteered in order to give her more time to hopefully reach Earth. With no family, recently certified to teach, quick to pick up little details, sharp without being disrespectful, and a determination to succeed, Gina was given a spot on Alpha Station when it came down and thus survived the landing and helped put together Camp Jaha / Arkadia. You’ll often find her on supply runs and in the mess hall where she keeps up with the running of the food and water storage while trying to talk the powers-that-be into setting up classes for the kids on Earth.

MOUNT WEATHER EXPLOSION:

Stabbed three times in Mount Weather, the assassin misses any vital organs or blood vessels and once he’s gone Gina radios to Raven and Sinclair as canon. Suffering from blood loss and not thinking clearly, she tries to stumble toward the mess hall, realizing less than a minute is a dangerous amount of time to have to take out a grounder, and thinks she can warn the others.

She’s by the door outside when she hears the explosion set and dives out the door and around the corner of it, hoping to avoid the worst of the blast, saving herself and leaving the Farm Station residents to die in the mountain. The instinctive choice still haunts her. She’s thrown with the blast, sustaining 3rd degree burns and falling unconscious into a coma that will last 14 days and she will wake up the day Lincoln is executed and Bellamy is taken to The Cave with the resistance.

SEASON BREAKDOWN:

SEASON 4 / BUNKER - Gina is part of the teams helping Raven, and is aware of the 6-month time frame and keeps that information to herself despite her and Raven’s better judgement.

Gina stays behind with Octavia when Bellamy and Clarke go looking for Raven. It’s a tough choice, but she trusts Bellamy to not leave her friend behind, and she promises to watch out for Octavia in his absence.

Gina finally becomes a teacher in the bunker, helping organize the teachers of the clans to ensure that no one’s culture is erased and all the children get equal teaching.

SEASON 5 - Gina is released with the remaining Bunker residents, but errs on the side of caution in both the war between Wonkru and Eligius and the brewing tensions between Wonkru and Spacekru. Gina’s main concern in this time are the children she’s spent the last 6 years teaching and getting to know, many of whom no longer have their parents through either initial sacrifice to enter the bunker or the fighting pit.

SEASONS 6/7 - in progress.

BIO. / modern verse 

occupation: bartender / student  major: business management 

BACKGROUND: 

• Gina's parents own a local bar, Martins that her great-grandfather started and had been family owned and operated for over 70 years.

• Gina as her parent's only child has been expected to take over the bar when she's older, and she's always been content with this future. She currently bartends at Martins as she's finishing up school with a business degree.

• Gina likes the bar, she likes getting to know people, likes being the sterotypical helpful bartender that people tell their problems to, she likes the logic and technicalities of actually running a bar, and she likes having a place where she can offer part time jobs to the various kids she semi-adopts.

• If asked, she wouldn't be able to tell you she loved the idea of being tied to the bar in the town where she grew up, but she also wouldn't be able to tell you what she'd rather do instead. If pressed, she'd eventually come to the conclusion that she'd like to teach in third world countries. See the world, help some children. That's her dream.

• She has a spare room in the house she's renting, and anyone that needs a place to stay overnight or for a few nights are always welcome to one of the two twin beds in that spare room. She has a bit of a problem unofficially adopting the delinquents and making sure they’re all taken care of. 

just dawned on me. i realized i can’t exactly do phone text memes with toph ...... well.

consider: zenitsu learning to play an instrument.

“Don’t watch the face, watch the hands~” She’s twirling a coin between her fingers, how did you get that Gina?

I just barely return to my computer and I hear the boy scream hella loud. I run in to see what happened and he’s like “the fan tried to chop off my finger!” and he’s holding his hand like he’s in pain. So I run to get the first aid kit and bring it back and he shows me his hand

and it’s the smallest little cut you’ve ever seen and it’s already stopped bleeding lol But still, lovely wife that I am, I put a band aid on it and assure him that he’s going to live and to be careful around the 3d printer fans pls. 

the question: why does this feel like such a bellina thing???

