#she's just protective. it's her first real friend since double life cut her some slack | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

everseeking · 3 years

Note

hello!! It's your relief story anon!!! i friken love what you wrote!!! may i have another request 🥺 similar to the relief story, Levi's s/o gets into a near death experience right in front of him and he freezes for the first time. everyone's super shocked abt it after the mission and he gets reprimanded just for formalities (erwin n hanji rlly just wanna check up on him personally) but they all understand since he's been through a lot. Levi can't deal with his emotions and he wants to say i love you to his s/o (first time saying it) but he doesn't know how and yes HAHAHAHA

- OMG HI AGAIN ! IM SO HAPPY THAT YOU ENJOYED IT THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!! thank you again not only for requesting that, but also for requesting again, it’s so awesome when u guys come back and request more :) plus your ideas are always so great. i had a lot of fun writing this, i hope u enjoy <3 (and i got your second message tysm for adding it ! i tried to include as much fluff as possible but my dumb brain always defaults to angst hahaha)

how to say i love you

- levi ackerman x reader

warnings: season 2 and ova spoilers (if you haven’t watched the ova’s yet they’re on youtube but this only references ‘a choice with no regrets’ aka levi’s ova)

levi has never had...feelings for anyone before.

the romantic kind, of course. he's felt plenty of things towards people on a regular basis—anger. hate. disgust. confusion. annoyance. frustration.

to be fair he has had the occasional friend, or the occasional person who he respected, and others who he flat out wanted to protect. just never anything romantic.

this didn’t bother him, falling in love wasn’t his top priority or anything. his life has been one traumatic experience after the other. there was no time for him to be romantically involved with another, nor was he willing to take the risk of potential heartbreak that would add to his constantly growing list of traumatic events.

when he first met y/n l/n he acknowledged her as nothing more than another member of the survey corps. someone he would work with. someone he would train with. someone who he would give orders to if deemed necessary. someone who would join his team. someone he would slowly become more curious about. someone who would bring him feelings that he couldn't describe in words.

his plans had clearly gone astray.

y/n was supposed to be nothing more than a colleague, but somehow fate had much more in store. the young girl began to appear more and more in his life and before he could even process it, she was already apart of his team.

now that the they were spending almost everyday together, along with the rest of his team, levi had the opportunity to try to solve the mystery that was y/n.

there was something that he felt about her that he couldn't put into words. the way she was determined to save humanity and her friends, the way she poured everything she had into everything she did, the way she was strong in every aspect of the word, the way she got along with the rest of the team, the way she laughed, the way she smiled, the way she spoke, the way she moved, all of it. it all encapsulated him.

what is this emotion ? fascination ? curiosity ? these words weren’t completely right, but they safe enough for him to settle on for now.

yes, that's all. the brat just makes me curious because i don't understand her.

at least, that's what he told himself. but the tingles that remained on his skin from the place where she accidentally brushed up against him or the way his stomach felt after his eyes met hers or the way he noticed himself always wanting to be near her or the way he wanted to protect her more than anything in the world, said otherwise.

whatever message he wanted to send probably definitely was not passed on. when y/n accidentally brushed up against him he snapped back "watch it." when she made eye contact with him, it was more her meeting his eyes and him seemingly glaring back. when he took a few steps towards her to be closer, she felt paranoid, wondering if he was determining whether or not he should scold her for something. when she was on missions and he occasionally had to step in and save her tail, she felt like she was slacking.

truthfully in all these situations levi just resorted back to his true nature. he never meant any harm so clearly he wasn’t the best at expressing his feelings. henceforth, the three word phrase was foreign to him.

after all the many challenges that came with trying to understand each other, the couple finally got together. but despite being together, neither had said the 'L word’ yet.

to be honest, y/n hadn’t dwelled on it too much. she had learned the best way to survive mentally was to live in the moment. when the time would come, the time would come, however, the thought that time wasn’t a guarantee gnawed at the back of her brain. she always wondered how levi felt about the matter, but never got around to asking. little did he know he’d once again find out for himself that time wasn’t a guarantee.

just like every other day, y/n awoke to levi placing a kiss on her forehead. he wished nothing more than to let the love of his life sleep late into the morning in their shared bed, safe from the dangers of the world, but there was another mission today in which he needed her by his side.

the plan was to head to the outskirts of wall rose to a forest that was known to be surrounded by titans. hanji convinced erwin to let her try to capture titans in the forest again, as it all but worked on the female titan. erwin agreed, not only because he too believed the survey corps had all the materials necessary to capture titans again, but also because he knew the scouts needed more real time practice in the forest. levi wasn’t happy to hear the commander refer to this as “practice,” since so many lives were guaranteed to be lost in the process, but there was nothing he could do about it.

with everyone’s approval and the preparations complete, they were off. the ride there had been as close to smooth sailing as possible, with erwin successfully rerouting the troops to avoid as many unnecessary collisions with titans as possible and a surprisingly low amount of abnormals in their path. but everyone knew the real problems would be up ahead.

in this area, the titans were mainly surrounding the thick trees in the forest. it wasn’t too far from the forest where they encountered the female titan so the layout of the jungle was fairly similar. a large path ran straight through the trees, leaving the scouts lots of opportunities.

before the forest itself came into view, the hoard otherworldly creatures showed up. the crowd of titans didn’t seem to be too bad, with none surpassing ten meters. a bit of the outer edges of the formation took a hit, but everyone else made it into the woods unscathed.

unlike the last time levi’s squad was in the forest, their objective was not to be the bait. instead, they were to take to the trees and be on clean up duty. it was a little different from their normal clean up duty, as they weren’t doing chores around the castle or cabin—they were eliminating stray titans. the survey corps was only prepared to capture two titans, so any others that entered needed to be exterminated.

they weren’t the only ones with this job, but erwin placed them as the last hoop the titans had to get through before they were captured. any titans that escaped the first few groups were more likely than not going to be challenging, so they needed to be left with the most talented squad.

the eight scouts that made up levi’s squad traveled the path that cut through the forest until they found the four trees in which they were to set up camp. levi and jean were on the first tree, armin and sasha on the one across from them, connie and mikasa on the next, and y/n and eren on the fourth. the formation placed y/n and levi diagonal from each other so they could each defend half of the younger scouts in their squad if necessary, as well as had the team in pairs that weren’t often together for even more practice.

the ground rumbled beneath the group as they looked down to see the first wave of soldiers acting as bait pass through. after some time and a few more waves, including hanji and erwin who were in charge of the traps, everyone passed through and the titans came into sight.

the ground troops had all reported that no abnormals or titans above ten meters made it in so they all relaxed—or relaxed as one can be when they’re facing man-eating giants. levi recognized the last troop passing through and gave his second in command a nod which she returned, letting everyone else know it was show time.

the rumbling of the ground from the horses before was nothing compared to that of the titans. not counting the first two, there were nine titans in all. everyone gave a silent thanks to the squads who had narrowed down the hoard before it arrived to them.

finally, the first two titans ran past the trees levi’s squad was hidden in, chasing the ground troops. with a loud “now !” from levi, the rest of them deployed from their hiding places. thanks to the squad’s impeccable teamwork and countless hours of training in forests closer to home, the remaining seven titans were taken out without a hitch. y/n couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride as she watched her team improve with every mission and it was obvious they all felt the same way. the way they beamed and had to hold back their celebration was as a clear as day.

