#( because he will talk her up he will say she is the greatest rogue to ever live. and that he resents her and will never forgive her )

[shxwmaster]

Pathonia Shaw's death was one of the best things to happen to Mathias.

That's not an easy thing for him to say, however.

( cw: parental death, emotional abuse )

Mathias is keenly aware of the damage Pathonia did to him. He was four years old when his mother died on the field and Pathonia took him in, vowing to raise him up to be a better assassin than Charlene was; training started early. As a kid, it took the guise of high enrichment obstacle courses, training his dexterity and teaching him to run, climb, etc., eventually those courses becoming more complex, timed, and bigger until he outgrew them completely. He was made a Fourth Finger Assassin at age 10, and with Pathonia having a heavy hand in his upbringing and life decisions, ended up with more experience in the field than the average agent and assassin.

For nearly 40 years, Pathonia held an iron grip on his life. She controlled everything about him. His diet, his activities, his hobbies, the people he socialized with, everything she could get her hands on. Mathias in his teen years made an effort to run away, only to be brought right back to witness the loss of the First War. She spent every second meticulously breaking him down, taking apart all of his ideals, thoughts and feelings and bending them to the shape of the perfect assassin. He was lucky that, when together with Edwin and raising Vanessa, that she couldn't sink her talons into them.

( though, she would, however, later twist his failings with his family, weaponizing it against him and making him believe he was responsible for everything that followed the VanCleefs, neglecting his emotional breakdowns and refocusing him to work and work only )

By age 30, she promoted him to Spymaster in what was essentially a coronation. The King of Secrets, the Blade of Stormwind, this was passed to him. Now, he had some control, he didn't have to answer to her for missions, and hundreds of the eyes of their kingdom now looked to him for leadership and guidance. Twenty-six years he had been trained to lead them. By now, he has fully bought the vision that Pathonia sold him: This is his destiny, this is what he was bred for, this is what it was all for.

( But really, it wasn't just the pact Pathonia made in her youth that signed him to this life. It was his mother, her sacrifice, her failure, her legacy that he’s here, that he’s become who he is. Everything he did was to avenge her, and everything he’s become is in honor of what she never had the chance to become. His only regret was he had nothing to offer to continue the cycle. )

Well, that regret doesn't last long, though.

As time went on, and Mathias got older, he slowly started to become more aware of where he'd ended up in life, and how much he'd let Pathonia dictate his life. When she started getting progressively ill, and showed no sign of getting better, he began reflecting on their lives, and everything he knew about her. All his life, she'd been this beacon of strength and perseverance, an unstoppable force, clever and cunning, always quick on her feet and agile despite her age. She had built the Assassin's Guild and the SI:7 from the ground up, she had created a masterpiece and welcomed Mathias into that life. Then, she couldn't stand on her own without help. Her hands and joints hurt, she got slower and slower, she started needing assistance with things she would have never asked for before. Watching her start to age and decay like that... it wasn't easy.

Once she finally passed ( not before finally parting her full, honest life story to him on her deathbed ), Mathias felt... hollow. At the end of the day, she was the only family he knew. He never knew his father, she never revealed who his grandfather was, and his mother had died before he could really formulate solid memories. He mourned her, because of course he did — she raised him, she protected him, she gave him shelter, she rescued him any time he was in danger, and she did, in her own twisted way, love him dearly. After all, all the effort she went through to rigorously train him was out of fear of losing him like she lost her own daughter; they were each other's only family. It was them against the world.

But she was a monster, one the Alliance is lucky to have had on their side, just tamed enough to be on the "right" side. He loved her, but he hated her. Everything she put him through, everything she made him do, everything she stripped from him — it took him YEARS to even BEGIN undoing the damage Pathonia did to him. There are years he can never get back, an entire lifetime he can never get back. His life is stuck here now, he can never undo it all. The training will always be with him, his hands forever stained in blood, and there is no room for him to be anything else but Spymaster Shaw.

And he hates, oh, he hates that he NEVER got to tell her to her face that he hated her. Oh, he never had the guts to really stand up to her. How can you blame him? She was everything, she inserted herself into his daily life, she was a constant in his life, always there, always at the ready, invited or uninvited. She kept him alive. She ruined his life. She taught him how to survive. He wouldn't have to fight if it weren't for her. She showed him the ways of an assassin. He never wanted to be one. She made him one of the most deadliest rogues on Azeroth. He will never live a normal life.

Every day, he wishes he would have just gotten the guts to scream at her, to tell her how much he resented her, to lay out everything she had done to him in front of her and force her to face it, to say something, to just fucking say something, but he never got to. He will never have that closure.

As every day passes and he learns more of her post-mortem, that wish gets stronger. On particularly terrible days, if he's wallowed in enough self-pity to drink, he's at her memorial, or he's talking to her ashes, cursing her, cursing her, saying everything he wish he could have, knowing it will never reach her, knowing that it's too late to say any of it.

( When he learned that the VanCleefs had survived and had joined the Horde, oh, he screamed at her grave. He had mourned them, he thought he had lost everything, lost his family, he thought they had died, and that it was his fault. He could've done more, he should have done more. He bore the weight of that for years; it was painful enough to separate from his life partner, but to believe that he and the SI:7 had killed them, when truthfully, they were out there, and he could have been looking for them? That Pathonia lied to him that they were dead? Oh, how he shouted at her remains, screamed his throat raw and wept. At least they lived, at least they lived, but she had spent so, so much time meticulously ensuring that Edwin and Mathias could not live a peaceful life together, it was just another tally in the hundreds of ways she ruined his life. Since that day, her ashes had been tossed somewhere in the Canals, and he has yet to feel any remorse for it. )

He does miss her sometimes. He did love her. But her death set him free, and he's only now learning how to escape the cage and take flight; these wings have been cramped for so long, talons sore from the shackles that had been there for so long. Now, he's taking steps to live. Some more vacation here and there, allowing himself to partake in frivolities, he's changed his appearance to what he likes, he makes a little more time for himself — basic, basic things he never had before. Pathonia will never have an heir, and he is glad for it. Though the SI:7 will eventually need a new leader to succeed him when he passes, he is happy to know that he will break the cycle; there will be no more Shaws after this to take up the mantle, he will not force another to live the life he did. He will never make her mistakes. He will never be her.

He hates her. Even in the grave, she still hurts him. He is sometimes open about his resentment about her, sometimes even referring to her as 'the wicked witch', but he will always owe his life to her. He has her to thank for everything, as well as her to hate for everything.

He won't ever truly be free. It's too late for that now. But at least, with her long gone, he can at least try.

He can finally try.

[kayesfanfics]

Being in Love With Rogue (Unrequited) (Fem! Reader)

A/N: Sorry yall but she’s my girlfriend, I fought Magneto and Gambit and won and now I kiss her every night

Warnings: Unrequited love, ANGST

Oh, it was so obvious to everyone in the Mansion how much you looked up to and adored the feisty southern Belle. She was absolutely beautiful, so strong and independent, never took any shit from anyone, and very headstrong and opinionated, what was there not to like about her? She was perfect, except…she was with Gambit, her soulmate. You couldn’t help but hate the swamp rat, wanting to be in his place so badly. Everyone could sense your feelings about the two of them, everyone except for Rogue herself. When you saw them kiss, you had the leave the room because of the anger boiling in you, and the sharp sting to your heart knowing he could touch her but you’d never be able to

Luckily almost everyone in the Mansion knew exactly what it was like seeing the one you were in love with love somebody else. Well, except Jean and Scott, but everyone else. Morph would sometimes make jokes about it, Wolverine would tell him to shut up and leave you be, Storm would rest a hand on your shoulder in silent comfort, Beast would say some intelligent quote you didn’t quite care about. You’d never fully quite come out to the team as sapphic, but it was painfully obvious and they accepted you without question. Jubilee and Roberto would often ask why you never told her your feelings for her before she had gotten with Gambit, but you never could answer them. Maybe you were too shy, too afraid of what she’d say, you didn’t know. But you knew she wouldn’t truly want to be with you if she couldn’t touch you, no matter how badly you wanted her

“Don’t worry kid, you’ll get over her soon enough.” Wolverine would say

“Maybe Gambit will turn her gay soon, who knows! He has awful guy habits.” Morph would quip

“To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring ourselves.” Beast would quote

“Perhaps you should talk to her, get some of it off of your chest.” Storm would agree

None of it helped, you couldn’t bring yourself to make her love life more complicated after all that Magneto and Gambit drama she had dealt with a few months ago. You didn’t need her to know, you didn’t see any point in it, nothing would change for you. You’d excuse yourself from your friends and go to your room to wallow, still feeling hopelessly heartbroken after watching Gambit dip and kiss her in the middle of the basketball court

Gambit was fully aware you had a crush on his girlfriend. He wasn’t upset about it, he knew exactly how you felt, but you refused to talk to him about it or let him help you in any way. You were bitter and jealous of him, even if he was nothing but chill and nice to you. He did make an effort not to flaunt his relationship too much in your face, but he couldn’t help it if Rogue wanted a kiss from him while you happened to be there, it’s not like he’s deny her and you understood that

One day during a mission, things went south and Rogue got hurt badly. You couldn’t stop yourself from running to her to help, only to be beat by Gambit rushing over to help his girlfriend. You forced yourself to refocus back on the attacking Sentinels, feeling your feelings finally boil over and you raged against the robots, blasting them to bits and punching them far after they were down. You finally stopped when your knuckles bled profusely and tears overflowed your eyes, making you sob into your hands in a pile of broken machinery. You heard Morph and Jean trying to get your attention and ask you what was wrong, but you had been bottling up your feelings for so long you couldn’t hold them back anymore

“Y/N? What’s wrong, sugah?”

You looked behind you to see Rogue standing with some of the others, concern warping her face as she held her injured arm. You stared at her pretty face for a moment before quickly wiping your face and standing up, feeling like an immature child in front of them all. You whispered a quick “nothing” before attempting to leave, only to be stopped by Rogue grabbing your shoulder

“Y/N, we used ta be best friends! You can tell me! I don’t know what changed, but I want ta help ya!” She pleased with you, the other X-Men taking the hint and shuffling over to another area to let the two of you talk. Gambit made eye contact with you and gave you a nod, before joining the others out of earshot

“R-Rogue, I…I can’t tell you!” You cried out, dissolving into tears yet again right in front of her

“Of course ya can! You could tell me ya loved my boyfriend and I’d still listen!” She sat down with you in the rubble of the fight, tucking some of your messy hair behind your ear. Your breath hitched at the comment, knowing she was very close to being correct

“That’s uh…sorta the problem.” You finally admitted, looking down at your lap on shame. “Except…cept it’s not him I love…”

Rogue stared at you in confusion for a moment, before everything clicked in her head. Oh. That explains why you distanced yourself from her, stopped sharing everything with her, stopped coming to her when you needed someone, didn’t want to be friends with her anymore…

“Oh, Y/N.” She sighed, raising a hand to hold your chin to make you look at her. “Honey, I had no idea. I just thought…I didn’t realize. I’m so sorry. If I had known I wouldn’t’a been so…I’m so sorry!” She tugged you into a hug, her own eyes tearing up

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I just…I didn’t want to complicate things for you even more. I didn’t want to be a burden on you.” You shyly hugged back, your first hug in what felt like forever. You buried your face in her fluffy hair, breathing in her scent and holding onto her tightly

“You could never be a burden on me, sweetie! I should’ve seen it, now that you say that it was so obvious! I didn’t mean to ignore you or make you feel like I didn’t care about ya! I do! I love ya! Just…not in the way ya want me to.”

“That’s okay, you don’t have to! I shouldn’t have been such a baby and just told you, woulda saved me a lot of heartache. Storm was right about that.”

“Aw man, did everybody know but me?” She laughed, pulling away and wiping her eyes of tears

“Kind of.” You giggled, wiping your own tears and smiling up at her

After that mission, your friendship was mended and you went back to telling her everything and going to her if you needed her. She was more mindful of PDA around you and didn’t talk to you about Remy unless you were okay with it (you were especially okay with it when they were fighting and he did some stupid shit). Your other friends were glad to see the two of you finally talking and being the duo you had always been, but you still drank with Wolverine and cried about her to him, who wasn’t fully paying attention to you and probably thinking of a certain red head he loved…

[luveline]

JADEEEE I love roan so much can we please have a mother daughter day??? And Roan tells everything they did to Eddie as soon as they get home and he’s just so happy that you love roan so much !!!!!

thank you for your request! dad!eddie x (nearly step)mom!reader

"What is it called again?" Roan asks. 

