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lucascecil · 1 year

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Something I Read - The Eighth Doctor Strips

So, while I haven't (yet) heard all of Eight's audios, there are only a handful left. And I have started reading the books (going through Kursaal right now. You can find my commentary of the books on the 'bookshelf' tag). So, while I have a lot to go through, I wanted to start something new, different, exciting.

And so I decided to read the Doctor Who Magazine comics. And what a ride it was.

To make it easier for me and to write a cohesive text, I'm going to talk about individual stories and then at the end of each volume comment upon the overall arch.

Endgame, by Alan Barnes - ★★★☆☆

It's not a bad start, but not my favorite. The Toymaker is a fun concept but his stories are very inconsistent to my tastes. Here, he is fine. The comic is smart in the sense that the use the format to its fulliest, allowing the Toymaker to be as cartoonish as ever - and it fits.

And even tho there is a comedic tone, he still comes off as a threat. There is a gruesome scene where he crushes a character bones and flesh. You can feel the pain. I usually do not like when a new companion is introduced in a continuity heavy story as I think it takes atention away from them.

Izzy is great. She is a geek, she is witty, she wants adventure. She is flawed, I couldn't help but wince at how selfish she sounds when she talks of her parents - which she has been fighting with over insecurities about being adopted. She doesn't even call them mom and dad anymore. And that makes her come alive. She is a breathing, living person. And we have a wonderful journey ahead in a yellow brick road.

The Keep, by Alan Barnes - ★★★★☆

The comics got me here. Endgame is nice and all, but it's The Keep who starts playing with bold new ideas for the stories. I got a glimpse of what I could get out of these and I loved it. I was all in for the ride.

Eight and Izzy arrive at the far, far future, near the time the sun is failing and soon enough it will be no more. It's Earth dying days. It's a wasteland. The whole planet turned into a warzone as the Transmat Wars begun - a concept never fleshed out but engaging nonethless.

What's more interesting, though, is that a local scientist have dedicated his whole life to building a superficial star. It had unexpected consequences, as it turned out that it's actually alive. Eight is nedeed so someone bonds with the star, guide it towards the right path. Crivello, the scientist, tried - but even short exposure to the star was enough to make him age years in a blink. A time traveller - even better, a time lord - is needed.

I find the scene Eight merges with the plasma beautiful. This incarnation more than any other feels to me like a force of nature, a constant to the universe, and so I'm always on board when he is influenced by forces outside his control - and vice-versa. Izzy gets anxious and cries, because the Doctor may have died, and it finally hits her that if he does, there is no way back home - for now the narrative don't dive into this topic, but it's a nice touch still.

And then the story takes your breath away, as when everything seems nice and done, Crivello is brutally murdered by his assistant.

Fire and Brimstone, by Alan Barnes - ★★★★★

I did not want a Dalek story, but I am glad I got one because this one is great. It continues the plot points left open at the end of The Keep, as Izzy and Eight visits the same place decades later. The new artificial sun is now stable, but there is a threat in the horizon.

I love that plasma from the Cauldron can be used to see the future, and I love that Eight still have a link to it because they'll always have a bit of each other. I really like the wasps weapons (biological?) the Daleks use to control the humans. It's horrifying, it's disgusting, it looks great. It's truly unsettling, the panels of characters vomiting hordes of insects after infection.

The Daleks are a real threat this time around and it makes perfect sense that they would try to irredicate genetic variants from other dimensions. It's a pity that we see little of that conflict, because the mutant Daleks looked GREAT.

I was devastated that the Cauldron imploded at the end. It all ends considerably well, but there is a wild sorrow of knowing that a whole new lifeform died. I love a rich diverse universe, and I want it to last. What is even more bitter, though, is Eight's silent rage that he can't right now strike back at the Threshold - you can tell by looking at his face in the last page how furious he is over Ace.

Tooth and Claw, by Alan Barnes - ★★★★★

The superior Doctor Who's Tooth and Claw, mind you. I loved this. It's a horror story at heart. The Eighth Doctor and Izzy are pulled into a murder mystery plot in an isolated, atmospheric isle as one old acquaintance of his, Fey, call for his help. And then the guests start dying, one by one.

It's fun, it's believable and it's the kind of horror story I am always open to. Conflict comes not only from the apparent supernatural menace, but also from humans interactions - Marwood hunting Izzy is terrifying, the human ability to be more frighting and cruel than any fictional villain ever could.

Which is not to say the fictional villain is bad, because it only gets better. From the start we are told of a local ghost; then we have bodies on the house and killer monkeys; and yet we also get bottle diseases and vampires. And it all ties well together. This is an island of terrors, ever entertaining.

It ends on a huge cliffhanger, with Izzy and Fey taking Eight to Gallifrey to help him recover from what may well be a mortal wound.

The Final Chapter, by Alan Barnes - ★★★☆☆

Reading the extras I was surprised by how harsh Barnes was with this story - it's not bad at all. Yes, a lot of its themes and plot points were better fleshed out in Neverland, but it's good for what it is.

I love the scene where Eight meets Rassilon and a whole council in his dreams. Demoiselle Drin says she has taken the seat of Merlin the Wise, and given that the Doctor himself is Merlin I wonder about these implications. I love villain Rassilon - but it's refreshing to a seemingly well meaning version of him, too. I wonder, also, as Eight is in the Matrix, if this is the same Rassilon of Zagreus. It's fun to try and fit all these piece of a jigsaw never meant to be completed.

The clone plot is not that enganging, but as Eight and Fey explores "madworld" to try to understand what the hell is happening, I was wondering if a bit of this went into Seven's part in Zagreus, with little rat Charley. And that's the main problem of this story. Ideas better realised elsewhere. A group of time lords trying to gain control of Gallifrey and rewrite its history? Neverland. A kind-of time cult? Faction Paradox. Weird surrealists scenes in the Matrix and timelords' minds? Zagreus.

The regulars are great, and the story is engaging enough. Also, the cliffhanger of a lifetime.

Wormwood, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

This was fun and a great conclusion overall to the Threshold. It's not what I was expecting and while that sometimes oes play a role in how much I like a story, this one has ideas strong enough so that it didn't really matter.

I wouldn't say this story is mocking the Briggs-Doctor, but it does play with the readers expectations in that way in a time we only had the expanded universe. Of course I already knew Eight wouldn't be regenerating while reading these comics so it didn't hit me in that way, but it was fun nonetheless. What I thought, however, is that this would be a retroregeneration or something alike, so I was very much pleased to known that it was actually Shayde playing as the Doctor.

I'd have preferred if the Threshold were actually a natural ocurrance of the universe and not a fabricated species made mainly of humans buuuut as I said previously this is fine. I also wished to a darker motivation for them other than greed, but that's also fine. What I do like a lot is the terror that went through my body when they killed everything in space - and I wish it was not reversed at the end. Not only it would weight upon the characters, but also would be so interesting to see how the whole universe would handle something like this.

We have a glimpse of that kind of horror, of whole civilazations colapsing, but I wish we got some time to explore this idea fully.

Shayde is ine of my favorites things about the comics. It's an amazing concept brought to life wonderfully and that gets even better when coupled to Fey, who is also amazing. How they handle their new status quo is not explored here but rather in future stories, but I do have to say that I love it.

Happy Deathday, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

It's a fun anniversary story. All these Doctors interacting is great.

The Fallen, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

I'm not the biggest fan of Grace, mostly because I don't see many ways to use the character interestingly. Well, The Fallen does it wonderfully. There is something wrong in London and Grace is somehow at fault.

I love her relationship with Eight. It's still a bit sexual - they do kiss once more - but honestly it doesn't bother me. I do not share the opinion the Doctor should never engage in romantic or sexual relationships, I just want it to have meaning.

Grace is repenting for her faults. She thought she had a special future ahead of her beacuse of what she was told in the movie, but now she helped creating a huge danger that is getting people killed. She resents the Doctor in some ways, that he wasn't there and feels like he mislead her. She calls him out when he gets angry with her - he out the world in her hands and left her and she didn't known better.

Izzy and Eight at this point are already the dream team. Their domestic scenes are great and this time around Izzy is alone for a bit - the Doctor believes her dead. She is growing up and have already come a long way around, which is one of the main themes of her stay in the TARDIS. She is in a way a mirror to Ace - completely differente character, yes, but I mean in how she fits as a companion.

She is a sapphic character with parents issues, her stories can be read as a coming of age and her relationship with the Doctor is a bit paternal. Just like Ace. The first big arc of stories with Izzy as a companion handles the Threshold, who are responsible for Ace's death, so I don't think I am completely out of my depth when I say that this era of Eight mirrors Seven's life.

Unnatural Born Killers. by Adrian Salmon - ★★★★★

I love Kroton. If you don't love Kroton, there is something wrong with you. Seek help. This is not his introduction, he appeared on the magazine twice before - both good stories, but Ship of Fools is a must read. He is tragic to the core and deals with a concept that I love and wished to see more in Doctor Who: a faulty Cybermen, who kept this emotions.

I am happy to dicovered the expanded universe because now I have three plots like this to feed my fictional needs: Kroton, Marc and Bill. So that's no longer a problem. But I would love to see more of Kroton - it's such a pity that these stories don't leave much room to have him along Eight and Izzy because they are absolutely one of my favorites TARDIS teams ever.

Unnatural Born Killers get Kroton - already well established - and makes him even better by making him an action hero. The art is beautiful and I love every single fight scene of his. Also, he punches some Sontarans in the face. I love the guy.

The Road to Hell, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

Izzy and Eight get to 17th century Japan, where creatures from the myths are terrorizing local population. Sato Kitsura is a samurai who just lost his lord to a demon and now seeks revenge upon these creatures.

I am a sucker for stories of fictional characters or monsters being real, so we already started strong. I also love historicals, so that's two points for The Road to Hell. And while I do prefer them to be pure historicals, I actually love how this story handles its sci-fi elements.

An alien species gave a local lady a machine that allows her to make anything alive out of her thoughts. They only wish to observe what she makes of it as they want to understand the concept of honor. It's a great idea even if not the highlight of the story, as their conflict with the Doctor is not all that much relevant, but I like it still.

What makes wonders out of this concept - besides amazing drawings of creatures and japanese pop culture - is when lady Asami uses the machine to try and see what comes of Japan in the future, when she discovers that Izzy is from the 20st century. What she sees is, of course, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And then she goes bonkers.

What I think could've been handled better is how much seeing so impacted her psyche because she has little character layers after this points as she is going balistic. Because while she was not a good person up to this point, it's not hard to understand why she would get mad at what she saw. She has every reason to get furious. And I don't think that entitlement to anger is given proper focus. But I like it still.

This story also ends with the Doctor making Sato immortal, which he hates as he was trying to kill himself in ritual now that his revenge was done. He feels the Doctor robbed him of his honor, of his humanity even, but is dismissed. In one perspective, I like a lot what this says of the Doctor - about how him being a time lord make him insensible to others sometimes and how badly he can mishandle a situation. Because he thinks he knows better. And so he dismisses what other people have to say.

But I was also rewatching seasons eight and nine of the new series while reading these comics, so I was surprised about how similar Ashildr's character is to Sato. They are handled completely different in some aspects, and while I actually like Alshidr a lot, I would say Sato makes the most of it. I don't known if Moffat had ever read these comics, but oh my gosh it's almost the same plot.

TV Action, by Alan Barnes - ★★★☆☆

Beep the Meeo is back. Haven't read The Star Beast yet so I wasn't pumped, but he is fine. The best part is Beep being defeated by Tom Baker talking too much, however.