the team regrouped, with y/n checking the younger members for any life threatening wounds and levi double checking all the titans were taken care of. she had just finished examining sasha when levi came back and announced the next step of today’s plan. everyone was to head forward to meet the other troops and aid in getting the titans back to the walls. although the titans may be secured, there were still infinite possibilities for catastrophes that could happen so they needed all the backup they could get. the young cadets nodded in agreement then followed after levi as he took to the sky, with y/n tailing the rest of the group. if y/n and levi weren’t side by side during missions, this was always the formation everyone fell into. levi led the way, protecting the front of the party, and she acted as the caboose to make sure no one got left behind as well as to protect them from the back.

after a few failed tricks from eren as he tried to show off with his gear and a quick scolding from levi, the rest of the scouts came into view. the mission appeared to be a success. the final two titans were both apprehended, one nailed to the ground and the other bound in the air.

squad levi landed and began to greet everyone but didn’t get very far when hanji’s squeals flooded everyone’s ears.

the scientist was practically bouncing up and down as she came over. “squad levi ! all in one piece, i see. let me show you what we’ve done,” she gushed, ushering all of them towards the titans.

it was no surprise she was so excited. she had been waiting for this day to arrive for ages, but levi still gave a quick “tch,” under his breath out of annoyance which forced y/n to cover her mouth with her palm to stifle a laugh.

the eight, now nine, of them cranned their necks up to see the side of the beast that was hammered into the ground. the sight would’ve been cruel if it were anything other than a titan, but remembering all the pain they’ve brought to each one of them, no one did so much as bat an eye. returning the focus back to hanji, everyone watched as she took a sharp inhale to prepare for her long ramble about how everything worked. lucky for y/n, before hanji could exhale, levi grabbed his partner’s arm and pulled her away.

he pulled her close so he could whisper in her ear, “come on, let’s go find erwin.”

as much as she wanted to argue with him and tell him he was being mean, she really didn’t want to listen to hanji’s spiel that she had heard a million times over. a tiny pang of guilt struck y/n for leaving the other half of the squad behind forced to listen to her, but sometimes everyone has to take one for the team.

she threw a quick wave over her shoulder to the others, then followed levi, who was still holding her arm, as he dragged her through the crowd of other scouts who were just floating around, waiting for orders, until he finally spotted the commander.

the tall man’s eyes fell upon the pair and he drew himself away from whomever he was speaking with to come greet them.

“ah levi, y/n,�� erwin began. levi’s expression stayed the same but y/n offered the man a small smile and wave which he returned with a nod. erwin was actually the one who recommended to levi that he should consider y/n to be apart of his squad, so she heavily credited him entirely with starting your relationship with levi (even if levi disagreed every time she told him this).

levi and erwin fell into formal conversation, discussing the remainder of the mission, which left y/n realizing levi hadn’t really saved her from a talk you’ve heard countless times before, but instead brought her into another one.

hanji’s rambling would have been more interesting than this she thought to yourself as she began lazily scanned the small sea of scouts scrambling around, looking for a way to entertain yourself until the two men were done talking. one group in particular caught her eyes.

the soldiers seemed to be much more jittery than everyone else. they frantically looked amongst each other and towards the titan that hanji had just finished showing the rest of levi’s squad, and seemed to be contemplating a solution to an unknown issue.

it was clear something was up.

just as she placed her hand on levi’s shoulder to bring his and erwin’s focus over to the scene, the ground began to shake, which caught their attention for her.

no one had time to react when dust flew up everywhere, obstructing everyone’s views so they couldn’t see where the loud crashes that followed came from. a strong force slammed into them, throwing them who knows how far into the air. the fear of hitting the ground barely had enough time to settle into y/n before everything went dark.

everyone in the vicinity had been sent flying into the air along, but levi was the first one to be up on his feet again. bringing his arms up to shield his eyes, he decided to stay where he was as the dust cleared so he could assess the situation and move on from there.

the scene finally came into view; he gathered that the titan had ripped its arm through the nails that secured it to the floor of the woods, then flailed it around in an attempt to grab people. it made a clean sweep in the area that he was previously standing—all that was left were debris and broken wood planks from the compartments that were attached to the other titan’s traps.

a wave of adrenaline passed through his body as he remembered who was with him. he needed to find not only erwin immediately, but also y/n. he reached down to grab the handles of his controller grip but froze instantly upon seeing what had just come into view as more of the dust cleared.

y/n was sprawled out on the ground, ODM gear tossed a few feet away from her body but more importantly, the titan’s hand was hovering mere meters above her.

his pulse almost quickened twicehold, but it felt as though it heart had stopped in his chest. situations like this presented themselves to levi almost everyday of his life, but this was much different. in those, he was almost two steps ahead. he knew that by now he should be wrapping his arms around y/n and pulling her to safety at breakneck speed, or even better, he should’ve shielded her from harm at the very beginning. but right now he couldn’t do so much as move his finger.

levi was completely inert—his arms felt like they being weighed down by a ball and chain, his legs felt like they had grown roots into the ground that planted in him place. his throat ran dry and his stomach felt like it had just done a flip. the rest of him went numb while shock consumed his body, physically and mentally, rendering him entirely helpless.

images of isabel, farlan, petra, oluo, eld, gunther, and countless others all flashed before him, the same running theme echoed in his mind—he wasn’t able to save them. all he had to do was pull back a single index finger. this would launch one of his anchors into the back of the titan’s neck, sending him flying to slice its nape. but he couldn’t do it. the only thing he knew he had the power to do was watch helplessly as his partner would be eaten alive.

the shouts of others flooded his ears as his senses slowly began to return to him, but it didn’t matter. he couldn’t make out a thing. frankly he wished he could so he could break away from the things that occupied his mind now. shame. guilt. humiliation. fear. regret. he took for granted every moment he had ever spent with y/n. every smile she gave him. every time he embraced her. every kiss. every conversation they shared under the stars while everyone else was fast asleep. every opportunity he had but failed to tell her that he—

before he finished his thought someone finally broke through his trance. erwin was the one who was able to crack the surface and bring him back to life.

the commander was shouting levi’s name, hoping, praying, to wake him up from whatever was going on in his head. levi was still unable feel his body, but he realized he was moving as the ground began to grow smaller. one of erwin’s strong arms hooked around levi’s middle and they were flying away from the chaos below. the commander spared a glance to levi to see the man’s eyes were still trained on y/n.

the feeling returned to levi’s body as he felt the pain of being thrown onto one of the thick tree branches surge through his body. not knowing how else to bring him back from the trance that wasn’t full broken, erwin had tossed off of him levi instead of placing him down gently.

he watched as levi scrambled up and expected him to yell back for throwing him, but the response was much different.

“where is she ??” levi demanded. his eyes may have been on y/n the whole time, but his mind was elsewhere replaying scenes from the past. he had no idea if she had been eaten, or even survived the initial attack. the only think he saw was her body on the ground, unmoving.

