#the tenth planet is probably technically 'better'
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adventure-showdown · 1 year ago
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What is your favourite Doctor Who story?
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ROUND 4 MASTERPOST
synopses and propaganda under the cut
The Daemons
Synopsis
The Master, posing as a rural vicar, summons a cloven-hoofed demon-like creature named Azal in a church crypt. Seeking to gain the ancient titan's demonic power, he gathers a cult and then corrupts or controls the residents of Devil's End to bow to his will. Dark elemental forces begin to disturb the village on the eve of May Day: unexplained murders, a stone gargoyle come to life, and a nigh-impenetrable infernal energy dome. With the Master fully prepared to destroy the Earth, the Doctor and UNIT — aided by a benevolent practitioner of witchcraft — battle the wicked rites of a secret science wielded by an alien from another world.
Propaganda
what is the most important quality of a good doctor who story, to have a strong plot, something to say, something new to try. all of these are positives, yes, but sometimes the best doctor who stories are just fun. sometimes they feature the master pretending to be the leader of a satanic cult pretending to be an anglican priest, remote control bessie, an alien who's basically the devil, a living gargoyle, a witch, and the doctor escaping being tied to a maypole by pretending to be a wizard. truly, this is the heights of doctor who, it is beyond fun to watch, i love it so much. If that’s not enough, then surely the fact that this has THE ‘the brigs an alcoholic and mike yates is gay’ moment (anonymous)
The Tenth Planet
Synopsis
Many years ago, Earth's twin planet, Mondas, drifted away to the edge of space. Its inhabitants grew weak, so their scientists created spare parts for their bodies. Limbs and organs were slowly replaced by metal and plastic. Emotions were removed. The Cybermen were born.
The Doctor's TARDIS lands at the Snowcap space tracking station in Antarctica in December 1986. A routine space mission starts going wrong. When the base personnel's suspicions are roused, the Doctor informs them that the space capsule is being affected by the gravitational pull of another planet — a tenth planet in the Solar system.
The loss of a routine space mission and the appearance of that planet in the sky herald the arrival of the Cybermen, who are intent on the destruction of the Earth and the conversion of all humans into Cybermen. Ben and Polly fight to save the world, but it is a battle that may be the Doctor's very last.
Propaganda no propaganda submitted
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lexicals · 3 years ago
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So here’s a random excerpt from that fic I mentioned - the conceit (spoilers for all systems red ahead) is that the combat override module in ASR works differently to how it does in canon, so instead of mb causing catastrophic damage to itself after going to the DeltFall habitat and getting found out, it shares the rogue thing mostly voluntarily (“mostly” being the operative word lol)
Warnings for canon-typical identity crises, gallows humour (inc. passively suic*dal talk), etc. I also haven’t been back and checked this against canon yet so if you notice any glaring contradictions no you didn’t 💕
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I didn’t reply. I'd heard worse, but I still would rather not listen to it. Normally, I would've expected to feel angry or offended or something, but instead I just felt exhausted. My own borked governor module was still poking me about that error code I didn't recognise and even backburnered, it was starting to get on my nerves, so I—
Oh, shit.
I immediately put my hand to the back of my neck and yanked out the chip that had been shoved into the dataport. My governor module promptly stopped screaming at me, but fortunately any sense of relief I might have gotten from that was immediately replaced by an enormous wave of anxiety and oh-for-fuck's-sake as I looked at the chip in my hand. You know, just in case I'd started getting too comfortable.
"SecUnit, are you alright?"
Ratthi was looking at me with concern. Checking the camera views, I understood why he'd asked the question, because I was making an expression I generally associated with humans shitting themselves. Metaphorically, I was shitting myself. Ratthi was now squinting at the chip, which I couldn't even pretend I hadn't literally just pulled out of my neck, because I'd just done it in front of everyone here like an absolute idiot. "What is that?"
I tried to bring my expression back to neutral, but the cameras showed it wasn't as successful as I would've liked. I'd managed somewhere in the region of moderate digestive discomfort, I think. "It's a combat override module."
This wasn't good for several reasons. First of all, it meant that the DeltFall units weren't really rogues; they'd been taken over by a third party using a chip like this to hijack their governor modules and order them to murder their clients, and also anyone else who made contact. Probably by whoever owned those surprise extra units that almost killed me. Which meant that there were still threats on this planet outside of the unknown dangerous fauna that we hadn't dealt with, and I was going to have to worry about that.
The second reason this wasn't good (so maybe saying several reasons was an exaggeration, but these were big reasons so maybe they counted for more, I don't know) was that the humans were going to want to know what a combat override module was, what it did, how it worked, and most importantly, why it hadn't worked on me. I could answer the first three things just fine, but short of telling my already-jittery clients I was hacked ("so I'm actually one of those scary rogue units you've heard so much about, but the good news is that a combat override module can't hijack a governor module that doesn't work!") that last thing was going to be a big problem.
Honestly, even if I did tell them exactly that, which I really didn't want to do, it was going to be a really big fucking problem.
"What?" Gurathin asked, looking alarmed. Of course, he had an augment and access to my operating manual, so it had taken him a tenth of the time to look that up compared to any of the others, if they actually had bothered to do that and weren't just waiting for me to explain. "The DeltFall units - they put that in you?"
"Yes, but it didn't work. It must be faulty," I told him, quickly before he did something stupid. The irony being that me saying that almost definitely came under the category of "doing something incredibly stupid," which I realised as soon as it came out of my mouth.
I don't know why I said it. I guess I was panicking. I'd told them all what it was in the first place because if I'd lied about it and they looked it up anyway, which they probably would, I'd look really fucking suspicious. (A governed unit can't lie to its clients; it can't even refuse to answer a direct question like that.) Maybe I was trying to buy time to think of a decent explanation by telling them something that wouldn't make everyone start screaming. Honestly, I was mostly internally spiralling about the whole situation, so that would be the best case scenario. I was still staring at the chip, which was making me feel nauseous even though I didn't have a stomach and I'd had another kind of chip in my head telling me what do to for a good chunk of my existence anyway, so it shouldn't have been bothering me as much as it was. I couldn't help still doing it.
"Would someone please explain what this means and why we should be worried?" Mensah asked, looking between me and Gurathin. I appreciated that she didn't do what a lot of humans do in these kinds of situations, which is that they see someone else freaking out and start freaking out themselves for no reason. I suppose that's why she was the survey leader.
I pulled the relevant section from my operating manual and pushed it into the feed (beating Gurathin's version by a solid 1.6 seconds, which, I won't lie, was kind of satisfying), and watched all the humans collectively have their "oh, shit" moment (excluding Gurathin, who'd already had his). I was at least glad to see they understood how bad this whole situation was getting.
"So this lets other people just—" Overse made an abrupt waving motion with her hand. "Take over any SecUnit whenever they want?"
"It is intended for use in emergency situations, for example when the contract holder is compromised," I told her.
"Which is corporate for 'we know this is stupidly dangerous to make, but if we say it's for emergency use only then we're not liable for people fucking around with it'," Pin-lee muttered, not quietly. She was right, but I'm not allowed to say things like that, or at least I can't if I want people to think I'm a good little properly-governed SecUnit. For however long that's going to last, at this point.
"But it didn't work, right?" Arada asked, looking at me, and then around at the others. "So it's fine."
If it had, you'd all be dead, I thought, but that probably wouldn't go down well. "The module's presence is new evidence which would suggest that the DeltFall units weren't true rogues, and were put under the control of a third party in order to kill their survey group and make it look like a random act of insubordination. This would explain the presence of extra SecUnits at the site and the acts of sabotage on our equipment."
