#thal writes

[thal-ent]

(bit of an unreliable narrator here Eheh <3

Lycarn belongs to @hel-phoenyx, Ether to @noa-de-cajou and Circé, Morgane and Ai/Xingtzao to @corneille-but-not-the-author)

"Lets' fun away together !" she used to say, half joking when they were just kids. Chiho would never leave her grandmother alone, they both knew it.

"I'm leaving." She still said, a violin all she gave to the girl that loved her and she loved just as much. She never came back, not for Agathe, not for her grandmother. There was hope for two years. Then Yusuke came back alone, and even with her eyes closed, Agathe could picture the look of pity he gave her.

"Take care of him, please." She tells the old woman, now that her brother is asleep. Their parents are dead, and she can't stay here. He was the one to push her to do it, to leave and explore. The old woman still weeps and begs her to come back one day, and play at her tomb. Agathe promises.

"She likes you too, you know ?" It's been years. She's older, she has friends. They've been drinking, and when she tries to talk about something else, the alcohol makes her friend insist. She hates how he, who got her love first, seems to try so hard to make the second choice happy. But he's her friend, and she loves his wife.

"Take care love." It's the last words she tells her, when their paths diverge. It's a nickname they rarely use, only when it's only the three of them. Ogami hugs her, and she hugs him back. They're around as old as her parents were when they died. And she doesn't want to see that. Maybe they're still young for humans, but she doesn't want to take the risk. Her lips touch Shira's for the last time and they dont say goodbye.

"You're doing it again." He tells her, as perceptive as ever. They spent the last fifteen years together, she taugh her nephews and nieces what their fathers couldn't. But only him, her dear brother, could see how she was, alone fixing a grave she couldnt see. His husband was dead for a year, he knew he wouldn't last a lot younger. He knew his sister, immortal and still so young, was staying for him, for "his" family. He knew she had a hard time thinking it was hers, a fear so deeply rooted in her.

"Thank you." She tells him when she leaves again, and he tells her and she hugs him for the last time.

"What do you think ?" So many people ask her, when they warm her bed or her skin. She never stays long, always tells her the truth. It's rare she dislike those girls, rare they dislike her. Yet, she always knows she's not what they wanted. She knows had their initial love not rejected them, they wouldn't have though of her for a second. And yet, they're always her first choice, her first flirt of the night.

"I want to marry you." Irène tells her, figuratively looking in eyes that are never open. She doesn't have the words, doesn't know how to react. It's been ten years, is that a normal time to marry someone ? She does have her skin tattoed like the rest of the group, does feel the need to have her lover's name on her. She hopes her name stays on Irène's face, that when she touches her face she can feel her name on her skin and prouve to herself she's loved, she's her first choice.

"You dont get it ! You can't even see it !" They never fight. It's not in their nature, despite Irène's hot-headdedness, to get into shouting matches like now. But now they are, and Agathe wants to slap the woman she loves, the woman who fears her and loves her. She just expressed how she was afraid for their fight, the next day. How she proposed to Irène to use a Symphony so dangerous she somehow knows despite never learning it, like she does her Sister Symphony. Sins and Vertues. She doesn't know how it escaladed. But she knows how it ends.

"Maybe I'd see it, if you weren't so scared of me opening my eyes !" Is the last thing they say to each other. They didn't wake her up, Irène probably looking to stop her from playing her music. And now she's dead, in Agathe's arms, cold and her blood stains the white of Agathe's outfit and wings.

"Please allow me something." She did it in a moment of panic. She didn't know what was going to happen to them, now that Morgane and Circé were gone, as were the rest of the group. She wished she could have spoke with Lycarn before, but she kissed Ether and it felt right to ask her, even if the elf wanted the empress before she wanted Agathe.

"Do you want something ?" She asked Lycarn, who was looking so, so sad. She had seen Circé's aura leave the woman, and even if she wasn't the girl's first choice, she wanted to make her happy, let her have something at least. So she took her hand, kissed her, carressed her. She felt the subtle scars, the muscles. She wanted to give enough love that Lycarn would forget how she got rejected. But Lycarn would pursue a ghost, and she knew it very well.

"Come dance with us." A hand is stretched out to her, a stick in it. Ether is asking her to court her, to date her. And she doesn't need to see to know Xingtzao, the empress is surprised, but she says nothing. She takes the hand, ignoring the voice in her head, just for a night, and dances with two women she wants to stay alive with.

"Can you describe them to me ?" It's soft, barely audible to most ears, but they're both next to her, and they have better hearing than most. So they tell her. They take her hand. She smiles to herself.

"Can I ask you something...?" It's been so long, since their quest, and yet Ai is so timid with her still. Agathe is not sure how to take it, how to dance with the woman who made her First Concubine but seems almost perturbed by Agathe's presence in the palace. Or, that's how she sees it. And she can't blame the empress, who would be comfortable to live with the woman your wife is in love with ? Even if Agathe knows Ether would choose Ai over her, and she wouldn't blame her.

"Do you need something, my moon ?" It's soft, when she asks. Lycarn is no stranger to bad dreams, but Agathe knows when her love's really shaken by one. She also knows it usually mean Lycarn's chasing a ghost that Agathe could never compare to. She doesn't resent Lycarn for it, nor does she resent Ether when she misses her deceased wife. She knows that feeling too well, has known it for years.

"I feel so... Lonely." She says to herself, when centuries have past. She's back to a village that died when she wasn't here. Can't yet bear to go look at where her loves are burried. She didn't see the Immortal King to tell him about Lycarn yet. She cries, like a little girl.

"I miss you." She tells to no one in particular, maybe hoping Death would let someone, anyone, choose her and help her, see how pathetic she is.

"I love you." It's barely a whisper.

[sebdadstian]

if ain't no ring on my finger, you ain't goin on my gram

Just two mates having a well-timed, definitely planned & situationally appropriate conversation. Alternatively, just two pathetic old men confessing their hearts out at the most inopportune time.

ratings: explicit

word count: 1570

tags: Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, Anal Sex, Happy Ending, Retirement, Attempt at Humor, Not Beta Read

[ssavinggrace]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Thalia Grace/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano & Frank Zhang, Jason Grace & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano Characters: Thalia Grace (Percy Jackson), Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Frank Zhang Additional Tags: PJO, HoO - Freeform, ToA - Freeform, i love them sm, Theyna - Freeform, queer, Gay, wlw Summary:

Reyna forgets a very important date, and her girlfriend isn't happy.

[hel-phoenyx]

2013. The first time his mother allowed him to wear a smoking. He isn't sure, still is searching for himself, but he knows he prefers he/him to she/her and that his name is not his name anymore.

Seeing that validated made him happy. Seeing his aunts kiss like everything was normal made him happy.

Only cloud in front of the sun was seeing his cousin cry. Why is he unhappy ? This is a happy day.

2014. He changed names, his mother accepted him but his father ? Not so much. It doesn't matter. None of them are really stopping him. He's thinking about taking hormones, but changes his mind every two mornings.

At the very least being called by his new name feels good.

2015. He was just going back home when that guy grabbed him. A punch went through his nose, followed by another, and slurs that he never heard in his lifetime.

Worst is that this voice was strangely familiar.

He got confirmation when he went hiding at his aunt. She was going through a rough patch, her wife's cheating finally revealed and the divorce getting messy, but she still took him in. That's where she confirmed him it was her wife's brother.

He was thirteen and already exposed to transphobia, his cousins silently staring at his wounds from the other side of the room.

He knows what it feels like to be hated. To discover the worst in people. But he is spiteful, he is resilient, and he survived another night.

The following day, he tells his parents he wants hormones. The same day, his aunt is single for good.

