#hating on everything and everyone on that show that isn't ten or rose

[claratwelve]

damn tenrose shippers on twitter are miserable

[moonlitlex]

ok. final thoughts on doctor who season 14 (2024) (because maybe if i say all of this i will finally stop thinking about how much i hate this season)

short version: i'm this season's biggest hater. if this season has a million haters im one of them. if this season has 1000 haters i'm still one of them. if this season has one hater it's me. if this season has no haters it means i have left this world. if the world is against this season i am with the world

long & nuanced version (under the cut)

i'm just really, really, really disappointed. i've always said that good writing can redeem any project, and it kind of feels like they just took it in the exact opposite direction this time. there's so much that went wrong and like 99% of it is down to the writing. i did a rant on my youtube channel (which i'm not gonna link here because i want to keep these accounts separate) and it was like an hour long so i'm not gonna go into detail but i'll just go over my main issues with this season

fifteen lacks depth. i think he's a very generic doctor lacking his own eccentricities. after the first season the doctor usually has quite a distinct personality, but i don't think we got that with fifteen. just compare the kind of characterization fifteen has at this point to like... eleven in his first season. he was a lot more fleshed out. we got to see multiple facets of his personality. it seems like they tried this with fifteen but everything we got to see ended up being really surface level. the susan thing just kind of happens. the rogue thing just kind of happens. he faces racism and he's just kind of incredulous and then the episode ends. it's not explored. the show just moves on to the next thing and we don't get to see how he deals with it.

ruby lacks depth. similarly, i think ruby is a very generic companion. she's a young woman from present day london which isn't in and of itself a bad thing but it's not backed up by much. like, what do we actually know about ruby? she's adopted? she was left on a church doorstep by her biomom? she loves her mom but is still disappointed she can't find her bio parents? these are all plot relevant things. what do we know about her outside of the stuff that is necessary for the plot? job? friends? life before the doctor? there are a few tiny glimpses, but not enough to make her a developed character.

fifteen and ruby's relationship is boring. they never fight. they never disagree. they never argue. they're never angry with each other. they never challenge each other on anything. they're shown to have this amazing best-friend rapport but it's never developed or fleshed out. it just kind of happens. one second they're meeting and the next second they're bffs who never disagree about anything and are always on the same page. it's just not an interesting dynamic.

i found ten and donna to be a very compelling dynamic but that's because they actually have a real friendship and have to deal with conflict and challenges and disagreements. times when the doctor and companion challenge each other are interesting. this is a feature of some really beloved doctor who stories for a reason. dalek wouldn't be so well loved if rose just agreed with nine the entire time. the conflict makes the story more compelling. meanwhile ruby can't even muster an ounce of discontentment with fifteen for the entire season.

season finale payoffs were not compelling and are in my opinion a result of prioritizing shock and surprise and social media buzz at time of release over telling an interesting story.

sutekh is not automatically a compelling villain and the way that arc is written is so... bland. he appears and kills everyone and the next episode they just hit the reset button. fine, doctor who has done this before, but there was interesting character writing back then to distract you from the baffling story decisions.

the season 3 finale had flying jesus ten but it also had interesting character dynamics. this one had sutekh defeated in the most confusing way possible (if he got his power from the time vortex why is it killing him now....) but there's barely anything going on in the character department. it's rtd so i expected hamfisted deus ex machinas, but i didn't expect the lack of care on the character front.

the susan thing was just... it came out of nowhere, didn't really make much sense, and then it immediately disappeared. the doctor thinking it's his susan was just confusing for me and it didn't land. like why would susan.... do that? why would she be basically following him around the universe by weaving herself into the scenery everywhere he landed? this is never even addressed. they just get the tardis anagram and he immediately jumps to it being his susan and you're not really sure why he's so convinced and it's never really explained.

ruby's mom being a normal woman literally just doesn't make any sense. it's never explained. "we thought she was really important" doesn't just do all the inexplicable things. why and how is ruby able to make it snow if her mom is just a normal person? why does the song in his soul scare maestro so much? why is sutekh of all people unable to figure out who her mother is? the reveal is played as a criticism of the audience for building up ruby's mom to be this huge mystery, but it wasn't the audience doing this - it was the writers. these are the clues they laid out and they're never explained. "doctor who is more fantastical now" also doesn't make any sense. fantasy has rules too. you can't just do whatever you want. the world still has to be internally consistent. the reveal by itself is a nice moment but it's just disappointing that they decided to laugh at the audience for taking their show seriously.

i've seen a lot of people compare ruby's mom thing with clara's impossible girl thing. i would like to point out 2 differences that make clara's impossible girl arc superior. first - clara's impossible girl arc never tries to weasel its way out of the mystery. the point is that who clara is is more important than the mystery surrounding her. ruby's mom mystery tries to erase the mystery entirely. second - clara's impossible girl arc is resolved the way it is because of clara. clara is a person who takes an action because of who she is. it shows courage and selflessness and care for her friend. ruby's mom mystery is solved by ruby and the doctor finding a database where they can match ruby's dna to her mom's. it doesn't say anything about her character. her character is irrelevant to the resolution.

i've also seen it compared to the hybrid thing from season 9, but with the hybrid there was never anything unexplainable happening in the first place so "it was just the characters obsessing about it all along" makes sense because it literally is just the characters bringing up the hybrid all the time.

the individual episodes are not... good. here are my opinions on each of them

church on ruby road - ok introduction, weird pacing, the goblin song was just tonally off compared to the rest of the episode

space babies - genuinely makes the doctor seem like a sadistic asshole at times like he keeps laughing at the literal babies for being scared of the monster and this is played for laughs (???), boogeyman reveal thing literally came out of nowhere there was no setup and it made no sense and was never really explained, a lot of tonal whiplash in this episode, poor exposition choices at the start

devils chord - maestro was a fun performance but nothing else about this episode is interesting, there are no beatles, the 4th wall breaks are tonally inconsistent with the rest of the season

boom - ruby gets sidelined but making ncuti act without being able to move any of his body slaps as a concept and while it was too on the nose, the thematic messaging aspects of this episode are coherent and don't talk down to the audience, some side characters get to be relevant to the story and moderately developed (mundy, splice, the dad), splice's actor was far too old to be delivering those lines and it didn't land well, the dad ai defeating the ambulance ai was a bit too much but was in line with the power of love and faith theme so i'm conflicted on how i feel about that

73 yards - did nothing right. there are a few minutes of good welsh folk horror at the start before that aspect of the story is undermined by those people in the pub. ruby gets no character development. the horror atmosphere is abandoned at the start and the horror concept is abandoned entirely partway through the story in favour of the political stuff with roger ap gwilliam, which is kind of resolved in a really anticlimactic scene which doesn't matter anyway because everything just gets undone at the end of the episode. there are no answers.

it's not a good horror story because 90% of it isn't horror. it's not a good political drama because nothing happens. it's not a good character study because we don't get to know anything about ruby's character. i genuinely think rtd has forgotten the kind of stuff he's written because he called this the best thing he's ever written and it's literally not even in the top 10 doctor who episodes he's ever written. like midnight is right there. the waters of mars is RIGHT THERE. this episode is all setup and no payoff.

also - i might just be autistic, but the "can i pay with my phone" joke doesn't land because not everyone can actually accept digital payments yet! it's like... an extremely normal question to ask. i literally ask all the time unless i see an "apple pay accepted" sign because sometimes the answer is "no, we only take cash or card". i know it was supposed to be something about how ruby thinks she's in the past or welsh people getting wrongly stereotyped for being backward but maybe rtd should've come up with a line that would actually be offensive and not just a completely normal thing to ask in 2024.

dot and bubble - this is probably my most controversial take. i hate this episode. i think it's a poorly written bad episode. and furthermore i think only people who are disconnected from all discussion around racism think it's got genuinely good commentary. for MOST of this episode, it's a "kids be on they damn phones" thing. like, genuinely. lindy can't even WALK without her phone. there's nothing in the episode to tip us as the audience off to the idea that the dots hate them because they're racist. everything in the episode is pointing at "the dots hate them because they're stupid as fuck because they're always on that damn phone".

lindy at first seems like a flawed but sympathetic character, and this could genuinely have worked with the racism commentary. if it's about them being racist cause they're sooooooo fucking stupid, maybe don't have lindy be an irredeemable extremely racist character who kills someone. maybe she's repeating all the rhetoric she's heard her entire life without ever thinking about it. maybe trying to convince her racist friends to give the doctor a chance gets her socially isolated. maybe it's about echo chambers and social bubbles. maybe lindy as an individual has no malicious intent either way but she still behaves in a racist way and still ends up siding with the racists because they're her friends and she wants to fit in and be part of the in group and trying to not be racist because the doctor seemed kinda nice got her socially ostracized so she perpetuates racism regardless. but none of this is what happens. this is a reading you can get out of it if you're really dedicated to reading into a story written by a guy who doesn't give a shit about racism.

lindy and all her friends are stupid and bad and racist and the doctor is still desperate to save them for some fucking reason and he doesn't even get to SAY anything to them, he just laughs incredulously and that's his entire reaction. the commentary in this episode is baby's first lesson on racism. it's a message of "racism is bad and stupid" tacked onto an episode with a message of "being on your phone is bad and stupid".

it's shallow. it has nothing to say. it's very clearly a story about racism written by a white man who has never had to even think about racism. the entire writer's room for this season was white as well. rtd didn't even think he should maybe consider giving the racism episode to a black writer. he just wrote a full episode where the message is "racism is bad you guys" and patted himself on the back for his social commentary. i think it's embarrassing that people praise this episode for opening their eyes to racism in the real world and helping them understand it better. literally all that tells me is they've been closing their eyes and covering their ears every time a person of colour talks about racism. like black fans have literally been talking about racism in doctor who for decades and clearly none of you listened to any of them because you're here watching an episode with an "omg racism is bad guys" message going "wow, i never though about it like that!" that's because you're an asshole.

