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rikumorimachisgirl · 4 years ago

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Title: Eyes on you

Pairing: Shaw x You

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 2,901

A/N: You (Y/N) are not the MC in MLQC. This is a plunny that's been bugging me for quite a while, I had to write it. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own MLQC or its characters, but I do own the concept of this fic.

There were a few mysteries in this world that the esteemed Archeology Graduate Professors at Loveland University can't explain - for instance, the formation of the Stonehenge, the exact location of the lost city of Atlantis, the origin of the Nazca lines… and your presence at the Metro Art Gala dressed to the nines, positively gleaming as you strode arm in arm with your classmate and Thesis partner Shaw, who seemed like the perfect gentleman that evening. Thanks to your work at the Loveland Museum, you scored two invites to the gala featuring the recently discovered works of a well-known artist - an event any Archeology fanatic wouldn't let pass. The two of you walked along with LFG's Exhibition Hall, pausing occasionally to admire one of the recently discovered sculptures by the Renaissance artist D'Romani. As you both looked at the intricacies of the artwork in front of you, your charming companion would lean in slightly and whisper something in your ear, causing you to roll your eyes or stifle a giggle.

To the guests in the prestigious gala, the two of you looked like two young people at the cusp of falling in love, but the members of the Faculty of the Graduate School of Archeology saw it differently - this was a real-life mystery if they'd seen one.

As your eyes swiftly swept through the entire room, you could see that your professors only had one question in mind - how'd this happen? How did two people as different as day and night, who argued with each other throughout Graduate studies, end up amiably enjoying each other's company tonight?

You drew a sharp breath and sighed. The answer was simple: Your Thesis defense was right around the corner. You needed him to cooperate, you were willing to go to great lengths to make it happen. And your Thesis partner (unfortunately) was ready to take full advantage of the situation.

***

"Tell me why we're doing this again, " you said through the door that separated you and your date, as you were putting on the dress you bought (or invested on, as he casually stated) for tonight's gala, which he insisted on attending with you. It was six in the evening on a Friday, and you had just arrived home after cramming your workload at the Loveland Museum and foregoing your meal breaks just so you could leave work at exactly five-thirty.

"I already told you a couple of times - you want me to cooperate with you so you can pass our Thesis, and I need a reason to be around her," the purple-haired man waiting at the other side of your bedroom door called out nonchalantly. "You can drop your fantasy about me asking you out because I'm attracted to you."

You hissed silently at his snarky remark and counted to ten. You haven't even left your apartment yet you already wanted this night to be over. "How do you even know she's gonna be there?"

She - the Miracle Finder Producer, the object of your Thesis Partner's fantasies, and as fate would have it, his brother's girlfriend.

"They're doing a show featuring our Thesis adviser. Didn't he tell us about it during our last consultation?" He asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I wasn't listening," you shot back, as you took off your ponytail and started styling your hair with your curling iron. You chose a one-shoulder fitted black dress that stops right above your knees, so you thought of wearing your hair down for a change.

"Ah, yes. You were too busy looking at your notes, trying to prove me wrong as always."

You closed your eyes, as you continued to make big beach waves and prayed to the gods you wouldn't commit murder tonight.

"How much longer are you gonna take?"

"Excited much?" You asked, smirking while you now removed your glasses and put on your contacts. "You sound like a teenager excited to see his crush in a school fair!"

"Don't compare me to you!"

"I don't have designs on anyone in the party," you called back. "Unless your brother's attending the event, that is. From what you've been telling me, he seems like a great guy."

Silence. You arched an eyebrow as you strained your ear to listen for any sign of life outside your bedroom door. What must your grunge-rock skater boy-turned-date-for-the-evening be thinking?

"Do you want to pass our Thesis or not?"

You struck a victory pose at his remark. Finally, one point - you, Shaw - about twenty.

"Are you done yet? This suit is really uncomfortable. Damn, why do people even wear these?"

"Because they're decent?" You shot back. "You know, you can always go home if you're not comfortable in your attire because when we get there, you need to act decent, too. Can't have your usual swagger in a formal affair."

"Just hurry it up already!"

You rolled your eyes as you applied your nude-colored lipstick to finish off your look before putting on your black stilettos, and stuffing your phone, wallet, and your makeup in your purse.

"All done," you replied, as you finally emerged from your room.

***

A part of you wished that the dynamics between you and Shaw were different. While he was a pain in the neck, and too carefree for his own good, you also thought he made for a good intellectual sparring partner, quite attractive, and it was hard to deny that he's got your heart beating double-time whenever he got too close for comfort like he was at that very moment.

"My, you two kids seem to be having fun tonight."

You gasped, at the sound of the voice behind you, and you felt your date nudge you ever-so-subtly while straightening.

"Hey, Professor Adler," he said in his usual unruffled tone, his lips stretched into a smirk as he held his hand out to your Anthropology professor and Thesis adviser, who watched you both amusedly. His gesture made your eyes shot wide open, you thought they'd fall right off. Shaw shaking someone's hand? That's one for the books.

"Shaw. Fancy seeing you here," the stout middle-aged man greeted while shaking your date's hand. "This isn't your usual scene though."

"Yeah, I know, but I can't exactly turn a pretty lady down, can I?"

"I can see that," your professor said as he looked at you appraisingly. "Well, well, you clean up well, Miss (y/n)."

You fought the urge to squirm at the older man's words when you heard your date cluck his cheeks with his tongue and suddenly felt his arm around your shoulders, pressing you protectively close to his side.

***

"All done!" You happily announced as you stepped into the living room of your small apartment where your date was impatiently waiting for you.

You could've sworn he was stunned for a second or two before he shook his head and tried to regain his usual impassive expression. Finally, he stood and walked closer to assess you better.

"You're not wearing your glasses. I thought you said you're practically blind without them?"

You cocked your head to one side. Out of all the things he could've complimented or called out, that's the first thing he noticed?