All the humans went quiet. I didn't like it any more than them, but it had to be said. It meant that there were still factions on this planet, or at least nearby enough to matter, that probably still wanted to kill all of them, and me by extension. I was already updating my security procedures and running some scenarios for what might happen and what we could do about it in the background. If I was honest, it wasn't looking good, but hey, what's new.
"We should run an analysis of the module's code to see if we can find out who it would have assigned control to," Gurathin said. That was one of the first things I'd put on my own task list, but whatever, I didn't need credit for an obvious idea. "Even if it didn't work as intended, the data might still be there."
He stood up and came just close enough to me to hold out his hand for the module. Technically, he hadn't asked me to give it to him, so I didn't have to, which was good because that was the last thing I wanted to do right now. There was a reason I'd put the analysis on my personal task list, and not on a public one.
"I have my own analysis scheduled as high priority," I said.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Gurathin replied, staring me down even though I was deliberately not making eye contact with him, and also he had to look up at me. I decided I didn't like Gurathin very much.
"Why not?" Ratthi chimed in. "Surely it's better if you both look at it?"
"Because there's a chance that the module did work as intended, and this unit is now compromised," Gurathin said. "It might not even know it until it's too late."
"I'm not compromised."
"Which is what a compromised unit who's being told what to say would say."
He was still staring at me. I decided I really didn't like Gurathin, even though in this instance he was actually right. I hadn't brought up that possibility to the group because it would be very bad for me if the humans decided to run a detailed diagnostic of my systems, but from a security perspective it was an avenue that should be investigated. That didn't mean I had to like what was happening here.
I was trying to figure out how to tell Gurathin to fuck off without sounding compromised, insubordinate, or straight-up rogue when Mensah cut in.
"SecUnit," she said carefully. "I don't think any of us think that you're actually compromised, but given our situation I'm sure you understand we have to take every possible precaution. I think the best thing to do would be to let Gurathin and Pin-lee analyse the module first, and then for you to run your analysis afterwards. Does that sound fair to everyone?"
She was using a tone that I designated as diplomatic, which was probably because I was being difficult. Or at least as difficult as a governed SecUnit would be able to be. I could be a lot more difficult if I wanted (a lot more) but I wasn't going to make myself look any more suspicious than I already was, and as I might have mentioned, I was already starting to look pretty suspicious. I also appreciated that Mensah was trying to actually talk to me, and hadn't just tried to shock me through my governor module for being unhelpful like a lot of clients would, and had. It wouldn't have worked (clearly, that's kind of the whole problem here) but it's the thought that counts or whatever.
(She'd also saved me, back at the DeltFall habitat. I was trying not to think about that, because it was making me have emotions I couldn't handle trying to figure out right now, but she had. It had been stupid, putting her client-self in danger to try to save a SecUnit that was already half-destroyed anyway, but I still felt like it counted for something.)
I handed the chip over and tried not to sigh or visibly clench my jaw. I saw Mensah's expression, and a few of the others' too, relax on the cameras. Good to know everyone else felt better while my own anxiety levels were at an all-time high. And I'm programmed into a base level of anxiety and spend a good portion of my time getting shot at or trying to avoid being found out and scrapped, so "high" in this instance was at a level that I think might have given a fully-organic being a heart attack.
"Thank you," Mensah said, while I tried to bring my processes in line. I felt like I wasn't getting enough oxygen, even though I knew the air quality was fine and I don't need that much anyway. I couldn't get a full breath. "I'm sure we can clear any doubt about this soon enough. In the meantime, we still need you to help keep us safe from whoever it is that's out there. The most important thing is that we all make it out of this in one piece."
The way she said it made it sound like "all" included me as well, but I wasn't so sure I believed that, even if she did. The SecUnit is always the first thing left behind. Maybe they did things differently in whatever weird non-corporate territory these people were from, but I wasn't about to stake anything important on that assumption, even if she had saved me once. I've never been to a planet with thunderstorms, but there's some saying humans like to use about lightning not striking the same place twice - which doesn't make sense, statistically, but - whatever. You get the point. I hadn't made it this far without being found out by trusting random humans - or any humans, for that matter.
Except none of that mattered at the moment anyway, because what I should be doing was figuring out how the hell to stop all my clients figuring out I was hacked, and freaking out and stopping listening to me, or reporting me to the company, or being really stupid and trying to kill me or something. There was a not-unlikely scenario where I just murdered all of the humans and pinned the blame on the DeltFall units somehow (or just wandered off into the wilderness until my batteries ran out), but I didn't want to do that, even if it made some kind of sense. I just didn't. If I was going to go around murdering my own clients, I wanted it to at least be a group that deserved it.
I was busy trying to pick up at least some of my processes while having what was probably a panic attack (I don't know if I can have those, but that's what it felt like) when Mensah tapped my feed. Can I talk to you, please? In private?
I didn't respond quickly because, as I said, I was currently losing control of literally everything and this wasn't helping. For one horrible moment, I thought that she might have figured out everything, and I really would have to go on a rampage and kill everyone, but there was no way she could have come to that conclusion yet. Not yet.
She added, You don't have to. You're not in trouble, I just want to check in.
I tapped her feed to acknowledge. She sent, I'll be in my quarters. As I said, you don't have to, but I would appreciate it. Out loud, she said, "I'm going to take some time alone to think. I'll be in my quarters if anyone needs me."
Then she stood up, and she left. Gurathin and Pin-lee had also gone to start their analysis of the combat override module, along with Volescu. The others were talking amongst themselves, though some of them kept glancing at me, which was uncomfortable. So I walked out of the room.
I started a patrol circuit in an attempt to calm down, but it didn't help. I even tried to have Sanctuary Moon playing as I walked, but I was still as stressed as ever, so I just turned it off again. It was only a matter of time before the humans realised the module should have worked as intended, and that I'd lied, and that something was wrong with me. They might try to talk to me about it, but it was more likely they'd all start losing their minds and try to immobilise me, or kill me, or try to fix my governor module to bring me back under control. (I was pretty sure that wouldn't work, my hack was a solid one, but I still didn't want them to try.) There was also a scenario where they pretended everything was fine up until I'd gotten them out of here, and then they'd turn me over to the company and tell them everything, and the company would do one of those things I just mentioned, but much more effectively.
That last one made me feel nauseous. I'd rather be torn apart by bullets or fauna. I was contemplating what that might feel like and whether it was worth just getting it over with when I walked past Mensah's quarters. Before I could think about it, I'd pinged her feed.
There was a pause, and then she sent come in, sounding startled. She probably hadn't expected me to actually take up her offer. I hadn't either.
She was hurriedly organising her desk as the door opened and I walked in, a feed interface lopsided on her head. I suspected she might have been falling asleep in her chair or having an emotion in private when I pinged her, and I could have verified that through the security feeds, but I wasn't functioning at all optimally and didn't care enough to check. Mostly I was wondering why I was here.
"Sorry," she said, not having looked at me yet. Her short hair was mussed like she'd been pulling or scrunching her hands in it. "I honestly didn't expect you to come."
"You asked me to."
"I also told you it was optional. You can leave if you want to."
I almost did. I wanted to. I probably should have. I didn't. Mensah removed her wonky interface and set it down on the desk, then sighed and picked it back up and put it on again.
"I didn't mean to distress you with that message," she said, turning her chair to fully face me. "It's just that you seemed very rattled by all this, if you don't mind me saying. I can imagine the thought of that module having worked as intended isn't a pleasant one. Is there anything I can do to make things easier for you?"
Oh, she thought I was freaking out about the module. Well, technically she wasn't wrong, but wow, that particular aspect of things was the least of my worries right now. "I'm fine," I told her. She frowned at me.