"wow i didn't even notice that everyone in this episode is white!" that's because that's not out of the ordinary for doctor who. or for television in general. this isn't revolutionary commentary. it's an indictment of the season 14 writer's room that they thought they could write this episode without even taking a look around their own writer's room and thinking "huh, everyone here is white too. maybe we should try to change that." this show has been predominantly white for MOST of its history. i'm a huge critic of the chibnall era but at least that guy hired poc to write for the show. at least the bad racism commentary in rosa (which was, to remind you, "the future racist is wrong. racism is bad. also the entire civil rights movement was basically a happy accident") was written by a black woman. at least the weird british empire glorifying shit in the partition episode was written by an indian man (to be clear, stuff written by poc also deserves to be criticized. my point is just that at least chibnall had the basic common sense to hire people who knew more than him to write these stories). rtd didn't even consider this. not even a cowriter.

it's just embarrassing to watch white fans falling over themselves analyzing how this episode is soooo deep when it's simply not. racism isn't silly goofy stupid. it's dangerous. it gets people killed every day. it's even more ridiculous that the racism is addressed in the future episode but not anywhere else! fifteen goes to 60s england and... nothing. he goes to 1800s england and nothing. sure, future people are racist. whatever. are we seriously sanitizing the real, actual, real life racist past of britain? and then patting ourselves on the back for it? and ricky september being considered not racist? like, reading a book doesn't suddenly make you not racist. racist people aren't necessarily idiots. plenty of highly educated people are racist. making ricky explicitly racist while also a clearly smart character would have added nuance to this episode, but rtd didn't do that. watching a black man beg and plead with rich racist white kids to please let him save their lives is just... ridiculous.

there are countless (and i do mean countless) works by actual people of colour that discuss racism in a far more nuanced way. that go beyond "racism is bad and racist people are stupid". there are specifically black british shows you can watch that actually address racism and have real commentary on it outside of what you would expect a toddler who has just learnt about prejudice to say. shows that aren't about coddling while people. watch shows made by and for people who aren't white. read books written by and for people who aren't white. and don't just watch and read this stuff to "educate yourself" on other people's experiences. watch it because it's art. because it's entertaining or funny or interesting or dramatic, just like stories that are about white people are allowed to be. and stop praising an episode with a racism is bad message for being good racism commentary. seriously. we already know racism is bad. this is embarrassing for you.

dot and bubble was a "kids be on they damn phones episode" with "racism is so bad guys" tacked onto it and white fans fell over themselves explaining how it opened their eyes and it was so deep and meaningful and powerful and it was none of those things. it was bland and shallow and honestly really boring they spend WAY too long hitting us over the head with how the kids are so stupid cause they're on their damn phones. you should be embarrassed. if this episode was the first thing that made me realize racism exists and is bad you couldn't waterboard that out of me. grow up.

rogue - rogue was an underdeveloped jack harkness ripoff, there's no development of the relationship between him and the doctor, ruby got nothing to do, the proposal came out of nowhere, the chuldurs were an interesting concept but they literally didn't even do any of the larping they were there for apart from the one who was lady emily. murder is not a prominent part of bridgerton or similar regency era romances that they were supposedly there to cosplay

legend of ruby sunday - this episode is literally 99% exposition. like i'm not joking. there's exposition and exposition and exposition for the whole episode and at the end sutekh appears and kills everyone. also "i will kill everyone" is like. not a compelling motivation. doctor who is full of guys who want to kill everyone. there's nothing making sutekh particularly scary or compelling apart from the fact that he thanos snapped the whole universe and that's also not particularly scary or compelling because he spares the main characters AND because you know they're gonna hit the comic book reset button next episode. sutekh being attached to the tardis since pyramids of mars is unconvincing personally (it would've made more sense if it was since wild blue yonder)

empire of death - ??????? ruby's mom is just a normal woman. they leash sutekh like a dog and drag him through the time vortex which kills him for some reason and also hits reset on his kill switch for the whole universe and that just fixes everything. ruby calls her biomom her real mom instead of carla which just really rubbed me the wrong way. she exits the tardis to stay with her family and it's... fine. you never see why ruby and the doctor were attached to each other so them saying goodbye doesn't hit home. nothing happens and then suddenly everything happens. the fact that the reveal is unconvincing makes the whole thing worse.

conclusion: i think rtd ran out of ideas for doctor who. i think he shouldn't have come back. i think the 60th specials were season 4 fanfiction. i think they should've given the showrunner position to a different writer entirely. i think 8 episodes is far too short for a doctor who season (flux being an exception because it was one ongoing story). i think the bigger budget and better production value can't save a show with poor writing. i think gatwa and gibson are acting their hearts out and i wish they had better material because i really like both of them in these roles. i'm also kind of sick of murray gold's music at this point. he won't let emotional moments just sit and it's really annoying how every time anything happens there's a swell of music. i think rtd should give up on racism commentary and just hire someone else who can do it justice if he really wants it to be in his show. i think rtd should shift focus back to the characters and their interpersonal relationships because that's what he's good at and his plot resolutions have always been underwhelming deus ex machinas. i think they should give this show more episodes. i think they should change the broadcasting times to be a better slot in the uk and the episode should go up on streaming at the same time or after it airs. this season has little glimpses of potential (some of boom, first few minutes of 73 yards, episode concepts in general are quite interesting, more fantasy in doctor who is a fun concept) but squanders all of it with flat characters. i started dreading watching the next episode after a while because i kept hoping it would be good and then i would hate it.

but i still care too much about doctor who to not watch the show so i guess i'll be here this time next year picking season 15 apart. woo.

[bro-ken-spoon]

My Wild, Off-The-Wall Doctor Who Theory

Okay, so. I've got a 60th special theory. It's very probably wrong. But I'm posting it here just in case it isn't.

What if the Doctor really, actually, for real dies. The Doctor is dead. But Donna regenerates.

I know, I know, I know, hear me out. 

First, from a behind the scenes standpoint. The Doctor Who marketing team has been leaning pretty heavily into the concept of regeneration. They did an hour long Youtube livestream with all of the Doctors regenerations, and everyone on the marketing team seems to be trying to ensure that everyone in familiar with the concept. Now, this could be to prepare us for why Fourteen regenerated the way he did, but it also could be that the next Doctor isn't techniclaly Fifteen. Except, one point against me, I think his theme is actually going to be called “Fifteen” so that’s maybe an indicator that I’m dead wrong, but I’m having fun with my crack theory. So anyway, Davies both hasn’t called Gatwa Fifteen *and* in a recent interview for SFX Magazine, he said that he’s going to be calling Gatwa’s first season “series one” which is. So wild. He’s starting all the way over. And that’s so funny to me. So, from a technical standpoint, there’s not much to suggest that this couldn’t happen. It’s not likely, but it could.

Second, from an in-show standpoint. What sci-fi mumbo jumbo could make this possible? Well I’m glad you asked. SO, Donna’s last episode, Journey’s End. Ten gets shot by a Dalek and is brought inside the TARDIS, where he thinks he’s going to regenerate. But, last minute, he puts all of his regeneration energy into his severed hand. Later on, as the TARDIS is crashing, Donna, who's been hearing a heartbeat, reaches out for the severed hand. There's definitely an energy transfer there, and it does end up creating TenToo, who is almost like a mix of Ten and Donna (The DoctorDonna.) And at the same time, Donna gets some attributes of the Doctor as well. Mainly, we see that she now knows pretty much everything the Doctor knows. And of course, this is what's killing her. But what if she got other attributes of the Doctor as well? 

When Ten is leaving Rose on the beach for the second time, TenToo tells her that he'll grow old with her and that he "can't regenerate." And listen. I'm not saying that all of the Doctor's attributes *had* to be split evenly between TenToo and Donna during the metacrisis. That might not be how that works. But if it did....that would mean Donna got the regeneration aspects. It doesn't make that much sense, but it's not out of the realm of something that could happen in Doctor Who. Honestly just this part (and not the Doctor also dying and Donna becoming Gatwa) makes more sense. However, the only line of dialogue we currently have from Gatwa is him saying "Is anyone going to tell me what the hell is going on?" which is a very Donna thing to say, and I just think that would be so neat. The Doctor definitely could've also said that. Especially since he does seem to be wearing Tennant's new suit (just deconstructed) but I would just be so interested in the implications of it.