How do you think Team Guy and Team 7 would react if they'd been taken to a modern verse? Like a 2019 modern verse. Would they try to find a way back? Try to adapt to this new and completely different lifestyle?

Only Team Guy and Team 7 to make it easier for you XD

Maito Gai

Although it’s not planned, this is a great new adventure and Gai will not pass up the opportunity to experience it. Honestly, Kakashi’s probably pulling him back from getting in too deep because they don’t want to learn too much about the world they don’t belong in.

But Gai is having the time of his life. There’s so much to learn and see. He wants to experience it all.

Hatake Kakashi

The most level headed about the situation. He knows they need to get home, but also sort of enjoys the experience. There are things to learn about the future that they shouldn’t know and he’s careful about making sure they don’t learn too much. But at the same time there’s so many fascinating things to see and he can’t say he’s not interested.

If anything, he’d love to look back in the history books here and find out about what happened. A peek into their own future, but he refrains and keeps his distance.

Rock Lee

Unlike his Sensei, Lee wants to go home more than anything. Everything is interesting of course but Lee prefers familiarity and a lot of the things here are rather confusing and out of place for him. He’s not really sure how to handle everything that he is seeing and it’s a real struggle. Neji and Tenten support him a lot through this because he’s not handling such external changes well.

Hyuga Neji

Would rather go home but recognizes the situation they are in and decides not to complain. Though most of his attention is on finding them a way home, he’s also focused on trying to help Lee process what’s happening and trying to keep Naruto out of trouble.

Thankfully he has Sakura and Sasuke to help him with that last piece, as well as their Sensei’s (well, Kakashi sensei mostly)

Tenten

Actually kind of prefers it from what she has seen. Everything looks interesting and new, with so many things to learn and experience.

Immidiatly changes her mind when she realizes ‘weapons’ no longer means Kunai and different sorts of swords and other Melee weapons but rather some sort of weird steel weapon called ‘Gina’. She’s facinated but also a little annoyed because they’re not as personal as the weapons she’s used to and just don’t feel the same in her hands.

Haruno Sakura

Is perfectly alright staying. Sakura found a coffee shop and experienced some interesting flavored drinks and she is a happy girl. Understands it’s best that they go home, but damn she will miss peppermint. Whatever that is.

Is spending a lot of time trying to keep Naruto out of trouble because he has already been almost arrested by the authorities and they don’t have ‘yen’ to get him out of prison.

Uzumaki Naruto

New prancing opportunities, all sorts of things to explore and experience. This is Naruto’s idea of paradise and everyone else’s idea of torture. This kid is running around everywhere getting into trouble and making a mess of things, and neither team can seem to manage to keep him out of trouble for more than five minutes

At some point Kakashi got his hands on one of those kid leash back packs and absolutely utly slapped it on Naruto. At least then he couldn’t run away (lies, he broke it within ten minutes and ran off again)

Uchiha Sasuke

Is probably the grumpiest about this whole scenario, but not for the reason’s everyone things. The belief is Sasuke just wants to go home and act like this never happened

The truth? Sasuke’s kind of jealous. This world of the future looks amazing and he would love to explore it but he also knows this isn’t his home. He belongs in his time and because of this knowledge he refuses to explore anything no matter how interesting it seems to be

He refuses to get attached

what do you think octavia's job would be in the modern day? I've read a lot of modern au fics and everyone else's jobs seem to stay similar but octavia's is always very different

I don't really read modern AUs, so I don't know the different jobs you could be referring to, but there are very few fic writers out there that I trust with Octavia and her proper characterization, especially if she's a side character. So I don't know if the writers have put in the proper thought process into selecting the most appropriate job for her.

Because here's the thing about Octavia. I mean, it's a thing for every character, but is especially important for her - if you're writing fanfiction, you have to stay true to the characterization of the characters. You can change the plot, you can change the setting, the universe - but the characterization of the characters has to remain, otherwise they're not that same character anymore. They're just a face wearing that name but nothing resembling the person they were. If you're going to abandon characterization, you may as well just go write an original story, because it isn't fanfiction anymore, it's taking someone else's character names, an actor's face, and nothing else.

