#why does no one care for Carson. why

[mrburnsnuclearpussy]

I’m making myself feel sick by getting sad about Carson

[cantstoptheimagines]

Their Reaction to You Losing an Eye

Summary — Preferences for Atreus, Kratos, and Thor from God of War!

Requested by @nickeverdeen — Hey there! Can I please ask for hcs with either God Of War or Horizon Zero Dawn characters with a reader who lost their eye and is insecure about it? If for God Of War then pls hcs with: Kratos, Atreus (older or young is up to you) If Horizon Zero Dawn then pls hcs with: Aloy, Talanah (you don’t have to do Talanah if you don’t wanna) Also pls let me know if you’re uncomfortable with the request Take time and care about yourself ❤️

Warnings & Other Tags ➳ Depictions, discussions, and mentions of severe injuries (losing an eye, fainting as a result of pain); canon-typical violence; envisioned Ragnarök!Atreus for this work; I tossed Thor into this request because he’s my husband.

Notes ➳ Word Count is 433. ➳ Reader is gender neutral (they/them). ➳ I recently met T.C. Carson, who was the original voice for Kratos in the God of War series, after which I ran to write this request (even though it’s intended for Christopher Judge’s version)!

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atreus

in all honesty, he wouldn’t quite know how to act. his emotions would be all over the place, tears streaming down his face as his father and freya tried to help you. the coverings on your face are soaked in your own blood. “don’t leave,” muttered atreus. he finds himself kneeling by your side as he pleads with you, one of your weak hands held tightly in both of his, “please don’t go.” but his newly discovered godly abilities are still out of sorts. his sadness quickly shifts to anger at those who caused you harm. his wrath is unlike anything the world has ever seen. he won’t stop until you, his dearest companion, is properly avenged, so don’t be surprised if he returns with your attacker’s head.

kratos

this man does not hesitate. in mere seconds, kratos is lifting you into his arms and calling out for someone, anyone, who can help. he avoids looking at the blood that decorates the place where your eye should be. “i lost faye,” he mutters. “i won’t let you go as well. stay awake!” everything is a blur. whatever vision you have left is slowly turning to gray as a sudden wave of tiredness overtakes your body. the pain of it all is settling deep into your bones. as kratos’s muffled voice calls out for you in a panicked tone, you allow unconsciousness to take over, and the world finally fades into darkness.

thor

he breathes heavily, staring down at heimdall with such rage that the golden-eyed god realized he was experiencing fear for possibly the first time in his life. a gentle touch on his arm, however, tears thor’s focus away from his father’s devotee. his eyes drop to the deep scar on your face — a new habit he’d developed recently — before they drifted to meet your lone eye. heimdall scurries away at the same time thor’s fingertips graze your cheek.  “why do you keep me from tearing him apart?” whispered thor. “he needs to be punished for what he’s done to you.” a sharp inhale came from him when your touch caressed his strong chest, exactly where his heart lay beneath his skin. he was quick to let his rough palm overlap your gentle hand. “heimdall is a fool,” you replied in the same quiet tone he had been using. “why waste your days threatening him when you could be with me instead? his punishment will come when the time is right.” he was only convinced when you pressed a kiss to the back of his hand. perhaps, for now, he could set revenge aside.

[murmiss]

Headcanons about Yandere Simulator!COD.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

Warning: mention of suicide, mention of alcohol, drugs, mental problems, possibly traumatic moments, etc. My personal vision of the character. OOC?

I think he's perfect for the role of Yandere.

His childhood was disgustingly shitty, and you can't blame him for that.

Born into a dysfunctional family, Simon was doomed to a hard life from childhood. His father was a drunk, a bloody alcoholic who prided himself on being able to drink for weeks and stay on his feet. A dirty man, with filthy and sadistic tendencies taken out on those closest to him. A freak who broke everyone he knew, trampling on his own son, turning the poor child into an unwilling broken doll.

Simon remembered those lonely nights in the old shed next to the house, cluttered with trash and rusty tools, like it was yesterday. The cold wind blew through the cracks between the boards, leaving goosebumps on Simon's skin and forcing him to pull his legs tighter together, curling up in a ball to keep warm. A night in the old barn was Mr. Riley's favorite punishment, a man crashing home after another rave binge to find out his son had gotten an F in school? Late for first period? Or maybe spent his pocket money on some silly comic book? - no matter what, Simon will fly instantly to the Locked Shed. No matter what happened, Simon was always drawn to his older brother, who, unfortunately, wasn't as good as his younger brother would have liked. Tommy was a jerk, that bad boy in high school who publicly cursed the teacher, broke the toilet faucet, and did stupid things. But the dumbest thing in Tommy's life was drugs - this jerk decided to prove once again to everyone that he was cool, not realizing that very soon this addiction would consume him, like everyone else who once got addicted. And Simon hovered between two fires, like a child dreaming of a normal family, like a son who had never seen his father smile and never heard praise. And the mother? Mrs. Riley-a dandelion of God, withering rapidly in her husband's dirty hands. She was a beautiful woman, the only person in that family who cared about Simon, and he loved her immensely, and still does. Mrs. Riley died when Simon was 14. It was a cold Sunday morning when a loud gunshot rang out, waking Simon from his sleep. Feeling an animal fear, he rushed to the sound, recognizing a sight that forever shattered his poor mind. On September 6, Mrs. Riley shot herself in the temple.Haunted by her husband's nightmares and torture, she couldn't take any more of this abusive behavior, couldn't watch her firstborn wither under drugs, couldn't see Simon hurt.But her act didn't make it better, hell, that kind of thing never makes anything better. After that day, Simon withdrew more than ever. Hitting his father was nothing, hunger was nothing, being forced to kiss a poisonous snake was a challenge.

Simon grew up, and with it grew his hatred and repressed aggression towards his father.One day in a club Simon watched his father attack a poor girl. She simply refused to spend the night with him and the drunkard, not confused, began to beat her as if he were a wrestler in the ring Simon could not do anything, just as he could not save his mother, stop his father's beatings or convince Tommy that drugs are evil. And he didn't understand why his father wasn't in jail. They'd find the girl, but when they did, no one would really care what happened. The freak always gets away with it.

After the death of his mother, Simon was forced to work part-time at the local machine shop. Old man Carson was happy to help the neighbor boy, so he took him into his shop as an assistant without any questions or demands. Yes, and Simon was a handy and understanding guy.

Simon started out washing cars, and after working like that for half a year, he was promoted to Carson's apprentice: the old man explained and taught the boy mechanics, letting him stay up late reading books about cars.

The old man was able to replace Simon's father, teaching the teenager simple things necessary for basic survival. For example, Simon, at 16, learned how to fix some appliances and how to use tools. But Mrs. Carson had already taught Simon cooking, laundry, and household chores, and he, as a bright boy, grasped everything on the fly. Simon noticed Mr. and Mrs. Carson had a son, which they never had, for unfortunately Paula Carson was barren.

Simon lived as a two-family household, mostly spending his days at his mentor's house, but when his father began to rage and throw himself at the neighbor's door, Simon would return, falling asleep again in his little room.

The work in the workshop brought quite a good income and Simon, having entered the desired college, was even able to rent a small apartment on the outskirts of the city, and finally moved out of his home, so as not to see this den, and not to put, in Simon's opinion, the family of his mentor in danger.

The old man Carson told him fatherly: "Simon, you'll be happy when you find love. Simon thought so, but he couldn't imagine what that love looked like. He couldn't believe it would happen someday, not just pass him by like it always did.

But one day that day has come. First day of college, Simon is walking toward the auditorium when a stranger suddenly sweeps him off his feet like a small tornado. It was just a moment when he looked into your eyes-- He felt like he was going to drown in them. The way your eyelashes fluttered as you stood there, rubbing your forehead after the blow and babbling something, was in his head. From that day on, he couldn't imagine his life if you weren't there for him.

"Finally, I'll be happy."

But is this how it's going to be? Simon can't contain his anger at seeing you talking sweetly to some cocky kid in the back of the class. And the voice in Simon's head whispered sweetly: "eliminate."

[mushroom-through-the-stargate]

sga headcanon time bc I can't sleep

Elizabeth does things differently. the sgc was, in a word, institutional. there were strict regulations that she very quickly realized would not work in the Pegasus galaxy. so she changed them slowly.

she noticed that most of the scientists would get caught up in what they were doing and work through their breaks and shift ends, so she set up intercom reminders for mealtimes and breaks. she heard some of the crew complaining about how uncomfortable the uniforms were, and frankly she didn't care much for them either, so she slowly made the rules more lax from letting people wear graphic tees under the jackets to comfortable shoes until eventually no one was wearing the uniforms. she allowed for adaptive reports, and recreational experiments, and sure why shouldn't the physicists turn that empty corridor into a bowling alley.

but, most importantly, she changed how they viewed her. with the SGC being a military operation, so many of her people worshipped at the alter of the chain of command. and you know what they say - it's lonely at the top. Elizabeth wanted them to treat her like an equal, a friend, one of them; to be able to come to her with anything. she wasn't some sovereign ruling over them from her glass office, she was a member of this expedition just like all of them. John, Rodney, Carson, and Teyla all treated her like a friend, and she loved that feeling so much she wanted the rest of them to treat her that way. and by making her office a safe place, it didn't take long for that to happen.

[changingplumbob]

New Goth: Chapter 4, Part 12

The week wraps up!

James: How did it go

Ariadne: *sighs* not great. The principal made me feel small, the teacher sprung exams on me and some girl made fun of my hair

Milton: I think your hair is pretty

James: I taught a lot of teens. Often they will pick something random to make fun of, something that isn’t actually bad, they just make you think it is. Did you do your hair yourself

Ariadne: *quietly* Just the colour. I went to a proper place to get it cut

James: We can get you a salon appointment to maintain the colour if you like but do it for you, not because some girl had an issue. If you like to dye it yourself, keep doing it

Ariadne: Thanks James. Oh and I met Carson, he seemed nice

James: Harvey’s youngest? I haven’t met him myself but I’ve met the next oldest. The brothers don’t get along from what I hear but the family are nature loving so he could be a good friend option

Ariadne: I hope you don’t mind but I invited some kids over after dinner. Hopefully they can be friend options to

James: This is your home, invite over all the friend options you want

Milton: Good thing you didn’t invite them before dinner

Ariadne: Why

Alexander: I’m home! Did you tell her?

James: Ah. Well we want to properly welcome you so Alexander’s sister and her family will be coming for dinner

Ariadne: For me?

Alexander: Of course, you’re important

After a quick small family photo the Chopra’s arrive and Ariadne has a chance to meet them all.

Cassandra: And my youngest is Viola, she’s still learning to talk

Ariadne: Hi there

Viola: *shyly* hi

Alexander: Care to help me cook Rahul

Rahul: Of course, I brought some herbs I think would be good in the pasta

Viola: Ari… up?