Now, obviously, we have to contend with fan reaction. People would absolutely hate this. He is The Doctor, yknow. He's a British pop culture icon. He's been around for 60 years. But Davies was best, at least in New Who, at giving the Doctor well-rounded character traits. He had a character arc that he went on that went mostly ignored during the 11th, 12th, and 13th Doctors in favor of different arcs because that's kind of the nature of Doctor Who. But he's also been around 60 years, and the character just keeps getting older and older. Even Tennant's Doctor, three Doctors ago, was constantly talking about how old he felt, how tired he was. There are places you can go from there, Twelve attempted to a little bit, but he's just going to keep getting older and going through more things and at some point, especially 60 years on, that could get narratively stagnant. But what if there was a way to keep "The Doctor" without keeping the same character. They could even be called The Doctor after having dropped the Donna part from "The Doctor Donna." It would switch it up, be interesting, go new places (like, maybe an "I'm the last of the Time Lords but do I even count as a Time Lord?" arc, that'd be fun.) And also, watching the incarnation of the Doctor who famously "didn't want to go" accept his death. And a reminder that it's David Tennant, who would be the best choice to end the Doctor on, if they ever were going to do that. British people and hardcore fans might hate it, but I'd kind of love it. I've also seen the theory that Rose Temple-Noble could regenerate as well, as a result of the same process, and that's also interesting but I don't really have a narrative idea of where that's going.

Anyways this is probably all a load of horse shit but it's just wild enough that I'm having fun feeling like a conspiracy theorist about it. Thanks for reading!

[lurkingteapot]

Laws of Attraction กฎแห่งรักดึงดูด Ep 8

I really, really enjoyed this finale. I'll have to rewatch with subs at some point, at least in parts, because some of the details were lost on me (what was that new case of Chaan's about?), but I'm looking forward to it. I hope we get more queer shows out of One31 going forward -- can Organ and Sylvie get a spinoff, maybe? aaah I'll keep dreaming. Anyway! The live blog.

--

Six days late, but I'm watching this! I'm very sad that this is going to be over. Excited, too, though. Alright, going in.

WHAT THE FUCK is this cold open with the flashback in the moment of death type scene

Oh no, going to pay respect to his mum before he goes join her, huh.

ooooh is Maayaa going to broadcast whatever confession Rose catches at that warehouse live during her announced live? I BET she is and that's such a smart move, can't make something tens of thousands of followers saw unseen

this house remains an abomination

oh god Nawin please shut up

asdfasdf of course they're gonna punch each other about it

pick up the gd necklace, that's a tripping hazard or something

oh baby, crying in business class, huh

well that knot came apart easily

rescuing our lovers solidarity, huh

YIKES those boinks to the head with that thing would've had a pretty decent chance of killing the dudes if this were real

hahaha of course Chaan planted stuff. Let's hope this plays out as he hoped. can hardly believe Thatthep is this dumb, though on the other hand …

… oh god is Tinn going to ruin this take. He IS, isn't he.

I am SO nervous, goodness

he's pretttty convincing

250k viewers is pretty incredible

WOW this dude is cold as ice

ahahaha of COURSE someone was going to tell them this was getting streamed and they REALLY should've seen that coming

just put the freaking doll away and HIDE ffs Chaan

Tinn to the rescue

you fuckers, RUN

what are you doing

oh ffs Tinn don't RUSH the guy with the gun, and you, Chaan, don't just STAND there ffs

yeah that … was going to happen and I sure hope he's wearing body armour of some sort

how many shots does this thing HAVE??

hey. hate to interrupt but thatthep is still RIGHT THERE and ARMED

ROSE <3 <3 <3 I love her so much oh my GOD

okay everyone here is useless, why hasn't anyone called an ambulance

also I feel like Tinn should've been able to FEEL the body armour but w/e

so did they pull Thaenthai off the plane or what

adsfasdfasdasdf oh no he was being that passenger but I guess it's all for the best, huh

over the top and overdramatic, 10/10 no notes

asdfasdfasf Chaan being a BRAT because he can

GRANDMA 😂

asdfasdfasd of COURSE she'd be like "this is a HOSPITAL"

oh poor baby, your dad doesn't even want to see you in this situation, huh

and he said it himself

man I feel bad for Thaenthai.

offering Chaan "everything/anything" is a dangerous thing, Tinn

Tinn is so cute in his slow realisations. yes it's sorta overacted. no I don't care.

awww POST IT NOTES

oh no this is so cheesy (I love it) 😂

(it's a northern song!)

a proposal! wow. you've not even lived together yet! you only know his regular bad habits, not the living together ones! AND THEY'RE SHADING THE LEGAL SITUATION I love them

god they are ADORABLE

oh no, shovel talk!!!

asdfsdfasd TINN 😂😂😂

aaah the wlw mlm solidarity we love to see

I really dislike proposal and marriage plots but I'll give it to them, this admit this is cute

Nawin 😂

MORE shovel talk, oh no

oh, perfect drowning opportunity!

… is Thatthep trying to be a big man even in prison? I was so sure they'd ostracise him for killing a kid

ffs someone shut this dude up already (let it be Thee)

… oh WOW yikes ouch

I kinda hate that it was this was something Chaan probably set up. Not a fan of people making third parties get their hands dirty for revenge

awwww Thaen

whatcha gonna do with all this, hm? sell the house, get an apartment somewhere, be happy with Thee?

I really wanted for them to get to kiss, but you know what? these hugs are so heartfelt, I'll take them

oh Tinn, don't do that to yourself

look at grandma! look at Tinn with that ridiculous oversized bow tie!

Chaan subscribing to the "sun's out guns out" philosophy of fashion even on his wedding day, I see

ah, so he does have a jacket

oh they look good. hair and make-up on POINT

I have opinions on the set-up of this but there's a time and place for salt and this is probably not it

ASDFASDFDS GRANDMA

I like the "noise fades away and they're in their own world" of this love Sylvie's singing voice, godDANG

oh, Rose, looking at her all in love <3

Win 😅

of course they watch wuxia. probably domestically produced ones, too. incredible.

oh god I love them

KISS!!!!!!

aaaaaah can Rose and Maya kiss, too? for me?

god Chaan's "I'm so lucky" in love eyes. Film's expression here is so different from Thian's in-love-face and I love both of them.

AAAAAH MY GIRLS!!!!!!

PRODUCT PLACEMENT hello. I want twenty of those but also this REALLY shows the age of the intended target audience

ahaha Chaan back on the job, stirring shit. I love him.

oh my goodness, Chaan actually said it

this is reaching PatPran levels of interruption

I love them

I guess that was supposed to be cute but I couldn't see it as anything but overstepping, sorry, Tinn

oh, I love these long shots

… and that finaly second of that shot was 100% Film turning to the camera like "are we done yet" 😂

[stateofdreaming14]

Ok so there's this post that I've been thinking about a lot that basically amounts to 'i can't believe ppl actually care that Rose was 19 and the doctor was 900' and I've been trying to ignore it bc I don't care that much for starting fights over something like this (can't stress enough that you can go ahead and like whatever ships you want whether I agree with the ship or not. Go off) but, I do have many thoughts on it.

First off, I'm the type of person who just hates doctor/companion ships in general. It's a type of relationship where the dynamics of power are clearly unbalanced. The doctor is always the one in control of their adventures. If they want to go they have to be nice to him, and if they don't want to be stranded fuck knows where then they better listen to him (the doctor might not actually do that but he has threatened it at times like in Father's Day). He is also always the more knowledgeable one and the one they depend on to save them in the majority of situations.

When it comes to Rose in particular, her being incredibly young is baked into her character from the beginning. She is introduced as an aimless 19 y/o with no ambitions, no marketable skills, and stuck at a dead end job (which got blown up like ten minutes in). That's the very reason she wants to travel with the doctor. She feels stuck in this awkward time of her life where she has no purpose. Running away on some adventure, then, becomes her avoiding the growing pains of that precise time in one's life. So when she is forced back into her normal life, she doesn't see the point of any of it. She would rather give up everything and everyone (even her own life) to travel with the doctor. Reminder that holding the keys to the tardis is a big power the doctor has over his companions, and he can (and does) take the privilege away at any time. So for Rose, who gets self esteem and purpose from traveling with him, this power is doubled.

Not to mention that season one reminded us of her age constantly. The big emotional through line for the doctor (besides him dealing with time war aftermath) was his need to keep rose safe. He felt immense guilt at putting her into such dangerous situations. Whenever it seemed like shed died he'd say with great emotions, "she was only 19 years old, and now she's dead because of me. Because I brought her here" (not an exact quote but an approximate recreation of something he said often enough). The first season took her age very seriously. It was only season 2 where that stopped. Likely bc they couldn't pass up the chemistry between the two actors. (Of course even 9 and rose flirted often but they both insisted nothing was between them until the season end kiss).

And, of course, the show messed up by starting comparisons between her and Martha in season three. Martha by comparison is a woman with her life together. She has so many things outside of the doctor, which is why she's one of the few companions who chose to leave on her own. She isn't dependant on the doctor for her self worth. She has her life planned to some extent. The most she can complain about is a complicated family dynamic that forces her to be the mediator. Even more, she is defined by being mature, capable, and intelligent. This isn't a dig at rose btw, but that wasn't her at all. Her strengths were more in connecting with people, and it was often noted that she started to treat their travels like a game as time went on. She was often making jokes and highlighting the fun side of the adventures. All of her moments of going off on her own were characterized by her repeating things the doctor has said or observing things to tell the doctor later. There is even a part where 10 says that he wishes rose was there instead of Martha bc she would have figured everything out, much to the confusion of everyone who I've ever watched that episode with. It might have been the most delusional thing he ever said, and forced the audience to focus on how blatantly untrue that is. She would probably be flirting, making goofy jokes, or, at best, throwing out any idea that pops into her head until something sparked the doctor's thoughts. There is no way she'd be any better than Martha (who has already proved how capable she is by this point).