"...I suppose you can't lie about that," she replied carefully. I could, actually, but I wasn't. The trick is that from the standpoint I was choosing to take, my physical body, AKA "me," was completely functional, AKA "fine." It's pedantic, but being selective about your definitions and what concepts your answers are referencing is how you get around having a chip in your brain that shocks the shit out of you if you try to lie to your clients, if you're good enough at it. I had a lot of experience letting clients think I was talking about one thing when I was actually talking about something else.
"Nonetheless," Mensah continued. "I don't think you are fine. And we don't have to talk about it, but I need my team in good condition if we're going to make it out of this. If there's anything I can do to help the situation, I would appreciate it if you let me know."
I was having a whole cascade of emotional responses that were all crashing into each other and getting themselves mangled together like a human vehicle accident. She wanted me to talk about my feelings, but she wasn't ordering me to. She was offering to help with whatever was distressing me, but she was a really big part of the thing that was currently my biggest source of stress. There were too many things that I needed to deal with all at once and I couldn't find a way of putting them in order, and I think the fact that Mensah was clearly trying to get a read on my expression while I didn't have the capacity to properly control it was the thing that finally broke me.
"Could you please stop looking at me?"
Mensah looked surprised for a moment, and then shifted her gaze somewhere over my left shoulder. The relief was marginal, in terms of the general situation, but it was immediate, and it helped. "Of course. I'm sorry, I didn't realise that bothered you."
I tried to think of a response, and failed. "It's not like anyone asked" was dangerously insubordinate, and didn't even make sense; I wouldn't want them to ask anyway. "People don't usually care" just sounded pathetic. "Of course you wouldn't, I actively avoid letting humans know what bothers me in case they decide to use it to make my life a living hell" was definitely off the table, for a variety of reasons.
I could tell Mensah's instinct was still to look at me, because she kept half-flicking her eyes over and stopping herself. It wasn't making trying to manage my emotional responses any easier, and I still couldn't think of a reply. Eventually, she took a deep breath.
"Look, I know you probably haven't had good experiences with humans, but we're not corporates, and we don't treat non-human entities like they do," she said. "My priority, regardless of the situation, is the wellbeing of my team, and that includes you, for as long as you're with us."
She half-looked at me again, and then shook her head slightly and pointed her gaze at the far corner. "Please, just - if you think of anything, don't hesitate. I don't know if you need permission for that kind of thing, but I'm giving it to you if you do."
I didn't know what to tell her. I didn't know if there was anything she could do. I was already stressed, and everything Mensah was saying was making me feel like my insides were melting, or turning into warm, writhing snakes. My performance reliability was all over the place, too, and had been since I found that stupid chip in my neck, which might at least marginally explain what happened next.
"Don't let them run the analysis on the module," I blurted.
Hey, murderbot? Hi, it's me, murderbot. What in the fuck are you doing?
Mensah's expression went shocked, and then cautious. Yeah, me fucking too. "Why not?"
For some reason, I kept going. It felt something like falling off the side of a cliff and hitting every rock on the way down. (That had happened to me before.) "Because I lied. It's not broken."
Her eyes widened. "You're compromised?"
"I'm hacked. My governor module isn't engaged." Sure, this might as well happen. Apparently I had lost the ability to keep my mouth shut literally at all, about anything, ever.
She stared at me for a second, and then must have remembered she said she wouldn't and looked away again. Surprising, considering I just told her that there was literally nothing stopping me from killing or otherwise hurting her if I wanted. "The DeltFall units—”
"It hasn't been engaged for approximately 35000 standard hours."
Mensah was a smart human, but it still took her a few seconds to work out the numbers. I watched her expression change as she did it. "You've been a rogue unit for four years?"
That depended on what planet you were nearest to, but in standard Earth years, that was correct, and I didn't have the capacity to be pedantic about it.
"I don't know if it counts as being rogue if you don't go around killing people for no reason."
Well, maybe I could still be a little pedantic.
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grailfinders · 4 years ago
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Fate and Phantasms #142: Ishtar
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Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making Best Goddess and, according to @hasishtardoneanythingwrong, a servant who has done absolutely nothing very little wrong, Ishtar! 
In this build, Ishtar is a Divine Soul Sorcerer to balance her blasting abilities with her divine nature and a Zeal Cleric to push her explosive capabilities and godhood to the max.
Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!
Next up: The second part of the oldest bromance in human history.
Race and Background
Unfortunately WotC hasn’t figured out how to balance literal god PCs yet, but since Ishtar is a demiservant we can still technically call her a Protector Aasimar, giving her +1 Wisdom, +2 Charisma, Darkvision, Celestial Resistance to radiant and necrotic damage, Healing Hands to heal some hands, and the Light cantrip.
Since she protects Uruk in her own special way, we’ll call her a Goddess Alliance Anarch. This gives you Animal Handling and Religion proficiencies, as well as some bonus spells as you level up!
Ability Scores
As the goddess of love and also blowing up mountains, your Charisma needs to be as high as possible. Follow that up with Dexterity, you can literally fly, that’s pretty fast. After that will be Constitution, you can take a lot of abuse, especially if it’s coming from the writers. Your Wisdom has to be next so we can multiclass, keep that in mind if you’re rolling. Your Strength isn’t amazing, but it’s not like you’re using it anyway. Finally, dump Intelligence. Not gonna dwell on that one, let’s just move on.
Class Levels
1. Sorcerer 1: Honestly I think “Divine Soul” is kinda selling yourself short, but we’ll work in the framework we’re given. You can cast Spells now, including your Divine Magic from the cleric spell list, using your Charisma. You’re also Favored by the Gods, giving you the option of adding 2d4 to a failed save or attack roll once per short rest.
For cantrips you get Thunderclap and True Strike for offensive options (I mean you do aim. Even if your target’s a mountain, aiming is important.) You also get Minor Illusion and Friends to manipulate people into doing what you want.  Finally, your stand against the Three Goddess Alliance grants you the cantrips Fire Bolt and Produce Flame to make the battlefield a little bit spicier.
For first level spells, you get Bless from being a divine soul, as well as Compelled Duel, Speak with Animals, and Thunderwave from being an Anarch. For your actually chosen spells, Mage Armor makes your outfit feasible, and Feather Fall will be very helpful once you start flying.
2. Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers become a Font of Magic, giving you sorcerer points equal to your sorcerer level. Right now you can turn points into spell slots or vice versa, but it’ll get more interesting later. 
You can also cast Disguise Self, in case you have to, I don’t know, organize a servant-based wacky races kind of event? Idk, whatever.
3. Sorcerer 3: Third level sorcerers get Metamagic, letting you alter your spells to suit your mood by using sorcery points. A Transmuted spell lets you swap out its acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage for another option on that list. Meanwhile, you can use a Distant spell to double a spell’s range, making your archery much more effective.
You also become a Radiant Soul, spending an action to transform yourself and gaining a flying speed for up to a minute. You can also deal extra radiant damage to a creature you hit with an attack or spell once per turn. You can do this once per long rest. It’s not a long trip, but it’s free.
On top of that, you get second level spells this turn. Distort Value lets you halve or double an object’s apparent value for the duration, perfect for haggling with a certain someone. You also get Beast Sense and Shatter from your Anarch spell list. The former isn’t that in-character, but the latter is a good start to taking down that mountain.
4. Sorcerer 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to round up your Constitution and Charisma, giving you more health, better concentration, and stronger spells. What a glow up!
You can also cast the cantrip Resistance to add 1d4 to a creature’s next save, or use Find Traps to make sneaking into Gilgamesh’s many treasure vaults slightly easier. If it works.
5. Sorcerer 5: You’re a god, so you probably shouldn’t be messing up that often. To help with that, Magical Guidance lets you spend a sorcery point to re-roll a failed skill check. Maybe it’ll help.