The Company of Thieves, by Scott Gray - ★★★★☆

Or that story where the Kroton plot comes into the ongoing Izzy storyline and we get the best TARDIS team ever.

I got worried for a second beacuse of Eight's initial reaction to Kroton - he tries to kill him and it appears to be sucessful - that I was going to be denied grandeur, but it all works out well. The crew characters are not that interesting and they look a bit too 90's comics for my tastes.

The Glorious Dead, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

One of my favorites Doctor Who stories ever. It does everything it wants to do magnificently.

The setting is gorgeous. I love how this diplomatic meeting goes wrong in the worst way possible and we are left in this deadland. I love also how it ties to the religious themes and what makes humanity - in a loose sense of a human. The Doctor is out of the story when things gets bads; Izzy and Kroton are left to handle things themselves.

And how far has Izzy come. In one if its parts, this story makes the best of the doctorless time to show us how Izzy is now capable of doing a lot - I got my eyes wet reading her letter to Max; her relationship with Kroton is beautiful and I love how they relate by feeling like outsiders and less than human sometimes. I love that Izzy has a plan and that it works. The whole universe was doomed, but then Izzy Sinclair gave them a chance. And then she is dead.

Or so Russell T Davies thought, alongside us readers. Kroton rage after her death is heartbreaking. And then we see that Sato is somehow tied to this situation. Time made him insensible in his immortal life and now the only thing he believes in is death. Being denied death made it the thing he wants the most and the Doctor, even if unintetional, made a monster out of him. Of course Sato has personal responsabilities and this theme is dealt within the story itself, but it was his immortality that made it possible this horror movie ti happened.

And while I am in this topic, I love the body horror of this story. The way these people burn themselves to death for their beliefs is disturbing. The "monsters" desings are dope. There are a lot of alien species here, and they all look cool. Ooooh, and towards the end when it's revealed that this is what came of Earth...

And so I need ti talk about the other half of this story: the Doctor meets the Master once again. And of course he has been manipulating recents events. And it's interestingly in many layers.

First, the Master seems to have changed into someone different. Or so he says. And I do believed he did, I just don't think it was for the better. What he has now is a belief and that makes him more dangerous than ever. He may not have become a better or worthier person, but he does terrible things while trying to prove so. He wants to show how monstruous the Doctor's actions are but don't take any responsability to himself as he believe it was done for a cause. And it all comes into his need to prove himself better than the Doctor.

Secondly, it's a meta commentary on their relationship and how they destroy everything around them. And I mean that in a textual sense - they are the main characters of the story, but what about the lives of the people they leave in pieces? The Glorious Dead turns this around by making the Master - and even the Doctor, a little bit - think he has a destiny, that this story is about him and his friend. But it's not. It's about the little people. It's about Izzy and Kroton and Sato and how they try and get up again. Trying to reclaim themselves of a world that is usually center around other people stories.

Kroton and Sato are mirrors of each other in that sense; in how they are dealing with death and immortality. With loss. Of other people, of their souls. It hurts, but it's beautiful.

The Glorious Dead is one of favorites Doctor Who stories. You should read it.

The Autonomy Bug, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

This is going to sound pedantic but I am not a comedy guy. It's not that I hate it, just that I prefer drama overall. It's why it's rare to see me having much to say about a comedy story. This was great. It's a basic concept - robots appears to have gone crazy - but handled beautifully to tell a story about what makes us, us. The characters are weirdly complex for the little time they have to show it off. The funeral scene is as sad as they come.

The ending made me emotional. It's completely different from the stories Scott Gray told in his Eighth ternure overall, and it's great by being so. It may not be my favorite of the bunch, but it stands ou as unique.

Izzy's Story, by Alan Barnes - ★★★☆☆

Second time listening to this story. The first one I hadn't read any Izzy stories yet so I wanted to see if my opinion changed. It didn't. It's not bad, I have fun with it and all, but it takes what I like the least from Barnes' stories to make an audio. It's one of Eight's most cuttest and comedy based like Deathday and TV Action and so it feels inconsequential to me.

I don't know if I agree this should be placed here. Izzy sounds a bit too immature and so I think it would work best earlier in her timeline. The plot itself of Izzy going after a comic book that desappeared is nice, but I don't care much for the conclusion.

Ophidius, by Scott Gray - ★★★★☆

This is interesting in many ways. It introduces Destrii, so that's already a must read. It also starts the body swap plot, which I love. Izzy has never been so betrayed and it's really interesting to read, as next stories will explore. And I love the setting. Ophidius is a living ship who has its own ecosystem. The people who control the ship are horrendous and the idea that so many people have been turned into beats is horrifying.

The visuals are beautiful. I love the design of the mobox when they are in fours, but I thought they didn't look that good on two legs. There are many other cool aliens designs in Ophidius, including Destrii. That chair that let Eight become invisible by placiing him just a milisecond in the future is a dope technology that, under the show rules, make sense.

I wondered for a second if Eight wasn't going to notice that Destrii was in Izzy's body but thank gosh he did. I don't like when this happens in this trope because it undermines the characters relationships and at this point Eight should be able to recognize if there is something wrong with Izzy - and he did.

Beautiful Freak, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

A wonderful character piece. Izzy is depressed. She is in a body that isn't hers; her own destroyed in Ophidius. She feels ugly, disgusted and angry and don't know what to make from here on. Her life has changed forever. While I think Izzy's thoughts about Destrii's body are a bit cruel, it's understable. She was betrayed, she had her own body and now she won't ever be able to go home. She has every right to be outraged.

The pages where Izzy is submerged in pool as she can't breath is painful and so, so beautiful. Her dialogue with Eight gets to my heart. A sample of the best Doctor Who have to offer.

The Way of All Flesh, by Scott Gray - ★★★★☆

An interesting story. I don't think we reach the full potential of the concepts introduced here, but it's fun and emotional and have nice things ti say. We get a glimpse at Frida Kahlo's life in the Día de los Muertos as there is something terribly wrong happening.

This is a horror story. It uses body horror concepts to the fullest. It's as disgusting as Doctor Who gets. The Way of All Flesh introduces the necrotists, alien artists that make art of the dead, out of pain. A bit influenced by Hellraiser, I would say. I like that Gray chose the day of the dead as a setting for this story because it me disguted that the girl would dare to make something horrible out of such a beautiful date.

Frida also fits well into the story. She can relate to what Izzy is going through and I like that she calls her our on her bullshit. The ending is so beautiful, with Frida painting Izzy as she "was". Because it's the same person beneath. There is still the same beauty in her, no matter the state of her flesh.

Character Assassin, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

Oh this is great. Scott Gray was already my favorite Doctor Who writer by this point but he got extra points by writing a hate piece for Moriarty, one of the most infuriating characters to ever be. Oh it was so fucking great to see him humiliated.

Children of the Revolution, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

I thinks about Children of the Revolution a lot, even more than a month after have read it. It's my favorite Dalek story and I doubt that'll ever changed. I love the setting, I love what is done with established history and I love the art and the colors.

Izzy and the Doctor visits a friend of his who can help her acclimate to her new body, Alison. She is a marine biologist who is working in an underwater station. One day, however, they are attacked by (underwater) Daleks. What will happen next will shock you.

Nobody is exterminated. The Daleks choose to get the humans into the city they built underwater. Nobody can know they live there. Because they are peaceful. They are the Daleks with the human factor the Second Doctor helped engineer in Evil of the Daleks. In that sense this is a heavy continuity story and I could have hated it, but I don't. Because it makes something incredible out of the continuity it's using.

This Dalek city is engaging. You doubt every second when something will go wrong, because you know it will. But this time it's not these Daleks fault. It's the humans. I do think it's a complex situation because knowing every single thing the Daleks ever did I would never, ever trust any of them either and so the human characters are not hard to sympathise. But it's so heartbreaking to see something to beautiful crumble into pieces. There was potential here, for a better future, and it's shattered because of hate and mistrust.

It's interesting to have the TARDIS team as outcasts not because they put themselves in an awkward situation - they were friends with the crew - but rather because they are fundamentally different. Neither the Doctor or Izzy are humans at this point. The Doctor have story with the Daleks, and these ones trust him. They are outsiders and for once the Doctor have his hands tieds. He don't know if he can trust the Daleks, but if he don't and he is wrong - this is a chance of a lifetime. But he has no pull over the humans anymore. There is no winning.

And of course, there is Kata-Phobus. This huge, gorgeous, lovecraftian monster who has lived in this planet for ages and influenced this Dalek colony since its inception. It also influenced the conflict with the humans as it wants to feed upon them all. Kata-Phobus in a sense is there to externalize all that is wrong with the Dalek-human conflict, that ideia of racial superiority, that ideia that there are outsiders. That some people are essentialy different than others. Phobus is that fear made flesh. He plants fear and distrust in the head of these into his reach and he feeds on it.

So yes, I was moved when, in the climax, Alpha commands his fellow Daleks to autodestruction so that Kata-Phobus is defeated and they die as they wished to live - a peaceful people who didn't want any more death or cruelty in their lives. And so the Doctor and Izzy are left speechless because for once there were goods Daleks - while they saw the worst humanity had to offer. It's a must read. I love it. Just, trust me.

Me and My Shadow, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

Children of the Revolution ends in a cliffhanger with Izzy being abducted by these weird aliens - and now the Doctor is out for blood. But that's not the focus of Me and My Shadow - this is a Doctor lite story as we are reunited with Fey and Shayde during World War II and see how they are doing - not that great, as they have difficulties sharing a body and for the modt part have agreed to be active at different times.

Fey is frustrated that she can't use her abilities to the fullest because Shayde knows what that can do with the timeline. They are now one living being, but they are not in sincrony, and that is holding them back. And we also get hem being badasses and killing some nazis. So ten out of ten.

Uroboros, by Scott Gray - ★★★★☆

The Doctor recruits Feyde to help him rescue Izzy. Somebody pointed out how this is a bit similar, but in a much smaller scale, to what he does in A Good Man Goes to War, and that's fair. He is also reunited with Destrii who, as we discover, did not actually die neither had Izzy's body been destroyed.

I know it's Destrii kissing him but that panel of Eight being kissed by Izzy's body it cursed. Burn it with fire.

I don't care much for the Mobox plot to be honest. And that's way it loses a star. It's a fair enough sequel to Ophidius and there sre some cool concepts, but the plot falls into who tropes that I don't like that much neither feel like this story had enough pages to try and do something new with then.

Still solid.

Oblivion - ★★★★★

So finally we go after Izzy, who has been taken to Destrii's homeworld. Which is very ugly. I know it's intentional because it's a wasteland, but nonetheless what a ugly, disguting place.

The local riches have turned into humanoid animals some decades before and are now there to entertain local "monsters" - who are actually people of this dimension who have been badly fucked up by actions of the royals themselves and...

This place is a mess and everybody is horrible and no wonder that Destrii became such a horrendous person. She is the most sympathetic of the bunch, actually. Her mother is indeed a monster and was horrible to her. And is horrible to Izzy, when she arrives there mistaken as Destrii. And, of course, she made her daughter fight in arenas to the death.

Destrii once had a pet, that she took care of for months, until the day her mother made her kill it. And Destrii's death since then have been pure death. I wonder why the hell the girl run away.

Oh and her uncle is not much better. He talks like a nicer man but he is as bad. He helps Destrii escape, but it's more so he could test a way to run away himself - he had no way of knowing she would survive doing so. He is only gentler as long as he get something out of it.

