Hope This Works For Me!

I can imagine Penelope writing this for Hotch after the “you’re a narcissist” and all the other criticisms Hotch heard during the Tobias Henkel arc.

The text reads as follows:

To my brilliant and beloved Bossman, I think you are the best!

However, if you feel the need to attain complete perfection, you should start by taking better care of yourself! Also, you seem to have confused work less and smile more, as you tend to do the opposite-oops! I realise this is hard for you, but I believe you can fix it 🙂!  I will love you and leave you with two quotes:

“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum” *

and “ No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent” ( E. Roosevelt).

Your devoted technical analyst, Penelope ❤️   * in case your Latin has failed you: Don’t let the b-words ground you down!

Emily Prentiss PSOLC, pre-party for themetaphorgirl

1. Red ( pretty much any shade)

2. Forest green

3. Mustard yellow

4. Teal

5. Purple ( pretty much any shade) 

top five colors

ask me my top five of anything!

pastel grey

duck egg blue

sage green

pastel yellow

lilac

Just a little ( well, quite big, really!) piece I wrote as I wanted more to this episode.

Missing Scenes from Sophomore Jinx

Just after Maureen sneaks down to help with dinner prep

« Lizzie, honey, can you go get Maureen for dinner, please? » Elliot asked his youngest child, as Kathy began dishing up the steak and fries they were having.

« I can do it, Dad! », Kathleen volunteered, as Lizzie scampered upstairs.

« Sweetheart, if I wanted to call Maureen down by standing at the bottom of the stairs, I’d do it myself. » Elliot replied, musing that Lizzie was the only member of the family that Maureen was currently speaking to and therefore the one with the highest chance of getting her to come down for dinner.

« Come on, Maureen, it’s steak and fries! If you don’t hurry Daddy will steal your fries! » Lizzie pleaded, knowing full well that Maureen always complained when their dad did that.

« OK, fine, I’m coming » Maureen grumbled.

« How about you sit next to Daddy for meals now? » Maureen suggested as they made their way downstairs to the kitchen, knowing that her place at the table was sought after, nay, coveted, by all her siblings, and when she agreed to swap with them, it was a big deal. 

« Yeah, Mo! Thank you! But does that mean you don’t love Daddy anymore? «  Lizzie questioned, eyes wide with surprise at her good fortune, but her tone was worried, as the tension between her big sister and their father was palpable.

«  He’s just being a total douch… uh, dope! » she corrected herself, not wanting to get in even more trouble for using «  bad language » in front of her younger siblings. And was it really bad language is it was the truth, she mused.

When she and Lizzie reached the table, Maureen grabbed her plate and  her sister’s, swapping them around before either of her parents could scold her. She banged her plate down loudly and proceeded to keep her eyes on it as much as possible throughout the meal. 

« Lizzie, please ask the man sitting next to you for the salt » she asked, stabbing her fork into her steak as if she were trying to kill the cow it came from. 

« Maureen… » Elliot began, before falling back into silence as Kathy reached over and put her hand on his arm, shooting him a look.

« Here, honey » he continued, handing the salt cellar to the daughter sitting next to him.

« Thank you, Daddy », she replied, before handing it to her eldest sibling.

Dickie and Kathleen glanced at each other, both equally  as uncomfortable with the unusual quietness that had descended upon mealtimes a few days ago.

As soon as Maureen had finished her bowl of chocolate mousse, she got up from the table with her glass, bowl and spoon, pulled open the dishwasher violently, slammed everything in so it clattered loudly against all the other utensils and plates that were in there. She then pushed the door shut with a crash, and stomped all the way upstairs.

There were a few seconds of respite, before her bedroom door banged shut loudly. 

Elliot sighed and met his wife’s gaze again. He knew he’d come down too hard on his daughter, but backing down now would just give her free rein to do whatever she wanted and get into who-knows-what kind of trouble. If only he’d taken 5 minutes to talk to her when he’d caught her sneaking out… 

Later that evening

« I’ll take the other three to school tomorrow, El. Maybe if you’re in an enclosed space together you’ll be able to talk to Maureen » Kathy said, rubbing cream into her hands.