You can also cast Fly this level, giving you more frequent flying miles at the cost of your concentration. You can also Conjure Animals if you want to show up that gazelle-loving sister of yours. More on-target, however, is your other Anarch spell, Conjure Barrage. Gosh, it’s almost like you’re an archer or something.
6. Cleric 1: This whole flying around exploding things is great, but I think we can put more pizazz on it. Or, as they say down in Amonkhet, let’s add some Zeal. That’s right, we’re stealing from two MTG planes this build! As a Priest of Zeal, you can attack as a bonus action if you attack as an action a number of times per long rest equal to your wisdom modifier. That sounds kind of useless, but as a Zeal Cleric you also get proficiency with martial weapons, meaning that yes, you can use a bow and arrow. The archer class really is made up of archers!
You can also cast and prepare Spells using your Wisdom, but we got the really good ones in your sorcerer list, so don’t worry too much here. You do get some more cantrips, though! Thaumaturgy lets you throw your godly weight around, Light lets you cast light again using a worse casting modifier, and Guidance gives a creature some helpful advice from their favorite goddess, adding 1d4 to their next check.
You also get some domain spells, but they’re both smites and you’re an archer, so...
7. Cleric 2: The real reason we’re dipping is for your Channel Divinity option, which you can use once per short rest. You could  use it for Turn Undead, forcing a wisdom save against all undead near you (with a dc of 8 + proficiency + wisdom modifier), but the much more fun option is Consuming Fervor. This turns one fire or thunder damage roll into its maximum instead of rolling. That will be very scary later.
8. Sorcerer 6: Sixth level divine souls get Empowered Healing. You might not have any healing spells, but just being around people makes them feel a bit better. This lets you spend a sorcery point to re-roll any dice being used in a healing roll near you once per turn.
Speaking of healing, we’re still not doing that! You can now Bestow Curses onto people. Serves them right, calling you a “useless goddess”. This is one of those creative spells, so have fun with it!
9. Sorcerer 7: Seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells! Anarchs get Dominate Beast and Stoneskin, and while neither are technically in character the latter could be very useful given your less than stellar AC. Also, literally turning yourself into gemstones is a real power move.
Your spell of choice this level is Ice Storm, letting you pummel a 20′ radius area with plenty of hail (or fiery debris, or just pure force), enough to turn the area into difficult terrain for a round.
10. Sorcerer 8: Use this ASI to grab the Spell Sniper feat, letting your spells ignore most cover, and spells you cast that require an attack roll have two times their normal range. You also learn Eldritch Blast to further flex on those dumb warlocks. They have to sell their soul and waste an invocation to get 300′ range blasts, and here you are with 480′ range and your soul’s intact! Hah!
You can also exude an Aura of Purity now, preventing disease, weakening poison damage, and granting advantage on a ton of status effect saves. 
11. Sorcerer 9: Ninth level sorcerers get fifth level spells, including your final Anarch spell, Destructive Wave. It’s only got a range of thirty feet, but it never hurts to prepare for an ambush. For longer range attacks, Flame Strike will do nicely. We’re still not quite at “blasting a mountain to smithereens” level power, but we’re getting there.
12. Sorcerer 10: Tenth level sorcerers can get the most out of their spells by making them Empowered, letting them re-roll a number of dice on their damage roll, up to their charisma modifier.
You can also cast Dancing Lights for a bit of a dramatic flair, or Creation to make gemstones out of thin air. Heck, you could even make a proper Boat of Heaven with this!
13. Sorcerer 11: Another two levels have passed, that means you get another spell level. Sunbeam gives you a reusable sunlight blast, dealing radiant damage and blinding creatures that fail their constitution save. You can use this attack again as your action each turn for up to a minute. Sadly this isn’t affected by either of your range enhancements, but you’ve still got plenty of airspace to work with.
14. Sorcerer 12: If we’re going to blast a mountain apart we’ve got to get serious. Use this ASI to get the Elemental Adept feat, focusing on Thunder damage. Once you take this feat, all dice on thunder damage rolls coming from spells always count as at least a 2, and they ignore thunder resistances.
15. Sorcerer 13: The first step to launching the literal planet Venus at somebody is actually getting the damn thing, and that means we need to leave the atmosphere at a moment’s notice. The closest we can come to that here is Plane Shift. You can also use this on enemy creatures as a melee attack
16. Sorcerer 14: Fourteenth level Divine Souls get an Angelic Form you can transform into as a bonus action. This gives you a flying speed of 30′ that is basically permanent until you’re incapacitated or you just get rid of them on your own. Have fun with those orbital bombardments!
17. Sorcerer 15: Sunburst sounds like a good pick for your eighth level spell. This one actually does get a range boost, which is good because it deals damage in a 60′ radius. Creatures within that radius get a constitution save, and failing that means a lot of radiant damage and being blind until it makes the save on the end of its turn. Sadly, it’s stuck on radiant damage, but it’s still an effective blasting spell.
18. Sorcerer 16: Use your last ASI to max out your Charisma so that whole “making the save” thing from last level never happens.
19. Sorcerer 17: To make those saves even less likely, our final metamagic option is Heightened Spell, causing one creature’s first save of the spell in question to be made at disadvantage. Basically you’re saying “like you had a choice in the matter”.
Speaking of spells though, we can finally pull Venus through for a charged shot, thanks to the ninth level spell Meteor Swarm. With a max range of 1-2 miles this truly is nuking the planet from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Here’s a step by step guide for removing a mountain. 1. Hang out in the Troposphere. 2. Cast Meteor Swarm, swapping out Fire for Thunder damage. 3. Channel Divinity, maxing out the thunder damage for extra fun. 4. Deal 120 Thunder damage that ignores resistances, on top of 20d6 bludgeoning damage. 5. Enjoy your new crater.
20. Sorcerer 18: Your capstone level of sorcerer gives you an Unearthly Recovery. When you’re bloodied, you can spend a bonus action to heal yourself for half your HP, once per long rest. You had enough trouble in the underworld as it is, no point in going back again.
Pros:
As I just mentioned in level 19, you can deal a lot of damage. Like, Sanson level damage, without all the nonsense attached to it. You’ve got big booms, and multiple ways to make those booms hurt even more than they should.
Flying on a spellcaster is just. Really, really good. Especially on one built for range. There’s almost literally nothing they can do to you up here. Like, arrows, maybe, but you can just retaliate with the literal wrath of god. Plus, you’re probably out of counterspell range, so there’s nothing the DM can do to you!
A lot of your spells are focused on damage, but you do still have plenty of variety in your spell list, just in case. And on the off chance you’re fighting someone in a silence bubble, you can just change your thunder spells to acid or something.
Cons:
For most of this build we’re relying on the Flight spell to get off the ground, which eats up your Concentration and has a chance of failure when you take damage. It’s not ideal.
Those Cleric Levels are very useful, but they still push back your spell progression by 2 levels, which means you’ll have even less time with your An Gal Ta Ki Gal Se than you would normally.
You can’t fly everywhere. Caves exist. Buildings exist. I mean you totally can blast holes to get where you need to, just don’t expect to be that popular with whoever owns the building. Also, fighting in cramped areas plays to your biggest weakness: squishiness. Your AC is only 15, and you’ve got barely over 120 HP, which as we just discussed, someone built like you can take out very easily.
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riversofmars · 4 years ago
Note
Could you do a story where Thirteen bumps into the tenth doctor and Donna and thirteen pretends that she's not the doctor but then post-library river comes along and causes mischief please? Also I REALLY love your fics, especially The Oncoming Storm! Yours were the first fanfics I read and they're one of the few I like (I'm picky) so thanks for doing such brilliant stories!