So anyway, what I'm getting at is that Octavia's a supremely difficult character to bring into a modern AU, specifically because her backstory - the backstory that makes her who she is as a person, which defines her characterization - is so particular to the setting of The 100. A hidden child, illegal in her society, never being socialized properly because she never knew other humans besides her mother and her brother until she was a teenager. There's a limited number of modern-day scenarios that translates to, but that's necessary should you want Octavia to be the same character.

It's not impossible, of course. I've written one modern AU, where her background is growing up in a cloistered patriarchal cult, that she and Bellamy escape after their mom dies due to being denied proper medical treatment. There are other scenarios that could work too - kidnapped as a child and kept locked up, that being done by her family for one reason or another, etc. But the cult scenario is the one I went with. The job she has in this 'verse, almost a decade after escaping the cult, is being the drummer of an internationally-acclaimed rock band that was formed by her, Raven and Gina (the story is an Octaven prompt). Raven and Gina met her in a pub where she was just fooling around with the drums there, but they saw promise in her and they invited her to join the band.

So all of that is a long-winded way of saying: I don't think there's any specific job that Octavia would have in a modern AU, what job she'd have would be dependent on the circumstances through which she was socialized into the normal world. To quote from Hypable's 7x02 review, Octavia "spent her childhood believing she could never become anything, so the moment her feet hit the ground, she realized she could be anything and tried to become it all at once." (emphasis mine)

That's the key to Octavia's character right there. She's supremely adaptable, she will jump on any opportunities presented to her and will do so with a hundred and ten percent of her heart. That's why it was a natural transition in canon for Octavia to go from being a fear-inspiring warrior queen to a nurturing farmer and co-parent. The same would apply for a modern AU - whatever scenario she found herself in after being thrown into the normal world, she'd adapt to that and that would be reflected in what her job would be.

If she landed in a scenario where she didn't have to adapt right away - where she was given time to breathe, to heal the wounds of her past, a place where she had a mentor who would encourage her to take her time in choosing her future, not pushing her in any specific direction - then I could see her being a teacher or a therapist, or working in law or politics as a mediator or ambassador. Because the core of Octavia's character is her belief in the equality of everyone, in the unity of humanity, and helping people heal and grow from traumas that she's been through herself and come out the other side of.

52 Films by Women: 2020 Edition

Another annual challenge complete!

Last year, I focused on diversifying my list. This year I kept that intention but focused on watching more non-American films and films from the 20th century. Specifically, I sought out Agnès Varda’s entire filmography, after her death in 2019. (I was not disappointed - What a filmmaking legend we lost.) 

I also kept a film log for the first time and have included some of my thoughts on several films from that log. I made a point of including reviews both positive and negative, because I think it’s important to acknowledge the variability and breadth of the canon, so as not to put every film directed by a woman on a pedestal. (Although movies directed by women must clear a much higher bar to be greenlit, meaning generally higher quality...But that’s an essay for another day :)

* = directed by a woman of color

bold = fave

1. The Rhythm Section (2020) dir. Reed Morano - Not as good as it could have been, given Morano’s proven skill behind the camera, but also not nearly as bad as the critics made it out to be. And unbelievably refreshing to see a female revenge story not driven by sexual assault or the loss of a husband/child.

2. Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962) dir. Agnès Varda - If you ever wanted to take a real-time tour of Paris circa 1960, this is the film for you.

3. Little Women (2019) dir. Greta Gerwig - Still my favorite Little Women adaptation. I will re-watch it every year and cry.

4. Varda by Agnès (2019) dir. Agnès Varda & Didier Rouget

5. Booksmart (2019) dir. Olivia Wilde - An instant classic high school comedy romp that subverts all the gross tropes of its 1980s predecessors.

