#I miss his flatline outfit

[sparfloxacin]

Aleksi spam!! 🥰✨

(sorry idk who to credit for the last picture but I love it and have been obsessed with it for days 🥵)

loook at him! what a cutie 🥺💗 but also 😳😳 uhh especially the last one is making me feel totally normal ha ha

thank you for the Aleksi spam! much appreciated, what a versatile (😏) man 😌

[heatwa-ves]

top 5 doctor who episodes

allowing myself to group 2 parters into one for this bc otherwise the entire list would be just the S9 finale. also it's 10 not 5 because I have too many opinions

1. face the raven/heaven sent/hell bent. to the surprise of no one it's the twelveclara episodes at my number one 💖 heaven sent the best timeloop episode ever. he spent four and a half BILLION years dying over and over and over for a chance at bringing clara back to life. and then he was gonna do to her what he did to donna but she reversed the polarity (doctorification of clara oswald. hello. can you hear me) and he lost his memory of her!!!!!! and the diner scene!!! references to impossible astronaut!!! "I think it's called Clara"!!!!!! Every single thing ever!!!!! claras third insane immortal lesbian situationship!!!! Rigsy!!!! It's the best written episodes ever I'll never recover

2. the empty child/the doctor dances she's got everything! christopher eccleston being excellent as always I miss him. dancing as a metaphor for bisexuality and polyamory! captain jack!! no monster!! just this once everyone lives!! a beautifully hopeful ending!! genuinely scary at times!! great minor characters!! rewatching this last november is what got me back into dw it's That Good

3. flatline CLARAAAA CLARA CLARA ITS A CLARA EPISODE. the doctor is her little purse dog. rigsy being great. scary ass monsters. clara being everything. this kickstarting my favorite plotline. beginning of claras doctorification. "goodness had nothing to do with it." clara lying to her boyfriend because she's fucking insane and still dedicated to maintaining her actively failing relationship with a guy she never loved. The ending scene. Clara.

4. mummy on the orient express twelveclaraisms 💖 this episode has everything the drama the intrigue the murder mystery the orient express IN SPACE! MAISIE!!!!! one of my fav side characters! such incredible lines "everything would be easier if we liked the people we're meant to like, but then there'd be no fairy tales" twelve getting clara to lie to maisie that she can be saved!!! more doctorification!!! THE I LOVE YOU SCENE. CLARA OSWALD. SHAKES YOU. god it's everything. have I mentioned Maisie. I love Maisie. claras hair and outfit

5. deep breath more twelveclaraisms idk what you expected from me. claras perfect outfits. the beginning of the best dynamic ever. peter capaldis first episode! a dinosaur! jenny and vastra!!! moral questions!! missys first appearance!! and of course the final scene!! the final scene of this episode is THE best twelveclara scene perhaps the best dw scene in general

6. world enough and time/the doctor falls I have never cried so much 👍👍👍👍👍 canonical selfcest which is not addressed enough that was insane. awesome premise the cybermen returning in tandem with the master to once again reflect their relationship with the doctor in a twisted version of humanity! Missy!!! Everything about missy!!! goodness without hope without witness without reward!! her death as the perfect scene that her whole arc has built up to!! everything about bill!!! at least she got a happy ending god bless immortal lesbianisms. I feel sick.

7. amys choice amy centric episode 💖💖💖💖💖 really really good what else can I say. It was one of the first dw episodes I watched several years ago and its still a banger. can we talk about how she killed herself rather than live in a world without rory. "this can't be reality because rory isn't here and if it is reality I don't want it" perfect episode no notes

8. the waters of mars it's so fucking good there's nothing else to say. really good standalone episode even if you've never seen any other dw.

9. silence in the library/forest of the dead beginning of the river arc!!! impeccable doctordonna chemistry as always they work so well together it's astounding. really compelling and interesting!!!!! it's so good!!!!! another one that's worth watching even if you haven't seen any other dw

10. the angels take manhattan okay listen. hear me out. it's objectively kind of bad because of the awful awful massacre of the angels lore BUT I will ignore that because every single amy and rory scene is pure perfection. another contender for best dw scene. the last scene with amy makes no sense because eleven and river were looking at the angel so it shouldn't have been able to move but ill ignore that because its sooooo good. I love amy I love rory. worst part of the episode is that she changes her name to amelia williams tho she would not fucking do that. it's rory pond not amy williams.

honourable mentions: smith & jones, utopia, every single episode in S4, the eleventh hour, vincent and the doctor, the girl who waited, the god complex, the lodger, listen, thin ice, oxygen, twice upon a time. ANYWAY!!!!

[jupiter-balls]

Hi! I wanted to send you a tiny buzzcut Aleksi but failed miserably lmao so have a tiny goth cloud Allu in his flatline outfit instead! I thought you might also enjoy this tiny alien duckie from my collection 💙

Hi friend! I really miss goth cloud so it's all good in my book! I love his little eye make up and the parka is so precious 🥺🥺💕 thank you so. So much this has made my day so much better, I deeply appreciate you took time to draw me something 🥰🫶

I love alien duck too, You have a duck collection? 😯

[princessjaqulinechess1031]

by the bedside

Characters: Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste, Jason Todd

Summary: A job goes wrong, and Marinette fears the worst until Damian wakes up. 

Notes: Cross-posted on Archive of Our Own. 

Sequel

"À la claire fontaine," a soft voice sung, pulling Damian out of his hazy daze. "M'en allant promener, j'ai trouvé l'eau si belle…"

Damian groaned and tried to turn on his side, to try and reach whatever it was singing, but the moment he did, the song stopped and was replaced by a gasp. Damian blinked his eyes open, ignoring the sting, and saw sitting next to him was a disheveled and red-eyed Marinette sitting next to him.

"Damian….," she whispered. Damian tried to reach out a hand to her, but found that it felt like lead. Moving it felt like a splitting pain, and it was weighed down by a cast. Damian shut his eyes and leaned back into the pillow. The building, the explosion, and –

"Adrien?" Damian croaked. Marinette nodded her head and took the hand not enclosed in a cast in her hands. She gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled.

"He's fine," Marinette said. "He's doing damage control with your brother."

Ah, yes. Dick. Nightwing had come to Paris as one Dick Grayson, something to do with Wayne Enterprises or other, when he had realized what Damian was up to. Robin had become an unofficial third member of Paris's own dynamic duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir once all their allies identities were exposed. Hawkmoth was long gone, so it was just petty criminals and the like, but adding a fourth member to that so suddenly had thrown everything off. Even if it was for one mission. A bomb was missed, and now –

"How long was I out?" Damian asked. He narrowed his eyes and looked around and saw a familiar location had enveloped him. "And ho-how did we get to the Batcave?"

"Two days," Marinette said breathlessly. "And a Zeta tube."

Ah, Zeta. He should have known. Damage control probably meant making sure Paris still had someone patrolling and keeping it's citizens safe.

"Nightwing insisted we bring you back here," Marinette said. "Said you should be with family."

That meant it was touch and go for a moment. Damian felt unfrazzled by the brush with death, how many times had he had one since he was born? Not to mention he actually had died once. He looked down at Marinette's outfit, and saw she was wearing the same purple sundress she had been wearing before her transformation two days ago.

"H-have you been here the whole time?" Damian asked softly. Marinette looked down at her fingers sheepishly.

"I-I had to be sure," Marinette said. "When the Lucky Charm didn't work, and –" Marinette cut herself off with a chortle of tears. "Ma moitié, I had to make sure you weren't dead."

Damian shut his eyes. This was what frazzled him. He knew in their line of work, one got hurt. Sometimes you didn't walk away. But to hurt Marinette, to make Marinette feel hopeless and lost as Damian fought on a hospital bed. Marinette was the one good, pure thing he had ever been able to keep, and to make her feel pain felt like a betrayal.

"You should have gone home," Damian said slowly. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Marinette shook her head and squeezed his hand.

"If you expected me to do that, then you don't really know me."

Damian turned his head to the side, and tried to ignore the sharp burst of pain at the top of his back from the movement. But try as he might, he still winced. Marinette reached forward and put a hand on his shoulder to try and steady him again.

"Be still, ma moitié," Marinette said. "Monsieur Pennyworth said it was best for you to remain as you are."

Marinette was so polite, and despite Alfred's continued insistence, Marinette continued to call the man by his proper name. Damian found it was one of many adorable things about her to love.

"Nawaret aynaya," Damian said, "I promise I'm fine –"

"No you're not!" Marinette busted out. "You're hurt, you- you nearly died! All because I couldn't keep my team – I got distracted and –"

The young girl burst into tears, and Damian took his hand from her grasp and reached up to caress her cheek. Oh, Marinette. She always took ever mistake, every misstep, as some misgiving on her part. To Marinette, the safety of all Paris and all of her friends sat squarely on her shoulders. She might shoulder that responsibility with her brother Chat Noir, but Marinette would always hold it as a personal stake in her heart.

"It's not your fault, nawaret aynaya," Damian said softly. "This – this comes with the mask, you know that. If you had or had not been there, this would have happened eventually." He wiped away a tear form her cheek, and Marinette reached for the hand still caressing her. "I love you Marinette. And I know you would never hurt me. So stop blaming yourself."

Marinette gave a weak smile.

"If you expect me to stop just like that," she hiccupped, "then you don't really know me at all." She sucked in a deep breath and rubbed her thumb across his wrist.

"I love you too," she said. Damian's heart sang. For seventeen years he had waited for something and someone that would look at him and not see a monster. Not see an assassin or a danger or someone to fear. And by some miracle, that person turned out to be the love of his life.

And he'd be damned if he let her go.

"He's flatlining, I'm calling it," a voice said, breaking the moment around them. Damian retracted his hand and Marinette wiped away a last tear. In the doorway stood one Jason Todd, mask gone but still wearing spandex and his leather jacket. "Mari, time of death?"

Marinette bit her lip and looked down at her hands, but Damian could see the beginnings of a smile on her face. Jason stepped into the room and dragged a chair from the corner and sat down next to Marinette with a loud thud.

"Papa Bat should be here in a little bit, Brat Bat," Jason said. He took out his gun and began to fiddle with it, probably to clean it since he pulled out a white cloth from his pocket. Damian frowned.

"I'm not a brat," Damian said. Jason rolled his eyes.

"You might be seventeen, but you're still a brat sometimes," Jason said. Marinette looked up from her hands, that familiar mischief shining in her eyes.

"You're kinda. Sometimes," Marinette said softly. Jason laughed and slung an arm around the girl's shoulder.

"Ah! I got the girlfriend on my side!" Jason said. "I win!"

Normally Damian would keep going and insist he wasn't a brat, but Jason was as transparent as a plane of glass. Jason was trying to cheer up Marinette with this joke, and Damian was not going to try and ruin that. Marinette was going to be happy and not worry too much about Damian, that was his mission.

"What did you win?" Adrien asked, popping his head into the med bay. His blonde hair was still damp, meaning he probably just got out of a post-patrol shower. He came up behind his adopted sister and hugged her from behind, placing a kiss to her temple.

"Marinette admitted Damian was a brat sometimes," Jason said.

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you are," Adrien said. Tim and Dick entered the room, and Tim was texting someone on his phone. Probably Stephanie, telling her he was okay. Dick pulled a chair over to the other side of Damian's bed and leaned back, his long legs stretching out underneath the medical bed.

"Be nice to the injured child," Dick said. Damian frowned.

"I am not a child," Damian said. "I am the same age you were when you went solo, Grayson."

Dick raised a brow. "And? I was a child then, henceforth, you're a child now."

Damian furrowed his brow again and Marinette laughed softly, but once again he did not fight. If it made Marinette smile, it was worth it.

His father finally materialized, Alfred behind him. His father was as stoic as ever, his eyes steeled and guarded thanks to the new visitors to the Cave. Despite the Miraculous duo having been unofficial members of the Batfamily for a year and a half, Father still seemed opposed to giving them official membership. Damian wondered if it had anything to do with Marinette being his girlfriend. He hoped not.

"Master Damian," Alfred said, and a phantom smile overtook his professional form. "I see you are recovering well. I assume Miss Marinette has made sure you've stayed where you should?"

"He only woke up a little while ago, Monsieur," Marinette said. Her lips upturned wickedly. "The real problems in that regard have not started yet."

Adrien laughed and hugged his sister tighter.

"Trust me, mi'lady is here is plenty capable of keeping Damian in line."

Once upon a time, Damian had been jealous of Adrien's nickname for Marinette. Now Damian knew better. Adrien may have once been desperately in love with Marinette and Ladybug, but once one Kagami entered the picture it was game over. Now, the nickname was mere relic of that time and a testament to the depth of their bond.

"I expect nothing less," Alfred said. Father stood at the foot of his bed. He was still dressed in his suit, but his cowl was down, revealing his identity. That made Adrien and Marinette's lack of inclusion even more baffling – they knew who all of them were, the biggest secret they had.

"Are you alright Damian?" Father asked. Damian nodded.

"Yes Father," Damian said. A sigh of relief left his father's form. Despite medical evidence, after everything that happened with Jason, Father would never be certain of his kid's state until he heard from them exactly.

"Well, I mean, wasn't he just fighting with Jason?" Tim asked. He looked up from his phone. "Me and Dick heard them outside. If he's in a fighting mood, he's fine."

"I almost died, and you guys treat me this way," Damian said. Jason rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, this is how we show our love," Jason said. He eyes Dick. "Except for Dick. He does the whole normal shit. Damn well-adjusted asshole."

"Damn non-well-adjusted asshole," Dick shot back. Marinette giggled. Father turned to Marinette and Adrien.

"You two can stay here as long as you need, to make sure Damian is okay," Father said. Damian tried not to let his surprise be palpable. Marinette and Adrien were barely allowed in the Batcave half the time, now Father was offering to let them stay while Damian recovered? What had happened in the time he was asleep? "You can Zeta home for clothes, if you need them. But we have enough clothes that might fit you Adrien, and I'm sure Cass left some things behind before going to Hong Kong."

"Thank you, Monsieur Wayne," Adrien said for the both of them. Marinette smiled and then turned her attention back to Damian.

Damian for seventeen years wondered what it would be like to be purely loved.

Now he knew. It came from Marinette Dupain-Cheng, that kind of true love

[totallypathet]

Episode Seven

I am being very inconsistent with my breakdowns this season. Both with Drag Race and in general 😂

Anyway, the reading challenge! We love the reading challenge. Nearly everyone had at least 1 good roast, except for Miss Elliott. I dont know what she was trying to do, but none of it worked. On the plus side though, Gottmik was hilarious? I just wasn't expecting that from her, but I love it. Honestly though I think my favourite was Olivia Lux's "Kandy Ho...wait, I mean Kandy is a hoe" that was so funny! Rosé and Denali were also really funny, but I kind of loved everyone else's reads for Rosé, I feel like she brought out the best in people 😂

I wasn't super excited for Bossy Rossy to come back. I just think improv is *so* hard, and it's really easy to be tripped up. Having said that, I actually really enjoyed this episode. I felt like all the scenarios were just so ridiculous that actually it worked in everyone's favour.