You smile down at her little beatific grin, knowing that she knows and knowing that she wants you to say it again. "It's called a mother-daughter day. Where moms and their daughters spend the whole day doing mom and daughter stuff, like manicures and haircuts and coffee. Or, cake. No coffee for you, princess."

Eddie's blow dried Roan's hair so that almost all of her curls agave been straightened, and the dark length of it fans over her shoulders, soft as spun silk. He dropped you and Roan off in the centre of Hawkins town to spend a day with Wayne (that you called a father-son day, and he called chores day —Wayne's not taking me out for shopping and treats, sweetheart, he's gonna break my back in the yard).

The very first port of call, you decide, is hair. You take Roan into a quiet hair stylist's where you'd made two appointments, her smaller hand swinging in yours. The room is cool but inviting, and it doesn't take much convincing to get her into one of the chairs. 

"What do we want?" the hairdresser asks, bending down on Roan's left and meeting her eyes in the mirror. 

You do the same to her right. "We don't want much cut off, do we, Ro?" 

You'd already talked about it with her yesterday, wanting to make sure she doesn't have anything done that she doesn't want, or anything Eddie doesn’t approve of. 

"No, just the little bit," Roan says. 

"Can she have a wash and blow dry, too?" you ask. "She has the most beautiful curls when it's dry. We only did it like this today so she could see how much was being cut off." 

The hairdresser agrees with gusto. A second hairdresser comes along to do your hair, and it's a good thing you'd wanted Roan to have the full treatment, because you almost mess your own up constantly by turning in your chair to speak with Roan's hairdresser about what it is their doing. 

When you're finished, you're not shy about standing watch. The hairdresser is a sweetheart, fawning over Roan's pleased face as she rubs shampoo into her scalp over the sink. "Hey, Ro," you greet, "you look like you're enjoying yourself." 

"Hi, mom." 

"She's as good as gold," the hairdresser praises, "she's so polite." 

Roan shies away at the praise, worse when you agree. "She's my greatest love," you confess, "that's why I'm spoiling her today, because she deserves it for being so good all the time." 

Roan absolutely still tantrums. She misbehaves as every kid does, she hates vegetables, she makes those silly potions in the bathroom and she breaks things on purpose. But she's still a great kid. She deserves more than a special day. You'd treat her to this stuff all the time if you could. 

When Roan's hair has been dried and moussed with a diffuser, you pay your (unfortunately large) debts and compliment her all the way to the cafe. 

"Sweetheart, you look so beautiful, I wish I could show your dad right now, your curls haven't looked this bouncy and shiny in ages," you say, stroking a rogue one from her cheek. 

"I think you look beautiful, too," she says, almost walking into a woman coming from the cafe door. 

You pull her into your legs to avoid collisions and lead her through the door. "Thanks, baby," you say. If you were at home you'd grab her up, kiss her chubby cheeks, and maybe cry a little bit, but instead you take her to a nice table and buy her two different slices of over-expensive cake. One slice of triple chocolate fudge cake, and one slice of toffee cake with caramel buttercream. You tuck napkins into the collar of her nice dress and tie her hair back, fingertips sliding gently against her scalp as you pull it away from her face. She's extremely enthusiastic, spoon to her mouth before you've managed two loops of her scrunchie. 

"Eat up, princess," you say, stroking her shoulders clean of lint and stray hairs. "We have a super busy day still waiting for us." 

And the day is super, super long. It's night time by the time you and Roan get home via Hawkins lone taxi cab. Poor Eddie's literally waiting on the porch swing. 

"Holy crap, girls, I thought you were gonna call me," he says, rushing down the path to help with your shopping bags. 

"Dad, you're not supposed to see how much money mom spended," Roan declares, running around him on the path with a couple of bags in her clutches. "Don't worry, I'll hide them!" 

Eddie raises his eyebrows, waiting until you've thanked the driver and started up the path before asking, "I'm not supposed to see how much money you spent?" 

"That's a joke," you say. "You know, it happens on TV. I thought it was part of the mommy-daughter experience." 

"Oh, gotcha." He sidles in close to you as you take the few steps up to your door, not-so-subtly taking the shopping bags out of your left hand. "You look fucking beautiful, in case you don't know. Your hair is so pretty." 

"They barely did anything to my hair." You're not disparaging your stylist, she did exactly as you asked. It looks the same as always, but freshened up. 

"And yet." 

You step into the house and shut the door behind you. Eddie places your bags off to the side and turns to you for a hug rather than a kiss. He's maddeningly sweet like that. He hugs you so tightly that your back crunches. 

"Missed you… Thank you for taking her out today. I love how much you love her," he says against your cheek, punctuating with a quick kiss. "I thought you'd be home hours ago." 

"How was Wayne?" you ask through laughter. 

"Healthy enough to put me to work." 

You cup his cheek. "And how are you?" 

"Tired. Please tell me you bought me a present." 

"We bought you lots of presents," you say. "You might want to sit down." 

Eddie grins like a kid at Christmas, sweeping the bags into one arm and all but yanking your wrist from its socket as he pulls you to the living room with the other. You laugh as the two of you collapse into the couch, Eddie shouting, "Roan, come back, sweetheart! You don't have to hide anything you've got, just let me see your hair!" He rubs your arm. "She went off so fast I didn't see it. Have they scalped my girl?" 

Roan tramples back down the stairs like a stampede all by herself. She races around the couch and onto the armrest on Eddie's side, a struggle but one she manages with enthusiasm. 

"Okay, daddy, lookit. Mom told them to give me the sparkles and stuff," —she holds up her hands to showcase her painted nails— "aren't they the prettiest ever? Ever ever?" 

Her nails are small, and every inch has been decorated. Black polish at her own insistence encrusted with pink-white gems that sparkle when she wiggles them. Eddie likes her nails, but he loves her hair, combing her hair with two gentle hands at once. "Aw, sweetheart," he murmurs, "you look so pretty, they've given you your curls back." He looks at you. "How did they do that? I swear her curls don't bounce up like that even when I try my hardest anymore." 

You lift a bag into his lap. "I got some stuff on the hairdresser's recommendation. We can do it at home." 

He holds her little face carefully. "It's like when she was a baby." 

"Dad," Roan says severely, pulling his hands from her face, "we don't have time for crying. You haven't seen my new dresses." 

He pulls himself together with the help of your comforting hand on his thigh. "I'm not crying, you just look so pretty, Roro. And forget dresses, I want presents." 

"Y/N took me to Masy Daisy." 

Eddie looks at you out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe I don't want to know how much you spent after all." 

"It wasn't so bad, handsome," you say warmly, dropping your cheek into his shoulder. "They really were beautiful. Every one she tried on…" 

"How many did she try on?" he asks, like he’s scared of the answer.

"Just a couple… with matching shoes. And cardigans.”

Eddie sighs and leans back. “Best get the fashion show started, Roanie. Sounds like we’re gonna be here a while.”

[championari]

True Love: Why FifteenxRogue Works

WOW. Man, that Rogue episode, huh? Watching that live was probably the greatest experience I’ve had recently regarding Doctor Who. Not just as a queer viewer, but as a queer media analyst. Fifteen and Rogue truly feel like a relationship written for me to analyze, because there is simply so frickin’ much to talk about. So, allow me, gentle reader, to be your Lady Whistledown of queer alien fuckery, and guide you through analyzing the latest dalliance of our Time Lord extraordinaire with the most honest bounty hunter in the galaxy. 

We’ll be covering a LOT of ground in this: the theme of facades/masks, an interrogation of The Doctor’s perception of romantic relationships, and a deep dive into The Fifteenth Doctor’s character overall. So, needless to say, this is going be a LONG LONG piece. Grab a snack, some water, whatever you need, cause we’re going deep on this one. 

You’re still here? Fantastic! Then let us begin! Specifically, with the Fifteenth Doctor himself. Because above all else, this episode works as a dissection of his character overall. 

I’ve already done two metas regarding The Giggle’s ending and The Doctor’s perception of romance pre-Season 1/14, so if you want more elaboration, go read those here: 1, 2. But in case you don’t, I’ll sum up and expand based on what we’ve learned since. 

The Doctor, as a character, has always struggled with commitment and attachment. They never stayed in one place for long and when they did, they had an unhealthy relationship with it (Trenzalore, Darillium, Bill’s University). Romantic connection is a permutation of this larger issue, as every romantic relationship we have seen The Doctor take part in since 2005 either was unbalanced (holding back problems/outright lying) or ended in a really bad way.  However, thanks to the 60th specials and a bi-generation, The Doctor went through a massive change, and with it, came a new perception of openness and love. Fifteen is more expressive, and willing to verbally identify beauty. He openly points out how beautiful people are, and talks about previous exploits with pride. But this supposed openness betrays a deeper dishonesty still inside the Doctor. As much as Fifteen talks the talk of openness, he doesn’t often walk the walk when things get tough.

Fifteen’s character struggle is trying to break out of the Doctor’s previous patterns of unstable attachment and commitment while continuing those patterns. He values emotional honesty and encourages it in others yet simultaneously runs from it when the spotlight is on himself, even when he knows it’s beneficial and necessary for him to do so. So, with all of that in mind, let’s deep dive into Rogue (the episode, not the character, but also the character).

The best word to describe this episode is ‘deception’. Setting the episode in Bridgerton-esque Regency-era England was an appropriate choice, likening to a show that is all about facades and posturing to gain wealth and social standing (yes I am oversimplifying, don’t hurt me). Throughout the episode, we see characters who aren’t who they present themselves to be and use all manner of tools or tactics to disguise themselves to meet their ends. 

We have the Chuldur, creatures who gain pleasure from cosplaying. They thrive on creating fake entertainment for their amusement, honesty is useless if it can’t satisfy them. While this is meant as an obvious commentary on fan culture and how dangerous it can get when taken to the extreme, it also functions as a darker reflection on The Doctor’s habits. Because think about it: what are Fifteen and Ruby doing in this episode? They are having fun, dancing alongside the other partygoers. They’re wearing the outfits but only to blend in. Ruby doesn’t know how to dance, she has to wear psychic earrings to keep up. She watches the fake fight between ‘Emily’ and ��Lord Stilton’ like she would watch an episode of Bridgerton. Her fight with Emily later in the episode is set to Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’ playing in the background.

What we’re seeing in the villains is The Doctor’s pastimes becoming toxic, taking a companion and bringing them to a culture far removed from their own. But it’s not only a commentary on The Doctor overall, it’s also Fifteen’s philosophy in a darker context. Posing as sincerity and maybe containing it to some extent, but ultimately not completely honest. Through the setting and the villains, the episode is already priming us on a subconscious level to be thinking about disguises and dishonesty, a topic that both The Doctor and the Fifteenth incarnation specifically have a complicated relationship with. And then comes Rogue.

Rogue himself is such a fascinating part of the episode because he is such a deliberate disruption to this cultivated environment of deception. Rogue is the complete antithesis of everyone in the plot. He’s terrible at improvising, he’s socially awkward, he dances without needing psychic earrings, and he never cleans the inside of his ship. Rogue intentionally disrupts the narrative of lies by not being able to play the game. Even when he tries to wear a mask, the mask of an uncaring bounty hunter, He doesn’t wear it well and gets rid of it after the ship scene with The Doctor. Rogue is a character who cannot help but be who he is, he’s a character who not only can’t wear a mask but doesn’t want to. To put it simply, honesty is Rogue’s kink. That’s why the episode is named after him; it’s not just because he’s a central character, but because he provides the counter-argument to the themes of lies and deception. Rogue, the disruptor to The Chuldur’s acts of fake entertainment, and the disruptor to The Doctor’s act of cosplaying with Ruby, and on a deeper level, disrupts Fifteen’s oscillation between sincerity and repression. But we’ll get to that, we have Mount Everest's amount of context to analyze first, starting with their first meeting.

The Doctor and Rogue’s beginning scene sets the stage for the main obstacle in their relationship: their masks. ‘Cause right now we’re operating with two versions of the characters: the facade/mask versions, and the real versions. We get our first look at Rogue when Fifteen looks around for interference on the psychic earrings. He finds him being the most conspicuous while wearing the ‘bounty hunter’ mask: on a balcony (separated from the party physically), not speaking at all. 

He is standing out here but only in the way someone who knows disguises would recognize. The Doctor, remember no. 1 liar, of course he’s gonna recognize that. So much so, that he gives Rogue pointers on how to put on a better “brooding” face, literally teaching him how to wear the mask better. Rogue is an amateur mask wearer, going up against the master of mask-wearing. And that’s why Fifteen smiles when he sees him, he’s intrigued by that contradiction and wants to know more. 