This isn't really supposed to be a hate post for any character or ship. But it is worth saying that it's perfectly reasonable to hate doctor/rose and also very reasonable to be squicked out by the age gap. Acting like ppl who dislike aspects of your ship are all unreasonable ppl who can't differentiate between fiction and reality is such a cope. Aspects of the ship are bad/weird. If you still like it regardless then just own it. Not everyone CAN just ignore certain aspects and enjoy it without thoughts. I'm sure there would be things I can get past that they can't. Just don't try to pretend you're so prosecuted for enjoying the main ship of three seasons that the majority of the fandom like just bc some ppl can't.

Anyway, rant over. Like I said, the post annoyed me but it's not worth fighting over so I probs won't even add tags. If doctor/rose shippers find it and get offended that's on them.

[thebadtimewolf]

um

maturing is realizing that the eighth doctor (900+) was told not to say 'i love you' unless he genuinely meant those words and all of what it entails with whomever he says to by charley pollard (human blonde) before the time war and tenth doctor (900+), knowing what those words would entail especially when its expected of him after genuinely reliving his war trauma while all the humans there (including the human audience) dont pick up on it except davros (down to losing donna similar to how he lost cinder (another redhead that was labeled brash and yet considered a friend) while he stood there unable to do anything) - and the whiplash of his choice of saying 'does it need saying?' at the end meant he may have said them had rose just found him at a better time. but he doesn't say them. he's mourning the fact he moved on.

ten went and experienced physical and psychological trauma. he's what society would call a man. tentoo only experienced the memory of someone else's recountence of trauma. he is genuinely a trust fund nepo baby who got rose by title alone. he may be the self-proclaimed doctor by appearence but, he was never the doctor that matured beyond war. Tentoo never experienced and went through war - he has the memories of it but, having someone else's memories is not the same as having your OWN memories of a war you NEVER fought in.

rose got to choose between the doctor who physically was there - who has the trauma and has grown to make the decisions that would show the experience while keeping the decision away from emotional interest (to not really show his hand, to keep everyone safe) versus the doctor who wasn't physically there- who does not have the trauma and react essentially like a child being enlisted to a war they never truly understood the ramifications that come with it.

tenth doctor never said i love you because he has experinced loss and didn't want to lose rose - tentoo was a boy with puppy love who wanted to impress his crush and almost got them arrested while playing dressup in his rich dad's clothes - they are not the same... other than both being played by david tennant.

its a happy ending for rose but its not happy ending for doctorrose. we collectively need to get out of that mindset. empire of the rose PROVES that this is our og rose's happy ending. she got the guy from the guy she loved - a guy unburdened by his past and a daughter - but with none of the work that came with it. She loved a guy that came with the monsters but she settled for the one that was unburdened by them. Something the Doctor would've wanted. Rose living a good life.

anyway, i cant wait for billie to do a surprise cameo wearing one of those blonde wigs she wore in i hate suzie fr fr.

He saw that tentoo never had the burden of debating whether it was his right as a time traveler to be the one to cause genocide without a care as long as it meant winning - tentoo only had the memories, a story of the doctor, just like everyone else - and that gave rose her happy ending. someone unburdened by the guilt of their choices. someone that wouldn't doubt themselves or rather someone that isn't limited by their own rhetoric 'no second chances' when it comes to expressing and showing their love verbally as well as actively.

god and 14 going through everything that 11 12 13 went through? i mean the only 10th dr mystery 14 got to solve now is... the midnight entity's origins? like fuck. we're genuinely fucked.

[one-sad-human]

•Pinky Promises• Steven Adler

Pairing: Steven Adler x Reader, Axl Rose x Sibling! Reader

Requested? Yup! By an anon

Theme: Angst(?) to fluff

Warnings: Language, sexual references but nothing explicit

Word Count: 1.8k

A/N: Fic 1 of 2! Hope you enjoy! Also, the makeout near the end gets sorta hot and it was pretty fun to write? Like I’m considering exploring into writing smutter pieces. I didn’t want to originally because I thought I’d cringe all the way through and hate the result but I might try it out in the near future. Nothing too crazy but it’s something for me to think about.

     You step off of the large bus, your combat boots hitting the ground as you adjust the bag slung over your shoulder. It's stuffed to the brim with whatever you threw in, you're surprised the zipper did burst.

     You take a deep breath of the LA air. It's hot and humid and despite the thick air pollution, you can breath easier than you did in Indiana.

     You grew up in Lafayette, Indiana with your older half-brother William. You were raised in the hellish house with your shared father, which you finally managed to escape.

     William left right at eighteen. He tried taking you with him, but you didn't want him to be charged with kidnapping and have the cops on his ass. Now, two years and your father's stolen wallet later, you're finally in the city of dreams.

     "Will!" You yell out, spotting your redheaded other half.

     "Y/N!" He mocks, catching your figure in a crushing hug. He's taller than you, so you have to stand on your tippy toes during the embrace. "Thank God you're alright."

     "I'm fine, I'm happy to finally see you again," you say, a huge grin on your face. "How's the band? Everything going well?"

     "Well enough," he says with a shrug, grabbing your heavy bag and slinging it around his shoulder. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the guys. You already know Izzy of course, but the rest of them."

     The walk to the 'hell house' as Will had called it is filled with catching up. He made sure to keep in contact with you, but the phone calls were always short. It felt nice to have a full length conversation in person with your brother again.

     "Welcome home," Will says, leading you into the house. You grimace when you catch a whiff of stale beer and weed.

     "You seriously live here? This place should be condemned," you say with disgust.

     "And then where would we live?" The oh-so familiar voice of Will's best friend meets your ears. You whip around and fly into his arms.

     "Jeffery! I missed you so much! You really should've tried calling, you ass!" You exclaim. Izzy rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless, patting your back during the hug.

     "Who's this?" Another man enters the living room— if that's what it should even be called. He's blonde, taller than you but shorter than the other two men in the room. He has kind eyes and the smile he has on his handsome face leaves you speechless.

     "U-uh, hi. I'm Y/N," you say after a moment of shameless gawking. If he noticed, he doesn't mention it.

     "Oh that's right! Axl talks a lot about you! I'm Steven," he says and bounds up to you, catching your hand in a shake. You don't question who the hell 'Axl' is, but you smile stupidly at him and bite your lip with a blush staining your face.

     "No," Will says, glaring at the cute blonde you've taking an immediate liking to. "Absolutely not."

     "William!" You squeak out, pinching his shoulder harsher. He yelps and swats your hand away. Will glares further at you as he ushers you up the creaky stairs to your room. "Nothing happened! And who the fuck is 'Axl'?"

     "I saw how you were looking at him! I'm not naive, Y/N. You were giving him the 'fuck me' eyes! And me, everyone calls me Axl here." You give him a look. "Except you, of course. You can call me Will."

     You don't give him another word as he leads you to your bedroom. He was the one who didn't have a roommate before, and he'd have to share with Slash now but he was determined to give you your privacy.

     "This is the only room with a working lock, use it. Especially when your changing! Three horny men in a house with one you isn't a good combo." You make a face and shake your head, but you can't really tell if he's being overprotective or if his band mates really are pigs.

     "Are you not including Izzy?"

     "Please, he's the only smart one besides me. He knows I'll rip him a new one." You laugh and give Will another hug.

     "I've really missed hanging out with you like this, and thank you for letting me stay here." He nods and rubs your back.

     "No problem, we have each other's backs, always." You nod and release your bother from the hug. "One rule though: no hooking up with the guys. One time thing or not, you don't know them like I do, I won't let you get hurt. So don't even try anything with Steven!"

     "Even if it's nothing sex?" Will levels you with a look that would make you sweat if you were anyone else. You sigh and roll your eyes. "Fine! I promise."

     "Pinky promise?" He asks, holding out his pinky finger. You shake your head but comply anyway, hooking your pinky on his.

     "Wow, bringing out the big guns, pinky promises," you tease.

     "Bitch," he mumbles. You gasp sarcastically.

     "Asshole!" You reply. William takes his leave with another slew of insults under his breath but none to be taken seriously and all with a smile. You shut your door after him and lay on your bed, content with how things are finally beginning to look up.

If you knew where you would be in just a few months of living with your brother and his band, you never would've agreed to the naive promise Will had forced on you. You think back to the day with a frown.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Steven asks, pecking your bare shoulder as he lays behind you on your bed. You both lay naked and damp with sweat, glowing from the moonlight streaming in the room.

"William," you say with a sigh.

"We just had sex and your thinking of your brother? Should I be worried about you?" Steven asks teasingly. You fight the smile growing on your face and lightly pinch the his arm tightly wrapped around you. He never fails to make you laugh.

"I just feel bad keeping this a secret from him." You turn around to be face to face with Steven. "It's been months of sneaking around. I'm always nervous we'll get caught together or I'll blurt it out to him."

"Then why don't we just tell him?"

"Do you want to die! Steven, honestly, do you have a death wish?"

"No, but—"

"Then we can't tell my brother we're together. He'll murder you, and then probably me one he finds out how long I've been lying to him," you say and move your head in the crook of Steven's neck.