1. Denali

Denali was so funny this week! I was not expecting physical comedy from her and Rosé, but they absolutely killed it. The outfits and the voices were properly giving me Jerry Springer, and omg PREGNANTE just killed me! They were actually genuinely funny!

And her look this week...I actually gasped when she turned the corner. It was such a beautiful look, and I really felt that like grand chandelier thing she was going for. I loved it, and I think Denali should have been top 3 this week instead of Kandy. The judges are sleeping on Denali and I don't get it. I think she's great!

2. Elliott with Two Ts

I barely even want to talk about Elliott this week. Nothing she did was funny. Nothing she did this week was enjoyable. She was bad in the sketch. The runway look was ugly and tacky. I'm bored. She wasn't even that good in the lipsync, I do not understand why she's still there.

I mean, I feel for her with her struggle with depression, that's really hard, and I know that it does isolate you from people, and I understand why she's been very detached from the rest of the cast. I feel for her, and I really hope she has a good support system around her; but her performance this week (and every other week) was still bad.

3. Gottmik

Gottmik was actually so funny this week. She really was that like soft spoken, condescending, hand gestures, "active listening" faux-psychologist; I loved it. I really bought the character, I thought she was funny, she worked really well with Olivia, and also that look? The pink suit? Amazing. Also she had so many little throwaway mime one liners that were so clever! She was kind of unfortunate in that Olivia was really the standout performer in that group, and that other groups also performed really well, because I think she was a real contender for top 3 this week.

I looooved Gottmik's runway. The big anal bead hair piece? Amazing. And the dress being all that one colour, but with the texture of the beads and the latex? Perfect. And the way she painted her face! I just loved it, it was beads in a really unconventional way, and I love that about Gottmik, she always brings her perspective. The only thing, and it is such a teeny tiny thing, is that I wish the shoes had had more of a "round" feeling? Like everything else felt like latex balls and then the shoes were just like red pumps. I wish they'd been more like those McQueen heels Gaga wore, that were really rounded? It's such a small thing though, like the look was perfect, I'm just being super picky!

4. Kandy Muse

I dont really understand why Kandy was top 3 this week. I do like that she tried something different, and I like that she was aiming for this very cold, Paris Hilton type thing, but I just don't think she went far enough with it. The sketch as a whole was funny, but for me the humour came from Symone.

The look this week though. Kandy Muse has never looked better. She looked amazing! That big hat, with the big fur stole, and the beads just dripping off everything, it was so perfect. I just loved it.

5. Lala Ri

I actually don't think Lala was that bad this week! Was she utterly hilarious in her performance? No, but improv is hard, and she gave it her absolute best. I actually thought she was pretty funny, I loved the pregnancy belly being totally the wrong skin colour, I thought the trust fall thing was a really funny idea, I dont think she did too badly! Also, there was a moment right before the trust fall where she was counting Rosé in, and she just went "one, FALL", and that was so much funnier than they gave it credit for. For me, it was a safe performance.

I also really liked her look! It immediately gave me beads, I loved the kind of carnivale presentation she gave, I enjoyed it! Okay, the body suit had a rip in it, but sometimes shit happens when you're putting on a garment okay? I forgive the rip. I do get that, okay, it's a body suit with basically a beaded bikini, I see that. But honestly, I just don't think anything Lala did this week was THAT bad. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. I just felt safe to me.

Lala didn't deserve to go this week. She was better than Elliott in the challenge, her runway look was better than Eliott's, and she beat Elliott in the lipsync. I do not understand the judging on this show. Bottom 2 should have been Utica and Elliott, and Elliott should have gone.

6. Olivia Lux

Olivia made me so happy this week. I mean, she makes me happy every week, I am fully an Olivia Stan, but oh my god. She killed it this week! She said like 3 words the whole time, but I could barely take my eyes off her! When they were talking through parts in the work room, I was ao worried about her, and I was so concerned that she'd fade into the background because she couldn't talk, but holy shit she was so funny! She had the energy, she went so over the top with her actions, I was not at all expecting that slapstick type funny from her but she delivered. Olivia's performance was absolutely my favourite this week, I was just so blown away by her.

Also, that runway look was amazing! I loved her interpretation of beads, it was so cute, and so fun, and she really embodied that kind of pre-teen joy and care-free spirit. I just loved it. It seems like she's worked a lot with Mondo Guerra on her runway looks this season, which I live, because I adore Mondo, and every week I can't wait to see what she's wearing!

7. Rosé

I was really impressed with Rosé! Her and Denali were so funny together, and Rosé in particular was really funny with "Jared", like she never forgot that there was meant to be an invisible boyfriend next to her; she was holding his hand, she looked at him like he was really there, it was amazing. I was genuinely really impressed with Rosé this week.

Where I felt like she fell down a little bit was with her runway. Was it cute? Absolutely. Was it amazing? No. It just didn't give me anything, I didn't get a story, or a character, or a feeling, it was just "oh, that looks good". Which is fine, but it doesn't win challenges, you know?

8. Symone

Deboooorah! I loved Symone this week. I actually loved that their sketch wasn't massive high energy and screaming and yelling, because that wasn't the characters they were given. They did such an amazing job of being the child stars crying on Oprah's sofa type characters, and I actually loved it. Also, the candle thing was hysterical, Symone holding a candle that says "desperation" and crying was just so funny to me. She absolutely sold me the character, I was really getting a Real Housewives moment where they're like "I'm starting my own business where I'm going to make my own candles!" And then they get really emotional about it. I loved it so much, she was hilarious this week.

And Symone's look! My flatmate and I were literally applauding in our front room. It was perfect. It was beautifully made, all the proportions were perfect, the colour palette was gorgeous, the attention to detail was everything, I loved it so much. AND SHE HAD HER NAME IN HER HAIR! The beads in her hair spelled out SYMONE. Everything about it was perfect.

I really couldn't pick this week whether Symone or Olivia was going to win, and honestly I didn't mind either way. They were both just so incredible.

9. Tina Burner

You guys. I am bored of Tina Burner. I can't believe I'm saying it either. But she walked in being really like campy and fun, and then just sort of flatlined. I didn't think she was that funny this week. Even next to Elliott, the least funny queen in the whole line up, she didn't seem like the funny one. I am disappointed. The only bit of their sketch that was funny was them fighting with the huge ass and tits. That was just so ridiculous that it was funny.

I'll tell you what else, I've already forgotten what she wore on the runway. I watched this episode less than 24 hours ago, and yet I've got to go back and watch it again so I remember Tina. And then I remembered why it didn't stick in my mind. I don't know what she was thinking but...she's lucky the judges liked her challenge performance. Also, it looked like a worse version of Crystal Methyd's entrance look with some beads stuck on. Didn't get it, didnt like it, still waiting for Tina to wear something good on the runway.

The one thing I will say about Tina this week is that we really saw her be a human with Elliott, and I really loved that. That was the first time this season that I've really liked Tina. I appreciate that she gave Elliott that pep talk, and that she said that thing in her confessional about being a bit judgmental and feeling guilty about it, I really appreciated that, and I feel like we saw a real person. I want more of that!

10. Utica

Utica... I don't think she's long for this competition, I'm afraid. She literally started this week saying she's a scene stealer, and she does improv regularly, and she was really excited for this challenge...what happened? I was lost, during her whole performance. First of all, she was supposed to be Olivia's mum, hadn't seen her for 20 years, but she came out looking like a 19 year old? I think she was aiming for that like "mutton dressed as lamb" type look, those mom's who are like "me and my daughter always get confused for sisters!" thing, but she didn't go far enough with it. It just didn't work. And then the Starbucks thing? Didn't get that either. The one thing I will give her is I loved that she shushed Olivia when Olivia was like copying the hand gestures in a really mocking way, I thought that was so funny. But other than that... Utica should have been lipsyncing this week, honestly. She wasn't funny. Where were the jokes??

The only things that saved her this week was the look. It was stunning. I dont really know what else to say about it, because it was just gorgeous. It was beautiful, but a bit twisted and freaky, and tragic all in one. Stunning.

The other thing I want to say about this week is that moment when they were doing makeup, and Kandy was being Maury, and Lala was running around the workroom having just been told Tina was not the father of her children, followed by Mik the camera operator and Elliott the sound tech? Hilarious. That was the funniest bit of the whole episode, I was creasing 👌👌

For me, the top 2 of the season are Olivia and Symone. I've thought that since the very first episode, and honestly, the others are great (mostly), but to me they just aren't on the same level as Olivia and Symone. They're just both amazing, they're so funny, and so talented, and incredible performers, and absolute Stars on the runway.

[aion-rsa]

Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 8 Review: The Quest for the Spider Sapphire

https://ift.tt/2QkBopL

This Nancy Drew review contains spoilers.

Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 8

If any character on Nancy Drew was going to turn out to have a secret low-rent scammer husband it was always going to be Bess Marvin. Even though we’re well into the series’ second season, she’s still the character we know the least about – and that’s counting Ace, whose last name we still don’t even know. (And truly, if it isn’t Hardy, I don’t want to hear it.) Plus, there’s already existing canonical evidence that she’s not only a girl with a shady past, one she’s more than willing to lie about it if she deems it necessary.

So when a dirtbag man named Steven shows up claiming to be married to Bess and tries to strong-arm her into stealing a valuable piece of family jewelry (the eponymous Spider Sapphire) from her Aunt Diana, well. It’s not really that surprising. What is a shock, maybe, is that Bess doesn’t immediately fall back into her old thieving ways. She tries to do the right thing, come clean to Diana, and kick Steven to the curb once and for all. That, dear readers, is growth.

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Of course, it doesn’t work, because women seemingly must always pay a price when they try to get out from under controlling and/or potentially dangerous men. (I can’t be the only person who picked up a vaguely abusive vibe between Bess and Steven – he’s awfully grabby, and she’s physically skittish around him in a way she has never been with Nick, Ace, or any other man in Horseshoe Bay.) But she deserves credit for truly trying to break the damaged patterns of a lifetime, even if she ended up losing her Marvin family in the end. At least for now, anyway. Diana certainly seems the sort of person who will reappear in Bess’s life when she wants something.

Plus, you know, Bess ultimately saves her best friends from being burned to death in an abandoned shack. That’s nothing to sniff at.

Maddison Jaizani, finally given an episode to really show her stuff, knocks it out of the park here, selling Bess’s determination to save her friends and heartbreak at the consequences for doing so in equal measure. Throughout this series, all Bess has ever wanted is a place to belong. She’s forged identities and crafted false lives, lied to her family, and omitted the truth to her friends, all in search of a place where she could be accepted and loved unconditionally. This episode proves nothing so much as that she’s already found it, just not in the place she originally intended to look. (Drew Crew forever, y’all.)

Read more

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Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 7 Review: The Legend of the Murder Hotel

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Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 6 Review: The Riddle of the Broken Doll

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What this will mean for Bess’ future in Horseshoe Bay is unclear, but in all honesty, she deserves better than to be stuck in the dull as dishwater Marvin family subplot, which has never really sparked in a memorable way. The most complex story here involved Diana not wanting her niece to date the help, after all. Let’s hope this twist is a fresh start for the character, who has occasionally felt underused within the larger canvas of the show.

Elsewhere, Nancy and George are trying to figure out how to eject the ghostly Odette from her timeshare in George’s body. Naturally, this leads to an investigation into the creepy burial shroud that Nancy originally used to resurrect her friend and several shocking revelations – including that if anyone else uses the shroud, George will die for real. Just as the man before her did when Nancy used it on her.

One of the best things about Nancy Drew is the way it at least attempts to wrestle with some of the consequences of the Drew Crew’s often seemingly insane actions. Yes, George was brought back to life, which everyone is obviously happy about, but that only happened because Nancy did something that inadvertently ended the life of someone else. And whether or not you think Ralph Jenkins was already essentially living on borrowed time, that’s still something Nancy’s going to have to carry. (Along with everything else.)

Though Season 2 has generally felt more episodic than its first, Nancy Drew is still managing to weave its stories together in a way that feels like a cohesive whole. George’s death, resurrection, and subsequent fusing with Odette are all things that are a direct result of the deal the Drew Crew made with the Aglaeca which, in turn, ties back into Lucy Sable’s ghost and Tiffany Hudson’s murder. This show is a tapestry of desperate, often hopeless choices compounding back in on one another  and creating more monsters along the way – of both the human and the supernatural variety.

Additional Thoughts

George and Nancy’s friendship is truly a thing of beauty.

I kind of love Nick and Ryan as partners, both in terms of bringing down the Hudson family and giving Ryan a way to stay connected to his daughter – one that isn’t Carson. (Or at least get updates on her mental state.)

Bess’s outfit for the Marvin family’s annual rich people scavenger hunt is truly fabulous.

“Not a lot of people know this about me, but the woods – they speak to me.”

The recentering of Bess and Ace’s friendship in this episode was very welcome – their relationship was one of the first forged among the Drew Crew, and I’ve missed it.

“Have you seriously been thinking about flatlining me?”

The chloroforming was a classic Nancy Drew novels move.

I am an adult woman who got a little swoony about Nancy thinking Ace has pretty eyes. This is the romance we deserve y’all.

The post Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 8 Review: The Quest for the Spider Sapphire appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3cDIop2

[marvels-writings]

A/N: ok sorry if I didn’t understand the request properly but I tried my best with this. I may have written a lot for this request.

Warnings: Getting stabbed, you live though don’t worry

Carol angrily sighed as she headed back into your shared room. You’d just told her you were skipping training with her to go out with friends instead. Apparently it was just a night out without boyfriends and girlfriends so she couldn’t come.

You were really excited to meet your friends, you hadn’t spoken much to them after you became an Avenger. It got even harder once you’d gotten in to a relationship with Carol Danvers. It had almost been 4 months since you last saw your friends.

Carol wanted to be happy for you, she really did, but she couldn’t help but feel angry. Training was when you were supposed to learn how not to get hurt during a mission, if you skipped it you would get hurt. Which was something Carol couldn’t handle.

Carol sat on the couch, deciding to watch something since you wouldn’t be training with her. About an hour later, she heard you enter the shared room, probably to get ready for your night out.

You picked out a cute shirt and pants to go out. You looked at yourself in the mirror, you’d definitely gained more muscle since joining the avengers. You walked into the living room where you knew Carol was watching TV.

“So what do you think?” You asked her. She glanced at you from her TV show.

Honestly, she thought you looked amazing but instead she just gave a nonchalant “looks good” and a half hearted thumbs up and went back to her show.

You frowned slightly at her nonchalant response but grabbed your bag and headed out.

“I’ll be back soon!” You yelled, exiting.

Carol sighed, pissed but also slightly sad. She decided to train by herself, probably with a punching bag as she waited for you to come home.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

It had been about a week after the first time you went out with your friends. Carol thought it would be a once in a month occurrence, but you ended up missing 3 more training sessions to meet with your friends.