So yeah, Destrii is fucked up. The parallels between Izzy and Destrii are great and I love how it's written. I love that Destrii had the option to make hell on earth, but she steps away. I love that she tells Izzy how unfair she has been treating her parents. I love that she kills her mother, even.

And then Izzy. As I said before, this is a coming of age story for her. And now is fully intk adulthood, and is ready to leave home. The TARDIS. So she kisses Fey because you only live once and she is tired of being a closeted lesbian, asks the Doctor to take her to her parents and say it's time she fix things. Izzy has had many adventures and she has grown up so much, and now is time to move on.

And oh, how I will miss her.

Where Nobody Knows Your Name, by Scott Gray - ★★★☆☆

It's fine. The Doctor is dealing with missing easy while drinking in a bar. It has some fun alien concepts and the Doctor bits are fine. And unkown to him the barman is Frobisher, who doesn't know he is talking to the Doctor because he haven't met Eight yet.

The bits of Eight thinking about retiring do plant some nice ideas tho.

The Nightmare Game - ★☆☆☆☆

I tried. I promised I tried. But I have been reading hundreds of pages of wonderful imsginative stories and then I get to this and... it's inferior. It's leagues below the stories being told before.

The Doctor almost asks the worst kid to ever exist in London if he wants to travel with he him. I get that he is lonely but can we not.

Also it's that guy writing. Yeah. That guy.

The Power of Thoueris!, by Scott Gray - ★★★☆☆

Something I haven't yet is how more violent Eight is in these comics (and the books) when compared to the audios. You might think that's why three stars, but I like it. I think it's fine for some lives of the Doctor be more violent and even cruel than others.

And oh my gosh. He is savage here. That poor hippopotamo girl was irrititating, yes, but oh dear she was eating alive by crocodiles.

Overall a fun story with an art that I like but that is not that consequential.

The Curious Tale of Spring-Heeled Jack, by Scott Gray - ★★★★☆

And then we are back to form. The Doctor is still directionless and in search of his next companion to be, because he collects them as Bruce Wayne collects orphans, this time in victorian London as the city is being "haunted" by a badass looking prankster "ghost".

It has a kinda obvious twist but who cares, it's well written. And one of the best non-introductory companion stories I have seen so far as it actually does something interesting with the non-companion.

Once again the Doctor overstepped but this time he isn't called out neither by characters or by the story. I understand that the girl he met and the monster that revealed herself were two different people and you could make an argument that debating so would make a great plot, but that's not the focus of this story so instead what we see is the Doctor wiping a criminal's woman memory so she lives unaware of her crimes (and honestly without being taken to justice).

I understand why it happens, but I wish the story would delve more into the implications.

Bad Blood, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

I like this story a lot. The Doctor arrives in the USA in 1875 in the middle of a conflict by an indigenous tribe and white people. The leader of the the tribe believes that the Doctor was sent to help them survive. The scenes where the both of them go into the "spiritual world" are beautiful.

And then there is Destrii and her uncle trying to get something out of this situation. There are "werewolfs" attacking nearby villages, which has been rising the racial tension. Jodafra and Destrii offer weapons, much more advanced than they should ever get, to the white soldiers. And, of course, there is also second intentions behind their actions.

I *must* say: Destrii is far from being a perfect person but these traits are written intentionally. She is kind of an asshole in this story because she thinks of this situation as being part of a western movie, one of the few references she has of Earth. She doesn't understand that is helping genocide, the impact of her actions. But she is not a monsters, so when her uncle put children into risk she draws a line in the sand and betrays him.

I like to think she had flashbacks to her own childhood. She is distress by children in danger while she usually have no problem with people dying. And the way Jodastra hits and almost kill her is disgusting and horrifying. Destrii is not a good person, but she is trying to be. And that's a little bit heartbreaking.

Sins of the Father, by Scott Gray - ★★★☆☆

The Doctor takes Destrii to a space station where she can be healed but the station is attacked by vengeanful monkeys who live in zero grav and centuries before were slaves of the same alien race that now owns the medical station. They are not slavers or even violent anymore but that's the only revenge the monkeys are going to get so they will destroy it anyway.

Destrii is a decent person and kinda saves the day and the Doctor offers her stay at the TARDIS. Not the strongest the DWM have to offer but not the best either.

The Flood, by Scott Gray - ★★★★★

Ok so let's start by talking about the elephant in the room. Destrii character makes sense but I still wish she was written a lil bit different here. She is not human and the only thing she knows of humanity are movies and cartoons that are filled with racial stereotypes so she reproduces them when meeting humans and it makes sense but oh my god it's so umconfortable. And I know it's intentional but still.

That out of the way, this is good. Destrii entusiasm of properly visiting Earth is contagious. Too bad they arrive just before a Cybermen invasion. And what a invasion. They have been manipulation local population through water that mess with their emotions. The guy Destrii is racist to tries to kill her because of it as his emotions are totally out of control and it seems as if he is having a breakdown.

Cybermen from the future have arrived in London and are about to try and convert everybody. For starts I love their design, they are my favorite Cybermen just for how gorgeous they look. We meet the M16 characters again and it's disturbing when their emotions are manipulated to they actually have a breakdown. It's cruel and effective when we see these characters that we have met before are hurting themselves, asking for mercy and, later, even converted.

We see them partially converted and it's disturbing.

At its heart this is the best the cybermen have to offer: a story about how our feelings is what make us humans, no matter how heartbreaking it can be, or how painful it might get.

It's also about change, as Eight's time was near its end and the Ninth Doctor was ready to make his debut.

At the climax of the story the Eighth Doctor falls into the time vortex and almost merges with it and the description of him almost becoming one with time itself is beautiful. He chooses to step away from eternity, though, for Destrii. She needs him.

It was the right choice from DWM to not have Eight regenerate here, because they got the perfect ending. Eight and Destrii walking towards the sun, ready to have many other adventures. Because their story together just begun.

This was a wonderful read and there is barely a story I could call bad. Most of them are great or classics, to be honest, and this is perhaps the best Doctor Who has ever been.

So farewell, "but change is what makes us real".

#Doctor Who #Eighth Doctor #Izzy Sinclair #Fey #Shayde #Feyde #Kroton #Destrii #bookshelf

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floating-mid-air · 4 years

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The Princess Of All Saiyans

Masterlist

Hey guys! Chapter nine is here. And this one is a fun one. As always, I hope you enjoy. And if you have any comments or questions regarding this fic, feel free to let me know.

Also if you've been following this story for a while, then you'd know how inconsistent I am when I post chapters of this story. Sometimes it takes me two weeks to write another chapter, and other times it takes me an entire month. So if you're interested in being notified whenever I post a new chapter, you can join my tag list here.

Chapter 9

Vegeta and Raditz land simultaneously, both Saiyans carefully observing their surroundings. All of the Dragon Balls have remained in place, but that provides very little relief. There isn't a trace of your presence, not a footprint, not even a stray hair. "Y/N!" Raditz shouts at the top of his lungs. This was a severe mistake on his part. For his own sake, Raditz better hope the Ginyu force hasn't heard all of his commotion.

Vegeta paces back and forth, his hands knotted through his hair. "Relax, Vegeta. She couldn't have gotten far." Despite Raditz's calm words, his tone gives him away completely. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that he's just as anxious as Vegeta.

Raditz's advice doesn't seem to calm down the prince even a little. In fact, he only seems to grow more distraught. "Raditz, you don't understand. I never disclosed the location of the Dragon Balls to her."

Raditz furrows his brows at the smaller Saiyan. "What the hell, Vegeta!" Never in his wildest dreams did Raditz ever imagine himself shouting at the prince. He didn't even notice that Gohan and Krillin had joined them. Hopefully, they've picked up bits and pieces of the conversation because neither Saiyan has the patience to deal with their idiocy at the moment. "Just--- What the fuck were you thinking?" Raditz doesn't understand. How can Vegeta go from ordering someone to stay glued to your side at all times to leaving you to fend for yourself on a foreign planet? It's only been a few weeks. How can he have gone through such a drastic change in such a short amount of time?

"If I knew the Ginyu Force was coming, do you think I would've left her alone!" Their bickering is doing nothing to help. In fact, it's probably making the situation worse.

"Alright. How about you both calm down." Krillin decides to jump in and play peacemaker. "Y/N seems more than capable of taking care of herself. We need to focus on the threat. We need to get this over with and summon the dragon before something bad happens."

Both Saiyans turn to the smaller earthling, glaring daggers at him. "Who gives a damn about immortality right now! You don't know the first thing about my sister! So don't stand there all high and mighty and act like you do." Krillin hit a nerve, but it wasn't just in Vegeta.

The earthling wants to revive his friends, but there is something he doesn't understand about Raditz. You've been the faint speck of light in his otherwise shitty world, the only friend the Saiyan has ever had. Even though he stood with his brother, you're still a priority over the resurrection of a handful of puny earthlings.

"Interesting to see where your priorities lie, Geta!" Your legs have been sticking out of your handcrafted shelter the entire time. It's funny to see what details people miss while they're in a state of panic. You lean forward, revealing yourself to the abnormal group. Now your entire body hangs off the mountain.

Four sets of eyes look up at you, all with varying responses present on their features. "Oh, thank god," Vegeta whispers, at an octave low enough only for him to hear. Raditz places a hand on his chest, sighing in relief as Vegeta's features contort in displeasure. "What did I tell you about pulling shit like this? Get your ass down here!"

You jump down, landing in front of the Dragon Balls. This ensures that you maintain a safe distance away from your brother just in case he decides to kill you. "Don't get your panties in a twist."

Vegeta's nostrils flare, complemented with his entire body shaking with rage. "You scared me half to death." You expected a lecture, but he's not even raising his voice. You may have freaked him out more than you originally intended.

Your lips curve upwards. "That sounds like a you problem, big brother." Something is particularly satisfying about throwing his own words in his face.

"I suppose I deserved that." His features soften. "I'm just relieved that you're alright."

Raditz walks over to you, slinging an arm around your shoulders. "Well, what did I do to deserve that scare?"

"Collateral damage Raditz. Call it a happy accident."

"Enough of the chit-chat. Now let's---" Vegeta cuts himself off as you all lookup. You can sense the Ginyu Force, and they're heading straight for you. You grab Raditz, pulling him into the homemade cave. The others were facing the Dragon Balls. There would've been no time for them to get up here as well. Your higher altitude could be used to your advantage since you'll have the element of surprise.

It's a bit cramped, but when you created the cave. You never expected to share the space with a Saiyan of Raditz's size. He takes up more space than you and Vegeta combined. You both watch the Ginyu Force land in front of a trembling Gohan, a frozen Krillin, and an aloof Vegeta. You really hope the Genius Force doesn't do those god-awful poses. You've already been traumatized enough for the week.

You decide to keep a close eye on Captain Ginyu, who is currently exchanging pleasantries with your brother. Well, as pleasant as it can get for two beings who are about to murder each other in cold blood. Followed by murmurings from various members of the Ginyu Force and Recoome's delayed laughter. "Just hand over the Dragon Balls, Vegeta. No need to make this any harder than it has to be." Vegeta's posture remains stiff. It's clear your brother isn't going to budge. Their little group is going to have to pry that orb from his dead body. "Come on, Vegeta, be a sport. We already have five." He gestures to the spheres behind him. That means Frieza will have five. Can you really trust those neanderthals to hold onto their Dragon Balls? No, you were raised to trust no one's capabilities but your own, not even Vegeta's.