"Then we can be together in the afterlife!" Steven folds his arms around you even tighter. "Seriously though, we can't lie to him forever. We've been together for six months already, surely he'll see how much we care about each other and not want to kill us."

"Yeah, maybe," you say halfheartedly and close your eyes, finally letting yourself fall asleep.

The next night, Guns has a gig at the Whiskey A-Go Go. The ritual goes like it has been, they play the gig, you wait for Will to get drunk, and you and Steven sneak out to the back of the club to make out and maybe get felt up a bit before returning like nothing happened.

It isn't different this time. Steven's hands leave your skin ablaze as he lets them wander down your sides and up your thighs. His lips don't leave yours, even as he squeezes your ass and you let out a moan. He grins on your mouth and presses his pelvis up to your stomach.

His mouth leaves yours to press feather light kisses to your cheek before trailing down your jaw and onto your neck, where he sucks nips at. You have to press a hand to your mouth to stay quiet.

"Don't leave marks," you remind him through batted breath.

"I won't," he reassures and silences you with a chaste kiss to your swollen lips before returning his attack on your neck.

You hear footsteps fast approaching, but as quickly as you hear them, Steven is ripped away from you. He's slammed into the brick wall next to you harshly and groans. You jump away and gasp.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" William asks, his voice lower than usual. His green eyes dark and downright scary.

"Will! Let him go, come on. Stop fucking around, you didn't have to slam him into a wall," you say, but your shaky voice falls on deaf ears as Will doesn't move. Your hands grasp at his arm and try to yank him away from Steven, but he's stronger and taller than you and doesn't budge, he just keeps his eyes focused on Steven.

"Nothing!" He squeaks out. Even in the dark, his kiss bruised lips and flushed red face is obvious.

"'Nothing?' That's why you were ten seconds away from fucking Y/N?" Will asks.

"William stop it! You're scaring me! Leave him alone!" You push him again and this time, he relents. Will paces and runs his hand through his red locks while you rush to make sure Steven is ok.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Steven mutters and presses a kiss to your brow to comfort you, sending you a smile when he pulls away. He keeps his hands on your arms and rubs circles with his thumbs.

"How long has this been going on?" Will asks, crossing his arms as he finally stops his pacing.

"Six months..." Steven says nervously. William scoffs and shakes his head. "But it isn't just fucking around! I love them, Ax. Really."

You smile bashfully, biting your lip to try and contain it. You knew you felt strongly for Steven and that he returned the feelings, but you haven't outright said you loved each other— until know of course.

Will stays silent for a few beats, staring contemplative at Steven. He finally sighs, bring a hand up to rub his temples like he has a building headache.

"Yeah? And you love him, Y/N?" He asks. You nod, reaching out to grab Steven's hand. Steven lets a grin creep on to his face. "Then I guess I can't stop you. But if you ever break their heart, I'll fucking gut you, Adler."

If Will makes Steven nervous, he doesn't show it. He gives him a salute with his puppy dog like smile before sticking out his pinky.

"I promise I'll never hurt Y/N purposely, ever." Will rolls his eyes, the irony makes him nearly groan aloud. He sucks it up anyway when he sees your hopeful expression, hooking his pinky onto Steven's.

"Don't make me regret this, Steven," Will grumbles before leaving and walking back into the crowded club. Steven lets out an exhilarated laugh and kisses you, hard.

"Told you he wouldn't kill me!" Steven exclaims, making you laugh out of surprise.

"And we don't have to sneak around anymore!" Steven kisses you again, and again and again until you're breathless.

"I'm so in love with you," he mumbles between his attack on your lips. You smile, tangling your hands in his aqua-net filled hair.

"As I am with you."

[apollostears]

ICY HOT [ l. wong ]

↬︎ group: wayv

↬︎ pairing: vampire!lucas x black!huntress!oc

↬︎ warning(s): blood, violence, angst, swearing

↬︎ wc: 1255

↬︎ apart of the ‘cold blooded’ series

PLOT. continuation of ‘cold & colder’ where selene and lucas are about to have their arranged wedding, eight months after the events at the gala. sinister forces are at work to stop this wedding from happening, even if it means death.

2021 halloween masterlist

“selene, i’m telling you what i already know; these flowers will not go with this dress!” selene’s mother had been adamant on her distaste for the flowers her daughter had chosen for her bouquet.

according to her mother it was tacky to want to have black roses as a bouquet.

“great thing you aren’t wearing it, yes? also, this is my wedding, however forced it may be, and i will not allow you to have your way. understood?”

it was rough how she spoke with her mother, but their relationship was strenuous and if it was up to selene, she’d only be her mother by name. queen mei was a lot nicer and more motherly to her than she had ever experienced in her twenty-one years of life. selene wished the undead woman was here instead.

“well, i think it would look lovely paired with you selene! and i’m sure we can make any alterations needed to dress, to make those flowers fit!” her wedding planner, kai, had encouraged.

in the few months selene had been planning this ceremony, kai had to endure a lot of tense conversations and awkward stares. selene would make sure the prestigious wedding planner was paid handsomely.

“thank you, kai. now, what’s next?” she asked, handing the flowers back to the florist before following kai out the shop.

her mother was the last thing on selene’s mind as the two chatted away about the day’s plans. “actually, you and the prince will be meeting at the castle for a private dance session with estelle and eben to go over the first and final dance. after that, you are free for the day.”

selene let out a sigh of relief. planning for a wedding was exhausting. especially one that’s fit for a prince and soon-to-be princess of the vampire race. it was still very weird to her. a huntress marrying a vampire; a prey being with its predator. she was sure that several people throughout the supernatural world were not pleased with this union. and neither was she to be honest, but then she understood why this was happening and figured she push her pride aside for the greater good.

“am i to change then before heading over there?” selene had been dressed in light blue jeans and a cream colored turtleneck with trainers on.

without paying her any mind, kai gave her an answer that had the huntress smiling and rolling her eyes at her. “aye-aye boss lady.”

after selene's comment, the rest of the ride to selene's apartment was silent. reese, her driver, had dropped mrs. cole off first, much to selene's pleasure. their exchange was brief with her mom promising to call later about her table seating for everyone that rsvp'd.

truthfully, selene was surprised by the turnout for the reception. she didn't have many friends, but she did invite the few that still liked her despite her situation. lucas invited whoever he knew and then the rest were just elders that the two would have to grow familiar with during their reign as king and queen.

"hate to put you on a time limit, but you really only have ten minutes before we have to be at the gate to make it on time." kai advised, fingers moving across the ipad.

selene nodded and quickly exited the car with the help of reese, to enter her apartment building. her place of sanctuary for the last four years of her life. she was only twenty-one, about to turn twenty-two, and her she was about to get married to an immortal being. being's that she, just a few months ago, was slaying in the streets at night.

entering her penthouse suite, selene hastily got changed. going through the motions, she slipped on some sweatpants and a cotton crop-top with sneakers. grabbing a water bottle and her keys, selene was on her way out the door when she noticed something.

"took you awhile to notice me darling. planning a wedding makes you soft, doesn't it?" his voice was smooth, non-threatening in the slightest, but that doesn't stop the chill that runs down her spine.

"the fuck are you doing here?" she was nervous. how long had he been here? how did she miss him? why was he here?

the man tsk'd and stood from the loveseat positioned by her window overlooking the city. his posture was straight, footsteps heavy, and stature terrifying. selene was not one easily frightened, but he. . . he was her version of the boogeyman.

she backed up slowly, moving closer to the door for an easy escape. "don't run from me angel. i just came to share something interesting with you."

"who's to say that you're telling the truth?"

suddenly, he stopped moving, almost looking like he was in thought before he lunged at selene and pushed her up against the wall with a harsh grip on her neck.

she was surprised and scared, her nails leaving tiny trails of blood on his hands as she clawed at them for release. he hadn't restricted her airway yet, careful not to squeeze too hard to avoid bruising. his breath tickled her ear as he leaned forward to whisper in it.

"someone isn't who they say they are, princess. several people are working actively against you as we speak. now, i'd hate for my favorite monster slayer to perish over some trivial diplomacy. so, be a good girl and figure out who it is after you and your precious vampire prince." he warned, releasing his grip on her neck at the end.

selene glared at him as she attempted to soothe her burning skin. "how can i trust you? you just attempted to choke me out and broke it my house. how do i know it's not you plotting against me?"

as she questioned him, the man made his way back over to her window and pushed it open. "if i wanted you dead, i would have killed you the second you stepped foot in the door. see you later selene."

and just as easily as he came in, he was gone like nothing happened. all that was left of his presence was her aching throat and her open window.

"hey selene! you in there? we gotta go!" kai's voice pulled selene back to reality and she cleared her sore throat before speaking.

"yes! yes, sorry! i'm coming out now." she called out, hastily picking up the items she dropped and rushing to her door. selene stopped in her tracks at her face in the mirror. her dark skin showed no signs of bruising, but the fear in her eyes said everything she needed to know.

shaking her head, selene attempted to pull herself together before opening her door and stepping out into the hallway.

"that's my bad. i forgot where i put my water bottle." she laughed, locking her door.

her hands were shaking and she cursed herself for being so weak. she's supposed to be this feared huntress and she can't even lock her fucking door.

"hey, you okay? are you nervous about seeing lucas?"

kai was kind. too kind for her own good, but selene had to remind herself that she hadn't grown up in the world she did. where kindness gets you killed.