2017. He hardly sees his cousins anymore, lost in the divorce and so many other rough patches they went through. Puberty blockers did their job, and he is now on T, with the permission of his parents. His therapist helps him go through that puberty easier that he would with his assigned one.

He has friends, and his heart beats faster when he sees that man in the school grounds. Said man is a proud gay, taking under his wing the baby transgender he was. Looks are exchanged in-between classes, and he gifts him some drawings. The others are made of his face, more beautiful that he ever drew faces.

One day, a group of bullies took his notebook from his hands and saw the drawings he was hiding. They ripped them all, calling him a fag and a tranny, words that are now so familiar to him.

He drew them as he saw them. Ugly, exxagerated villains. Spite is still powering him.

When he's 18, he will have his top surgery. It's already planned. Nothing else has importance.

2019. When his cousin disappeared at the beginning of the year, he never thought he would find him on TV, in the most horrible telenovela there was. But he coudn't stop watching. Even after the end. The most awful end he ever sees.

He remembers the twisted smile, the cries, the shouts. He puts them on paper.

This would be his last act as a free man before long.

2020. He got out of hell only to get back in another one. Unable to get back to his home, to get his long-awaited top surgery, he stayed behind to survive. Alone.

He never was alone before. Even in hell.

He is still spiteful. His drawings get more and more depicting of an horrifying reality. He still survives.

His estranged half-brother asks him if he wants to come live with him in Norway. Norway is not the paradise it was anymore. It was taken over by devils. he can see the devils. He still goes, because he is tired of being alone.

He gets his top surgery on his brother's allowance. His sister-in-law hates that. He feels like he doesn't belong.

He still gets the letter.

The same letter his cousin got two years ago.

2021. He had no choice but to go to that school. Hope's Peak. Nobody really pays attention to him, a survivor among the survivors, and that suits him. His promotion is already considerably down. Apparently, this year's killing game almost exclusively captured new people.

He doesn't care. At least he's alive.

A statement that gets more and more weak.

2022. That new guy is suspiciously interested in him. It's not rare to see him in his vision field just watching over him with his piercing turquoise eyes. His own are always down.

Once he tried to call him. Something simple, a "why are you watching me" kind of call. The guy dissapeared instantly after realising he got spotted.

This is annoying. So he tries to get intel. A vampire hunter, says the other survivors of the 2022 promotion. He had difficulties learning english and speaks in Latin or Romanian most of the time, but it's not what made him the hardest to be integrated.

People think he's a cult survivor. Still is part of it, apparently, and tracks down vampires even here at Hope's Peak. People believe he found one.

He has the same turquoise eyes as a man from his past.

2023. He started talking to the weird guy, discovered he was not that weird after all, just lost. That he could relate. Both of them are survivors of something. This conversations started to make him believe the world was not that rotten after all.

Until he saw in the 2023 promotion his youngest cousin and the relative of the people who ruined his life. And realised he stopped being spiteful a long time ago.

Still, he could be at least for him. Him, who gets flustered around him for reasons he attributes to his supposed vampiric nature. He knows very well what he is, but can't believe people would love him, as his broken self and the sword of Damocles hung above his head.

At the very least this world is worth something. If there is still people ready to approach him.

2024. He is so tired.

The cute guy went in with a prosthetic arm.

He didn't get why he acted horrified at the sight.

That world took away something from him and he can't even realise it.

This world is so rotten.

2025. He didn't wake up at Hope's Peak.

He knows why. He knows what that means.

Ten years of murderous games and a cousin taking the first role do that to people.

He looks around him. There is shouts, complaints, screams and the tired face of a man that lost everything and is ready to retaliate.

Every one around him is rotten to the core. Everyone around him will die with him. He has no hope for a happy ending.

But next to all of these people he hates, there's him.

He doesn't know what he's doing here. He doesn't know what are his chances of survival. But he knows one thing.

If there is to be one survivor of the 2025 killing game, it would be Virgil Vânător.

Whatever he has to do.

[beebfreeb]

I have to be more annoying about fan characters. I have to draw Thal in little comics <3

[mpjz03]

Hawkworld (1990) #18

[the-timeless-one]

0 — El extraño — ❝Yo soy otro❞

No os conozco.

No sé quiénes sois.

Y, sin embargo, me tratáis como uno más.

Me llamáis por un nombre, aunque ese no es el mío. Me permitís entrar a una casa, dándome asilo hasta que comienza a dibujarse como un hogar. Conversáis conmigo de mil temas diferentes hasta que el café olvidado en su vaso se enfría, pero yo siempre tengo la sensación de que algo falta. Como rostros familiares que nunca conocí, memorias que no ocupan un lugar en mi vida o emociones que no soy capaz de nombrar.

Y debo admitir que, a veces, cuando me miro al espejo, me cuesta reconocer el rostro que hay al otro lado. Los ojos oscuros consumidos por el cansancio, las mejillas hundidas, la piel enfermiza. 

A lo mejor debería contar la verdad. Decir que yo soy otro y marcharme para seguir rebuscando entre la niebla de mis recuerdos hasta encontrar un sitio en el que no sea un extraño. Aunque me da un poco de pena. Estaba comenzando a pensar que este podía ser un buen hogar.

Solo tendría que seguir fingiendo que yo soy él.

[thedead-poetssociety]

Chapters: 4/4 Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Piper McLean, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Jason Grace/Percy Jackson/Leo Valdez, Piper McLean & Drew Tanaka, Jason Grace & Piper McLean & Leo Valdez Characters: Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Percy Jackson, mention of Sally Jackson - Character, Drew Tanaka, Jason Grace, Leo Valdez Summary:

she loves me

she loves me not. -- A one-sided pipabeth fic. high-school au.

[pallisia]

ffx has the greatest writing of any fantasy rpg. that i have played. but also probably of all time. no shut up listen to me.

"but the battles" i am only talking about the writing

"but the voice acting" i am only talking about the writing. but also a good portion of ffx's voice acting is of a much higher caliber than what we usually get in game dubs nowadays. forget wakka and "i need food" for one second and really think about this

"but the tidus laugh" you know that gets taken out of context for memes. you know it's a sweet scene where tidus makes yuna feel better by laughing stupid on purpose. you know this. come correct.

"but the dialogue is corny" i just had to endure twenty thousand people telling me "thal's balls" "goes hard" i do not want to hear this

where were you when the ronso recognized yuna's strength of will. where were you when tidus finally learned what the final summon was. where the fuck were you when braska said this!!!!

let's be serious here!!!!!!

[earlycuntsets]

gerard wrote the intro to this graphic novel in 2006. just got a paperback copy and wanted to share my scans!

transcription:

In 1998, I took a comedy writing class at SVA in New York City. It was my senior year as a cartooning major and I had started to tie up all the loose ends of what credits I needed. Thal year i tried everything from surrealist literature to acting, I even gol to play the devil for my final exam... a part that made me realize I loved performing but that I had a problem being serious. Any part that I excelled at was way over the top or insanc.. so I decided I was funny. I figured I would try my hand at comedy writing. I wasn't funny.

At least to everyone else in the class, save one person... That day the assignment was to take a classic work of literature and make a joke of it. I decided to take Mark Twain's "The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn" and write a short story exactly as Mark Twain would but add one single moment where Tom, while on a raft floating down the Mississippi River, describes the summer breeze getting him excited in a certain way. No one laughed at this... except a guy wearing an Avengers T-Shirt. Not the comic book Avengers, but the classic 60's spy show Avengers, something I took notice of that day. Over lunch break I leaned over and broke the ice with a particularly inappropriate subject to see if this guy was legit. He was.

This began a love affair between, in my opinion, the only two people in the class that were actually funny. The next few weeks saw us pushing the envelope of what would make each other laugh. There was nothing sacred, nothing we wouldn't try to tie a punch-line on. I had never laughed so hard in my life and we became fast friends, writing for an audience of one.