Jeice looks around, his green eyes scanning around the area. "Where's that gorgeous sister of yours, Vegeta?"

Vegeta glares at the red man. "Even if my sister was here. I doubt she'd be interested, Jeice. I mean, she never has been." Oh, your brother knows all about your history with the mutant Brench-seijin. He's overly flirty, and you reject him. It was a vicious never-ending cycle. If Vegeta had no self-control, he would've murdered him years ago for even looking in your direction. In his eyes, Jeice is unworthy of a woman of your status.

"Well, with Raditz out of the picture, there's no chance for Saiyan offspring. So I figured I'd shoot my shot." You cringe. You're not sure which idea is more repulsive, a relationship with Jeice or procreating with Raditz.

"Even if you were the last man in the universe. My sister wouldn't so much as glance in your direction." Vegeta and Jeice continue going back and forth as an idea pops in your head. This may be your only opportunity to get your hands on a Dragon Ball. You're only chance to put a fork in Frieza's plans for immortality.

You silently climb out of the cave, dropping to the ground. The others can unmistakably see you, but they make no expressions alerting the Ginyu Force of your presence. You grab the closest orb before promptly flying back to the cave. Call this your insurance policy for when Krillin and Vegeta ultimately screw up. You escaped that entirely undetected. Is the term elite just thrown around loosely in the Frieza Force? Because that's what you're starting to think.

You hand the Dragon Ball to Raditz, directing your gaze back outside. "Those scouters of yours can't detect Dragon Balls, can they?" It was a rhetorical question. Vegeta knows they don't have that type of technology yet. You know how your brother thinks, and this is a faulty plan on his part. "Then you lose!" Vegeta pivots, launching the ball at an alarming speed. It would be a fatal blow to the head if it hit someone.

Burter takes off, chasing after the orb. He flips in the air, catching the ball with ease. You swear, Vegeta can be such a dumbass sometimes. He knows Burter rivals you in speed. He may even be a bit faster than you.

You shake your head, turning to Raditz, lowering your voice to a whisper. "Here's the plan. When I formulate a distraction, you're going to take the Dragon Ball and get the hell out of here. And Raditz, go hide the damn thing, somewhere no one will find it." He grins from ear to ear, causing you to glare at him. You know how this moron thinks by now. "And do not hide it with that Earth woman. That will just get her killed."

"What if that's my intention?"

"I don't think little brother Kakarot would be very pleased with you, but it's your call." You stand in silence for a moment, your piercing gaze lingering on the Saiyan. "Though, I can assure you. If Frieza gets his hands on that Dragon Ball. I'll kill you. In the most graphic and painful way, I can imagine." He gulps nervously, rapidly shaking his head in understanding. To Raditz, you're the only life form that can still sound menacing while whispering.

You revert your vision back to the little gathering outside. And as you assumed, Krillin lost his Dragon Ball as well. Ginyu decides to take Vegeta for himself, which doesn't go over well with his team. They're acting like a bunch of children. It's almost comical. "Fine." The Captain sighs. "I'll take the Dragon Balls back to Lord Frieza. You all can sort this out amongst yourselves." They chant Ginyu's name a few times. They kinda remind you of a cult.

The four lower members of the Ginyu force move to stand in a circle. "So the winner gets Vegeta. And for second place---" Guldo is cut off by Recoome.

"The rest. Make the two runts a set. Together they'll be more equal to Vegeta." Oh, that can't be going over well with your brother. The fact that Recoome would declare that those two are his equals must be sending his blood pressure through the roof.

They begin playing rock paper scissors. This must be how they decide their battles. It's like a game to them. Every single match ends in a draw. At this rate, you could be stuck up here forever.

You doze off until you hear Recoome cheering. The endless match must have finally ceased. "Ya! I get Vegeta!" Fate can be an amusing thing sometimes. Vegeta must be ecstatic, getting to show the moron just how much stronger he is than those pathetic runts.

"Of course, I'm stuck with the runts." Guldo wines. He's the last creature who should be referring to anyone as a runt. You could squash that little freak like a bug.

Ginyu approaches the Dragon Balls, picking them up with his telekinesis. He counts them before snapping his head toward the dumbest member of the Ginyu Force. "Recoome! There's only four here!"

Recoome scratches the back of his neck, that classic confused look on his face. "I'm sorry, Captain Ginyu. I thought I counted five."

Jeice turns to his superior. "I told you we shouldn't have trusted him with counting the Dragon Balls."

The Captain takes a deep breath, attempting to keep his composure. "It doesn't matter. I'll search for the missing Dragon Ball. It's probably with Y/N anyway." He takes off, heading in the direction of Frieza's ship. Well, that takes out your major concern. The others are child's play compared to Ginyu.

You pay minimum attention to Guldo's battle with Krillin and Gohan. You're more focused on finding an opening for a distraction. You begin to notice significant holes in their fight. Guldo will be in one area and then magically appear in another, and he's not teleporting. If he was, you would've been able to track his movements. Could the rumors about that green freak be true? Can he really pause time? They must be. That's the only feasible explanation. So under the assumption that Guldo can stop time, the earthlings don't even stand a chance. No matter what they do, that four-eyed freak will always remain one step ahead of them.

You do, however, pick up on something. Guldo appears to hold his breath before every skip in time. That must be a limitation in his abilities to pause time. So if those two can somehow prevent him from holding his breath, they should be able to best him. You know what, scratch that. Those two probably haven't picked up on his abnormal behaviors.

Though, the earthlings do appear to have the advantage at the moment. And the rest of the Ginyu Force won't let Guldo forget it. They're heckling him so loud that you can hear them clearly from all the way up here. Guldo's kinda like the Raditz of the group, just a lot less respected.

Guldo tosses the pair up into the air as a strange yellow light surrounds them. He's claiming it's a paralysis attack. That doesn't sound good for the earthlings.

Krillin and Gohan struggle almost as if they were trapped in invisible bindings. As far as you can tell, they're immobile. If Guldo felt the need to resort to such dire tactics, he must think that he can't take out the pair any other way. So when the earthling and the half-breed combine their strength, they're mightier than Guldo. That's quite impressive considering how weak they were back on Earth.

"Now I'm gonna show you what happens when you embarrass me in front of the boys." You clench your fists, your nails digging into your palms, as you watch Guldo intently. As much as you hate to admit it, you're going to need those two runts. So if Guldo were to kill them, it would be very unfavorable. He uses another mind trick to pull a tree from the ground, using the bottom end as a makeshift spear. He points the weapon at the pair, taunting them. He's gonna impale them with a fucking stick. What a pathetic way to go.

You do wonder why Vegeta hasn't intervened yet. He's never played by their rules before. So what's stopping him now? Your brother may simply believe that Gohan and Krillin deserve to die. For not adhering to his warning regarding the weakest link of the Ginyu Force. It's not below Vegeta to be that petty. You can't blame him though, those two fools have no sense of self-control.

The slimy green creature's obnoxious cackling invades your ears. Honestly, Guldo's just pissing you off more than he was before.

Amidst the chaos, you jump out of the cave, flying a bit to distance yourself from suspicion. You shoot a purple beam at Guldo, efficiently decapitating him. Raditz seems to have gotten the message since he checked out with the Dragon Ball sometime during the commotion. He better hide that thing somewhere safe because his life depends on it.

"Did you really think I'd let a creature as pathetic as Guldo kill anything with a drop of Saiyan blood!" Your voice booms causing all eyes to land on you. You place a hand on your chest, fixating your gaze on the Ginyu Force. "I'm hurt that you didn't include me in your little game."

"Oh, our apologies Y/N." Jeice's thick accent invades your ears. "We should have assumed. Wherever Vegeta is, you're always somewhere nearby."

You swear you can hear faint grumbling. You just can't quite locate the source. Your eyes scan over the ground until you discover the origin of the sound. Long story short, it was Guldo's severed head. So his species can survive decapitation, good to know. "Defeated by a damn Saiyan. And the weaker one at that." You could run circles around that little freak. If you went head to head, he wouldn't even be considered a challenge. Guldo's giving himself far too much credit.

Vegeta chuckles darkly. "Well, don't worry." He strides over to the talking head. "You won't have to deal with that shame for long." Vegeta finishes the job, eliminating that embarrassment of the group of supposed elite warriors.

The three remaining members complain about Guldo's demise, but it's not for the reason you may think. They're more upset about the impact his absence will have on their ridiculous pose. You wish you could say you were surprised, but you've known those idiots far too long to believe anything else.

The half-breed and earthling walk over to you, identical expressions of gratitude apparent on their faces. "We owe you one, Y/N." You roll your eyes at Krillin. It was a simple business decision. And it was nothing more than that.

Gohan nods in agreement. "Ya, thanks." You cringe at his gratitude. Why are they thanking you? You killed Guldo for your own selfish reasons.

"Your lives had nothing to do with it." Well, at least Krillin's. If Guldo did kill the half-breed, it would've been an embarrassment to your entire race in hell. "I needed a distraction. I saw an opportunity."

"She's right, so pull yourselves together. Your lives are incredibly insignificant to us." Vegeta's lying. Your brother knows you need them. He's just far too prideful to admit it.

Burter turns to Jeice, morphing his hands to prepare for another excruciating match of rock paper scissors. "Alright, Jeice. Winner gets the Princess, and the loser gets stuck with the two runts."

Jeice shakes his head. "No, Y/N's all yours." He turns to you, his green eyes meeting your own. "I could never lay a hand on a lady as fine as the Princess." You suppress a gag, deciding to keep your mouth shut. If you were to respond, there's a good chance you could end up fighting both of them.

Burter furrows his brows at his comrade. "Are you sure?"

"Ya, go crazy, Burter." It's actually a reasonable match-up. You and Burter both have incredible speed. I guess you'll finally find out who's faster.

Now with Guldo out of the picture, it's Recoome's turn to fight Vegeta. He reminds you a bit of Nappa. Since he lacks any form of self-control. His punches at your brother are erratic. He even almost hits you, Krillin, and Gohan several times. If Recoome were to hit Krillin with that kind of force, there's no doubt in your mind that it would be a fatal blow.

"Don't go killin them all yourself!" Jeice is second in command to Ginyu, so his authority over Recoome makes sense. "I get the two runts, and Burter get's the Princess of the monkeys." One minute Jeice is flirting with you. The next, he's demeaning you. Talk about mixed signals.

You watch Recoome and Vegeta trade punches, and it's starting to lack any value of entertainment. Vegeta's covered in blood while Recoome's armor is chipped, and he's now missing tufts of hair.

You begin to grow impatient. This will be the first time you've been challenged in a while. "Yo, Burter! Let's just get this over with now. We'll make this battle a double feature."

"Fine with me." The two of you distance yourselves from Recoome and Vegeta, commencing your battle as well.

Their gazes flicker back and forth between both battles. They were so enthralled in the action that neither Gohan nor Krillin noticed that Raditz had joined them.

Gohan and Krillin stick to the sidelines. They're in no hurry to fight Jeice. Even though he's significantly smaller than Recoome and Burter, Krillin doesn't think Jeice's smaller size will give them any sort of advantage.

"Raditz?" Jeice looks far from pleased. He's always been jealous of the Saiyan. Not for his strength, rather the envy stems from Raditz's luscious mane of hair. It took Jeice several years to grow his hair to an adequate length, while that fool was born with that full head of hair. Raditz meets his gaze, an arrogant smirk overtaking his features. As he waves at the green-eyed man mockingly. "But--- Y/N said you ran off!"