Cassandra: Don’t feel like you have to play with her, she’s a bit wild

Ariadne: I don’t mind. Come on Viola, let’s have fun

Savannah: See Milton, you’re meant to treat us like that

Milton: You’re meant to treat Viola like that

Mercedes: *sighs* shut up

James: Do you think it’s twins again

Cassandra: I don’t know, I’m definitely getting stronger symptoms than the last pregnancy

Ariadne: Are you excited for another sibling Viola

Viola: Ye ye

Cassandra: She’s always- ohhhh

Alexander: Are you okay sis? Is it the pregnancy

Cassandra: Kind of…

Rahul: *chuckles* I know that kind of

Alexander: What does it mean

Rahul: Do you feel too nauseous to have the pasta sauce darling?

Cassandra: *sighs* Sorry

Rahul assures her it's fine and talk turns to an alternative dinner plan.

Ariadne: The spice festival is on, do you think you could eat something from there

James: Good idea. How about we go out instead?

Twins: YES

Everyone manages to find something they can swallow at the festival even if the lighting is being stupid! Looks like Devin is gracing us with her presence and a performance!!! No one tell her my lighting is this bad. The lack of proper light does send us home pretty quickly though. Ariadne has invited some kids from school after all and Joey is going to come for a game or two.

Scarlett: Damn girl your house is massive

Ariadne: What can I say? Rich parent perks

Rodger: My household is the same size as yours, cats included, and we live in a relative shoebox

Ariadne: Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come across as-

Rodger: It’s fine. Everywhere is a shoebox compared to this place

Ariadne: You’re not utterly disappointed in me?

Scarlett: *laughs* Nope. Girl I'd brag about it to

Rodger: What can I say? You give us something to aspire to

The trio burst out laughing and Ariadne feels like she could finally be making some friends.

Joey: Zooming by on your left

Alexander: Hey that was an illegal driving move

Milton: Alexander, there’s no illegal driving moves in this game

James: Hurry up love, I’m going to lap you soon

Alexander: I don’t get how you’re all so good at this

Joey: Practice and technical know how. Hey, who threw that banana?

James: It was Milton

Milton: It was not me, Uncle James is lying

Joey: It’s okay Milton, I believe you

James and Milton leave once the game is over and Alexander takes the opportunity to talk to Joey.

Alexander: You know how James and I have adopted Ariadne?

Joey: I haven’t got a proper introduction but yeah

Alexander: I need to know you won’t sleep with her

Joey: Dude! She’s a teenager. I like to screw but I don’t have a screw loose

Alexander: I know but she won’t always be 13 and I don’t need you laying on your charm and breaking her heart, ever. No matter how hot she may grow up to be, don’t sleep with my daughter

Joey: What if she makes a move on me once she ages up? You know boobs distract me

Alexander: You drag your eyes up and say, no thank you, your dad is one of my best friends and I will not cross that line

Joey: Agreed, I’m never going to sleep with any kid of yours... I did want to woohoo your mum though

Alexander: *laughs* I knew it!

With Joey heading home Alexander goes and makes sure Milton is heading to bed. Milton is actually busy talking to his friends online though…

Alexander: Come on, bedtime. How are you getting on with Mum’s journals

Milton: *sighs* fine. I wish she was here to tell me abut her life instead of me needing to read it

Alexander: I miss her to Milton, every day

Milton: You don’t think she’d be mad I’m reading them do you?

Alexander does his best to assure Milton it’s fine and get the boy to sleep. In her room Ariadne has said goodbye to her visitors and is trying her luck at the flower arranging table. She planted some but has quite a few left over to play around with.

Alexander: So Mr Dad how are you doing

James: *chuckling* I’m good, really good. Ariadne seems to be settling in although she had a rough day at school

Alexander: She told you that? That's not great but I guess that’s better than lying to our faces. We should do something this weekend to cheer her up

James: Did you have something in mind

Alexander: She’s a teen girl so… shopping?

James: Do you just want to go shopping

Alexander: *laughs* Maybe, but her being honest with us should be rewarded right?

James: You are going to be a much better dad than you think love

The household falls into slumber and we leave them for now.

Previous ... Next (Villareal)

[sga-owns-my-soul]

Fic Idea Adoption!

i have way too many ideas for fics and i know i won't ever get around to writing them all so i'm putting some ideas up for adoption!! i may or may not write these eventually, but they're too good of ideas to leave sitting in my notes app forever, so i'm releasing them to the void! anyone and everyone is welcome to use them, and feel free to be as ambiguous with the prompts as you want! no particular order but nsfw ideas are at the bottom for anyone who wants to avoid them!

(if you do use any of these, i would love to read the fic!! you definitely do not have to but please feel free to send me anything you write off this list!!)

-john takes rodney to earths moon

-john and rodney find the ancient equivalent of speed. they do Everything

-au where ronon gets earth to repeal dadt bc john tells him it's why he can't be with rodney and ronon goes I Must Fix This (he enlists teyla and lorne and maybe cadman)

-rodney asks ronon to go with john to earth (outcast coda)

-rodney goes on bill nye saves the world after stargate declassification

-evans biggest fear is having to shoot john (and maybe getting a promotion bc of it?) and john finds out

-rodney’s ‘torture too hideous and intimate to recount’ is him being tortured, just for them to realize that torturing his team is a better way to break him

-teyla living out ‘the chosen one’ trope

-what happens to sora after the eye

-au where meredith(female!rodney) comes to atlantis instead of rod and not only is rodney horribly disturbed, he’s furious (and strangely confused) as to why everyone apparently likes him more as a woman

-todd is weirdly obsessed with this strange human he meets, and is determined to get closer to him

-the team is most excited about catching up with todd when they get the confirmation atlantis is going back to pegasus

-everyone complains about rodney’s moods bc no one can complain about the infinitely worse in every way sheppard bad moods, that make everyone on the base wish they were on a hive ship being eaten by two wraith at once

-au where ronon ends up on athos at the same time the wraith come and he sneaks through the gate with the intention of just sneaking away on the next planet but whoops it’s atlantis (ronon pov)

-rodney keeps a memorial for every single scientist lost in his lab and radek shows it to new scientists who start complaining about rodney not caring and risking their lives

-reaper au where’s he’s fed the fuck up with these two stupid men who never actually die when they’re supposed to and it’s more annoying than anything now bc he still needs to show up

-au carson comes to atlantis and is HORRIFIED by becketts retrovirus research and the hoffan drug bc “does the hippocratic oath mean NOTHING here???”

-au where rodney can’t admit to himself what john means to him, until something happens that brings all the alternate rodney’s that have lost their johns to atlantis, and they all fall apart when they see john alive, and john and rodney have to have a Conversation (mcshep? maybe ambiguous? idk yet)

-rodney sees john as three separate entities: the Colonel, who is Professional Important Official Man; sheppard, who is his friend/team lead that he hangs out with and goes on missions with; and john, who he’s always seeming to have very intimate moments with that make him question a lot of how he feels

-early days in the city, elizabeth is sick of the marines shitting on the scientists for not being tough and the scientists for shitting on the marines for not being smart so she makes them try to solve a fake crisis from the other side and everyone is like aww shit this is harder than it looks

-that thing where tough men pretend they don’t care much about someone but then the person gets hurt and Tough Guy go a little feral and then holds them close and whisper pet names (sweetheart, baby, darling, etc) but it’s john and/or ronon after rodney gets injured

-the more important something is to john, the harder it is for him to talk about it, and rodney starts to realize how hard it is for john to talk about what rodney means to him

-a bunch of au sheppards get brought to atlantis and one on them is terrified of flying

-rodney has always said biology was beneath him, but then ford almost died, and was… different, from the wraith. and rodney knew he had to find a way to help ford, maybe find a way to fix his mental problems while keeping the physical benefits. rodney and carson find a way to save ford and sheppard is so thankful he kisses them both

nsfw ideas:

-ronon suggests some planets for trading when they get low on supplies that have an interesting trade system. it seems too good to be true and they wonder why telya hasn't taken them until they find out that they trade goods for sex

-au where john is hired as a spy for atlantis and he seduces people in pegasus to get intel for the city

-sometimes rodney just grabs john (by the hair, throat, back of the neck, chin, etc) and asks who he belongs to and john instantly melts

-rodney decides to be a tease on a mission and teyla and ronon think mckay is just really pissing sheppard off when he pulls mckay away for “privacy” but really he’s just super horny and wants to fuck (or, teyla and ronon don’t realize that their fighting is foreplay)

[jondrettegirls]

[ID: 8 quotes and 2 pieces of art. The quotes read as follows, 1: “‘You’re all I’ve got now,’ he added, ‘Let’s be off. I’ve come to you. We’re cursed together, so let’s take the road together!’ / His eyes were glittering. ‘Like a man insane!’ Sonya thought, in her turn.” 2: “Orestes- Our cause is lost. / Pylades- Then I’m lost too. Friends share such things.” 3: “Why do you wave me off? You fear to pollute me? I don’t care about that. I’ll share your bad luck, I shared your good luck once.” 4: “‘I mean, look: there you go crying and putting your arms round me again - well, why are you doing that? Because I couldn’t hold out on my own and went running off to someone else in order to unburden myself: ‘You suffer too, and then I’ll feel better!’ And you can love a villain like that?’ / ‘But you are suffering, aren’t you?’ Sonya cried.” 5: “Orestes- O my poor man! My troubles are really your troubles, it seems. / Pylades- But I’m no Menelaos. I can bear this.” 6: “Orestes- Oh girl. How I pity the dark life you live. / Elektra- No one else has ever pitied me, you know. / Orestes- No one has ever been part of you grief.” 7: “Theseus- Why does he hide his head in his robe? / Amphitryon- Shame before you eyes. Shame before your kinship. Shame for the blood of his sons. / Theseus- But if I came to share his grief? Uncover him.” 8: “‘You’re a strange one, Sonya,’ he said. ‘You out your arms round me and kiss me after I’ve told you a thing like that. You don’t know what you’re about.’ / ‘There’s no one, no one in the world more unhappy than you are now,’ she exclaimed in a kind of frenzy, oblivious.” The pieces of art are as follows, 1: A painting of two vague, human figures, done in cool colors. They are embracing. 2: 3 human figures in a misty, expressive scene. They are closeby each other, perhaps walking together. End ID.]

“We’re Cursed Together” | Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky | An Oresteia - Aeschylus, Sophokles, Euripides (Tr. Anne Carson) | Herakles - Euripides (Tr. Anne Carson) | Massage - Elizabeth Glaessner | Medicine - Mary Herbert

[dedkake]

SGA Fanworks Only Holiday Gift Exchange 2023

A day you won’t forget by scifi_dancer | g, 2.4k, rodney / john

The prompt I used describes it well: "Nothing goes right - until it does."