6. Girls of the Sun (2018) dir. Eva Husson

7. Blue My Mind (2017) dir. Lisa Brühlmann

8. Portrait of a Lady On Fire (2019) dir. Céline Sciamma - Believe the hype. This film is a master thesis on the female gaze, and also just really effing gorgeous.

9. Belle Epine (2010) dir. Rebecca Zlotowski

10. Vamps (2012) dir. Amy Heckerling - With Krysten Ritter and Alicia Silverstone as modern-day vampires, I was so ready for this movie. But it feels like a bad stage play or a sit-com that’s missing a laugh-track. Bummer.

11. *Birds of Prey (2020) dir. Cathy Yan - Where has this movie been all our lives?? Skip the next onslaught of Snyder-verse grim-darkery and give me two more of these STAT! 

12. She’s Missing (2019) dir. Alexandra McGuinness

13. The Mustang (2019) dir. Laure de Clermont-Tonnere - Trigger warning for the “protagonist” repeatedly punching a horse in the chest. I noped right out of there.

14. Monster (2003) dir. Patty Jenkins – I first watched this movie when I was probably too young and haven’t revisited it since. The rape scene traumatized me as a kid, but as an adult I appreciate how that trauma is not the center of the movie, or even of Aileen’s life. Everyone still talks about how Charlize “went ugly” for this role, but the biggest transformation here isn’t aesthetic, it’s physical – the way Theron replicates Wuernos’ mannerisms, way of speaking, and physicality. That’s why she won the Oscar. I also love that Jenkins calls the film “Monster” (which everyone labels Aileen), but then actually uses it to tell the story of how she fell in love with a woman when she was at her lowest, and that saved her. That’s kind of beautiful, and I’m glad I re-watched it so that I could see the story in that light, instead of the general memory I had of it being a good, feel-bad movie. It’s so much more than that.

15. Water Lilies (2007) dir. Céline Sciamma – Sciamma’s screenwriting and directorial debut, the first in her trilogy on youth, is as painfully beautiful as its sequels (Tomboy and Girlhood). It’s also one of the rare films that explores the overlap of queerness and girl friendships.

16. The Trouble with Angels (1966) dir. Ida Lupino – Movies about shenanigan-based female friendships are such rare delights. Rosalind Russel is divine as Mother Superior, and Hayley Mills as “scathingly brilliant” as the pranks she plays on her. Ida Lupino’s skill as an editor only enhances her directing, providing some truly iconic visual gags to complement dialogue snappy enough for Gilmore Girls. 

17. Vagabond (1985) dir. Agnès Varda – Shot with a haunting realism, this film has no qualms about its heroine’s inevitable, unceremonious death, which it opens with, matter-of-factly, before retracing her final (literal) steps to the road-side ditch she ends up in. (I’m partly convinced said heroine was the inspiration for Sarah Manning in Orphan Black.)

18. One Sings, The Other Doesn’t (1977) dir. Agnès Varda – Probably my favorite classic Varda, this film feels incredibly personal. It’s essentially a love story about two best friends with very different lives. For an indie made in the ‘70s, the diversity, scope, and themes of the film are impressive. Even if the second half a drags a bit, the first half is absolute perfection, engaging the viewer immediately, and clipping along, sprinkling in some great original songs that were way progressive for their time (about abortion, female bodily autonomy, etc) and could still be considered “bangers” today.

19. Emma (2020) dir. Autumn de Wilde

20. Black Panthers (1969) dir. Agnès Varda

21. Into the Forest (2016) dir. Patricia Rozema - When the world was ending (i.e. the pandemic hit) this was the first movie I turned to - a quiet, meditative story of two sisters (Elliot Page and Evan Rachel Wood) surviving off the land after a sudden global blackout. Four years later, it’s still one of my favorite book-to-screen adaptations. I fondly remember speaking with director Patricia Rozema at the 2016 Chicago Critics Film Festival after a screening, her love for the source material and desire to “get it right” so apparent. I assured her then, and reaffirm now, that she really did.