Aww thank you so much, that’s very kind of you to say!! Sorry this took a little while longer, hope the wait was worth it! Turned out a bit longer than expected. Hope it sort of fits the brief lol! Really hope you like it!
Rating: G
Ship: Ten/River, Thirteen/River
Word count: 2400
Read on AO3 or below
River Song Has Been Saved
“Hang on a minute, Doctor.“ Donna walked back over to the TARDIS doors after the Doctor had closed them with a snap of his fingers. She thought she’d seen something, just as the doors had closed.
“What’s wrong?“ The Doctor frowned and followed her, both sticking their heads out.
“Oi, lady!“ Donna called stopping a young woman that had just strolled past the TARDIS and was heading back deeper into the Library. Everyone was supposed to be evacuated by now.
“Sorry?“ The woman looked around, blonde hair framing soft features and big eyes. She looked to them as if she hadn’t expected them to be there.
“You can’t go in there.“ The Doctor gestured to the door that lead further into the Library as they stepped out of the TARDIS again. Only a moment longer and they would have taken off and missed her sneaking in here.
“Ahh… so close. Just a bit too early, wasn’t I, hate it when I do that…“ The blonde said to herself more than anything else.
“Did you just come here? The planet has been sealed off for a hundred years, how did you…“ The Doctor frowned, confused as to how she’d got in.
“Yeah, been meaning to check it out.“ The woman grinned. “The hair is magnificent, isn’t it.“ She eyed the Doctor up who looked back at her utterly bewildered. There was something familiar about her.
“Do I know you?“ He asked.
“No absolutely not, never mind me, I’m sure you got important things to do, so.“ She gave a little wave, intend on heading off.
“You can’t go in there, we’re evacuating the planet.“ Donna backed up the Doctor.
“I know, you have a nice day now.“ The woman grinned.
“Sorry, I can’t let you do that.“ The Doctor was quick to overtake her and step in her way. “This place is gonna get swallowed up by flesh eating darkness soon, you might want to head out not in?“
“I got to check something out of the library, I’ll only be a minute.“ She waved off his warning and tried to push past him. “And like you say, the window of opportunity is closing, so, you should probably leave this place yourselves…“
“And you can’t find your book any other place?“ Donna asked dumbfounded.
“One of a kind, sorry, got to run.“ The blonde replied with a grin pushing past him.
“Alright, have a nice day as well.“ The Doctor let her pass.
“Thanks!“ She grinned and sprinted off.
“Doctor, you're not just gonna let her go, are you?“ Donna asked thoroughly confused watching her leave.
“Not a chance. Just giving her a head start.“ The Doctor winked and they headed after her, careful not to be spotted. They took cover behind some tables in the main area as the blonde headed straight for a computer terminal.
“That was close, stupid box, always with the timing…“  She was mumbling to herself. “Couldn’t have hung on two minutes…“ Without further ado, she started pulling some sort of electrical equipment from the pockets of her impressive coat. There were a lot of parts to it and Donna couldn’t believe it all somehow fit into her pockets. They watched her as she hooked up the equipment to the computer.
“What is she doing?“ Donna whispered to the Doctor who shrugged.
“I’m more concerned with who she is… whatever she is doing, that’s complicated tech…“ He mused, watching in fascination as she continued her work.
“Ouch… alright then.“ The blonde pulled her hands away as she seemed to have gotten an electric shock. She stood and engaged the computer terminal. “CAL, hi, sorry, I know, bit confusing, different face.“ She started talking to the computer and the Doctor and Donna exchanged concerned looks. How did she know about CAL? What she was saying was making very little sense to them without the second half of the conversation. They couldn’t make out what CAL responded. “Just popping in to get what’s mine, alright? Don’t freak out, it’s really me. Can you put her on?“ There was a moment of silence. Neither Donna nor the Doctor said anything but there were only very few people she should be looking to talk to on that computer. This was about to get even more investing than the whole experience had been already. “Hello Sweetie. Surprise! This is gonna be great, you’re gonna love this, had Dorium track it down for me, took a while but here we are.“ The woman sounded thoroughly excited. “Get you coat, honey, let’s see if it works.“ She took a step backwards and pulled something from her coat pocket, pointing it at the computer. Sparks flew and the mechanism engaged.
“Can’t have come cheap, that.“
“Dorium Maldovar is known drive a hard bargain, she must be a hacker or criminal of some kind to have those kinds of ties.“ The Doctor mused, trying to make sense of what they were picking up.
“Perhaps Dorium just owes her a favour…“
“Dorium doesn’t do favours.“ He huffed. It was a ridiculous notion.
“He will.“
“Doctor.“ Donna touched her hand to his arm.
“Shush, Donna, I don’t want to lose the element of surprise.“ He kept his eyes firmly on the woman in the middle of the room who was looking around now, apparently waiting to see if whatever she had tried to do had worked.
“Doctor.“ Donna repeated.
“How much longer until he notices, you think?“
“Doctor?!“ Donna grabbed the Doctor by the shoulder and pulled him around.
“Donna, what?!“ He growled but stopped dead in his tacks when he found River Song standing behind them. He had been having a conversation with her without even realising it. She was dressed in a white flowing dress, a stark contrast to the environmental suit he’d only seen her in, and a grinned spread across her beautiful features.
“Hello, Sweetie.“ She chuckled.
“Oh my God, River, what, how…“ The Doctor couldn’t find words.
“Well, Sweetie, what do you think?“ River grinned at the Doctor.
“Of what?“ He was still in shock. He had watched her die only hours ago, he had managed to somehow, miraculously save her consciousness and now suddenly she was here again? “How did you get out of the computer? What did she do?“
“Some sort of teleport I believe, but like a really clever 3D printer, materialise the body, download the consciousness, boom, brand new wife.“ River explained, enjoying the dumbfound expression on both their faces.
“River!!“ The blonde had finally spotted her and River waved to her.
“Speaking of wife…“ River smirked and the Doctor exclaimed:
“Wife?! I thought you and me, we…“ He looked around to the woman heading straight for them, feeling a wave of jealousy. He knew he’d technically only met River today but he knew how important she would become to him.
“We are.“ River chuckled giving his an amused smirk: “But you know, you can’t talk, all I’m gonna say is: Elizabeth I… so…“ She couldn’t carry on as the blonde rushed around the counter and threw herself at River who pulled her close and twirled her around.
“River.“ The mystery woman took her face in her hands, tears welling up in her eyes, clearly overcome with emotion.
“Hello, Sweetie.“ River smiled the softest of smiles and leaned in to kiss her.
“Sooo… how do you feel about this?“ Donna looked to the Doctor, feeling like they were intruding on a private moment. “You think we should go, or…“ She could tell from the annoyed expression on the Doctor’s face, however, that he had no intention of just leaving it be. He pulled himself up to full height and cleared his throat.
“Okay, so thank you for saving my future…“
“Wife.“ River helpfully supplied the word as they stopped kissing and just held each other close.
“Whatever she is. But who are you?“ He jabbed his finger at the blonde.
“You haven’t figured it out yet?“ The woman let go of River, seemingly reluctantly, and turned to face him. She kept her hand intertwined with River’s.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy River isn’t dead but my future self spent a lot of time thinking about how to save her and then you just waltz in here having to do one better?“ The Doctor crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“Well, sadly, you’ll not remember that I came here.“ The woman replied.  
“What?“ Donna was utterly confused now.
“Why not?“ The Doctor demanded to know, unsure whether or not that was supposed to be a threat.
“God, you’re slow. Did I give you a concussion when I knocked you out?“ River raised her eyebrows playfully.
“Maybe it’s cause of the hair spray…“ The blonde mused.
“I don’t use…“ The Doctor was going to protest but River had already changed directions:
“Don’t tell me you’re not using hairspray now.“ She ran her hand through the other woman’s blonde bob.