Jon and I have been friends now for 9 years. We have seen each other at various stages of our lives, through numerous relationships and turmoil, and have sat up until 6am talking about zombies and Asia Argento every single time I have come off the road. He is like a brother.

All of these stories are true, and all of them have happened to all of us ...Jon and Nick are just more honest about it. We have all fallen in love, we have all had people fall out of love with us, but the stories in Heartbreak paint these moments with such authenticity it makes you remember all of the glorious self-deprecation. The blood and guts and the long drive home alone... the years spent aimlessly searching for someone.

Heartbreak is a snapshot of those years. It isn't pretty and it isn't glamorous... but it will make you laugh- at these guys and at yourself. At the things we do to be loved, at the depths we will sink to get someone to say those three words back to us.

And that, my friends, is funny.

-Gerard Way

Seattle 2006

[aikoiya]

My DP Character HCs Masterlist

This is just a bunch of hc stuff for DP characters. It might take a bit to get it all on here.

Danny:

Interesting Idea for King Danny

Engineer Danny

Frost Phantom

The Christmas Gift

The Source of Danny's Anger At Christmas

Anti-Gravity Phantom

Secret Identity

Ghost Hunter AU

Fenton:

Fenton Bias

Jack & Maddie's Perspective on Ghosts

Neurodivergent Fentons

Neurodivergent Jack & Maddie

Neurodivergent Jack

Dani's Obsession

Halfa Jazz

Fenton Preferences

Family Legacy 1

Family Legacy 2

Phantom Family AU

The Walker Family

Vlad Masters:

Ugly Crying Vlad

Vlad Struggling With NPD

Vlad the Methyphile

Vlad's Romantic Profile

Vlad's Sexual Profile

Clockwork:

Clockwork

The Origin of Clockwork

Clockwork Through the Multiverse

Full Prompts & Story Ideas:

The Bell Tolls For Amity

The Curse of the Seven Sins

Timeless Journey

Vlad vs Dan

Broken Future AU

Lady Nightshade AU

Purification & Aftermath

Other:

Nocturn (My Style)

Dash After High School

Rebel Alliance

Ember's Lement

Head Butler of Manson Manor

Lunch Lady

Sapiosexuality

Vlad & the Supernatural Trio

MRA Tucker

Team Halfa

Dan Insults Vlad

Realistic Danger & Casualties

Valerie's Powers

Dan Likes Greek

Sam's Thoughts on Lionfish

More Jewish Sam

DP Confessions

Ecto-Apocalypse

Plants Rights Lunatics

Whimsigoth Sam

The Haunted Jukebox

A Better Pam

HCs I Accept:

Danny Hollis the Cultural Gastronomy Gremlin

Xovers:

DPxDC - Ship Names List

DPxDC - Psyche Talk

DPxDC - Anger Management

DPxDC - Anger Management & Those Who Think It's Wrong

DPxDC - Grimm Romance (Anger Management)

DPxDC - Superman Isn't a Clonophobe & Backup

DPxDC - Bruce the Burdened

DPxDC - Elder Wayne Return

DPxDC - The Lazarus Pits & Jason Todd

DPxDC - A Bird in Amity

DPxDC - The Black Cat

DPxDC - Bell Above the Box

DPxDC - Jazz as Altair the Bluebird of Gotham

DPxDC - Duul Aman Thal

DPxDC - Green Lantern Danny

DPxDC - Vlad As a Lantern

DPxDC - Villainous Full House

DPxDW - Danny & the Doctor

DPxMCU - Saving Private Vision

DPxMH - Calamity Park

DPxIV - Viltrumite Kryptonite

DPxSU - GemHaunt

DPxMHA - Hawks' New Life

DPxN - The Ghost Shinobi

DPxMLP - Cutie Mark

DPxDB - Death Comes For All Eventually

Other Phans' Stuff:

Heaven & Earth & the King On His Throne

Other DP Masterlists:

Ghost Zone Masterlist

DP Ask AU Masterlist

DP Phantom Twins AU Masterlist

Other Useful Masterlists:

Aikoiya's Writing Tips Masterlist

[thal-ent]

[TW : mentionned childbirth, anxiety about being a mom and stuff. Ai belongs to the Allmighty GF, Ether to @noa-de-cajou , Lycarn to @hel-phoenyx and Daphne to @soupedepates ]

"Hey, Agi, how do you feel about becoming a mom ?"

She doesn't need to turn to know her friend is looking at her. She can feel the weak magic emanating from her, the feeling of her eyes on her.

"That's a weird question, Chiho." Agathe laughs, tilting her head. "I'm not courting anyone, much less pregnant."

"You know what I mean ! You're going to end up having a kid, we all do. I'm sure Yusuke would love to marry you later. You can't see how he looks at you, but it's sooooo annoying..."

"I.... I dont like Yusuke that way, you know that. Any boys. And I dont want to think about... Mariage. I'm too young."

"Oh, sorry miss angel~" Chiho laughs, elbowing Agathe who simply chuckles back. "Still a teen in her twenties... What a shame."

"Just because I age slower doesn't mean I'm any less mature than you, idiot." As to ponctuate her point, she sticks out her tongue to her friend, earning another elbow in her arm.

"No, but seriously. When you become a mom, what are you going to do ?"

".... I dont know." A hand goes to her stomach, silently. Chiho stays quiet. "I'm... Not sure if I want or... Can have one."

"What, because of your eyes ?" The silence is enough of an awnser. "C'mon, they're amazing !"

"I can't open them without hurting and... And mutating, Chiho. What if... What if that's a curse because of who my mom is ? To disuade me from doing like her ?"

"That sounds like you're expecting a lot from people who never bothered to come here except to give you up." She shrugs, jumping from the fence she was sitting on to face her friend, even with her eyes closed to the world. "I'm sure if you want kids, Agathe, you'll be the best mom possible. And if you dont, that's fine ! We'll run away together and live our perfect life away from boys and kids !"

"Liar, you know you'd keep coming back for your granny !"

"That's why I didn't say shit about her."

They laugh again, and Chiho takes Agathe's hand to get back to the village.

***

"Say, Agathe, what do you think of children ?"

They've established a campfire for the night, and the cold of the night is starting to be known, even so close to the fire her wings could almost burn. She's not alone, tho, and Ogami is standing in front of her. She doesn't know what he looks like, only feels the vague and shapeless aura of his inherent magic.

"That's a very specific question."

"I'm not planning on asking you to have some with me, if that's what you're worried about." He laughs and she just shakes her head, used to his shenanigans. "But Shira was starting to wonder about her."

"What do you mean ?"

"We're getting older, Agathe. I know you can't see it, but she... She really wants kids. And she wants to have them before being too old for it."

"Well, you're her husband, I-"

"And you're her girlfriend." She can feel his gaze on her, the piercing blue transpercing even her soul. "I know you're afraid of being less important to us because you met us later, Agathe, but you are my friend and she loves you. That's why I'm asking you about that."

"I..." She thinks back to her teens, to the last time she allowed herself to think of kids. Of her kids. "I... I think I would like that. Being... A mom... With you and Shira... But..."

"... You dont have to be afraid for them, Agathe." He stands up and puts his hand on hers, letting her feel the warmth he seems to emperson. "You dont even have to be the one pregnant if that's what scares you."

"But... But what if, because I'm an angel..."

They dont say more. She's young, and they're starting to not be anymore. She'll live for centuries at least. Them one at best.

She doesn't want to see her children die.

***

"Say, angel." The hand on her wings spreads its fingers through the white feathers. They've been groomed just before, while they were in the bath, and Agathe is still so tired from it. "D'you wanna have kids ?"

".... Irène, we're lesbians."