Rogue meanwhile, is being rude and dismissive to scare him off, trying to keep to the mask he’s built. At this point, he knows that Fifteen also stands out from the rest but right now is assuming that he’s still a random partygoer. Notice what he says to him: 

He’s still using language and ideas someone from that era would understand. Where this deviates is this little exchange that felt familiar to me, but I couldn’t figure out from where. Until I remembered this:

(credit to @ngatwa for this set, you're amazing)

This is the first instance in the episode where Fifteen and Rogue’s relationship calls back to previous romantically-coded relationships The Doctor has had between companions. But it’s not just romantic subtext, it’s subtext that explains where the two are in the relationship. Victorian Clara was far more than what she appeared to be (a governess masquerading as a barmaid/echo of a companion scattered in the Doctor’s timeline), and the Doctor was more than he appeared to be (an alien who lived in a blue box). In asking those questions, it’s both recognition of the masks and inquiry for the real person underneath. Same thing here: Rogue and Fifteen at this point are trying to figure each other out, trying to see beyond the masks of the uncaring bounty hunter, and the flirtatious partygoer. Where things start to go wrong is that neither party fesses up to who they are. Rogue instantly assumes Fifteen is The Chuldur he’s looking for, while Fifteen assumes Rogue is a regular partygoer looking to…*ahem* create a scandal in the gardens if you get what I mean. This explains why a violin rendition of Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’ plays in the background. It’s not just a Bridgerton reference, it’s contributing to both characters’ perception of each other in this scene: both characters think the other is the “bad guy”. The lead into the scene is deception, we leave it the same way. No breakthrough yet. 

Now we’re moving on to the scene in the garden, where both masks of Fifteen and Rogue begin clashing with their real personalities. Fifteen is still being semi-sincere, still complimenting Rogue. And like water, all of it is rolling off of him because he’s still under the assumption he’s talking to a shapeshifting alien. He rudely asks about The Doctor’s info dumping and doesn’t respond to The Doctor’s compliments.

(credit to @klausbens for the gif, you're awesome)

He’s not engaging because he thinks the Doctor is not who he appears to be, and for a character that values honesty, everything Fifteen says is gonna wash over him. The moment this changes is when the two are accusing the other of the murder. Quite literally finishing each other’s sandwiches (C’mon, you know I had to throw a Frozen reference in this somewhere). 

This is a very interesting scene given our current context. Trope-wise, this is meant to communicate to the audience the bond between the two characters, they’re thinking the same thing. But the trope is flipped on its head because both characters take it in opposite directions. Both Fifteen and Rogue are in perfect sync, they are being honest about how much they understand about the situation, but that information is leading them to completely different conclusions (i.e. the other person is the Chuldur). They’re slapping more masks onto each other, this time with information they know is true, which leads to them locking in their heels and simply not being honest altogether until later. This scene is a repeat of the previous one, except this time it’s them showing their hands a bit more, making the backslide all the more difficult. Getting close to sealing the deal, then heel turn at the last minute, a classic Bridgerton move. 

So, what needs to happen to break this backslide? Well, plain and simple honesty. The scene on Rogue’s ship is when both masks start coming off. What Fifteen is doing on the ship during the scene is essentially trying to figure out Rogue. He finds out the ship is meant to be piloted by two, and he discovers the origin of Rogue’s name, the Kylie Minogue music. Which is a moment I want to zoom in on. Right before this happens when Rogue gives a cheeky response to Fifteen finding out about the name, Fifteen makes a joke and starts emphasizing his Scottish accent. This is Fifteen putting on another mask to make a joke, and Rogue doesn’t appreciate that, given his dirty look. 

Then Fifteen finds the music, which he then again uses as an opportunity to joke around and make fun of him (and flirt a little bit with him).  Fifteen is removing Rogue’s mask, while he is staying enigmatic and mysterious, which is why Rogue is still stonewalling him. HOWEVER, two can play that game, and Fifteen makes a big mistake in showing Rogue the psychic paper. This is the first time Fifteen is completely honest about his feelings towards Rogue. No mask, no posturing, complete honesty. And we see Rogue responds positively to this: 

This is the first time the two are both on the same level, communicating honestly. And that’s where we start to see genuine romantic feelings and attraction. 

But it’s not enough, so what does Fifteen do? He pulls out the big guns. He shows Rogue the truth: he’s a Time Lord from Gallifrey and has lived many different lives over hundreds of years. He not only rips off his mask, he quite literally reveals all of the other masks the Doctor has worn throughout the ages. And what is Rogue’s reaction to this? 

Complete besotted awe. If honesty is Rogue’s kink, then The Doctor revealing their faces just supercharged it. This is the moment that Rogue falls in love because he’s finally seeing who this mysterious flirty person really is. 

Now, I’m gonna pull out another previous Doctor romance for two reasons: One, I’ve been seeing this comparison floating around for a while, and if you know me and my old analyses, it’s that I cannot leave an inaccurate take alone, and two, because I think it applies here. I’ve been seeing comparisons online of this episode to Girl in the Fireplace, in which a new character falls in love with The Doctor and gets the rare opportunity to see their true self. But what makes Reinette different from Rogue is that honesty kink. Reinette was attracted to the mystery of the Doctor, her childhood hero who somehow doesn’t age. Note when he comes back the first time, she focuses on how strange he is:

She learns more about them later, but she was already in love with them before that. Rogue doesn’t want the mystery. In reality, The Doctor wearing masks is a turnoff for him. He only wants the real thing, so when Fifteen reveals the truth, that’s when the genuine romance begins. 

(We could also extend this comparison to the discussion of consent: Reinette found out everything without The Doctor's permission, while Fifteen revealed all the info by himself, but whether we can consider this consensual depends on your definition of consent under duress/threat. So I’m not entirely sure what to make of this conversation, feel free to expand in the tags/replies cause I want to hear more about this)

So now we’re moving along to the TARDIS scene. We continue with the theme of disguises with the whole “bigger on the inside” routine, Fifteen riffing as Willy Wonka for a hot moment singing Pure Imagination, and we have Rogue’s momentary slip-up:

(credit to klausbens for the gifs, you're awesome)

This is a great sign of character growth because while he’s maybe not wholly honest about his feelings towards The Doctor, he still is open about his love for the TARDIS, an important part of The Doctor’s life, so big step right there. 

I want to pay attention to the heart-to-heart here because watching what Fifteen says and how he reacts is extremely important to getting his view on the situation. Because right now, I wouldn’t say The Doctor is in love with Rogue back. While there is a lot of attraction and hints at a deeper bond, Fifteen is still operating with most of his mask on. Notice that when he asks Rogue about the person he lost, Ncuti Gatwa’s blocking has him leaning on the railing at an angle to the side of Rogue. He’s purposely staying at a distance, yet is leaning on the railings to appear casual. 

And when Rogue starts opening up, he moves closer and they’re at equal distance from each other.

We get a really sweet (and allegorical to the queer community) moment about The Doctor’s motivation of living out of respect for the dead, to keep living each day that they lost. And then we get Fifteen inviting Rogue onto the TARDIS. I want to focus on this because he doesn’t seem upset or disappointed by Rogue countering this offer by inviting The Doctor to travel with him, meaning he doesn’t see this as a “take it or leave it” offer. In fact, the compromise Fifteen comes up with, “let’s argue across the stars” and Rogue accepting it, is what leads to the almost kiss. So that prompts the question, what is Fifteen trying to say here? 

Well, what Fifteen is asking for is to continue seeing Rogue. It doesn’t matter to him if he’s on the TARDIS or not, all that matters is that he still has him in his life. The choice to see him more. Why does that sound familiar? Because that’s exactly what I wrote about in my dissertation on The Giggle’s Ending: 

“In giving Fourteen their own TARDIS, Fifteen is allowing his younger self to have what they always removed from the equation: free will. The Doctor can still go anywhere they want, which makes them even more motivated to stay and fix themself. Fourteen can feel safe staying with Donna, Wilf, Mel, Rose, Shaun, and Sylvia because the option to travel is still there.”

Fifteen’s love language is giving the people he cares about the freedom to express the love they already have within them. He values freedom above all else, and when Rogue accepts that freedom, that’s when we get the almost-kiss. This is the moment where The Doctor falls in love with Rogue back because it’s Rogue being willing to meet The Doctor where they’re at. He’s allowing Fifteen to set the pace and not force himself on him. 

Additionally, this willingness to be as slow or fast as The Doctor needs means far more to The Doctor overall than to just Fifteen. Many people have already pointed out the similarities between the line “let’s argue across the stars' and previous lines the Doctor has said to villainous characters like The Master and The Toymaker:

"We can take your games back to the stars."

"We can fight across the constellations if that's what you want".

Now, why is that? It’s because again, The Doctor’s perception of Rogue is evolving in this scene. Remember, up to this point, The Doctor doesn’t entirely know Rogue’s morality. All they know is that Rogue is a bounty hunter, and is not afraid to use his gun when he deems appropriate. There’s even a little line in this scene before the heart-to-heart where Fifteen specifically imposes his own brand of morality on the situation: “Whatever the Chuldur has done, I can’t let you kill it.” Now, we know that The Doctor’s morality and romantic life can conflict: River being a known murderer/psychopath, their longtime situationship, and later attempted rehabilitation of The Master/Missy. This is another feature of The Doctor’s character: while they do act like they have the final say on what is right, they also compromise that morality for people they care about. 

Like how The Doctor surprised Rogue by showing all of his faces, Rogue surprised the Doctor right back by not only being honest about his past but by being willing to accept The Doctor’s compromise. This moment is when The Doctor finds out that Rogue is a good person, and that The Doctor doesn’t need to compromise their morality when entering this relationship.

This heart-to-heart is about Rogue not only winning over the Fifteenth Doctor by agreeing with his values of freedom but also winning over The Doctor overall by just genuinely being a good person. But of course, the moral duty of taking care of the Chuldur rears its head in the form of the TARDIS alerting that the trap is ready. The bubble has popped and we still have a long way to go. 

(Plus, Fifteen’s facial expression in this shot perfectly captures that trademark “Oh.” moment, realizing you’re in love with someone but then taping it down to focus back on the immediate problem. Love you Ncuti Gatwa, you do great work)

Alright, now we’re at the dance/fake proposal scene. Oh lord, so much happens here with both dialogue and production regarding character, so let’s take this one at a time. Fifteen, Rogue and now Ruby have figured out the big plot regarding the Chuldur, their obsession with cosplay and dressing up to create drama. In response, Fifteen comes up with the idea to essentially beat them at their own game: create a fake scandal to draw them out. 

Now on paper and in terms of beating the bad guys, this is a plan that could and does work, but in terms of his relationship with Rogue: THIS. WAS. A. BAD. IDEA. Why? The very idea of masks and faking not only was the leading cause of them not connecting in the beginning but specifically doesn’t work with Rogue. You can see it in how Rogue nervously looks at Ruby and Emily when Fifteen asks him to dance, and even questions the validity of the plan: 

(credit goes to @carricfisher for texted gif, you're awesome)

It’s not just that he doesn’t know about homophobia, he just doesn’t like the idea of pretending at all. But the reason why it doesn’t collapse right away is because it’s not entirely pretending. The dance may function on the surface to create a scene, but for Rogue (and Fifteen albeit to a smaller extent) it doubles as an intimate moment between them. This connects to the choice of dimming the lights in an unrealistic way (which btw, as a film student, had me going insane watching it live). We’re seeing a deliberate break in reality, a dishonest showcase of the story being told, that serves the purpose of highlighting an ultimately honest and sincere act of love. Both The Doctor and Rogue are warping the aesthetic of deception in terms of the narrative by fabricating a scandal, and in terms of the production by changing the lighting. 

But of course, things start going to hell right there. Fifteen tries to up the drama and Rogue can’t keep up. Rogue overcorrects and proposes to Fifteen, who freaks out and leaves the room. Now, I don’t want to get into the question of whether or not Rogue was playing along by proposing or being genuine (Personally speaking, I think it was both. 70% true, and 30% fake). Instead, I want to clear up why Fifteen freaked out here. I’m sure a lot of the long-time audience could already guess that it was parallel to River Song, The Doctor’s wife, but I think it’s more layered than that. Why would a reference to River scare the Doctor so much, aside from reminding them of a close person they lost? Because the last time the Doctor got married to someone they truly loved, it involved a 24-year stay on Darillium, which he knew would end in tragedy. Note the word choice here:

“Sorry I…I can’t.”

Not ‘I don’t want this’, it’s a void of agency (which connects to my piece on The Giggle’s ending and freedom). The Doctor can’t have that with Rogue, he was fine with them being casual to avoid the possibility of losing him. 