“safe,” erwin confirmed. “hanji ran over just in time and got her. but what happened to you ?” no one had ever seen levi freeze up the way he did. others believed it was just fear which made him seem a little more human to them, but erwin knew it was more than that.

throughout the years, erwin watched levi witness the deaths of those closest to him, and even then he was still able to act. but after seeing him go rigid, erwin was more than worried. it was clear levi went into shock, however, shock runs more than skin deep.

this became even more evident to him as levi remained silent the entire way back to the walls. y/n was still unconscious, so one of the open carts was her escort. guilt continued to wash over levi as he wasn’t able to ride in the cart with her to monitor her closely because he had to ride his horse back. regardless, he stayed as close to the cart as possible and stole as many glances her way as he could.

if he had it his way, he would’ve waited outside the infirmary for y/n when they arrived back home, but hanji and erwin practically dragged him to the mess hall to replenish his energy. this may or may not be skipping the part where levi was questioned about what happened, followed by him being chastised for his actions (or lack there of). levi could bare focus even though it was such a serious conversation. his mind was still a hazy mess. as much as hanji and erwin wanted to talk to levi more about the situtation, they knew it was best for the conversation to end there for the day. levi looked so shaken up that he could barely keep himself standing so the last thing he needed was to be yelled at more. the entire corps also made sure to steer clear of the man. he usually had all his emotions hidden but they were on full display now. it still scared the hell out of them.

but the fear alone wasn’t enough to stop them from whispering to themselves. word carried fast about how captain levi froze up and watched one of his squad mates almost die. the ones who only heard about the story instead of witnessing it couldn’t believe what they were hearing. the captain levi did nothing while one of his own almost became titan food ?

hearing the whispers in passing, levi didn’t care that they were talking about him, but he was still affected. their words just made reality sink deeper into him. they weren’t the only ones who were unable to believe what happened. he really just watched helplessly as someone almost died. and it wasn’t just someone, it was his other half.

“hey levi ?” hanji voiced, pulling him out of his head. levi didn’t bother looking up from his food that he had been staring at for the past few minutes to face her. the best he could to was give her a side glance as he peered at her from the corner of his eyes and waited for her to finish.

the glare he was sending her way made her blood run cold, but she took the hint and continued. “are you alright ?” she asked in a small voice.

“does it look like i’m alright ?” he growled back, then went back to eating.

“just wanted to ask,” she added with an awkward laugh then turned to erwin who was on the other side of her. for once in her life she knew not to press any harder, but making levi upset wasn’t her intention. she was genuinely worried about him. hanji gave erwin a what do i do now ? look, hoping for some help, but erwin could only shake his head. he cared about levi just as much as she did, but he knew there was nothing either of them could do or say to make levi feel better. the only thing he needed was to see y/n.

at last, levi finished his dinner and excused himself to go find his partner. as his feet carried him at a quick pace across the stone floors of the many hallways in HQ, fear came back to his already grim mind. there was no word on y/n’s condition so he assumed no progress had been made and she was still unconscious.

needless to say, when he rounded the corner and saw her sitting on the bench right outside the infirmary swiveling her heels and tapping her toes together as if she was bored, shock overcame him once again, this time on a much lower scale. similar to just a few hours ago, he was frozen instantly upon seeing her. it was a much prettier sight this time, but it was still painful to see. the bandage that wrapped around her head peaked out from being any strands of hair that fell in front of her face, other wraps and patches plastered themselves across her arms and legs, and some purple and blue splotches peaked out from behind them. this was only the skin that was exposed. for once in his life levi didn’t want to think about what she looked like when she weren’t wearing any clothes. he made a quick mental note to later place tender kisses on all her bumps and bruises, and took of running towards her.

y/n had been discharged from the infirmary during dinner hours, so the halls has been quite empty as she sat outside alone, falling into boredom. when the first sounds of shoes hitting the ground entered her ears, she got a bit excited, but calmed herself down reminding herself it probably wasn’t him. but when the steps got quicker and louder, she finally let yourself look up to see up to see her partner was the source. there was no point in holding back anyone; her face visibly lit up and a wide smile placed itself on her lips. just like levi, y/n wanted nothing more in the entire world than to see him.

he run turned to a jog then a complete stop as he halted in front of her. despite being so anxious to see one another, neither were really prepared. they just kinda...stared at each other, neither sure of the right words to say. levi decided to take the initiative. he opened his mouth, hoping something, anything, would come out, but his attempt fell flat. words just weren’t enough. instead, he lifted his arms and placed both hands gently on y/n’s shoulders. she caught on quickly, standing up at the same time as he was pulling her into his arms for a tight embrace.

the pair remained silent in each other’s arms until y/n decided to take initiative this time and finally spoke. “is it true ?” she mumbled against his neck, barely loud enough for him to hear.

as much as he had hoped the gossip would stay in the mess hall, levi knew that inevitably word would spread to her. someone must have told her everything that happened, leaving in every little detail about how levi made no moves to save her life, ending up having to be saved by hanji in the end.

based off his silence, y/n knew levi had a lot on his mind so she continued “did you really freeze up?”

he didn’t realize it, but he had tensed up at her words. it absolutely pained him to answer, but he couldn’t imagine the pain she were feeling.

summing up his courage, he began to confirm the worst, but she pulled away before he could get more than a “yes,” out. levi braced himself for the hurt expression that he would be faced with, knowing his heart would break instantly as she realized he truly did failed to protect her, but instead he was met with kind eyes and soft face.

the look on his face had utter disbelief written all over it as her hands went up to cup his face that was now reddening. “are you okay?” y/n asked softly. “im so sorry.”

levi was beyond bewildered. he wanted her to be furious at him. yell at him. pull her soft hands back and strike him as much as she pleased. tell him he failed and that she couldn’t stand the sight of him. he knew he deserved it all and more, but he should’ve known she would never do that. that wasn’t y/n.

he melted into her touch and placing one of his hand over one of hers that remained on his cheek. “i was terrified, y/n.”

y/n finally gave him one of her beautiful smiles and giggled softly. “why were you scared ? i was the one who almost got eaten,” she teased.

y/n’s laughs had quickly subsided after seeing the serious look that had etched itself onto levi’s face. “because you were in danger,” he started.

“i don’t know what id do with myself if i lost you, i...”

“i love you, y/n.”

it was finally y/n’s turn to get a taste of the shock that levi had been experiencing all day. she could’ve sworn her heart skipped a beat at his words, followed by butterfly wings tickling the inside of her tummy, her eyes widening and jaw falling slack. her hands slowly slipped from his face to instead place one of her palms on her chest to make sure her heart was indeed pumping at a regular pace.

levi, on the other hand, was not having a magical experience. y/n’s reaction made him feel as though his feelings weren’t reciprocated despite having been together for so long. he started to get deeper into his head, negative thoughts starting to eat away at him once again, when she finally spoke.

“i love you too, levi,” she breathed out, still too stunned to breathe properly.

levi had had enough of being unable to move for one day. one of his hands grabbed y/n’s waist while the other found its way to the back of her head, as he kissed her roughly, which she eagerly returned. the way he felt her grin against his lips was enough to make all the pain and fear he had experienced that day worth it.

he couldn’t have asked for a better outcome to such a shitty day.

levi had finally learned how to say i love you and he thanked the stars every night following that day that y/n was the one who taught him how.

#attack on titan #aot #attack on titan x reader #aot x reader #shingeki no kyojin #snk #shingeki no kyojin x reader #snk x reader #levi ackerman #levi ackermann #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackermann x reader #levi x reader

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lizacstuff · 3 years

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Your thoughts on the epi?

This episode was everything! I don't remember when I've enjoyed crying so much. The funny thing is, though, that I've found myself crying more while rewatching those scenes, than I cried during the first time I watched the episode. This episode will definitely rank among my favorites. Let's talk about the B and C characters and then get to Edser and, of course, Kiraz at the end. I spent the first 30 minutes resisting the urge to punch my screen anytime Ayfer was on it. Damn, I wanted to slap her silly. Could she have been any more annoying? Eda's a grown woman, if she is finally doing the right thing and telling the father of her child he's a dad, then be supportive instead of a screeching pain in the ass. When she actually said "I told you so" to an upset Eda... seriously? That is awful. What a bitter, joyless, petty individual. I was cheering for Melo every time she told Ayfer she was negative. Good! At least we know the other characters recognize how awful she is.