"I know that stupid !" Agathe laughs, letting Irène's other hand lightly hit her forehead. "I meant like.... Getting some guy to knock one of us up, or maybe just. Adopt some kid."

"I can't see you "get some guy to knock you up", to be honest, love... And I dont think it's a good idea for me to get pregnant." They dont mention why. They talked about it more than necessary. She scares her, and she doesn't want to scare her more than now.

"Adoption it is then."

"Wait for us to get married before wanting to tattoo more names on your skin !"

"We dont tattoo our kid's name, they tattoo ours ! You're the one with deereen writings on your skin, you should know !"

"Not that I would know what's on your skin, you scar too well for it to be seen with my hands."

They laugh and share a simple kiss, something they get to have less and less of.

***

"Agathe, can I ask something ? Feel free to decline."

She turns to face her.... Friend ? She's not really sure what she feels for Ai, but she knows she values her. And she must value her just as much to declare her first concubine of the empire, her who destroyed the harem before.

"Well, of course. Can I help you ?"

"It's... A rather complex issue." She doesn't need to see the empress' face to know she's nervous. "You're a.... Demon queen, right ?"

"Apparently, yes."

"Does that mean you can... Change your appearence ?"

There's a silence as Agathe thinks about it. She never tried, didn't even know she was a half demon before a few years ago, when they met... Well. No need to dwell on that. But it is true that direct children of the Aspects of Chaos like her have that ability. But does her angel part cancel it out ?

She's never felt she was anything but a woman, in her almost 120 years of living, maybe that is why she never though about it.

"Mmmh, I can... Certainly try to see if that is the case. But why are you asking ?"

"To be perfectly honest..." She knows her friend's face was getting redder by her voice alone and, to be honest as well, it did amuse her. "I... Need to have children, and I..."

All smiles vanished from Agathe's face, and maybe it was that more than the subtle shift in her wings that alerted the empress and made her speak faster.

"I dont want you to feel obligated to anything, really, you talked to us about your fears and it's just, I though, you know, you're someone I respect a lot and... And if I have children, I'd be glad for them to be yours."

"Ai, I'm... I'll think about it. I swear. But." Agathe took one of Ai's hands in hers. "I dont know if I can even be pregnant, even less... Making someone else be. And you're aware of what being a half demon half angel did to my magic. I dont want that for anyone else, especially not... Not kids."

"I know." Her other hand goes on top of Agathe's trembling ones, a soft smile on her face. "But I have faith."

***

The palace is rushing with life. Their empress is still in her room, still left with only doctors - including her dear wife. None is able to know how things are going, the painful wails of Ai echoing around the hallways.

Next to the room, wings puffed out by the stress, is Agathe. She can see the powerful magics emanating from Ai and the doctors, Ether's chaotic aura staying close to her, and for the first time in her life Agathe wishes she could be able to not see the magic around.

"Agathe you're making me crazy pacing around like that !" Daphne is sitting, silently playing with a doll. A gift for the baby soon to be born, but her gratting voice still betrays her anxiety. "You weren't that worried when Jezebel birthed Hallvard's kid !"

"To be fair, that wasn't her kid, that was being born." Lycarn is standing next to her partner, holding her hand and stopping her from wandering too far by accident. "And not Xingtzao's yells we could hear."

"I know you're stressed too Daphne, your magic is going everywhere."

"That's cheating to be able to see that !"

Agathe laughs, a small chuckle as she squeezes Lycarn's hand harder. It's been hours. She knows Ether has helped give birth before, but was it always so long ? What if it went wrong ? What if, in the end-

The door slams open, and a sweaty but smiling Ether faces her partners and friend. From the room, a small cry is able to be heared, the cry of a newborn.

"Everything's okay now." The adrenaline is still present in Ether's voice, but they dont linger on that as the three women get into the room where the doctors are still going from left to right, attending the empress and her baby.

"Hey." Her voice sounds almost similar to Daphne's, but her joy is just as present in it. "Sorry, tired..."

They understand, leaving Ai her space. But now, Agathe can't help but focus herself on the small, weak magic emanating from the newborn, the princess. Her... Her daughter.

Maybe it's obvious, with the way her head never turns from Ai's direction, but the woman tell her to get closer, and with a soft and slow mouvement, the baby is passed into Agathe's arms.

"She's so small..." Agathe smiles, feeling tears coming to her eyes. "She's... So cute..."

"And perfectly healthy !" Ether puts a hand on Agathe's back slowly, the other, colder one, wiping a tear from their love's cheek.

Agathe simply nods her head, holding her daughter in her arms, tears of joy on her face.

[sebdadstian]

make you feel my love

Chapter 2 - take me by the hand while we do what lovers do

(can be read as a stand-alone fic)

It’s Daniel’s turn to plead... let’s leave it at that.

Set post-Hungarian GP 2023.

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 2559

Tags: Smut, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Established Relationship, Self-Esteem Issues

[hawkgirlz]

Hi,

I'm a fan of DC comics and I got into it by watching justice league unlimited as a kid and always liked the character of shayera though I was always a wonder woman fan first so I don't know the lore of hawkgirl as much. I was just wondering why you dislike the shayera version of hawkgirl? or if you don't dislike that version do you just prefer kendra saunders version?

oooh we might be here for a while so prepare for a long post.

dcau shayera is to me, a fantasy that men clearly wrote because they didn't want to actually interact with her political side. i alreadyade a big post about why i hate the john/shayera pairing but when you compare her writing in the dcau to her comics, it's just really bad.

her appearing as hawkgirl even though comic shayera hated the hawkgirl name and never went by it post crisis was the real thing that agitated me. it purposely confused people who wanted to read the hawks comics and it spoiled kendra's chances of being her own character in a way that didn't mean being a dcau shayera replacement. pushing a white redhead as hawkgirl when kendra already existed and was confirmed to be latina + was clearly somewhat brown just caused insane damage. even the actresses who play kendra get racist hate for not being a white redhead when she's not even playing shayera.

another stupid thing is that shayera's last name is hol but her husband's name is hro talak. but the thing is, post crisis shayera went by shayera thal because it was a reboot and she was no longer married to katar. WHY did they keep shayera's last name hol when she's not married to katar hol???? it's like these writers were high when reading her comics. i've genuinely never seen a comic character get this badly adapted that they mess up BOTH of her names.

let's start with her beef with wonder woman pre-starcrossed. her beef with wonder woman was originally because of an arc that addressed feminism. shayera's purpose was to basically be the man obsessed woman who says the thanagarians are sexist and her reasoning for all of this is. sex. literally just sex.

now in comics, shayera was a human trafficking victim, a victim of sexual abuse, etc. and when she interacted with diana in comics, they would make fun of men together. so to portray her lime THAT, on top of her main trait being cheater is just. really not a good look at all. i mean all of her storylines revolved around men. she never even defeated the villain in starcrossed and needed a john stewart who didn't evem have a ring to save her. it's also funny to me how the male writers claimed she was masculine or not like other women because she growled or whatever and it's like. comic shayera was wearing a suit and tie to galas. dcau shayera wears crop tops when comic shayera said they made her feel naked. like what masculinity are we talking about here lol.

another thing i remembered is that during this arc, shayera was shocked when she found out arisia was an orphan and was like "oh the pain she went through must have been unimaginable" and it's treated like a joke for batman cause he's sitting right there. but the thing is..... shayera was literally an ORPHAN in comics. comics literally never make you forget she's an orphan, she's always talking about being raised in the slums. on top of never getting her actual origin in the dcau minus that super orientalist bad take on ancient egypt, we NEVER get her origin.

and on top of her writing just being so bad. comic shayera was indoctrinated into the thanagarian government and agreed to spy on katar for said facist government, yes. but like. comic shayera literally KNOWS these people aren't good. and that's what made her so complex and she later realizes she's in the wrong and gets exiled from thanagar abd becomes more progressive.

the dcau version on other hand is just so insanely watered down. even though she's ordered to find out the jl's weaknesses, she somehow didn't know they were planning on destroying earth and wanted to build some FORCEFIELD. like what???? genuinely how can you be that stupid???? especially when dcau shayera literally says her planet is about war which would obviously mean her friends would get hurt. i just can't fathom this plot, there's no way she was that dumb. it just made her look bad like atp i don't blame diana for hating her.

also in comics, it was shayera's thanagarian father behind the original thanagarian invasion, he was a military general. not an evil hawkman rip off. so once again, another interesting plot removed for cracskhip romance drama.