But on my first watch, I couldn’t help getting a little bit cross with Fifteen here, because the amount of ball fumbling on display is outright ridiculous; The Time Lord brings himself onto the dancefloor, with a guy he nearly made out with two minutes ago, gets all up in his face and starts shouting at him to “tell me what you heart wants!” and then completely freezes when said guy starts proposing to him. What in the fuck did you expect was going to happen, bud?! What made you think this would go off without a hitch?

I want to preface this by saying I had a completely different reading of this scene for a long time. My original thought was that Fifteen was trying to do multiple things simultaneously. He potentially was trying to lure out the Chuldur by creating scandal and at the same time, was trying to have a serious talk with Rogue about where he’s at emotionally. These lines in particular have fascinated me since my first watch: “You would ask me to give up my title, my fortune. But what future can you promise me?”. It did feel like these lines hinted at Fifteen’s thought process at this moment, he chose those specific lines to use for this moment. Was Fifteen trying to have an honest conversation with Rogue about their relationship while being fake to everyone else? But that doesn’t make sense considering the previous conversation in the TARDIS showed Fifteen comfortable with the idea of them being casual and Rogue respecting that, so it doesn’t make sense with where Fifteen is progression-wise. 

But it wasn’t until writing out this piece that I realized I had it all wrong and the truth was far simpler: this is a repeat of their meeting on the balcony, albeit with higher personal stakes. Let’s take a step back here: What is happening in this scene? Fifteen and Rogue are completely missing what the other is trying to say. Fifteen ignored Rogue being visibly uncomfortable over being back to playing with masks, and Rogue is not getting if Fifteen wants him to be genuine or not. Just like on the balcony and the garden, where both sides think they’re saying one thing when it’s the opposite. Before, both parties were wrong about who they were, now both parties are wrong about what they want. 

Fifteen is saying complete bullshit here, not true stuff to their situation but stuff that their audience would react to. He’s being over the top on purpose to elicit reactions. Meanwhile Rogue is thinking he’s being genuine. He thinks Fifteen is, through code speak, trying to genuinely ask him these questions. Which leads him to get down on one knee. And that’s a big problem because Rogue doesn’t know that proposing is wading into a gargantuan trauma pool for The Doctor. This scene is a magnified example of the duo’s problem with masks and not being completely honest with each other. 

However, while this scene may have been a cause for regression from The Doctor on the relationship part, Rogue on the other hand has an epiphany. In the scene following this one, we get the truly iconic callback of “Run.” and Rogue taking the Doctor’s hand. Why is this important? Well, there are three specific examples that this moment is calling back to: 

Nine meeting Rose ("Run!")

Victorian Clara and Eleven fleeing from the Ice Governess ("I do the handgrabbing! That's my job! That's always me!")

Twelve running with River ("Stop holding my hand! People don't do that to me!")

Nine meeting Rose establishes this idea of protection: The Doctor taking care of someone by leading them away from danger. The other two examples are subversions of that idea: Clara and River are now leading The Doctor out of danger. Same principle here, except here it has a bit more context behind it. Clara and River subverting that act of protection made sense given who they were: Clara as an echo across The Doctor’s time stream knew who The Doctor was and what they needed, even if she didn’t know it consciously when the moment happened. River as The Doctor’s wife also knew who they were and what they needed at the time. 

By connecting Rogue’s action of taking Fifteen’s hand and running to Clara and River, it not only again connects Fifteen and Rogue to previous romantic relationships, but it also shows Rogue learning from his mistake. Rogue’s mistake in the proposal scene was him not figuring out what Fifteen needed at that moment, it was a major miscommunication. Now, at this moment, Rogue is starting to figure out what he needs to do. He is, to use relationship lingo, "shelving his agenda" to help the Doctor. 

And that progression continues through the last leg of the episode, including the moment when Fifteen thinks Ruby is dead. I’ve always found this moment in particular so fascinating because of how loud it is metaphorically for both characters. Fifteen is taking off the mask of coolness and revealing that Doctor™ anger. This is a complete switch-up from what he’s been like throughout most of the episode. Yet when he lets out that chilling line, “Good. That’s a long time to suffer.” Rogue doesn’t look all that scared or mad at him. 

The face Rogue makes here looks far closer to a resigned sadness, almost like he knew that he would have that reaction. Keep in mind that Rogue knows nothing about The Doctor at their worst, all that he knows right now is that they lost “everyone”. Compare that with Donna, who was outright terrified of The Doctor when at their worst (for good reason though). 

Rogue isn’t surprised by this at all. He’s not asking “What happened to this person in front of me?”, he’s realizing “This is how much he cares about his best friend.” He’s seeing the depth of this person’s love that is inexorably linked to the depth of his grief, and is realizing he can’t allow that grief to corrupt this person he’s grown to love, even if it means endangering himself. Which is exactly what ends up happening.

This is where the theme of masks finally pays off. At the beginning of the episode, both Rogue and Fifteen are wearing their masks (cold, uncaring bounty hunter, and flirtatious partygoer). Those masks started to come down, but that got messed up thanks to miscommunication. Rogue didn’t understand what The Doctor needed from him, causing their trauma to resurface and The Doctor ran away from having to deal with that grief. This final scene is them being completely honest with each other. Rogue asks him “Can you lose your friend to save the world?”, and Fifteen tells him the truth. He can’t, he can’t let that happen again. And Rogue understands that, he finally knows what needs to be done. And so he kisses him. Why did Rogue kiss him? Again, it’s a repeat of a previous scene, this time the dance. Rogue is comfortable putting on a mask/doing something dishonest when there’s an aspect of truth to it. Even if they danced together to serve a lie, it still was a moment powered by romantic feelings. Same with the kiss. Rogue had wanted to kiss him, so he felt comfortable doing something with an ulterior motive (taking the button from him) because it was also something he would’ve wanted to do regardless of the situation. 

But why did Rogue do it? The one line that I kept thinking of in summing up the intent behind Rogue's sacrifice was, ironically, from Frozen: "Love is...putting someone else's needs before yours”. Essentially, shelving your agenda, like we’ve been saying. Back in the proposal scene, Rogue’s mess up was not figuring out what Fifteen needed out of him at that moment. Fifteen needed him to play along in faking and instead, Rogue heel turned into a lot of trauma for The Doctor. So now, after seeing how important Ruby was to Fifteen, so important that he was willing to torture The Chuldur out of grief, Rogue is putting The Doctor’s needs before his own and stopping him from having to choose between her and the world. It's also why Rogue wiping away his tears before the kiss was so crazy because that's normally the Doctor's job. The Doctor is normally the one who turns sadness into hope. This time, someone else is doing that for him.

(credit to ngatwa again)

The greatest act of love in the episode was not the proposal, it was the sacrifice.

To close our tale, let us circle back to talking about Fifteen’s character arc. I opened this essay by talking about Fifteen’s main character flaw being a contradiction: both valuing emotional intimacy and running from it. That doesn’t seem to change by the end of this episode, so much so that Ruby forces Fifteen to take a moment and mourn Rogue’s loss when he wants to steamroll forward. But there’s one little detail left: Fifteen kept the ring. Not only kept it but is wearing it in the season finale to the point of even playing with it like a nervous tick. 

That bond, that relationship was so important to him that he doesn’t allow himself to ignore it. It’s only after he has that hug with Ruby that he pulls out the ring and chooses to wear it. Rogue is the one thing Fifteen won’t run away from because what they had wasn’t fake. It was real. 

Rogue, the supposed bounty hunter who only cared about wealth, loved The Doctor so much that he was willing to give up his life for his friend. The Doctor, the supposed Time Lord who flees from attachment, loves Rogue enough to remember him every day.  

I ask you, gentle readers, how could one resist a love story like that?

NOTE: some extra bits I wanted to include that I couldn’t fit anywhere else: I’m such a sucker for color symbolism, and having Rogue wear blue in contrast to Fifteen’s normally warm color palette, as well as blue being the color of The TARDIS…it just makes me feel things, ya’ know? 

Also, by not gendering Rogue’s previous partner, only ever using they/them pronouns, it helps add to the relationship in a social commentary way. It subtly shows that Rogue already has experience/is attracted to people who on some level defy gender norms, which helps prime the audience to buy Rogue accepting/liking The Doctor being able to change gender when regenerating.

Essentially, I'm insane over these two, and I need them back on screen as soon as possible.

[jgroffdaily]

Russell T Davies talking about the Regency episode titled ‘Rogue’:

It features Jonathan Groff in a guest role, and “it’s a mystery what [his character’s] doing there,” teases Davies. “What could he possibly doing at a regency ball? It’s putting two great actors together [with Gatwa and Groff]. We never thought in a million years that Jonathan Groff would agree to be in Doctor Who.

Sometimes people have these suggestions and I just roll my eyes thinking. ‘You’ll be lucky,’ like that. But it turned out he watched It’s a Sin. He knew my name, which was a surprise to me. [That] made him pick up the script and look at the offer, and the next thing I knew, there he was and he sent me a video. He was cycling around Central Park. I wish my life was like that all the time. Normally you get 27 agents blocking you. Jonathan’s one of our great screen actors there, and to put that with Ncuti, it’s just fireworks.”

**

We’ve also gotten glimpses at the Regency episode, and all of it, including the costumes, looks amazing. “It is so stunning,” the showrunner confirms. “A lot of it we had to make ourselves because Bridgerton classically brought up every regency costume in Great Britain and we probably filmed in the only country house that they haven’t been to yet. And let me tell you that they bumped the prices up, but it’s a joy.”

And just like Shonda Rhimes is a fan of Doctor Who, he loves Bridgerton. “She did an interview with the Sunday Times recently where she expressed her love of Doctor Who and she named me. I was really thrilled to see [that]. I mean I’ve only ever met her once, for 30 seconds. But there she was saying how much she liked me. That was one of the greatest compliments in my life,” Davies shares. “There’s an episode of Grey’s Anatomy in which people come into the emergency department because they’ve been fighting over my autograph, and they contacted me, got my autograph. That was years ago. But that episode must get shown somewhere in the world every day because almost every day I get someone texting me, have you seen this?”

He continues, “So almost to repay the compliment—Shonda put me in Grey’s Anatomy—I thought we’d put Bridgerton into Doctor Who. Actually, the writers said initially they wanted do a great big party. They wanted the Doctor to visit a party in time and space. And we had a long time winnowing down what sort of party that would be, but the moment Bridgerton was said, all other ideas went out the window. That really is a gorgeous episode.”

[dullgecko]

The thing is the Bad Kids are famous, yeah, being saviors of the world several times over tends to do that, but within their small little town of Elmville they don’t really realize because like they’ve all grown up there they’ve all had their moments of being just like super lame they literally almost caused the end of the world one time because of a drunk tattoo most people are used to their shit

So it’s not until they all travel into Bastion city for a week the release of Fig and Gorgugs new album (Fig calls it her college album despite not even being of college age and having no plans to go to college because the album is “mature shit now hand me the whipped cream i wanna pie fabian in the face”) and they cannot go anywhere without people asking for a selfie or something

The first time they realize is when Adaine goes into a bookshop on their way to the hotel and is immediately swarmed by a study group that was there begging to take a picture with “the greatest oracle to ever live” and she is just so confused

Fig, Fabian, and Kristen decide to use their powers for evil (Kristen pretty much immediately goes live on fantasy Insta trying to convince people on bad baby milk, Fabian finds out people make bracelets depending on their favorite Bad Kid and start tallying to determine “the best Bad Kid,” Fig just keeps doing what she had been doing before which was of course causing as much chaos as possible, Adaine usually just teleports places and says hi to a few people wherever she needs to go before doing her business and leaving, Gorgug is kind of used to it from the first tour they did but it’s on a much larger scale than before (he’s the first barbificer ever I mean come on man), and Riz gets a lot of practice sneaking around and being invisible (it is practically impossible to get a picture of him unless he’s like super tired)

They’re still somehow surprised when they all get invited as a party onto the biggest late night talk show in Bastion city (they ask about it when they’re on there and the host is like “well of course you guys saved the world multiple times” and they’re all just like “yeah but these guys aren’t cool” and start making fun of each other for lame things they did, the crowd thinks they’re hilarious, several clips of them go viral including the one of Kristen at the steel mill)

They are very glad when they get back to Elmville and all that changes is there’s slightly more teasing about them being so famous and cool (also Jawbone keeps playing the interview because look at his kiddos go, Adaine has to remind him that only two of them are actually his children and he just says “for now” and refuses to elaborate)

🩰

Riz hates it. He's a rogue and a detective and a spy (parttime) so having people know what he looks like is bad. He's fine with the rest of his party having their fun, being famous is good for them it helps their own personal goals but he doesnt participate.