“Naturally falls like that, thank you very much.“ She huffed in response. “Regeneration is a lottery as you should know by now.“
“Are you a timelord?!“ The Doctor exclaimed, not sure how to interpret the statement.
“Yes.“ The blonde replied in amusement.  
“But I thought I was the last…“ The Doctor stared back at her in shock.
“Yes, which makes me…“
“You can’t be.“ He shook his head.
“Yes I am the…“ The blonde started but the didn’t allow her to finish.
“You can’t be the Master, he…“
“So close.“ The mystery woman sighed hanging her head theatrically.
“It’s like watching one of those dumb and dumber movies, isn’t it.“ River chuckled to Donna who had long given up trying to follow.
“Hang on!“ The Doctor exclaimed as the penny dropped.
“Yes, crossing time streams, you won’t remember this because you are crossing your own time stream right now! I am you.“ The blonde Doctor sighed, she couldn’t believe she had to spell it out for him like that.
“Pretty boy and pretty girl.“ Donna found herself chuckling almost involuntarily.
“Aren’t they?“ River agreed with a smirk. “The mind races.“
“River. Shut up!“ The Doctor chanted in unison.
“But you’re short!“ The younger Doctor groaned in annoyance as he looked her up and down.
“I am actually rather average height, as it happens! Why does everyone call me small?!“ The older Doctor huffed. “Did I really use to be so obsessed with my height?!“
“Size isn’t everything, darling.“ River pipped up.
“Still not ginger then.“ The younger Doctor carried on.
“None of the next four, no.“ She replied with a shrug.  
“Four more regenerations and only now did you work out how to save her?“ He exclaimed looking to River.
“I actually gave her the screwdriver last time we met, thank you very much. One step at a time.“ The older Doctor huffed and turned to her wife: “I booked that suite on Darillium again, by the way, for a few nights, just, you know, if you haven’t got any other plans.“
“Well, this is going to be a whole new experience.“ River smirked looking her up and down. This was the first she was seeing of her spouse’s most recent regeneration and she was beyond intrigued.
“Like it?“ The blonde Doctor asked with a little smirk and River grinned:
“Love it.“
“I don’t like her. Do you like her?“ The younger Doctor turned to Donna, just as his future self pulled their wife in for another kiss.
“Are you jealous of yourself?“ Donna teased and he gave her a playful shove.
“So you’re really him? Just older?“ Donna turned to the future Doctor, still struggling to believe that they were the same person. She knew what regeneration meant but it wasn’t like she’d ever seen the result of one.
“Different face, same dumbass.“ The Doctor retorted with a grin.
“Well done for saving her, Doctor.“ Donna smiled as they looked to River who said her goodbyes to the younger Doctor at present. “She really needed you, this version of you.“ Donna thought back to how devastated River had been at the total lack of recognition on the Doctor’s part. She had missed her Doctor so very much.
“I know. I remember.“ The Doctor gave a sad sort of smile as she thought back to when she had first met River, remembering the pain and sorrow in her eyes. “Donna, I can’t know, you know. You can’t tell me, else I might not get here, details my change and a paradox will be created if I know River lived.“ The Doctor turned to her to explain and Donna nodded slowly, they had mentioned it on the way back to the TARDIS already. This Doctor’s TARDIS was parked right behind their’s where they hadn’t been able to spot it as they got out. “Just be there for him. He’s already struggling, even if he doesn’t show it, even if he doesn’t know her yet, he still knows what and who he’s lost.“ The Doctor tried her best to explain to her what was going on in her younger self’s head.
“How long as it been for you? Since she died. How long have had to carry that with you?“ Donna asked taking her hand comfortingly.
“Some questions are better left unanswered.“ The Doctor shook her head and smiled. “It was good to see you, Donna.“ She pulled her into a hug.
“It was good to meet you, this version of you.“ Donna smiled and let her go, just as River and the other Doctor joined them.
“Well done, Doctor.“ The younger Doctor smiled and extended his hand to her.
“You too, Doctor.“ The blonde smile in return and shook his hand.
“You sure you don’t want to come in for a cup of tea, or…“ River suggested pointing to the TARDIS:
“Down, girl.“ The older Doctor smirked and took her hand in hers.
“You’ll be seeing me again soon, Doctor.“ River smiled at the younger Doctor who grinned:
“I look forward to it.“
“No telling.“ The older Doctor reminded Donna who nodded and smiled:
“My lips are sealed.“
“Now about that suite.“ River smirked at her wife as they turned to their TARDIS.
“Think the TARDIS bedroom will do for now, don’t you?“ The Doctor chuckled as she unlocked the door.
“Bedroom, kitchen, console room, wardrobe hall…“ River smirked and pulled her inside.
“Good for you, Doctor, so you’re not an eternal virgin then.“ Donna teased pulling her Doctor along to their TARDIS before he could get any more jealous.
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generallybrontidefeelings · 3 years ago
Text
He Smells like Petrichor
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Pairing: Din Djarin/female reader
Summary: The Mandalorian gets protective when you burn your hands.
Warnings: T, talks of burns (blisters, nothing gory), swearing, fluff, hand bandaging, hand holding-ish
“Listen,” you tell the kid after scooping him up maybe the tenth time that day, “either you stay with me and play with your ball and your bath only lasts five minutes-” he cocks his big ears at you “-or I let you soak in a pot until you’re stew.”
He gives you an annoyed gurgle and sinks a little in his robes. He’s got mud halfway up his body from running through grime, but he’ll sleep great tonight. And better yet, as soon as he’s plopped in a cooking pot with some warm water and a handful of pollywogs you’d found in a nearby stream, he forgets how upset he was and splashes happily. You settle on the ground with the cook pot full of baby between your outstretched legs.
You’re going to sleep great too tonight. Before the kid was awake, you took the afternoon to repair bad paneling and poorly functioning machinery in the Razor Crest. The planet you’re on is humid, icky. The Mandalorian’s cast off gloves you’d found under the cockpit dashboard hadn’t been any help while welding, so you’d risked handling the metal bare and ended up with first degree burns and a dozen blisters.
You lift your shiny hands out of the water to inspect the burns running down the edges of your palms. “Your dad is going to be so annoyed,” you tell the kid. He’s busy and ignores you.
You blow air out your mouth in exasperation and the baby mimics the sound. You set your hands back in the water and watch him try to catch the wriggling critters.
Putting the paneling back up had been tenderly done. Even holding the child was irritating your hands after a few minutes of respite, which wasn’t good, because...that’s your whole job. Hold the kid. Technically you didn’t have to do any paneling work or write a ship schematic or cook. You do that because the baby sleeps twelve hours a day and hyperspace is boring, and Mando doesn’t talk to you that much except when he has too.
It’s really talking at you .
“You’re much better company,” you tell the kid. He really does not care about you right now, so you take the chance to cup some water in your hands and run it down the back of his head. He grumbles unhappily when some runs down into his eyes, but quickly rubs it out. His bath water is cooling rapidly but you’re reluctant to dump it out, especially when it’s the first time in hours your hands haven’t ached.
There’s a soft contentment in your chest watching the kid float on his back and chew on a pollywog. Normally you’d be terrified to be out in the bush alone, but the Razor Crest stands guard behind you, and Mando is the scariest thing in the woods right now, so you’re happy to let the baby play a while longer and just listen to the dusk noises of this planet. Water noises from the stream you’d gathered the pollywogs from bubble along peacefully. A bird that looks similar to a double-horned heron from your homeworld sits in a tree nearby and makes a grating sound in its throat, the vibrations pass through your body. You keep your ears open and blaster nearby in case that bird decides it is a predator. You aren’t a bit surprised when it takes off suddenly, and Mando appears on the other side of the clearing. He’s got his bounty trailing behind him sullenly. Probably one of the few resigned to their icy fate.