"yes. just hungry probably. lets go, we're already late."

but what selene didn’t know, and wouldn’t until later, was that people really were watching her every move. and if kai hadn’t of came when she did, she would be dead.

❧ join my taglist: @cliffordasparagus @olamidey @supop @knjkitten @sweeneyblue1 @pimpnameyannie @sunrayyellowhalo @namjoonswifeyy @valkryienymph @wayv127dream @lordoftomatoes @marvellifeforever

NOTE. this is part two in the series! as i was writing this, i figured i would make this into a mini series. hope you guys enjoy!

[lorkai]

🌺 Title: One More Life

🌺 Summary: There is no future without learning the mistakes of the past, but there is also no past without the hope of a better future. And to repair mistakes or to make things better, a child is dragged into a tragic history of coups d'état, deaths and re-concessions.

🌺 Words: 4096

🌺 Notes: Some may remember that I already posted this story here, but I decided to rewrite this chapter. Hope you like it.

🌺 Warnings: Mention of dismemberment, explicit death, gore. Please check the tags for more.

The closed clouds formed strange patterns over the faint sunlight that ended on the horizon, red and orange slowly disappearing, leaving behind a thin trail of snow. And despite the hours, the children ran over the lights of the lanterns that they carried in their small hands, without knowing what was close to happening. Their laughter would be remembered in young Morgana's mind for a long time. Everyone was happy, after all it was the Harvest Festival - affectionately nicknamed the Demon Race by the girl - it was the day when her Lord liked to send his little soldiers to face demons that he summoned to see how much they had evolved with their magic and spells, that always happened at the end of the night.

Morgana did not grow up in a good or happy place, but she had no choice but to follow what her Lord commanded. The organization he worked for was also not a good place if she remembered correctly, there were so many experiments going on, so much pain and cries of help echoing through those walls that would never come out of the young girl's head or anyone who heard them. It was terrifying.

And in the dark of the old empty hut, she sat. Chained at the ankles by a metal pillar. The dark did not frighten her any more than the task entrusted to her, hunting demons, killing them and bringing their hearts to her Lord. Morgana hated that time of year, hated the snow pulling her down and the cold so intense to freeze her bones, and on top of that she hated the magic that came out of her hands and the blood that spread through her fingers afterwards. She hated the throbbing of the organ in her hands and even more that sadistic smile on the face of the man who had taught her so much about magic. But she had no choice, not yet.

"Your folly is amazing, my dear." Said a well-known voice, making Morgana turn around. It took her eyes to get used to seeing something in the immense darkness that surrounded her, but when she finally found him she started to massage her temples in search of momentary relief. It was Toby, a small, transparent ghost who wore bloody rags of clothes that looked from the 1800s. He was, unfortunately, the girl's dead brother, now a ghost bound to accompany her.

"What would you have done?" She replied, showing her hands chained by heavy metal. She didn't want to have to deal with the ghost now.

"I sure as hell wouldn't be pretending to be a good girl, waiting for someone to give me an order. Morg, you must take the chance to escape. They plan to summon a strong demon this time... What was the name again? Diavovo? Dialovo?" Toby yelled, crossing his arms. He floated to the other end of the cell, tossing a thick, old black leather book from hand to hand. And contrary to his angry tone, the ghost seemed calm, stopping beside his sister to hand her the book. "Whatever! You know the Demon Race is the closest thing you have to an opportunity to escape."

"Patience, my dear. I can't rush the sand into the hourglass any more than it can." She said, mysterious. Her fingers traced the pattern of unfamiliar letters and she smiled, feeling the strong magic so familiar that emanated from that Grimoire. The book that belonged to each of her brothers was hers now and she asked that it be useful in her journey. "Can't run away now, brother. This isn't the time. Also, you know what B would say."

"I don't care what that traitor has to say to me! He wasn't there when you or our brothers begged for help, he isn't here now to save you." the ghost grunted grudgingly and crossed his arms over his chest, seeming to adopt a defensive posture. "I insist you use this to escape, there's a very useful spell here. Take a look."

Morgana looked. It was the old book that passed from sibling to sibling in her family, but she never read it and didn't even know her secrets. Its pages were old and fragile, yellowed, she analyzed the strange letters forming strange words – it was an unknown language that was written there, but little by little the words moved and began to form sentences that the girl knew and understood. Spells appeared over the pages and she let out a big sigh this time, one of relief. Toby moved closer to her. "There are some spells you won't understand, Lothos made sure the younger ones wouldn't understand. So I can translate what you don't understand." The ghostly fingers roamed the pages with great nostalgia as he read her the simplest spells, almost overjoyed that she couldn't read in the dark.

And she was looking at him even through the dim light from a lantern, but it pained her to nurture his hopes when she herself knew she might die at any moment. She wasn't going to run away from Cosmos, no, she was going to destroy them inside and save those who could be saved. The emotion she felt at the moment couldn't be explained, she was happy to have him around and hear his voice, but she didn't feel his touch, his heat. Anyway, that moment was almost enough to make her forget what was going to happen within the next few minutes. There was a noise that disconcerted her and made her close the book with a bang, she quickly stuffed it into the pocket of the dress she was wearing. And she waited.

She looked at the figure standing over the wooden door, the light shining over his head as he chuckled softly. Then she noticed that he was shaking the human head of a child much younger than she was, and his red eyes glowed with excitement, watching the blood trickle across the floor of the cell. "He deserved it, he was making so much noise when I whipped him. But I like to think of it as his good luck gift." He threw his head towards the girl, falling to her feet. The child's transparent eyes stared at her, hot blood running in abundance over her legs and onto the floor. A horrendous image. She tried to move away but the chains stopped her.

"Too bad. His voice was so beautiful when he screamed." He commented and removed a cork of keys from his pocket, walking very calmly towards his expressionless pupil. He seemed to root for her to cry, for her to scream so he could punish her, but that didn't happen. He released her from the chains slowly as the blood on his hands smeared her and made her shiver even more, he pulled back far enough so that she could get up and seemed to find the sounds of bones cracking amusing. "Project K is almost perfected, so no failures will be tolerated. Stay still."

Morgana pressed one hand against the other, bracing herself. He handed her a red pill and watched as she swallowed without question. The burning sensation that engulfed her body was almost unbearable, causing her to fall to her knees and bring her hand to her throat. And anger filled her as her lord laughed to the point of being in tears. The pill he handed her must have been an improved version of the drug they were creating, she felt like she was being ripped from the inside out and blood leaked from her mouth as her vision glowed. Everything about her body ached, Toby and His lord went out and into focus. His voices mingled in her head as she vomited more blood.

"There, there." Her lord pulled her to her feet, using a spell to stop the bleeding. He patted her head lovingly as he smiled and she leaned closer to the contact, albeit involuntarily. His gestures didn't match what he was saying at all, but it took her a few more moments to process that. "It's going to be alright honey so don't let us down. I know you can do it, now go." He gently guided her out of the hut and closed the door slowly. A barrier was erected as soon as the girl was thrown out, to protect him. And she heard him laugh. Maybe he imagined all the bodies he would have on his worktable in the morning. Perhaps he had imagined a morbid joke. She didn't want to know.

"Are you okay?" Toby questioned. "Do you feel pain anywhere?"

"I am fine, brother." She analyzed the landscape around them. Shady trees, whose roots were hidden by snow, rose so high that their leaves and branches almost completely obscured the dim moonlight. This was a perfect place for demons to come to hide waiting for a meal, a subtle black trail of sulfur could be discerned through the tree branches. The smell also did not hide that there were demons there. She looked up at her brother, stifling a moan of pain as she smiled so as not to worry him. "Where are we going?"

"Demons everywhere. Three of them are northwest, seventy meters and they're strong. But there are two weaker ones you can kill easily, ten meters away. This way." Toby pointed, starting to follow a narrow path between some crooked trees, destroyed by the force of some demon. He heard Morgana walking behind him and her teeth gnashed so hard that he felt sorry for her, he couldn't feel the cold or heat anymore due to his condition, but he remembered now that she wasn't so lucky. The fine clothes she wore couldn't protect her from the incessant cold, that was a punishment and even she knew it. She had failed in her last mission, so it made sense to let her suffer her own luck. He knew she wouldn't survive like this and they had little time for it. Unfortunately she couldn't use any fire-based spells either because the scent would alert the demons.

Toby stopped his sister with a wave of his hand, gesturing to the pockets of her dress. "I almost forgot, but there's a spell in the Grimoire you can use to keep yourself warm. Let me show you."

"You know the cold can't kill me, even if it hurts" She warned him, giving a half laugh that was followed by several sneezes. Toby frowned as if he didn't quite believe his sister, signaling to himself as if he was setting an example. "Right, but that won't happen, brother."

"Enough stubbornness and give me the Grimoire. We have to be quick." Morgana let out a huff of indignation as she pulled the book out of her pockets and opened it, after glancing from side to side to make sure no one else was there. She created a sphere of light and illuminated the pages while a short wave of wind caused by the ghost opened the right page. He whispered the spell to her once, twice. Then she chanted it aloud and felt something warm run through her body, strengthening her. "Back to the subject... Use the Grimoire." He muttered looking directly at the book in her hands, with puppy eyes.

Morgana was preparing to give him an answer not as kind and patient as the others, but she was silent. She hid behind a tree when she heard a thin scream very close by. It had started. Really started. Limb by limb and the sound of flesh being ripped off was heard through the forest loud and clear, she covered her mouth with her hand so that no sound escaped her and signaled for the ghost to see what was happening.