The goblin is in full stealth mode for the entirity of the trip, he's wearing a face mask and a jacket with the hood up and sticking to his teammates shadows like his life depends on it. They go on a talk show and he catagorically refuses to participate, which is fine, the 'mysterious' and shy rogue thing just makes him more popular. His friends are hyping him up the whole time and they have a crudely drawn facimile of him on the couch which the host thinks is hilarious.

The only picture anyone managed to get of him is at the very end of the week when the sleep deprivation and paranoia of being followed the whole time finally gets to him and he falls asleep while packing his briefcase to go home. Fabian just picks him up off the floor of the hotel room, plonks him on his shoulders, and finishes packing everything up (and takes pictures of the whole room because he knows Riz will be anxious about accidentally leaving something behind) and heads downstairs to check out. Riz still has his face-mask on but the hood of his jacket isn't up so someone gets a photo of him completely passed out, no glasses, face 90% obscured, and using Fabians head as a pillow.

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Empath Reader who can't turn it off and is 100% with all the teen relationship drama but is sadly forced to know all of it.

They are constantly sleeping cause it's the only time they don't have everyone's emotions hitting them at once. They aren't grouchy about it, just eepy. So very eepy.

At school, Reader gets a reputation as the greatest advice giver and, more importantly, match-maker. You come to them with a problem in any relationship, and they will already know about it and have a plan to fix it.

Every couple they put together are still together and everyone wants to be matched by them. Just don't ask for someone specific if ur not prepared for complete honesty on why that it wouldn't work. If the cute girl in English don't like you, she don't like you and it isn't Reader's fault they have to tell you that.

One couple offered to set them up with someone as a thank you, and Reader looked like they just sneezed in their face. They only accept cash or snacks.

They heavily disapprove of Jean and Duncan's relationship and expressed this when they first started dating. They have felt Duncan's possessiveness, anger, greed, and disgusting lust for Jean, but never love or even just like for her. They have also felt only neutrality on Jean's end, so they can't understand why she stays with him. They don't lecture or hound Jean about it, but she does get disapproving stares whenever she leaves for a date. ( When they break up, Reader gets her a "congrats on not being a trophy girlfriend" cake and starts trying to set up her and Scott.)

Contrary wise, Reader supports Kitty and Lance together. Lance regularly gets the crap scared out of him because Reader keeps jumpscaring him when he's alone to give him advice, like what to get her for her birthday when he was brooding on if he should get her anything at all.

It's not just romantic relationships Reader helps with. They were with Rogue and Kurt every step of the way when dealing with feelings on their mom. Peter and Wanda have talked to them about their dad. They have explained to the New Mutants why Logan is so angry with them when they do something stupid. X-23 finds a comforting shoulder to cry on one day with no judgment. They even give advice to Gambit or Piotr mid-battle. ( Most of the villains are reluctant to fight Reader at this point. It feels like punching their therapist.)

Reader does feel the yans' overprotective feelings and strong familial love for them, but since they can't read exact thoughts, they are not aware of just how dark and deep these feelings go. The yans are luckily in this cause if Reader did, they would be running for the hills. Now they are just happy that everyone cares about them so much and considers them family. They know their mutation isn't useful in a fight, so it's sweet how worried they all get. ( They call Charles "Grandpa" and Storm "Mom," and suddenly, everyone is crying. They have a family. They never had a family.)

If Reader had an empath mutation, everyone, and I mean everyone, comes to them for advice. The school sees them as some relationship or romance guru, the X-Teens and Brotherhood teens come to them with their woes and problems, amd Reader is able to genuinely say what the problem is, how to try and fix it, or I'd it just won't work out. It's scary, how accurate they are, but everyone wants to know how to find love or improve their familial or friendly or romantic relations, and Reader is willing to offer a helping hand.

When Jean and Duncan are together, Reader looks like they just saw someone take a cr*p on their rug, and they always look to be in disgust or one step away from either throwing up or tackling Duncan down the stairs. When Jean finally breaks up with him, Reader throws her a party, complete with a "Good for you! Glad you dumped his *ss!" cake, a few party games like "beat the ex-shaped pinata", "relationship goals bingo", and "affirmations that you're great" guessing game! (The cake tastes great, and in a week or two Scott and Jean are together, and Reader then throws a "about time y'all did this!" party).

They help Pietro and Wanda talk about their emotions and their feelings about their dad. Reader let's them know it's healthy to get it all out, it's good to be honest with yourself, and if their dad doesn't start trying to parent them more and be more involved, Reader will start asking Xavier to pine over some other villainous guy. Reader even has a five minute talk with Magneto on the fact his kids did want him in their lives, they did love him, but if he doesn't start trying to be there for them now, they won't for much longer. They say it's not easy to be so worried for everyone, but he should be there for the ones who are his family, his kids (and Charles, hint hint, just make up already, please, it'll save everyone so much trouble-).

When Kurt and Rogue discover they're siblings, Reader holds daily sessions with both of them to try and figure out how to process their newfound familial emotions, how to bond and grow closer, and that their mother does love them, but it's not their fault she has made mistakes and it's not their job to fix it. Readrler bakes them cookies, they set up small coffee or movie dates (platonic), and push them toward talking with Scott about siblings (yes, Scott can be a big brother or a really good friend for them, Reader thinks it's good for them all).

Reader gives Lance date advice, and walks him through what not to do as well. Give Kitty a heart shaped rock, he loves rocks and Kitty will appreciate the sweet, genuine gesture. Go take her to a cafe, there's a new one she wanted to go and he likes sweets, so that place is perfect. Don't try and drop a building on your crush, that's a no-no. Don't force her to do anything, it will scare her and it will make everything rotten. Compliment her, her clothes or her hair or her eyes or her choice of reading, make sure to be honest, too. Reader let's Kitty know Lance is trying his hardest, but if he starts acting like an idiot, she can and should walk out if it gets to be bad or becomes dangerous. (Lance leaves a whole box full of heart-shaped rocks for Kitty, some painted, some plain, and a few that are glittery or shiny, and next thing you know, they're going on a movie date-).

When Laura shows up, Reader does their best to guide her through her anger and frustration and sorrow, telling her she's allowed to feel that way, she deserved so much better, it's not her fault it was never her fault, yes Logan loves her, very much so, no one wants her to leave- (Laura gets hugged by them, given a stuffed animal, and given a piece of candy. She likes them).

The Brotherhood and Acolytes don't really want to fight Reader or kidnap them or knock them out, because- well, Reader is like, their therapists, or emotional support person, or their intuitive friend. It would be like punching an emotional support animal or a life counselor, which is, well, kinda bad if they're on your side! Gambit loves hearing their ideas on how to show his genuine interest in Rogue, Piotr enjoys hearing them say he isn't bad, he's being very caring for his family, and Pyro and Sabretooth tend to leave them alone (it wouldn't do to get rid of their favorite emotional support child, look at them, they're nice, and haven't been scared off quite yet).

Reader wants to help everyone they can, they try to, but even they know not everyone wants their help or will take it seriously. They struggle with their own emotions sometimes, trying not to force anyone to feel their own fear or worry or anxiety or anger, wanting to appear put together and unshaken... But it's so hard, when they feel everyone's emotions every waking moment, no matter where or who it's coming from, and it's exhausting and a bit intense. Reader sleeps so much because their powers don't really shut off, ever, and they're constant feeling what others feel and holding back so no one feels what they feel. They love their friends, and they know they love them back. They just don't know how deep it truly goes... And Reader is so glad to have a family, even if they won't say it in fear it isn't true...

(Woo! This was fun, @sugar-soda ! Which possible mutation did you want to explore next! Imagine if some of the yans get heart eyes around empath Reader! That would be cute!)

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Amplification: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.9k

Summary: A deadly spread of Anthrax is going around infecting and killing people. One of your own is affected that completely tears your world into two. How will you over come this?

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

The bookstore has been closed ever since Albert died, and Gayle's purchase happened right before it closed down. It would explain why only three people were hit, and when General Whitworth sent his men in for testing, they came back positive for Anthrax.

Albert's bookstore was the unsub's test run. He's gotta have a history with the place, so Penelope needs to come up with a list of present and past employees of the place, customers with grievances against the owner, and if any of them had a science background.

An attack of Anthrax isn't meant to kill three people inside a bookstore, it wants to be out in the open where it can feed and multiply in the way that it wants to. Just a small amount can wipe everyone out, and they'd never see it coming.

Another hour goes by and the six survivors of the attack are now down to four. This attack is killing people left and right and there is nothing you can do about it. The more they die off, the more family members demand answers for what's happening.

"It feels like the plague of Egypt," Linda says.

"Ten scourges created by God. Plague six was unhealable boils believed by biblical scholars to be caused by Anthrax."

"You never missed Sunday school, did you?"

"Actually, I've never been before. How is she doing?" Spencer asks about Abby.

"She's a fighter. She's held on this long because she's young and strong, but she's started to bleed into her lungs. We're running into another problem, though. When the next of kin have questions, what do we tell them about the cause of death?"

That is a question only Hotch and General Whitworth can answer. You can't tell anyone anything without punishment if it didn't come from Hotch. Instead of thinking things like that, you can try and think of the unsub and profile you have on him. It might help your team catch whoever is doing this.

Because the locations aren't symbolically significant, the attacks are personal. Understanding the significance of the locations will be the key to identifying the unsub.

This personal element strongly indicates a home-grown terrorist like the Amerithrax case. This is someone from the science or defense community. That's why the CIA is here. Hotch thinks they may know him. These home-grown terrorists are myopic zealots that believe that their work is of the greatest importance.

He may have preached about the threat of an attack on America. His coworkers would describe him as histrionic, paranoid, and secretive. He may have logged excess hours at work in the past weeks preparing for the attack. He even might have taken the full dosage of Anthrax vaccines over the recommended eighteen-month schedule and had yearly boosters.

This guy has his own workspace where he makes his product in privacy. He also has access to large, expensive, industrial-grade equipment at work. He's written about the threats of Anthrax attacks and published papers about it, yet he feels no one is listening, and that angers him. Now, he may have recently experienced some sort of professional humiliation like being demoted or fired. Now, that would have been his trigger, the moment he decided to go rogue.

He may have betrayed his loved ones to his cause and may be recently separated or divorced. This is somebody who knows every detail of the 2001 Anthrax attack and has talked about what that suspect did right or wrong. He's watching the news very closely to see how the country reacts, and it's not a good one.

The CIA dug deep into their records and found a video of a classified hearing with the Subcommittee on Defense and Homeland Security in January of 2002. Dr. Lawrence Nichols used to work at the institution and left in 2002. The video is sent to your team at the hospital, Derek's team in Maryland, and the main office with everyone else. You and Spencer go into an empty hospital room to watch the video. Dr. Nichols went to the Senator to ask for money for a project he wanted to do with dangerous chemicals. He went to talk to the Senator about the attack in 2001 and why he should have funding for his project.

"Five people died. If you ask me, we're lucky it was just five. We're lucky that whoever sent these letters used cheap porous envelopes and not a crop duster. America's enemies are capable of wiping out entire cities, and we are woefully unprepared."

"I'm looking at your proposal--"

"Yes, sir," Dr. Nichols cuts the Senator off. "Every household needs gas masks and a two-month supply of Cipro for each resident. Every major city needs hospitals with bio-safety decontamination capabilities."

"Regarding the budget you propose for this operation--"

"Anything short of fifty billion would be grossly negligent."

"Dr. Nichols, you've got to realize how unrealistic that is. We can't justify spending that kind of money on an attack that may not happen."

"You people are in denial!" Dr. Nichols exclaims.

"Doing this would incite fear and panic among the public."

"This country should be panicked! We should live in utter fear of being attacked! We live in a time of war and WMD proliferation. If you continue to be blind to our lack of preparedness, then Americans will die, and I will have no problem in pointing the blame at you!"

The committee didn't fund his project and rejected him because he was becoming unstable and fanatical, which is why they removed him from Fort Detrick and blacklisted him from other prominent positions. Even though he believes in preparedness, he felt like people weren't listening. He might have done this to prove a point.

He fits the profile of the unsub to a T. He had access to research on Anthrax, had the resources available to do something like this, lost a highly respected job, and got divorced in the process. The job he has now is through a company called Bio-Design Technology that doesn't deal with Anthrax but with the Flu. If he got demoted from working with such deadly diseases to working with the flu, he might be angry enough to use Anthrax as a weapon.

Either way, you need to bring him in.

Derek pulled you and Spencer from the hospital to go to his house while Emily and Rossi went to his work to see if he was there. Along with you, Spencer, and Derek, a hazmat team joined you so they can clear the inside of his house. You have to wait outside until they're done with their investigation.

"It's clear so far," one of the members says when he hears from one of his men inside.

"Alright, keep me posted." Derek turns to you and Spencer. "This guy just had people over for a charity event last month."

"We should probably take a look around anyway."