« OK, I’ll try anything at this point, baby. Am I really so much of an ogre that she can’t talk to me? » Elliot sighed, slumping down on their bed.

« Elliot, honey, you’re a cop and she’s a teenager who is growing up and pushing you off the pedestal she’s had you on. You’re not an ogre, but she’s extremely stubborn… Can’t think who she gets that from » Kathy responded, trying to reassure her worried husband.

« Hmm, yeah, me neither, only 3 out of 4 of our kids are… » Elliot mused.

The next morning.

« Maureen! Breakfast! Now! » Kathleen yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

About 30 seconds later, Maureen stomped down the stairs, flung her school bag into the hallway next to the coat and shoe closet and entered the kitchen.

She grabbed her glass from the table, made her way to the fridge to pour herself a glass of juice, which she downed, before putting her glass in the sink. She also took out a yoghurt, which she placed on the table before sitting in what used to be Lizzie’s seat. She grabbed a banana and glowered at the other 5 people who were also eating their breakfast.

« OK, Kathleen, Dickie and Lizzie, we’re going in 10 minutes. That means teeth and hair brushed, coats and shoes on and bags and lunches properly packed, ready to go, alright? » Kathy declared.

A chorus of agreement from the children she had addressed echoed around the table.

« Wait a minute, Mom! What about me? » Maureen exclaimed, mouth and eyes opening widely.

« I have an errand to run after dropping your siblings off at school, so your dad’s taking you » Kathy explained.

Maureen’s eyes narrowed, her free hand formed a fist and she banged it on the table.

« Mom! No! You can take me too, or I can get the subway. I’d rather walk! » she said, frowning deeply and a look that could kill in her eyes.

« Maureen, the high school is in completely the opposite direction to school and the bank, but it’s on the way to the precinct. Your dad’s taking you and that’s the end of this discussion » Kathy replied, trying her best to keep her tone calm and even.

« Fine! » Maureen humphed, shooting daggers with her glare at her mother.Several minutes later, Maureen tidied up after herself, then made her way upstairs to clean her teeth and check her hair and makeup.

When she came back down, she called out « I’m ready! », grabbed the car keys off the hook in the hallway that was marked with a D, picked up her bag and went to sit in the passenger seat of her dad’s car. She would normally have tossed the keys to her dad, and they would have made their way outside together. 

Once she’d got her seatbelt on, her father emerged from the house, holding his briefcase, sunglasses on his nose and house keys in his other hand.

He deftly locked the front door and got into the driver’s seat. As he put on his seatbelt, he glanced at his daughter.

She swiftly turned her head, finding the view out of her window suddenly fascinating.

This would normally be a special father-daughter moment, with Maureen choosing the music and them either both singing along (well, more Maureen teaching him the lyrics, occasionally letting out a « Daddy! Those aren’t the right words! » if it was a song currently in the charts. Or they would just chat, usually teasing each other affectionately. 

The radio remained untouched, and the silence between them was deafening. 

The journey to Maureen’s school seemed to take an eternity, though all the lights were green, which put paid to his plan to try to initiate conversation when the car was not in motion.

When they pulled up to school and she got out of the car without even saying goodbye or even looking at him, Elliot decided he had to take action.

« Maureen! Wait a minute! » he called out.

She stopped in her tracks and looked at him, annoyance written across her face and the look in her eyes as cold and hard as ice.

At the precinct

« Yeah, we’re OK now, baby. I think we covered all the bases of a reconciliation as she said sorry, I told her I loved her, we hugged and had a proper goodbye, so I call that a success. Kathleen has swimming tonight, right? And Dickie’s been really keen to go to that indoor play area with the climbing wall and ball pit. I know I said I’d take him at the weekend, but could you take him and Lizzie there? I’ve missed hanging out with Maureen, I think we could do with a bit of uninterrupted bonding time… We can pick up dinner if we head out somewhere, if that helps? » Elliot said, well aware that this was a big but necessary ask.