22. City of Trees (2019) dir. Alexandra Swarens

23. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) dir. Eliza Hittmann - To call this a harrowing and deeply personal journey of a sixteen-year-old who must cross state lines to get an abortion would be accurate, but incomplete. It is a story so much bigger than that, about the myriad ways women’s bodies and boundaries are constantly violated.

24. Paradise Hills (2019) dir. Alice Waddington

25. *Eve’s Bayou (1996) dir. Kasi Lemmons – I’ve been meaning to watch Kasi Lemmons’ directorial debut for many years now, and I’m so glad I finally have, because it fully deserves its icon status, beyond being one of the first major films directed by a black woman. Baby Jurnee Smollett's talent was immediately recognizable, and she has reminded us of it in Birds of Prey and Lovecraft Country this year. If merit was genuinely a factor for Oscar contenders, she would have taken home gold at eleven years old. Beasts of the Southern Wild has been one of my all-time favorites, but now I realize that most of my appreciation for that movie actually goes to Lemmons for blazing the trail with her story of a young black girl from the bayou first. It’s also a surprisingly dark story about memory and abuse and familial relationships that cross lines - really gutsy and surprising themes, especially for the ‘90s.

26. Blow the Man Down (2019) dir. Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy - Come and get your sea shanty fix!

27. Touchy Feely (2013) dir. Lynn Shelton - R.I.P. :(

28. Hannah Gadsby: Douglas (2020) dir. Madeleine Parry - If you thought Gadsby couldn’t follow up 2018′s sensational Nanette with a comedy special just as sharp and hilarious, you would have been sorely mistaken.

29. Girlhood (2013) dir. Céline Sciamma

30. Breathe (2014) dir. Mélanie Laurent

31. *A Dry White Season (1989) dir. Euzhan Palcy

32. Laggies (2014) dir. Lynn Shelton

33. *The Old Guard (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood – Everything I’ve ever wanted in an action movie: Immortal gays, Charlize Theron wielding a labrys (battle axe), kinetic fight choreography I haven’t seen since the last Bond movie…Watched it twice, then devoured the comics it was adapted from, and I gotta say: in the hands of black women, it eclipses the source material. Cannot wait for the just-announced sequel.

34. Morvern Callar (2002) dir. Lynn Ramsay

35. Shirley (2020) dir. Josephine Decker

36. *Radioactive (2019) dir. Marjane Satrapi – The story is obviously well worth telling and the narrative structure – weaving in the future consequences of Curie’s discoveries – is clever, but a bit awkwardly executed and overly manipulative. There are glimpses of real brilliance throughout, but it feels as if the director’s vision was not fully realized, to my great disappointment. Nonetheless, I appreciated seeing Marie Curie's story being told by a female director and embodied by the always wonderful Rosamund Pike.

37. *The Half of It (2020) dir. Alice Wu - I feel like a real scrooge for saying this, but this movie did nothing for me. Nothing about it felt fresh, authentic or relatable. A real disappointment from the filmmaker behind the wlw classic Saving Face.

38. Mouthpiece (2018) dir. Patricia Rozema - I am absolutely floored. One of those films that makes you fall in love with the art form all over again. Patricia Rozema continues to prove herself one of the most creatively ambitious and insightful directors of our time, with this melancholic meditation on maternal grief and a woman’s duality.

39. Summerland (2020) dir. Jessica Swale - The rare period wlw love story that is not a) all-white or b) tragedy porn. Just lovely.

40. *The Last Thing He Wanted (2020) dir. Dee Rees – As rumored, a mess. Even by the end, I still couldn’t tell you who any of the characters are. Dee, we know you’re so much better than this! (see: Mudbound, Pariah)

41. *Cuties (2020) dir. Maïmouna Doucouré – I watched this film to 1) support a black woman director who has been getting death threats for her work and 2) see what all the fuss is about. While I do think there were possibly some directorial choices that could have saved quite a bit of the pearl-clutching, overall, I didn’t find it overly-exploitative or gross, as many (who obviously haven’t actually watched the film) have labeled it. It certainly does give me pause, though, and makes me wonder whether children can ever be put in front of a camera without it exploiting or causing harm to them in some way. It also makes one consider the blurry line between being a critique versus being an example. File this one under complicated, for sure.