Needless to say, Carol was pissed off and it was starting to show.

You were currently in a debriefing with her for another mission to take down an arms dealer in Glasgow, UK. Carol was sitting next to you, stiff as she listened to Maria break down what you had to do.

It was a basic arms dealer mission, not much could go wrong. You felt pretty confident, a bit too much considering you’d missed a lot of training.

After debriefing finished, you walked with Carol back to your room to pack a bit. Carol couldn’t help but be worried for you. As pissed as she was, her anger melted as she realized you could get injured.

“Hey you okay?” You asked carol as you entered your room.

“Yea just a bit worried.” Carol confessed lightly as she pulled out 2 suitcases from the closet.

“Worried about what?” You asked in naïveté. You started to pick out some things, a casual outfit, a fancy one and civilian clothing.

“Worried about you,” she stated, placing some first aid into her suitcase. “You’ve missed too many training sessions.” She stated. You raised an eyebrow.

“Carol I’ll be fine, I’m an avenger after all.” You joked, she raised an eyebrow. “Relax,” you approached her, softly putting your hands around her neck as you pecked her on the lips.

Carol almost melted into your touch as she wrapped her arms around your waist. She smiled softly down at you, her worry melting away slightly.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” You joked as you leaned in for a deeper kiss. You felt her smile into the kiss. What’s the worst that could happen when she’s with you? You thought.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

A lot of things went wrong. A lot more things than anyone expected. Firstly the weather, it was snowing way more than expected, slowing down your flight. Second the weather glitched out Starks tech so they knew you were coming. And third, there were a lot more people. Finally, all of you had been split up.

You went by yourself to the west side to slip in and mess up the systems. Clint and nat went in the east side. Carol and Steve went south to take our support. Tony and Thor took to the skies while everyone else attacked north.

It seemed to be working out so far, nothing seemed to be going wrong. You didn’t have powers so you you fought with (weapon of your choice) and an assault rifle. With a hunting knife in your waistband.

You’d taken down at least 29 of the agents that came at you so far. You snuck into the the main area with computers, oblivious to the person following you. You smirked slightly as you entered the control room.

“Finished in the south, coming over to you y/n” Carols voice said over the speaker. The base was huge so it would probably take her at least 2 minutes to get over here.

You plugged in the USB and spent a minute getting the info until you were punched in the side of the head, hard. You let out a small cry in surprise. You took the flash drive with whatever information it already had.

You whipped your head around to see a thin man standing, the last of them trying to protect the base. You put your fists up, ready for a fight.

For a couple of seconds, you danced around each other until he made the first move. It seemed to be going well for your side, you got a couple of punches in but because of the lag of training, he seemed to have the upper hand.

You went for a killer blow but he dodged it, went behind you and stabbed your side.

“AGH,” you shouted, hands trembling around the knife. You fell to the ground, the knife was all the way in.

The man stood above you, a wide grin on his face as he picked up a gun that was lying nearby and pointed it at you. He got blown into the nearby wall by a flash of gold.

You looked to the side to se Carol, furious with her arm raised. She saw you and her face instantly faded to worry. She hurried over to you, muttering to herself almost feverishly.

“Nonononono, y/n we have to get you to the quinjet.” She said, and started to pick you up bridal style.

“Everyone y/n got stabbed, I’m taking her back to the jet.” Carol said into the comms.

“I, I can walk.” You gasped, you got up, leaning your entire weight on Carol still as she lead you out in awkward silence.

You noticed her hand on your shoulder shaking slightly in fear. You took that hand with yours and looked at her.

“I’m gonna be fine.” You said, as comforting as possible even though the stab wound in your side screamed.

“You can’t say that with a goddamn KNIFE STICKING OUT OF YOUR SIDE.” Carol shouted, the blood started to deep into your shirt, much to her horror.

She ran out of patience and picked you up bridal style, starting to fly you back to the jet. You wrapped your arms around her neck in sheer panic as the wind whipped around your hair. Carol kept glancing down at you as she flew.

She landed down at the quinjet shortly after, setting you down lightly as you leaned your entire weight on her still. Your consciousness started fading and she could tell.

“Y/N, stay with me ok?” She said, tilting your face to look at her, the worry was evident in her eyes.

You nodded weakly as you walked into the quinjet as everyone returned.

“Holy shit what happened to you?” Clint asked worried as Carol set you down on the bench on the side.

“Just didn’t notice.” You gasped as Carol touched the knife. “Someone sneaking up.”

“They stabbed you?” Carol asked, still supporting your weight with one arm so you could sit.

“I just didn’t notice they had a knife during the fight and they got it in.” You whispered, not having the ability to speak loudly anymore. You were struggling to keep your eyes open as everyone came in and the jet finally took off.

“ ‘What’s the worst that could happen' my ass. Carol returned, setting you down on your back as you fell unconscious.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

You woke up groggy, with a small headache and wires attached to you. The pain in your side had diminished to a dull ache as you slowly sat up. Looking around, you realized you were in a hospital. Carol was sitting beside you in a chair, her head propped on one hand as she slept. You glanced at the clock above it was almost 3am, technically visiting hours were over for any hospital.

You didn’t want to wake Carol but you needed to know what happened. You unplugged yourself from all the wires attached to you and lifted your shirt to see the stab wound. It was neatly stitched up, you started to count the stitches out of curiosity.

“17 stitches.” Carol stated, her voice raspy, sleepily as she rubbed her almost bloodshot eyes. “How are you feeling?” She asked, hunching forwards as she leaned her elbows on her knees.’

“Better, what happened?” You asked, swinging your feet over the side of the bed to face her.

The pain was pretty bad but nothing you couldn’t deal with. You knew you were on morphine for the pain and it wouldn’t last long so you tried to make the best of it.

“You got most of the info, we all went out and we are currently in a hospital in London. Everyone checked into a hotel to sleep.” Carol said, looking at you intently to make sure you were alright.

“Well that’s good,” you said in relief, glancing away from carols stare slightly. “How are you though?” You asked, trying to change the topic a bit.

Carol’s breath caught in her throat slightly. What should she tell you? She could barely keep herself together as she saw you getting stitches up. She couldn’t tell you how she almost blew up the entire hospital when she saw you almost flatline. You’d never seen her cry or even breakdown the way she did beside your bedside when you slept. She couldn’t tell you how she almost broke at your absence.

“Fine.” She said, her voice cracking slightly. All her emotions were starting to catch up with her.

“What’s on your mind?” You asked, knowing she wasn’t ‘fine’.

“None of this would’ve happen if you’d just stuck to your training.” She stated, getting up and pacing as the anger and worry was getting to her again. “None of this would’ve happened if you’d just listened to me and trained instead of drinking with your friends!” She yelled angrily.

“Carol,” you began, trying to reason with her.

“NO! Do you have any idea what even HAPPENED? You almost DIED Y/N!! YOU ALMOST LEFT ME BECAUSE I WASN’T THERE TO PROTECT YOU.” She shouted, now tears were streaming down her face.

You got up and hugged her, despite the pain in your side starting to return, carols tears hurt even more. She was sobbing into your shoulder as her arms gently wrapped around your sides, cautious of your wound.

“I’m so sorry Car, I’m so so sorry,” you mumbled into your hair. “None of this is your fault.” You continued, seating the both of you down as you couldn’t stand.

You sat side by side, carols hand in yours as you looked at her. She was wiping her tears away with her free hand and was trying to avoid eye contact with you slightly. She never wanted you to see her break.

“It’s not your fault, what happened was my fault and I promise you,” you pulled her hand to your chest so she could feel your heartbeat. “I’m not leaving you.” You stated.

You had no plans to break that promise. You might regret saying this later but you mumbled “what’s the worst that could happen when I’m with you.”

She punched you lightly on the shoulder as you laughed. Even after getting stabbed, you knew life couldn’t be the worst if carol was with you.

A/N: Feedback and requests are greatly appreciated, feel free to message me or drop something in my ask box!

[chiseler]

Glad Rags: Fashion and the Great Depression

Some years ago, in a breathtaking lapse of taste, The New Yorker published a fashion spread that aped iconic photographs of Dust Bowl migrants. I was as appalled as the next right-thinking person by the pouting models in $400 distressed cardigans pretending to thumb rides along desert highways. But if the charge is infatuation with the aesthetics of the Great Depression, I am guilty, guilty, guilty. Throw me in the clink—just so long as it resembles the hoosegow that Barbara Stanwyck saunters around in Ladies They Talk About (1932).

Why was everything, from automats to automobiles, from nightclubs to radios, from skyscrapers to bus stations, from cocktail shakers to the battered hats on homeless men, so elegant in the thirties? Why did bums back then look better than bankers today? Why are the movies and music, the clothes and every aspect of design from typefaces to elevator panels, so intoxicatingly stylish?

The easy answer is that art deco glamour was a form of escapism, a consolation to the down-and-out, and an expression of irrational optimism. Cruise ships, trains, office towers, mechanized restaurants: art deco was all about speed and modernity, the thrill of zooming into the future. (Then why does deco still look modern and alluring, while the space-age design of the sixties just looks dated and silly?) If cynicism was society’s ballast during the Depression, style was the kite-string tugging upward, the flag that kept flying.

It’s not the swells in their glad rags that I admire most, or even the bootleggers in silk shirts, but the wardrobes of working girls. Take the plain, slinky black dress that Stanwyck, as an ambitious office worker in Baby Face, accessorizes with a series of different detachable white collars and cuffs. Those starched cuffs and collars—chic, yet as humble as table-napkins—are perfect, almost poignant symbols of Stanwyck’s determination to better herself with the small means at her disposal. In Golddiggers of 1933, out-of-work chorus girls draw lots for the privilege of wearing a gorgeous, borrowed outfit to an audition. The little hats that hug one side of the head, the soft dresses molded to the hips, the scarf collars and pleated hems, create a look that collapses the two meanings of “smart.”  Neither frivolous nor utilitarian, it’s a neat, streamlined look that is still seductive; it signals quiet confidence and also wit, the sort of wisecracking verbal self-defense these girls mastered.

Movies like Baby Face tell their stories largely through their heroines’ clothes and belongings: they climb from cotton frocks to furs, from paper matchbooks to jeweled cigarette cases. (Clothing is no less crucial to the gangster’s rise; tailored shirts and luxurious overcoats are almost the point of his law-breaking.) Like Stanwyck in Baby Face, Joan Blondell in Blondie Johnson starts out in the drab, shapeless clothes of the down-trodden. Alight with anger after her mother dies, denied aid by a sanctimonious government official, she vows to get hold of dough, “and plenty of it.” Next we see her, she’s wearing a snazzy velvet suit that fits like a glove and conning suckers out of ten dollar bills by pretending to be a damsel in distress. She’s willing to bat her eyelashes and exploit her curves, but it’s really her brain she uses to get ahead, rising to become the head of a criminal “corporation,” and fiercely defending her virtue, even while clad in diaphanous pajamas. In Hold Your Man, Clark Gable calls attention to the warmth of the room, trying to talk Jean Harlow into doffing her coat. She complies, but when he suggests she remove her hat as well, she quips, “I’m pretty cool about the head.”

It’s this sense of wit and sass that’s often missing from latter-day reconstructions of the thirties, making people in period pieces appear overly formal. Current actors, looking embalmed in handsome clothes and make-up, fail to capture the way Cagney in his pin-striped suits was always poised on the balls of his feet, ready to crack into a tap dance; or the stunning bodily freedom with which women wore their thin, fluid, backless gowns, somehow never looking unduly exposed. Carole Lombard in shiny satin wide-legged lounging-pajamas and high heels furiously riding an exercise bicycle: there is the deco spirit in a nutshell. I sometimes wonder if it was the sheer delight of wearing such flattering clothes that gave women in thirties movies their unequaled zing.

Their sleek clothes don’t hide the female form the way dresses of the 1920’s did with their dropped waists and bosom-flattening bands. Neither do they exaggerate it with structured undergarments like those abandoned after the first world war and re-introduced after the second. It takes little insight to observe that the times when fashion has been most extreme in its devotion to the hourglass figure have been repressive eras for women, and periods when their clothes were more androgynous have been times when women made strides toward equality. In the early thirties, however, fashions were feminine without being cartoonishly so; they simply revealed the way women really look. The ideal of beauty was slender but not boyishly skinny, effortlessly athletic without gym-workout muscles.

Thirties dames look sexy on their own terms, not trussed up for male consumption like women of the fifties in their waist-cinching girdles, teetering stilettos and torpedo bras (often filled out with falsies on actresses of the fifties.) Many women in the early thirties wore very little under their clothes, as pre-Code movies prove with their obligatory lingerie shots. One almost feels sorry for pre-Code men faced with gals like Blondell, who in Blonde Crazy allows Cagney to inspect her flimsy underwear but repels his every advance with a slap that sends his head snapping back against his spine.

It is surely no coincidence that the interwar period was perhaps the only time when fashion was dominated, or at least heavily influenced, by women designers. Chanel borrowed from men’s tailoring to make women’s clothes simple, comfortable and sporty, without making them mannish. Madeleine Vionnet pioneered the bias cut, constructing garments so the grain of the fabric ran diagonally across the body, creating that smooth, clinging drape that defines feminine style of the thirties. Stanwyck’s lithe, bold stride wouldn’t be the same without the skirts that show off her beautiful hips and just enough of her killer gams. The jazzy, diagonally-striped ensemble that Claudette Colbert wears in It Happened One Night—something she has apparently purchased with the proceeds from pawning her wrist-watch—is the sartorial equivalent of her cocked eyebrow and throaty, sarcastic delivery.

These are Hollywood movies, of course, in which actresses often wore dresses so tight they couldn’t sit down between shots. But there’s plenty of documentary evidence that ordinary women, while they made have had less perfect figures, had just as much stylistic sass. Inept, small-time criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow might never have become folk heroes if police hadn’t found a roll of undeveloped film in their hideout in Joplin, Missouri in 1932, and if the pictures hadn’t shown Bonnie wearing a snug beret, a skirt and sweater as jazzy as Colbert’s, and standing with her high-heeled foot hiked saucily on the bumper of a Ford V-8.

Or consider the stout matron in Walker Evans’s 1935 photograph of a New Orleans barbershop, sporting a blouse with sizzling concentric stripes, a jaunty black tie and a black hat with a rakish white feather. Men were no slouches either. Evans’s 1936 pictures of street scenes in the “negro quarter” of Vicksburg, Mississippi feature men lounging idly in shirtsleeves, unbuttoned vests and felt hats, each one a fashion plate. Lined up in a row in the wood-frame buildings behind them are hand-painted signs for the Savoy Barber Shop, the New Deal Barber Shop, and the Brother In Law Barber Shop. These men may not have jobs, but at least they have well-trimmed hair.