« Yeah, sure, El. Lizzie’s got a playdate, so that’s perfect. Maybe Dickie will actually burn off some of his energy and we’ll have a quiet dinner, hmm? » his wife replied.

« Well, miracles can happen! See you at 6 at home, then? And thanks, baby! » Elliot answered, looking forward to having some quality time with his eldest child.

 They exchanged I love yous and hung up.

Outside Maureen’s high school 

The final bell of the day rang out, and, seconds later, a tsunami of chattering students spilled out of the building, flooding the steps and the area in front of the entrance. Elliot stood a little taller next to his car, seeking out his daughter’s golden hair and bright, tinkling laugh. She emerged, arm-in-arm with her two best friends, Hannah and Sophie. They were giggling about something. Hannah looked over in his direction, nudged his daughter, pointed to where he was standing and asked her something. Her face clouded with worry, wiping the smile from her face and dulling the joyous sparkle in her eyes. She exchanged a few words and quick hugs with her friends before dashing over to him.

« Daddy! Hi! Is everyone OK? » she gasped, slightly winded from her sprint.

« Yeah, everyone and everything are fine, honey. I didn’t mean to scare you, sorry. » Elliot explained, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. She squeezed him around his middle and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

He smoothed her hair and cupped her face with his hands, just like he had that morning.

« Everyone else is out until dinner time, so how about we do something together? We could even go to the mall if you want! » he told his daughter.

« But Daddy, you hate the mall! You call it a bottomless money pit! And anyway, it’s a school night and I have a ton of homework, so can we just go home, please? » Maureen replied, flashing her father a happy smile.

« As you wish », Elliot declared, opening the passenger side door for his daughter.

She grinned at the quote from one of her favourite movies and got into the vehicle.

Elliot got into the driver’s side and they headed home.

At the Stabler residence.

« Thanks Dad! » Maureen said, as Elliot handed her a plate of apple slices spread with peanut butter and a handful of crackers. She placed the dish next to her glass of chocolate milk and returned her attention to her Latin homework.

Her father finished preparing his coffee and came to sit at the table opposite his daughter and her gigantic pile of books, papers and pens. She certainly hadn’t lied when she’d told him she had a lot of homework, but then again, she was the one who had pushed to be able to take as many AP classes as she could. 

« Ugh! Why did I choose to take Latin as well as French and Spanish? All the languages are getting mixed up in my brain! » she muttered, mostly to herself. 

« Want some help, honey? » Elliot asked, frowning slightly at his daughter who put so much unnecessary pressure on herself to do everything perfectly and for whom a B+ was a disappointing grade. That was all Kathy, she had definitely been the better student between the two of them. If only she could transfer some of it to Kathleen, who was content to do the bare minimum and just scrape a C.

Maureen nodded and handed him her Latin flashcards.

« OK, the verb to love in the present tense. You’ve got this, sweetheart » he said, gently encouraging his daughter. 

Maureen took a deep breath, then looked at him blankly.

She shook her head in despair. 

« Want a clue? » Elliot offered.

« Yeah, thanks » Maureen replied.

« Who are you? » he asked.

« If I am an El, you are a… »

« Amo, right? » Maureen giggled in spite of herself.

She thought for a second, recalling the verb that she had committed to memory perfectly days before.

« Then it’s amas, amat… » she continued, making the shape of a church with her fingers for the first one and pointing at the rug in the hallway for the second.

She finished conjugating the verb perfectly then moved on to her Spanish vocabulary.

She teasingly corrected Elliot’s terrible accent, which was completely justified, in his opinion.

Once she had finished, she read through her English essay. It was only a second  rough draft, and it wasn’t due for another couple of weeks, but she wanted to get it underway.