"Looks like we found them, yay." Toby muttered grudgingly, his fingers making hollow sounds against the trees he touched. The feeling of running or fighting was never higher than when he approached some supernatural being, not that the ghost had seen more than other ghosts and lost souls, but he knew a thing or two. Finally he went to his sister, almost exasperated. "If you insist on following your role, the audience awaits your show, little star. They say they want to see his heart."

"If you insist." The girl whispered something in a low tone with her hands clasped together as if to pray and from the center of her hands flaming chains ripped the skin until they huddled together, moving of their own accord. Morgana was smiling. And she moved faster than Toby's eyes could see, like furious lightning. Toby ran to accompany her, without worry. He had seen a lot of that happen over the years. And it came as no surprise to him when he saw Morgana manipulating the chains and lifting the demon's body by one, two, three, four meters from the ground, hearing him scream when his arms and legs were broken, twisted at odd angles. Bones exposed on his skin. Black blood trickled over the snow as he screamed profanities.

"I really didn't want to do this." A deep, husky voice came from the girl's lips as she laughed, enjoying the smell of burning flesh. The chains slowly burned the entire demon's body, to the point that she would have ripped his heart out of his chest before he died. "But the grains of sand can only fall into the hourglass when it is time for them to fall."

"You are the disgusting witch that everyone talks about!" The demon screamed, blood dripping from his mouth. He struggled against the chains, but the more he struggled and screamed, the more the chains tightened.

"The only one but I think you don't like me that much, too bad." Morgana made a single movement that threw the demon on the ground and she approached him, pulling a red blade from her pocket that she would use to kill him. The demon tried to fight the chains, struggling, forcing its wings to work to get him out of there. But the girl kicked him in the face and commanded the chains to hold him more tightly. Toby flinched when he heard the sound of more bones being broken. "You had to be a low level one, it smells like sulfur. Shame on you, someone of your level would never be able to kill me." And then she sank the blade into the demon's chest. More blood flowed as she stabbed again and again, feeling it tremble beneath her small body, laughing when she saw life abandon the weak entity.

Toby yelled after her that he was dead, but she only stopped stabbing him when he was reduced to an unrecognizable mass of flesh. The white dress she wore was black, filled with demonic blood. She looked down at her hands with something akin to curiosity, then she looked down at the body and for a moment she couldn't make out anything that had happened there. "Fuck, this shit is scary every time. Morg, you...?"

"I'm fine, silly." She returned the chains back into her hands as she grunted in pain, the next moment her palms were intact as if they had never been injured. She got up quickly, muttering aggressively that she would have to find another demon now that she couldn't take the one she'd just killed, so she stepped away from the dead body and looked around. The sun wasn't even close to rising yet and she had plenty of time, but she also knew that failing couldn't be an option. Not this time. She has seen what happened to those who failed and it was something much worse than what happened to that demon at her feet. There were so many limbs and guts out of a body while her lord was using poisons and having fun, she didn't even need an anatomy book to tell the difference between a lung and a tibia. She wouldn't be next - between failing here and being next, she could freeze to death.

"You went into a trance again." Toby sighed, if he was alive he would probably be shaking. "Are you wondering about your next target?" Morgana nodded.

"Far away. About forty meters. But they are powerful." Toby tried to concentrate to find out something else, but he didn't have much to feel. They were powerful entities without a doubt, if they were strong to face the girl or not he did not know and did not want to know, he wanted her to run away. But there was only a little he could force her to do. The ghost watched as she seemed to consider whether she was going after them or not, but stopped walking before she could state her thoughts. There was a dismembered body in front of them. The head was tied to a tree as if it were a sinister pinata, a wide smile from cheek to cheek still frozen on the face. Blood dripping still. It was recent. She gasped and tried to walk away, but she felt something hot and hard on her feet that made her stop. Something that the faint light of the moon illuminated very well, she stepped on top of the corpse's guts.

"All this for what, I wonder sometimes. So many dead children, so many tormented spirits. If the fate had been different they could have been happy away from this misery." Toby whispered so quietly that even a breeze made more noise. He tried to pull her away, despite being cruelly reminded that he couldn't touch her. He was just a lost voice over others inside his own sister's head, so he did what he could. He caught her eye and pointed to a safe place.

"Because they are all too cowardly to fight for what they want, so they train us and use us," Morgana shivered with rage when tears came to her eyes, her fist closed on the blade that was just used in the poor devil's murder. "We are weapons in a war that we do not even know when it will happen. But it will be all right because I will destroy Cosmos and free all who still live, even if I die trying, I will drag those motherfuckers to hell with me!"

"Oh, now you're talking like yourself, good little girl." She felt the speck of happiness in the ghost's voice, even with all the sarcasm he dripped from each syllable. "Morgana, the girl who wanted to save the witches. Sounds like a good title for a biography." Toby continued to tease.

"I won't save them, wizards, humans, they both always think they're above everyone else. I'm just going to free them and then go home. Or what's left of our house. They can handle their problems on their own." Morgana sighed, crouching for a moment in the mud to undo an exploding trap. She eyed the device curiously before standing up and following the ghost further into the forest. The trees gave way to a brighter place, a snowy field opened up for them. A frozen river was mere steps ahead, their reflection was reflected under the stars and moon. There, the girl almost looked livid. A confirmation that her dead brother really was by her side - not that she didn't know it, but she thought she was crazy after everything she'd been through there.

"What are you going to do?" Toby asked, floating around her. She shrugged with a cynical laugh.

"I have all the information to destroy them, but I need time and resources," She explained taking a big breath to try to warm up, but she failed and she shivered. "We will complete this ridiculous task and we will go back to the base."

"Or you can open a..." Toby tried to dissuade her like an annoying good brother, but he stopped in mid-sentence and turned with confusion hovering over his face. And for the first time he was serious. If he could go pale with fear, he would surely be now. Although he was tired of running around, protecting the girl, he knew that every year was the same thing. But as he said hours earlier, her lord had summoned stronger demons this year. And the ghost felt three of them behind them at that moment. The same ones he didn't know if his sister would be able to defeat.

He pointed out to Morgana that she should start walking slowly and quietly to get as far away from the hiding demons as possible. Stumbling and almost slipping, Toby pushed his human and hoped that no one would appear. To his displeasure, Morgana started sneezing and coughing up blood again, he felt her magic get out of control and he cursed himself for letting her drink that strange pill the old man had given her. A lot of things could go wrong, but he really hoped nothing would happen now. The bushes moved and branches broke, and when Toby looked around there were three demons staring at Morgana with a desire to take her soul. The young girl was on the verge of a breakdown and he knew that her magic would be as unstable as every other time that she drank that pill.

"Can i do this?" He heard his sister swear in pain. "Do it, brother."

 He looked at her before taking possession of her body as he had already done before. The cold she felt, he felt. The feelings and thoughts she had were his now. And with that, he moved his hands very quickly when he realized that the demons were approaching and surrounding them quickly. A great barrier separated them and prevented them from attacking it. It was weak and so he started running while he still had time, looking for a place he could use to keep his sister's body warm and safe until he thought of something.

"Bloody hell, what a shit situation, Morg!" Toby grunted, but now in a hoarse and dragged tone. He did not know how long he looked for shelter or how much time he spent running, but he knew that the presences were approaching again and this time much more aggressive. He heard the murmurs of disdain and sarcasm, and he feared for his sister's life. He saw the horns slowly came out of their heads, small and sharp, twisted to the sides and long black wings with emaciated feathers punctuating out of their backs.

'We are going to die!', Toby thought, no longer able to continue. 'This is all B's fault!'

"Look, Apoliom, Belial! Such a brilliant soul. Will you want to?" One of the demons commented to his friends in a tone of immense mockery, lifting the girl by her white hair and smiling when she struggled to get out of his grip. Unsuccessfully. Toby tried to use the chains, but the most that came out of the palms of Morgana's hands was smoke. And it made the demons laugh hysterically.

"If you're going to eat her soul, do it soon. We have to go back sooner or we are going to have problems." Apoliom murmured with great disinterest in the situation, but he wanted to know how someone so young had a soul as brilliant as those. "We're already full." Belial shrugged. "Hurry up!"

The demon's face seemed to melt like candle wax, revealing a hideous face of muscle, and his eyes went the blackest shade Toby had ever seen. He leaned forward, encouraged by the other two friends who had already satisfied their hunger, he opened his mouth ready to suck Morgana's soul, and if Toby still had one, his too.

But a very bright light suddenly blinded all the demons. It was hot. Intense. Angry and calm in the same proportion. There were screams of pain and curses thrown at random, but the light just kept expanding and expanding. And a flood of warm feelings went through the ghost's chest and he knew that this sensation reached Morgana somewhere in her tired mind, he felt that she fell into a deep sleep, warmed by that light. Her body finally fell, but not in the snow. In a pair of firm and gentle arms that lifted the small body. The demons were forgotten, expelled, although not even Toby was able to remain lucid for a long time, visibly affected by using possession for so long.

"The only survivor, we are going to take her with us, Barbatos."

[the-official-account]

June something 9

Drop the cast of a fandom you follow into a reality tv show - who/what/why?

HALLOWOODS THE BACHELOR.