One can always ask, was there really such an epidemic of elegance in the thirties, or did photographers just seek out images of dignity? In the same way, one can look at the photographs of Robert Frank or the documentary footage of Los Angeles in The Savage Eye (1960) and wonder if there was really an epidemic of ugliness and vulgarity in the late fifties and early sixties, or whether artists just emphasized it. But the question is moot: either way, the images reveal how Americans—or at least their professional observers—saw themselves. Struggling against deprivation and anxiety, they were proud, stoic and stripped to their lean, essential spirit. Prosperous and secure, they were hapless victims of an aesthetic crash. A movie like Murder by Contract (1958), about a hit man killing time in L.A., staying in suffocatingly tacky motel rooms, seems to be the portrait of a man sleepwalking through a society where taste has flatlined.

Fifties style was artlessly boastful; its ideals were plastic mannequins of happiness, innocence and surfeit. This is why when it failed it failed so hideously: the old, the poor, the ugly, the lonely look caught in a pitiless glare, all their shortcomings exposed. The beehive hair, bouffant skirts, school-girl necklines and cat’s-eye glasses made young women look stodgy and matronly, and older women look grotesquely girlish.  In the thirties, haute couture expressed sublime hauteur, but it was based on aesthetic principles so sound that even when they trickled down to the cheapest knock-offs and most threadbare hand-me-downs, they still looked good. And so we come to the paradox of men in breadlines, women in migrant camps, whose je-ne-sais-quoi can inspire fashion spreads.

I am haunted by a bit of archival footage from the superb documentary Riding the Rails (1997), which shows a group of teenage hobos gathered on an open flat-car. Their elegance is unforgettable. It’s partly that their ragged clothes are so well-cut—in those days before baggy, one-size-fits-nobody garments—and partly that they’re worn with such an air. One boy wears an overcoat that’s too big for him and a handkerchief knotted on his head; he looks like a Napoleonic soldier retreating from Moscow. Men today who affect newsboy caps tend to wear them as though they were balancing a plate on their heads, but these boys wear their soft caps pulled down low over one eye, making them look at once tough and shy. They also seem, like everyone Dorothea Lange photographed, to stand and move with uncommon, easy grace: idle, but charged with contained energy. Their faces are wary, reticent and disillusioned. In another archival clip, boys sitting around a fire in a hobo jungle respond to a reporter who asks them why they are on the road. “Out here for my health,” one deadpans. “Just riding,” another tersely shrugs.

These are the real-life versions of the characters played by Frankie Darro and the Warners juveniles in Wild Boys of the Road (1933). Several things about that film are startling. One is how the kids dress and act like grown-ups (at a school dance, they wear evening clothes and circle the floor to “The Shadow Waltz”), as opposed to today, when grown-ups dress and act like kids. Another is how quickly and completely two middle-class boys turn into outcasts, panhandlers, embittered scavengers living in a garbage dump. But most startling of all is the way stoicism and dignity are taken for granted, the universal determination not be a burden or feel sorry for oneself. The elderly interviewees in Riding the Rails are candid, matter-of-fact, wry and compassionate. There is more to elegance than dressing well, than being tasteful or—that overused and inelegant word—“classy.” There is an intangible quality, a kind of mental and moral grace. Elegance has spine, but it’s not rigid; it bends but doesn’t break. It is understated; it is reserved. It knows the virtue of holding something back—some strength, some anger, some sense of irony���because there is more than one rainy day.

by Imogen Sara Smith

[lesbian-deadpool]

Flatline

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Modern AU

Words: 2,481

Warnings: Don’t drink and drive kiddos. Mentions of abuse. Descriptions of injury. Slight cheating.

Request: Yup. Hey! I was wondering if you could do a Natasha x fem!reader based on the videoclip of Maps- Maroon 5. But with the reader not dying at the end, just getting severely injured. And with a happy ending if that’s not asking much :) love your writings btw Hope you like it!

Summary: She’ll follow you.

A/N: Sorry this might have taken a lil long, life ‘n’ stuff y’know? I finished this off whilst sleep-deprived, so, take that as you will. Also, this isn’t proof read.

(Not my GIF)

***

2:45 a.m.

Oh, God did Natasha wish she had thoughts running through her head right now, instead of the deafening static echoing throughout her ears, as her body worked on almost autopilot.

But to be perfectly honest with you. Natasha wished for a hell of a lot of things right now. She wished she had a genie so that she could make more wishes.

She had never been so desperate.

Not when she was younger, trying to get out of the hell that was her childhood.

Not when Clint had been rushed to the hospital, because his father had beat the hell out of him. Which left the, then, purple obsessed teen, deaf in both ears.

Not even when she had been shot in a robbery, and was bleeding out.

But now? Now, she was desperate as she repeatedly pounded on the elevators buttons like that would magically make it go faster. That or it just gave her something to occupy her fuzzy mind, so she wouldn’t lose it. Finally, Fucking finally, the doors opened, and reviled the reception area.

Rushing towards them, she hastily ashed.

“Where is she? Where is she?! Where the fuck is she?!” Natasha knew she didn’t make sense. She had to give them a name. A description. Something more than what she was yelling at them right now. But she just couldn’t manage to get any words, other than these, out of her mouth.

“Hold on, Ma’am. Who are you looking for?” The receptionist asked, trying not to let the anxious waves coming from Natasha affect her.

Huffing out an exasperated breath, Natasha turned and ran down a random hallway, one she guessed would be where they had taken you.

And oh, how she was right.

She just didn’t know if she wanted to be, after finding you in the state that you were.

You were layed on an operation table, nurses and doctors swarming around you. Some prepping you and the room. Others just trying their hardest to keep you stable and alive.

Cuts and scrapes adorned your body. Split lip going as far to your chin, black eyes, a sliced cheek, and a head wound. Blood matting into your hair, and all over your forehead. Your right arm was undoubtedly broken, your shirt was torn, blood seeping from beneath it. Your left leg was bloody and gouged oped in a few long strokes, the jean cut to your mid-thigh, thanks to the doctors cutting it to get to your injuries better- Or at all. All that and glass shards added to the equation, ranging from tiny, to large, penetrated every body part of yours. Natasha couldn't look at a fresh inch of skin without seeing specks of glass embedded into you. And that was just the outside. God only knows what was happening inside of your body.

And Natasha hoped. For one of the first times, in her life, she silently prayed, she prayed that there would be nothing wrong with you inside and that you would make a full and fast recovery. With her by your side.

“What happened to her?” Natasha asked, gaining the medical staff's attention.

“Get her out of here!” One of the doctors, obviously the head surgeon, -the one by your legs- ordered. Pointing in Natasha's direction, before returning their attention back to your unconscious body.

“What?” Natasha whispered. The static in her ears and mind quieting instantly. Now the only thing that could be heard in her ears was the ever slowing heart rate monitors beeps.

The two doctors nearest her made their way over to her hastily. Both of them pushing against Natasha, trying to overpower and restrain her. As she shoved against the men trying to keep her from the room.

“What the hell happened to her?!”

“Ma’am, you need to leave.” One of the doctors, who were stopping her from moving further into the room, tried to reason with her.

“No!” Natasha roared, “Tell me what happened to her!”

Finally barging past the two doctors, she paused in the room, just watching the other doctors work around you.

Natasha couldn’t decide if she was lucky to have had found you. Or if she was so incredibly unlucky to have to see you like this. And for her to know that it was all her fault.

But if the was one thing for sure. Natasha needn't have prayed.

2:30 a.m.

You had been driving for near thirty minutes. Running away from Natasha, and trying to run from the feeling’s swirling around inside of you. You had to get away from it all. No destination. Just escape. But with the tears blurring your vision, and the level of your intoxication. It was lucky you were on the road for so long. No police chasing after you, even with you going twenty over the limit. But your “luck” was soon to run out.

You don’t know what happened. One minute you were driving smoothly, well, as smoothly as you could in your state, but the next you lost control of the car. Steering wheel spinning out of your grip, making the car drift to its side. Before flipping over, again and again.

Once.

Twice.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Seven times the car flipped, jolting you around inside. Only on the third flip did you hit your head hard against the steering wheel, knocking you out.

When the car finally stopped, landing on its roof, did the repetitive sound of a siren fill the sky. The police were finally after you. And they would bring the ambulance.

They needed to hurry.

Blood poured from a multitude of places upon your body. The car was a state. The windshield and the driver's side glass smashed. Wheels concaved into the mechanics. Dents, scrapes, and cracks adorned the exterior. The hood of the car laid a few meters behind you. But the most worrisome thing was the fact that the engine was beginning to flame.

2:27 a.m.

The vibrating phone on the seat next to you pulled your gaze from the road. Natasha’s call name lit up the screen. That was the nineteenth time she had tried calling you, in the past twenty minutes.

Picking up your phone, you slid the decline button and threw it back on the seat. Frown growing angrier with Natasha, with every second that passes.

You couldn’t believe she would do this to you- that she could do this to you. She had told you many times before that you were the only one for her. The love of her life, she would say. And you, like a fool, believed her.

Was she always lying? Had she done this before? If so, how many times? All these questions, and more, ran through your head. You wished they would shut up, and let you drive far away. Drive until the gas ran out. Or drive until you were ready to go home, where Natasha probably would be, waiting for your return. Looking like a kicked puppy.

Another vibration from your now face down phone, had you groaning. Picking it up once again, you decided to switch it off. Fuck her. She could suffer in silence, for all you cared.

1:54 a.m.

Okay, so maybe this party wasn't so bad. You got to catch up with your friends, which was nice. However, you still wished that your night was spent at home, just you and Natasha, doing whatever you pleased. Not being dragged away from each other as soon as you walked through the door. That was definitely a downside to the party.

Now don’t get me wrong. You didn’t have to be around Natasha all the time. But you had been apart from each other, for the past week or so. So, excuse you if you missed your girlfriend. But, sadly, you had promise’s to uphold, which is why you were here in the first place.

After around an hour and a half o conversing with your friends, you decided you go find Natasha. Maybe even convince her to head home soon, so you could finally spend some alone time together.

You just didn’t expect to see what you did.

There Natasha was, being pressed up against the wall by some random girl, whose tongue was down your girlfriend's throat. That is if you would still call her that, at the end of the night.

“Y/N,” Natasha uttered in a hushed tone, looking like a deer caught in headlights, as she pulled away from the girl, pushing her away slightly, as Natasha kept staring at you. “Y/N, it’s not what you think.”

“Save it, Nat,” you spat, walking from the room.

2:01 a.m.

“Y/N, please!” Natasha called after you, as you bound down the steps, walking towards Natasha’s expensive Chevrolet.

“Piss off, Natasha!”

Thankful that Natasha had given you her car keys to look after for the night, you slid into her Chevy, throwing your phone on the passenger seat.

Natasha banged on the windows, yelling through them, as you started the car, intent on ignoring her.

“Y/N, please get out of the car, you’ve been drinking.”

“Fuck off, Nat. You can make your own way home.”

“Baby, please. It’s not what it looks like,” he begs echoed through the glass, tears begin to well up in her eyes.

“’It’s not what it looks like’?!” you roared, “Really?! Because I’m pretty sure it looked like, some woman had her tongue down your throat!”

With that, you made your speedy exit, not caring as to what else Natasha had to say.

“Y/N!” Natasha called after you, “Y/N!”

11:30 p.m.

“Do we really have to go to this fuckin’ party?”

“Yes, Y/N. We promised Tony, weeks ago that we would. Now, go get dressed,” Natasha chastened.

“I am dressed.” You opened your arms, looking down at your jean and t-shirt set.

“You are not going like that,” Natasha said, gesturing to your outfit.

“Why not? You can’t tell me, Clint isn’t going to the party like this,” you said, knowing full well that Clint was going to rock up into the party, wearing jeans and purple t-shirt.

“At least put on a t-shirt that doesn’t have paint all over it,” Natasha close to whined.

Glancing down again, you finally noticed the different hues of paint, that stained into your t-shirt, from your many decorating expeditions.

“Ohhhhh... yeah, okay.”

“Thank you!” Natasha called to you, as you walked back into the bedroom to get changed.

2:46 a.m.

If the flatline of your heart was to go by, praying was unnecessary for Natasha to have even tried.

The doctors that were now behind her, each grabbed one of her shoulders and threw her from the room. Slamming the door locked behind them.

Natasha would have continued pounding on the wood of the operation door, for far more than two seconds. If it wasn’t for the arms that wrapped around her shoulders, Natasha instantly knowing who they belonged too, let out a sob she didn’t know she needed to release. Turning in her spot, she pushed her face into Clint's neck and cried there.

6:33 a.m.

Well. You felt, like shit. No. In fact. You felt like you had been thrown off a cliff, dragged through a mile of cacti, and then left in some shit. Shit does not come close to how you feel right now.

Fluttering your eyes open, as to protect them from the harsh lights of the hospital room, you then looked at your surroundings.

Medical equipment.

Plain white walls.

More medical equipment.

Natasha.

Now, that. That was shit.

Slumped in an uncomfortable position, on an equally uncomfortable looking chair, was where Natasha slept. God, she looked beautiful, even like this. You hated that you still thought that after last night.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” you groaned out, slowly moving your head to face forward, one so you didn’t have to look at Natasha much longer. And two, to ease the strain, your neck was feeling.

Your words brought Natasha out of dreamland, and into the harsh reality. “Y/N, you’re awake.”

“Yeah, and I asked you a question.”

“You remember,” she said slowly, shoulders slumping.

“Yeah, I remember. What? Hoping I had amnesia or something?”

“No, of course not,” Natasha replied, voice hurt and insulted at the accusation you had made.

“Why are you here, Natasha?” you asked, no longer wanting to fight, like you did mere moments ago. Only growing more and more tyred by the second. All you wanted right now was to go back to sleep.

“Because I love you.” But apparently, you weren’t going to be able too.

“Yeah, you sure seemed to love me last night when you were cheating on me.”

Natasha winced at that, “I didn’t.”

“What? You didn’t cheat on me?! Oh, that's rich, Natasha! I literally saw you-”

“I didn’t kiss her. She kissed me. She was saying all of this stuff about how she was better than you, how I should be with her, and how good she and I would be together. I got really angry and told her to go fuck herself. Then she kissed me. I pushed her away when you came into the room.”

“You didn’t look angry,” you noted, voice small.

“Because you looked so heartbroken, and I knew it was because of me.” Natasha’s sniffling brought you to look back at her saddened face. Only now did you notice her redraw eyes, presumably from crying. Tears welling up in them again. And you knew for a fact, they were burning her.

And in that moment you believed her. Of course, you did. Obviously, she was right. This was your Natasha we’re talking about here. The one who never looked at anyone the same way she did you. The woman who had repeatedly blown off important responsibilities, just because she missed being in your arms. The woman who beyond all else, loved you with all her heart.

“Yeah, well, now my body’s kinda broken not, too.”

“Don’t make me feel worse, please,” Natasha uttered, placing her head in her hand’s. Your bed dipping as she rested her elbows upon the mattress.

Smiling sadly at her, you said, “It’s not your fault, Natasha.” Pulling her hand’s away from her eyes, so she would look at you. Your sad smile turning into a fond one. “I’m the one who drove the car while drunk. Which by the way, I might have destroyed, just a little bit.”