(I get long winded, so this continues under the cut)

Also what was with her going overboard to protect Burak's feelings over his delusional aspirations? Why shouldn't he understand that Serkan and Eda shared a great love and Melo is rooting for them to rekindle it? What does hiding that from him do? It's still true. Ayfer treats this dude as a member of the family, so he might as well know. I get his feelings might get hurt, but dude needs a reality check and to move on, and no matter how hard Ayfer hopes, Serkan in their lives or no, Eda is never going to want Burak. She's made that clear. If Ayfer likes him so much maybe she should marry him, that way at least Melo would be saved from his milquetoast presence.

Speaking of that, they were clearly trying to establish some sort of connection or vibe between him and Melo. So far, I'm not into it. If he's still so into Eda that Ayfer doesn't want him to have to hear about Eda/Serkan possibly reuniting, then he doesn't deserve Melo. Melo deserves someone who wants her, not someone who pines after someone out of his league and then settles for her bff once he realizes he never had a shot with the great beauty. We'll see how it develops, but he has the personality of damp carpet so I don't have high hopes.

Aydan was a little screechy this episode, but I cut her some slack since she just found out these traitors stole 5 years of her granddaughter's life from her. My friend @echoapothecary made a good point to me that Aydan deserves no sympathy for this since she didn't tell Eda Serkan was alive back in amnesia times, and I don't disagree with that. That move by Aydan pretty much tainted her character forever, and it's near impossible to come back from, but viewing this story in a capsule I do feel sorry for her. She wasn't a good mother to Serkan, but she does love him, and I think she craves family. The main point being, Serkan wasn't the only one who lost something significant by not knowing about Kiraz until now, Aydan did too. Perhaps we can say that losing the first five years of her granddaughter's life is her punishment for keeping the secret about Serkan, it's about as steep a penalty as one could pay. Talk about karmic retribution.

Also, since Serkan is apparently not going to impose any emotional tolls on any of the traitors for the secret that was kept from him, I'm glad Aydan did at least make her displeasure known and made some of the liars uncomfortable. Piril, at least, felt it, even if she won't suffer any real consequences. I kind of wanted Serkan to kick her out of the company. I really don't like that character and I think every time she's on screen she just sucks the life out of the show. Engin when he's in scenes with Serkan or Eda or Melo or Aydan or Erdem = Interesting. Engin when he's with Piril = Zzzzzzz.

Pina and Kerem were cute, but to be honest I really don't care. It's inoffensive and I get that we need B, C and D storylines to fill out two hours each week, so I'm good with it, but let's be real I'm only watching for the main event.

Speaking of... now to EDSER! I actually like that Serkan walked out and drove away after hearing the truth. I can only imagine what kind of shock and betrayal he must have felt at that moment, escaping must have seemed like his best option. What I liked even more is that Eda followed him. What a relief after the last episode where she was looking for any and every excuse not to tell him and then made the nonsensical decision to flee in order to avoid it. Too many times in the past between these two pride has gotten in the way. There was a time that Eda might have thrown up her hands at him leaving and pretended like it didn't hurt, that it didn't matter. I'm so glad those days seem to be over. One of the hallmarks of season 2 has been the improved communication (sans secret) between these two and this episode took that concept to a new level.

How heartbreaking to watch Eda plead with Serkan through the door, and how double-y heartbreaking to watch Serkan sitting on the floor, head bent, clearly in emotional agony. You could feel it coming off of him. Kudos to both Hande and Kerem who KILLED IT this episode. Seriously, their best work to date. Their chemistry is always on point, but the way they flawlessly work off of one another in every scene they share, whether it's deeply dramatic or something light and romantic is truly something special to behold. That's one reason why I don't get the folks who are so hung up in hating the season 2 plotline, that they can't appreciate any of this. Because this is the point. Giving these two artists deep and challenging scenes together and opportunities to make more magic. Watching them this season is honestly a privilege and I plan on enjoying every minute of it.

Despite Serkan's emotional turmoil, it was so like him to put the blanket over her and then sit across from her sleeping form as he indulged in some more brooding. However, I really appreciate that by the morning he was ready to talk to her. That conversation was hard, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who was jarred by him saying that he would have told her to get an abortion. In light of his later confessions, I think there's a few ways to take that. I think it was in part a nod to what an emotional mess he was at the time, and in part he said it to alleviate some of her guilt. Because even a betrayed and hurt Serkan cares so much about her, and he knows what he put who through at the time. Especially because at that moment he still had no plans to tell her the truth about why he broke up with her, he was still playing the part of the man who just didn't want children. So stubborn! Thank goodness that over the course of the next 12 hours he'll change his mind about that...

On another note, how happy did it make you to see Sirius? It made me pretty happy. He lives!!!!

From the moment Eda went to his hotel room the night before to confess all the way until they met again at the hotel, Eda really did everything right in how she approached him. However, once back in Sile, she makes her first critical error. It reminded me of the Eda in episode 29 who started pushing so hard at amnesia!Serkan and coming at him with such extreme emotion that he shut down. And that's what happened during that conversation on the beach. Eda needed to give him a little bit of time to come to terms with things, instead of forcing a conversation the first moment they saw one another. Good grief, what was she doing demanding answers from him hours after he found out? She knows this man! She knows that he plans every aspect of his life. So to spring on him that you hid a child from him for 5 years and he's a dad, is a LOT. I like that in a later scene he knows he reacted badly, and actually also says to her "What did you expect?" While his reaction wasn't great, it was also pretty predictable and she should have known to give him some time.

Speaking of the conversation on the beach, what a powerhouse scene for Hande. One note on it, that was the scene they had just shot when Hande and Kerem did their last IGlive on premiere day. The one where Kerem kept talking about how he was in a mood because of an intense scene they had just done. After watching I couldn't help but note that he, as Serkan, mostly just stood there stoically as Hande did all the emoting as Eda let loose on all the pent up emotion she'd been carrying both for years and with Serkan's fresh rejection. It speaks to both their personal and professional dynamic that he was so affected by her being in that state since he didn't do the heavy lifting in that specific scene. The way they are attuned to each other is probably a big reason they are so flawlessly in sync on screen.

I liked how they weaved the Kiraz/Baba scene in at the right time. That was one instance where Aydan, Seyfi and Engin's meddling was for the good, engineering a situation where Serkan was alone with his daughter. Also excellent comedy from Can, ratting out his dad about throwing ice cream on him. Good stuff. I like Engin-as-a-father scenes, I like Engin-as-a-friend scenes, I could just do without Engin-as-a-husband scenes. Anyway, Serkan needed time to adjust, but he also needed to be exposed to Kiraz so that he could view their prior unlikely bond through the new prism of fatherhood. It's telling how easily he slid into Dad territory with teaching her how to tie her shoes. He had been doing that all along, but at that moment he knew about the relationship and still did what was natural. He is ready to be her father, he just needs to realize he's worthy of it.

You can't blame Eda for not realizing it, but it was lovely to see how quickly Serkan turned the corner. He was already adjusting his thinking not even 24 hours after he found out about Kiraz and that was really what inserting himself

into her dealings with the Italians was about. Staying in contact until he could beat back all his neurosis. As for the business stuff, she apparently needed him as an investor, but I also love the way he was there to first build up her confidence and then praise her after a successful presentation. I've said it before but Serkan as her professional mentor is one of my favorite dynamics between them. It did make me wonder, is she still 45% owner of the Holding? It seems like it, she sure didn't hesitate to present herself as his partner. If she is, though, it seems impossible that they could have had zero contact for all those years, unless she just placed her stake in a trust and gave him full voting control of it. Details I'm sure they won't explore in-depth, but I did wonder.