You three walk to the backside of the property when Spencer hisses in pain. You look over to see rose bushes with thorns sticking out of the stems. He must have cut himself on the thorns but isn't too concerned about it. For someone who messes with Anthrax, his backyard isn't too sketchy. There is a pool with a beautiful gazebo area and lots of blooming flowers. Derek's phone rings and he answers whoever it is.

"Yeah, Princess, what's up? ... Uh-huh. Yeah, we're here now. ... Sorry. what? The lab is clean? ... You're sure? ... All right." You watch Derek as he talks to Emily. You're not paying attention to Spencer who goes off on his own. He turns to you and Spencer to tell you what she said. "They got nothin'--Where's Reid?"

You look behind you to see Spencer run into the large shed in the backyard. You and Derek quickly follow after him, but he slams the glass door to keep you and Derek out of some kind of lab.

"Spencer!" you gasp.

"Morgan! Y/N! Get back!"

"What the hell are you doing? What's wrong?"

"Believe me, get back."

"Reid, open this door!"

"Spencer, open the damn door!" you yell and slam your hands on the glass.

"I'm sorry. You can't come in here."

"No, open the door," you whimper. The only reason he would be trapped inside there and refuses to let anyone inside is that this is the place where Dr. Nichols created his Anthrax poison. "Spencer, no, open the door."

"I'm sorry," he sighs.

"Come on," Derek says and puts his hands on your shoulders.

"No!" you gasp. "I can't leave him. I'm not leaving him. Call Hotch and get people out here now! I'm not going anywhere!"

Derek has no choice but to listen to you. He needs people out here now if Spencer has any hope of making it out of this alive. Derek leaves and gets Hotch on the phone, and you look at your boyfriend with tears in your eyes.

"Open this door, Spencer, or I'm gonna break it."

"Don't, Y/N. There is white powder in here, and the air is blasting."

You let out a heartbreaking sob and put your hands to your mouth to quiet them. Spencer's heart breaks at the sight of you crying for him. Hotch and the biohazard team arrive quicker than you thought they would, and Derek tells Hotch where you are.

"Y/N, get out of there."

"I can't leave him," you cry. "I'm not leaving him alone!"

"Please don't cry."

"Spencer, I've seen what this does to people. There has not been one survivor and you're infected now. If the cure is not in there, then you're gonna..." You can't even say it. "I can't lose you. I love you so much."

You place your hand flat on the glass and Spencer puts his hand over yours.

"You need to get out of here."

"I can't leave you!"

"I will be fine."

He doesn't believe what he's telling you because he doesn't know if he's going to make it out of here alive or not. He's lying to protect your feelings but he forgets that you can tell when someone is lying. Your chest feels heavy and your whole body is shaking from fear. Your legs can't hold you up any longer so you fall to the ground in a heap of tears. Someone from the biohazard team comes in and places their hand on your shoulder.

"Ma'am, you need to leave."

"Y/N, listen to them."

"Spencer," you gasp.

The man practically forces you out of the shed to where Hotch and Derek are. Derek catches you when your legs wobble.

"I need to be in there, please. I can't leave him alone. He's scared, Hotch," you cry.

"Y/N, you need to calm down."

"I can't," you hiccup. "I can't lose him."

Hotch needs you to calm down so he calls Spencer and places him on speakerphone so you can hear his voice.

"Hotch, I really messed up this time," Spencer sighs.

"Reid, we need to get you out and to the hospital."

"No, I'm staying right here."

The tears won't stop rolling down your cheeks.

"No, Spencer, please leave. You need medical attention," you cry. "Please!"

"Y/N, I'm already exposed. It's not gonna do me any good to stop working on the case."

"He's already infected," General Whitworth says. "If Nichols created the strain, he may have also created the cure."

"Look, Dr. Nichols is in here but he's dead. Someone must have bashed something in his head. My best chance is to stay here, see if there's a cure, and try to figure out who killed Dr. Nichols."

"Hotch, say something to him!"

"He's right. His best chance is inside. We're gonna get a suit and mask into you right away."

"Don't bother. it's not gonna do me any good. I'm already infected."

This thing killed the first three victims within hours.

The thought of losing Spencer is something you can't even fathom. The thought hurts too much, and your chest starts closing up.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[lunarspiral1127]

X-Men 97 episode 3, here are my thoughts.

*SPOILERS*

Pros:

Goblin Queen got a magical girl transformation sequence. Dunno why this is a pro, but I like it and her outfit. See? A woman looking sexy. Now can the people talking about Rogue's looks can back off now? By the way, Madelyn was actually the Jean we saw this whole time....yeah, I'm gonna get to that later.

The mansion being haunted and the hell pit. The visuals were pretty good on that. I especially liked how each section was showing many of the characters' greatest fears and mess with their insecurities.

Bishop and Cyclops team up which Bishop got to do something cool.

Jean vs. Goblin Queen. It was good. Honestly, I felt bad for both of them Jean was held captive for who knows how long and missed out a lot. Madelyn didn't know she was a clone until Mr. Sinister revealed it to her since she believed to be the real Jean. Then she got brainwashed like a sleeper agent to do Mr. Sinister's bidding.

Forge! He's finally here!

A lot of comic references that worked pretty well.

There was more moments with Morph. He still got involved and despite what he went through because of Sinister, he was still willing to take the X-Men to where he is. However, I thought Morph would do a bit more due to his connection to Mr. Sinister. So, this is kinda a pro and a con to me. I just hope he doesn't get even more traumatized because of Goblin Queen brainwashing him when he was in his Magik form.

Cons:

I'll be honest. I liked the last two episodes more than this one. I think it's because the Madelyn/Goblin Queen storyline from the comics was resolved so quickly. The return of Mr. Sinister, the Jean we saw since episode one was a clone, Nathan going to the future to be cured, Goblin Queen, that all happened and concluded in one episode. Something like this should have some more buildup. Like, be a two-episode or three-episode arc. Many arcs from the 90s X-Men show has lasted for 2-3 episodes, so I thought this was gonna be that. But, I guess not.

Roberto AKA Sunspot was there in this episode, but he didn't really do anything aside from being saved. I thought he left the school, and I don't get why he had to be there when Beast was checking on Jean at the beginning since he's not a member of the team (not yet at least). Maybe he was there to hangout with Jubilee? Well, I just hope that this is building up to him using his powers and develop his character.

The calling herself Madelyn Pryer....when the hell did she come up with her new name?! It felt like it came out of nowhere. She was saying goodbye to Jean, and she's like, "Just call me Madelyn Pryer."......HUH?! You can't just suddenly introduce her new name like that cause it so sudden.

Questions

Will Gambit confront Rogue on her relationship with Magneto and will it go badly?

Again, WHEN WERE THE TWO EVEN A THING?!?! Unless this is a red herring.

When did the switcheroo happen with Jean and her clone? We don't know when so it could've been during the timeskip offscreen.

Is that it from Bishop? Was the point of him being there was to take Nathan to the future to be cured?

What the hell was Morph gonna do with those claws?! I know he can joke around, but hard to reach places?! With those claws?!

How's Forge gonna help Storm get her powers back?

Now that Jean knows how much she means to Logan, Cyclops having a son with a clone who he thought was Jean and knowing that some of the time he spent with her was a lie cause it wasn't Jean, and the last scene where they stood there awkwardly, is there gonna be even more tension between the three? Cause that's gonna be stressful to watch. I blame Sinister if more drama is gonna happen.

Logan's never gonna move on, is he?

And, that's pretty much it.

[howtowhumpyourhiccup]

Emotions

Summary: Written for Day 14 of Augusnippets 2024. Set in a Modern AU, Sci-fi AU. Mind Full AU. Astrid wants to give Hiccup the greatest gift she can possible give; a phone call with his dad.

Warnings: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Kidnapping

Rating: Teen and Up

Dead Dove: No

Words: 444

Prompts: Gift

Fandom: How to Train Your Dragon

Characters: Hiccup, Astrid, Heather, Stoick

Pairing: Heathstrid

Author's Notes: Ah, the fic in which Hiccup gets another OUNCE of love. (◡ ‿ ◡ ✿)

Enjoy!

-XOXOX-

“No,” Hiccup’s answer is firm.

“No?” Astrid is surprised by his answer. Just outside the door, Heather is just as surprised, except she’s better at hiding it. Her girlfriend is holding up her phone, her thumb hovering over his father’s number.

“What do you mean “no?!” She’s absolutely stumped. She has to know just why Hiccup wouldn’t want to talk to the father he was basically abducted from five whole years ago.

“He’s…” Hiccup quickly shuts himself up, he knows better. Talking to his father would be too much of a risk. There’s a reason why his mother cut off all contact with him and she was right. He would’ve been a detriment to their mission.

“Hiccup…” Heather hasn’t talked too much to him yet, but she steps forward now.

Not too long ago, he was still the creep with the thousand-yard stare with dragons for bloodhounds who almost killed her and her brother when they tried to steal some dragons for a third party that’s involved in this whole mess. He wasn’t a human being with a lifetime of trauma back then.

“Do you love your dad?” She asks, standing by Astrid’s side, hand on her upper back.

Instead of answering, Hiccup simply looks at his hands. His burns have healed a little, there is no more loose skin to peel off and the itchyness has lessened. He can’t tell them that he doesn’t.

“You may owe dragons and Valka, but you owe your father, too. Imagine what he must’ve gone through these past five years,” Heather begs him to please have some empathy for Stoick. And maybe she has to lie a bit, because he owes dragons and his mother nothing.

Hiccup says nothing.

“Did you know he hasn’t stopped searching for you yet?” Astrid asks and that seems to do it. After a moment of thinking, Hiccup reaches with a hand for Astrid’s phone and she taps on his father’s contact.

He has his own, they’ve seen it. Just his mother’s number. No pictures, no games, default apps.

Placing Astrid’s device to his ear, Hiccup listens to the tone, his heart pounding.

“ Hello lass?” On the other end comes a deep, gruff voice that Hiccup hasn’t heard in years.

“Hello? Astrid? Are you okay, lass?”Stoick sounds tired, but that doesn’t stop his worry.

“Astrid, where are you?” By then, the phone is in Hiccup’s lap and his shoulders are shaking. A hand covers his eyes, elbow on his knee. A rogue shudder and a sigh breaks free and Astrid sits down next to him. Once more her, arms wrap around him and even Heather places a hand on his shoulder.

[dailycass-cain]

How do you take a minority character in Cassandra Cain, who had an ongoing series that lasted over seventy issues, was part of the core cast at the time, downgrade them from an "A-list" (to me she was) hero to D level, and her importance gone? DC Comics found a way. Tonight let's talk about it.

(2022 me: I wrote these series of tweets back in 2020. Originally, I posted my original essay of this in five parts waaaay back in 2015. Here’s part 1). 

Like many things, it wasn't just a singular major cut but several ones, and lots of smaller ones that ousted the character from said position, and probably ran the fandom for the character to other places.

The first big cut is THE story of Batman in the early 2000s, Hush. Many people's "go to" or favorite story for Batman universe. Why? because it features almost every single Bat-Family and major rogues at the time appeared in it. Save for Bane and-- Batgirl.

For Bane it's quite understandable, he was in a story at Gotham Knights at the time. So his story was "being played" out elsewhere. Cass however, the story is notorious for excluding her. I believe even to this day because of the lack of appearance is a key reason why we're here.

Everything "birthed" from Hush has ruled the Batman comics roost for years since it's publication. You might say even to this day, Batman comics cannot escape the shadow of the story or some of the bad characterization within it (2022 note: Oh how right I was back in 2020 when I wrote all of this. We’ve gotten yet another addition of this story, a new omnibus, published this year with a new five page story from the same creative team). 

Key among them is this mythical level that the story puts Babs' time as Batgirl. It along with the Tommy and Jason portions are given Bruce's justification for wanting to kill the Joker in it.

There is this thing. This myth that Barbara was the greatest Batgirl ever because simply, she was the one who was in  live-action. The one in Batman: The Animated Series. That she should still be Batgirl was played out by writers during this period.

As I said earlier today she was given this chance. Where as Cassandra never really has ever been given a chance save for cameos and some really bad video games. But even then, Tim was in those too? Yet how did he get a pass but Cass did not?

There also lies a rather confession from now former publisher at DC for his distain for legacy characters. How they "age" characters up. I believe this also pertains why Barbara is always Batgirl as well. Since it ages her and Bruce up.

.The irony is, we always get the Robins (save poor Stephanie) in media too. So it's rather-- hypocritical and kind of sexist really that all the boys get their time in the spotlight but the gals do not? Why is that? This myth for Babs as Batgirl and viewpoint on legacies already puts a great hinder on Cassandra as a character.  You already have factors going against the character. But wait there's more.