“I don’t care about the Goddamn car.” Natasha shook her head. “As long as your okay, I don’t care about anything else.”

“I love you, Nat. I know you didn’t cheat on me.”

“I love you too, Y/N,” Natasha replied, griping your hand, “Never scare me like that again. You flatlined. I thought I lost you.”

“Well, you didn’t, I’m right here. I’m right here.”

[writingpuddle]

dude dude dude i didnt realise u wrote flatline istg that series is my fav it honestly kills me ur doing gods work

wow ever since i got this ive been hoarding it so that i could give you a chapter but like...damn. its been months. hope this makes up for it ;)

--- Read it on AO3 ---

They were a disorganized rabble, as always, outfits mismatched in quality, eyes suspicious and hostile as stray dogs. The light caught two heads of white-blond hair and the flash of teeth. Neil thought he might vomit. The rest of the teams regarded Neil as a mystery, but could the same be said of the Foxes?

The Foxes closed the gap too quickly, and then Riko was shaking Dan Wilds hand, his wrist limp as if he expected her to kiss his hand. Neil kind of wished she’d punch him for it.

The rest of the team jostled around her to pick their seats. Renee Walker aimed as if to sit across from Neil, but Andrew cut her off with a cheerful elbow, planting himself across from Neil with Kevin at his side.

Neil almost missed the team leaning back as one as he was forced to look at Andrew head on.

“Andrew,” he said by way of greeting, voice as flat as he could manage.

“Neil,” Andrew said brightly, leaning back in his chair and grinning at him. “You’re looking awfully well for a dead man.”

[rumata-est]

Impossible Girl Rises

Part one

Part two

After “Mummy on the Orient Express” we have 5 more episodes to see how Clara has changed. “Flatline” is the first time when Clara explicitly tells everyone she's the Doctor. I bet a lot of people like to pretend they're the Doctor, or a Doctor, or somebody cool and clever. But it's not just like “now when I have a magic sonic screwdriver, a psychic paper, and a cool outfit (scarf? leather jacket? converse? bow-tie?), I can outwit everybody”.

 Clara meets a grumpy guy who isn't affected by the psychic paper, she has to lie, to be a leader, to come up with ideas again and again, and do it very quickly. It's a good lesson for her and for all of us. “A Doctor” is a title to be earned with actions and not taken for granted.

Funny thing, when all of them say goodbye nobody seems to understand who the Doctor is and what he's doing there: he was there every second but only for Clara. Of course, he got rid of aliens at the end, but that doesn't matter. He did a lot of work guiding Clara and supporting her being invisible for everybody else. Basically, it's a description of the Doctor's companions: they are extremely important but every time the Doctor just outshines them, and that's not fair.

Also, we meet Rigsy, he is the first person Clara saved. From now on he's in her care.

In “the Forest of the Night” Clara is an amazing teacher who doesn't miss an opportunity to teach Coal Hill most Gifted and Talented something extraordinary but at the same time she's an absolute disaster when it comes to taking care of her students’ feelings and lives. She really goes native: she likes adventures and wonders so much she assumes everybody else does as well. She doesn't have a mother, she doesn't have a real family, and her boyfriend doesn't want to go with her anyway cause he prefers to see the things in front of him more clearly. Does he? Then why doesn't he see the Doctor is way more complicated than just an officer? Probably, cause he's still scared of the bigger picture which Clara prefers to the small one. He can save her from a simple threat, a tiger or a laser strike, but he dare not to think of a real story behind the fairy tale. The Doctor knows all of the real stories, but he often chooses a fairy tale too. Why? To protect the others from fear (and himself from madness).

When things go wrong Clara decides to stay on Earth. Why? Cause everything ends, and she doesn’t want to run away. She belongs to this world, and if she fails to save it, there's an opportunity to be brave, at least.

Why does Clara tell Danny “I love you” so deliberately? Cause she knows it’s important to him. It’s her anchor to Earth, her human life must belong with something or someone. It’s her attempt to see a simple small picture. Danny doesn’t understand it, he’s more confused than pleased. 

The key scene in “Dark Water” is absolutely stunningly beautiful. Why? Yes, Clara does betray the Doctor's trust, but she doesn't betray her belief. She has to save a person who was in her care. It's not about simple human love, it's about her moral choice (later we'll see she'll do the same for Rigsy). I personally think the volcano thing wasn't important. Does Clara really assume the Doctor has just seven keys? Or the TARDIS would let her land in the middle of a volcano? Or the Doctor could be caught off guard cause she was the one emotionally unstable at that moment? She doesn't get emotional while trying to check Danny's identity. Clara wanted to make her point clear, to make the Doctor understand how far she would go being just a little predictable human being. She may not have his power or knowledge but at least she has a will, and she's ready to take the consequences.

This is the reason he tells her a very significant phrase: let’s see what we are made of, you and I. They have a job to do. He can count on her cause he knows she'll do everything possible, or die. Of course, on the other hand, that's part of the reason why he'll become so worried about her in series 9: she can really die cause human limits don't bother her anymore while she's still a human, and that's not a figure of speech.

Clara understands the nature of the Doctor's life strategy: run fast, be kind, think straight, enjoy stories, make up stories. That's why both of them have such power over reality: it's not some all-consuming monster, it's a tool and a toy.

In “Death in Heaven” Clara tells very angrily: what, you think I would give up the Doctor? Don’t be daft. But the thing is she doesn't actually know where the Doctor is. And she has said she lied. For all we know her beautiful words about her attidude towards the Doctor may mean nothing. It's just the Doctor's style: be angry, explicative, and emotional with your enemy while trying to come up with a back up plan. But we'll get the proof of their friendship later: they both are so willing to sacrifice their own feelings for benefit of each other they can't even notice their mutual mistake.

Why can't Clara say about Danny's death at once? Because it's a show, yes, and because she feels it as her own fault. He was responsible and selfless, he made amends. On the other hand, she lied to him, and then declared her endless loyalty to the Doctor. In Danny's terms they both were kind of soldiers, but he chose the battlefield and people, and she chose schemes and an officer.

“Last Christmas” is one of my favorite episodes cause it's about dreams inside the dreams (hello, Inception) and about whouffaldi, thank you very much, and it was discussed ages ago.

But it also adds some important features to Clara's character. She is anything but miserable without the Doctor: she taught in every country in Europe and learned to fly a plane. She had a good life and she laughs at her regrets. And this is so important for the Doctor. He dare not to come back to those he loved cause he's scared. What if they changed? What if they blame him? What if they didn't have a good life? But Clara did. She missed him, of course, and they made each other feel special, but she can feel... well, the music. She'll say it later out loud.

Her love for this kind of life and for life in general, and her love for the Doctor himself are two different things. That's why they get the second chance, and that's why they have this immortality problem in series 9.

But it's a story for another day.

[writingmilo]

Losing Maya

@honestlyitsjustkenna, @goldenoceanaart, @thelunarmasquerade, @theluckoftheclaws, @ashphoenix06, @jackandmarksavedme88, @samariah-keeper

Maya had been in the coma for three months. She had missed so much, her birthday, Kenna’s birthday, Damien and Celine’s return, the addition of Marin to the family. She had been able to hear people talking to her though, and somewhere everything she was told got stored.

While she had been asleep, Anti had visited her subconscious frequently, making sure that she couldn’t forget him or escape his clutches, but the strings did loosen, and slowly his visits started to bring the fear they were supposed to.

It was one particular visit, it had caused her so much distress that her body was twitching wildly, and Henrik was certain she was having some sort of seizure. After he had made himself certain that everything was okay, and he had calmed Kenna down by going over everything with her, they left her alone, Kenna distressed and needing the company. It was then that Maya sat up, Anti materialising next to her and helping her remove all of the IVs and monitors. The heart rate monitor was the final one they removed, and by the time it showed her flatlining, they had gone.

“You saved me. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing Stray.” They continued walking for a while, even though Stray couldn’t see any end they were walking towards. “Oh, we are going to have some fun you and me Stray.” His grin spread over his face, morphing to become sinister.

“What are we going to do master?” She looked at him questioning.

“Nothing, not yet anyway. For now, you are going to stay here, and wait for me to come back.” Her face dropped, she had been so excited to spend time with him, she only wanted to help him however she could. But no, she couldn’t let herself be disappointed, he would have a reason for doing this.

“Okay.” Immediately, he disappeared, and Stray stood in place for a few minutes, swinging her arms when she started to get restless. A further few minutes later she decided to sit down, it would help her stay still better; she didn’t want to disobey him.

Eventually Anti returned, and she stood up instinctively. The thought never even crossed her mind that she shouldn’t be able to move her legs. “Master?” He looked pissed. “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m pissed. They’ve already noticed that you’re gone. It should’ve taken at least another few minutes. They’re really trying to get you back, they’re scared you’ll hurt them, or someone else. They still think you are dangerous.”

“But master, I am dangerous. You want me to be dangerous, don’t you?” He smirked.

“Now you’re getting it!” Placing a hand on her shoulder, her pajamas changed into tight black dungarees with a black t-shirt underneath. “And now you look fit to be my sidekick.”

“Your- your sidekick?!” Slowly, he nodded, and her face lit up with joy. “Oh master! I promise I won’t let you down!” Watching her with a smug look on his face, he started walking after she calmed down, and she scurried along next to him.

“And as my right-hand girl, I have a very important job for you.” Eagerly, she stared at him.

“Anything master, just say the word.”

“If you insist,” his sinister grin returned, “I want you to pay a visit to Doll.” Never flinching, she nodded, and started to ask when he wanted her to. It seemed that Maya was completely suppressed, but Anti had to be sure that she wasn’t going to appear when faced with her beloved. God, humans disgusted him, with their love and affection, but it did give him good bargaining chips if he ever needed one.

“Good. You should be able to teleport there yourself, if you concentrate hard enough.”

Nodding her head, she scrunched up her eyes and slowly she evaporated from the room in a cloud of deep pink pixels.

As she re-appeared into her bedroom, everything was exactly the same as it had been all those months ago, but this time a stack of birthday cards lay on the desk. Some of them were unopened, and addressed to her, one from Rowan and a few from old friends that had barely kept in touch. Nothing mattered though, they had nothing to do with her task.

Slowly, she ventured out into the hall, looking into each room. She presumed that Kenna would be in the theatre or the kitchen, either way, she hoped that she was alone: having to explain to someone else what had happened would be much more difficult than just an emotional Kenna.

“Maya?!” Kenna’s voice sounded through the hallway, as she stopped dead in her tracks.

“Hi.”

“I missed you so much!” Kenna ran at her, and jumped up giving her a tight hug. When Maya didn’t reciprocate, she let go, only keeping their hands together. She looked Maya up and down, taking in her changed appearance. “Baby, don’t you need your wheelchair?”

“Oh, no, you see I got the doc to heal me. He really helped.” Hearing the name Anti used to call Henrik caused Kenna to realise what was happening.

“Maya, why did you disappear?” Squeezing her hand slightly, Kenna led her through to the living room and sat down with her on the sofa.

“I-it’s not important. There was something I had to tell you, actually that’s the reason I’m here. Umm, there’s no easy way to say this, but… I think we should break up.”

“Wh-what?” Kenna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Now she knew it wasn’t Maya talking, what with her name for Hen, the dark aesthetic and the lack of wheelchair, she knew that Anti had a hand in it. “Baby, this isn't you. You don’t want to break up with me, I know you don’t.” Stray simply looked blankly ahead. “Maya?” Still, Stray stared ahead, not registering the foreign name. “Stray.” Her head instinctively turned to her master, only to find Kenna. Tears started to run down Kenna’s cheeks, and she threw Maya’s hands down. “You… what have you done to my Maya?” Stray’s eyes darkened slightly, and she smiled.

“Nothing. She’s still here, in fact I would say that I am still her… just better.”

“No, no you’re not better than Maya. You would happily hurt people. You are just like Chaos.” Kenna reached to rest a hand on Stray’s cheek. “God, what has he done to you?”

“Don’t you see? He’s made me twice the person I could ever have been with you.” Brushing

Kenna’s hand away, her hands started to glow deep pink. “I have powers now, I can walk. I can be strong with him. With you I was nothing but weak.”

“No...” Kenna stood up, wiping the tears from her cheeks, and ran out of the room. Foolishly, Stray believed that her task was done, that Kenna would just give up on her like that. Oh, how wrong she was. When Kenna returned, Stray’s eyes were almost completely blacked out to match her outfit, and her head was bowed slightly. Jackie pushed Kenna behind him, unsure of how dangerous this stranger would be.

“Maya? It’s Jackie.” She looked up, her eyes returning to normal. Noting Jackie’s defensive stance, she stood, balling pixels on her hand.

“I am not Maya. I. Am. Stray.” Jackie’s face fell, and he reflexively pulled his mask down, preparing to fight.

“Kenna, go. Get everyone into a room upstairs and lock the door. Don’t leave, no matter what you hear, and keep Marvin with you.”

“Jackie, please, don’t hurt her!”

“I’ll try kid, I promise.” He turned back towards Stray. “Now go before you get hurt!” Kenna ran off up the stairs, grabbing Jamie on the way.

“Well then, Stray is it? I guess it’s just us.” He blasted a ball of magic at her, taking her off-guard and hitting her in the chest. Doubling over, she tried to regain her breath as Jackie stalked towards her. “This doesn’t have to be this difficult Ma- Stray.” Jackie said, pooling more magic into his hands incase she tried to attack him with the pixels she was now flooding into her chest.

Soon, she straightened back out, and reached out towards Jackie. “Jackie?” Fear pooled in her once black eyes.

“Maya, are you back?” Not letting his guard down, Jackie kept an attack readied in case this was a trick, but as he took another step towards her; her face painted with fear.

“Jackie, what’s happening?! Why does everything hurt?” Panic mixed with her fear, and Jackie came closer still.

“It’s okay Maya, we’re going to help you. We’ll get you out of this, I promise.” With a final step, he lowered his attack and pulled Maya into a tight hug. She clung to him, a hidden grin spreading across her face. Unable to conjure her magic without him noticing, she lifted her head slightly, opening her mouth and chomping down on his shoulder. Jackie let out a sharp yell, and magic flowed through her body from his hands on her back.

Not realising what had just happened, Stray pulled away, trying to throw pixels at him, only to be met with the cold wooden floor as she passed out.

She woke up in the same bed she had awoken in only hours ago, but this time there were no wires or IVs, just ropes keeping her from moving. And instead of being alone, the faces of Jackie, Marvin and Jack stared back at her. They had insisted that Chase and Jamie stayed to comfort the girls, and in case Anti decided to make an appearance.

“So, I take it you’re still going by Stray, you little shit.” Jackie was the first to speak, and he earned a harsh glare from Jack. “What, she bit me! Like literally took a chunk out of my shoulder!”

“And I would do it again in a heartbeat if any of you laid your filthy hands on me.” Stray spat in retaliation.