A Little Christmas Chaos by WonkyElk | t, 3k, rodney / john

The Cheer Committee nodded in solemn and united agreement. In principle, of course, they agreed that ‘absolutely hosed’ was not the ideal state for a large proportion of the expedition to be in, at any one time, Christmas or not; but that didn’t stop them feeling that the punch could do with being just a smidgen merrier. For morale purposes. Which was why each of them, separately, decided to add just the tiniest amount of extra cheer to the punch.

Big enough to miss by Mas_Pebbles_Sharp | t, 3.9k, rodney / john

Missing scenes/coda to The Daedalus Variations: Rodney's injury from alien weapon fire is worse than they at first realised

Elizabeth’s Pet Demon by Tazmy | g, 2.8k, gen

A mini demon ransacks Elizabeth’s quarters. Somehow, it’s cute. It shouldn’t be. It should be wrong, maybe even disturbing.

Finding Limits by halestrom | g, 3.6k, gen

The only thing John could focus on was getting back to Atlantis, getting a team and finding Rodney before Ford's men did anything. Getting back to Atlantis and finding out that Rodney had rescued himself wasn't a surprise, but sitting and watching his still body as Carson tried to figure out what to do was hard. Not just for John, but for all of AR-1.

First Embrace by Cyber_Witch85 | m, 2.8k, carson / evan, rodney / john, evan / john

John Sheppard and Evan Lorne rescue Rodney and Carson from a wraith lair. Carson and Evan explore the beginnings of their relationship as John and Rodney sleep.

Golden Slumbers by cassiope25 | g, 3.8k, rodney / john, team

“You should put more trust in me,” Ronon told her gently. "There's nothing a former runner can't take on.” Ronon is there to care for his team, and they care for him in turn.

Hand in Hand by mific | e, 4.7k, rodney / john

"Yes, yes, we're the talk of the town," Rodney said, eyeing them narrowly. "Run along now and if you're ever on Cambara don't agree to do the damn welcome ritual." "And if you do," Sheppard panted, "don't come last."

His Rodney by Jade | g, 1.5k, gen

It’s not always easy to remember who he is.

I Can Do Anything Better Than You! by Goddess47 | t, 3k, rodney / john

John, the traitor, had lured him to this so-called 'social event' organized by some self-appointed group of Expedition members. There had been a promise of chocolate cake and John had hinted at the possibility of mutual orgasms at the end of the night.

i waited ‘til i saw the sun by LogicGunn | t, 1k, steven / elizabeth

Elizabeth remembers.

I’ll keep you warm by puddlejumperpilot | g, 2k, rodney / john

The sky was darkening and fluffy snowflakes were falling from the sky as Teyla gave her speech, but John was distracted by Rodney shivering violently next to him. John swore under his breath and took off the outer layer of his jacket, wrapping it around Rodney’s shoulders. “You’re from Canada, aren’t you supposed to be immune to the cold?” He hissed under his breath. Rodney shot him a glare. “You know I get cold easily!” He replied in a whisper. “I also know that you do this every year. I’m beginning to think you just like wearing my jacket. You’re lucky I expected this, otherwise I’d just let you freeze!”

Just Peachy by melagan | t, 1.7k, rodney / john

John and Rodney are married and living on Atlantis. They have a rare day off together, but things aren't working out the way Rodney planned.

Lighter Than Air by spurious | g, 2.6k, rodney / john

Visiting a trading partner, the team participate in a winter solstice ritual that's more effective than it might seem.

Like A Shot To The Shoulder (And Other Adventures on MXR-338) by audioletter | g, 2.8k, gen

As far as welcomes go, being shot in the shoulder was not what John considered polite.

Solace by A_Storm_of_Roses | e, 7.2k, teyla / elizabeth

Elizabeth wakes with the hangover of the century and a throbbing elbow. She can’t remember how she got here, or where here even is, though it feels hard and rocky and smells like burning metal. Elizabeth and Teyla take a very long walk, and discover each other.

the snow has drifted high by dedkake | t, 1.7k, rodney / john

Rodney and John watch the New Year's fireworks together, just like they always do.

Wraith Rodney by carsonsweebabyturtles (Erindors) | fanart

This is my Holiday gift for Cassiope25. I kind of gambled at making him a Wraith but I hope you like it anyways 💜

You can’t pin joy like a moth by QueenIshtar | t, 3.7k, john / elizabeth, carson / rodney

Elizabeth knows that you can't pin joy like a moth. It's too fleeting. Joy is the soft fluttering of wings you notice only in the still, silent moments. It's your heartbeat rushing, racing when you laugh; when you feel alive. Joy is not a complete, tangible thing.

[timeagainreviews]

Mining Gold

In his 2012 stand-up special “New In Town,” John Mulaney quipped that he “always thought quicksand was going to be a much bigger problem than it turned out to be.” This sentiment seems to have rung true with people online. Quicksand was such a big deal in media in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Who could forget Westley jumping headlong into quicksand to save Buttercup in “The Princess Bride?” Remember the first time you saved Mario from sinking deep into golden sands? Yet in real life, very little quicksand. While I am sure there are parts of the world that grapple with quicksand, it’s more of a trope than anything. Trapping our heroes allows storytellers to show who these characters are under pressure. While Doctor Who has its share of great escapes, it’s also prone to using capture to pad time. But isn’t that a cynical view? Can’t trapping our heroes also give the narrative a moment to breathe?

Quicksand is the perfect type of trap because it’s a ticking clock that must be treated with attention and care. Characters must slow down and assess their situation. It’s odd then that Doctor Who has never used quicksand in the show proper. But it’s just a placeholder. You could throw someone into the Timelash. The Fourth Doctor had to shoot a rope while standing over a pit of horda. Or again with the Fourth Doctor when he stepped on a landmine. But that last one is different, isn’t it? The horda and Timelash are as real as the Swamp of Sandness and the Bog of Eternal Stench. But landmines are very real. And in some parts of the world, a horrific day-to-day reality.

Returning after a seven-year absence, Steven Moffat brings the Doctor back into the minefield with “Boom.” But unlike Doctor Who’s last episode named after an explosive onomatopoeia, “Kerblam!”, this episode aims to chastise capitalism’s role in atrocity, not give it a free pass. Also making a comeback are a few Moffat staples- Villengard, the Anglican Marines, and stupid children. Each does their part to build a narrative mirroring the current political climate. But have any of Moffat’s less celebrated qualities returned along with him? Will he fall into his own trappings as a writer? Is this trope just padding out time? Or can a bottle episode become an instant classic?

Coming off the heels of last week’s manic “The Devil’s Chord,” the show was due a bit of a breather. While I’m all for bombast it’s nice to know this thing has an off switch. I already saw someone on Instagram who disagrees wholeheartedly. In their words “Boom? More like BORING,” so I imagine this one won’t be popular among dullards and the chronically contrarian crowd. But as an old, I appreciated the slower pacing and the emphasis on emotion. If you need a constant source of laser swords and loud noises, allow me to quote the Third Doctor- “Don't worry, Brigadier. People will be shooting at you soon.” Luckily, Billy No-Mates and his five Instagram followers appear to be in the minority. Most everyone I’ve talked to absolutely loved this episode.

The one issue I’ve seen fans bring up that holds any kind of water has been the conversation around faith. The inclusion of the Anglican Marines introduces a religious angle that some have criticised as preachy and offensive. In the past Moffat has used the Anglicans to various ends. Spanning across two centuries, the Anglicans we’ve met so far have come in numerous forms. Sometimes they’re allies of the Doctor, and at other times, they’re a fanatic organisation hellbent on stopping the Doctor at every turn. This time, however, the Doctor and they cross paths presumably by happenstance. (More on why I say presumably later.) This group of Marines are already in a deep conflict with an elusive enemy, which they appear to be losing. Despite these losses, they keep their faith. But it’s hard to keep faith when your enemy is as invisible as your god.

The two soldiers we’re introduced to are Carson and John Francis Vater. Not as in they’re married like the Fat One and the Thin One couple from “A Good Man Goes To War,” but rather that Carson only gets the one name. As names go, John Francis Vater is akin to purple hair in an anime- total protagonist vibes. Vater even has a daughter named Splice living back on base. He has a cute “save the cat,” moment when he tells Splice to brush her manky teeth. Which is why when he dies, it feels like there’s still more to his story. Unfortunately for Carson, he exists to illustrate the way the Villengard smartmines on Kastarion 3 operate. As it turns out, it’s pretty quick, rather violent, and kind of pretty. Even more unfortunately for Vader, he is now essentially lost as Carson was acting as his eyes due to temporary blindness.

It’s never really explained why the Doctor and Ruby are parked on the planet. Presumably, it’s the Doctor doing his usual “land wherever and explore,” approach. But it’s the death of Vater that draws the Doctor and Ruby into the action. After lifting the veil from his injured eyes, Vater’s injury draws the attention of a Villengard Automated Ambulance Unit with the video face of Susan Twist. Having assessed that Vater’s recovery time would be too big of a drain on resources the ambulance terminates him. The Doctor comes running at the sound of Vater’s scream but finds nothing but an empty crater and a smartmine under his right foot. It’s the inclusion of Susan Twist here that makes me wonder if this isn’t part of some greater plan. Pretty obvious, really. Also, didn’t a big portion of Moffat’s last episode also take place in a crater?

The Doctor’s voice carries out along the horizon with a mournful rendition of “The Skye Boat Song.” It tells of the journey Bonnie Prince Charles took from Benbecula to Skye after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden, thus spelling the end for the Jacobites. This worked for me on several fronts. As a fan of the Second Doctor, I admired the nod to his past. I also enjoyed the reference to Ncuti Gatwa’s Scottish identity. The forlorn quality of his singing reminded me of the Master playing the Skye Boat Song in “The Power of the Doctor,” which was one of the better parts of that story. I was also grateful that they didn’t undercut the tension with a pop song, or something truly cringe, like quoting from Harry Potter.

The Doctor is singing to calm himself and hopefully delay the bomb until he can come up with a new plan. But it’s this singing that draws Ruby to his location. Together the two of them must move their bodies in sync to a rhythm so the Doctor can rest his leg. In yet another contrast to “The Devil’s Chord,” music is being used in an entirely different manner. But this time, the Doctor’s dance partner, Ruby Sunday, is less complimentary and more complicated. The Doctor faces death all the time, but seeing Ruby put in harm’s way raises the Doctor’s blood pressure. The adrenaline becomes harder to control. And his bio-signs become easier for the smartmine to detect. Because of this, the Doctor’s emotions are raw and prickly, another stark contrast from last week. He chastises Ruby for not doing as he tells her, but she ignores him because she’s got her own ideas about what she is and isn’t allowed to do. I was getting shades of Amy Pond from Ruby in this one, and considering the author, that makes sense.

If you’ve ever heard me say that I wanted the chance for Jodie Whittaker to get mean, or show anger, this is precisely the kind of depiction of the Doctor I meant. In many ways, Ncuti is the same brand of golden retriever adorable as Whittaker, only here they’ve allowed him to show that he’s capable of a depth of emotion. The Doctor has an authoritarian streak that he hides well, but in times of stress, the walls begin to fall away and you see the complicated Time Lord underneath the fish fingers and custard, the floppy hair, and the eccentric fit. This is exactly the kind of episode I wanted to see Ncuti get to do. I’ve seen him deal with heavy subjects in “Sex Education,” I’m glad they didn’t just hire him because he’s hot and dripping charisma. He’s also incredibly capable of going into dark places.