Don't you just love an unwitting guest character (Italian guy) who comes in and forces our two protagonists to spend extra time together? I do. Thank you Italian guy and Italian guy's wife! I love how quick Serkan was to accept, you see, he had already turned a corner and was looking for excuses to get close to her. It was his first step in his journey to opening up to her. Also, who noticed that Eda wore a slinky blue dress the night after Kiraz mentioned that it's Serkan's favorite color? Just checking. She is not as immune to his charms as she'd like us to believe...

OF COURSE Serkan was at Eda's graduation. I think pretty much the whole fandom had guessed that from their conversation in episode 40, but it still hit me emotionally to have it confirmed. What I really liked about it was that Serkan didn't tip his hand by accident. He quoted her graduation speech specifically because he wanted her to know he was there. And not only that he willingly admits that he thought of her every single day since they parted. This is a huge step for him. It has been driving him crazy that Eda thinks he forgot her and is totally unaffected by her. However, even just a few hours earlier he was still in a place where he had no intention to tell her anything, it's actually impressive how quickly he came around. Now I don't blame Eda at all for declaring it's not enough, he put her through emotional hell when they broke up. I mean on one hand you'd think she'd be able to see that he was already opening his heart and there was more to the story, however, her reaction was good because it spurred him on to go and tell her the whole story.

And what a heartbreaking story it was. As I said several times over the last few weeks, I was hoping that part of Serkan's motivation was that the doctor had told him he would be unable to have kids, what I wasn't expecting though was the double whammy of not being able to have kids AND there being a 70% chance of the cancer coming back. No wonder Serkan was eFFed up! Who wouldn't be, but then you add in his additional insecurities about not being worthy of love and his hypochondria and that is a bad mental cocktail. You know what's ironic, Ayfer hates him but in reality he did exactly what Ayfer would have wanted him to do. Push Eda away for her own good so she could have everything she wants in life without him dragging her down. What makes Ayfer the worst (and a hypocrite) is that this is exactly what she would have wanted him to do, but she also blames him for Eda's heartbreak in the aftermath.

The scene was so cathartic to watch as a viewer. We've been waiting for weeks for Serkan's point of view as he's hidden behind his usual confident and calm veneer, and when we finally got it, we really got it. He did not hold back. Serkan is such a complex character, which is a bit surprising for a silly show that you wouldn't really expect build a character with so many layers. On the surface he has everything and seems to be full of ego, but his arrogance is only surrounding his abilities, intellect, and skills as a businessman and architect. Personally, he has little self-worth and thinks he's not worthy of anyone's love, especially not Eda's. However, while that has been a truth of the character for a long time, this speech was the first time he admitted how deeply rooted his fears are. It was stunning, though, to have a character who is so rooted in being in control and who is worried about his outward image, open up in such a raw way and expose all his fears and insecurities to a woman he's been apart from for five years. It was breathtaking and Kerem was fantastic in the scene.

Initially, with the subtitles, I misinterpreted (though I knew it couldn't be quite right) his parting words. The subtitles I saw made it seem like Serkan was saying "Don't say you forgot me" as in Serkan didn't want Eda to say she forgot him. But it made so much more sense when I saw it translated as "But don't say I forgot you." which was a throw back to their dinner conversation in episode 40 when Eda says, "You forgot me." Once I realized Serkan was saying that he couldn't handle her thinking, or say, that he'd forgotten her, the scene hit doubly hard!

I saw some criticism of that scene that said Eda was just standing there with no emotion, but I didn't get that at all. She had tears running down her face and I thought she was fighting for his soul pretty dang hard. First by using both emotion-- telling him that everything had changed because now he had a daughter and that he'd locked his heart and soul in a cage. Then by using logic-- when she told him the cancer is gone and that's it's over and when she challenged him over why everything has to be perfect. Think from her perspective how disorienting it would be to find out that everything you thought was true, was not, and that if the love of your life wasn't such a stubborn, selfless, self-sabotaging martyr that you could have built a family together instead of been separated for 5 years. It's a lot.

On the first watch this doorway scene is where I started to get emotional, but I didn't really lose it and fully cry until Serkan's scene the next day with Engin. For whatever reason that scene hit me hard. Hats off to Anil for his work there, the way his voice broke at times during that conversation really got to me. This type of true friendship scene was something that was sorely missing during the era of the other writers, and it was wonderful to see it back, just when Serkan needed it most. Serkan needed someone to shake him a bit about his fears of dying. I think the writers did a good job here, because while Serkan's neurosis and self-sabotage is maddening, with his history it's believable that he was stuck in a headspace where he really thought he couldn't be a father to Kiraz, or a partner to Eda, because he might up and die on them. I loved how Engin pointed out that Eda and Kiraz would not be the only ones affected if he died and how ridiculous it was for him to lock himself away.

I'm glad we got the scene with the doctor to really get a full glimpse of Serkan's view of his illness and it's also a relief to not only Serkan, but to us viewers that since five years have passed cancer-free he now has the risk of a typical healthy person. Serkan isn't the only one who has hang ups about his health, I think after amnesia and cancer viewers do too!

Finding out that Eda had made videos specifically for Serkan over the years, talking to him directly, hit hard. I wasn't really expecting that. I thought maybe she just had general photos and videos, like any doting parent would have, but the fact that she was always wanting him, documenting Kiraz's life and preparing for a day when he would hopefully take his place as Kiraz's father... wow. On the cynical side it makes it that much harder to believe that she never made more of an effort to tell him once Kiraz was born, but I won't focus on that. Not when the scene was as perfect as it was. Kerem again was stellar, he made me cry buckets. I think since amnesia many of us wanted an emotional response from him, thank goodness this story finally delivered it. The emotions running through him at that moment were overwhelming and Kerem did a fantastic job of portraying all of them, the heartbreak over everything he missed, the joy at seeing moments

from his daughter's life, the regret of not being there and being the partner Eda needed, the pride in the job Eda did in raising their daughter alone, and finally the bittersweet relief that Eda never forgot him.

It was a lot, but it was a good segue to the next scene when Eda calls him frantic because Kiraz went missing. What was clear from those videos was that while Eda, when we first meet her in Sile, appeared on the surface to have everything handled as a single mom, she always really wanted to have Serkan there as her partner. While Kiraz was pining for her dad, Eda was pining for Serkan as well. And we see this displayed in full force when Serkan arrives. Several people try to comfort Eda, including Burak, but she's not having it. However, as soon as Serkan gets there you can almost see the relief hit her in a wave. She's not in this alone anymore. Kiraz's father is there to help. Even if nothing is settled at that moment, she knows she can rely on Serkan and that he will know what to do. Which is supported by the fact that he clearly took charge the moment he found out, calling the authorities, having them begin searches etc.

But while highlighting his competence, conversely can we talk about how incompetently everyone else was at searching for Kiraz? They all acted worried, but did any of them make any real effort to find her? LMAO, they all seemed much more concerned with their own personal dramas. Especially egregious were Engin and Piril. Hello! Your son is clearly trying to tell you where the missing person is! Stop ignoring him. Thank goodness Serkan is very good at finding people.