Mid-battle, you turn to Jeice. Without even looking, you still manage to keep up with Burter. "I'm a compulsive liar, Jeice! It's a nasty habit."

Jeice huffs, crossing his arms at the largest Saiyan. "Raditz is mine. I'm throwing him in with the two runts." A chuckle escapes your lips. He's underestimating what the three of them could accomplish together. Jeice is letting his own petty feelings cloud his judgment. How arrogant.

Krillin's brows furrow as his eyes linger on you. There's something that isn't quite adding up. He turns to Raditz and Gohan, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Hey, guys. I've been thinking about something. Remember back on Earth how Vegeta said that Saiyans get stronger after battle. Well, Vegeta's gotten stronger after several fights, but do you see Y/N? She's still able to effortlessly keep up. Even though she's barely lifted a finger. How is that possible?" The earthling's eyes widen as the gears begin to shift in his head. "Unless. Is she stronger---"

Raditz's hand covers Krillin's mouth, lowering his voice to a deadly whisper. "Silence, you earthling. Keep that big mouth of yours shut."

Krillin's teeth sink into his captor's hand, successfully freeing himself from the Saiyan's clutches. Several muffled phrases of obscenity escape Raditz's lips as he rapidly shakes his hand in an attempt to soothe the pain. "She is. Isn't she?" The look on Raditz's face told Krillin all he needed to know. "But you knew that already, and I bet you know why too. I wonder how Vegeta would feel about this?" His last sentence was clearly a passive-aggressive threat toward both you and Raditz. The earthling wouldn't be dumb enough to follow through with that threat, would he?

Raditz scowls at Krillin. How dare this pathetic little weasel attempt to threaten him. "Not a word to Vegeta. If you value your life. I'd stop talking now. Vegeta doesn't know, and it would be very unfavorable if he found out, for all of us." His tone shifts, his eyes flashing with vulnerability. "Something bad happened to us as children, and Vegeta still doesn't know about it." He returns to his menacing demeanor, your shared childhood trauma getting pushed to the back of his mind becoming yet again a distant memory. "So you will stop your absurd thoughts now. Or I can assure you. The second you resurrect your feeble friends, I will single-handedly slaughter them, and then you will follow." Krillin gulps, nodding in fear. He better pray Vegeta heard none of their conversations because he has a feeling Raditz will stick to his word.

Raditz thinks he knows all your secrets, but he's only aware of the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface lies pain and suffering the older Saiyan could never imagine from you. You keep these secrets to protect him, to protect Vegeta, and most importantly, to protect yourself. But if either of them were to find out the truth, your life as you know it would come crashing down. If they were to find out your greatest shame, your pride would be in shambles, and they would know the truth. You're just a weak Saiyan who's an embarrassment to her family name.

You're not exactly sure how much time has passed. You've completely blocked out the entirety of your surroundings, remaining focused on your battle with Burter. You can't joke around as you did back on Earth. There's no room for error today.

The two of you take turns beating the absolute hell out of each other. If you keep this up, there will be no end to this anytime soon. You shriek, spiking up your energy substantially. Burter's eyes bug out as his scouter explodes. Those pieces of junk are really no match to this energy-sensing technique.

Even though you've blocked out your surroundings, you know the two of you have moved a significant distance away from the others. You could even be on the other side of the planet by now. In the back of your mind, you can't help but worry about your brother especially, now that you're so far away. Recoome may be an idiot, but he's a strong one. You have to remain focused. You can't help Vegeta if you don't help yourself first.

You begin to get the edge over Burter. Now he's attempting to block your attacks, but due to his large size, he's failing horribly. A couple more blows, and you'll finally be able to knock him down. You've taken down guys much larger than Burter, creatures who were triple his size.

Over the years, you've learned to use your smaller size to your advantage. Making your opponent's sheer size more of a nuisance than a strength. Burter begins to struggle further. He's now barely able to keep up with you. "I'm the fastest being in the universe! How can one of you monkeys be faster than me?" You scowl at him, finding no humor in his statement as rage boils inside of you.

Unknown to you, you and Burter aren't alone. Goku has been watching your battle in awe for quite some time now. He knows he should've left to find the others, but he just couldn't help it. He can't take his eyes off of you. This is the first time he's seen you fight, and you're much stronger than the Earthbound Saiyan believed.

Your fists clench as your entire body convulses in rage. It's not often you'll lose your temper like this. Goku swears that he saw your irises flash a shade of red. He rubs his eyes, glancing back at you. Your eyes have returned to normal. Maybe Goku is just seeing things. If you knew someone was watching, you would've kept your temper in check.

Burter sends a blast of your energy your way. Which you dodge by teleporting behind him. You use all of your body weight to knock him down to the ground. You won't mock him like you typically do after defeating a foe. You won't take the chance of giving him an opening to strike back. In the palm of your hand, you create an orb of energy, disintegrating his head. Successfully, taking out your second member of the great Ginyu Force.

You fall to your knees, desperately gasping for air, before grabbing your side, wincing in excruciating pain. Damn, Burter must have nicked you good. You look to your side, noticing just how much blood has leaked through your armor. This is gonna be an issue, though you've fought through worse. You stand back up to check your body for any further damage. There seems to be no other physical damage to your form. Your armor is a bit ripped, though.

"Wow! You're really strong." You gasp, moving your fist, aiming it at whoever is in front of you. They swiftly catch your fist, preventing you from attacking. Their grip is secure enough to stop you from escaping, yet at the same time pleasantly gentle.

You move your gaze upwards, finally gathering the courage to look them in the eye. Your brows furrow as Goku's dumb face enters your field of vision. "God, Kakarot! When the hell did you get here?" You shake yourself out of his grasp, taking a few steps back, putting some distance between you two.

"A while ago." He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "I got distracted by your fight." So he was observing you the whole time. Why does that make you feel incredibly self-conscious?

"Of course you did." You sigh, moving several strands of hair out of your face. Goku steps closer to you, bringing his hand to meet your forehead. It's so big that it takes up the entirety of your forehead and even the top of your head. "Kakarot. What the hell are you doing?"

"Just be quiet for a second." It's official. Goku has lost what was left of his mind. "So it is true. You guys are working together. And that Frieza guy is a much bigger deal than I thought." How does he know about all of that? And why is he still touching you?

You slap his arm, convincing him to remove his hand. "And why's that?"

"Because you're afraid of him."

Your face flushes. "I'm not scared of Frieza. I'm not afraid of anything." Your cross your arm, averting his gaze.

"Yes, you are." He pouts. "I saw it." Kakarot saw it? How the hell--- Did Kakarot acquire the ability to read thoughts? Is that even possible?

You decide to divert his mind from his accusations. Knowing Kakaort, that shouldn't be hard at all. "Since when can you read minds?"

He rubs his chin, lost deep in thought. "I don't know--- I just had a feeling."

"Well, let's go. And new rule." You bring your hand up, pointing your index finger at the buffoon. "Stay out of my thoughts!"

He holds up his hands in surrender, nodding. "Are we gonna go find that Captain Ginyu guy?"

"No. We have to go make sure that Recoome and Jeice haven't killed the others first. Don't bite off more than you can chew." Goku has this aura around him. You can tell he's gotten stronger. He just needs to learn how to get his priorities in order.

Okay. All you have to do is pin down someone's energy. There are at least four sources to choose from, so this should be fairly simple. You shut your eyes. This should help you concentrate adequately.

"Ohh, what's that?"

Your head snaps toward Goku. "What?" You swear the man has an attention span equivalent of an insect.

He bends down, observing the ground intently. "It's like a green string."

"A green--- Kakarot! Don't!" But you were too late. He's already yanked the tripwire.

The ground concaves beneath you, causing you to lose your footing as the two of you fall down into the pit. You fall on top of Goku. Unintentionally straddling the Saiyan. And if you thought this situation couldn't get any more awkward, you'd be wrong. Goku's arms are wrapped securely around your waist, holding you in place. Your heart feels like it's beating out of your chest. And your face feels like it's been set aflame. As your eyes lock, your face only turns a deeper shade of crimson. "D-Don't touch me!" You're stuttering. What the hell is happening to you?

His brows furrow. "You're the one who fell on top of me!"

"It's not my fault." His classic pout spreads across his lips. "How was I supposed to know that the ground would collapse?"

"W-Well, you're the reason we're in this mess!" You stand up, wanting to get as far away from Goku as possible. You don't like the way you feel around him. The only time your pulse should be racing like this is during combat.

"Well, it wouldn't be called a trap if you could see it!"

"I don't get why you're so mad. Can't we just fly out?"

You snicker as your lips curve upward. "Give it a shot, Kakarot." You know it won't work, but at least his failures will provide you with some quality entertainment. It would be a pretty pathetic trap if you could simply fly out. Goku flies up, slamming his head on the invisible barrier. You break out into a fit of laughter as he falls back down. Goku jumps back up, rubbing the back of his head. "Ouch. Did you know that would happen?" Your giggling dies down as Goku begins looking around the hole. "How did this place even get here? Is this Frieza's work?"

"No. It's definitely the work of the Namekians. Frieza wouldn't be able to formulate something so elaborate in the amount of time he's had. Besides that dictator never does any of his own dirty work."

"Well, let's just sit back and relax. I'm sure we'll be fine. Someone will have to find us eventually." He has such a laid-back attitude. Maybe another alien baby crash-landed on Earth. Because with every second that passes, you're finding it harder to believe that Goku has Saiyan ancestry.

"Oh, ya, let's just relax." You mock him. "While the others are probably getting chopped up into little pieces by the remnants of the Ginyu Force as we speak!"

"Why are you always so negative?" Is he serious? Do you have to spell out why this is potentially a very dire situation? You'd think he would show more concern for his son.

Your hands meet the sides of your head. You're practically yanking your hair out at this point. To say you're frustrated would be an understatement. "God, why am I constantly getting trapped in enclosed spaces with your idiotic bloodline! First, it was your spawn, then it was your moronic brother, and now I'm stuck with you. And you're somehow the worst of them all!" Goku just stands in front of you like a statue with that goofy smile plastered on his face. "And stop smiling when I yell at you!"

Being stuck down here with Kakarot will be the ultimate test of your willpower----

Will the others make it to Y/N and Goku in time? Or will Y/N kill Goku before they even get the chance? Find out in the next chapter of The Princess of All Saiyans!

#goku #goku x reader #saiyan reader #vegeta #vegeta's sister #dbz fanfiction #dbz x reader #dragon ball x reader #dragon ball z #The Princess of All Sayians

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chicoriii · 3 years

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Season 4, Episode 4 - Mr Pigeon 72

I have no idea where to start. This episode has some good things and some extremely stupid.

Marinette isn't still completely fine, but I prefer when she deals with it through being hyperactive than being a whining crybaby.