[runawaymun]

WIP Wednesday!

I was tagged last wednesday by @that-angry-noldo to share a snippet of what I am working on :D I LOVE this game yay!!

Here is a snippet from Beneath a Boundless Sky:

Still, even though Thalionel preferred Arwen’s company, he had to admit the mornings when Lord Elrond took him out for a ride were the best, because often they went out onto the hiking trails around the city, and there was always something interesting to look at, or to ask about, or to find. That was how he had discovered this chunk of rock. He hadn’t known what it was at first. He’d just caught the glint of the sun on its glossy surface. There was an entire trail of it down the side of the mountain. He had hopped down from Trastadweg and gone to look at it more closely, and that was when Lord Elrond had warned him to be careful, because obsidian, as he had called it, was sharp.  “The mountain made it,” Lord Elrond had said as he slipped off of his own horse to join him at the flow. “Just like it makes the hot pools.”  Thalionel had only vaguely listened as he’d explained something about melted rock and rapid temperature changes. Mostly, he’d stayed focused on the chunk of rock he’d picked up from the pile. It was as big as his fist. Rough on one side, and glassy on the other where the rock had broken in one, clean cut.  It had been a trick to get it into his pocket without Lord Elrond noticing. Thalionel wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded. He just hoped that Lord Elrond didn’t suspect what he meant to do with it.

To be honest though upon editing it's likely this will change slightly!! I am thinking about writing it out into a full present scene, rather than keeping it as a past-tense memory. I think it will suit it better and we need more Elrond and Thal time anyway!

And here is a snippet from To Partake (it was hard to pick something for this actually because so much of this chapter feels a little spoilery to share, but I do like the writing in this section a lot):

Elrond writes Erestor another note to let him know where he has gone, and when he estimates he will return, slips it under his door, and then starts down the winding staircase of the tower. His footsteps echo in the cool silence of the early morning. As he passes people, each gives him a wide berth, avoiding his gaze as if to ward off any possibility of interaction. It’s nothing particularly new, but it is a little different than the stares he’d gotten upon his arrival. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he wonders if word about his summons to Gil-Galad’s solar —and Gil-Galad’s black mood— had traveled around the court.  It had probably been the fault of the guards. Heniriel is not a gossip, or else she would not hold such a high position.  He keeps his head low as he heads out beneath the stars to the far end of the citadel. The closer he gets to the kitchens, the more the air begins to smell like fresh bread. It makes his stomach rumble. The kitchens are a set of buildings attached to the northern side of the castle, close to the king’s quarters, the banquet hall, and the ambassadorial suites. Elrond elects to pass through a courtyard full of babbling fountains, since it looks empty enough. He follows the cobblestone footpath to a tall rock wall with a door in it which opens out onto the kitchen gardens, where carefully tended beds of herbs and vegetables lay slumbering beneath the starlight. Beyond are the King’s orchards. Elrond loves to spend time there. He will have to find a moment soon to slip away and say hello to his favorite apple tree. For now, he takes the path as it curves to the left, heading toward the kitchen proper, and more importantly: the bakery, where the citadel’s baker is likely to be starting on the day’s bread.

no pressure tags for: @the-commonplace-book @creativity-of-death @raointean @valasania-the-pale @niennawept @jaz-the-bard & anyone else who wants to play!!! I want to read what you're working on :D

[whoreviewswho]

Only One Race Can Survive! - The Daleks, 1963

Part I - The Mutants

Sydney Newman, 1986: "Being a real aficionado of science fiction, I hated stories which used bug-eyed monsters, otherwise known as BEM’s. I wrote in my memo that there would be no bug-eyed monsters in Doctor Who. And after a few episodes, Verity turned up with the Daleks! I bawled her out for it, but she said ‘Honest, Sydney, they’re not bug-eyed monsters – they’re human beings who are so advanced that their bodies have atrophied and they need these casings to manipulate and do the things they want!’. Of course, the Daleks took off and captured everybody’s imagination. Some of the best thing I have ever done are the thing I never wanted to do. It’s true! It’s worked out that way". 

Like most periods of the show's history, Doctor Who's inception was a tumultuous time behind the scenes. Script editor David Whitaker, in what would quickly become a desperate hunt for reliable writers and workable scripts, approached writer Terry Nation having seen some potential in his script for ABC TV's science-fiction anthology Out of this World. Despite having, by his now admission, no faith in the programme, Nation soon found himself out of work and committed to a six-episode serial that would air fourth in the season's run. 

Initially entitled The Survivors, Nation's original pitch to Whitaker was quite different to the story that eventually made it to screen but kept a lot of the same themes and allegory intact. Nation's serial originally featured three races; the Daleks, the Thals and a third species whose ancestors were responsible for the neutron bomb that devastated Skaro and had returned to the planet to make amends. The set-pieces were more extravagant in initial drafts and the Daleks less definitively villainous but producer Verity Lambert was impressed with Nation's work, offering him a seventh episode to allow greater expansion of his ideas. 

David Whitaker, 1979: "Terry Nation didn’t want to write for us, considering it rather demeaning that he’d even been asked."  Terry Nation, 1987: "I had no faith in the show. It was the old writer’s axiom, ‘Take the money and fly like a thief’."

As Nation continued to work, the programme's production elsewhere became more fraught. The two serials commissioned for writer Anthony Coburn required increasing rewrites, the initial first story that would become Planet of Giants was deemed unworkable and budgetary concerns had ensured John Lucarotti's epic Marco Polo would not fill the intended third slot. Much to the dismay of Donald Wilson and Sydney Newman, two of Doctor Who's three founding fathers, Nation's The Mutants suddenly became the strongest contender for the second serial. 

Verity Lambert, 1980s: “The crisis came when Donald Wilson saw the scripts for the first Dalek serial. Having spent so much time defending ‘Doctor Who’, he saw the Daleks as just bug-eyed monsters, which went against what he felt should be the theme of the science-fiction stories. There was a strong disagreement between us, in fact it went as far as Donald Wilson telling us not to do the show. What saved it in the end was purely that fact that we had nothing to replace it in the time allotted. It was the Daleks or nothing."

David Whitaker, 1979: "Actually, that Dalek story was educational in a subtle way – it showed the dangers of war, pacifism and racial hatred. It contained many admirable and idealistic truths in it, and it was also a jolly good adventure story."

To this day, Terry Nation is somewhat of a divisive figure in the Doctor Who fandom. On the one hand, we have the man who penned what is arguably Doctor Who's most important, formative and defining serial. He is the creator of, not just an iconic monster but, iconic worlds and the core spirit and characterisation of Doctor Who itself and its leading ensemble. Yet, on the other hand, we have a writer who made no bones about his disinterest in the scripts he was writing. It has not become controversial among fans to condemn Terry Nation as a lazy, even hack, writer. One of these things is probably true; Terry Nation was a very lazy writer. But to call him a hack? Not in my opinion. Terry Nation is a very simple writer, certainly. The man's approach to structure was very traditionally rooted in the sci-fi serial format, his style of dialogue would not seem out of place in then contemporary comic books and his plots could never be described as complex or involved stories. 