While looking for a rock to help the Doctor balance his dangling left leg, Ruby happens upon the “smelted,” remains of Vater. The Ambulance sort of formed and condensed Vater’s body into a tube shape topped with a nameplate and a hologram projector containing an AI facsimile of Vater’s consciousness. And I’ll say it because everyone’s waiting for me to say it- it’s an actual fleshlight. There, I said the thing. Are you happy? Is this what you wanted from me? Are you not entertained? I’d like to pretend I was so wrapped up in the episode that I didn’t think it, but I absolutely did. It’s VOR all over again. I got over it pretty fast.

That’s the way good Doctor Who goes, really. The little hang-ups are more like snags when you’re moving along. It’s easier to look past the nitpicks and grievances when there’s so much more at play. When Doctor Who is bad, all it has are its nitpicks and grievances and that’s a real sadness when that happens because we’re no longer watching Doctor Who, we’re watching the background go by. We’re admiring the wallpaper because just because the writers phoned it in, doesn’t mean the set designers did. But this is Doctor Who firing on all cylinders.

We are however getting into the realm of one of my nitpicks about this episode and that’s Splice. Because she lost her mother, her dad, Vater, has special permission to let her live on base. The issue I have is that I wasn’t joking earlier when I said she’s stupid. I don’t say this to badmouth the little girl playing her, as she was good. I also don’t mean to denigrate the script. What I don’t understand is why is she so old? That may seem like a weird question because kids come in all sorts of ages, but this one is little kids stupid. I found it hard to believe that a girl of her age would confuse a hologram for her father. I get that she might be fooled by the voice and I can even believe that she would be foolish enough to wander into a battlefield to find him, but I’ve never once seen my dad looking like a translucent blue hologram. This is why I say she’s too old. An older kid would have figured it out. They should have either changed her dialogue or cast someone younger. Otherwise, she’s a perfectly fine character.

Splice’s emotional reaction draws the attention of another Anglican Marine named Mundy Flynn. Immediately my Whovian brain was doing backflips at the sudden appearance of Varada Sethu. For those of you not in the know, Sethu is planned to be a companion in season 2 next year. Seeing her this early was very exciting. Was this an Oswin Oswald scenario or a Martha’s cousin dying at Canary Warf scenario? Did they enjoy working with Varada so much that they created a character for her in the next season or is this some wibbly wobbly sort of thing? Well, as it turns out, it’s a wibbly wobbly thing. I didn’t learn this from the show, however. I learned it from Doctor Who’s social media. And honestly, I really wish they’d have just left us to wonder on this one. Would it have killed them to leave an air of mystery around her character? There’s still a bit of mystery, but I feel like they’re holding people’s hands a bit too much. I guess they’re afraid people’s imaginations will run too wild and we’ll set ourselves up for disappointment. They know who their audience is. But still, I like the not knowing part. I like the speculation.

Mundy sees the Doctor holding the remains of Vater and commands him to drop them. But if the Doctor drops the remains, he risks setting off the mine. But even worse, if the mine goes off, it will turn him into the explosion. The Doctor refers to himself as a ”complex spacetime event,” indicating that if he were to explode, it could take out half of the planet. But Mundy isn’t convinced and tries to shoot the Doctor’s arm to make him drop the tube. Sensing combat, the Ambulance bots start looking for the injured to either heal or put out of their misery. Releasing her mistake, Mundy commands Ruby to shoot her in the arm in order to draw the ambulance away from the Doctor, but in her hesitation, Ruby is mistaken for an enemy and shot by Mundy’s comrade Canto who arrives late on the scene.

While we’re on the subject of Ruby, I wanted to point out that I found it a bit odd that Kastarion 3 was her first experience on an alien planet. Sure this is only her fourth adventure onscreen, but we were told in The Devil’s Chord that six months had passed. Granted, Rose Tyler spent an entire season having earthbound adventures with the Ninth Doctor, so there’s an explanation. I have to tip my hat to their attention to detail here as not even the Doctor Who Magazine comics have taken her off-world. I guess “Space Babies,” kind of counts. Just something I felt worth mentioning.

Not only has Ruby now died, but the Doctor learns that even if he does dupe the smartmine into thinking he’s not a living person, it will eventually detonate by default. The only way to stop this is now outside of the Doctor’s control, sort of. He must convince Mundy to surrender. Since the mine belongs to the Anglican Marines, only their surrender will disarm the device. Otherwise- boom. The Doctor explains to Mundy that the war they’re fighting is with themselves. The Villengard algorithm has been tricking the Marines into attacking themselves to keep them buying their product. It’s a war being waged against nothing all in the pursuit of profit.

Mundy asks the Doctor for proof which is where the Doctor’s stance on faith comes into play. But I feel like the actual conversation the Doctor is having in that moment is that faith is both a good and a bad thing. It’s not that he’s saying it’s bad for someone to have faith in God, but that it’s bad to let faith do your thinking for you. Splice has faith in her daddy. The Doctor and Ruby have faith in one another. Faith can strengthen us as people. But when it’s used to justify not considering deeper truths, it’s a hindrance. I feel like this is very in line with things we’ve heard the Fourth and Tenth Doctor’s say about religion in the past. I will admit though, I am an atheist, so I can’t speak from the perspective of a person with faith.

When Mundy tries to send evidence back to command, it’s intercepted by the algorithm and overruled. The machine has taken over and the smirking face of Susan Twist shows no signs of compassion leaking through. But with the Doctor connected to the machine and his hand connected to the remains of Vater, he’s able to send Vater into the algorithm. As Vater battles the ghost in the machine, I was reminded of “The Doctor’s Wife,” when the TARDIS re-enters her body and destroys House from the inside. In fact, lots of this episode reminded me of previous Doctor Who. The short war fought on the basis of a lie reminded me of “The Doctor’s Daughter.” The message about unchecked capitalism reminded me of “Oxygen.”  And of course there’s the mine calling back to Tom Baker in “Genesis of the Daleks.” Lots of what Ncuti was doing this week reminded me of Tom Baker and I mean that as the utmost compliment. He was doing stellar work here.

This episode had me grinning from ear to ear for the entirety of its runtime. But it wasn’t until after that I realised what it was that had me so happy. Sure, the episode was good, but I realised that it was the first time in the last 5 or 6 years that I had enjoyed a new Doctor Who episode without a giant asterisk hanging overhead. I cried tears of joy during “The Woman Who Fell to Earth,” but that was excitement for Jodie. My opinion of the episode itself was quite low. I enjoyed “The Witchfinders,” (also how cool was that reference to it in this episode?) and I enjoyed “It Takes You Away,” but I loved “Boom.” Without any hesitation, I absolutely loved it.

While the RTD2 era has been a marked improvement, I have had a few reservations. Mostly that it has so far felt like they’ve been trying way too hard. Trying too hard to have fun. Trying too hard to be funny. Trying too hard to be action-packed. I hope that the people in charge have seen the fan reaction to Boom for what it is. You don’t need massive budgets. You can do smaller stories with simple sets. The fans will respond well when you nail the tone and writing. Even Ncuti Gatwa said that while he was confused the entire time shotting the episode, it ended up being his favourite of the season. This felt like the most Doctor Who episode of Doctor Who that I’ve watched since Moffat left, and I’m including the new Davies stuff in there. This is what I meant when I said I wish Davies would chill the fuck out. Stop trying so hard.

Where this falls short for me is it highlights how insular the show has been since it returned. Eight episodes, six by the same writer, one by a former showrunner, and the remaining one is shared by two new authors. Why? I’ll be honest, Davies has never been my favourite Doctor Who writer. He’s a strong producer who writes people well. But when it comes to his episodes, other than “Midnight,” he’s never written one I would call a favourite. This is just a personal preference. When they announced his return, I was more excited for a return to competence than a return to classic writing. We could use new blood in the writer’s room. Even Chris Chibnall could see that, and he did hire some pretty good talent. My two favourite episodes from his era are written by people new to the show. More of that, please.

In truth, bringing Moffat back was a good choice. Unlike Davies, Moffat has written some of my favourite Doctor Who. And as with most anyone who has written the shear volume of Doctor Who as he has, he’s also written some of my least favourite Doctor Who. It’s bound to happen at that level of output. He’s not a writer without problems. His writing of female characters leaves something to be desired. But Moffat writing under a different showrunner, with an editor? Total Chad material. Some of the best. If they kept bringing him back like this every year or so, I would absolutely love it. Especially because it would continue to leave room for new talent.

With Vater in the machine, the ambulance revives Ruby. Sadly, Mundy’s love, Canto, dies just as he proclaims his love for her. This part was a bit shallow in that it was barely set up and felt like loss for the sake of loss. As Jean Cocteau once said “Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not obtained by sentimental blackmail.” So it’s a bit difficult to feel sorry for Mundy here, but it’s not completely void of an emotional core. It’s nice that Splice has a new caretaker in Mundy, and that’s as happy an ending as we need. What’s more important is the emotional depths we’ve experienced with the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby. This was the moment when they were solidified for me as characters. I needed this episode. Not so much to show me that the Ncuti and Millie could do it, I knew they could. But rather to show me that the show could still do it. That RTD was still up to the task of delivering us something more than progressive happy fun. We’re not beyond the realm of complexity. And with that, I can relax a little. What else ya got, Davies?

[paladinbaby]

onion litstack, or portrait of a totally normal guy who's doing well

the graveyard book, neil gaiman / brother, madds buckley / new year’s day, kim addonizio / dear fellow traveller, sea wolf / we are surprised, ada limón / four proofs, richard siken / interesting times, terry pratchett / fireworks, mitski / orestes, euripedes (tr. anne carson) / new year, kate baer

[Image Description: Ten pictures of text.

1: “Because there are mysteries. Because there are things that people are forbidden to speak about. Because there are things they do not remember.”

2: “Oh brother, I confess / There is little of me left that could care about dousing the wildfire

And I left you alone in a house, not a home / And I watched the burning grow as my hair filled with grey / From the ashes that fell / The mountains I knew so well”

3: Most of the text is highlighted in red, the final line is circled. “Today I want / to resolve nothing.

I only want to walk / a little longer in the cold

blessing of the rain, / and lift my face to it”

4: “You said, "Come with me, boy, I want to show you something more"

You spoke my language and touched my limbs / It wasn't difficult to pull me from myself again / And in our travels, we found our roads / You held it like a mirror, showing me the life I chose”

5: “and we cannot be lost. You and me, / are us and them, and it and sky. / It’s hard to believe we didn’t / know that before; it’s hard to believe / we were so hollowed out, so drained, / only so we could shine a little harder”

6: “Part of heroism is being able to see the future and still remain standing. If you don’t believe in God or Fate you still must believe in the narrative.”