"Wouldn't it look awkward if I wore glasses to a formal event?"

"Your hair is all curly," he continued as if you didn't say anything. "And your shoes are so tall, won't you trip? Also, surely you have a jacket to go with that dress, right?"

You stared at him in disbelief. Why did this carefree, bass-playing skater boy turn into your dad all of a sudden?

"Uh…"

"Well, at least you're not wearing red lipstick. You don't have to try too hard to look sexy. Geez! I've got plans of my own this evening, so don't expect me to be your bodyguard," he continued to mumble as he circled around you. Before long, you felt something warm and heavy on your shoulder. His coat?

"It's just until we get to the venue," he shrugged as he led you to the car he borrowed for tonight. "I don't want people seeing you freeze to death."

You sighed, your shoulders slumped as you followed your date to the car. You already expected he wouldn't throw you a compliment for looking like a proper human tonight, and you cursed yourself for feeling gutted over it anyway.

***

"So, which one of these sculptures did you like best, Professor?" You sighed in relief as Shaw changed the subject, his arm still wrapped around you, making you blush furiously.

"Oh, I have to say I liked Eros and Psyche best. In case you haven't seen it yet, it's located a little further down the hall near the bar area," the older man was starting to explain when someone tapped his shoulder from behind.

"Excuse me, Professor Adler," a gentle voice called out, making both the professor and Shaw jump. From behind the old man, a pretty petite with brown hair and big brown eyes, and the biggest smile on her face stepped up. "My name is MC from Miracle Finder."

Almost immediately, Shaw withdrew his arm around you, almost causing you to stagger backward. He straightened up and feigned disinterest.

"Hey. It's a little rude how you stepped in while I was talking to the Professor," he said, his tone teasing.

"Oh, I didn't notice you here. Do you mind if I talk to your Professor? We've invited him for an interview about the exhibit," the girl said sweetly.

Based on how unconsciously coy she acted around Shaw, and the way he kept egging her, there was no doubt that this was the girl he was crushing on. You felt like the odd person out all of a sudden and needed to step away.

You backed away slowly, careful not to rouse their attention because it would probably suck if you knew how Shaw would introduce you to his little crush. As soon as you were in a safe distance, you turned and walked aimlessly down the hall, pausing briefly at paintings or sculptures that caught your fancy, looking at its intricacies as you did so earlier. But somehow, it wasn't as fun as it was before, so you moved on quickly, to give way to the other guests who also wanted to view the artwork.

Finally, you came upon the bar and decided to rest your tired feet at the far corner, hidden from the rest of the world. Sighing, you slipped your feet off your stilettos and quietly watched as the guests around you - mostly couples - happily chatting away as they enjoyed the beauty of the art around them and the wonderful music that filled the air. You knew somewhere in the crowd, your date was fawning over his lady love, probably getting in the way of her filming your professor.

Tch.

You knew he liked her - he always told you he did. And why wouldn't he? MC was pretty, seemingly sweet, and dainty - the kind of girl any guy would like to protect. And you. You were the opposite. You lived for your work, were 'one of the boys', and didn't need anyone to protect you - that's just how you were - and now you started to realize that maybe guys don't exactly like that. At least not Shaw.

Wait, what were you thinking? You scolded yourself as you shook your head. Why were you even thinking of what he liked when you don't even like him to start with. Or did you?

"Ugh. What the hell is wrong with me?" You groaned when a cold bottle of beer and a frozen glass was placed in front of you.

"I was gonna ask you that myself."

You straightened up in your seat and shot a look at the guy seated beside you. Dressed in a nice grey suit, he smiled as he raised his beer bottle in front of you.

"You look like you needed a drink. I hope the beer is okay. They don't have fruit beer or soda," he said calmly, his amber-colored eyes never leaving yours.

"Y-yeah. Beer is perfect," you replied while pouring the amber liquid into the glass. "Thanks," you muttered before raising the glass to your lips to gulp down some liquid courage.

"I saw you with Shaw earlier -"

The name on his lips drove you to a coughing fit, as you choked on your drink. "Sorry, " you mumbled in between coughs.

"No, I'm sorry," the brown-haired guy said, as he cautiously and politely patted your back. "I didn't mean to bring that up. I was just curious."

"It's fine," you replied when you finally regained your composure. "Yes, we're just classmates in Grad school who decided to check this exhibit out for the heck of it."

"Classmates, huh?"

"Yeah, that's what we are," you said, taking a sip off your glass. "Grad school classmates."

"Are you telling me or telling yourself?"

You looked up and saw him smiling. There was something about Dreamy McHandsome who was seated beside you that felt so familiar yet different at the same time, but you couldn't point a finger at what it was exactly.

"We're classmates, and we're working on our thesis together. But we're not friends - far from it even. We hate each other's guts."

"Can't blame you for doing so," he shrugged as he drank his beer.

"Yeah. He dragged me here so he can get with someone he's been crushing on for so long," you rambled on, frowning.

"Oh? And who might that be?"

"The Miracle Finder Producer. You know, the pretty girl in a blue top and white skirt. He's been going on and on about her for weeks…"

"You mean my girlfriend?"

His girlfriend. You choked on your drink once again. "Y-y-your girlfriend? You mean to say…" You gasped. Has the beer made you stupid? You've barely drunk half of it, you thought as you fought to regain your dignity. This was Shaw's brother you were talking to - and boy, we're they blessed with good genes…

… And the same social awkwardness, you noticed, judging by how he kept his hand at your back, but not exactly touching it, as if trying to assess if he had to pat you or not.

When you finally calmed down, he cleared his throat and gave you a small smile. "Don't worry. She talks to me about their conversations. I know what that guy is playing at, and I most definitely know he's not after my girl," he said, his voice broke no room for doubt. "My name is Gavin..."

"Yeah, I know…"

"You - what?"