But why should any of these things be flaws? So, the man could write in the mould of classic sci-fi serials? Doctor Who was in the mould of a classic sci-fi serial and what Nation understood so well was that week-to-week structure that so many of his successors, and a good deal of his contemporaries, failed to get a hold of. Sure, Terry Nation serials are awkward stories to binge but they were never designed that way. Ever tried reading Oliver Twist more than one chapter at a time? It is horrible. Every individual chapter is truly an episode unto itself with great moments of character and action that effectively recap the story and move the grander plot forward. This is why, despite the unusual length of seven episodes, The Daleks still holds my attention for the whole runtime. Possibly more than any other writer's work on the original programme, Nation's episodes are consistently great to jump into just as single episodes. This also goes hand in hand with the very direct and simple dialogue really works as well. It is never subtle but it is always efficient and perfectly compliments the flavour of adventure serial that Nation consistently captured. Terry Nation is a good writer. Obviously. He is so good that even when he could not care less, and most of the time he did not, he could always deliver fun and beyond competent scripts.

Terry Nation, 1978: "It was quite a good eerie beginning and, at the end of it – the last frame of the picture – we saw a bit of a Dalek. We didn’t see a whole Dalek. And the phones started to ring. People saying, “Christ, what is that thing? A week later, the Dalek appeared."

The Daleks is a masterful blend of serialised action/adventure, thought provoking science fiction ideas and positively chilling horror that is well beyond the brief that Nation was given. From the moment it begins, this serial is unsettling. There is, of course, a brilliant dramatic irony baked into the premise that operates as both a clue to what is really going on and a genuinely compelling danger for our heroes. There is a school of thought that has concluded that The Daleks is too long but, again, I feel that this is a very contemporary mindset that somewhat misses what this story is going for. Say what you will about Destiny of the Daleks, for a not-at-all random example, but the first episode of this story, titled The Dead Planet, is not an exercise in killing time until the Dalek shows up to menace Barbara at the end. Despite what we know now, The Dead Planet does not have a reveal at the end. There is no frame of reference for the audience to project onto what is happening at all. Instead, the episode is a slowly rising crescendo of intrigue and tension that spans from the sparseness of a silent, dead forest to the gradually more claustrophobic and unfamiliar terrain of the city until Barbara gets cornered in an unknown corridor by an unknown terror. It is beautifully constructed adventure fiction that plays on the natural marriage of primal horrors, being the least creatures alive on the planet, and the imagery of contemporary nuclear warfare.

An Unearthly Child is a story defined by juxtaposition and survivalism which are both ideas that Nation picks up on beautifully in his story but he also brings themes of morality, identity and action. The Daleks is an almost biblical parable. With An Unearthly Child and The Daleks, the two core identities of the show appear to emerge. The former is a cynical and unrelenting programme that believes in unstoppable forces of nature that, no matter how hard we try to escape them or destroy them, will always be there at the core of our beings. With the latter, it is something more optimistic. A programme that is insistent, no matter how devastating the situation, that we can affect our destinies and help those around us to strive for better lives where we learn from our mistakes, can change and move forward. It is this version of Doctor Who, unsurprisingly, that the majority of the franchise believes in.

One thing Wilson did insist upon this serial was an experienced director whom he could trust to steer the ship and Christopher Barry was called in to take the job. Barry, however, was in the midst of other commitments leading to the unique situation where he only directed part of the story – episodes one, two, four and five. Richard Martin made his directorial debut with episode three and went on to direct episodes six and seven as well as the following serial and the Daleks' immediate next two appearances. Barry would also return to the series directing serials infrequently until 1979. As excellent as Martin's work in this serial is, and he realises some pretty spectacular imagery and visual effects for a little programme and with no experience, I could sing the praises of Christopher Barry all day. His choice of camera shots are incredibly dynamic throughout the episodes he helms with some particularly creative uses of angles and composition that really get the best out of these tiny sets. So many classic Doctor Who stories are hampered or even ruined by flat and uninspired direction (and eventually Barry will be the culprit of such a thing) but The Daleks, for my money, stands proud as one of the most cinematic serials of its era. 

The cast are all excellent with great moments to shine. William Russell is always on good form and one of my favourite moments of the serial is when he smashes Susan's flower. It's a brilliant and revealing character beat for him. Jacqueline Hill is great and has some epic girl bossing toward the end ("Do you always do what Ian tells you?" "No."). Carole Ann Ford sells the desperation of Susan's mini-quest very well but let ustake some time to single out for praise is William Hartnell who turns in possibly the defining performance of at least his first year in the leading role and steals every single scene that he’s in. Considering the overly aggressive and immoral characterisation of An Unearthly Child, it was not necessarily a given that Doctor Who would be a likeable character any way moving forward but this is the story that first truly defines him. He is still arrogant, selfish and perhaps a little morally ambiguous but he is also shown to be deeply passionate, delightfully witty and shows more than a handful of moments of genuine charm. I love how character driven the plot ultimately is with little more than the Doctor's selfish, stubbornness to please himself that puts the whole crew in danger. It is worth mentioning too how the fluid link saga things on the TARDIS' identity as a machine, in the literal human understanding of the word. Very rarely beyond this serial would the TARDIS actually be treated in this way by the narrative, as opposed to simply being a magical element that carries us from A to B. The Doctor's actions are cruel and self-interested but by the time he is encamped among the Thals and one can see his delight in getting to know their people and their science, he suddenly becomes such a fully realised person in ways that he was not before. The Doctor is a scientist and an explorer, not some vindictive wizard with indefinable motives. 

While the presentation, and perhaps core value itself, is a little dated, I also appreciate the Doctor's, and the rest of the main cast's, push for the Thals to be proactive as a peoples. It is a little clunky on the whole and comes off as a pretty pure endorsement against pacifism (though Ian's line "Pacifism only works when everybody feels the same" is a difficult claim to refute) but the nature of the message, insisting that standing up to oppressive forces and taking control of one's own life, is one worth conveying and an essential step in the development of the Doctor's morality. We are not entirely there yet, this is not a heroic character (indeed, he actively causes the Daleks to die), but this is the biggest leap we will get until the Daleks' next appearance.

Speaking of, let's get into the Daleks themselves. It is remarkable how close they are to being fully formed in their debut story. It disappoints me no end that this version of the Daleks, the calculating Nazi scientists allegory, is so ill-frequently represented in subsequent media appearances. The Daleks barely kill anybody at all in this script, largely seen just deliberating and experimenting in the labs of their cities, making the few uses of their weaponry a genuinely awesome shock for the audience. It is also a lot of fun seeing the original educational edict play out, for the only time with the Daleks; they cannot leave the floor of their city for they are powered by static electricity. 

The true unsung hero of this production continues to be Ray Cusick, the BBC designer who somewhat infamously took over from a young Ridley Scott who was too busy to take on the job. Before even getting to the main event, we should note that the production design all around is stunning on this story. All of the sets and costumes that are dripping in glorious futuristic aestheticism that would make Star Trek jealous. The Daleks look incredible and, again, it is too easy to take for granted how truly iconic they are. The most radical redesign in the entire barely strays at all from their original realisation here. Even watching them today, it is unbelievable watching them in action. Just how smoothly and freakishly the creatures glide around their home world. They are just so thoroughly alien and it was one of the best choices of the production that their true nature is never actually revealed. How is it possible for the Daleks to be so far from anything resembling humanity? It is left purely for the imagination and to great effect. While Nation was very keen on the image of a gliding creature, allegedly inspired by the the Georgian State Ballet, Cusick was the one who really created the visual identity of the Dalek creature.