Of course he found her and our hearts collectively shattered as we watched her trying to send a message to her Baba in space when in reality he was kneeling right there beside her, helping her tie the note to the balloon. If anything else was left to convince Serkan that he is wanted and needed, by both Eda and Kiraz, this situation was it. Even though some careless crew member spoiled the astronaut suit in an unnecessary IG story from the set, (that would have been a really good surprise) it was still satisfying to see this fairy tale play out. Never over "Baba?" and "Happy Birthday, my daughter" and now I can't wait to see Kiraz's reaction that her new friend Serkan Bolat is actually her dad and it should be pretty great to watch the three of them form a family together.

Overall this was the most emotional episodes of the series, and also one of the best.

#Sen Cal Kapimi #Sen Çal Kapımı #edser #serkan bolat #sck discussion #sck episode discussion #edser discussion #sckask #sck 2x43 #sck 2x04 #asklizac #anonymous

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sciencespies · 3 years

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How Scientist Jennifer Doudna Is Leading the Next Technological Revolution

https://sciencespies.com/nature/how-scientist-jennifer-doudna-is-leading-the-next-technological-revolution/

How Scientist Jennifer Doudna Is Leading the Next Technological Revolution

Since last March, the first floor of Jennifer Doudna’s Innovative Genomic Institute in Berkeley has become a Covid-19 testing facility processing thousands of samples each day. Doudna is a newly minted Nobel Prize recipient—she and her French collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier won the honor “for the development of a method for genome editing” known as CRISPR in 2020—and an old hand at unraveling the secrets of RNA, the genetic material that guides the novel coronavirus. So when the pandemic hit, the IGI, which aims to apply genomic engineering for public good, turned its attention to stopping the virus. Their scientists, in lightning-quick collaboration with other researchers, are developing CRISPR-powered at-home tests and investigating how to harness CRISPR for antiviral treatments.

Scientists have made leaps and bounds in understanding genetic material like DNA and RNA since the 1953 discovery of the double helix. Now, these advances are propelling the global fight against the coronavirus and making plain the relevance of biotech to our lives, not just in the future but right now. Lab-made messenger RNA, after all, is generating antibodies in the arms of 90 million Americans and counting.

In 2012, 14 months after they began collaborating, Doudna and Charpentier published trailblazing research: Their labs had worked out how to harness bacteria’s innate “immune systems” to make precise cuts to genetic material, a user-friendly technique with “considerable potential for gene targeting and genome editing applications,” they wrote.

Several years after her research made headlines but before the birth of the world’s first genetically edited babies in China, Doudna spoke at an event hosted by the Aspen Institute, where biographer Walter Isaacson served as CEO. Isaacson has chronicled the lives and transformative ideas of Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein, and at the time, he says, “I was looking for a way to do what I think is the next great revolution for the next 50 years, which is biotech.” Doudna’s journey, he concluded, was interwoven, much like the strands of the DNA double helix, with these biochemical discoveries and debates.

Doudna and the dawning age of the genome share central billing in Isaacson’s newest book, The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race. Like his previous works, it’s a tale of transformative ideas, but this time, the revolution is playing out in real-time, and the innovative thinker at its heart is a woman.

The book’s full title might seem grandiose, but Isaacson makes a convincing case that the ability to easily alter the genetic code—which Doudna’s research on the gene-editing technique known as CRISPR made possible—really is, and will be, that paradigm-altering. Genetic editing, he explains, has the potential to cure sickle-cell anemia or stave off Huntington’s disease. But where do the lines of acceptable and unacceptable edits get drawn, and what do we do if the ability to guide natural selection veers into arguably more frivolous territory, like selecting a future child’s height? Given the already drastic differences in health outcomes between the privileged and under-resourced, not to mention the potentially high price tag of gene editing, “We could create a gene gap that would get wider with each new generation,” Doudna worries.

To make sense of the intricacies of gene editing, Isaacson starts with some foundational discoveries: how the monk Gregor Mendel’s pea plant breeding revealed heritable traits passed between generations and the academic race to puzzle out the structure of DNA. He guides readers from inhospitable salt ponds in Spain to a yogurt company lab to a Berkeley café where Doudna conferred with a colleague as scientists piece together how bacteria detect and then destroy viral invaders. Then he details how this basic science discovery led to leapfrog advances in genetic engineering, and the medical potential and ethical perils that resulted.

“I wanted to show that discovery is a team sport, and it’s also driven by very persistent, insightful people [like Doudna],” Isaacson says. “So there’s a colorful cast of characters in the book.” Vivid portraits of other scientists—full professors as well as the less-recognized postgrads whose experiments are the day-to-day backbones of labs—are sprinkled throughout the book. We meet Blake Wiedenheft, the outdoorsy Montanan researcher in Doudna’s lab who helps figure out the structure of key enzymes; Josiah Zayner, the piercing-studded biohacker who livestreams genetic experiments in which he’s his own test subject; and Feng Zhang, the affable molecular biologist who is Doudna’s scientific rival. (The Broad Institute, a biomedical and genomic research center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, paid extra to get Zhang’s patent application for CRISPR’s use in human cells fast-tracked, beating out Doudna and Charpentier and launching an ongoing patent war that Isaacson outlines.)

“They’re all wonderful characters, and they all deserve their own biographies, but I wanted to weave it into a narrative of discovery and sort of a detective tale,” Isaacson says.

As the main character, Doudna’s personal life and professional trajectory serve as an entry point into larger questions about science. “Her life story seemed to tie together all of the strands that I wanted to hit,” says Isaacson. Her divorce gets linked to her single-minded dedication to her research; her heated patent fight expands into a reflection on whose scientific contributions get remembered and written out of history; and her nightmare about Hitler asking her to explain how CRISPR works launches a section of the book dedicated to the ethical quandaries gene editing raises. In the wake of this dream, Doudna began to organize policy discussions about what restraints scientists should place on gene-editing experiments in humans.

Isaacson crams The Code Breaker with details cribbed from hours of interviews, court rulings, Slack channel conversations among scientists, footnotes of academic papers, and time spent being a fly-on-the-wall at conferences, all of which lend the page-turning pace of a geeky whodunit to the potentially dry fodder of lab science.

Smithsonian called Isaacson at his home in New Orleans to talk about the new book and biological innovation.

When did you first decide to write this book?

When I heard [Jennifer Doudna] talk about the moral dilemmas of CRISPR, I realized that was going to be something that our generation is going to face, and it would be useful to understand it. And the best way to understand it is to make it a journey of discovery, which means I have a central character, like Doudna, who’s discovering things, and we get to walk alongside her as she makes these discoveries. There’s a joy in discovering how something works, especially when that something is ourselves.

In the book, you argue that biology has become the new tech. How do the digital tech and biotech revolutions differ?

Biotech is something we can all relate to because we all are living organisms. It’s also something that can’t be done in a dorm room or a garage as easily as creating a social network or a personal computer. It’s allowing innovation to happen in many places. In some ways, Kendall Square of Cambridge [home to a plethora of biotech companies] is a new Silicon Valley. Likewise, from Berkeley to Austin, you have main centers of biotech, and it’s more international. We look at the [Covid-19] vaccines. We can see how BioNTech, a German company; Oxford University; and three universities in China are all collaborating internationally, as well as racing to make vaccines.

The last 80 pages of the book are about this cast of characters and how they’re responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. How did the pandemic change this book?

When the coronavirus hit, it naturally became part of the book, because CRISPR is a system that bacteria have used for a billion years to fight virus attacks. So now we could make use of that tool in our own fight against viruses. When I started the book, I thought that biotechnology was incredibly exciting, involving colorful characters doing amazing things. By the time the pandemic hit, I realized I was understating the case. It’s even more important and more relevant to our lives.