42. A Call to Spy (2019) Lydia Dean Pilcher – An incredible true story of female spies during WWII that perfectly satisfied my itch for British period drama/spy thriller and taught me so much herstory I didn’t know.

43. Kajillionaire (2020) dir. Miranda July - I was lucky enough to attend the (virtual) premiere of this film, followed by an insightful cast/director Q&A, which only made me appreciate it more. July's offbeat dark comedy about a family of con artists is queerer and more heartfelt than it has any right to be, and a needed reprieve in a year of almost entirely white wlw stories. The family's shenanigans are the hook, but it's the budding relationship between Old Dolio (an almost unrecognizable Evan Rachel Wood) and aspiring grifter Melanie (the luminous Gina Rodriguez) that is the heart of the story.

44. Misbehaviour (2020) dir. Philippa Lowthorpe – Again, teaching me herstory I didn’t know, about how the Women’s Liberation Movement stormed the 1970 Miss World Pageant. Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s characters have a conversation in a bathroom at the end of the film that perfectly eviscerates well-meaning yet ignorant white feminism, without ever pitting women against each other - a feat I didn’t think was possible. I also didn’t think it was possible to critique the male gaze without showing it (*ahem Cuties, Bombshell, etc*), but this again, invents a way to do it. Bless women directors.

45. *All In: The Fight for Democracy (2020) dir. Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes – 2020’s 13th. Thank god for Stacey Abrams, that is all.

46. *The 40-Year-Old Version (2020) dir. Radha Blank – This scene right here? I felt that in my soul. This whole film is so good and funny and heartfelt and relatable to any artist trying to walk that tightrope of “making it” while not selling their soul to make it. My only initial semi-note was that it’s a little long, but after hearing Radha Blank talk about how she fought for the two-hour run-time as a way of reclaiming space for older black women, I take it back. She’s right: Let black women take up space. Let her movie be as long as she wants it to be. GOOD FOR HER.

47. Happiest Season (2020) dir. Clea Duvall - Hoooo boy. What was marketed as the first lesbian Christmas rom-com is actually a horror movie for anyone who’s ever had to come out. Throw in casual racism and a toxic relationship treated as otp, and it’s YIKES on so many levels. Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, and an autistic-coded Jane are the only (underused) highlights.

48. *Monkey Beach (2020) dir. Loretta Todd

49. *Little Chief (2020) dir. Erica Tremblay – A short film part of the 2020 Red Nation Film Festival, it’s a perfect eleven minutes that I wish had gone on longer, if only to bask in Lily Gladstone in a leading role.

50. First Cow (2019) dir. Kelly Reichardt – I know Kelly Reichardt’s style, so I’ll admit-- even as I was preparing for an excellent film, I was also reaching for my phone, planning on only half paying attention during all the inevitable 30-second shots of grass blowing in the wind. (And yes, there are plenty of those.) But twenty minutes in, my phone was set aside and forgotten, as I am getting sucked into this beautiful story about two frontiersman trying to live their best domestic life.There is only one word to describe this film and that is: PURE. I’ve never seen such a tender platonic relationship between men on screen before, and it’s not lost on me that it took a woman to show us that tenderness. Reichardt gives us two men brought together by fate, and kept together by a shared dream and the simple pleasure of not being alone in such a hard world; two men who spend their days cooking, trapping, baking, and dreaming of a better life; two men who don’t say much, but feel everything for each other. The world would be a much better place if men showed us this kind of vulnerability and friendship toward each other. Oh, and it’s also a brutal take-down of capitalism and the myth of the American Dream!

51. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) dir. Patty Jenkins - My most-anticipated film for the past two years was...well, a mixed bag, to say the least. Too many thoughts on it for a blog post, so stay tuned for the upcoming podcast ep where we go all in ;)

52. *Selah and the Spades (2019) dir. Tayarisha Poe

I hope this gives you some ideas to kick off your new year with a resolution to support more female directors!

What were your favorite women-directed movies of last year? Let me know in the tags, comments, or asks!

red cell (2)

pairing - spencer reid x reader

summary - a break in the case causes spencer to contemplate some things

warnings - mentions of case, cursing

word count ?

note - this part really isn’t that great but i promise part three and maybe four will be a lot better :)

part 1

part 3

you and spencer turned towards gina and mick.

mick tossed a notebook on the table while gina tossed an actual case file.

“this whole town is filled with washed up actors and actresses. i talked to at least ten people who went to or dropped out of acting school. that doesn’t help our theory that the unsub was someone who was desperate to become famous but it never happened,” gina revealed.

the four of you stood around, each in your own thoughts about the case.

“well i’m going to head down to the police station to talk to jonathan and sam. figured i should bring this information to the other team as well,” mick piped up.

“i’ll go too,” spencer added on.

mick soon left to go get the car while spencer gathered the scattered papers on the table. “i should go,” he spoke.

“bye spencer,” you smiled. he waved one final time before heading towards the stairs and exiting the room.

you kept a smile to yourself as you went over to one of the computers set up, wanting to look at the crime scene photos one more time.

“oh my god,” gina gasped. your eyes darted up at your friend in front of you. “what?” you quickly asked. “you think he’s cute!” she explained. you rolled your eyes but a blush managed to creep to your cheeks.

“you do!” she practically squealed.

“i mean how could you not,” you simply responded. gina scoffed jokingly, “some of us are already in a relationship.”

you shot a grin at her before going back to typing on your computer.

spencer and mick entered the police station. the team quickly turned to the two as they entered the conference room. “there’s a ton of people in this town who failed out of becoming famous,” spencer announced.

mick went on to talk about his findings to everyone. spencer, meanwhile, went over to the coffee machine, pouring himself a cup and adding sugar. derek sauntered over, leaning against the table and looking at the younger agent.

“so how’s y/n,” morgan practically smirked.

spencer continued to stir his coffee, “what do you mean?” morgan chucked slightly. “come on pretty boy, i saw how you two looked at each other. don’t act like you didn’t blush when she mentioned reading your papers.”

spencer rolled his eyes. “i’ve known her for literally four hours,” the genius spoke. “well you know what they say, love at first sight,” with that, morgan moved so he was sitting at the table, not before sending spencer a wink.

....

in the next three days, the red cell and bau team had barely any leads. no new bodies were found making it difficult to narrow down the suspect pool.

the local cops were becoming increasingly frustrated resulting in lack of help to the two teams. instead of doing their meetings at the police station, everyone has decided to meet back at the red cell base.

there, everyone was doing different things.

jonathan and mick were typing away at the computers, desperately trying to find out anything more they could. hotch, sam, and rossi were standing around one of the tables. gina and j.j. were looking at the victims, trying to find a physical connection between the victims while emily and derek were looking at the bulletin board. finally, you and spencer were sitting on top of the main table. he was drumming his fingers as his eyes darted over the crime scene photos. you, on the other hand, were reloading your gun and sharpening your knives.

sam has told you earlier that he may need you to go out on the streets and get information. you wanted to be prepared.

the phone ringing on the table snapped everyone out of their thoughts. the phone was only for emergencies, not used for tip lines or cell phones. even garcia knew not to call the number. you hesitantly leaned forward and pressed the ‘answer button’.

“hello?” hotch spoke.

“i want to talk to agent y/n,” the unidentified voice on the other end replied. your face visibly paled. you look toward sam, who nodded simply. you leaned forward slightly. “i’m here.”

“may i ask, what’s the closet weapon to you on your left? don’t bother lying, i can already see it,” the man on the other end said.

your eyes darted to the left where on a workbench, layed a modern day battle axe. it was a sleek black color, with extra bars connecting the spike to the handle, almost like the one they used in the hunger games movies. “it’s an axe,” you spoke tentatively.