7: “Whatever happens, they say afterwards, it must have been fate. People are always a little confused about this, as they are in the case of miracles. When someone is saved from certain death by a strange concatenation of circumstances, they say that’s a miracle. But of course if someone is killed by a freak chain of events -- the oil spilled just there, the safety fence broken just there -- that must also be a miracle. Just because it’s not nice doesn’t mean it’s not miraculous.”

8: “And when I find that a knife's sticking out of my side / I'll pull it out without questioning why

And then one warm summer night / I'll hear fireworks outside / And I'll listen to the memories as they cry, cry, cry”

9: A printed script with the first line in italics. Someone has underlined the second line. “Menelaos No don’t do it!

Orestes Oh be quiet. Endure what you deserve”

10: Close up of a page of a book. “thumbed through rusted nails just to / stand for its birth. I want to say: look how / far we’ve come. Promise our resolutions.

But what does a baby care for oaths and / pledges? It only wants to live.” Look how far we’ve come is printed in italics and highlighted in red. End ID.]

[bigasswritingmagnet]

With My Own Hands

Fandom: Girl Genius

Summary: A continuation of Zeetha, Daughter of Klaus and Gilgamesh, Son of Zantabraxus.

When Selnikov arrives at Mechanicsburg in his giant clanks, Zeetha doesn't have any Sparky lightning to take care of them. She's going to have to take care of it her way...which lands her in Mama Gkika's tender care. Here she discovers there are more unanswered questions in her life than she realized, like, why does her hair really look like that? And, why does she want to put this Gilgamesh guy in a headlock so badly?

Meanwhile, Axel Higgs is going to learn that the heart wants what the heart wants, whether she's a princess or a Baron's daughter.

AO3 Link

“Battle clanks!” was the shout from the top of the wall. “Headed straight for Mechanicsburg! Sound the alarm!”

“That’s the last thing we need,” Wooster said. “We better get out of here before—”

“She’s gone,” Krosp said.

“What?” Wooster looked around; sure enough, there was no sign of Miss Agatha anywhere.

“She and Gil took off before that guy even finished yelling.”

A memory flashed before his eyes: Zeetha's hands around his throat, her eyes blazing as she ordered him to get Agatha to Mechanicsburg and keep her safe, and if anything happens to her, it had better be because you're dead in a ditch with your skull caved in, or you're going to wish you were, Agent. Ardsley. Wooster.

Wooster shivered and scurried up the stairs after Agatha. Both she and Gil were half-hanging off the wall, marveling at the sight of the great, spider-shaped clanks striding their slow, purposeful way towards the town.

“They look amazing,”Gil said. “I wonder what kind of a power source they’re using. They must have some sort of in-unit generator.”

“Look at the guns!” Agatha sighed, starry eyed. “I can’t wait to see how they work.”

Wooster grimaced. He turned to Zuken to assure him that Agatha was normally more concerned with the wellbeing of people under her care—as far as he knew—but Bergermeister Zuken was nodding.

“Yes,” he said, with satisfaction, “that sounds about right.”  

"Get my troops out there, now!" Klaus roared. “I want the shock troopers on the ground, now, and call in the Fifth Airborne—”

“Someone is already taking care of it, Herr Baron,” Sun said.

“Who are they sending out? How many soldiers?”

“Just one. Perhaps they are going to…negotiate…”

Klaus’ hands gripped the side of the bed, and there was an ugly certainty in his voice.

“Tell me it isn’t—”

"Zeetha!" Agatha exclaimed. "What is she doing? She's going to get herself killed!"

"You said she was good at fighting clanks, right?" Gil said.

"I said she said she was good at it! I don't know if it's true!"

"It is," Wooster said, "but she's never fought clanks this big, and certainly nothing like it on her own."

"Why is she on her own?" Gil asked. "Surely the Baron would never send his own daughter out without some sort of back up."

Carson, still wearing that maniacal grin the castle had left him, cackled.

"She's wanted by the state!"

"She what?"

"Every soldier in town has orders to detain her on sight!" Carson went on. "By any means necessary!"

Agatha turned on Wooster.

"She what?"

"The Baron, er...had her...contained just before the incident at Sturmhalten, when we discovered that it wasn't your body that was collected from the circus."

"He locked her up because I tricked her?"

"N...nooo..." Wooster said, choosing his words carefully. "He locked her up because she said she would defy him every step of the way to protect you from him, because she believed he was being irrational in his pursuit of you."

Agatha blinked several times.

"She's...she's not mad at me about that?"

"She was far too glad that it meant you were alive," Wooster said, gently.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

"I thought she might want to tell you herself," Wooster said. "I believe she feels somewhat responsible for your predicament."

Agatha looked down at the figure standing utterly alone in front of the massive war clanks, any one of which could destroy her in a dozen different ways without so much as scratching the hull.

"Oh Zeetha."

Klaus half rose in his bed, strangled in the wires, tubes, and catheters that kept him in place.

“Get me over there!”

“I will do no such thi—”

“Captain Dupree!”

Bang managed to drag her eyes away from the window and gave him a cheerful little salute.

Zeetha was utterly alone. Her sword was at her hip and what looked like an oversized quiver of arrows on her back. At her belt—Agatha squinted. It almost looked like a tool belt.  

“I am Rudolk Selnikov, Commander of the Knights of Jove! I hereby take commande of the empire in the name of the House of Valois! Surrender the town, the Heterodyne girl, and the Baron. Cooperate and no one will be harmed!”

"Leave or die,” Zeetha called in return, her voice echoing across the field.

"Short and sweet," Gil said. "A little blunt but—"

Klaus, pale and trembling, clung to the window sill Dupree had propped him up against. Sun wondered how much of it was pain, and how much was fear.

“Have a plan,” Klaus whispered, hoarsely. “Please have a plan.”

“She’s going to get fried,” Krosp said.

“No,” Agatha said, softly. Her mind went back to the day she had met Zeetha, a lifetime ago. “I think…I think I know what she’s doing. These were built for power, intimidation. They’re big. And big means slow.”

"This is your final warning, girl!"

"I am Zeetha Wulfenbach! And that was your only warning."

Someone shouted to open fire, but Zeetha was already racing up the front leg of the closest spider clank; the soldiers’ fire was blocked by their own machine. The leg began to move, curling in, the weight of the clank tipping back onto the other three legs.

But by the time the angle of the leg was such that Zeetha would be unable to keep hold, she had reached the uppermost joint of the leg. From the quiver on her back, she drew a metal spike; from her tool belt, she drew a large mallet. Zeetha rammed the spike between the joint and the upper section of the leg and swung the mallet hard, three times, until it was buried deep. She repeated this process at the bottom, then raced up the leg towards the body of the clank itself.

The soldiers, not expecting their quarry to run into the gunfire, hesitated. Zeetha leapt over their heads and went over the dome of the spider clank and down the other side. Agatha and the others scurried down the wall to keep her in view.

Zeetha slid down the rounded dome of the spider clank; just before reaching the edge she jumped.

She drew her sword.

Gravity brought her down.

Zeetha drove her blade into the gap between the joint and leg, severing the pistons that connected them.

The leg buckled. Panicking, the engineers inside tried to re-balance, but the leg on the other side was jammed, the spikes holding fast, and the remaining two legs could only stagger back and forth, helplessly.

Slowly, ponderously, the machine tipped forward and hit the ground.

Gil had been right—the machine had been powered by some sort of generator, and now it exploded in a great, oily fireball that missed Zeetha by inches. The woman herself springboarded off the falling clank, somersaulted through the air, and hit the ground in a neat tuck and roll that had her on her feet just beyond the flames of the ruined machine behind her.  

"Ashtara above," Gil breathed.

Bang let out a high-pitched squeal of delight, clapping her hands and bouncing in place.

Zeetha, barely breathing hard, turned to the other clanks.

"Surrender," she said.

The crew of two of the clanks immediately tossed their rifles over the edge.

The third began to fire up the gun, filling the air with a high-pitched hum as a blue glow gathered deep within the mouth of the cannon.

“Too slow,” Agatha whispered. Moments before the cannon fired, Zeetha feinted right, then darted left. The cannoneers fell for it, and the shot went wide.

It was the only shot they had time for, and this time, Zeetha didn’t bother attacking the clank.

She was up the clank’s leg in a moment, leapt in the air and came down on the soldiers like a fury from hell, sword swinging. In less than a minute, the soldiers on the outside of the clank lay dead, and Zeetha darted inside the machine’s crew cabin. A few moments later, the clank slowly subsided, lowering itself to the ground. The fog blew away for the final time to reveal the clank's remaining crew emerging with their hands behind their heads, Zeetha bringing up the rear, wiping her sword down. 

"She did it! " Agatha cried, almost levitating in her excitement. "She did it she did it she did it did you see her she was amazing!"

"She really is that good," Gil said, impressed.

“Yes,” Wooster said, trying to subtly check if he’d survived the ten heart attacks he’d just experienced. “Yes she is.”  

Even with Bang’s jaw wired shut, the delight and excitement in her voice matched the starry shine in her eyes, her incoherent yammering almost drowning out the Baron’s screams of agony as she dragged him back across the room. Sun, once more turned away to prevent himself from having to act on his oath to allow no pain to come to his patients, was not surprised—she and Zeetha had always gotten along quite well.  

When Klaus’ screaming subsided, Sun looked to him. The Baron was back on the bed, breathing hard, but smiling. At second look, however, Sun realized it was a wry, sad smile.

“She did quite well,” Sun said. “I am impressed.”

“It was incredibly foolish,” Klaus said. “She could have been killed a dozen times over. But…yes, it was quite a feat. I’m glad to know she is as good as she thinks she is. Perhaps this means she won’t get herself killed after all.”

His smile faltered.

"When I think what she could have been," he said to himself. "If only I hadn't been so..."

"Stubborn?" Sun suggested. "Foolhardy? Reckless?"

"Careless," Klaus said, closing his eyes and sinking back against the pillows. "If I hadn't been so careless." 

Zeetha paused before she got too close to the Wulfenbach soldiers, letting the prisoners carry on ahead. She should get involved—find out who was responsible and take them to her father—but it was far too risky. She was sure that every Wulfenbach soldier in the empire had orders to detain her on sight, and if she got into the same room as her father he’d lock her up again.

Although, she thought proudly, most of the soldiers would hesitate to confront her, now that they had seen what she was capable of. She had just taken a spider clank on her own—with nothing but a sword, a hammer, and a few railroad spikes. Those Sparks could scoff at her all they liked now. They would all know she didn't need to be a Spark to take them down. She was lightheaded with delight at her own success.

…She hoped it was delight. 