None of the plot changes but Hector is the bachelor because he may be the objectively hottest dude. It's the motorcycle. Everyone else is there, still set in the hallowoods, but aware they're in the show because who's to judge his tastes? That isn't to say they're willingly in the show. Violey and Byrne hate everything about it.

Haha funnies include:

Hector meets mort and tells him the hovering Botco camera wants so see them pair up. Morts gets all excited like "so you'll be my friend? And Hector's like "...Yeah bud. Sure."

Hector and Walt have a painful awkward silence that last for ten full minutes

Percy ghost-zaps all the cameras or something & diggory remains largely unaware this is happening

Solomon thinks this is a holy heterosexual endeavor for the first bit

50% of nikignik's appearances are in the form of them giving bad reviews

Honestly just a running gag of every woman meeting Hector and going "*cocks gun* No." And he throws his hands up and goes IM NOT INTERESTED!

Polly's "if I flirt with him for five minutes will you let me DO MY WORK IN PEACE?" Additude.

This joke does fall apart if Hector is bi and im very sorry if he is cause I'm not caught up & not assuming, but for shits & giggles.

Hector immediately hones in on Jonah and no pairings change. It's just Lady Ethel pulling her hair out over how all her romantic drama keeps turning into supernatural drama. All the roses die in transport.

(Riot, Clara, and Olivier are not participants ofc but they do run a meme account about this.)

[deepfriedtwinkie]

Why do you think Mike/Paige is so popular? Why do you think Gareth/Laurel isn't so popular? Songs that remind you of Dimitri/Anya? Favorite AU's for Enjoltaire? Rant about Hollstein (or one of your choice if you can't). What's a meme/quote that reminds you of Rogan and/or Java Junkies?

(see, THIS shit is why you’re my favorite human)

Why do you think Mike/Paige is so popular?

Probably because they look like Apollo and Aphrodite, tbh, b/c we all know that It’s Okay To Ignore Toxic Relationships If Hot—and because of the Fake-Ass Feminist™ idea that abusive women aren’t actually abusive at all, they’re ~EMPOWERED~ and men can never be victims ever. Like nooooooo, Paige was a BADASS for her (tunnelvisioned) commitment to those (ten, not hundreds of) girls, and for calling Mike on his lie about Lina (that her tunnelvision forced him into), and for holding him accountable (by extremely literally ordering a hit on him that was successful because he flatlined). All the times she hit, threatened, or belittled him was just Girl Power!! Like, yeah, what a badass woman, Bitches Get Shit Done, yup, sure. Or mAYBE FLIP THIS AROUND AND IMAGINE PAIGE AS A MAN AND MIKE AS A WOMAN AND THEN GET PROPERLY OUTRAGED BECAUSE OF ALL THE CLEAR AND PRESENT ABUSE, YOU USED NAPKINS—THE POINT IS, Aaron and Serinda are both unfairly pretty humans, and there are lots of “feminists” who actually don’t get the fucking point at all. Hence “Paige is a badass who’s SORRY for murdering him, murder means I love you!! Can they make out for my benefit now??”

Why do you think Gareth/Laurel isn’t so popular?

Political oversaturation. BrainDead had AWFUL timing; I know they were trying to CAPITALIZE on 2016′s hyperpolitical climate, but people were already fucking exhausted by reality. Plus come on, we ALL know how hard it is in REAL life for a liberal and a conservative to ACTUALLY get along. There’s eventually gonna be some shit you can’t agree on and can’t forgive and then the whole illusion of compatibility shatters, ’cause hi, that shit MEANS something for a reason. It’s pretty fundamental in like…everything. So sure, it makes a pretty great fantasy (especially with this I mean holy Jesus fuck), but at the end of the day, you either have to hope that Gareth’s eyes opened to more issues and he switched sides after some time, or expect that you’d eventually want to punch his pretty, pretty face in (and public faith in conservatives is rightfully so low that let’s be real, it probably wasn’t gonna be the former). It’s a lot harder to ship something that relies on headcanoning that half the ship will eventually change in order to make it last. THIS IS WHY I WILL ALWAYS WANT A SPINOFF WHERE THEY BOTH ABANDON POLITICS, TRAVEL THE COUNTRY AND GET A DOG

Songs that remind you of Dimitri/Anya?

OH GOD, first of all, “At The Beginning” and the rest of the soundtrack is just obvious (and I mean the MOVIE soundtrack because I’m sorry, I HATE that they scrapped the kitchen boy thing in the musical, THAT WAS THE ENTIRE SIGNIFICANCE AND FOUNDATION BEHIND THEIR RECONNECTION, THEY COULD HAVE MADE IT WORK EVEN WITH MORE REALISM, AND WHO REMEMBERS A FUCKING GLANCE FROM CHILDHOOD? IT’S SO RANDOM AND CONTRIVED, so for ME the Broadway version is NOT actually the couple I fell in love with and I’m mad at it, HE WAS THE BOY WHO OPENED THE WALL, DAMMIT, HE COULD’VE OPENED THE WALL OF THE IPATIEV HOUSE TOO, BUT ANYWAY, THE POINT IS I MEAN THE MOVIE). “La Vie En Rose” (Edith Piaf) is a Big Vibe one. “Your Mother Should Know” (The Beatles) always makes me think of them post!movie for some reason, especially b/c I used to write a ton of fanfic about them raising kids and whatnot, and I dunno, the past/family vibes….and it’s kinda silly, maybe, but “The Ballad of John and Yoko” (The Beatles) fit them post!movie really well for me b/c I always imagined them traveling all over the world together, and the song’s kinda part fun, part escaping persecution…. Basically anything romantic got my brain back on them for a while there…. Oh, and “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known” (The White Stripes), which sounds weird on the surface, but….You fell down of course / And then you got up of course / And started over / Forgot my name of course / Then you started to remember / Pretty tough to think about / The beginning of December….??? COME ON. And I know I’m probably forgetting some.

Favorite AUs for Enjoltaire?

I am a hugantic ginormic sucker for the very popular Modern College Activist Group one. More specifically, where Grantaire first joined Les Amis because he passed by a meeting during his freshman year and heard Enjolras speaking and it set his soul on fucking fire, and he proceeded to sit in the back and sketch and heckle for a year or two until the day came where Enjolras was arrested during a protest and Grantaire tagged the cop’s car with spraypaint so that they’d arrest him too, so Enjolras wouldn’t have to go alone, *loud obvious cough,* and then in their jail cell, before ’Ferre could pay bail, Enjolras asked Grantaire why he did it, and Grantaire confessed and Enjolras kissed him, and they became their friends’ frustratingly adorable OTP. And Enjolras is emancipated from his rich, shitty, homophobic adoptive parents, but has tapes and diaries from his lovely birth mother who died, and SURPRISE, his birth father is Javert, who slowly learns to come around, see the error of his black-and-white ways, and accept, defend, and even love his son, and punches Enj’s shitty adoptive father in the face. And Enj becomes a civil rights attorney, with guidance from Javert, and R becomes a legit commissioned artist, and they eventually adopt a little girl who was born into addiction, name her Emmeline, and Javert is a shockingly good grandpa/babysitter and eVERYONE IS STILL ALIVE. (YOU ofc go here also and didn’t need me to describe all this, but I figured I’d get detailed for all two and a half people playing along at home)

Rant about Hollstein (or one of your choice if you can’t):

OKAY, WE ARE JUST SO LUCKY THAT THEY ARE STILL/EVEN A COUPLE, THOUGH. THERE IS SO MUCH “HOLY SHIT” IN THIS THING. FIRST OF ALL, THE FACT THAT LAURA EVEN WENT “YOU KNOW WHAT, I THINK I LOVE THIS CONFIRMED VAMPIRE” IN THE FIRST PLACE. LET IT NEVER BE SAID THAT LAURA HOLLIS DOES NOT HAVE COJONES. SECOND OF ALL, THE FACT THAT CARMILLA WAS SO JADED AND YET STILL FOUND THE ABILITY TO FORGIVE LAURA FOR GETTING MATTIE, HER SISTER OF LIKE NINE BILLION YEARS, LITERALLY KILLED. I TOTALLY EXPECTED THAT TO NEVER GET FIXED BECAUSE FUCKING HELL. THIRD OF ALL, LAURA LITERALLY DIED, OKAY, LIKE STOPPED LIVING. THAT’S GENERALLY JUST SLIGHTLY HARD TO REBOUND FROM. THE FACT THAT THEY EVER BECAME A THING OR EVEN SURVIVED THAT SERIES AT ALL IS JUST, YEAH, OKAY, YOU NEED TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER, BECAUSE IF NONE OF THAT SHIT STOPPED YOU, CLEARLY SOMEBODY FUCKING LIKES YOU OUT THERE.

What’s a meme/quote that reminds you of Rogan or Java Junkies?

I literally can not think of a meme that has reminded me of a ship ever. There aren’t any literary quotes or anything that spring to mind either, but the first quote from the SHOW that I associate with Rogan is “Jerk, ass, arrogant, inconsiderate, mindless, frat boy, lowlife, butt-faced miscreant!” (which isn’t the most romantic but dammit if I don’t grin like a monkey every time), and the one I associate most with Luke and Lorelai is “I just want you to know, this thing we’re doing here? Me? You? I’m in…. I am all in.” 

(HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AN EMOTIONAL RIDE, I FEEL LIKE I JUST RAN A MILE)