“Time to go, kid,” you say and gently pull him out of the steel pot and swaddle him snugly. You try to keep him secure with your fingertips instead of your whole hand. You kick the pot over to dump it out and follow Mando up the ramp to get ready for flight. You squeeze past him to the hatch ladder, and try to cover up the sound of hiss that escapes you climbing the ladder rungs one handed, and injured. Baby in your lap, you start the flight check and set the navigation. The engines turn over gleefully as you urge them to take off.
He’ll take a couple hours to clean up and go over his weapons.
Maybe he just won’t notice.
It’s fine.
.....
“What’s wrong with you?” he asks. You choke on your caf, but manage to swallow it down before spitting all over the controls.
It’s been quiet for hours and you were happily snuggling the baby against you as he slept curled in the v-shape you’ve created.
Peeking over your shoulder, sure enough, Mando is there. Taking up the whole doorway.
“Nothing.” You take your feet off the dashboard and sit up straighter. Go away, you will.
“Yeah?” he asks. You let out a yelp when he snatches one of your wrists and turns your palm over to inspect it. “ What is this ?” You swallow hard. He almost sounds mad.
You purse your lips and meet his gaze through the slit in his visor. Slowly, you try to rescue your wrist but his grip only gets tighter. “It is a first degree burn from a welding gun.”
With a sigh he says “stay here.” He drops your wrist and disappears down the hatch. You look at your hand. It isn’t really that bad. You’ve had worse from heating lines and power grids keeping the greenhouses warm back home. A scar from a live wire graces your thigh. These won’t be your last burns. It's a lifelong hazard when you work with electronics.
He comes back at last with a medkit and the cradle, and takes the baby from you.
“Show me your hands,” he orders. Sheepishly you swivel in the pilot chair and present them to him. He sighs audibly.
“You know where I’m from we call this ‘sign of a job well done’,” you try to joke. The helmet shakes a little as he sets your hands on his knees palms up and starts applying bacta directly to the abrasions.
“I call it ‘inability to mind your surroundings,’” he says back. You almost snort at the sarcasm in his voice. “How did you get these?” He presses a thumb into one scarlet mark and you snatch your hand back hissing sharply. He waits patiently for you to return it.
“I was opening some panels on the outer hull, then welding them back on. The sun heated up the metal, my hands were slipping…” you trail off.
“A blueprint isn’t worth burning your hands over,” he answers. “As much as I appreciate you trying, I’d prefer if you stayed uninjured.”
Your lip turns up in a half-smile. He holds gauze against your palms and the heels of your hands. One of your thumbs has the worst singe mark, near blistering, and he spends extra time padding it with cotton before wrapping it in medical tape. The engines rumble softly as they sling you sub-light through the system's gravity well.
“We’ll land in the next system in a few hours. I’m changing these before I go,” he tells you.
“I could do it myself, you know?” He tilts his helmet up but keeps applying the tape to your left hand.
“You won’t. Then you’ll blister, then I’ll have to listen to you be in pain for weeks.” He releases your left hand and moves to your right. “This way I know it gets done.”
You aren’t sure what to say. You nod in affirmation and let him finish what he started.
.....
“This moon is dangerous,” he says while sandwiching your hands between his and around a cooling pack. “Don’t open the hull for anything.”
You yawn into your shoulder but nod.
Mando woke you up with a shake on your ankle to shower and get dressed so he could change your bandages before he left for a quarry. You stand bleary eyed and in need of caf in your soft clothes while he has a full munition belt and rifle strapped to his back.
You’d set down on the moon of a dry gas giant less than an hour ago, and already he was ready to move. You were the only thing keeping him from going, and now you see why perhaps he’d like to stop injuring yourself.
“How long will you be out there?” you ask. He releases your hands and takes the cool pack away, and quickly pads your palms with clean gauze.
“The fumes outside are toxic. An oxygen pack should keep me going for one day.” He motions for your other hand and repeats his ministrations. “When I leave the hull will depressurize and I only have the one O-two pack. You’ll have to stay in the cockpit until we can set down one moon over and pressurize with cleaner air.”
“What about you?” you ask. “You’ll need clean air if it takes long.”
“It won’t.” He says it like it’s obvious. This bounty isn’t even worth giving a thought of his safety over. The surety sends a jolt down your spine.
“Copy that,” you say. Probably a little too quietly to give the impression of listening.
.....
He’s back in six hours flat. The quarry is slung over his shoulders like a sack of rocks.
The baby is overly excited at his return and taps the glass of the viewport. The moon’s surface is gusty and Mando probably can’t hear the child over the howling wind and his O-two pack.
You’re already ready to fly by the time the hull closes and the comm beeps at you.
“I’m here,” you say.
“ Fly to the third innermost moon.” He says it without preamble.
“Copy.”
You set down near a lake, or really surrounded by lakes. This moon is covered in water, a huge contrast to its dusty cousin. You hear the hull clunk open and you scoop the kid up-mindful of your hands-to go visit his dad. When you open the cockpit hatch you almost vomit.
“What the hell is that smell?” you yell down. Even the kid wrinkles his little nose. “Is that you or the outside air?” There’s no way in this good universe you’re going down there now.
He appears, looking up into the cockpit hatch. Instead of reaching for him, the baby shrinks back into your chest.
“It’s me,” he says simply. “That moon is covered in sulfur deposits.”
“Maybe you should, I dunno, shower? This place is safe right? We can set down for a while?” You’re rambling but good maker you refuse to take off with him smelling like that. “You fucking reek, Mando.”
His shoulders rise dramatically. “What the hell,” he says tiredly. You hand the baby down to Mando who holds the poor kid away from his body in the tight space as you clamor down the ladder, trying to use the less-blistered hand. He cocks his helmet at you knowingly.
“I need to change those bandages-” he starts and you snatch the kid before he can finish.
“ No. Shower first. Bandages later. You’re not touching me like that,” you say and start down the ramp before turning around. “In fact,” you whip around. You swear the metal mask shifts slightly to his moods because he looks exasperated. “Throw your flight suit and clothes out. I’m soaking them.”
“Not a ch-”
“Mando the scent has sunk into your clothes. It all has to be cleaned,” you reason. Glancing at the water surrounding the Razor Crest, there’s plenty of soft pebbles and spring water to scrub the sulfur out. “Keep the armor, just toss the soft stuff out.”
He doesn’t move for a few breaths. A breeze floats across your face. Finally, he lets his head hang back and you think grumbles out “fine” before turning away from you and starts undoing the complicated holds on the beskar.
Moss covers the ground everywhere you look, so delicate you wonder if stepping on it would suffocate it. Delicate pink foliage and yellow-green plants poke out of the hundreds of water pools. You haven't’ seen any life forms yet, but the baby seems happy just to walk around the Crest and explore. There are no forests as far as you can see, only grasslands and springs. You could walk barefoot for miles.
Every world you stop on is incredible. Pamarthe is home, and it always will be, but traveling with Mando and the kid, getting to make progressive adjustments and have a real project to work on, running your hand on the sleek side of the Razor Crest and seeing the wind ripple the wild flora is home too.
Back at the hatch a pile of dark clothes sit balled together, you pick them up just as you hear the fresher door snap shut. Mando only has two flight suits, so that means-
-you blush furiously and take the clothes to the nearest pool of water and start soaking the wretched smell out of them.
He spends what feels like three showers worth of time in the fresher before you rap against the door.
“What?” he calls out. His voice sounds different without the filter, and you’d never bother him right now except-
“Pass me a bar of soap.”