I know people don't agree with me, but personally I don't buy the whole revealing identity to Alya. It's not a problem with Alya herself, I would say the same about every single character who is not named Alix Kubdel at this point of the story. I haven't written anything in my post about Gang of Secrets, because I thought it would be undone in some way at the start of the next episode. The creators did nothing to explain why revealing identity of Ladybug to anyone was super dangerous and would result in a catastrophe in seasons 1-3 and the first two episodes of S4, but it's magically fine in episode 3. Only Alix made sense to me, as she will be the rabbit Miraculous holder, so she is destined to discover identities of everyone sooner or later and Marinette is aware of that. While it's not necessary to learn identity of anyone to other temporary Miraculous wielders, including Alya. Also that reveal hasn't been foreshadowed in season 3, while the show usually does it, especially if it's about something as important as that! More, in late S3, it's been shown that Alya still can't resist to not talking about Marinette's love life with Nino, despite she asked her to not do it. Now the girl, who is overly excited about superhero stuff, has no problems with even accidental revealing anything to Nino or someone else. She's even "stealing" Bunnix line that she's great at keeping secrets (sorry but you, the creators, haven't shown us that she's indeed is before!). This is why I think that reveal hasn't been planned before they started writing season 4.

But okay, I can deal with it, even if I don't buy it, but things these happened in Mr. Pigeon 72 are even more inconsistent with previous seasons. I have been worried about it, so it doesn't surprised me. For some reason Guardian related-things that have been kept in a secret before from everyone minus current Guardian and the future Guardian, are now fine being done in front of Kwamis (remember, they haven't been allowed to learn about making potions before!) and a civilian who is just a temporal Miraculous holder, not someone who is supposed to be trained to be a new Guardian. You can say - new Guardian, new rules, but why? Marinette has been portrayed as someone who respect authorities, she has never questioned any Fu's rules. It wasn't even said in the episode that she's going to change the rules. I hate that the writers don't even bother to explain us what's going on. Probably they don't bother about consistency, they think the audience is going to be too excited about Alya knowing Ladybug's identity and helping Marinette to question anything about it? How Alya could be allowed to learn the Guardian secrets? She is just best friend of the protagonist, she is not one of the main characters to get that special treatment. I makes zero sense to me. Especially since Su-Han will be introduced in episode 6 and he should help Marinette with understanding the Grimoire, Alya isn't necessary here for any other reason than fanservice.

In my opinion the way how they discovering how to make charms that protects from akumasitation was the most stupid thing that happened this season and one of the most in the whole show. Marinette who is the new Guardiand and portrayed as someone extreme intelligent and creative couldn't find the solution for days, but Alya with zero training magically discovered it in a few hours at worst. And when she told her the solution in not even very clear way, Ladybug did it immediately with no effort. That was so anticlimactic. At least the animation was fine, but other aspects of it was just a big disappointment, and I was looking forward for it. Thank goodness it's just the beginning of the season, I hope later important events of the season will be better written and portrayed.

Also I find it absurd that Rena Rough is walking with a page from the Grimoire like it's just an ordinary book and she's talking about it in front of a random civilian, like things that are written there are nothing special. She or Ladybug are not careful about Miraculous lore anymore. Not to mention that they are giving hints that Rena is very close to Ladybug in public, suspiciously close. And now with them being too careless, that's not hard to suspect that Rena Rouge is someone very close to Ladybug, maybe even as a civilian. Shadow Moth knows Rena Rouge's identity, and it's easy to him to learn who is Alya Cesaire's best friend if he doesn't know it yet, after all his son is in the class with her. Marinette has always been super careful and serious about her duties before, why that sudden change with zero explanation? It's just very out of character to her in my opinion.

I didn't like the akuma battle either, it's now the worst fight of the season in my opinion. It was so short and felt very lazy. I only liked that Plagg got some action and interaction with Ladybug (though it should be suspicious for her that he managed to reach to her that fast). He should be aware now that Alya knows Ladybug's identity but he acts like nothing happened. Not a word about it being unfair towards his kid or something, weird.

Thankfully the rest of the episode is generally more or less fun to me. It was nice to see Marinette and Kagami interacting again. I loved Kagami in the episode, although it was a bit weird to me that she isn't seemed to be affected by her breaking up with Adrien. Like her crush was very shallow, so she managed to recover herself from it very quickly. While it's been shown that Luka is hurt, despite Lukanette always seemed to be much more shallow than Adrigami in my opinion. But maybe it's because she's so down to earth, so being less emotional makes sense for her character. I liked how her attitude was opposite to Marinette's hyperactive: "No, I don't want to be in a relationship with Adrien again, he disappointed me, just let me live!!!". And she's another character who said that Marinette and Adrien are made for each other. I'm not surprised that Kagami sees it now when she tried to be with him and that didn't work. She's observant, sees more than many other characters. It seems she's an Adrienette shipper now. It's also good that her issue with Adrien wasn't resolved that easily and too fast. They need more time, but I'm sure they will be friends again.

So, we've gotten shirtless Adrien. I remember seeing a tweet of Thomas in which he answered to a question if there will be a beach episode and he said we will get something similar. I wonder if he meant this episode. Oh, they just remembered that Adrien is supposed to be allergic to feathers. It seems Adrien has allergic reactions only when it's somewhat related to the plot. When it's not, he's completely fine.

The reference to the famous Umbrella Scene™ out of nowhere in a random episode? It probably means something. I can see "reverse crush" supporters interpreting it as a proof to their theory, especially since this time Adrien did something clumsy and Marinette is laughing because of it (actually both of them). Or maybe because it's the first episode of season 4 with Marinette and Adrien interactions, they decided to be that much gracious for Adrienette fans, to compensate lack of it in the first three episodes. Oh wow, Marinette managed to propose spending more time together to Adrien without stuttering. Probably because she has done it spontaneously. Marinette is the most nervous when she's planning and thinking what could go wrong too much. This time she had no time to it, so it went more smoothly. It's like they building development of their relationship, but it didn't seem in Guiltrip (that's episode 11 chronologically) that something changed.

Seeing screenshot above, you can easily imagine how great friends they could be, being very comfortable around each other and laughing together, if not Marinette's anxiety. We need Adrienette development so much to get more moments like this.

Oh and I just realized that it's also one of the veeeeery few episodes with no real Ladynoir at all (the only other one I remember is Style Queen). So if there was no Adrienette it would be an episode without interactions of two main characters at all (although we almost got Ladrien). It could be another reason why this episode is that nice for Adrien and Marinette ship.

After seeing overly excited Marinette dancing in the rain, I can't believe she can manage completely give up on Adrien. It doesn't look like this at all.

Also we've seen three photos of Adrien wearing THAT scarf. It could not mean nothing different that foreshadowing that he's going to discover the truth about it somewhere this season. But I have no idea what Ladybug's mask with shining eyes could mean.

I don't know what to think about the episode. Despite absurd Guardian-related things, I still liked it much more than Gang of Secrets, but I have no idea if I generally enjoyed it more than other episodes of this season or not. At least it's an episode without stupid drama, which is amazing.

---------

I'm currently less active on social media, because my internet connection is very unstable, it often works very slowly to the point I'm not patient enough to visit Tumblr. Also I block spoiler tags again, because I don't want to see spoilers from the episodes those are going to be released very soon, as I feel that they reveal too much to me once more. We're currently in a marathon of the new episodes and since watching them is the more more enjoyable, the less I know about them, I decided to try avoid spoilers as much as I can. The only bad thing is that I can't be read discussions about the new episodes, reblog them and adding something from me until Optigami will be aired.

#miraculous ladybug #ml mr. pigeon 72 #ml season 4 #ml spoilers #ml spoiler #chicoriii about S4 episodes #ml season 4 spoilers #chicoriii #original post

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katurdayss · 2 years

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Okay, I've watched 3 episodes of Rings of Power and stewed for a week.

Do I have problems with it? Yes, I have Faramir sized and shaped problems with it. I also find it incredibly visually inconsistent, but I'm a Graphic Designer by trade so I notice things like that (and it makes my eye twitch). Some of the dialogue is cringe-y at best and the music is just off enough that it makes me notice. I could probably have a good hour discussion on how Amazon misstep-ed that has nothing to do with it's not 'The Simiilrilian'.

Does that mean I think it's a crap show? No, its a solid B. I've watched way worse during the pandemic. Do I think that the supposed 1 billion dollars was well spent? Hell no. I'm convinced they took half that money and lit it on fire just so Bezos could flaunt the price tag.

So am I going to keep watching? Yes, but I'll also tell anyone I meet to do the same thing my father taught me to do. If you watch a show or movie that's based on a book and you liked it well enough, read the book as well. If you don't like the book, fine but at least you know the original intent. I have yet to regret this, and at the risk of incurring the wrath of book enthusiasts, the book hasn't always been better.

Tbh The Simiilrilian is dryer then over baked british biscuits that require 8oz of liquid to choke down imho.

#show: lord of the rings: the rings of power #lord of the rings #lotr on prime #lotr fandom #amazon prime video #lotr #the rings of power #jrr tolkien #the simiilrilion #books

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katsuki-goodness · 3 years

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<= Part 4 =>

Summary: If he wanted to come, he could have.

Tagged: @todosweetheart @afuckingunicornn

A/N: It's been a while since I wrote anything so I'm sorry for the inconsistencies. I made sure to look over it so I am hoping everything is okay lol Also, Val, I had forgotten you changed your name XD But I hope you enjoy this regardless. My writing isn't what it use to be but I only write when I feel in the mood so I hope you both enjoy this, and everyone else too~

"She is bruising up! She is losing too much blood! Y/n! Please!"

"Deku...!" Izuku stood up in front of his classmates, looking out to the stadium below where your body was lying motionless for everyone to see. You had not been hit by Todoroki regardless if that was the intention. He was trying to win and you had the same excuse, but you pushed yourself. You couldn't get a single scratch on him until he had assumed that he won. You were able to put him in the ground but he rolled away in time before you had the chance to smash him into the rocky floor. Your body began to wear out, your arms were giving up as they began to loosen upon you and that's when you began feeling wet. Something felt weird but it wasn't the water of any sort that was covering your arms, but the blood that was forming inside your arms. They began to bruise but you didn't think much of it and used your quirk to attack him again.

It took just a few seconds for you to feel the sharp pain, making you fall over and whale in pain. You had pushed yourself so hard that it popped some blood vessels and tore a ligament in your shoulder. Todoroki looked panicked but he didn't know what to do. Izuku quickly screamed out in fear, calling your name as the teachers stopped the match. Katsuki stood up from his seat, his eyes in utter shock. This couldn't be happening to me is what he thought, and his anger took over more and more until he jumped down to the lower levels to get to you. You were picked up and getting ready to be taken away but he caught up, his eyes angry, watering as if he felt like he was going to lose you.

"You damn idiot! Why the hell would you push yourself so hard, huh?!" His voice cracking but he continued to keep his anger to topple his worry and sadness.

"Bakugou, please, go back to your seat," Nightmare had asked which got ignored by the blonde.

"Were you trying to prove a fucken point by what, hurting yourself?!" He got closer to you, the stretcher holding your limp body. He was stopped by Todoroki who only held him back with a hand on his shoulder. The blonde looked back with blind rage but the heterochromatic eyes that looked back at him told him to calm down and that's all it took for Katsuki to growl under his breath and leave the stadium.

You were quickly rushed to Recovery Girl and were diagnosed. You had to rest in bed for quite a while until your arms could properly heal. Since popping a vessel can be healed in short of a few days with the help of medical professionals, what will be a hassle would be the shoulder that you tore. It wasn't a massive tear but it wasn't something that shouldn't be taken lightly. After all, you should have lost both your arms if they tore even more, and no thanks to you who wanted to push yourself against Todoroki. Really, it might have sucked but you tried.

Your thoughts might have been running a lot but they all stopped once you blacked out, and once you woke up again, they came back. The headache was intolerable making tears roll down your eyes as if they paused until your mind was able to process what was happening.