"Oh," you said, tapping on your glass nervously. "Shaw kinda mentioned it in passing before."

"I see."

"So, what were you saying earlier about Shaw?"

"Oh. From what my girlfriend tells me, he's got his sights set on…"

"Ahem," you heard someone say loud enough for you and Gavin to turn your heads around. And there, standing behind you, was an angry-looking Shaw. You sat up, your gaze shifting between the two brothers as the air started to thicken with tension. "I talk to someone for a minute and the next thing I knew, my date walks out on me and right into the one person I'd hate for her to meet."

"Well, if you were just honest with her as with a lot of other things in your life, maybe she wouldn't have left your side earlier," Gavin retorted flippantly. "Is she finally done with filming?"

Shaw simply grunted in reply as he watched his older brother finish his bottle of beer and stand. "Well, Miss, there's a lot I've heard about you. Seems somebody couldn't stop talking about you, but I'll leave it at that."

With a wink and a mischievous smile upon his face, the brown-haired guy sauntered off to look for his better half, as you and Shaw watched in awkward silence.

He cleared his throat and glanced at you. "Hey."

"Hey," you replied, shakily.

"So, about what that jerk said -"

"Yes?" You asked, feeling your heart hammer against your chest by the second.

"Whatever he said is not true," he said dismissively, as he took his coat off and draped it over your shoulders. "I told you before, I don't find you the least bit attractive."

You felt tears starting to sting your eyes, as he continued with his harsh commentary. "You're tough, highly opinionated, and you always want to come out on top. I don't find those attractive at all," he said. "I prefer a damsel in distress. I want someone clingy… someone, needy."

"I know that -"

"Oh do you?" He teased, his amber eyes twinkling. "You seem to know a lot about me."

"We've been working together for months now," you said. "Of course, I'd know more about you."

"I see," he said, as he took a step closer to you and touched your cheek, rubbing the stray tear that had managed to slip down the side of your face. "So, you must know I'm also a good liar. After all, I've kept all these feelings to myself for quite some time."

He snickered when he saw your frown deepen and he bent down just as he had done so earlier, to whisper. "I made you think I liked someone else when in fact," his low voice made you shiver. "I've always eyes for you."

The End.

#mr love queen's choice shaw #mr love queen's choice #mlqc fanfic #mr love fanfic #mlqc shaw #shaw x reader #mlqc gavin #iris writes

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edupunkn00b · 4 years ago

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Garden Flowers: Chrysanthemum (Optimism)

Word count: 1744 - G - [ AO3 ] - Canon(ish), Post-POF - Overture

May Flowers Event Day 21 Prompt: Chrysanthemums for optimism

The playlist for the Overture series is on Spotify.

"I know you'll do anything you can to make things right."

Patton slowly sank out of Thomas' living room and back into the Mindscape. Mary Lee and Lee (and Leslie) had just left, and De - Janus had stayed behind to talk with Thomas. Patton looked around the quiet common room, already seeing the evidence of the shift they'd all been experiencing ever since Remus and Janus' revelations.

And ever since Patton had revealed just how much more he had to grow. Ha, good one, Pat!

He'd been sincere when he'd said that Janus hadn't actually been wrong about everything. In fact, Janus had been right about a lot of things. And not just about how to handle the callback or how important it was to not disregard mental health until Thomas was lying on the floor, gasping for breath.

Patton had to admit that, over the years, Janus had been right about so much more.

Janus' deception had kept Thomas safe in middle school and most of high school when it wasn't safe for him to be out. And it had kept Thomas safe from typecasting at a time when he was still building his audience and a huge controversy about something as personal as his sexual identify could have proved limiting at best, and worst, well ... disastrous.

It was becoming increasingly clear to Patton that it wasn't Janus' protective deceptions that were most dangerous to Thomas' morality, but instead his self-deception. It was the fact that Thomas wasn't being honest with himself and what he really wanted and needed that was putting his well-being most at risk.

And so Patton was determined to make good on his earlier promises to be more accepting, and to do whatever he needed to do to make things right. And it looked like the Mindscape was already re-shaping itself around that idea. He spotted Remus' green octopus pillow in the stack of movie night cushions in the corner of the living room. He saw an electric blanket printed with yellow chrysanthemums neatly folded in the basket of cozy throws. He perused the DVD collection, and running his finger over an expanded array of titles, including the complete Saw series, a boxed set of Lie to Me, and ... a brand-new set of amphibian documentaries narrated by David Attenborough.

Patton looked around the rest of the room and noticed the red and purple mugs left out on the coffee table. Patton checked the DVD player and the disc for the original animated Aladdin was still inside. Grinning, happy to see that Virgil had managed to pull Roman out of his funk at least for little while, Patton straightened the seat cushions and cleared away the mugs, rinsing and putting them in the dishwasher.

"Oh, Padre, thanks ... Sorry about that," Roman stood in the doorway to the kitchen, hands behind his back, not quite meeting Patton's eyes. "I remembered we left our mugs out and was just coming down to ..."

Patton grinned at the princely Side. "That was really thoughtful, Kiddo, thank you. I got 'em, though ... Wouldn't want it to get too muggy in here, the Florida weather's bad enough!"

At first Roman chuckled at Patton's old joke, then bowed his head. "Well, um, thanks, Padre ... I - I shall bid you adieu and wish you a pleasant evening," Roman swung out his arm and bowed dramatically, hiding his face.

"Actually, are you busy, Kiddo? We haven't really gotten the chance to talk much since ...," Patton waved his hands vaguely, wincing. "I was hoping we could have a little Heart-to-Art?" He winked and grinned exaggeratedly, gently elbowing Roman's side, "Eh, eh ... you see what I did there?"

A tiny smile poked through Roman's princely mask and he huffed out a small laugh. "That was a good one, Pat." He swallowed, eyes downcast again, "Of course we can talk. I always have time for you, Padre."