“Yep, definitely still Stray.” Jack laughed awkwardly. “Anyone want to remind me how we got Jackie back from Chaos?”

“That’s not going to work, she’s not under a curse. She’s caught in strings, badly by the looks of things as well.” Marvin answered, as he cast the spell to reveal the strings. She looked almost mummified beneath the layers of red twine. “Well, we can’t rip them out, she’d die of blood loss.”

“Yeah no shit.”

“Yeah, I can still hear you guys you know, just because I can’t move doesn’t mean I can’t hear.” Stray interrupted, receiving only a small smirk from Jackie.

“So what can we do? We can’t just leave her here, Anti will come back for her. We need to get rid of him.”

“Or you could just let me go back to my master. Don’t you want me to be happy?”

“Nope, we want Maya to be fucking happy. Not you.” Marvin growled, green glowing around his hands.

“You know, I have one idea about how to get rid of Stray,” Jack added, his tone much too light. “A full out attack. She has to give up eventually, what does Anti want a broken body for?”

“No. No no no, Kenna will murder us all. And what if we go too far and we can’t fix the damage? We can’t just half murder her in the hope that it drives him away!”

“I’m sorry to say this Marv, but I think it’s our only option right now.” Mouth dropping open, Marvin deflated slightly.

“Well do we tell her? Kenna will not be happy, it’s still her girlfriend in there. We need to talk this through with her.” Rubbing his face, Jack sighed in compliance.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Let’s go, the sooner we get a yes, the sooner we get this over with.”

“You’re what?!” Kenna hugged the stuffed animal Maya had won her tightly, rocking back and forth a little as she tried to comprehend what she had just been told. “I- you- but... ” she exhaled, trying to calm her thoughts. “Will it help her?” The three nodded in unison. “And she’ll definitely be okay?” Once again they nodded, this time with less certainty. “Okay, but please don’t hurt her.” The look on everyone’s faces told her everything. “Don’t hurt her more than you need to.”

They re-entered Stray’s room all looking anxious about the task at hand. Under his breath, Jack mumbled an apology to Maya.

“You’re really going to do this? Attack a poor, innocent kid? You’re sick, all of you.” Stray made one last attempt at escape before Jack threw his green pixels at her, knocking all air for protest out of her lungs.

That started the assault. The three men bombarded her with magic until they were too drained to continue, at which point they allowed Henrik in just to make sure she wasn't going to die.

Whilst they recovered their powers for round two, Kenna snuck into the room, shocked by the unconscious Stray lying in the bed. She looked so strange in the black outfit, and with her skin paler and colder from lack of food. Nothing about her looked healthy. Neither did anything about Kenna when Stray shot towards her, the restraints the only thing holding her back as she growled and snarled at her. It was then that Kenna realised how truly important it was that the guys were successful, and all the anger at them for coming up with the plan dispersed.

She reached to touch Stray, but she only snarled and snapped her teeth at her. “I’m sorry Maya, but we need to do this so I don’t lose you forever.”

[danwhobrowses]

NXT TakeOver Stand & Deliver Day 2 - Review

Alright, onto part 2 Day 1′s Stand and Deliver was a strong showing but there was plenty of chance to top it, so it’s time to see if Day 2′s strong card can do it

This will be later than I intended, mainly because I have been swamped with other stuff, I wanted to watch this after work but time is not on my side

read part 1 here

Spoilers for Stand & Deliver Day 2 (and tidbits of Day 1), you have been warned

Pre-Show As with Night 1, the good stuff is mainly the Samoa Joe interviews. I did find it humorous of Kross saying ‘I’m gonna throw bombs at him’, that’s a mental image. The F bomb kinda contradicted him being asked if he was too emotive, unless that was intentional. Joe’s shade at Balor was good though, let them fight again! The Shotzi stuff in the tag champs’ interview was a bit off-putting for me, I know she’s supposed to be wild but like, if you wince at a babyface it’s not good.

Number 1 Contendership Match for NXT Tag Championship - Killian Dain & Drake Maverick def. Breezango (Pinfall by Maverick on Fandango via Dain’s Powerbomb) Kudos to start with for Breezango dressing as pirates even for the Pre-Show, these two deserve more what they’ve gotten (I know injuries have hurt them but they could’ve had a longer reign). Drake and Killian also deserve more than they’re getting, Drake should look at going for the CW title again. We started with a bit of character stuff, Fandango and Drake lead to Drake doing Fandango’s hip swivels which angered Fandango, then Dain tagged Drake in which hurt him and then Drake put the pirate hat on the bemused Dain. Dain’s time in-ring was short though as Drake did a combo move, Breezango then took control of Drake. Dain handled the hot tag well, handling both men, but after an attempted combo move Breeze superkicked Drake, double team for 2 but then Dain pushes back, Drake hits the super rana as Dain dumps out Breeze, Dain then powerbombs Drake onto Fandango whose limp body covers for three.

It was a fine pre-show match, still short but not abrupt. It was kinda weird narratively though because it felt like Breezango, in spite of their entrance, were playing heels. The matchup is kinda odd too, MSK vs Dain and Maverick makes for a face vs face match but hey ho

Main Card This time a music performance by Poppy, it was like Paramore and Evanescence had a one night stand, not bad but not necessary lots of shaky cam though.

Cruiserweight Championship Unification Ladder Match: Santos Escobar (c) def. Jordan Devlin (c) Santos came in like a true Luchador with the cape, mask and another mask while Devlin walked in no-nonsense with his Irish Cruiserweight attitude, a true division of style preluding the fight. Devlin and Santos work some chains and reversals, few lifts here and there but nothing too flashy until Devlin took advantage, an Asai Moonsault onto the outside is followed by Devlin getting the ladder. Cleverly, Devlin evades the ladder lower-rope dropkick and hits Santos in the head, but his climb is denied. Santos has a worried look when Devlin is about to Irish Whip him into the ladder on the corner but he reverses, he squashes Devlin against the chain that surrounds the outside of the ring before getting a second ladder. This time Santos plays clever, dropkicking the ladder he was setting up onto Devlin, before driving it into his gut, Ladder 3 comes out immediately after as Santos lays stomps onto Devlin.

Devlin regains control by slamming Santos’ face onto the bottom of Ladder 3 which Santos placed on the top turnbuckle, every attempt by Santos is responded by Devlin, his monkey flip launches him into a climb, Santos’ pull down into a DDT, Santos does get a suicide dive to drive Devlin into Ladder 1 set up on the wall but Devlin pulls off a counter suplex on Ladder 2 which is on the floor, Spanish Fly counter then a cutter. Ladder 2 is set in the corner as Devlin lands a top ladder moonsault, he has it dead to rights but Legando push the ladder leading to a nasty-looking fall and Devlin being thrown into the steps. Gesturing to climb, Santos foolishly dismisses his faction allowing Devlin to throw a ladder at Santos to bide some time, he sets up Ladder 1 adjacent to 2, a tussle leads to a ladder Spanish Fly. Devlin makes the climb but with fingertips on the belt Santos comes back, clubbing blows are traded but Santos headbutts Devlin through the slanted Ladder 3. Santos claims the belts and celebrates with his faction and son.

It was a good ladder match, but I didn’t think it needed Legando’s interference, the culture clash wasn’t sold so much either, Devlin did more Lucha moves and the finish of a headbutt was a bit lacking, but a strong opener.

MSK Interview MSK were less insufferable on this interview, bit of character there too with them disagreeing on predictions.

NXT Women’s Tag Championship: Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon (c) def. The Way [Indi Hartwell & Candice LeRae] (pinfall by Shotzi Blackheart on Indi Hartwell via Senton Bomb) The Way continued the Gargano tradition of comic attire with Candice wearing Thor attire, while Shotzi and Ember (let’s call them War Girls for now, reference to Mad Max War Boys, the Tank and Ember’s War Goddess) come out on their usual tank. The Way start with the advantage jumping the champions and zoning out Shotzi, Ember gets the hot tag even sneaking in a DX Suck It during her forearms. An Indi Distraction averts the Eclipse but Indi pulls off the Tower of Doom Powerbomb for 2. Pop-Up Spinebuster hits 2 again but Shotzi is tagged in when Ember escapes the double team move, Shotzi hits a crossbody then an assisted suicide dive, Ember then goes outside with the senton and then the team Dominator for 2, Candice sneaks a roll up for her own 2 though and gets a chance for their own double team move (flapjack flatliner), Ember breaks that pin though. A middle rope knee by Ember and an Enzugiri by Shotzi clumps both women together for a 2-for-1 Eclipse and Indi is prone to the Senton Bomb for 3.

Nice little tag match there, Indi was impressive and the right person won, we need a long reign for the War Girls to build prestige for these new titles.

North American Championship: Johnny Gargano [w/Austin Theory] (c) def. Bronson Reed (pinfall via One Final Beat x2) After the video package but before the match we saw Steph with another acquisition, Gable Steveson. Bronson’s attire is unchanged but Gargano comes out with what looks like the Infamous Iron Man (Dr. Doom in an Iron Man suit, it was actually awesome).

Reed’s power influenced the start of the match as Gargano picked at every body part to chop down the Colossal. A Tope is caught but Gargano wriggles out with an eye rake and drives Reed’s ribs into the Announcer’s table. Reed is not kept down for long, but his power moves are followed by a pause as the ribs are sold, a lovely Jagged Edge though since Reed re-lifted Johnny when he tried to knee an escape, the deadlift corner suplex gives Gargano the chance for a corner backstabber but Reed rallies back with a counter suplex. The Senton is missed and turned into a cradle, Gargano spikes a poison rana and then latches the Garga-no Escape. Reed rope breaks and blocks the interceptor, Razor’s Edge from ramp to ring, Tsunami misses, Superkick by Gargano gets 2 though. Reed hits a short-arm clothesline to set up another Tsunami but has to swat Theory away giving Gargano time, top rope rana is averted and Reed hits the Powerbomb, it should be 3 but Theory moved Gargano’s leg. Annoyed with Theory, he throws him into Gargano on the outside, suicide dive takes all of Theory but none of Johnny, who drives Reed back into the ringside. Rolled back in the ring, Reed counters One Final Beat with a Beach Break for 2, sets up the Powerbomb but Gargano gets out, 2 superkicks stagger but he’s flattened by a mule kick, Reed goes to the top but he’s not thinking Tsunami - he goes for the Moonsault but Kurt Angle rules apply, Moonsault misses, Gargano hits two successive One Final Beats to get the 3.

I’m a little let down that Reed didn’t win but it was a solid match, good title match and Gargano keeps on going. I guess Lumis’ feud may continue or Reed will get another chance, just hope they do something with Reed’s momentum.

NXT Championship - Karrion Kross [w/Scarlett] def. Finn Balor (pinfall via Running Forearm Smash TITLE CHANGE) Dunne, Burch and Oney are seen on the outside as both men prepare, Kross always having the BW filter still doesn’t do it for me, nor does Scarlett’s mannerisms. I mean the outfit was great but other than that she kinda stands around or flails around. Balor’s entrance a lot more patient but the intense staring did not go unseen. Balor with a big red X painted over his heart to sell that he’s not gonna fight on emotions. Balor’s lock ups to start are powered out by Kross, but every time Balor is hit he smiles, the mind games slowly eating into Kross. A slap in the face sends him over the edge though, ‘now you’re gonna get it’ Kross says as he punctures Balor into the corner, Balor dodges the second to hurt Kross’s shoulder then moves for a submission, once again powered out into the corner.  Kross drove his knee into a Tree of Woe Balor but his stalking made him fall prey to an Armbreaker, he rolls out and tries the powerbomb but Balor floors him with a shoulderbreaker, another submission and then pulling the shoulder against the ropes. A delayed pause happened when Kross went to lunge but stopped and collapsed, no sympathy from the champion as he went for a kick in the gut. Advantage got traded as Kross went corner to corner with powerslaps but then was dropped with a reverse DDT. Kross then smashes Balor with a cradled suplex, rolled into a lariat and then a shoulder powerbomb for 2, Balor then counters with submissions and a sling blade but then gets hit with a clothesline and then an exploder. Balor senses the finisher and hits the Pele Kick, Shotgun Dropkick on 2 corners, Coup de Grace! 1, 2, NO! Kross has rolled into the Straitjacket, Balor rolls into a stomp though, Rings of Saturn on the hurt shoulder, facing Scarlett in pain Kross snaps, powering out and clubbing Balor before hitting a release German Suplex. Kross squishes Balor again then lands the Forearm Smash on the back of the head for 3.

Biiiit of a weak finish I think, considering the array of attacks Kross had there could’ve been more to finish off Balor, but I’m not mad at Kross getting the title back, there’s clearly plans to make him dominant and we’ll see what challenges await.

Franky Monet Teaser and Santos Escobar Interview Another Franky teaser with the dog running around the gym now, bit excessive to go 2 straight days. Santos was interviewed on his victory and to his credit he does put Devlin over regarding his resilience while crowning himself the ‘Emperor of Lucha Libre’, can someone send for El Rey?

New NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez was also in the crowd with her gold as we did more recapping of Night 1

Unsanctioned Match - Kyle O’Reilly def. Adam Cole (Pinfall via Knee Drop) Anticipated throughout with shots of both men surrounded by security leads up to the main event - touted to have been put on last because ‘we don’t know if we’ll still have an arena’. Security separates the men in the ring too, not much peacocking just staredowns, it’s all business and mind games, Adam Cole making sure to do ‘Adam Cole BayBay’ in O’Reilly’s face.