“perfect. meet me at the square off of south street in one hour. if not, the girl goes,” presumably the unsub on the other end informed you.

once again, hotch stepped in. “girl? what girl?” he asked. the unsub, however, ignored his question.

“i want to fight against agent y/n and here are the rules. you get that axe and only that axe. if you bring anything else, the girl dies. if your team shows up, the girl dies. are you begining to sense a common theme here? but alas, there is a silver lining. if you win, my partner let’s the girl go. and even if i win and manage to kill you first, the girl still gets let go. regardless, it’s a win-win for your team. one hour agent y/n, don’t be late,” with the unsub’s final taunt, the line went dead.

you jumped off of the table and moved over to the workbench. you grabbed the axe, tossing it between your hands, trying to ignore the two teams arguing slightly. you then went over to the sharpener, slowly moving the blade back and forth to sharpen it.

once you were done, you looked at everyone in the room. unsurprisingly, sam was the first one to speak up, “y/n we can’t have you go.” you shook your head. “i don’t show, the girl dies. i’ll be fine,” you replied.

“this guy is asking you to verse him with an axe. you can’t just do that,” hotch’s exclaimed.

you held your hand out as to make everyone stop talking. you looked forward at the target in front of you. as you narrowed your eyes at the target, the room quickly fell silent. one hand was up, pointing at the bullseye that stood 25 feet away, while the other was clutching the axe at your side.

after taking a three-step approach, with all your strength, you launched that axe at the target. a satisfying crack echoed as the axe hit the bullseye, cracking the target.

you slightly smirked to yourself before making your way over to the practically destroyed target and pulling the axe from it, wood falling to the ground as you did so. “still don’t think i can do this?” you asked as you turned around to face the teams.

everyone’s expressions varied, mostly looking shocked. except for spencer who was smiling and mouthed a ‘woah’ at you. you subtly winked at him before placing the weapon back on the table.

for the next 45 minutes, you went over your orders from hotch and sam as well as sparred with morgan. you were to first, try and talk the unsub down, and second, fight. obviously, you weren’t supposed to kill the man if you didn’t have to, but instead injure him. morgan had ran though different scenarios with you. everyone in the room knew you didn’t really need them, but it was good practice, none the less.

finally, it was time for you to go. you took off your jacket, leaving you in a white t-shirt, jeans, and your combat boots. the axe was strapped to your thigh with an easy holster that would allow you to remove it quickly. you quickly styled your hair so that it wouldn’t be in your face.

you turned to spencer, who seemingly hadn’t moved from where he was sitting. “good luck,” spencer spoke as he held up his hand in a fist. “at least look like you’re going to see me again,” you replied with a slight smile, bumping your fist against his. with that, you exited the room and began your short walk to the square.

all the two teams could do was wait, fully geared up and watching on computer screens. the second the fight went south for either of you, they would be at the square. the quality of the video was surprisingly well for the square being in such a secluded part of the city.

derek and gina made eye contact quickly before making their way over to where spencer stood, towards the back of the room but close enough to watch the screens. “so kid, you going to ask her out when she gets back?” morgan asked with a smirk. “you two would practically be perfect for each other,” gina added.

“really? i mean she’s a textbook badass and then i’m just me,” spencer replied, laughing slightly.

“so what kid? opposites attract.”

spencer turned to morgan, slapping him on the shoulder. “ouch!” morgan exclaimed. “what? you insulted me,” spencer responded. the older agent rolled his eyes. “whatever kid.”

“yeah she does look like the classic confident and bold agent but she’s it’s really just an act. she is one of the most kind and genuine people i have ever met. just know reid, she’s into you too,” gina told him before walking away.

spencer sat, mouth slightly open. you liked him too? the two of you had known each other for all of four days. but morgan’s words slowly creeped into the back of his mind. the genius shook his head before moving to stand in front of the monitor which was about to display the fight.