Patton took a deep breath and led Roman out of the kitchen and toward the living room where they could sit more comfortably on the couch. Roman sat stiffly in one corner, back straight, as though he was afraid of wrinkling his sash. Patton sat crisscross -- apple sauce, he completed in his head -- in the middle of the couch, turning his body to face Roman. Roman was looking down at his hands, folding them primly in his lap.

Patton's heart ached to see Roman trying so hard to present himself as the picture of perfection. He promised himself he would ask Virgil if this was how Roman had held himself during their movie or if this performance was just for him.

"Roman, we owe you an apology." Patton watched Roman's brow wrinkle at his words. "Well, I owe you an apology." Roman turned to face Patton, eyes narrowed.

"What do you have to apologize for, Pat? I'm the one who failed to behave in a proper princely manner after the wedding. It is hardly proper etiquette to mock someone's name, particularly in such a," Roman frowned, looking as though he'd sampled Remus' favorite deodorant, "gendered way." Roman squared his shoulders. "I knew what Janus' name meant. I could appreciate the reference and the natural slant rhyme with Remus' name. If I simply had to contribute something, I could have referenced that he was named for a Roman god and done something with that ..." Roman waved his hand as though to summon a witty phrase from the ether.

"Instead, I lashed out like I used to with Virgil. I was ... I was -" Roman stiffened his face, pressing his lips together, but Patton couldn't miss the tears starting to prick his eyes or the quiver in his voice. Or the ache in his own chest at the other Side's pain. 'I'm at the core of a lot of your feelings, Thomas ...'

"You were hurting, Roman."

Roman flipped his hair back, tilting his head so the tears wouldn't fall. "Roman, months and months ago, you were the first to point out that Janus had an important perspective that we should consider. You were the first to treat him with respect." Patton's shoulders slumped and he slowly reached for Roman's hand, smiling when he didn't pull away. Patton gently gripped the princely Side's hand. "And we yelled at you for it."

Roman hung his head. "I was merely trying to not repeat the mistakes I made with Virgil."

Patton nodded slowly, "I know, Kiddo." He sighed, looking away. "Well, I know that now." Patton gave Roman's hand another gentle squeeze, rubbing little circles with his thumb. He could feel Roman's hand relax with the motion and he continued. "And then, after Janus got through to us - to me - when you didn't just automatically jump on board, ... we acted like you didn't have a good reason to feel the way you did."

Roman finally met Patton's eyes again, tears threatening to fall. "It was wrong, Roman. And I'm sorry." Roman's mouth was trembling but he kept his posture stick-straight and his chin tilted slightly up. Patton held out his arms as an invitation for a hug and Roman flung himself into Patton's embrace, sobbing.

Patton rocked the Prince back and forth, shushing into his hair, rubbing up and down his back, pressing in love and reassurance. They stayed like that long after Roman's sobs finally quieted and his eyes were dry. Finally, Patton spoke.

"What can I do to start to make it up to you, Kiddo?"

Roman pulled back a bit so he could see Patton's face, but not so far back that he had to leave his warm hug. "You just did, Padre. You just did."

Patton grinned and scootched closer to the back cushions of the couch, leaning against them but keeping an arm wrapped around Roman's shoulders. Patton kept one foot tucked under himself, making him a little taller than Roman, whose head fit perfectly tucked into the crook of Patton's shoulder. Patton realized he was still rocking a bit and he concentrated on sitting still.

"It's ok if you rock, Patton," Roman murmured, "It's kind of nice."

"Thanks, Kiddo."

After a several more minutes of quiet between them, Patton could feel his eyes starting to droop and his breathing slow. Roman sat up, looking closely at him. "You're falling asleep, there, Padre ..."

Just then, Janus appeared next to the staircase. He froze momentarily, seeing the two comfortably snuggled on the couch. "Oh, I'm sso pleased to have intruded on your quiet moment ...," Janus hissed, startled enough to slip into doublespeak and lose control of some of his 's's. "I was completely expecting to ssee you here at this late hour." He turned, heading toward the stairs, "I'll jusst go -"

"No, wait, Janus ..." Roman began. Patton looked between the two of them and bit his lip. "Would you mind ... I mean - " Roman gestured to the other open seats on the couch. "If you are willing, I would like to speak with you."

Janus' eyes widened, darting between Patton and Roman.

"Would you two Kiddos like me to stay or would like some privacy?," Patton asked, half-rising from the couch.

"You are always more than welcome to stay, Pat, and, of course if Janus would prefer you to stay, I would gladly acquiesce, however ...," Roman's winced and said in a near-whisper, "It might be easier to offer my apologies in private." Roman squared his shoulders again, hands folded tightly together in his lap. He bowed his head slightly this time, though, looking at Janus, "If that's alright with you, of course, ... Janus."

Janus' jaw visibly relaxed at Roman's tone. He nodded once, grateful. He had his own apology to make that would be difficult enough without the embodiment of morality and feelings right next to him while he did it.

Patton looked between the two Sides and smiled. "I'm happy to give the you both the chance to talk things out." He gave Roman one more hug then stood, heading up the stairs to his room. As he passed Janus, Patton stroked his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. Janus blinked in surprise but didn't pull away. "I'll be right upstairs if you need me, just knock any time." He turned his head as he spoke, including Janus and Roman in his offer. "That goes for each of you." Half-way up the stairs, he turned and waved, "Good nitrogen, you two!"

As Patton approached his door, he could hear their quiet murmurs downstairs. He knew that Janus and Roman had a long journey ahead to heal their relationship. But seeing how eager they both were to start that work together, Patton had great hopes that they were on the right path.

@tsshipmonth2020

#mayflowersevent #garden flowers: chrysanthemum (optimism)#sanders sides fic #ts patton #ts roman #ts janus #platonic royality #overture #❤️🧡💛💚💙💙💜💗

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omegangrins · 5 years ago

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A Treatise On the Doctor

I don't know how to start this. Because I think of Peter Capaldi's words when he said that the only thing required to be a Doctor Who fan, is kindness.