The first thing you saw was the walls. You recognized them. Of course, you felt stiff and a lot more pain than you anticipated, but at least the silence got you to sigh in relief.

"It seems like I couldn't make it, huh," You had asked yourself with a sigh coming right after. You wondered if Todoroki was disappointed in his victory or was he glad about it. There was no reason for him to not be glad but what do you know. I'm sure as heck that I don't.

A sudden sound of a door sliding open caught your attention. You assumed it was Recovery Girl but the familiar green hair and expression made your eyes soften, remembering how those same eyes were still very much the same as the ones looking back at you right now.

"Your arms," He had said, walking in and closing the door behind him, his eyes still trailing the bandages on your arms. Your smile was forced but you did it to not worrying him which only made him worry even more.

"I'm okay. I was told to rest. My arms aren't as bad as they seem.” If you moved then maybe the pain will come back for a split second. It felt a bit suffocating to feel Izuku here but who else was going to come aside from your classmates?

“Y/n, you’ve been noticeably pushing yourself and you make it seem like everything is okay.”

“Because everything is okay.”

“But you’re hurt, Y/n. Do you not see that?” Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to push your limits in this case even when it is just for fun. Has it ever stopped Izuku from doing the same? You watched him how he destroyed himself just to make a point and win against Todoroki but he lost, and his wounds were more severe than you’d had seen. You don’t know how the boy in front of you got a quirk but he did and he was now telling you the same advice you were sure he was told.

“How about you take your own advice, Izuku,” You had told him, a soft sigh escaping your lips. “I understand you are worried but I’m fine. Really.” You were able to tell that he was not satisfied with your response. He walked closer to you and sat at the chair that was near your bed. It was only there because Recovery Girl was talking to you as she made sure you were okay. You had focused on the boy, not realizing that he had begun to talk again.

“I understand how you feel about Kaachan but he is truly is worried about you.”

“I can’t really say that’s true when he doesn’t show his feelings towards anyone. All he does is get angry.” It went silent again and neither one of you said a single thing, not even when Izuku left the room to let you rest. Your thoughts were cloudy and you weren't sure if the only reason you felt like that was because Izuku came to see you. He mentioned Katsuki knowing that you felt some sort of way about him. Of course, he knew.

It had been a while of just sitting around, seeing a lot of your classmate enter and disappear, going back to the probably rowdy lunch room. You were astonished by the student coming in and out, questioning you whether or not you were okay. Your sadden eyes took notice of the look on some of their faces, showing signs of worry and you hadn't felt cared for in this way for a long time. It was even more apparent in Izuku's eyes, the way his lips tried turning upright into a smile but quickly turned into a frown.

Going through the many possibilities of what to do as you rested, the groans came out each time you tried adjusting yourself, your arms aching, becoming stiff when you moved them on top of your lap. It was getting late at this point, noticing that the sun outside was now setting, the beautiful oranges and pinks painting the sky. It looked very out of the ordinary but it was beautiful nonetheless. In the short time it took you to be mesmerized, recovery girl had entered the room, her clipboard in hand and someone else following her. It was Todoroki and Kirishima, looking guilty and you right away noticed it. You wondered if they were gonna apologize when it wasn't even their faults.

"Heyy," Kirishima's nervous voice elongating his greeting. Todoroki didn't say anything but you meeting his eyes was enough of a greeting to you. "How're you feeling?" The red headed added, coming closer to the bed with Todoroki trailing behind him.

"I'm okay. I should recover pretty soon," You answered with a soft smile.

"Was it serious?" Todoroki was the one to ask this time, and you tilted your head slightly to the side.

"In a way? But I'm fine." Your short responses only gave the boys knots in their stomach. Kirishima wasn't here for himself but he also wanted to apologize to you, remembering that the reason he was here was because of Bakugou.

"Hey, um, I'm sorry you ended up like this. I'm also sorry Bakugou caused a scene."

You shook your head. "I'm used to it. I've known him for years. It's not the first time he caused a scene like that especially in front of that many people."

Kirishima gave you a small smile, and rub the back of his neck. "I actually came on behalf of Bakugou. He was suppose to come but he didn't have the courage to do so. I'm sorry, he said he didn't want to but knowing him, I know it's because he's too shy."

Katsuki? Shy? Since when? You were completely confused but you felt as if asking would just make you sound dumb. The blonde was an aggressive Pomeranian who never thought and just acted on his feelings. You couldn't remember much of what happened but you heard his voice, and it was worrisome, which troubled you greatly. Nonetheless, you didn’t want to get your hopes up when it came to Bakugou. It will turn bad if your hopes just became that, hope.

You shook your head in disbelief and lightly smiled to Katsuki’s friend, making him a bit nervous when you tried adjusting yourself. “By the way, who won?” Both boys looked at each other, and Kirishima decided to respond for the both of them.

“It should be a given. He won a second time in a row.” You didn’t know whether to jump in joy , and even the faces of the boys seem off to you that it felt like they wanted you to be happy for the guy. You told yourself that you shouldn’t be but… maybe this time-

“I’m… glad he won.” It should have been convincing enough, but maybe not entirely, either way, Todoroki and Kirishima took the hint and didn’t press on, their now nervous expressions becoming softer. After the awkward silence, Kirishima smiled and reassured you that everything with Bakugou will be okay. Todoroki didn’t really know how to say goodbye so he nodded with a light blush, walking out before Kirishima. They were gone and the room became quiet again.

You hadn’t realized that you had been holding your breath, exhaling and letting the heaviness of your heart finally deplete as you laid back into your pillow. “Am I really glad he won?”

You had left the infirmary with a brace holding your arm in place. You went home with you parents, walking into your room and sitting on your bed with your mind very much occupied with the events that happened today. You looked around with your eyes pinpointing a small plush that was gifted to you at a young age. It was nothing too weird, just a regular cat plush that a particular blonde had gifted to you. He was sweet back in middle school, even if he was bullying Deku all the time.

You walked over to it, looking it over and inspecting it with the saddest eyes and smile. You let it go, playing it next to your old instruments you don’t play anymore. It will gather up dust if it stays there, but that’s okay. You felt like this was better than letting him get to your head. He rarely came to you unless it was to fight and argue, and even Deku was no exception. They aren’t your friends anymore, but you’re glad they are striving, and you have to do the same.

#bakugou #bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki #bnha bakugou #bnha #mha

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incarnateirony · 4 years

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Hii, I want to ask you something I'm curious about. Although God is the source of light, Jack, half angel, half human, plans to kill him. This seems ridiculous to me after all that a being created from light will kill the source of light. Also, there is no weapon that could kill God. The writers of the show seem to be pushing a little bit of logic. What are you thinking?

*points to the soul tag*

Amara herself told us that the Light was a Lie.

He who has the most souls is god.

The gods from the other world told us that Blood is Light--or the soul, ie blood magic and man. Grace is Life--as in, the essence that builds the constructed universe of a god that defines physical, mortal life rather than immortal life in the place of the throne.

Literally everything Chuck has told them is a lie and people have called this out over and over and over and over, even ancients like Amara. Chuck’s even admitted inconsistencies, that something (literally looked at Dean/humanity while talking about it) existed equal to Chuck and Amara before he created the universe that just Was There, waiting to be Born, as Chuck and Amara just Were.

Everything in my souls tag--like, the complete and collective accumulation of almost anything I’ve ever written--is literally about Chuck being a bungling idiot that somehow managed to pitch a creation box up that kept souls distracted and contained while giving him the power to be “god”, which Amara pointed out he just did because he wanted to be Big. To make him Lord. It was ego.

Without souls Chuck is literally /nothing./ I can’t emphasize this enough. He can keep his grace soldiers patrolling halls to make sure humanity stays placated with contentment and doesn’t leave their boxes like Dean in Michael’s headspace for him, but that’s it, that’s what he has. That and an installed watch in one sad, honestly pathetic little universe that the souls have their journeys through. Why the fandom is STILL somehow stuck on the idea that earth is important or the true end goal everyone should aspire for is kind of spinning me out.

pls people I’m begging you read these things (x) (x) (x)

Now if Chuck was somehow destroyed, his world probably would actually collapse based on post one there, Thought-Box go bye-bye. Someone else needs to make or sustain the box. That’s fine. The only thing that makes Earth real are the souls, everything else is commentary. It would be best to find some way to sustain the Earth in its current form so as to give people the choice to continue to live through their lives and find their way to a (Sam) revolutionized heaven. That’s fine too.

Dabb has been putting everyone through waves of mental exercises about this and I don’t know how to drill it home any more clearly. The point is not to play Chuck’s game, it’s make him play yours. “My mind, my rules.” That goes for Dean being Michael’s respective equal or greater (until Michael’s free will broke the box) or the same for God impressing his story on his. There is no difference. None. So stop playing his game.

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ladysunamireads · 5 years

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One I'm Scared of the Most, Can You Scare Me Up a Little Bit of Love?

One I'm Scared Of The Most, Can You Scare Me Up A Little Bit Of Love? by Not A Valid Opinion

“You guys better share that icecream with me,” Dimple says as he floats towards the group. He turns to look at Shou. “Ah, I see you don't have one. Maybe you can just get some ice, then, if the cream part didn't work out for you. You look like you could use it.” Shou scoffs. “You look like you could use some manners.” “I don't have to use manners, I'm dead!” “So am I, legally. I'm still nice!” Shou defends, and the ghost falters a little. Shou ignores the look Ritsu is giving him and crosses his arms, taking care to not squeeze his injury in his own grasp. “Fine, okay, I'm nice-ish. I'm not the best example of ‘nice’ but I am the best example of ‘ish’.”

In which Shou isn't exactly a legal citizen of Japan, Joseph "from the government" finds out and blackmails him into working for him, and Shou is forced to leave behind everyone that had come to matter to him overtime. He just wants to get back to his hamsters. To prove to his mother that he's not his father. To see Ritsu again. The thought alone is enough to keep him going.

(Can be read as a stand-alone oneshot!)

Words 27068, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 5 of Shou and His Bucket Full of Animals (That Are Really Just Distractions From his Problems and Growing Relationship with Ritsu)

Fandoms: モブサイコ100 | Mob Psycho 100

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Suzuki Shou, Suzuki Shou's Mother, Kageyama Ritsu, Reigen Arataka, Serizawa Katsuya, Hanazawa Teruki, Kageyama "Mob" Shigeo, Dimple, Fukuda Hiroshi, Ootsuki, Higashio, Suzuki Touichirou, Joseph

Relationships: Reigen Arataka/Serizawa Katsuya, Kageyama Ritsu/Suzuki Shou, Kageyama Ritsu & Suzuki Shou, Suzuki Shou & His Mother, Serizawa Katsuya & Suzuki Shou, Reigen Arataka & Suzuki Shou, Shou and his relationship with everyone and himself

Additional Tags: Mentions of many characters such as:, Kurata Tome - Freeform, Fukuda - Freeform, Higashiro, Otsuki - Freeform, Suzuki Touichirou - Freeform, Okay that's it for character mentions, Suzuki Shou Has ADHD, Suzuki Shou has Dyslexia, Animal Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Abusive Relationship mention, Shou is an Awakened Child, Suzuki Shou-centric, Minor Kageyama Ritsu/Suzuki Shou, Blood and Violence, Blackmail, implications of sexual abuse of a minor, in one line of dialogue, Shou has 5 hamsters, because none of you can stop me, This part in the serious can be read alone or as part of the series, not beta'd and very long so if I spell a name wrong or my grammar suck big oof but be nice pls, Non-binary character, Dimple is a lovable asshole but honestly such an asshole, Protective Reigen Arataka, dad Reigen all the way, Reigen and Serizawa adopt Teruki, Mob and Teru are Kinda Gay Fellas, Animal Abuse, Stabbing, cauterizing wounds, Gun Violence, Broken Bones, Shou just gets hurt A Lot Okay this isn't torture porn I promise, Character Study, Character Death, Shou feels a personal connection to a pitbull, bc he's just like that, lots of legal jargon, Reigen is ace bc I said so, Animal: Dog (Pitbull), minor Ootsuki/Higashio, Shou says owo, inconsistent Japanese formalities bc I dumb as shit

Read Here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/20531048

#AO3 Feed #FanFiction #AO3 Ritshou #♥#Ritshou #Serirei #MP100 #🔮#R:T #Abuse #A:Not a Valid

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paladinsheadcanons · 6 years

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ash x tyra is my life fuel. i'm not kidding when i say i screamed after finding the ashra tag on ao3. my gay heart wants more, so would mod ash be willing to write some fluff?

i like you. i love your taste. also if you found my stuff, i hope you liked them ovo;;

as like before, my ashra stuff…. tends to get a little too long. slightly inspired by this (kinda) and this. sorry for any grammar errors and inconsistencies!