The bell rings but no man makes a move, a calm before the storm as they explode at each other, O’Reilly with running corner boots, Cole with a Pump Kick, O’Reilly with the tope and the Armbar, Cole with the stomps and Barricade throws, O’Reilly launchpad into the barricades and then the chair comes out. Kicks on the seated Cole and a body press leads to Cole rolling back to the ring, O’Reilly locks in a corner guillotine but Cole throws him off the apron in a nasty looking bump that sells O’Reilly’s injured neck. A UE-painted Chair is used for damage as Cole lays into O’Reilly, also shoving O’Reilly into a production tower before returning to the ring, Cole uses the point of another Chair on his neck as he maintained control, O’Reilly gets a submission but Cole drops him with a neckbreaker, mocking O’Reilly as he tells his former friend ‘I made you’. This sets off O’Reilly though, fighting through all Cole’s strikes to counter with knees and clubs, the submission mind comes into play with a leg-first drop onto a chair and then a kneebar, an apron stomp onto a seated Cole took both men out. Back in the ring Cole raises a chair but O’Reilly kicks the gut and then punches the chair so the lid hits Cole, he goes to get a chain from under the ring but gets hit with a twisting neckbreaker on his way back. Cole tries to rake the chain on O’Reilly but he fights back and kicks Cole with a chain-wrapped leg, Cole then wrenches in a Figure Four which rolls back and forth. Cole then floors O’Reilly by using the chain to clothesline him on the rebound, then a chain assisted backstabber for 2. Cole sets up a triangle of two chairs but doesn’t get to use the points, he Germans and O’Reilly sits on one chair that sets up a Shining Wizard for 2 again. Cole then goes for the steps, O’Reilly lands on his feet and hits a Guillotine, he releases to knee Cole down, he was going to flatten Cole but hesitates and gets driven into the barricade. The fight moves on top of the Announcer’s table but it does not give for O’Reilly’s brainbuster but Cole wastes O’Reilly with a TV Monitor, a toolbox introduces pliers, tire iron, bolt cutters and another chain. The pliers and tire iron are blocked and O’Reilly hits the Dean Ambrose-style rebound clothesline.  After a brainbuster for 2, O’Reilly uses a chain assisted armbreaker, then a chain assisted triangle but Cole grabs the tire iron to break the hold. Both men set up a chair to face one another and trade shots, O’Reilly hits harder but Cole hits the low blow. Superkick hits for 2, so Pillmanizing Con-Chair-To is attempted next, the Official disagrees and gets KO’d, Panama Sunrise would get the 3 but the Ref is now out, some pretty stiff hits from Cole on the guy actually easy does it. The fight moves to the ramp as Cole throws a chair at O’Reilly and throws him into the barricade, O’Reilly jumps for the Guillotine but gets thrown into the Barricade again, another Guillotine on the ramp sends both men through the middle of the ramp but Cole is the one who rolls out, kicking out the side of the ramp to pull O’Reilly out. The Ref has returned to life as Cole brainbusters O’Reilly on the steel steps but it hits 2 (bit of a quick 2 I admit), he goes for the last shot but O’Reilly collapses, he tries again but O’Reilly dodges, heel hook, Cole tries to stomp but then both legs get hooked, Cole wraps the chain around his hand and socks O’Reilly to break the hold. Cole looks for the Panama Sunrise again but is caught, neckbreaker, pele kick then a Last Shot of his own for O’Reilly: 1, 2, No! O’Reilly sets up the chain and wraps Cole’s leg in a chair, but Cole then hits O’Reilly with the chair and sets the unfolded chair legs up ready to drive O’Reilly into it, his trash talking though is responded with a low blow, wraps the chain around his leg as Cole lies on the chair, knee drop and that’s 3.

Welts surrounds O’Reilly’s body as Cole is stretchered out, O’Reilly slowly walks away from his fallen friend with some glances back and raises his hand to close the night. A definite main event caliber match to finish off a feud, O’Reilly really steps out of Cole’s shadow in this match as we found newer unique spots with a chain and the ramp itself. The post-match felt like O’Reilly wasn’t sure when his cue was but we can allow it what with the war he went through

Conclusion Overall it was another solid night, I think both nights were pretty on par with each other really. I think I’m only really miffed a little by the NA title scene and a few abrupt endings in Night 1 but Night 2 never overstayed its welcome, it was perhaps a little more predictable but NXT has never shied away from telling you who the ‘right person’ to win is in its builds. What’s next for NXT is Tuesday Nights but what’s next for WWE is Wrestlemania, the Black and Gold has set the bar, can the flailing Main Roster rise to it though?

[spinnerprincess]

so i’m catching up on doctor who, after ditching the show at the end of s7 because i just couldn’t stand moffat’s bullshit anymore

i return to it with no less patience for his bullshit, but caring less makes me less angry about it, which is nice

and so, here is my doctor who series 8 review. 

rating: 💜💜💜🖤🖤

I like clara and I like capaldi’s doctor and I hate most of the writing

the last four episodes are marginally better and just barely managed to drag the rating up to 3/5 instead of 2/5

here are some episode reviews if you care or if you just like hearing me complain (it is mostly complaining so don’t bother reading if that’s going to bother you) (no seriously don’t)

they are minorly spoilery but mostly just vague

episode 1: deep breath 

rating: 💜💜🖤🖤🖤 

the restaurant scene was the best part and the only scene really worth a shoutout. well built up to, suspense was grand. everything else was bland or confusing.

capaldi’s a fun doctor. clara is a good companion. the veil scene with clara and vastra was okay. the boyfriend thing was a little tiring since that whole gimmick always seems to have been based off moffat’s perception of all women finding the doctor attractive on some level, but sure. 

jenny and vastra continue to be delightful half the time and treated as if power imbalance in a relationship is a mere quirk and not serious concern the other half of the time (bonus points for this treatment in a wlw relationship). strax’s quirks have long worn thin. 

i already hate how “crazy” missy is. took two seconds. nice. 

episode 2: into the dalek

rating: 💜💜💜🖤🖤

very entertaining premise. execution was acceptable. the twist at the ending does a good job of setting up for the doctor’s personal struggle of the season. however, I find that personal struggle very boring. lots of creativity was put into the structure of the dalek, very fun. 

cold open was very confusing. 

also already getting the impression that this series is going to gloss over the very real problems veterans have. when will people learn you can want to improve life for veterans while condemning the battles that forged them. 

might recommend.

episode 3: robot of sherwood

rating: 💜💜🖤🖤🖤

clara looked fantastic in that dress. the doctor’s pissing contest with robin hood was hilarious. the arrow shooting at the end was adorable.

entertaining, boppy. no real negatives, but no real positives either. kind of a snoozefest.

episode 4: listen

rating: 💜🖤🖤🖤🖤

an episode that might otherwise have been a promising 2/5 or maybe even 3/5 receives 1/5 for the last few minutes alone. 

as usual, moffat likes to break rules like “we can’t go to gallifrey’s history anymore it’s timelocked” on a whim, and by on a whim, I mean, because if he goes to gallifrey’s distant past, he can make it so his characters are somehow the most important people of all time, because they teach the doctor important life-long lessons, isn’t clara amazing, wow, the companion who knows the doctor the most, the one who told him not to fear monsters under the bed. 

it’s the smuggest bullshit i’ve ever seen and i’m so fucking done with this man’s insistence on his characters being the most important to the doctor. he consistently shows no respect to the companions and people that have come before his and it’s infinitely frustrating.

also the entire premise was apparently “the doctor is afraid of the dark” which is just an exhausting reveal for all the drama it puts us through to get there. especially since all the elements of horror are 100% recycled moffat bullshit: corner of your eye (cracks in time), monster under the bed (girl in the fireplace), don’t look at it (blink in reverse), like... so, so painfully rehashed

the date with danny itself was kind of cute but clara’s interactions with orson and rupert pink were awkward at best.

skip it. save yourself

episode 5: time heist

rating: 💜💜💜🖤🖤

honestly with personal bias this one should be a 4/5, but again, that’s personal bias. I mean, come on. space bank heist. what’s not to love. i’m a sucker for a good ocean’s eleven.

good scary moments, good puzzles, interesting characters, fun times.

the architect reveal was obvious but it was a funny reveal the way they did it so who cares. the reason for the heist was a little cliche too but still very good. nothing outstanding, but good job.

would recommend. 

episode 6: the caretaker

rating: 💜💜🖤🖤🖤

I liked courtney. good kid.

the doctor was very in character and vain with the whole adrian thing but there was imo a slightly racist undertone of him presuming clara’s boyfriend was adrian, who looks like matt smith, over danny, a black dude, that made the whole thing kind of uncomfortable. 

the fact that disdain for pe teachers is never questioned was annoying too. even if i personally think so, it’s really irritating to see math elevated as somehow better than pe, inherently.

i spent most of this episode mildly annoyed. i do like clara though.

episode 7: kill the moon

rating: 💜💜🖤🖤🖤

an otherwise enjoyable episode, this one is brought down by the fact that all the main players towards the end are women, and as usual with moffat’s era, the doctor never seems to respect or listen to them when it really counts. 

this used to be a show I loved because the doctor picked up ordinary women and showed them extraordinary things, and more importantly, showed them that they could be extraordinary too. now it’s a show about extraordinary women trying to live ordinary lives while a man shows them extraordinary things but insists on treating them like mundane, ordinary beings. 

I really hope chibnall doesn’t continue this trend.

i suspect we’re meant to empathize with clara at the end, but disagree with her, but like honestly, tell him the fuck off clara. I mean, he won’t learn from it, because moffat’s doctor never does, but tell him the fuck off anyway.

episode 8: mummy on the orient express

rating: 💜💜💜🖤🖤

pretty good. brought down, as usual, by the doctor’s personal struggle of the season, but pretty good. 

great build-up, good suspense, fun mystery. good atmosphere. unsatisfying to have no answers about the perpetrator. zero memorable characters, which is the biggest reason it rang dull, imo. 

clara wears the flapper look extremely well. it’s pretty sad when clara’s outfit is a highlight of an episode, though.

might recommend.

episode 9: flatline

rating: 💜💜💜💜🖤

I enjoyed an episode of doctor who!!!!!! will wonders never cease!!

the only bad part of this episode was the last minute or two where they touched upon the doctor’s "am I a good man” pity festival and gave us another glimpse at missy. 

everything else: fantastic. moral struggles! intense and frightening scenes! fascinating new ideas! neat special effects! the most thrilling new doctor who enemy I’ve seen in ages! clara being absolutely outstanding - moreover, finding out that she is outstanding! fantastic solution at the end! memorable characters who I rooted for!

that was a thrill from start to finish and the first time all season I’ve really, actually, truly remembered why I used to love the show. 

would recommend for sure!!

episode 10: in the forest of the night

rating: 💜💜💜🖤🖤

pretty touching, and actually hit most of the emotional beats it was aiming for! that surprised me.

loved the concept behind the trees. appreciated maebh’s story for the most part. cute to have the kids from the school interacting with the doctor.

still not sure what the point of danny is? I like him and he and clara have their sweet moments but it’s hard not to feel like every writer writes him differently, and like him saying “I don’t care what the truth is I just don’t want to be lied to” rings false because every time she has told him the truth it’s been a problem.

also: so exhausted by the idea that danny, as clara’s boyfriend, has any say over how clara’s allowed to spend her time, or who she chooses to spend it with. 

that’s not danny’s fault I don’t think he’s intended to be read as controlling I think the writers are misogynistic little shits.

episode 11: dark water

rating: 💜💜💜🖤🖤

I went into this one preparing to loathe it and as it turns out I was mostly wrong!

this would have been 4/5, except that only since missy’s a girl they have the gall to make her relationship with the doctor tread on explicitly romantic territory? uh-huh. seriously that kiss scene was awful and moffat’s “surprise kisses where one participant is extremely uncomfortable” strikes again. 

let the doctor kiss men, you fucking cowards.

but... masterful plan, pardon the bad joke. saw the twist when they went into the elevator, of course, and internally screamed. can’t believe I recognized the stinger, but I did. very well done, very well set up, very emotional. 

seriously if it weren’t for the fact that missy and her “romance” and her “craziness” represents everything I fucking despise about doctor who’s recent treatment of women, I’d say this was a damn good episode. what a shame.

episode 12: death in heaven 

rating: 💜💜💜🖤🖤

it was good but a large part of the reason I feel so good after watching it is just the fact that I probably won’t have to deal with so much irritating “blah blah soldiers suck” drivel and the whole “am I a good man?” pity fest from the doctor if I watch s9.

another large good part is the shoutout at the end to lethbridge-stewart, that was sorely needed tbh. about time. 

missy was well acted, but I’m still so fed up with the boring het treatment of it all. hey quick questions: why would time lords give a fuck about gender roles or gender orientation as more than weird, antiquated quirks? for that matter why do they even acknowledge the existence of a gender binary half the time? i’ll never know.

good choices include the plot and its resolution. laughing forever at doctor who’s insistence on upgrading their villains to make them somehow scarier all the time, but at least they had a plot reason for it too. also, clara’s bit about feeling special. that’s something I’ve thought was missing from doctor who for a long time, and to see it in a form I can almost believe was a breath of fresh air.

boring choices include setting up as if this episode is going to be all about clara being a total badass, only for it to last all of three seconds. which isn’t to say that clara wasn’t or isn’t a badass so much as, “boy do I love watching an episode where she spends nearly all of it upset and having no lines though.” hint: I do not.

mediocre choices include the characters chosen to be killed off. not like I expected better, of course. please, if you’re listening, let bill come out of her adventures with the doctor alright. people who don’t fit in moffat’s box of tricks so rarely do. 

i’ll watch the christmas special some other time. i sense another bad one coming on. 

s8 sucked but I liked some parts of it! wonder how s9 is.

[mywaay]

what if nancy died when the bears attacked after you cheated during that card game?

Send me “What if” + a prompt and I’ll write a drabble based off of it

(I’m gonna take a quick liberty and say this is after she rescues him from the show)

Buster Moon burst into the hospital with the show cast in tow; it must’ve looked funny, that animals that were just on tv and were still in their show outfits to show up like this, but they were more worried about their missing crew member, Mike, who had disappeared a few hours ago.

Moon had received a call while he was congratulating his cast that Mike had gotten into a car accident and was severely hurt. He gathered everyone up and they rushed over as fast as they could.

“Where’s Mike?” Buster frantically asked the woman at the front desk.

“Mister Moon, come in, he was brought in a half an hour ago, he’s stabilized, but we can’t say the same for his-”

“Let go of me! Let me through!”

A raspy and desperate voice came from behind the door, Moon immediately recognized it and told the rest of the crew to stay behind. Pushing the door open, Moon saw Mike trying to climb over two other doctors, looking like he was trying to reach the room across the hall.

“Please! Please I need to see her! I have to talk to her!”

“Mike!” Buster rushed over, placing his hands in front of Mike to stop him. “What’s going on, what happened?”

“Moon! Thank god! Nancy and I were attacked and these assholes won’t let me see her!” Mike yelled as the sound of a flatline came from the other room. “Please! I have to tell her I’m sorry! I have to tell her I love her!”

[allthevmff]

Scoobies in Neptune

by lateVMlover

I began writing fanfiction in 2010 due to my obsession with Veronica Mars fanfiction. Many of you may not know that the VM in my handle stands for that show. Although it's not even my top ten favorite show, I LOVED the characters that Rob Thomas created, so I spent years writing several stories only for Veronica Mars. In fact, I've written 1,259,643 words that were solely about Veronica Mars. Then I grew bored and now almost exclusively write Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossovers. However, I've had this idea for a story percolating in the back of mind for a few years now. I've finally put it down on paper.

This story is set after BTVS season 4 and Veronica Mars season 3. It's beginning in the summer after Veronica has left for her summer internship with the FBI. I've altered some key things in the Buffyverse. Faith didn't go evil in season 3, but instead was killed long enough to activate a new slayer. Kennedy is called in her place and makes Sunnydale so unbearable that the gang decides to move away. Neptune is not too far, and Buffy, Willow, and Tara transfer to Hearst while Giles and Faith are guarding the hellmouth in Ohio. Season 4 of BTVS had some serious deviations as Spike isn't a part of the story, and Riley and Buffy were never a couple. This story will not be as plot driven as previous stories. I'm focusing more on the two worlds being thrown together and new connections, friendships, and loves developing.

Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own either Veronica Mars or BTVS.