I like 13 and think Chibnall is doing his best job writing the show.

So I struggle to write this because I am engaging against that very unkindness in the Doctor Who fandom, and trying very hard not to be angry back. "Allways try to be nice but never fail to be kind." But I've begun to wonder more and more if those who speak so loudly against the show really know what the show itself is about.

Enough of talking about other people though, cause frankly they're only important as set-up for this conversation. And again, I'm working kind.

So here's what you're gonna learn from this lifelong fan (and the best Tl;dr you're gonna get):

1. The Doctor sucks. From the very beginning. People complain about character traits now that have been around as long as the show.

2. Due to the Doctor's suckage, they tend to do more harm than good. (And because of this, most of the Doctor's "friends" along the way have been, well, let's leave it at the air quotes for now cause it's a damn big list of "BOOOO!!!".)

3. All of the showrunners and writers and actors and editors and everyone else has allways knows this and has played it this way.

4. And last but not least, since this is a time travel show. If you wanna know what and why stuff is happening now, look it up. Everything that happened before is allways in play.

5. None of this is bad, and in fact, it makes the show morally grayer. It's about kindness at all costs. Even your own.

A. First things first, the hard thing. The Doctor is not grrrreat. I mean, sure they try, but they fail a lot more often. In Extremis, a majority of those fatality index counts come from people the Doctor failed to save. That's why it's worded so specifically as "cause of death". All the death's caused by the Doctor's very interaction with time and lack of saving those around them. And part of it's not their fault, but more often than not, the Doctor says I can save you, and can't, won't, or chooses not to.

And that would be alright, but it took them over 1000 years to realize they should start letting their companions lead lives outside of theirs so THEY DON'T DIE. A bit too long as someone who claims to be better.

Not to mention how many times the Doctor is dismissive of their companions and the people around them only to use them for their help and just bug off again. If they truly cared and wanted to help, they would stay and listen in between adventures. Their lifespan is near infinite anyway. What's a few extra Earth hours with some friends you made along the way. You know, maybe fix some of the psychological and emotional damage created by encountering things behind a human's original scope of reasoning. But nope, we gotta go adventure more, byyyyeee!!

So when people talk about these qualities in 13 in a negative aspect I have to laugh because I'm not sure if they understand the joke. Cause we're talking about an alien that grew up around a species calling themselves Time Lords. I try not to blame them too much for it. 1 had to learn how to be hospitable to humans and it's been a bit of a slow learning curve ever since.

B. After the Doctor survived the horrors of the Time War and happened upon a human companion they felt worth connecting to, what did they do? They took Rose to watch her planet burn in front of her eyes. Great, first date, amirite?

And that's a little bit of companion damage. Do you know that the Doctor is responsible for the almost complete genocide of the Silurian race across multiple occasions. I am legitimately surprised there are any left after all of the ones the Doctor has killed. Like before, they cause destruction either purposefully or accidentally or simply by force of being there.

Remember before how I said that the Doctor just flies away. Yeah, they leave a lot of problems behind when they do (something that I can see Chibnall is planting the seeds of). If you had a time and space machine and practically unlimited capabilities and you choose to just leave after a situation and not check up on them from time to or see if there are any other underlying crises to be solved. But oh no, "gotta follow that rule of time and keep going even though I stopped in the first place because of how interested I was.". This is why 9 has a great arc about this. He thought he killed all the Daleks. They came back. He thought he'd gotten rid of the Slitheen. They came back. He thought he saved Satellite 5 from aliens. But opsies, they came back. And look! They're Daleks. Which he "finally" got rid of.

The Doctor just bounces around all carefree and without an ounce of care for themselves, their companions or consequences unless there's consequences for themselves or their companions. Then they get indignant.

Is that really kind of the person you want flying around fixing things in time and space? Who knows. But at least they are trying. Most of the time the T.A.R.D.I.S. lands somewhere and the authority figures are the most pretentious bull-headed pigs you can find. To me, I laugh cause it seems like both sides end up getting a taste of their own medicine. Usually with the bull charging to death in a sad glory while the Doctor wiles on metaphorically about not being as good as them.

But again, as a "superior" alien with "advanced" technology and "culture" you'd think they'd just know better already. But that's all part of the character. The Doctor may be in flux, but true change is difficult. The real hero of every story is the other people BESIDES the Doctor.

Cause the title is Doctor *Who* . The Who being half of the title, despite having less letters. It's the constant question of "What and why and who is that crazy person that's trying to help?" Why do you think they keep flying back to Earth? (Besides set construction reasons.) They've grown as attached to us as we have to them. And at this point, a lot of their saving us is guilt and embarrassment at having a hand in our timeline.

This is also the same reason the Doctor dumps companions in a fluff. Baggage. Every time a companion gets too heavy to carry the memories of... off they fly.

Except for 13. She's stayed. To this end, we can see how the Doctor changes. Not on our smaller, human timelines, but on the timeline of a god with way too much power.

D. With that in mind, we go Classic. It's the Who you need to consult if you wish to make any critique on what's happening now. Because how can you know how a part operates inside of a whole without seeing the whole part?

Cause I don't know if you've watched it but it can be rough, and I don't mean in the sense of production value (which admittedly they do a fairly decent job of using what money they had. A problem the BBC plagues to Doctor Who to this day.). The 3rd Doctor shits on every one they call friends constantly and then turns around expecting help. 4 did the same. Then 5 masked that contempt with a plucky face and a cheeky word. But it was still there, bubbling out of 6 and 7 as the inability to suffer fools gladly and using their own righteousness to enact change in their companions. A trait that kept going til an entire war and regeneration was used solving the question of "Doctor Who?" Only for them to try and forget twice more by putting on their pretty grinning faces and running away from it.