Once she was satisfied with her work, she neatly put all her things away in her bag, which she placed in the hallway.

Then she turned her attention to the kitchen counter and her father, who had started preparing dinner. Elliot silently handed her a red bell pepper with a smile, and she busied herself finding a chopping board and a knife before joining him in the cutting up of vegetables for the pasta sauce they were going to be eating.

They chatted aimiably, Maureen giving him some of the gossip from school, how the football team were doing, explaining why she never wanted to be a cheerleader, that she wanted to do more actual writing for the newspaper, as how was she ever going to be a journalist if she never got any writing experience? 

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. 

« Keep an eye on the pasta, please, Mo? » Elliot asked, as he made his way to the front door. 

If he were a betting man, he would put money on it being his second eldest daughter, who was seemingly trying to not only beat the Olympic record for her butterfly, but also for the number of times house keys were forgotten.

He checked the peep-hole, his suspicions confirmed and opened the door to Kathleen. Mrs Simmons, her friend Ashley’s mom, honked her horn and waved at him from her car, before driving off.

« Kathleen! You know the point of having house keys is that you take them with you, right? » he remonstrated.

She dumped her backpack and her sports bag in the middle of the hall and sighed dramatically.

« Sorry, Daddy, I’ll remember them tomorrow, I promise! » she replied, turning as if to go upstairs.

« Uh-huh, that’s what you told me twice last week and yesterday, honey? One of these days, you’re gonna come home and no-one will be in. What are you gonna do if you don’t have your keys, huh? » he reproached her. 

«  Go to the neighbours’, stay with Ashley and her mom til someone comes home, go see if Mom’s taken Dickie and Lizzie to the park… Or yeah, I could just remember my keys! » she declared, taking note on the disapproving look on her father’s face.

He ceremoniously handed her the keys hanging on the hook marked with a K, jangling the big metal K, the Jets logo and a chunk of moonstone on a chain that were attached to the keychain.

As she rose after crouching down to put the offending item in her school bag, 

Elliot cupped her face gently.

« Let’s try this again, OK? » , he announced.

« Hi, honey », he continued, before kissing her forehead.

« Hi Daddy », she replied, before launching into a recap of her swimming training where the coach had praised her improved technique in butterfly, which she had practised on Saturday morning when they had gone to the pool for their one-on-one Daddy-daughter quality time. 

Elliot grinned at her, gave her a thumbs up and a high-five, before sending her upstairs to shower ( and hopefully put her swimming stuff away, but that was almost certainly wishful thinking on his part).

He returned to the kitchen and resumed his culinary tasks.

Maureen had set the table, and everything was on the stove, where it could be kept warm until everyone was back and ready to eat.

Kathleen arrived from upstairs, hair damp and wearing her checked blue pyjamas. 

She curled up on the couch, and as she picked up the remote, Elliot asked her if her homework was done. She replied in the negative, whining that  all she had to do was reading for tomorrow.

« Well then, Kathleen, I think you can guess what your options are? »  he replied.

He could practically hear his daughter’s eye-roll from across the room. 

«  Ugh, yeah, do the reading or help with dinner. Fine, I’ll do the reading! » she declared, making a big show of getting up and retrieving the novel from her backpack. She theatrically collapsed into the couch and began her assignment. 

The sound of the front door opening was followed by a rush of fast footsteps and an exuberant shout  of « Daddy! » that could only come from his little boy.

He turned the handle of the pan that was full of bubbling pasta sauce just in time to avoid it going all over his son, who he picked up to hug.

Of course Dickie hadn’t taken his coat or shoes off before greeting him. 

His little boy was chattering about how he had « the best day ever, Daddy! » because he’d climbed right up to the top of the climbing wall, had jumped higher than a kangaroo into the ball pit and had run so so fast in the race he’d taken part in at recess. Elliot carried him back to the hallway so he could take off his outerwear and put it away correctly, like his youngest and his wife were doing. Dickie had been peppering his mostly one-sided conversation with kisses to his father’s cheeks. Elliot returned the gesture, before placing him on the floor with precise instructions on what the next steps were. 