There-in lies the second big cut. A great famous comic writer once told me on a forum, if he didn't like a character he'd just ignore them. Better ignore than write them badly. This sort of thing does make sense but-- in Cassandra's case for one writer it was taken to an extreme.

After War Games event in 2004 does anyone want to play a guess how many times Cassandra appeared in the mainline Batman comics to the end of her ongoing in 2009?

The answer isn't much, just a handful. Not to mention the love affair over returning Jason as well was all over the place. Jason this and Jason that. A fact that this was so metaly pointed out in Batgirl Vol. 2 #1.

There-in lies a revelation tonight I had. I always wondered why the writer of Batgirl Vol. 2 wrote Nightwing so awful in it. Then it hit me across the face tonight: the book's writer at the time. The thing from 2006 to even now there's been an editor/writer who kind of obviously doesn't like the character of Cassandra. In fact his own contribution to this happened in Nightwing as Batgirl Vol. 2 was ending. The whole "family" subplot throughout his entire Batman run.

There in lies the second major cut, the ending of Cassandra's ongoing. Why was it canceled? Not due to sales. Other comics that survived/relaunched into OYL were selling worse than Batgirl. No it was canceled to make room for a Batwoman ongoing.

A Batwoman ongoing (by Devin Grayson) that would never see the light of day. The inker of #73 confirmed this because I guess one female Bat comic was one too many for that day and age. Oh, the sexism was high at DC.

Of course, the third major cut came not too long after. Turning Cassandra into a "dragon lady" villain.

So you take everything fans loved and adored the character. And take it into the trash to give us the worst stereotypical character ever. Worse, is the aftermath following in Robin #152.

Why is it worse? Because it downplays Cassandra's importance in the family to now being a "sad troubled" girl. .....

Fans didn't take well to this all at all during the time period. Cue this article from Wizard #182 (which came out October 2006) when fans were ticked and higher ups threw the Robin writer under the bus at conventions.

And that would come in Titans East over in Teen Titans in early 2007 where we get this crazy retcon to explain it all.

With some extra padding in some oneshots of 52 to show, "Hey Cass did good things in the missing year. Things we'll never see." Aka devaluing her story unlike say Tim who we got to see the complete tale of him at the time.

Back to Titans East, throughout the story neither Tim/Dick help Cass in her problems they instead hinder her more after learning the truth. Thankfully for Tim that characterization would later be course corrected. Dick-- not so much.

So DC said they had "plans" for Cassandra. After East we were teased things in Black Canary mini in the summer of 2007 that Cass had feld from her sect of the League of Assasins.

And as I let you all know here. Well, we all know where Cassandra ended up, as a supporting character in Batman & the Outsiders.

But this in line also ties into DC Nation blurbs where we were teased in Batman & the Outsiders #3 we would be getting a new mini for Cass.

So interesting to note during this period as you know Chuck Dixon was writing Batman & the Outsiders. He really laid out his plans for both this and Robin on podcasts (and one issue of Robin slipped into solicitations). 

When I personally attended the Wizardworld Chicago 2009, Dan DiDio said at the DC panel when the subject of why  eventual writer for Batgirl Vol. 2, Adam Beechen was person writing this comic. DiDio answered by saying Beechen was the only creative at DC giving him pitches on Cass. 

Turns out, DiDio lied as prior to that year in December 2008, Dixon went on the Word Balloon podcast and talked about a “filler” issue of Detective Comics that could include Cassandra Cain.

Of course, as we got said mini with one hand, on the other hand several Bat Family comics were winding down. Those included Robin, Nightwing, and Birds of Prey. And as #6 was closing things out so this was being teased in the final issue of Nightwing.

That is so not Cass, but Barbara as Batgirl kissing Dick in his current Nightwing costume. The heck? Well, at it turns out (as we later learn). Higher ups already were planning Cassandra's ousting from Batgirl even though they gave us a mini. So DC giveth and DC taketh away.

However, prelim hype around the book teased Cass would be Batgirl going in. Note the bulletin board on who was listed as Batgirl (courtesy of IGN, but here’s the Multiversity article on it). 

Of course, DC didn’t know WHO was going to Batgirl even at the time this article was posted as they were debating all over the place at this point. Much so in fact it made it to another DC Nation (after Stephanie was chosen):

"2010 will have big plans for our favorite non-lethal assassin".

Yes, we did get Cass in 2010 but just in Red Robin #17. Such a "big plan" that was. A single appearance.  Well, okay we did get the retcon on why Cass wasn't Batgirl any longer too. But there wasn't much at all.

So you have DC downplaying the character. And then you get Black Bat.

But as I said before a few days ago, any importance of Cassandra that was coming from the new Batman writer was short-lived as the New 52 rolled out fully on Babs back as Batgirl.  Many got their wish (higher ups included) Babs was back as Batgirl.  The "myth" was a reality again.

At the very least, Stephanie got one final adventure as Batgirl even if, plans were in place to make her Spoiler just in case her as Batgirl wasn't allowed.

What followed was an agonizing three years of DC downplaying the two characters completely. Why you ask? The easiest answer: jealousy and sexism. Look at how loyal we fans of the two characters are.  What if that love was directed at them instead of Babs.

I guess you could say now "two" female Bats were okay, but FOUR?! FOUR iS SIMPLY OUTRAGOUS!!!!

Course the controversy would be a embargo of the two characters by DC. Embargo that hit Stephanie more with the online Smallville comic and Lil Gotham.

I'm also reminded the mindset of DC higher ups at the time period post Battle for the Cowl as we recently learned from the SDCC: Batgirls panel (2020): Higher Ups: "Cassandra leaves." Writer: "WHY?!" Higher Ups: "Cause she just does-- so your book can exist."

Suddenly this begins to explain Lady Shiva and the lack of Cassandra Cain in Batman: Hush now.

That's the cruel mindset DC higher ups had with Cassandra and eventually Stephanie. So when you say, not to give either character a chance. This is what people you're defending.

So you add ALL OF THAT, four years is quite a long time. A long time for fans to move on or just forget DC Comics. But we Cass/Steph fans persisted. Better we did get them in 2014 even if it was an alternate reality (and Gail's final issue).

BUT... Cass in the main universe?  Yeah, Stephanie can be slotted in because she has the Spoiler identity to fall onto. But Cass? She was Batgirl. So what do you do when you have a Batgirl, but can't use Cass?

Simply you just create a new identity, Orphan. But by not making her Batgirl you take away three key things away from the character. #1 Who she's truly loyal toward.

#2 Who mentors her.

#3 Where she is in the Family order. By including Babs as the new "daughter" figure in Bruce's life. You take away Cassandra's. Why do you think a certain DC Direct statue with the family earns my ire anytime I see it? For that.

Babs is no daughter figure to Bruce, she's an equal. That's a downgrade to her role in the family. But it is rather curious two ongoings with Barbara and not a single appearance of Cass in them (so far). Makes you wonder?

So you take away Cassandra's importance in the family, you downgrade her identity, don't give her a bat symbol, take away her mentors. What does that leave you?

You wonder why. Why do I'd stick around? I mean honestly, there are probably really vocal Cass fans out there in this world still. One of whom did a retrospective multipart video earlier this year of Cass (and he comes to the EXACT same conclusions).

Because as I said quite recently, "What is the greatest lesson for Cass fans in Batman media given all the mess DC and Warner Bros. does in treating this character?

It took almost TEN YEARS to finally see Cass in her OG Batgirl suit earlier this year. Almost TEN YEARS to see a solo story which-- dammit was like the greatest gift to us. Like seriously to all those involved going thru all of this.

I really hope the creative team realizes just how special that graphic novel is to the fans. Like literally, it showed all the greatest things we love about the character. The fighting is just the added bonus. I bow and try not to cry at being so grateful to this creative team.

But this is the road we fans and the character of Cassandra Cain have to endure. So if you're wondering why we're ticked at the Gotham Knights video game (2022) not including her outright? This is our reason.

This is why I am still grateful for BoP movie. It may not have been the role I wanted to see of Cass as the damsel in distress, but goddammit we got so much Cass comic content this year because of it.  JUST FOR THAT ALONE-- I'm grateful.

That's why if any person in media can hear me. Just give Cass a chance. A short. A main role in the video game. Heck, an episode.  JUST GIVE CASSANDRA A CHANCE PLEASE! You might be surprised at what you get.

Just know that Cassandra will NEVER be a placeholder. She is Batgirl, and dammit she deserves that role and that role so BADLY.  I know Stephanie is too.

Gods I love Stephanie too. But I just always hate that DC did that to both characters. Pitting their fans against one another. It guts me. Like the lowest thing for DC to do is pit these two close friends against one another.

That's why it kills me. Part of me YEARNS for a new Cass ongoing, but goddammit Stephanie got screwed too in this. So if both get ongoing with Babs I am okay with this. Because dammit these characters need love, not freaking hatred.

DC really does owe it to both characters and their fans this. THEY REALLY OWE THEM for the hell these characters had to endure because of idiotic higher-ups who had horrible agendas and wanted to push a fast buck.

So now you know how DC did it. How they took this character who was a major fixture in the Batman comics and downplayed her SOOOOOOO much with bad storytelling and shuffling her off to be a side character.

I'm mentally exhausted worn now. I just hope you take these lessons to heart. To learn this shady stuff that DC Comics did and turned an amazing character-- to something less. How fans want more from that character again.

Update July 2021: Gail Simone’s tweet (that she deleted soon after) on this nugget of how the character of Cass was changed due to studio higher ups. 

Update September 2021:

.... 

Here I go again with an UPDATE. After all these years. Confirmation at last (even if they aren't mentioned).  We all know WHICH characters by now Dan DiDio is talking about here.

(You can read the whole interview here.)

[crossdressingdeath]

for the dark urge asks: 5 + 15 + 1 (because i really need to know why kyvir is a bard of all things for a durge)

x @zoneofsmites

(Durge asks!)

Yeah bard sure is a choice for Durge huh.

1. What circumstances led to your Dark Urge becoming their Class/Subclass? I've talked about this a little before, but when Kyvir was eleven or so and mostly living on the streets he got caught murdering someone by a woman who happened to be a not-particularly-scrupulous bard (I'm tentatively saying a tiefling woman named Euphoria, but I'm not entirely settled on that just yet). While the murder child was... a lot, she decided that his skill at sneaking around would come in handy, so she made him a deal: she wouldn't turn him in to the Fist if he stole some notes from a rival bard for her. When that went well, she offered to teach him the bardic arts in exchange for his continued services as a spy and saboteur, an arrangement that worked quite well until she ran out of things to teach him that he couldn't pick up just as well or better on his own and Bhaal got sick of his kid having affection for someone else and made him kill her. (Don't feel too bad for her, she didn't even let Kyvir live with her. This did make it easier for him to indulge his Urges without her noticing, but still!) She also taught him the basics of College of Swords stuff, but he picked up most of it on his own after her death. Also, since I'm seriously considering multiclassing him into assassin rogue next run: that came entirely by instinct, and is why he was a reasonably successful murderer before even hitting his teens.

5. What opinion does your Dark Urge have about the Gods? Keeping in mind I'm not super knowledgeable about Forgotten Realms cosmology (and setting aside Bhaal, since that's a separate question on the list)... The good gods are a bunch of self-righteous bastards and the evil gods mostly just get in the way. Kyvir's not fond of any of them. Well, except for Bane; he has a genuine, deep-seated respect for Bane. Turns out that when you've got divine daddy issues and a bone-deep terror of being out of control, the god of tyranny starts seeming like a pretty compelling option for worship! What no it's not even a little bit a sex thing shut up.

15. What is your Dark Urge’s greatest fear? Losing control of himself permanently. The way Bhaal can take control of him and force him to kill even people he very firmly doesn't want to scares him at the best of times (and plays a part in why he can't fully commit to his relationships with Gortash pre-amnesia and Astarion post-amnesia until after he's tried to kill them and they've managed to stop him), but the thought that one day his father might decide not to give control back? The idea that one day Bhaal might yank his leash tight and leave him nothing but a mindless, obedient puppet moving only at the whim of his god forever? That terrifies him. Orin's fate keeps him up at night longer than his own death does.

[quiiscnt]

@resolvebound said :

meta - rayne - other slayers

meme // always accepting

༄ ❚❙❘ Rayne is still in the process of getting to know everyone. While the ones in Fairy Tail she can say are at least friends, there are different levels of familiarity she has with each. The magic is very new to her and the girl does believe it is going to take years to get near the level that the rest are at. Although she does attempt to rush it at times. Patience isn't her greatest strength.