And I'm only talking from a companion perspective. Each of the Doctors has enacted their own form of genocide on countless species. Sure, it's to "save humans" but at the end of the day you'd have to ask yourself if we're really worth that blood. And this is all in the Doctor's history. As much as they claim better, they're hands are still gushing red.

The Doctor left Jo because she fell in love. They drove Adric to put their life on the line in order to feel adequate. The entirety of the Silurian race has been wiped out fivefold under their watch, with one time by their hand itself. Same for several other singular and unique species you won't be able to find elsewhere in the universe. 7 used time travel to enact a personality change in Ace while simultaneously using her as a pawn in an interdimensional war. The Time War itself. Sure it got erased but the Doctor still did those things ("War" Doctor or whatever nonsense titles they feel necessary to delude themselves). The entirety of Amy's childhood was destroyed by their presence, and Rory got erased. Twice! Sarah Kingdom. We know the list. Hell, the Doctor whisked Barbara and Ian away because they wanted to teach the snobby humans some lessons.

They may have a time machine, but we have the bill of their actions. This is where 13 excels. Because they're trying to be better than themselves. They've learnt the lessons of all those years traveling and the failures they wish they could reverse but don't as a way of keeping a scoreboard of pain. It's not perfect by any means, but look at 12 needing cue cards to understand and react to human grief under duress. They've come a helluva long way. After 50 years, I'm inclined to believe better. After all, it's what the Doctor would want.

E. You know how people like the ASOIAF series because it offers up morally complex characters existing in a morally complex world where black and white are harder to define than grey? Have you ever thought of Doctor Who as the same? Strip past the fairytale and adventure and "wibbly wobbly timey wimeyness and it's just people reacting to situations. We're just harder on the Doctor because they're hard on us. You could go round and round on who's the bigger killer, but at the end of the day Time Lords and humans fight and feel about the same things. It's allways been a joke to pretend otherwise.

That's why I love the Timeless Child. Not for making the Doctor anymore special but for saying that even despite having all of their specialness ripped away and repurposed to create a lie of a society then having the memory wiped of said event, the Doctor broke out of their mold, stole a TARDIS and told the Time Lords to fuck off. That's not a Captain America/Superman hero. That's Batman in space with a society of Lex Luthor's. Gotham and Gallifrey. The Doctor saw what they were a part of and broke free, without even knowing the more horrifying truth. Cause it's the thing I see many fans missing because they're so preocuppied with the Doctor being special. The thing that made the Doctor different was their ability to know the difference and walk away to find better. Now, the Doctor has a reason to go back and find out why they never stopped running.

The Time Lords might be the greatest monsters in the universe. It is in the name. "Lords". Those who would lord over us and impose their will with a banthium fist.

And this is a children's show.

C the thing is, the people who made and make this show all collectively rail against one thing: Hate. Kindness is the way of Doctor's. Even if they're sawing off your leg, it's to do the kindness of saving your life. This is because the people who make this (United Kingdomers) have seen centuries of war and conflict and oppression enacted by their own country in the name of progress. And they want to see it no more. Look no further than any of the Doctor's adventures with UNIT. Allways advocating for peace and being ignored for the comfortable war-cry. It's why it's hard to blame the Doctor when we do very similar and often worse (though we don't have time travel.... yet). The creators of this show know better, see better, and wrote better, to know that the powers that be nipped would nip their creations and sanitize them. So they wrote their messages so strong that you can feel them from the future. They're powerfull enough that even across eras they have all collectively moved me to write this.

That's another point I have to laugh at people saying Doctor Who has never been in your face about progressive politics. The Green Death. Survival. Trial of a Timelord (Yes, all of it. Sit down and power through.) The Happiness Patrol is one of my all time favorite episodes for going there in this regard. People may poo poo but history has its' eyes on you. Doctor Who loves taking potshots at the issues of the day. As long as you don't make the aliens black of course. Make them all the colors of the rainbow but never make them black. That'd be too on the nose (That's something they used to say back in the day! Crazy how far we've come).

So bravoa to Chibnall for continuing the legacy of Doctor Who. From where I'm standing, he's not doing anything different than any other showrunner before him. Cause if you want to argue canon, you at least have to know what created it. This show owes what it is to those Classic eras. And if you think Chibnall is shitting on those years and your childhood.... well, then why did you read this whole thing?

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fly-pow-bye · 6 years ago

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DuckTales 2017 - “The Shadow War!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written by: Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Directed by: Hatthew Humphreys, Tanner Johnson

Storyboard by: Vince Aparo, Emmy Cicierega, Ben Holm, Vaughn Tada, Brandon Warren, Jason Zurek

The Day of the Ducks, and the Night of DeSpell. I almost wish they kept those titles!

We start where we left off from the previous episode, with Huey, Dewey, and Louie packing up the newly repaired houseboat. They're not too happy, but they're also not happy with a mother-losing uncle, either. Donald tries to cheer everyone up with some sardine crackers, which, judging by Webby's expression, aren't that great.

Webby's there too, for reasons I'm not entirely sure of. Is she going to move in with the boys, or is this some temporary home for her? The fact that the boys were some of the first friends she ever got to meet probably had a hand in that.

But enough about that, time for some recap of something I skipped earlier: in Lena’s last episode, Magica manages to possess her, taking over her body. She's already possessed here, as she starts to plot to get that number one dime before the lunar eclipse happens. She only occasionally regaining her senses to show the viewer that this isn’t actually Lena’s real personality. How? Maybe it’s just like just shaking her head, or her eyes changing color, or...

KIDS SHOW. KIDS SHOW. OH, GOOD LORD IT’S A KIDS SHOW. I mean, I'm not against this. Having Magica's shadow form literally getting attached to Lena's poor eyes shows how little control Lena has now.

Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of this when Other Bin used it as a twist, mostly because it lessened Lena’s importance in the plot. Why have any investment in Lena doing the right thing if her evil aunt can just possess her to do the wrong thing? Turns out, this episode has some twists that make that an easier pill to swallow.