I will be moving this story to the crossover page after a bit. It's just been so long since I've written anything for VM that I thought I'd start with it here first. If you are unfamiliar with BTVS this story might not be for you. However, if you know the characters from the show, you should have no trouble following it as it's set entirely in Rob Thomas' Neptune world.

Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

*****Neptune*****

Buffy looked at the small house her mom had bought in Neptune in satisfaction. The one-story dwelling was so much easier to unpack than their other place had been four years ago. The square footage wasn't that different from their old home in Sunnydale, but she did have a bit more space in her room. The third bedroom, however, was on the small size. Happily, they each had their own bathroom, so Buffy had no reason to complain. The large formal dining room that their Sunnydale home had boasted was absent from this house, but it had a large kitchen that their table could fit into as long as they kept the extension out of it. Of course, the main thing the house had was a large basement that she could use to keep up her training.

Her phone rang. "Hey, Will. Are you and Tara unpacked?" she asked. "I'm finally done."

"Not even close," Willow said. "Tara and I found this amazing coffee house by campus called Java Hut, so we're totally distracted. Things are so bright and shiny here, Buffy, so we're not sure what to do."

Buffy laughed. "I know what you mean. Just being away from the hellmouth makes me feel warm and happy," she said.

"Exactly!" Willow agreed. "The reason I called was to tell you that Xander called and said that he got called in for the interview for the maintenance team at Hearst. It's in five days."

"That's great!" Buffy said. "I can't imagine not having our Xander-shaped friend around. What about Anya?"

"Anya doesn't want to leave the hellmouth or her job. Giles made her a partner in the Magic Box before he and Faith left for Ohio," Willow said.

"Doesn't she know she will have to deal with Kennedy if she sticks around?" Buffy asked.

"Well, you know Anya. She'll just tell Kennedy exactly how she feels in that special manner of hers," Willow said in amusement. "Xander did say she threatened to get a vengeance demon friend of hers to hex Kennedy if she tried ordering her around again."

When Kennedy's bullying ways had made Tara cry a month before, a big fight had broken out. Buffy had already planned to relocate shortly after Faith had died and been brought back, thus activating Kennedy the Bitch.

"We can all learn from Anya," Buffy said. Of course, Buffy was action girl. Actions speak louder, and her leaving town said all she needed to say.

"So are we going to the beach this evening?" Willow asked.

"Most definitely," Buffy said. She said goodbye after planning where to meet up and then decided to go shopping for a new swimsuit.

She took a leisure stroll and thought about all the changes that had occurred the past year. After her second month in Sunnydale, Faith had been nearly drained by Mr. Trick. Buffy had thrown Faith over her shoulder and rushed to the hospital, but Faith had flatlined almost immediately. Luckily, they managed to revive and transfuse her. At her mother's instance, Faith had spent a week recovering at their house. The experience had bonded the two slayers like nothing had before. Because Giles had allowed Faith to stay in his spare room, Buffy had been really jealous of Faith. An only child, sharing didn't come easy to Buffy.

However, Kennedy, the new sixteen-year old slayer, coming to town had united the two slayers even more. She was such a stuck-up bitch that the two older slayers just could not work with her. Luckily, Kennedy showed up after graduation and their defeat of the Mayor. For the first time ever, there were three active slayers. Faith and Kennedy had come to blows three times before Giles and Wesley decided that the three of them needed to be spread out across the country. Buffy asked to be allowed to ease out of slaying if Kennedy survived her first year on the hellmouth, so Wesley and Giles had flipped a coin to see who'd get Faith.

Faith and Giles left right after Christmas at the beginning of the new year. That meant that Faith stayed in Sunnydale long enough to seduce Buffy's psychology TA, Riley, and found out he was hiding a very big secret. The military was playing on the hellmouth, and she and Buffy knew it was not a good thing. When Faith discovered they'd chipped a newly returned to town Spike, she'd been pissed—equating it with tying up a dog and leaving it to starve to death. She was going to put him out of his misery and stake him, but Buffy decided sending him to Los Angeles for Angel to deal with was a better option.

A new town was definitely the right way to go for her and her friends.

She was hoping that the new location would work some magic on her love life because Buffy was tired of being single. She'd had the one-night stand with Parker the previous fall and that was it. The very yummy Graham had asked her out, but after discovering his entire fraternity was a front, she couldn't trust him. Now she was ready to have fun or something real. Without the burden of the hellmouth weighing her down, she was free to be a normal college student.

Her mother had decided to leave the dangers of the hellmouth and move to Neptune with Buffy. Willow had been the one to mention Hearst to Buffy. The small liberal arts college was only an hour from Sunnydale, so Buffy could easily get there if Kennedy needed a hand. Willow and Tara had been very eager to leave with Buffy, joining her at Hearst.

Giles won Faith in the coin toss and moved to Ohio with her at the beginning of the year. Although Kennedy had arrived in town with her own Watcher, the woman had been too sensitive to the dark forces radiating from the hellmouth and had asked to be relocated. Her abandonment had worked to make Kennedy even more difficult. Faith, though, was loving being back in a state with real winter as the Boston native really loved the snow Ohio had.

Buffy missed Giles a lot. Although Wesley was better as a Watcher in his second year, she hated that Giles was so far away. Talking on the phone was not the same thing. She and her friends did go to Ohio for Spring Break, though. The hellmouth was much tamer than Sunnydale, but they slayed a few vamps while patrolling with Faith.

She found a shop that looked promising and went in. Neptune had outlet shops scattered around town. The ones close to campus, though, seemed to cater to girls Buffy's age. Luckily, her new house was only five miles from campus. For Buffy, it was merely a nice walk.

"Oh, this is cute!" she said as she grabbed a summer dress. She saw three more and went and tried them on. Her dad allowed her to use her emergency credit card for school clothes, so she didn't feel guilty when she decided to buy all four of them.

Then she went to the swimsuits. A murmuring voice caught her attention, and she looked up. A girl around her age and height was looking at swimsuits with a mulish expression on her face. The attractive brunette had blue tipped hair, which intrigued Buffy as no one back home put colors like that in her hair.

"I don't know why she expects me to waste my hard-earned money on stupid crap," the girl mumbled to herself.

"I take it you don't love clothes shopping?" Buffy asked, giving her a friendly smile.

"I'd rather have a root canal," the girl replied.

"I love shopping," Buffy said.

The girl looked Buffy over and smirked. "You would love shopping," she said.

"I'm taking that as a compliment even though I feel like you didn't mean it as one," Buffy said.

"Sorry," the girl said. "It's just you're wearing one of those cool summer outfits that makes a woman look sexy without effort. Your blonde and beautiful with the long, flowing hair. Are you an 09er?"

Buffy laughed, never having had someone call her beautiful as an insult before. "I don't think so. I'm Buffy. Buffy Summers. I just moved to town," Buffy said.

"Buffy?" the girl said with a smile. "Well, I think you'll fit right in with the 09ers. I'm Cindy Makenzie, but people call me Mac."

"Nice to meet you, Mac," Buffy said. "Do you attend Hearst?"

"I do," Mac said. "Computer science major."

"Oh, my best friend Willow is a computer whiz, too," Buffy said with a bright smile. "She's going to be going to Hearst, too. You might have her in some classes."

"Another girl in the computer science program?" Mac asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yep. If you're not doing anything later, we're going to the beach behind the campus dorms," Buffy said. "I can introduce you to her and her girlfriend Tara. They are both taking a summer class, so they got into the dorms early."

"Well, I'm leaving in the morning for my family's summer vacation," Mac said. "But I can drop by and meet your friends."

"Oh, so you're buying a new suit for the trip? That's nice. Mine's like two years old," Buffy said. "But in my old town, I seemed to go from one crisis to another and no real beach time."

Mac had to revise her initial impression of the blonde Barbie with the ridiculous name as she was way too friendly to be an 09er. Openly admitting to struggles was also not an 09er trait.

"Where's home?" Mac inquired.

"Well, I was born and raised in Los Angeles, but when my parents split up almost five years ago, I moved to Sunnydale. It's about the size of Neptune but an hour from here," Buffy explained.

"The town with the weird outbreak of laryngitis?" Mac asked, intrigued.

Buffy was surprised she knew that. "Oh, well, yes. The town had a few weird and bad elements," she said.

"I'm not sure Neptune is an improvement," Mac warned. "The 09ers rule it, and there's oodles of corruption."

As no one could ever be more corrupt than the former Mayor of Sunnydale, who turned into a giant snake and ate students at Buffy's high school graduation, she wasn't worried. Of course, she said nothing about that. "What are 09ers?" Buffy asked, frowning. Mac kept saying it like Buffy should know, and she was starting to feel stupid.

"Neptune has two zip codes, 09 and 02. 09 is where the uber wealthy live like the Kanes," she said.

"I take it you're an 02er?" Buffy asked with a grin since she found this zip code division more than a bit silly.

"Yep. Class warfare is very real in this town," Mac said.

"I can't believe it's big enough for two zip codes," Buffy said. "Sunnydale has a USC campus and still only had one zip code."

"That's probably because it wasn't full of elitist snobs that got the city to alter the town charter and give a few neighborhoods their own zip code," Mac said.

"Well, we had a real gang problem in Sunnydale," Buffy said.

"We have that here, but they're not the worst thing," Mac said.

Buffy now had to wonder if Giles was right about Neptune not being hellmouthy. Then again, Los Angeles had no hellmouth, but it had a combination of evil people and dark elements.

The girls finally stopped gossiping and tried on some bathing suits. Buffy decided on a two piece and one cute piece while Mac got a dark blue on piece, not much different than her old black one piece. She refused a red one that Buffy tried to talk her in to buying. Her reluctance reminded Buffy a lot of Willow, so Buffy was quick to like the girl with blue-tipped hair.

Buffy paid for her purchases, and Mac gave Buffy her cell phone number. Mac couldn't believe she didn't have a cell phone.

"Me and technology are unmixy things," Buffy said with a careless shrug. "Willow and Xander, my other best friend, have them, though. If I'm not home, I'm with them normally." Cell phones were superfluous in her line of work. Of course, fighting would be hell on one. Now that she was not really slaying, though, maybe she should get one.

At her confession, Mac gave her a look of horror. "You're a luddite?" she asked.

"Since I know what that word means, no," Buffy said, grinning. "Willow called Giles, our librarian, that once as he called her computer that infernal machine. I can use the computer if I have to, but Will's so much better at it."

"So why bother?" Mac asked in bemusement.

"I'm action girl. I'd rather be running or sparring or fencing," Buffy said.

"You're a jock?" Mac asked in surprise, forced again to reevaluate Buffy.

"I guess you could say that," Buffy said. "But I'm not really into team sports. I did do cheerleading in middle school and ninth grade, but I got bored with it. The cheerleaders at Sunnydale took it way too seriously," she said, thinking of Amy and her mom.

"Hearst does have a track team and a fencing club you might check out," Mac said.

"Okay, I might," Buffy said. Not having monsters to slay was going to leave her with way too much energy. "I'm not really interested in competing, though. I just like things that are physical because I have way too much energy."

Mac grinned, deciding that she liked the girl with the totally airhead name. Clearly, she was no airhead. She might resemble another pixie blonde Mac knew, but Veronica channeled her boundless energy into doing a dozen tasks in twenty-four hours rather than exercise.

"I better head home and prove to my mom that I did buy a new swimsuit," Mac said with a sigh.

"See you later, I hope," Buffy as she walked out the door with Mac.

Mac assumed the woman would head to a car, so she walked toward her own. However, as she pulled out to the road, she noticed Buffy hoofing it, carrying her two bags. Frowning, Mac pointed her green beetle toward Buffy, pulling up alongside her. She rolled down her window and called out, "Buffy, do you need a ride?" she asked.

"Oh, no. I don't live far," Buffy said with an easy smile.

"What's your address?" Mac asked.

When Buffy rattled it off, Mac looked aghast. "That's five miles! You can't walk that far! Get in, and I'll give you a ride," she said.

"It's really no big deal," Buffy said, amused at Mac's look of horror.

"I insist," Mac said firmly. Buffy shrugged and got in the car.

"Well, thanks," she said. "I walked everywhere back home."

"Your friends don't drive?" Mack asked.

"Yes, Willow and Xander have cars," she said. "Sometimes, they'd pick me up. Mom dropped me off for high school, but I always walked home. Then I lived on campus my year at USC Sunnydale. I don't even notice the walking anymore." Five miles was nothing for a slayer.

"You don't have a license?" Mac asked.

"Nope," she said. "Mom says I'm too terrifying behind the wheel and refused to teach me after I dented her car that one time."

"They have professionals that can teach you, you know," Mac said.

"Yea, one day I suppose I'll get one of those," Buffy said with a grin.

Mac laughed and shook her head. "Maybe, this summer I can show you how to drive," she found herself offering. Normally, she'd never make an offer like that to a stranger. But the idea of a woman not being completely independent bothered her.

"My friends will tell you no to that," Buffy said. "Xander and Giles both tried. Giles has taught me lots of things, but he said that the world was safer if I stayed a pedestrian." Of course, she knew it had more to do with her slayer reflexes than anything else.

Mac pulled into Buffy's driveway and looked at the modest sized home—definitely not an 09er. "I just live three blocks from here—well, my parents do. I'm home for the summer but dorming it in the fall," she shared. "I can't believe you walked so far."

"I told you I have lots of energy. It didn't seem that far," Buffy said. I don't get tired like normal people."

"I so can't relate," Mac said dryly.

Buffy laughed. "It looks like my mom is home. Do you want to come in and meet her?" Buffy offered.

"Next time," Mac said. "If I'm going to have time to meet up with you and your friends later. I need to get home."

"Okay," Buffy said. "Thanks a bunch."

She got out of the car, waving to Mac.

Mac grove away, surprised that she made a friend so easily. It took her almost three years to make two friends in high school.

Of course, Mac had no idea how gifted Buffy was at seeing the best in a person and bringing it out for others to see.

As for Buffy, she skipped inside and happily shared with her mom all the details of her encounter with Mac and modeled each outfit.

Joyce happily listened and watched the small fashion show, so happy to see her daughter this way. It'd been years since she had seen Buffy so carefree and excited to be alive. The burdens of being a slayer were gone, and she was free to be young. For the first time in years, she was free to enjoy life to the fullest.

Joyce knew that moving to Neptune with Buffy was the right decision. Life was short, and Joyce didn't want to miss a moment with Buffy. She'd come too closing to losing her daughter too many times.

"I think this move was a good decision," she said to Buffy.

"Absolutely!" Buffy agreed. "A fresh start for all of us."

Buffy believed Neptune would finally be the home Sunnydale never was.

*****Chapter End*****

So what's your thoughts? Veronica will be in this story, but not until the summer is over. I hope you won't miss her too much, but when she returns, there will be fireworks. Reviews are the best. Thanks!

via FanFiction.Net: Veronica Mars, Last Updated http://bit.ly/2IkqBG0 April 8, 2019 at 03:02AM