At the end of the book, Doudna, Harvard professor George Church and eLife editor Michael Eisen all say that they believe that the pandemic will make science a little bit less proprietary and hidebound in the future. Do you share that optimism?

Yes. I think that it reminded scientists that they were doing their work not simply to get patents but to help humanity. I’m an optimist enough to believe that that’s one of the main motivations of people who pursue science. This was a reminder of how noble that endeavor is. I hope it inspires a new generation to realize that science can be a competitive field, but it’s one in which everybody shares some of the same goals and, in the end, joins hands in ways to protect us from horrible diseases.

I am really excited about DETECTR and SHERLOCK—two at-home systems for CRISPR-powered testing, including for the novel coronavirus, being developed by teams at the Broad and Doudna’s Mammoth Biosciences company.

When Steve Jobs went into his dad’s garage with his friend and created an easy-to-use computer, the Apple II, that you could just plug in and start using, it allowed the digital revolution to come into our homes and become very personal. Even if we didn’t understand how microchips work, we got a feel for their power. This year, that’s going to happen in biology. These home CRISPR-based kits allow us not only to detect whether we’ve been exposed to [the novel] coronavirus, but detect any infection, detect cancers, figure out our microbiome and how it’s doing in our gut, and all sorts of things we’ve never dreamed of. That will not only be a huge leap for human health, it will also bring biology into our houses the way personal computers brought digital technology into our houses.

What does this book say about what it takes to be an innovator?

I think and hope that Jennifer Doudna’s the model. Somebody who is collaborative, who is very persistent and competitive but knows how to bring people together. You don’t have to be a tech bro at a hackathon in order to be a hero in this new age. You can be like Jennifer Doudna, or the many young researchers that I met at these conferences who have a joyful, we’re-all-in-this-together spirit.

#Nature

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barbecuedphoenix · 7 years

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El Police Department AU: Part 2

You people reviewed. :)

So here’s Round 2 of the El Police Department AU. Because it’s not the 18th Century in that world: there’s a good number of ladies rubbing shoulders with the guys in the police force.

And they’re exactly equal in terms of efficiency. >_>

Miiko, the Chief of Police

They’ve been calling her ‘Iron Fox’ well before she started ruling the roost in the El Police Department. Because back when she was still a regular patrol officer, she threw a pimp she was arresting face-first into a sewer grate after he called her ‘a sweet fox of a cop’. The pimp was still wearing the sewer-grate-bar-code on his face when he was finally brought into the station (sans front teeth), and Miiko received a reprimand for using ‘overzealous force’ from the then-chief. She just told her boss that she’ll stop beating the teeth out of scum if they stop complimenting her legs while she’s cuffing them. It happens every time.

That fierce temper and double-immunity to criticism would have kept Miiko to the lower ranks-- chauffeuring weepy drunks in her squad car at odd hours in the morning, and drinking tar-like coffee in the officer’s lounge—if the unthinkable hadn’t happened: the Oracle was destroyed. Within that first nightmarish year after Ashkore’s opening shot, El’s stark-blind police department was whittled down to a sliver as they scrambled to restore order in a city that lost all trust and fear of the law. Her chief was quickly bumped off when his car backed up over a pipe-bomb, followed by the next dozen in the chain of command, until Miiko was the most senior officer left standing. By that point, no one was really willing to take issue with how many groins this classic ‘bad cop’ kicked in over the years. (In fact, that traditional skill might come in handy in the new criminal landscape.)

Nowadays, Miiko only metaphorically aims below the belt. Usually when it’s time to argue against police budget cuts with the city council. (Because do they really expect her people to rebuild the Oracle, and make their trips to their mistress’s apartments less prone to inconvenient car-jacking, with a negative pay raise?) With her own people though, she has a surprising magnanimous streak. She’ll be the first to tell them at a staff meeting if they’re a bunch of slack-jawed morons, but they’re still her slack-jawed morons. So no, she’s not about to fire them, even after this royal screw-up. Just expect a pick-up truck’s worth of paperwork and late night holding-cell duty to make up for it. They will learn to take responsibility for their own actions. And Jamon could use some help scrubbing the tiles clean in the drunk tank.

Much of this tough love protectiveness comes from her little-known weakness for underdogs and those who grew up on the wrong side of the law (and don’t hit on her). About half of the new generation of officers she hired are redeemed troublemakers from various walks of life, while the others are here because… they’re one of the few in the El who still believe in supporting the police department. So how can she afford to turn any of them loose? Even if she’s still waiting for the day that this recruitment policy pays off.

Cameria, the SWAT Lieutenant

Valkyon’s cheery, bighearted right-hand woman in the special response division, who acts as a bona fide big sister to all the recruits who can’t stand up to her punches during spars. And there are a lot of them. But even if their line of sight is still dancing a few inches away from her face, she’ll pick them up from the training mat with a ‘You did great, beautiful’ and take them out for a nice protein-kale smoothie. What? It’ll help them build up more muscle in weeks.

She’s the subject of awe and fear for that peculiar training regimen she invented, in which she straps a massive water drum (full of course; she doesn’t take shortcuts) onto her back and runs up and down the hundred steps in front of the city’s courthouse. Cameria has stopped asking rookies to join her for this exercise though, after the last one fainted halfway up the stairs when she wasn’t looking. And rolled backwards.

This hard-hitting lieutenant is comfortable enough on the field to head into an armed hold-up or a dangerous sting with few, if any, partners. (And if reports can be believed, the SWAT team doesn’t bother carry a battering ram if Cameria is on the field. They haven’t yet found suitable non-steel door that can stand up to the force of her kicks. That water-drum training has its perks.) Also, she seems to bring back an awful lot of guns and contraband every time, liberated from their uncooperative owners ‘for better use in the police department’. She has a very persuasive nature.

Ewelein, the Coroner

A brilliant ex-physician who works alongside Ezarel in the forensics department, analyzing the bodies brought into the lab (in varying stages of ‘completeness’) from a medical standpoint to determine the cause of death. Along with other somewhat-useful nuggets of knowledge on whether they were all-that-innocent in life. (Example: since starting as a liaison in the El Police Department, Ewelein has met an awful lot of people who liked doing weird kinky things in bed when they were alive. Just check the lower-body X-rays in her lab.)

However, Ewelein often reverts back to her trauma surgeon roots to patch up the next careless officer who got themselves shot, whacked over the head with a two-by-four plank, pulled into an advanced training session with Cameria, etc. Some of them are just too damned proud to go to real hospital. (And seem to think that they’ll be fine with a few stitches and painkillers in their pocket.) In fact, half of the morgue at HQ has been converted into as a miniature hospital ward for the still-living. Ewelein leaves helpful labels on the foot of each table—like “Not dead; still healing”-- to keep visiting officers from screaming at seeing their friends lying around in her lab.

Between Ezarel’s eternal-grad-student influence and the type of ‘less lively’ company she receives most hours in the morgue, it’s no surprise that Ewelein has developed a very wry sense of humor and a calm, no-nonsense approach to uncooperative ‘patients’ (living or dead). She still abides by the Hippocratic Oath after all: she’ll do her best to look after them, ease their suffering, and keep the secrets they don’t want to disclose within the walls of her ‘clinic’. And she’ll stand vigil in her lab during lunch with her botanical scrapbook and a mug of coffee, just to make sure Ezarel doesn’t draw dissection lines in marker on the faces and chests of recovering patients. Or switch the labels at the foot of each table. Show some respect, boy.