Lizzie hugged his legs and he bent to kiss her hair with a « Hi, pumpkin. Good day at the office? » which made her giggle. She nodded and made her way to the living area to do some reading, colouring or quiet playing until dinner time. Dickie followed behind, pretending to be a dinosaur.

He  finally greeted his wife with a kiss.

« Lizzie and her friend, Charlotte,  ended up coming to the soft play too » she explained.

« I’ll let you guess which one of our children did their homework quietly then sat and drew pictures or played in the pretend kitchen area and which one decided they will be retiring at the end of first grade and wanted to show everyone their pterodactyl impression » she continued, as she and her husband made their way into the family room.

Kathleen and Maureen were bickering, Dickie was running around, squawking loudly and Lizzie was carefully placing her rabbit family of Calico Critters in their tastefully decorated home. 

It was noisy, chaotic but full of love and laughter, and Elliot just loved it. He was looking forward to have Maureen back in her usual seat at the table and to hear her talking to everyone again. 

Maureen and her dad

Don't you understand? You're innocent, but the world, it's what I see day in, day out. You want to sneak out in the middle of the night, have a little fun with your friends. I end up picking up your body parts in the middle of Jersey.

SVU 1x06 Sophomore Jinx

Oh my gosh, you know what never gets mentioned? How the "narcissist, bully, drill sargent" scene included Garcia - who didn't say DICK. which can be viewed three ways. 1) she's not around Hotch enough to be able to judge (bullshit) 2) she's too scared to say anything (also bullshit) or 3) She can't find anything worth critiquing. (Ding ding ding). I like to imagine she would have wanted to say "You work too much" or "You should smile more" but she didn't think it was the time to say so.

1) She fields his calls all the time. By now the two of them at least have rapport. They’re friends in some way. She jokes with him and, hell, he jokes back!

2) Penelope Garcia... afraid to speak her mind? To Hotch of all people? Nah. That’s silly.

3) ... She can’t find anything worth critiquing.

“If they can’t fix it in less than five minutes, don’t say anything about it.”

And you know what? She likes him just the way he is. She doesn’t see the point of this silly meanness. That’s probably why Hotch leads them to another room.

It’s why she follows him.

“Sir?”

He’s just standing there. The harm done. The case... cracked? It takes him a moment to acknowledge her but when he does she sees the tears in his eyes. He can’t take this. He can’t take her adding on.

“I—ugh— I think you should smile more.”

He shakes his head, trying and failing to understand.

“That’s my— my... contribution. Cause you’re not a bully or a narcissist. They know that.”

He swallows thickly around the tight knot in his throat. “Thank you,” he rasps, ducking his head. Hiding his red-rimmed eyes.

“Anytime, sir.”

I used to be mad about "whole language" reading approaches in theory but now I work with school-age kids and I am mad about it in practice.

Thoughts on Season 17 of SVU

What an opening episode! My hate for Dr Yates is immense, it has no limit! He must have been investigated when Stabler was still there, somewhere between Season 5 and 8, as it was apparently 10 years ago. However I can find zero episodes that feature him during that time frame! 

Yates is so creepy, so calm and so sleazy! 

Carisi is an excellent cop, he works really hard, has excellent instincts, takes instruction/feedback well and takes initiative when appropriate. He also sometimes spots things that his colleagues have missed or has a novel way of approaching the case/victim/suspect.

He is always actively observing how his colleagues handle situations ( victims, suspects, the big cheeses in charge…) and everything that’s going on in the courtroom. He’s obviously really into his legal studies as he’s accompanying Barba when he’s dealing with that side of things.