They even throw three items from three separate filler episodes into the ocean, including the Druid’s Cup and the “I Didn’t Survive_d_ Mount Neverrest” shirt. Yeah, there’s a lot of references to the previous episodes, and these are just the most blatant. One neat joke is that, despite everything, Louie is still the money-making schemer as he desperately tries to keep the hook from the Toth-Ra episode to sell on their version of eBay.

As Louie desperately tries to scuba dive for the soon to be lost treasures, Donald shows up to tell the boys that he’s taking the boat to Cape Suzette. Just in case, the logo is even in the style of TaleSpin and it has the Sea Duck on it. I wonder how the ducks feel about that name.

Meanwhile, Magica, let's be honest, while it's Lena's body, it's clearly Magica in 100% control here, finally infiltrates her nemesis's manor by using Lena's voice to tell Scrooge that Webby would be so disappointed that he's going through one of those "old man moments". She finally comes face-to-stolen-face with Scrooge...

...and he looks like this. After everyone left him, including ghost Duckworth, long story, Scrooge is at his lowest moment. It apparently didn't take too long for him to become a pizza loving duck with a stained t-shirt, living off of the last remains of his money. Magica thinks this is all some psychological ploy, and gets irritated when this increasingly does not turn out to be the case.

Back at the houseboat, Webby does a plan to get some sort of farewell party going. Since the boys are starting to have second thoughts about Cape Suzette, sans Dewey who gets all dressed up for the occasion, they decide to agree to this.

Webby tries to gets a special guest to join this parent trap, and yes, they outright call it that. She also gets Launchpad, who was oblivious to all of this and is confused to why Scrooge won't let him into the manor, and accidently gets Mrs. Beakley, who finds out about it and wants to investigate this. Thankfully, she wants in on it as well. Crisis averted. Webby decides to call up Scrooge McDuck, and to her ears, it seems like Scrooge answered the call and would happily go anywhere with free food.

Unfortunately, it was Magica talking in Scrooge McDuck’s voice, as Scrooge is still wallowing around in his own sorrows. For the record, they do the body swap voice change thing, with Lena speaking in Magica's voice when she's not trying to be in-character. It's still Lena's vocal cords, but, it's magic, okay? They actually say that later in the episode.

Magica really wants Scrooge to drink nutmeg tea which was spiked with a sleeping potion. Y'know, so she could get the dime. Short answer, he doesn't, and her reactions are funny. She even ends up putting it in a sippy cup, only for him to knock it over and break it. However, her other strategy ends up working better.

She also accidentally convinces him to try to go on an adventure on his own, and start fresh, forgetting about everything in the past. This includes forgetting his family; that’s another major theme in this episode, and it’s not just in the Huey, Dewey, and Louie part. He throws away his clothes, and Magica suggests giving the Number One dime away to her.

Of course, that's the one trinket he doesn't want to get rid of, much to Magica's lament. Gotta say, that's pretty harsh but yet fitting for him that a piece of money is held to a higher regard than his own family, even if his own family disowned him. Eventually, Magica gives up on tricking the old man into a slumber and starts wrestling him for it. Since Scrooge has been out of it for the last few days, this does not take too long.

Turns out, she had a decidedly different and legitimate reason to get the Number One Dime, even though previous episodes implied that she thought it had mystical powers just like in the original comics and cartoon. For the first and only time, we see that it’s an ordinary dime that happened to have Magica's true form banished into it in a battle that happened 20 years ago.

A little bit different from the naive assumptions from the original, possibly due to Magica's new character. They may have also felt that would be a lousy ending if it turned out to be an ordinary dime without Magica's real body in it. She grabs it just as soon as the lunar eclipse begins, and...

...this reveal of Magica's real form is so cool. The green feathers are a bit odd, considering she never had that in the other adaptations or the original, but it is addressed in the end.

Scrooge and Lena plan to take on Magica. With Lena's knowledge of magic, and Scrooge's skills, nobody can stop them! Especially not sorceresses that were listening in on their plan right outside of the cage!

Magica taps her staff, and Lena gets sucked into her shadow. Magica, when she's not getting irritated by everyone around her, really is a nightmarish figure. Yeah, kids show, oops, she gone!

Oh, and Scrooge is sucked into his number one dime as well, and becomes the new back of the coin. It seems like all hope is lost. But, there's still some family left, right?

Sure enough, yes, though at least one of them had to think about it. To make a long story short, Huey and Louie are convinced to go back to Scrooge by a combination of Donald’s talking to them about family and Mrs. Beakley’s guilt trips. Apparently, as a spy and a grandmother, she knows fully well how to do those.

Dewey, on the other hand, is still the odd one out. It makes sense; he was the one that was the most involved in the mission to find his mother, and he was the one who was the most shaken about it. I'm not a fan of the complainer is always wrong trope, but the complainer is definitely in the wrong.

He eventually gets over it, because, let’s be honest, we got to get to the better part eventually. Dewey goes into the hug, and tearfully tells Donald that he wants to go back to the manor. Donald agrees, but they’re immediately interrupted by some commotion outside.

They see a huge magical tornado where the manor used to be. Soon, other people hop into the boat as well, including Gyro Gearloose, and Manny. Y'know, that headless horse they're trying to make into a thing.

We get to see Magica's plan in action; not only does she want revenge on Scrooge, she's going to take it out on the entire city of Duckburg! She causes everyone's shadow to rise up to join her. They make sure to do many cameos with this, including Glomgold, Gladstone Gander, and even Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera and his mother, the former even getting Gizmoduck snatched away from him. I'm sad to say that was essentially a cameo and not a lead to an amazing fight scene. Not to say there won't be one.

I’ll set yourself up for disappointment: no, they didn’t give this any sort of payoff beyond an implied off-screen fight later in the episode. Eventually, this turns into a huge shadow vortex that eventually settles into a tornado above the money bin, where Magica has formed a throne made out of Scrooge’s remaining money.