"Hey, dot vuz real nize vork, sveethot," said a voice beside her. Zeetha started and looked to her left. A Jӓger she didn't recognize—green skin, green eyes, one arm—grinned at her. She stiffened. The regular soldiers might hesitate to fight her, but the Jӓgers? She’d never lacked for sparring partners before; there was no doubt that they’d be practically lining up for the chance to go toe-to-toe with the woman who could take down an army single-handed.

"I don't want to fight you," she said.  

"Dot's good!" said another voice. A female Jӓger—Zeetha assumed she was a Jӓger, but she had a scarf over her mouth—was now on Zeetha's right. "Ve dun vant to fight hyu either."

She looked at them again, more carefully.

"My father didn't send you?"

"No, ve iz vild Jӓgers. Hy iz Jenka und dot iz Dimo."

"Did...did Agatha send you? Is she alright, did she make it here okay? Did she..." She swayed slightly.

"Ve came vit Mizz Agatha, yez," Dimo said, cheerfully. He leaned against her, subtly. The Jӓgers began to walk. Zeetha absentmindedly let them lead her.

"I need to find her," Zeetha said, urgently. "I need to tell her I'm not mad at her. I forgot to tell Wooster to tell her that I'm not...I'm not..."  Her feet seemed very far away. "What's wrong with me?"

"Hyu iz a liddle bit in shock," Jenka said, kindly. "Und hyu got a liddle bit shot."

"Oh... That's bad. I have to get out of here," she said, panic rising. "I can't pass out in front of everyone, I'll, I'll ruin it."

Jenka and Dimo nodded at each other, approvingly. They liked a girl who understood the importance of drama in a display of power.

"How about hyu vanish from der battlefield all mysterious like?" Dimo suggested. Zeetha nodded, which was a mistake.

Jenka and Dimo both leaned on her now, and picked up the pace.

Zeetha did not black out, exactly, because she had not stopped walking, but one moment they were outside and the next they were in the cool darkness of an underground tunnel.

"Where are we going?"

"Ve'z taking you to Mama," Jenka said. By the gentle, patient tone, this was not the first time Zeetha had asked. There were two new Jӓgers with them, who introduced themselves, in the same tone of voice, as Oggie and Maxim.

“Who is Ma—” Zeetha raised a hand to push her hair out of her face, and froze. "My headband," she said, frantically. She spun around, and kept going, the world tipping wildly back and forth. Hands grabbed her and steadied her body, but her head continued to go around and around. "I need to find—I have to cover my hair." 

"Hyu hair?" 

Zeetha reached up and touched her hair, the roots of which were not brown, but a vibrant emerald green. She'd only gone without the special shampoo for a little over a week, but the hair fungus had taken already taken hold, infecting her entire scalp.

"My hair, I have to...My headband must have fallen off, I need to find it...Have to cover my hair before anyone sees…"

"Hyu need a hat!" Maxim said, eagerly. "A big vun dot von't fall off!"

"Vit hyu name on it, in case it gets lost!" Oggie chimed in.

"Sure," Zeetha said. "That'd be great."

And blacked out for real.

She woke in an unfamiliar room in an unfamiliar bed, looking up at a face she almost recognized. 

"Father?" she tried to say, but the words caught on her dry tongue and cracked lips.

The man leaned forward, and Zeetha saw it definitely was not her father, and she wasn't sure why she'd thought it was. He was about her age, with short brown hair and a proud nose in the center of a round face. He helped her sit up and put a cup to her lips. She drank it, too tired to be suspicious. 

Whatever was in the cup cleared her head and when she sat back she was able to take in the expression on his face. Wary and suspicious. 

"Zur baken Skiff?" he asked. Zeetha blinked. Her head must not be as clear as she thought. 

"What?" 

"Zur baken Skiff?" 

"Oh boy," she said. "I didn't hit my head when I passed out, did I?"

"No," the man said. "I was just checking something. Have you ever heard of a place called Skifander?"

"No. Who are you?"

"Where is your mother from?"

"What a great question, if you ever find out let me know, who are you?" Zeetha snapped, temper rising.

The man held up his hands in surrender.

"Gilgamesh, son of Chump and Zanta—"

"Son of who?"

Gilgamesh sighed.

"Call me Gil. I'm Agatha's kolee. Her...trainer. Her friend. You are the daughter of the Baron Wulfenbach, who is actively trying to imprison and kill her.” He folded his arms across his chest and the dislike was evident on his face. “Agatha wants me to make sure you stay safe. I think we should keep you locked in here until she takes the—"

Zeetha threw the drink in his face. Gil yelped and flailed, falling backwards. Zeetha threw the blanket over his head and raced out the door. She made it all of half a meter before she skidded to a halt before she hit the three Jӓgers blocking the hallway, a blonde, brunette, and redhead. 

No, not Jӓgers. Human women, but with sharp teeth and pointed ears and...not a lot of clothing. 

"If you're going to try escaping," one of them said, "you might want to put some pants on, first." 

Zeetha looked down and gasped. She darted inside the room, nearly colliding with Gil, who was chasing after her. He was still clutching the blanket; she tore it from his hands and held it over herself.

"What happened to my clothes?" she demanded, backing away from him, red faced. "Did you take them?"

"Relax, sweetheart," said the brunette Jӓgerfraulein. "We did."

"And we were perfect gentlemen about it," said the blonde Jӓgerfraulein, archly.

"We even did your hair," said the redhead.

"My hair—?" Zeetha grabbed a handful of her hair and dragged it in front of her face.

It was sleek. It was silky. It was shiny.

It was bright green.

"The cut still isn't great on you," the brunette said, "you should try growing it out."

"What did you do?" she shrieked. "How did you even do this?"

"Just a little hair treatment," the redhead said, shrugging casually, although Zeetha could tell she was surprised by the reaction. "We thought you'd be happy, considering what a nightmare it was before."

A shadow filled the doorway, and a low, smooth voice spoke.

"Vy dun hyu lie back down, sveethot," it said. "Hyu still isn't all better." The woman in the doorway was a Jӓger. There was absolutely no question about it. Even if she hadn't been nine feet tall with turquoise hair, Zeetha could tell that those nails were claws and those fangs were real.

"Hy iz General Gkika," she said, ushering Zeetha gently back onto the bed. "Hyu can call me Mama."

"Gkika. I've heard about you," Zeetha said, obediently laying back down but keeping the blanket firmly wrapped around herself. "Khrizhan mentioned you."

Gkika preened, just a little, not seeing the amused looks her fraulein traded each other behind her back.

"Vell, Hy hope he told hyu Hy know vut Hy iz doing." Abruptly, Gkika turned her disapproving look at Gil, who was damp and bright red. "Hyu said hyu could vatch her."

"She caught me by surprise!" Gil said. "I didn't think she'd be that fast after getting shot in the leg!" 

"What!" Zeetha tried to check her legs without uncovering herself. "Where?"

"Right here."

Gkika began to move the blanket, but Zeetha firmly moved it right back and glared at her. The general put her hands on her hips.

"Hyu know, Hy heard hyu made a pretty big deal about not caring if people saw hyu vit hyu clothes off."

"There's walking around in my underwear on my own airship, and there's being completely naked in a bed surrounded by strangers," Zeetha snapped. Gkika's lips twitched.

"Maybe if Hy tell dem to turn around?" 

Zeetha glared at her, but allowed her to move the blanket. Gkika was polite enough to move it only as much as she needed to, but Zeetha tensed up anyway at the horrifying sight of a small, mechanical device apparently implanted in her leg.

“What is that?”

“Yeah,” Gil said, fascinated. “What is that?”

“Is a little ting vun of de masters made.”

“You put a Heterodyne device in me?” Zeetha exclaimed.

“Hy’z going to take it back out again,” Mama chided.

“How?” Gil asked, and Zeetha recognized all too well the tones of a Spark whose interests had been piqued. “You’ve got it embedded in a major arteraahh!”

His scream came when Mama yanked the device clear out of Zeetha’s leg. Zeetha bit back her own scream, although she did clamp her hands over the wound.

“Would you relax?” she demanded of Gil, some strange internal competition demanding that she be more composed than he was. “She obviously knows what she’s doing.”

Tentatively, she released the death grip on her leg and wiped away the blood. The pain had gone, and only a starburst-shaped scar showed any sign that she’d been injured at all.

“Hy had a feeling hyu iz de kind of girl dot likes to keep her battle scars,” Gkika said.  

Zeetha’s heart began to race, panic rising, her mind screaming that she had been here too long, she needed to find Agatha, where was Agatha? Zeetha stamped it all back down. She was a warrior, damn it, and her father’s daughter.

“This would be weeks of healing,” she said, keeping her voice as casual as possible.  

"Hyu vuz hurt bad, und ve need hyu on hyu feet real qvick, so Hy gave hyu some of de battledraught."

"That kills people," Zeetha pointed out, still a very polite voice. “The Jӓgers on the ship said it makes non-Jӓgers explode.”

"Ya, but Hy knew hyu could take it. Hyu poppa made plenty of...improvements, yez? Oddervize hyu vouldn't haff been able to do dot trick vit de clanks." 

Zeetha felt herself bristling.

“It wasn’t a trick,” she snapped. “It was skill.”

“Sure,” Mama said, irritatingly casual. “Und hyu poppa made sure hyu had de strength und speed to go vit it.”

Zeetha shot to her feet, teeth bared.

“I didn’t need his help! I did it on my own!”

“Hokay, sveetie,” Mama said, putting her hands on Zeetha’s shoulders. “You relax und—”

Zeetha’s fist hit Gkika in the solar plexus, actually knocking her back a step. Gkika responded with a punch that sent Zeetha flying into the wall and landing in a heap on the bed. Zeetha stayed put, waiting for her heart rate to slow and the burning anger to fade.

“That’ll be the battle draught,” she said, calmly.

“Yez, hyu should mind hyu temper for de next few days. De draught can make hyu…”

“Exciteable?” Gil suggested. “Emotional?”

“Energetic,” Mama said, diplomatically.

Zeetha sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, holding it front of her face again and watching the slide slide up and down it in a way it had never done before. She would have thought it pretty, if she didn’t know better.

"I guess it fed the fungus, too." 

"De vut?"

"The fungus. The one that's turned my head into a cabbage?" Zeetha said, snidely. Gkika tipped her head to one side. 

"Dot's not a fungus, sveetie. Dot's just hyu hair." 

"We used regular conditioner and hair dye remover,” one of the Jӓgerfraulein said. “The stuff we used when Olga tried to be a redhead and came out looking like a—”

The blonde girl, beet red, punched her in the arm, hard. Zeetha barely noticed.  

"Oh, please, so my hair is just naturally green?" 

"That's why I asked if your mother was from Skifander," Gil said, suddenly. "Lots of people have naturally green hair." 

Zeetha's face went tight. Everyone tensed again. But Zeetha forced herself to relax - or at least to look relaxed - and flicked the lock of hair away. 

"I don't know anything about my mother. Father never liked to talk about her. And he never mentioned a place called Skifander, either." 

There was a knock on the door and Ognian stuck his head in, gaze politely averted. 