In a few years ( I stopped watching when S 12 finished), everyone seems much more accepting/open-minded and mindful of the language they use regarding trans females/males ( currently on episode 2 with the trans teen girl) and sex workers/drag queens… Some of the language used by the team in the first few seasons is really shocking, and some of them are really judgemental ( yes, Stabler, I’m looking at you!) when it comes to mental health and sex/gender issues. 

The tech is also much improved, as the earlier seasons were all about the dangers of this new-fangled internet and Stabler didn’t even have a cell phone until quite late. 

Wish Fin had taken the sergeant’s exam, would have meant no nepotism from William Dodds and his spy of a son taking on the job. I haven’t met him yet but hate him on principle! 

 I remember how annoyed Fin was that Munch took and passed the sergeant’s exam behind everyone’s back, possibly on a dare/because he lost a bet, so nice callback/continuity there. 

Lots of big names in supporting/guest roles: Sean Robert Leonard and Whoopi Goldberg that I can name, but lots of faces that are familiar to me. 

The pronunciation of some names in French is still appalling!

In the overworked social workers episode, the dubbers made Keisha/Keysha sound like Petit Chat ( Little Cat, which is used a lot as a term of endearment from French parents towards their little kids) and Keith sounds like a cross between Kiss and Keys ( the “th” sound is notoriously difficult for French people to master).

Just watching the baby shower episode and snorted at Fin’s comment about not having any idea how Mike Dodds got the sergeant’s job. He always seems to say what everyone else is thinking but doesn’t dare to say.

So far, Dodds seems competent and not too annoying, so that’s good. His dad however really got my heckles up by telling Olivia how to organise her team and do her job. 

Really not fans of Amanda’s mum and sister, they are walking disasters.

Was also disappointed by Carisi’s gift to Amanda for the baby shower. A wipe warmer is just so impersonal even though it is practical and recommended by his sister. I feel a bit cheated as we haven’t seen Carisi being awesome with his niece, or at least mentioning her from time to time. 

Criminal Minds Season 15

For a final Season of only 10 eps, there was a lot packed in to it.

It was cool to see all the flashbacks to earlier seasons, when the cast were so much younger and all their family moments through the years, though they missed out the cooking session at Rossi’s from Season 9, I think it is.

The dénouement involving The Chameleon was pretty epic, it was really interesting to see it all play out. The Reaper still has the most intense/thrilling arc though, and Season 4 is probably one of my favourite Seasons not only of the show, but of TV in general. Seeing Penelope and Diana bond was very sweet, and Reid is definitely right to call them the smartest people he knows, and Penelope’s brain, heart and guts analogy was spot-on ( she is the emotional intelligence or heart, she goes by her gut instinct a lot and Diana is knowledge/learning represented by the brain).

Everyone’s speeches to/about Penelope made me tear up, and I sobbed at the end. She is honestly one of my favourite fictional characters ever, and having her have the last scene just made it so much more special to me! 

This story is just so so good! I cannot wait to see how it plays out!

Memento Vivere - Chapter Twelve

an SVU story

TW: n/a

Chapter Summary: Olivia talks to Elliot.

Read on FFN

or Ao3

Fic hunting

Hi,

Does anyone have any links to fics about Law and Order Organized Crime, which follow the feelings/thoughts/relationship between Eli and Elliot after the end of the latest episode?

Or just fics that explore their relationship throughout the series. I’d love to know what Eli’s motivations were for joining the police force, as, since S1, he has been annoyed/upset by his dad always having to leave for work or answer the phone during family events, not seeing him for weeks on end when he is undercover and really not seeming to understand just how much danger his dad is in when he is on the job.

I actually think S1 Eli ( aged about 15-ish) was more patient/understanding about his dad’s job than he was at the end of S4! Also seeing Elliot’s thought process/feelings about the whole thing would be interesting, as he loves his son and wants to support him but does,’t want him to get injured ( or worse) and I think he was pretty hurt that Eli didn’t confide in him about dropping out of college, expecting a baby and signing up to the police force.

There must be some fics out there, I just haven’t found them yet!