- mod ash

Tyra rarely gets invited to Ash’s office room.

Of course, it’s not like they’ve made a habit out of it. Upon entering the relationship, Ash knew and made clear that they are still colleagues and in the Magistrate’s eyes, Ash is still Tyra’s superior, even if not directly. And while they worry a lot about any possible complications that this may ensue, most days are spent talking about work, and how they have spent their long shifts or missions, often ending in drinks, dinners, and passing out from laughing too much.

And this may be a special occasion, Tyra thinks. She remembers it is an anniversary of sorts, but she does not remember for how long. She has already told Ash that she would be out for Sentinel-related issues for a few days, and would not be able to prepare or have anything ready. Ash, while sounding rather upset that they won’t be able to spend a day-off together, is still rather accepting, and just says to meet her after she’s finished with her duties.

And she is, after a trip to the infirmary and a long scolding. The wounds she had received during her duties were not the most easily-ignored, but she presses on. She has haphazardly compiled together a huge box of items she wanted to give Ash way before the mission, as well as a few trinkets she got during the mission. She had known Ash for a while, and knew she is surprisingly sentimental with items and associating memories, and so a care package may be something she would like.

Carrying the box turns out to be a challenge. Not expecting herself to be injured during the mission, she thought carrying it would be a breeze, but her muscles complain with every move and all her body suddenly wants is to rest. She reaches the office door with great difficulty, and manages to knock once before barging in.

Ash had situated herself by her desk, setting up… a meal? No, just some snacks on a tea snack rack and some coffee for both of them, and some other things…. she could hear the faint static-like noises accompanying a vinyl record playing, Ash herself was out of both her armor and army fatigues, instead has dressed herself in a plain dress shirt and darker pants, and having way more eye makeup than her standard eyeliner.

She looks amazing. It made Tyra feel bad that she came here without even preparing for it, and as she carefully lays down her huge box of gifts, she looks at herself – just dressed in her fatigues with a thick layer of bandages around her gut underneath her loose shirt.

Tyra looks up to a rather confused Ash. “Should I… go?”

“What– no!” Ash stands up from her seat and walks to the huntress. “Come here.”

Tyra does step closer, although a little hesitantly. She looks over the wonderful woman before her, and felt both wonder and guilt, suddenly unsure. “I didn’t expect you to have anything, to be honest.”

“It’s not much, really,” Ash starts, “it’s just slightly better coffee and some fancy snacks.”

“I should probably have headed back to change clothes at least,” Tyra says, somewhat mournfully. “You look… very gorgeous.”

“It’s fine! You’re here, that’s what’s important right?” Ash doesn’t even hesitate as she pulls her closer to embrace. “I missed you.”

“I know.” Laying her head over Ash’s shoulder turns out to be way more gratifying than it seems, hands around the woman and resting herself against her. Tyra could almost feel her heartbeat faintly through her bandages. “It’s been a while.”

For a few moments, the vinyl played soft, static-y music, filling the silence between them with recorded guitar strumming and the soft singing of a woman, familiar old tunes from home-bound tongues. It is not a tune that is strictly romantic, but it sounded like home, Tyra realises. Her embrace becomes tighter, and the tune suddenly becomes slightly faster, like one would hear in more livelier places.

“Can we… can we dance?” Ash breaks the silence. Tyra doesn’t see her, but she can tell from her tone she’s rather expectant.

It takes her a few minutes before responding. “I… don’t know.”

Ash doesn’t let go for a second, and for a moment she doesn’t say anything, obviously rather confused. Her hands merely travel around Tyra’s back, until it stops and settles on the thick wrappings of bandage around the huntress’ abdomen. Realisation seems to hit the war machine, and she pulls away from the embrace slightly.

Her eyes say a lot of things, peering towards Tyra looking for an answer. Worried, concern, a hint of anger.

“Bullet wound,” Tyra elaborates, avoiding Ash’s rather concerned glare. “Jumped through enemy lines, I didn’t make out in time to get out unscathed. It’s not the deepest…”

“It’s okay, we can just do–”

“No.” Tyra insists, cutting Ash off. “I want to dance.”

If you don’t want to, it’s–”

“I insist.”

Ash pauses for a second, obviously at a loss on what to do, feeling the urgency of her insistence. She looks around, on the drinks she has made, and then on the vinyl player, still going at it with the pace. She pauses, and sighs, breaking off the embrace entirely.

“Something slower, then,” Ash says. She unceremoniously yanks the disc off the player, hopefully not damaging it and stopping the music almost to a screeching halt, before picking out another vinyl off a nearby box and playing it instead, the tune slower and much like a sung poem.

“You know,” Ash says, quickly walking back and resettling herself back in Tyra’s arms, and slowly coaxing her into a slow, swaying dance, “if you want something, I can make it happen.”

The singing from the record continues, still in the same old home language from earlier, accompanied by softer harps and a steadier harmony. Tyra follows the war machine’s lead, since these are familiar, easy steps. It’s not like the dance itself mattered, not really. It’s been a week, possibly longer, since the last time she’s held Ash. The Magistrate never sits idle, and as their campaign goes on, it takes the war machine away from what little personal time she has with her, and even just the feeling of her hands is making standing up for an extended period of time worth it if it meant catching up to lost time.

Anything to make it last longer.

“That’s very tempting,” Tyra says, softly leaning against Ash’s weight. “But this is good enough for now.”

Tyra doesn’t know if Ash didn’t have an answer for it or if she deemed it a good answer, but she stayed silent. Ash’s hands merely settled on her waist, right around the wrap of bandages, and the huntress can feel her hands find new places to settle on around her, as if unsure how close or how gentle is she being.

In the end, she returns her hold by Tyra’s waist, brushing against the bandages, palms flat, as if she’s trying to guess where the wound exactly is as they swayed, and as Ash leaned her head against her. It is not too much of a wound, Tyra will admit, as she had far worse injuries in the past. But for it to hamper her physical strength and her personal time… it’s not the disadvantage she was hoping for.

“I… wish I was there.” Ash breaks the silence.

“Yeah, because you’d scold me for an hour longer.”

Ash laughs, hearty and loud and raspy. “You don’t want me to be concerned?”

Tyra has several answers to it, like not wanting her to get involved in duties she shouldn’t dip herself in, among other things. But she settles for a reply. “Well, it would make it a little easier for me to deal with if it’s you who’s scolding me.”

The war machine hums a rather dissatisfied noise, almost whiny. “If I’m there, you won’t be hurt in the first place.”

Of course.

Ash has always liked protecting her. And it made sense, even though Tyra knows both of them are capable, strong warriors who can be independently amazing in combat. However, she knows that Ash didn’t earn her reputation out of thin air, and there are several things she regret in her years as a higher, decorated officer. Some people she couldn’t save, some things she’s seen best left to be forgotten.

Tyra dares not ask about them. But she knew what Ash would do if she were there.

“You’re going to be the one who’s hurt,” Tyra states, “then I will be the one scolding you.” A few moments pass with wordless dancing and Ash doesn’t answer, but she’s avoiding Tyra’s look rather guiltily, so the huntress concludes her guess was right. “I want to keep you safe too, you know.”

“I know.” The war machine closes her eyes, leans against the huntress. “I know.”

“Trust me,” Tyra says, “I will be okay. And you will be, too.”

“I trust you.” Ash smiles sheepishly. “But let me worry.”

The huntress merely smiles. “How many hours have you slept tonight, anyway? I doubt I’m the only one in this room with bad health choices.”

Ash avoids the huntress’ gaze. “I’ve been awake for fifty hours straight.”

Tyra doesn’t scold, nor laughs. Having such a reputation and being a high official is not easy work, and she knows Ash works hard to keep herself high up in the ranks. She remembers days where she would see her injured but still determined, shaking off any inconveniences that comes. Ash just… she is a very selfless woman. One Tyra is very glad to have met and loved.

But she hopes Ash would also take care of herself the same way she takes care of her.

“I can see where you’re going with this and the coffee,” the huntress comments.

“I make time when I need to.” Ash murmurs softly, almost sleepily. “For you, especially.”

“Just promise me to sleep after this, okay?”

She doesn’t answer for a while, but Tyra later feels and hears her make an assenting noise. She doesn’t know if she should take that as a “yes”, but she does not want to ask further, letting the silence permeated by soft music take over.

The now-slow paced tune of the music taking over, their dancing has mostly reduced to an extended embrace disguised by the occasional sway or step. It didn’t really matter now, no one was really watching, and Tyra didn’t care if it was not close to a waltz. Ash is what matters, right?

Later on, the dancing had stopped, both of them choosing to put their attention on the now-cold coffee and the snacks Ash had brought along, slow music and harmonious singing still spinning by the vinyl. Tyra couldn’t count or sum up how long they have stayed there, as the night had dissolved into a blur of conversation, laughing and discussion, and while the coffee was a little cold, her company sure is not, later on putting her attention on the care package she has brought along, filled with charms, souvenirs, treats, and a few clothing and comfort items Tyra made way back.

They had seated themselves on the couch near Ash’s desk, hands touching while they talk about work, the mission, and life in general, not even noticing the recorded music stop and the mess of packaging and wrapper around them. Later on, they finish their drinks and snacks, and they spoke in hushed tones for hours, trading touches and kisses as they spoke.

None of them bothered to check what time it was. It’s not like it mattered. Both of them knew that once they part tonight, they might not see each other again for a long while, with the Magistrate pushing forward on it’s major campaign and it taking more and more of Ash’s time as a higher official and Tyra as a Sentinel.

In the end, Ash never bothered to end the conversation, or tell Tyra to leave to prepare for the morning. And Tyra didn’t excuse herself, no matter how much her wound ached, or how much she knew she had work in the morning. It was in the middle of the night when both of them had decided to just fit each other on the couch to rest with each other, lying down and speaking softer and wearier.

Tyra doesn’t remember falling asleep, but she wakes up a significant amount of time later, a little groggy and feeling several things ache. But upon seeing Ash close, her breathing steady and seeing her so rested, she knew she’s home.

#paladins #pcotr #paladins fanfiction #paladins champions of the realm #ash #tyra #ash x tyra #ashra #(im rusty and i havent written anything in a while yikes)#long post

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