"Dere iz some people to see Mizz Zeetha," he said. "Und Hy brought de clothes hyu asked for." 

He handed the box to one of the Jӓgerfraulein, and did not avert his gaze from her in the slightest. His cheeky grin earned him a flirtatious smile and a saucy wink before he ducked back out again.

Mama set the box next to the bed. It was full of a variety of outfits that seemed…showy. Zeetha dipped a hand in and pulled out a dress that was made of almost a whole meter of golden fabric.

“We got everything from our costume wardrobe that we thought might fit you.”

“I don’t suppose you have trousers.”

“Sure,” the brunette said, grinning. “But they might be a little short on you, Baroness Long Legs.”

“Turn around,” Zeetha ordered Gil. He rolled his eyes, but obeyed.

“Europans,” he said, exasperated. “I swear, it’s a surprise you people even take your clothes off for sex.”

“Is that what you’ve been ‘significant pause teaching’ Agatha?”

Gil’s ears went bright red; he whirled around, mouth open to shout. Gkika grabbed him and spun him back around again.

“I! You! That! She never! That is not—! We—!”

“You’re the one who hesitated before you said ‘teacher’.”  

“I hesitated because it’s not a direct translation! I teach her how to fight!”

“Is that what they call it these days.”

“You—!”

 Once more Mama spun him back around.

“Hyu stay put. Hyu get dressed.”   

Zeetha wasn’t sure why it was so enjoyable to tweak this Gilgamesh, son of Chump and Zantha, but it was. It felt…appropriate, somehow.

From the scraps of fabric the girls had called “costumes”, Zeetha selected a rather nice blue vest which—slightly irked by Mama’s comment about Zeetha’s unexpected need for decorum—she decided to wear without a shirt. The trousers were, indeed, too short, but there was a pair of leggings that didn’t tear when she tested a high kick that “accidentally” almost hit Gil in the head. “Fortunately”, Gil managed to dodge.

“Okay,” Zeetha said, “First thing, I need to find Agatha. She needs as much help as she can get, taking…the…castle…”

“Hyu okay dere sveethot?”

Zeetha didn’t answer. There was a large standing mirror on the other side of the room. Zeetha didn’t exactly avoid mirrors, but her hair had always been a source of chagrin, and she certainly didn’t enjoy looking at it. Now…

She barely recognized herself.

Now that her hair hung straight, instead of frizzing up wildly around her head, the hideous bob framed her face pleasingly. Her eyes looked larger and brighter. The color was dazzling, attention grabbing. It was undeniably her natural color, right down to her eyebrows. It looked…right. Like a missing puzzle piece had finally been found. The last of Zeetha Braxus had fallen away, and she was finally, completely, Zeetha Wulfenbach, heir to the Empire.

“Hyu okay, sveetie?”

“I…yes. I’m. I’m fine.” She dragged her eyes away from the mirror and fingered a lock of her hair. Silky and smooth. She could probably even run a comb through it.

Her father had to have known. Why hadn’t he told her the truth when he told her who she was? Why hadn’t he at least told her when she was presented to the world as his daughter? There were many things he didn’t tell her, but this might be the only thing he’d ever lied to her about.

As far as she knew.

“I’m fine,” she said, more confidently.

“Come on in, boys!” Mama called. Ognian, Dimo, and Maxim came tumbling in, smiling widely.

“Ve got hyu sword!”

“Und hyu knife!”

“Und hyu hat!”

“My what?”

[mrburnsnuclearpussy]

I can’t even search ‘Carson’ on here because I’ll inevitably see some nasty comment about him that isn’t even true for gods sake

[ohtobeleah]

So Dot and and Chase are the oldest dagger kids right? So do they stay friends while growing up?? Aw they are gonna be the first to go to prom and graduate high school and college (if they go) aww little babies all grown up!!!

Terms of Endearment Masterlist

I haven’t specifically mentioned it but Chase is four to Odettes two/almost three. So he’s always kinda like the slightly older guys that’s always looking out for her. Best friends.

Even though in their childhood they’re really close and play together all the time I think in highschool when Dot goes through her identity crisis she’d pushes Chase away. And because he likes her, he does what most guys who have a crush on a girl do. He starts ignoring her, tells his buddies she’s weird because let’s face it, Odette Bradshaw is weird. She’s the girl who spends her time at lunch hanging out under the bleachers in her own solitary because it’s the only place she can smoke without being caught and Chase Fitch is captain of every single sport team.

So despite their long running history they just stop talking and when they do talk it’s nasty. Until one day Dot is barging her way into the boys locker room after Chase is finished football practice and all the boys are whistling and hollering and just being idiots.

“Dot!” Chase is gasping as she pulls the shower curtain back and just stands there watching Chase scrabble to cover his junk. “Jesus Mary and Joseph what are you doing in here!”

Odette is so mad that she balls her fist and smacks Chase right in the nose.

“Ahh! The fuck! What!? What did I do!?”

“You told Mr. Carson I was smoking under the bleachers and now I’ve got an afternoon detention!” Yes. Chase did do that, but only because he knew that Mr. Carson would take her smokes, he just wanted her to stop that awful habit. “The fuck? Why would you do that?”

“I didn’t!” Chase is sticking with that series of events. “Christ I didn’t—!” He’s cupping his nose, bleeding underneath the stream of water coming out of the shower head as one hand still cups his junk. “God you crazy bitch I didn’t do anything! Get out of the guy’s locker room!”

Dot knows it was Chase because Mr. Carson told her it was him. So she just leaves, angry as all hell because this guy she’d known all her life turned out to be a real dick. So she takes his spark plug from his car, the car he just got his permit to drive.

When Chase finally gets home, way later than he he should have been home because he had to get a lift with a friend—he’s walking up to the front door to see his spark plug sitting there, Rooster and Payback are enjoying a beer on the patio swing that had just about had it and was ready to fall apart.

“Woah, who gave you the shiner?” Paybacks asking his son when he groans to pick up the missing spark plugs. Chase just sighs, his shoulders slump and he just word vomits.

“Your deadbeat daughter smokes cigarettes under the bleachers so I told Mr. Carson and he gave her an afternoon detention—I think she broke my nose.” Bradley just sits there, he knew that Dot smoked, he just didn’t know she was doing it at school.

“Why don’t you and my deadbeat daughter just admit that you like each other?” Chase just stands there speechless. “You used to eat snails in the sandpit together—“

“You know what?” Chase just groans. “Fine—I like her alright! But she can smoke herself to death for all I fucking care—bitch is crazy, you know she walked straight into the guys locker room? Who does that!”

Payback and Rooster just laugh, they know exactly who does that and exactly where Odette Bradshaw got that from.

“Her mother—“

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~****~***~***~***

Tags: @a-serene-place-to-be @lilyevanswhore @thescarletknight2014 @blindedbythelightt @averyhotchner @emma8895eb @blairfox04 @caitsymichelle13 @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo @teacupsandtopgun @aemondssiut @feltonswifesworld87 @akalei349 @notjustsomeblonde @americaarse @avaleineandafryingpan @phoenix1388 @xoxabs88xox @je-suis-prest-rachel @pono-pura-vida @rosiahills22 @starset21 @anarchyrising @caidi-paris @starkleila @criticalroleobssedperson @enchantingdreamergothprune @flrboyd @emma8895eb

[queen-mihai]

Ok I'm developing a theory.

Let me say this first: I don't care if it's true or not. I think it's fun and I'm going to choose to believe it's true even if the writers literally come out and say it's not. It's that good.

Valerie is V

In the movie "V for Vendetta", V is explicitly never identified. We obviously see that he is a man. He has heightened basic kinesthesia, awareness, strength, and reflexes. He's got a deep voice, is reasonably tall, and thin.

Those are all things we know.

He never takes off the mask in any way we can see. If the hair is a wig, it's DAMN solid on his head, and he's got severe burns over so much of his body that he no longer has eyes.

"He looked at me, but not with eyes, there were no eyes"

Now for some evidence:

V is very obviously a thespian. Sure, we could assume the "man" was one as well, but we actually have backstory behind Valerie that would perfectly set her up with the type of knowledge V seems to have in the arts. Especially when she says "I'd always known what I wanted to do with my life"

When Valerie is taken, she already has the same look on her face as Evey has when she said "I'd rather die behind the chemical sheds"

V is very in tune with emotions. Obviously men can be in tune with their emotions. But Hollywood generally plays to a low common denominator. Why include this personality detail when all he needs to do is kick butt? If we are doing stereotypes 👇 this scene plays fairly heavily against the "male" stereotype when V perfectly times the moment where it will be okay to reach for Evey, let alone knowing when it's okay to touch her

Valerie falls in love fast. That's practically a personality trait we're shown in the story. With Sarah "it was her wrists". With Ruth, "the first time we kissed, I knew I never wanted to kiss any lips but hers again. This matters because when V says "I fell in love with you Evie" He mentions that he had thought of nothing but revenge until he saw her. That sounds an awful lot like something Valerie would do IMO

"This is the most important moment of your life, commit to it" spoken like someone who has lived that *exact* experience to the letter. You might think if he was a man when this happened to him, his experience might have looked *a little* different. If it was Valerie, though, it would make sense that she knows exactly when everything is falling into place because that's when it happened for her.

The anger she had over Ruth being taken fits V's actions far more closely than anything we get from our mystery man. Yes, he was tortured, but so was everyone else.

Writers love these kind of Easter eggs. Come on, room V, Valerie, V,...geezus "V" could have been the nickname she got from Ruth when they were together.

"I fell in love with you Evey. Like I never thought I could anymore" fits SO much better if Valerie just didn't know she could love again after Ruth was gone. That hits SO much harder if she's a woman from whom love was taken away and who went on a murderous revenge spree.

This was written by the Wachowski sisters. They would know what transitioning does to a person. If the "virus" was some sort of super-soldier serum, we could assume that some part of that serum might have included heavy doses of testosterone, which would have deepened her voice, even down to the level we hear in the movie.

If V was forcefully transitioned, it would stand to reason he'd want to hide his face (her face?) And would say things like "There is a face behind this mask, but it is not me"

Valerie might well have known how to create masks and such

The damn Scarlett Carson roses! They make SO MUCH more sense when you consider Valerie would have already known how to take care of them before she got taken, (and maybe even knew where to find a stash of seeds?) rather than some guy randomly found out about them and then learned how to keep them

If she indeed got cast for major motion pictures, and gotten paid well for them, that might explain the VAST resources V has at his disposal in order to pull off his schemes

👇 This right here👇

Soooo many similarities

"I had only told them the truth"

"I told you, only truth"

There's so many scenes that VERY MUCH make V look feminine

Ugh, there's so much more

There's SO MUCH MORE

But I'm dead tired right now and I want to post this now while I'm still excited about it and I'll have to write an update about it later if people want to hear more.