Terry Nation, 1987: “Raymond Cusick made a tremendous contribution and I would love to be glib enough to put it into percentage terms, but you can’t do that. You start with something that’s a writer’s dream, that he’s put down in words, and amended, and added to in conversations. Something starts there... I think they may have given him a hundred pound bonus, but he was a salaried employee... The copyrights resided with the BBC and myself... he made a tremendous contribution. Whatever the Daleks are or were, his contribution was vast."

Ray Cusick, 1992: "Everyone was rushing around corridors saying ‘Oh, there’ll be Dalek films, Dalek soap, Dalek tea towels’, they thought there’d be lots of money. I was very friendly with Terry Nation and we appeared on a very famous show called ‘Late Night Line-Up’, and I remember asking him after the show ‘What about the films, Terry?’. And I never saw him again!"

As well we know, Terry Nation is not a subtle writer. In a lot of ways, Terry Nation's scripts seem to defy analysis. Funnily enough, this is something that he has very much in common with, a remarkably different Doctor Who writer, Russell T Davies – neither of them are particularly keen on subtext. As noted above and well documented at this point, there are parallels to be drawn between the Daleks and Nazi scientists. These cold and calculating survivors of a long and brutal war who skulk about in their underground bunkers, preparing to exterminate an entire race that poses no threat to them. As Ian describes them; "They're afraid of you because you're different from them" These are parallels that Nation was very intentionally drawing in his work (and would draw even more intently come Genesis of the Daleks)but there is a particular quote from Nation about his creations that I find deeply tantalising;

Terry Nation, 1978: “I can’t isolate one character [that the Daleks are based upon]. But I suppose you could say the Nazis. The one recurring dream I have – once or twice a year it comes to me – is that I’m driving a car very quickly and the windscreen is a bit murky. The sun comes onto it and it becomes totally opaque. I’m still hurtling forwards at incredible speed and there’s nothing I can see or do and I can’t stop the car. That’s my recurring nightmare and it’s very simply solved by psychologists who say you’re heading for your future. You don’t know what your future is. However much you plead with somebody to save you from this situation, everybody you turn to turns out to be one of ‘Them’. And there’s nobody left – You are the lone guy. The Daleks are all of ‘Them’ and they represent for so many people so many different things, but they all see them as government, as officialdom, as that unhearing, unthinking, blanked-out face of authority that will destroy you because it wants to destroy you. I believe in that now – I’ve directed them more that way over the years."

This is a deeply interesting and revealing excerpt, in my opinion. Nation was a child during the Second World War, a fact that he often mentioned in interviews and something that continued to permeate his work. It would be hard to describe him as anything other than a man with liberal political values, many of which are on display in The Daleks. That being said, it is incredibly easy to read The Daleks as a condemnation of Nazi fascism, totalitarianism and racial hatred. Perhaps not is too easy. Let us take moment to consider the politics of The Daleks as a condemnation of, not the Second World War but, the post-war climate and even more directly on the UK itself. After all, it is not without note that the Thals are of typically Aryan physicality and even had German names in earlier drafts of the story. In real-world history, we all know that it was not the Nazis who dropped the first atomic bomb – it was the Allies and, while the plight of the Thals has a great deal in common with the Jewish in World War II, it is not especially difficult to shift the lens of the Dalek allegory onto the 'good guys' watching the programme. When considering this with the above quote, there becomes something almost anarchistic about The Daleks. Nation's story is a survivalist thriller in many respects (with a lot of the natural horrors, of course, being directly resultant of man-made atrocities) but his self-confessed anxiety for the future perhaps fuels the story's optimistic insistence that when everything is torn down and destroyed, life will prevail and we can begin again, better than before. 

The Daleks presents strong ideals of community which makes perfect sense given the quote above. Nation's self-proclaimed fears seem keenly tied to isolation and that paranoia runs rampant in the terror of The Daleks. Take the sequence in The Survivors where Susan is racing back to the TARDIS on her own. The journey is horrifying and tense as she has no support or reassurance on her side. She is a young woman who is already dying and anything could be out to get her.The person who does find her, of course, is Alydon, a man from a kind, supportive and united community. The kind of community that could take on the Daleks. There are a lot of problems with this too though. The Thals are presented as, in Susan's words, perfect. They are peak physical performance, they look like humans and the villains, the irredeemable monsters, are physically inhuman.

Terry Nation, 1978: "[Survival] is a theme that’s actually gone through my work enormously...  I’m in that aeroplane and I’m waiting for the moment when they say, 'Can anybody fly this aeroplane?' – And I can’t, but I know that finally I’m going to be the one that has to do it."

On Saturday the twenty-first of December 1963, the fifth episode of the BBC's new science-fiction adventure serial, Doctor Who, aired in front of an audience of 6.9 million viewers. The episode was penned an up and coming Welsh comedy writer named Terry Nation and it was the first of seven chapters in a saga entitled The Mutants. Following a thrilling cliffhanger and the unexpected reveal of the serial's bizarre antagonists, something unexpected happened – Doctor Who suddenly became incredibly popular. Between episodes two and three, 2.5 million more viewers tuned in for the adventure with another 1.5 million accumulated by the serial's end. Doctor Who might have debuted four weeks earlier with An Unearthly Child but The Daleks, as it came to be known, is where the programme that has lasted sixty years actually premieres.

David Whitaker, 1979: "When it was shown, not very long after being recorded, we were, and I don’t mean this to sound smug, proved quite right."

Peter Cushing, 1970s: "I thought it was very good. Very well made."

David Whitaker, 1979: "The Daleks were a smashing invention, and I took to them at once. I would say they’re worthy of Jules Verne."

Verity Lambert, 1980s: "What was very nice, though, was Donald Wilson coming up to me after the Daleks had taken off and saying ‘You obviously understand this programme better than I do. I’ll leave it to you’."

Part II - Dr. Who and the Daleks

Terry Nation, 1987: "After the Daleks, I was for a short time the most famous writer on television. The press interviewed me, there was mail arriving in great van loads. There was stuff coming to my house that said ‘Dalek Man – London’, and I was getting lots of them. Almost all the kids wanted a Dalek, and nobody was quick enough... My God, was that to change! Within the year, there were Dalek everythings." 

As we all know, the Daleks were incredibly popular with the British public. In a manner cheekily compared to the Beatles, the Daleks dominated pop culture with all assortments of merchandise and spin-off material quickly emerging on the market. Between Nation and Whitaker's The Dalek Book, TV Century 21's comic strips (also credited to Nation), Whitaker's novel adaptation Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks and any number of toys, costumes and promotional tie-ins, the impact and legacy of the Dalek serial was immediately felt. Nation was swiftly commissioned for a second serial, the decidedly less culturally penetrating The Keys of Marinus, and eventually asked for a sequel Dalek story but what could have been the most high-profile exposure for his creations that one could ask, strangely enough, came without much involvement from Nation at all. 

In late 1964, American film producer Milton Subotsky approached Nation and the BBC about purchasing the film rights to The Daleks. For a fee of £500, Subotsky secured the rights and set about producing Dr. Who and the Daleks. As well as co-producing with Max J. Rosenberg, Subotsky was also credited for the screenplay with not insubstantial uncredited contributions from David Whitaker. The film was one of ten theatrical efforts by prolific television director Gordon Flemyng and marks the first of only two times (to date) that Doctor Who has been adapted exclusively for the silver screen. 

Tom Baker, 1975: "There have been two Doctor Who films in the past, both rather poor."