Karenn, the Cyber-Security Specialist

Nevra’s little sister had a very colorful reputation back in tech academy, before her big brother convinced her to put her ill-gotten hacking skills to good use by catching other hackers. That’s the best way to keep her from ending up in the jailhouse anyway. Think of their family’s reputation! Miiko had barely glanced at her resume before telling her that she was hired. (Though it might have been because right before Karenn’s interview, Ashkore and co. sent the police department another helpful ‘tip-off’ about some compromising photos of a city councilman. That somehow ended up on the city’s tourism website.)

Karenn stands out even among the colorful younger generation of the police force for her sprightly jokes, the number of computer games she plays at her desk (outside of her lunch breaks)… and how she definitely doesn’t wear her uniform right. Even if it’s not Halloween, she continues to wear a Renaissance-era doublet, an ounce’s worth of piercings on both ears, and hair that’s exactly-half magenta. Well, it’s not as if anyone cares what she looks like when she’s sweeping for bugs and stalking criminals in cyberspace. Is there a dress-code for busting people online? Observant colleagues though can guess what Karenn’s real reason is for sticking to civilian clothing: it makes sneaking outside the station and eavesdropping on citizens that much easier. Nevra doesn’t get to have all the fun when doing a case study.

In her off-time, she keeps up an elaborate cross-platform social networking profile under her favorite alias—the notorious Nightingale—to post outlandish news, gossip, and politically-incorrect questions. She always manages to avoid getting tracked by site bots or flamers. And whenever she knows she has a good chance of getting away with it, Karenn pulls together all her internet-ghosting skills to visit the fan-sites dedicated to Ashkore and his group (from different devices and IPO addresses each time). Just for… research into their methods and the mindset of their public cult.

It’s practically sacrilege in their department, but Karenn is in begrudging awe of Ashkore and cohorts. In her mind, for all the ill that was caused by their actions, they are still the most badass hackers she had ever witnessed second-hand. And it’s up to the El Police Department to try to catch them… She’s not fooling herself about their chances.

Enthraa, the Coast Guard Liaison

Not a lot is known about this contact from the coast who generally enjoys keeping to herself. Besides one framed photograph at HQ of a tall, rangy officer on a speedboat—with a mullet and no life-jacket-- holding a wickedly-sharp gaff… which had just scooped up a dripping-wet smuggler who tried unwisely to jump off her boat. Miiko keeps that photo in the foyer just to let visitors know that escape by sea is futile.

Every time a suspect gathering is spotted under the bridge, a message is intercepted about an incoming shipment overwater, or someone disappears conveniently into the river, Enthraa gets a call to keep her eyes out for suspicious activity at the river mouth. Being situated downriver from the city of El means she sees some very interesting flotsam passing by on a regular basis. Proof: she is very practiced with using that gaff.

Though it can be a lonely job out on the coast, where the most face-time she receives each week comes from boarding nervous ships for inspection, Enthraa couldn’t imagine living away from the sea. She still calls the people who move from the coast to the big cities in the interior ‘idiot in-landers’.

Ykhar, the Reporter

An intrepid, super-conscientious young crime journalist who’s still searching for her breakout story… and seems to think she’ll find it by shadowing the El Police Department. She’s bound to succeed one day: the officers in the force don’t have the heart to kick her out every time Ykhar shows up at HQ’s foyer or at a taped-off crime scene with her notepad, tape-recorder, and an out-of-breath smile. Part of it is because a childhood spent reading detective novels has given her a healthy respect for what the officers do. But it’s mostly because she has that wide-eyed, ‘rabbit caught in the headlights’ look every time someone ignores her ‘freedom of the press’ speech and shuts the door in her face. So whenever she arrives, in contrast to other members of the press, interns and off-duty rookies are automatically put on ‘feed/water/stall Ykhar’ duty until one of the senior officers arrives to field her questions.

Though it’s been a few years, Ykhar still carries that ‘fresh out of journalism school’ attitude: from her idealism in broadcasting the truth, how hopefully she smiles at her interview subjects… and how quickly she’ll serve up a ‘journalistic integrity!’ speech if they start eying her tape-recorder suspiciously. (It’s still about 65% effective.) Not to mention her quick fainting spells if her editor tells her that what she printed in her article “…may not be the most accurate statement”. Coworkers at her newspaper have learnt to keep smelling salts nearby every time Ykhar passes out from anxiety.

Alajea, the Witness

A perky, up-and-coming pop singer who moved to El some years ago from a little town on the coast (and always seems ready to burst into song on how glorious big city life is, away from the sea). That level of optimism says plenty about her, because in this glorious big city, she always seems to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, leading to so many visits to the police station as a witness that she’s actually on first-name basis with the officers there. Some are starting to suspect that she’s actually a femme fatale under the ditzy airhead persona, from her suspiciously-regular streak of ‘bad luck’ and the way her stories seem to change every other day. But there’s only circumstantial evidence that she was actually involved in the wrongdoings she witnessed. So far.

In her spare time, Alajea also visits the station just to ogle that dashing head detective Nevra, who learnt within the first day that this is one recurring damsel-in-distress who isn’t worth all the trouble attached. Still, he’s got his eye on her. And not in a good way.

Huang Hua, the Casino Owner

Every city has that one place where you only need to be seen once to become “Someone worth noticing” (with a capital ‘S’). In El, that’s Huang Hua’s House of Fortune: the premiere luxury casino, bar, and after-dark entertainment hotspot. Practically anything is game under Huang Hua’s roof: from every variety of card game imaginable, to Mah Jong, slot machines, Pachinko, roulette, billiards, and even high-stakes shogi that’ll never make you settle for less after you try her version once. And if you stay late enough (and are blessed with extraordinary luck), you might just meet the great madam herself: sweeping in with her scarlet, phoenix-crested qi pao with a traffic-stopping keyhole and thigh-slit, flashing you that million-dollar smile as she sits down at your table and asks for a game. You better not refuse her. And when you lose, accept your defeat gracefully and beg for the privilege of her company in the future. She might just deign to give you a seat at her side for the midnight burlesque show upstairs, VIP only. And yes… there you’ll find women, men, and everything else that can surprise your soul. ;)

Every entertainment magazine in El has it right when they say Huang Hua is the life of the party, and her House of Fortune your last earthly stop before paradise (or purgatory, depending on your moral persuasion). And she’ll do anything and everything to make sure it stays that way. There are no other gambling dens, bars, or strip-clubs within thirty miles of Huang Hua’s casino. And police-chief Miiko is already a regular guest and drinking partner in her private lounge (sometimes accompanied by that delicious-looking SWAT captain of hers, whenever the chief is trying to negotiate for a little less trouble on that side of town. Huang Hua always scores a date with poor, unsmiling Valkyon in exchange.)

The only things guaranteed to make that winning, diamond-edged smile vanish: 1.) if you try asking about her real age. 2.) if you try to cheat in her casino. Very little escapes this madam, and before you know it, you’ll suddenly find yourself surrounded on four sides by her team of elite Shaolin-trained bodyguards. One of whom will sarcastically tell you to kindly step outside, if you want to avoid further embarrassment.

Sadly, the cop-AU fun stops here. (At least until the Eldarya team introduces more characters who can fit into the noir genre.)

Though if you’re interested in reading the first, testosterone-pumped part of the cop-AU, check it out here!

As always, read, enjoy (hopefully), and review. My inbox is always hungry for feedback. :)

#headcanon #Eldarya #Alajea #Cameria #Enthraa #Ewelein #Huang Hua #Karenn #Miiko #Ykhar

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