Heck... one very personal but deeply powerful concept about this movie for me is that I have shaped some parts of my personality around V's character. His intelligence. His ability to be both a monster and a face of kindness, his love for the arts and passion in keeping up his skills. I was surprised as heck when I found out his favorite movie is "The Count of Monte Cristo" because before I found "V for Vendetta", that was already MY favorite movie (the 2002 version though)

I don't see there being any fewer similarities after transitioning and I found this movie LONG before I thought any part of me was feminine

If MatPat ends up stealing this idea for a video, my name on here (Ce'irth) is pronounced like "surf"

OK see you later

[specialagentlokitty]

Thomas Barrow x Teen!reader - learning together

Hi do you want to write about Thomas niece or nephew? Teen Reader lost their parent and is now send to Thomas. And Thomas does not know how to deal with a teenager. Or something like that. Thanks. - Anon💜

Standing behind the two police officers, you had your hands clasped behind your back as you looked around.

It was strange that the officers brought you here, but they told you it was because you weee too young to be living alone and your uncle was the only one left to care for you.

The door was opened.

“We have come to speak to Lord Grantham and a Mr Thomas Barrow.”

“Yes, right this way they are in the drawing room.”

The officers nodded and led you inside the building and you looked at the older man who had opened the door.

“Thank you..” you mumbled.

With that, you three followed him through to the drawing room.

“The officers and the young lady the letter said about my Lord.”

“Thank you Carson, have some tea brought up and send Thomas up as well.”

“Very good my lord.”

The man left again and you bowed your head slightly in respect to Lord Grantham.

“Have a seat, all of you, let us talk while we wait for Thomas.”

You all sat down, and you looked around in fascination.

The two officers told Lord Grantham about why they had brought you here and why he had to take part in this meeting as well.

You weren’t paying much attention to it all really, lost in your own mind taking everything in.

“It is a big house, isn’t it?”

You snapped your head to the man.

“Yes my lord, it is.”

“Have you ever been in such a big house?” He asked.

You shook your head and he smiled slightly.

“What’s your name?”

“(Y/N) my lord, (Y/N) Barrow.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, I am Lord Grantham.”

You nodded your head, and you fiddled with your dress nervously as you stared at the ground.

“You called my lord?”

You didn’t look up at the voice.

“Ah yes Thomas, come in. We have something to discuss.”

“Have I done something wrong my lord?”

“Quite the opposite.”

Thomas looked at the police officers then he looked at you and he furrowed his brows.

“(Y/N)?”

You didn’t look up at him and he looked to Lord Grantham who gestured for him to sit down, so he did and he stared at you for a moment.

“Where is your mother?” He asked quietly.

“Gone…”

You looked up at your uncle.

“She’s gone…”

Thomas draw a small breath and he nodded his head.

“When?”

“A couple of months ago Mr Barrow, (Y/N) has been running from town to town and eventually we caught up with her and tracked you down to here. She’s too young to be living on her own, and your sister specified in her will that the girl would go into your care.”

“I don’t know how to look after a kid.”

“I can go…”

“No, no absolutely not. You have just lost your mother, you can’t go.” Lord Grantham said.

You looked up at him.

“Have you worked before?”

“No my Lord.”

“Can you learn to work?”

“Yes my lord.”

He smiled and nodded his head.

“Right it’s settled then, you will be the new kitchen maid. You will settled in, and then you can take a week to learn everything, and Thomas you can have a few days off to spend with your niece.”

“That is very generous of you my lord, thank you.”

“Thank you my lord…”

With it settled, a house maid was called up to show you to your room, and then you were taken down to the servants hall.

Thomas stood next to you.

“They look nothing alike..”

“That’s because he’s not her father Daisy, he’s her uncle why on earth would they look alike?” Mrs Patmore scoffed.

“We are sorry to hear of your loss, both of you.” Mr Bates said gently.

“It’s fine, wasn’t that close to my sister anyway.” Thomas said.

You clenched your jaw a little, staring at the ground.

“Thank you Mr Bates…” you whispered.

“Would you like some tea? Anything to eat?” Mrs Hughes offered.

You softly shook your head and you excused yourself and left the room.

“We’ll go after her you fool!” Mr Carson hissed.

“What am I supposed to do?! I don’t know how to look after a teenager!” Thomas hissed back.

“Just comfort her, she’s just lost her mother for heavens sake.” O’Brian snapped at him.

“Fine!”

Thomas stormed off to find you, and eventually he found you standing outside, looking over the estate as the sun set over it.

He stood next to you, lighting his cigarette.

“You don’t have to be out here…”

“Tell them lot that.”

You flicked your eyes to him and turned away and Thomas looked down at you.

Yes, he’d met you a few times when you were a child, smiling and happy and bubbly.

Now you were just empty, soft spoken, broken.

“How did it happen?”

“Fire…”

Thomas glanced at you to see you battling your tears in your eyes.

“Some young men… thought they had the right house…”

Thomas carefully watched you.

“They were drunk, and of course they ran away…”

You took a shaky breath.

“It.. it was hot… really hot.. and I tried to find mama, but I couldn’t reach her…”

“You were in the house?”

You nodded your head and reached down, pulling your gloves of both your hands, you showed him you left hand, and rolled your sleeve up a little to show him more.

Burned.

Once you were sure he had seen you quickly hid them again.

“I heard cry and beg me to leave, so I did… I should’ve stayed…”

“Then you would be dead too.”

“Maybe that would be better…”

Thomas sighed, putting his cigarette between his lips he pulled his gloved off, and showed you his hand.

You looked at it, carefully turning his hand around.

“What happened…?”

“War happened.”

You nodded and let his hand go and he covered it back up again.

“Perhaps we are both broken.” He said.

“Maybe so…”

Thomas took his cigarette out his mouth and blew some smoke.

“I’m not sure how to raise a teenager.” He said.

“I can raise myself.”

“Thank goodness for that, otherwise I’d mess up somewhere down the line.”

You didn’t smile or laugh, and he frowned a little bit unsure what to do.

Sighing, he turned to face the sunset with you.

“Mama and I always watched the sunset…”

Thomas said nothing, but he did reach out, placing an unsure hand on your shoulder and he squeezed it a little.

You glanced at his hand but said nothing, you went back to watching the sunset.

“You’ll get better.”

You said nothing.

Neither of you knew what to do, he had never raised or dealt with a teenager before, and you had never been away from your mother.

You were both just as lost in this situation, not knowing what to do, and hopefully because of that, you could guide one another and work this out

[changingplumbob]

Pancakes Household: Chapter 9, Part 4

This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween

Bob: Costume time! Okay friends and fans, it’s time for our Halloween special, who wants to make a pumpkin pie with me?

From beside Bob the droid chirps to indicate that people are tuning in.

Bob: As you can see I have chosen to be a rebel pilot today. I’ll be keeping this on for the bake and my bake sale but something tells me the boss would not approve of me turning up to work in it. Okay let’s run through all our ingredients

The drone chirps while Bob begins preparations. Eliza’s suggestion to get the drone may have stemmed from a place of wanting the flashiest one but Bob appreciated having a set of eyes he could look at when he talked.

Bob: Ugh, kneading, not my favourite part after I’ve already done a workout but hey, that’s on me

He continues to narrate his baking, even getting the drone to read out a question or two that viewers have sent in about the recipe. In the end he pulls one excellent pumpkin pie out of the oven, a perfect Halloween treat.

Bob: Come one, come all to Bob’s Bars! We don’t just have our classic beloved lemon bars today, we have cake and cookies for the sweetness you want on Halloween. If you’re having all that sugar, may as well get full eating it!

The first few customers seem unimpressed with Bob’s selling today but when some new sims walk up to purchase suddenly decide maybe the baking isn’t so bad.

Fergus: Hey Onyx could you- woah! What are you

Onyx: A knight obviously. I see you’re going with the classic skeleton

Fergus: No point fixing what isn’t broke. But could you please help me with my bike? Dad’s busy with the sale and I don’t want to interrupt mother when she’s practicing her speech

Onyx: Sure, I can try. Hop on and I’ll try explain, remember I only just learnt how to ride before my birthday

Fergus: Oh yeah, that’s right

So Fergus wobbles his way around the yard with Onyx doing their best to provide guidance.

Bob: Alright folks, my shift will be starting soon. Who’s going to be customer of the day and buy the last lemon bar?

Harvey: Hello. Do you have bake sales often

Bob: Why yes I do sir

Harvey: How convenient! And do you get positive reviews

Bob: Indeed I do

Harvey: Well then person I’ve never met I would like to buy the last lemon bar

After Bob makes the sale Harvey tells everyone around him how good it is while Bob packs up. It’s good to have friends.

Eliza greets the first trick or treater and offers them some candy. The kid leaves happy and Ginger comes out of the house very confused.

Ginger: *whines* What’s going on

Eliza: Ginger sweetie it’s just me, it’s just mother. Here let me give you a brush

Ginger: *barks* you may not look like mother but you definitely smell the same

Then it’s dinner time for the Pancakes left at home.

Fergus: Dad left us roast! Awesome

Eliza: Onyx will you be able to eat in that helmet

Onyx: I could ask you the same question. But I won’t, because I’m a good kid who deserves a horse

Fergus: *laughs*

The trio chat and eat while Ginger looks on. Sure she has biscuits in her bowl but that looks like real meat on the table. Why won’t they feed her that?

Onyx takes care of the dishes and Fergus decides it’s time for Ginger to learn another trick, playing dead. Mustering his drama skills he does his best to show her what to do, but she remains skeptical of the exercise. Fergus keeps trying though and eventually Ginger catches on, rolling to the floor.

Fergus: You did it! Well done Ginger, we’re stars

*doorbell rings*

Eliza: Onyx could you get that one

Onyx: Sure mother

They open the door to the deck candy all prepared and are greeted by a teen girl dressed as a maid.

Zhafira: Trick or treat

Onyx: Uhh… what

Zhafira: *laughs* I mean for me

Onyx: Oh, right. Have some candy?

Zhafira: Why thank you

Onyx has just decided they should ask what high school the stranger attends when she turns and skips off down the drive.

Carson pops over to visit and become best friends with Onyx!

Onyx: Where’s your costume

Carson: I’m dressed as someone who doesn’t care about Halloween

Onyx: Your loss. Hey, have you seen a girl at school?

Carson: There are many girls at school

Onyx: I mean a specific one, she’s a brunette with a bob cut

Carson: You don’t know a name

Onyx: She left pretty quickly, but she was cute and I wondered why I hadn't noticed her before

Carson: People keep aging Onyx, so more teens. But sorry I don’t really find many people cute at our school so haven't noticed

Onyx: You said that last year. But if you know you’re bi you must have been attracted to someone once right

Carson: I mean, it’s going to sound stupid...

Onyx: You’re my best friend, sound as stupid as you like

Carson: I mean I’ll find a guy or girl pretty but my daydreams are usually romance filled instead of woohoo filled

Onyx: Huh. So are you like, anti-kissing

Carson: I don't know, growing up is confusing

Onyx: You’re telling me

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