Someone has to have a plan to stop this, and who else but our lovable Uncle Donald? Unfortunately, there’s a problem.

One problem the comics couldn’t have in a audio-visual based medium does rise up, and one I had suspicions with even when I was first watching this: Donald’s voice is still that classic Donald voice, and nobody can understand him. That “[speaking gibberish]” is an actual closed caption.

Thankfully, Gyro has the solution that doesn’t involve taking a role away from the most well known character in the series: a Barksian Modulator, an obvious reference to Carl Barks, and a not-so-obvious reference to a classic Disney cartoon that involved Donald taking pills to mitigate his speech impediment, is forced into Donald’s throat.

While Donald with an intelligible voice always felt wrong in an audio-visual medium, it is necessary at this point, and it leads to some great moments later in the episode. Here’s a good example, from where Donald takes the wheel of the boat, letting Mrs. Beakley know that he can handle it:

Mrs. Beakley: Watch out for the storm.

Donald Duck: I am the Storm!

Mrs. Beakley ...were you always saying things like this?

Eh, I could see people thinking this is out of character for him, too. At least, for the "unlucky everyman" character he was until now.

He then tells the kids to stay home, as it's too dangerous. They reference the lifejackets from the first episode a lot in this episode, which is a little more subtle than the "box full of items" scene. Of course, they don't listen to that. They need to find someone who’s crafty, like a teenager who knows how to get into places. Somelike...like Lena.

They go to the theatre Lena lived in, which I’m not entirely unconvinced was the Beagle Boy’s old hangout from the original, but they can't seem to find her. They do find a trapdoor leading to her room, though, which happens to contain her journal! They debate whether or not to open it, and decide it may lead to where she ran off to.

It's here where Webby learns an even deeper secret about Lena, one that the audience wouldn’t have guessed and one I won't entirely spoil here. I know this because I sure did not! A part of what cloaked this secret is that Magica had a niece in the original comics named Minima De Spell, and I just assumed this was the reboot’s version of her, but the truth is a little bit different. In an only slightly inaccurate way, they figure out that Lena was the big betrayer, and Webby is the one hit the hardest by this.

This explains a lot about her character development; she was just slowly gaining her conscience this entire time. I still wish it was a little smoother, as it seemed like she had a different personality in every episode. But, now I can see the progression.

I'm going to skip around a little bit, just because I don't want to ruin the episode too much. This episode was said to be like an "action movie airing on a Saturday morning" by one of the writers, and they weren't kidding; there's a lot of outright fisticuffs in this episode! Granted, most of it is against these shadow creatures.

Usually in the comics, original cartoon, and even this cartoon, they have to win through cleverness. They do only one scene where they actually stop the shadows by turning off the lights and then using Webby's nightvision goggles. For the most part, it's an extended Power Ranger-esque putty fight.

Once the ducks manage to get into the money bin, we get back to the irritating the evil sorceress bits that are all really clever. All of the boy's personalities show in this fight scene. For example, Louie scams Magica by telling her that she broke an ancient cursed mirror, and Huey...

Huey: (dodging Magica’s attacks) How did Scrooge curse you, anyway? Isn’t Scrooge not the magic type? And we never saw you on the back of the coin before now? And how does the lunar eclipse factor into all of this?

Magica: You see, the lunar eclipse enhances...it’s magic, okay?!

...does my job for me, apparently. Notice how I said the boys, but I could understand why Webby would act the way she does against someone who fooled her into making a false friend. No use of her gadgets here. It feels very out of character and out of style...and maybe that was the point.

At one point, Magica shoots another beam, which hits Webby's friendship bracelet. A scene anyone could expect happens here; it was certainly a scene I expected. What I didn't expect was how short it was, and how tragic it eventually became. It worked in the same way as that shocking scene from Other Bin, except this is reality rather than a dream.

The tragedy doesn't last long, though. It really wouldn't be much of a spoiler to say that Scrooge and the boys eventually win over Magica, and part of this is from Scrooge coming out of the coin...somehow. Something about the shine of the lunar eclipse, I guess. Scrooge even somehow got his clothes back when he got out of the coin.

He then tells Magica the greatest irony of them all: her attempt to ruin Scrooge's family ended up bringing them together again. In fact, Magica had nothing to do with the breakup; she didn't even know it happened!

Of course, it's a super happy ending for the most part, with the family coming back together in the end, Magica gets defeated, the voice pill breaks to give Donald his old voice back, and the houseboat becomes unable to take anyone to Camp Suzette. Of course, it's for the most part; Lena's fate is up in the air. It really depends on how you interpret one of the last scenes. Lena may have been "false", as non-spoilery as I can call her, but she’s become a character in her own right.

There’s one final scene regarding the one plot thread that wasn’t exactly closed up by the end of this episode. While I'm glad it's there, it did lead to one huge question: why not check the moon first?

How does it, and the whole season, stack up?

Angones has said that this was essentially an action movie, and I can’t disagree with that. A great ending to a good reboot.

And thus, that’s the end of Season 1 of the DuckTales reboot. A very good season all around! But I must talk about something.

People have noticed that I have never given a negative review to any episode of this series as of yet, though there were episodes that came very close. This would have been the image if I went with my initial opinion of Other Bin before I thought about the importance of it in the long run. Terror of the Terra-Firmians was ultimately a useless episode that had to have Lena shoved in to be halfway decent.

It was a captivating season from beginning to end, and that’s not something I would say about most seasons of anything, especially not reboots.

I’ll say this, reviewing two shows at the same time took a lot out of me, but I can’t say it wasn’t worth it. Who knows what journeys our boys will go through next, and if the demand is there, or if that other show ends first, maybe I can go for it when it airs.

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#ducktales 2017 #ducktales #disney #fpb rerun

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