I find Dr. Who and the Daleks to be a deeply fascinating cultural oddity but that fascination surrounding its existence ultimately fails to translate to the screen itself. Even if it was just rolled into production as a quick attempt to capitalise on the enormous success of the Daleks in yet another form of media, it is admittedly impressive how much of the picture really works. Bill Constable’s art direction is quite breathtaking at times, working beautifully with the luscious technicolor presentation. This is a gorgeous film just to look at and it really effortlessly realises the fullscreen, explosive world of the Daleks that previously only truly existed in the aforementioned comic books and annuals. I particularly love the latter sequences as our heroes scale Skaro's landscape amongst some gorgeous matte painting work. That being said, there is still something that speaks to me more about the 4:3 black and white glimpses offered in the TV version. The feeling of peering through your TV screen into these small corners of what feels like a larger, more dangerous world behind and beyond the camera is much more captivating for me than these much grander sets presented without ambition or flair.

Since I neglected them in my main review, let me quickly sing the praises of Peter Hawkins and David Graham as the voices of the Daleks. With the assistance of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's Brian Hodgson, the pair created the unique electronic tones of the creature's voices using a ring modulator. Their voices are immediately recognisable and they put in great performances though it is clear, in hindsight, that the sound of the Daleks still had some work to do. Hawkins and Graham's initial Daleks are much more monotone than they would later become with the pair only later landing upon the rising pitch and angry tones that would truly define them. They are excellent in the film as well but, it has to be said, the story is not served by how many scenes they have of dialogue amongst themselves. Obviously it makes sense to showcase the full-colour, enormous Dalek props at every possible opportunity in your big screen Dalek film but there is just no way around the reality that Daleks rolling about and talking amongst themselves as slowly as it seems possible they could is not compelling cinema.

Worse than just looking at Daleks are the flaws of Terry Nation’s incredibly serialised storytelling being put on full display here. While the screenplay effectively trims the fat, save for the Dalek scenes, the general structure of this story does not work well as a single feature film. It is a similar problem that a lot of novel adaptations have where the filmmakers just cannot get the chapters to effectively translate to scenes and sequences. Dr. Who and the Daleks also has a bit of a bland core cast. Barrie Ingham is a good Alydon and Peter Cushing works magic with his dottery version of the Doctor but Roy Castle's doofus take on Ian leaves much to be desired and Jennie Linden's Barbara feels so surplus to requirements that she just gets folded into Susan's character and then a generic love interest. The film is entertaining but a bit of a lacklustre watch on the whole. It is not a poor or even unnecessary addition to the Doctor Who canon. This is as good a 90 minute adaptation of The Daleks that could possibly exist. It is just also true that the best version of that story is, regrettably, not this.

Roy Castle, 1990: "[I]t was quite unusual. Very unlike anything I’ve ever done... [The Daleks] were brilliant. I think if you’d said to the producer, you must get rid of the humans or the Daleks, he’d have got rid of us humans in a flash."

Peter Cushing, 1990s: "Those films are among my favourites because they brought me popularity with younger children. They’d say their parents didn’t want to meet me in a dark alley but ‘Doctor Who’ changed that. After all, he is one of the most heroic and successful parts an actor can play. That’s one of the main reasons the series had such a long run on TV. I am very grateful for having been part of such a success story.”

In 2024, the prevalence of Dr. Who and the Daleks in the greater story of the programme has dwindled but it is worth remembering just how significant an event it was. While not a critical darling, the film was a box officer smash in the UK and was often repeated on television over the following decades. For so many fans, Dr. Who and the Daleks was more readily viewed than great swathes of the television show itself. Even though The Daleks is the story that happened on television, it is not unfair to say that Dr. Who and the Daleks is the story many of us remember happening.

Part III - The Daleks in Colour

Russell T Davies, 2023: "I've got to beblunt, I've watched this, as a fan, ahundred times as a black and white show andI've never enjoyed it so much as in colour."

And so, we fast forward, to 2023 and the sixtieth anniversary of Doctor Who. Showrunner Russell T. Davies has made the entire back-catalogue available for streaming in the UK, three new specials are about to air and the boldest, most publicised attempt to bring the original series to the general audience since 2005 is taking place. Thanks to the work of fans such as Rich Tipple and Benjamin Cook, RTD spearheaded an all-new colorisation and re-edit of The Daleks down to a seventy-five minute length to offer an alternative "blockbuster" version for potential new fans. How many of the uninitiated took any notice of its appearance on iPlayer and sprucing on breakfast television remains to be seen but, nevertheless, Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour arrived in our screens on the 23rd of November, 2023. 

The film in question is an interesting but flawed experiment. Certainly, the possibility of colourising the ancient history of Doctor Who has been a tantalising one for decades now and something many fans, myself included, have been eager to see. In and of itself, this is a fine thing to strive for and, in this respect, The Daleks in Colour is incredibly successful at it. The colourisation is breathtaking. Not only is the colourising itself incredible but the choice to eschew real world reference points for the sets, costume and lighting in favour of the most vibrant, almost psychedelic options that they could possibly think of is the correct choice. The entire production has a sense of 1960s pop and visual style that slots in seamlessly with then contemporary productions to the extent where it looks like this could always have been the plan.

What feels very much not like it was planned, however, is the runtime. On paper, chopping up the serial makes a good deal of sense. Seven episodes is a big commitment to somebody uncertain of the original show and with 1963 pacing being what it was, the decision to pare things down matches well with the mission statement. Alas, the editing in this film does not work but not because the idea is bad. Dr. Who and the Daleks has proven that paring down the script can lead to a generally well-received and, for many, preferential product. Yes, Dr. Who and the Daleks is, in many ways the elephant in the room. While the decision to choose the debut of the Daleks as a story to hook in new fans makes a lot of sense on paper, the fact that the Subotsky adaptation exists at all makes it a little difficult to justify.

The direct comparison is ultimately unfavourable and not just because of how many of the colour choices seem direct inspired by it. The Subotsky film's existence awkwardly lampshades the fact that what one is watching here is not an eighty-two minute feature designed to watched in one sitting. This is an almost three hour one awkwardly cobbled together with jarring new musical cues. Many of the technical choices employed such as speeding up the film, tightening up gaps in the dialogue and recording new Dalek dialogue to disguise swathes of cut material all amount to a very obviously cobbled together experience. 

Still, this experiment was necessary and this is a great little curio of the franchise but the awkwardness of the production and its core appeal as an alternative proves it unlikely, in my opinion, to ever actually attain its goal – enticing new viewers to watch the Hartnell era. What The Daleks in Colour is is an alternative to the original and a glimpse into an alternate history for a captive fanbase. It could have been an amazing leap forward but remains, instead, a noteworthy first step into uncharted territory.

But what of that original serial then? Well, in my opinion, The Daleks still holds up today as one of the best stories in the history of Doctor Who and a landmark moment in science fiction storytelling. But this is not for everyone. BBC television of the 1960s is certainly not for everyone; I watched this with my partner and we both did feel the length when watching the episodes in close proximity. Even so, I do strongly implore checking out the first two episodes in the serial for some of the most intriguing and moody sci-fi adventure storytelling you might ever see in Doctor Who. In December 1963, Terry Nation and the Doctor Who team created some wonderful episodes of television. And that was not the end of the story.

Terry Nation, 1987: "I don’t know to this day what the enormous appeal of the Daleks was. I’ve heard all sorts of ideas about it, but they were slightly magical, because you didn’t know what the elements were that made them work."

Sydney Newman, 1986: “Someone once told me that there was a question in Trivial Pursuit, ‘Who created Doctor Who?’. You turn the card over and it says the answer is Terry Nation! I wrote a rather stinging letter, demanding the destruction of all the Trivial Pursuits that had that mistake in them, hinting at some fabulous compensation that they should give me for demeaning my contribution to (laughs) world culture! I got lawyers and everything, but I didn’t get anywhere. They just said they would withdraw the card. I even wrote to Terry Nation for his support, and he sent me a very nice letter back.”

*This title would be adopted by fans despite not appearing on any documentation at the time. It became officially endorsed with the 2001 VHS release