Natsu: Out of the group in Fairy Tail, he is probably the one she has the most distance from. Not on purpose, just he seems hard to reach despite his personality. Ideally Rayne would like to train with him. Their powers are opposite and while she has the type advantage, she knows he would overwhelm her.

Wendy: They have gotten closer after the war. She is one of the few that knows about Olexa's condition and constantly checks up with team sound waves because of it. She would like to continue getting to know her better, especially since they are the only girl slayers in the country.

Gajeel: He is someone Rayne appreciates but doesn't speak to personally very often. She knows he is her sister's best friend, and Juvia tends to gossip about him quite often, in the best way possible of course. Whenever they all hang out as a group she gets the impression that he is sort of a dork.

Laxus: Arguably the dragon slayer she is currently closest to. He has been kind enough to take her under his wing and train her. As one of the few second gen slayers Rayne feels like he can relate to her current struggles to get the magic under control. She was intimidated by him at first but he seems caring, if not straightforward at times. Sort of like a big brother.

Sting & Rogue: Olexa goes over to Sabertooth often to use their library, since she is very research focused when it comes to her magic. Because of this Rayne has been dragged there more times than she would like. They don't talk often but the girl has a friendly relationship with the two. More so Rogue than Sting, but that is just because he is the one who hangs around them during the visit.

Erik: Nothing much can be said about him. Rayne is aware he and Kianna are engaged, and she is happy for her guildmate.

[dramatic-squirrel]

Daminette December Day 29- Membership

@maribat-calendar-events

Stars lit up the window, creating a view like none other but, more eye catching than any other star, was the sight of Earth, floating there in all of its various hues of blue, green and brown. It was so gorgeous that Ladybug zoned out of the conversation as she thought of how to best depict the colors of Earth in an outfit. 

“-bug. Ladybug!” Superman’s voice finally brought her out of her trance.

She jumped slightly before responding. “Yes! Sorry, what is it?” 

Superman gave a little chuckle because all new timers were like that at first. “We were just saying congratulations on becoming a member of the Justice League.” He expected awe, happiness, maybe even a little shock. What stared back at him was none of those emotions.

“What?” Her head tilted to the side as she tried to understand what was going on. “Why am I being inducted into the Justice League?”

Superman looked at Wonder Woman. This wasn’t something that happened often and he wasn’t sure what to do. Knowing distress when she sees it Wonder Woman stepped in to explain. “Because of your valor, sharp wit, selflessness, and abilities, the core members have decided to offer you membership into the league. Be honored Little Ladybug,” she placed a hand on the young girl’s shoulder. “You’ll stand amongst the greatest warriors of Earth in order to defend it.”

Ladybug stepped away from the duo before trying to ease the tension gathering on her forehead. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Did none of you talk to Batman or Robin before deciding this? I thought I made my stance on this very clear to them.”

“They’re dealing with a lot of Rogue problems in Gotham right now, so we excused Batman and his team from any decision making for the time being.” Superman explained. “Why, what’s the issue?”

“I’m not joining the league, now or ever.” This time it was the two of them who were confused. “First of all, I just entered college and the league is a full-time commitment I do not have the energy or time for. And secondly,” she held up her hand when Superman was about to protest. “The miraculouses are not meant to be governed by an external force.”

“What do you mean, Ladybug?” Wonder Woman questioned.

“I mean, that I can’t work under someone, when I have to take responsibility as the guardian of the miraculouses. If I join the JL, there will be the expectation that the Justice League has control over the miraculouses, who wields them, where they are stored and so forth. Not only is that a ridiculous amount of power, all controlled by one group, but you all have no clue how to properly deal with the miraculouses.”

“That's a big assumption on your part, Ladybug. We can give you full autonomy over the miraculouses as that is your duty. Joining the League will give you greater access to resources to help you solve crime.”

She shook her head again. “I’m willing to be allies, but how will the rest of the world react to you gaining such powerful magic? The world needs to understand that if the Justice League is compromised, I can step in to save people. Batman agrees with me on this.”

Superman sighed as Batman once again made his way into another failsafe against the League. “Well, we can’t force you. But I thought you would have been happy, being in the League with your fiance.”

“Please. We see enough of each other already. If I had to fight crime with him too, on a regular basis, I think we’d get sick of each other.” Wonder Woman and Superman shared a look, was she dense or simply too close to see how much Robin actually cared?

[jgroffdaily]

A new interview with Jonathan at the BBC:

How did the role come about?

Oh my god! I got a very exciting text message from Russell T Davies, and I'm a huge fan of his work, especially It’s A Sin - I still haven't recovered from it! So I was very excited to hear from him. He just wrote to me and told me that there was this role that was available on the show and asked me to play it.

Can you describe your character Rogue?

Rogue is an alien bounty hunter and a man of mystery. When we meet Rogue, and he first meets the Doctor, we're in a Regency Era. Rogue is not necessarily who he appears to be when you meet him.

Have you always known of Doctor Who or been a fan of it? Or was this your first experience with the show?

I had known of Doctor Who and how much of a big deal it was in the UK, but I had never seen an episode of it. But Russell sent me about five episodes of Doctor Who from throughout the years, including the first episode that ever aired in black and white. So, I had a very quick crash course before I started.

What was the most challenging or unexpected thing about playing Rogue and stepping into the Whoniverse?

I would say the biggest challenge would be trying to understand and fit into the tone of the show - when you're coming in as a guest star, jumping into a world, and Doctor Who is such a specific thing! In the episodes that Russell showed me, and in the experience of playing a role in it, Doctor Who has such a fascinating tone. It's big, and it's larger than life, but it's also quite real and even though it's fantasy, there is depth to the storytelling and to the relationships. I'd say the biggest challenge was coming in and trying to digest the tone as fast as possible, and to really articulate the character in the proper way in the world of the show.

What was it like acting alongside Ncuti and Millie?

Ncuti and Millie were both so warm and welcoming! Big smiles and full of laughs and embraces, they could not have been more warm. As an outsider, coming into the Whoniverse for the first time, they were the greatest hosts! They took such good care of me and everybody, truly everybody on the set, the crew, everyone!

I spent most of my time with Ncuti and I am obsessed with him. I think he is such a star. He's so unpredictable and thrilling to act with because you never see the same thing twice. He's so spontaneous, and yet so deeply connected to what he's doing. He really cares. He's really in it fully, and he's got this force and positivity that is completely unique to him. It's just phenomenal. I just adore him. I think he is one of the most exciting actors working today.

Did you have any unique experiences or memories from filming?

Well, one happened off set, it actually happened to be when Beyoncé was on her Renaissance Tour. I looked up her tour dates because I'm an obsessive Beyoncé fan. And I found that she was playing Cardiff. I asked that I was off by 4pm so I could make it to the stadium. And I brought Ncuti with me. So we got to see the Renaissance Tour together and it was so much fun. Amazing.

If you could travel anywhere in time and space, where would yon

This is less of a fantasy one. But my grandfather died on my 10th birthday. March 26, 1995. And I was really into I Love Lucy at the time. And one of my gifts for my birthday was this VHS with an episode of I Love Lucy. I went into the living room and I watched my VHS instead of hanging out with my family in the kitchen where my grandfather was. So if I had to go back in time, I would go back in time and I would hang out with him so I could ask him questions before he died.

[cicaklah]

WIP whenever

My girl @ronniebox tagged me and I'm stuck on basically all my wips so please encourage me if you think any of these are maybe something you'd want to read...

A sequel to @stickthisbig's fic Premise where Edvard accidentally realises that maybe he wants to roleplay taking a big innoventor down a peg or two

It's Zillah who finds the waistcoat in the pile of ladies' fancies. She isn’t one to wear embroidery, but she appreciates the art of needlework. It soothes her, and an interesting stitch makes all the darning a bit more interesting. 

The better class of work is wrapped in butcher’s paper, but there’s a little corner that has popped out with that distinctive A worked in a repeated pattern in fine gold on tasteful brown. 

She unwraps it and holds it up. Nudges Kasimir with her elbow. 

“Looks your size,” she says, and Kasimir chuckles, and then he stills and watches her.

“It's Edvard’s birthday next week,” she says, apropos of nothing. 

“It's a strange thing to end up here without its mates,” Kasimir says. “Shall we look for the rest?”

2. The one where I listened to Exhibition Impossible and realised that 1. Victor Dietrich was absolutely cruising Egbert and 2. Egbert kind of might have committed a hate crime when named the gay man who he beat to death Seal Gay Man. And then ronniebox pointed out he SEALED a gay man in a SEAL but this was written before that when I was just focusing on the cruising:

It isn’t until Egbert gets inside Victor Dietrich’s “office” that he realises that once again, he is not going to be bringing anyone into her sacred pasture tonight.

The room is upholstered, that’s the only word for it, in deep dark red drapes, with flickering lamps drawn low, a fire burning in the grate. There isn’t a bed, that would be too gauche, but there are multiple overstuffed sofas, a chaise longue and a daybed, and the fact that Egbert knows the difference is because this isn’t his first rodeo.

“This is a seducing parlour, isn’t it?” Egbert says quietly, as fitting the sudden atmosphere that filled the room.

In the light Victor Dietrich looks extremely rich, not because he is, but because the light is really bringing out his highlights and lowlights, the silver in his hair, the gold of his skin. In the back of his mind, Egbert makes a note to find a mirror and check himself out. He must be absolutely glowing.

“It doesn’t have to be.” Victor says, hesitatingly, but he does step closer. “It's one of those rooms that can be whatever you want them to be.”

The touch of Victor’s hand on his elbow is nice enough, but there’s a delicious twist in the tail there.

Egbert nods. “Oh, don’t rearrange the furniture on my account.

3. the sex farce I meant to write for yuletide but wasn't feeling very farcical, which was Rust-on-the-harbour/Corazon, where everyone has slept with Rust BUT Corazon, who then turns Corazon down because he thinks that Corazon is perfect for his friend, a fellow Tabaxi who has the greatest name I will not spoil because I will write it eventually (this is based on a love triangle I watched unfold based around a guy known as Perfect Kev.):

“What the FUCK are you two talking about”, Corazon demanded, in a way very reminiscent of a famous woodcut. “There’s no one you could have all been sleeping with unless it was…”

“It’s Rust.” Dob said. “It’s not a secret. We all have.”

“Our Rust?” Corazon spluttered. “Rust-on-the-harbour? Fancy Cat-Rogue”

“Yeah?” Dob said. “You haven’t?”

“No!”

“I haven’t either,” Egbert said, thoughtfully. “Unless you count oral sex, of course.”

“I am counting oral sex, Egbert, I’m not fourteen.” Corazon snapped.

“Oh, in which case yes, of course I have,” and Egbert really didn't need to roll his eyes that hard.

4. a story I found in my keep where Diana steals 47's luggage after Mendoza and has his suits tailored to fit her. There's also a hint at a wider 'mystery' but I forgot to write it down so who the fuck knows.

Her first act as Constant is done wearing the suit.

Guiseppe never usually does womenswear, but he understands a woman’s body like the dirty old man he is. Worn with a shirt, the suit is merely a well cut example of the trade. The fabric is fine enough that the double-breasted jacket drapes well around her body. The trousers she’s wearing today are impeccable. 

Worn without a shirt, and with the skirt she swore took years of Guiseppe’s life when she modelled it for him, it is altogether another story.

5. the freelancer story I am writing instead of playing freelancer, which I have kind of conceptualised as a reverse steak, where they fuck post H3 in the fuck cabin, but it is an anticlimax...and how they get to the assassination based elaborate bdsm malarky that is freelancer

I move to kiss her and she puts a hand up, not stopping me, just pausing. Up close her eyes are steel blue and beautiful.

I dreamed of this moment for so long, of sweeping her into my arms. Even in my most sad fantasies, where we replayed classic romances, I always focused on the untouchable, the tragedy, my Rick to her Ilsa, an unseen, amorphous Laszlo nearby, preventing us from being together. Was the ICA Laszlo? I couldn’t help but try and ponder this conundrum as I waited for her to say go. Perhaps the ICA was more WW2, or Casablanca itself.

I was starting to get cold, and not just from the ice in her calculating stare.

Diana's eyes soften eventually, and she takes my jaw in her hand and smiles at me. Her grip is stronger than I expected, and this isn’t the melting into one fated embrace I had feverishly imagined. When our lips finally met though, everything felt a lot more right. I moved to sweep her into my arms just as her hand tightened even further on my jaw, and in the confusion we broke apart, staring.

“Do you need me to yield, 47”, Diana says, breathing a little hard, but harder than I've ever seen her before.

“No, not at all, I say.” I am confused at why this is being litigated.

Diana bites her lip. “Well,” she says. “I think...I do. I need you to yield.”

I tag no one, do it if you want.