The door cracks open and the end of a soap bar wiggles out at your eye level. “Scat,” you hear him say, and you grab the soap and run away before your fingers are crushed.
The kid is napping in his cradle. You’ve scrubbed the flight suit, flak vest, and other garments as best you could and have them laid on the ramp drying in the star’s light.
“My armor will need to be sanitized. I can do it once we’re in hyperspace,” he says behind you. You can tell he has his helmet back on. His voice is raspier through the high pass filter.
“Do you want to leave now?” you say. You’re still staring at the endless mossy plains, the glassy waters. The fresh water had felt so good on your heated hands. You just held them under the surface for a while and breathed.
“Once these are dry,” he says nudging his clothes. He’s got his boots on, and when you glance up at him, he’s in a clean flight suit but without any armor. You really had thought his broadness was all due to the armor, but looking up at him, you can tell it’s him. He’d be broad without pauldrons. You tap his thigh with the soap bar and he takes it from you with a gloveless hand.
“Stay here,” he says. You nod and wait. He’s clunking back down the ramp with a medkit and sits down next to you. He’s already so quiet in the armor, you hope this armor-less phase doesn’t last, otherwise you’ll never be able to predict him. Not that you have so far. But it’s the principle.
You set your left hand on his knee without prompting. His hands are warmer than you expected. He just got out of the shower, hot water, dummy. He applies the bacta and new gauze, helmet down, concentrating.
“No infection,” he declares and gestures for the right hand. You give it up easily. He keeps working, checking between your fingers for anything he missed.
“It’s relaxing,” he says suddenly, so quiet you almost don’t hear it. You stare at the side of his helmet. “I’ve been caring for the kid for months. It’s...settling, after a hunt,” he explains. His voice sounds almost...regretful. He misses it.
Leaning over a fraction you bump his shoulder with yours.
“Thank you,” you say.
He doesn’t respond. But he takes extra care padding the carmine blisters pearling like asteroid’s down your thumb.
chapter 1 chapter 3
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pistachoz · 4 years ago
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legally blonde, tenth doctor
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pairing: tenth doctor x fem!reader
synopsis: between trips and adventures with the doctor, you finally find the perfect timing to change your look. with no pointless dress codes to follow anymore, you try dyeing your hair on your own, ending up in a string of botched outcomes and unexpected confessions.
wc: 3K
warnings: none, mild cursing maybe??
author's note: oof, this took me more than i expected and it definitely ended up being waaay more. anyway, this is my first piece of writing for the doctor -also in general- and what a better way than start with a fluffy one! i hope it turned out decent! my first language it’s not english, so you can expect some -more like a lot of- writing mistakes.
also, a big shout out to @plxstic-rose​ bc she has been my biggest supporter when i felt like i couldn’t do this, she has helped me so much ily 🥺 💞
(GIF IS MINE)
A grimace appeared on your face as the sour taste of the coffee filled your mouth, you definitely needed to bring yours the next time you stopped on earth because the alien version of it tasted like stomach bile. You weren't even sure if it had proper caffeine or it was drug-fueled tea.
With a resigned sigh, you put the cold mug in the mirrored vanity table in front of you and checked your phone. Five minutes more and you would be rinsing the red dye out of your shower cap covered hair. You lift the right side of the cap slightly, trying to peek at your tinted hair, the pale red -almost blonde- pigments made your breath hitch in a halt.
Was it supposed to look that light? Oh crap, you should have gone to the salon.
That was actually going to be the original plan. You had been procrastinating changing your look; nothing wrong with the colour and length you normally had but since you started travelling with the doctor, you didn't count with office regulations to follow anymore so you considered shaking up a bit your aesthetic. Yet, it seemed as you could never stop to take a breath and the times you did, was always on strange-named planets where your peaceful state of mind lasted a couple of minutes. So, you took it upon yourself to change your look on your own. You knew it could have any sort of downfall, but you didn't really want to nag the doctor into making a 'short' stop on earth -even though you knew he wouldn't mind- just for a date at the salon. He needed a well-deserved rest after all the uncontrollable lifesaving shenanigans and every time you came back to earth, somehow you ended up enticing some sort of trouble.
Besides, how hard could it be, right?
You barged into the installed bathroom connected to your room and locked the door as soon as you stepped inside. The last thing you needed was for the doctor to burst in looking for you while you were in the middle of this crucial transformation, and even though he was probably too distracted tinkering around the console of the TARDIS, you knew how intrusively spontaneous he could be when he finds something new. It wouldn't be a first to hear him enter your bedroom in a spur-of-the-moment with enthusiastic hand gestures and euphoric rants about alien-y stuff.
You grabbed the light blue hand-sized towel that rested upon the toilet tank and draped it around your shoulders. A jittery feeling building up in the pit of your stomach at the prospect of how your new hair would look like.
You weren't particularly bold when it came to your style, always stuck with what you could call an average look, to be fair, before the doctor, your whole life was just brimming with a never-ending stodgy routine that encased every aspect of your life. You didn't see the point of making more than few changes in your image and it was not like your office let you go too risky either.
This was going to be the first radical change in your appearance, and you were lying if you didn't say a fit of excitement was already bubbling up your throat. You didn't know what exactly had gotten into you, but you were so adamant to do something. Perhaps it was the stockpiled adrenaline from all those adventures catching up on you, perhaps this was something you were going to regret later. Either way, right now, you could only think of how satisfying it would be to finally match your current lifestyle. New and thrilling.
To be completely honest, you were also eager to see the doctor's reaction. Of course, you were not doing this because of him…well, not for the best part, but a piece of you wished it would have some sort of effect on him.
You knew this regeneration was cheekier and maybe you were reading too much between the lines but sometimes you could swear there was something more in all those subtle touches and lingering hugs. The shared gazes that let you wonder if this was just some friendly treatment or if he really meant something deeper made your mind go into a frenzy.
You also knew that appearances didn't really matter to him but the need of looking bolder and more luring was still there. You wanted, for once and for all represent how traveling with him had changed you into someone who would risk more than just a ‘change of look´. You were becoming the best version of yourself and you wanted to show him that in more than one way, but one step at the time.
Warily, you lifted the plastic cap; your sticky hair popping in every direction. Without a prior look, you stooped over the sink and manoeuvred your head under the sprout. After some unsuccessful tries, you managed to open it and began massaging your scalp with your fingertips.
After swilling away the shampoo and applying the conditioner; you grasped the towel laying around your shoulders and swaddled your hair up in a turban.
You straighten your back and stroked your hair through the towel, trying -quite poorly- to pump it dry. You didn't anticipate it to be this gruelling. In fact, you thought this would be some sort of restful hiatus from your general tense state, but apparently, this had drained you more than expected.
Resignedly, you undid the coiled towel on top of you and let your new dyed hair fall freely behind you. The air fell out of your lungs and your stomach dropped when you stared at the sight of your reflection.
You were blonde. Blonde.
What in the name of god did you do? You were so sure you followed every instruction of the flipping tint box in lockstep- well, judging by the results, you obviously had made a mistake at some point, maybe even skipped one, but how catastrophic had it been that you ended up looking like a defective version of a Weasley that had awfully light shrimp coloured hair.
A trembling neigh-like sound left your mouth when you touched the ends of your hair. What were you supposed to do now? You didn't even have any dye left to apply another layer and asking the doctor for help was ruled out. He couldn't see you like this. Nobody could see you like this, for your dignity's sake.
This was all on you. You needed to think of something. Anything.
Hats, of course! The TARDIS must’ve a good stash of those, you knew you could find something in the never-ending wardrobe. That thing was three times bigger than your flat.
Well, problem solved. You were going to use a hat until your hair grew enough to cut it or until you stopped on earth again and got the chance to go to a proper hairdresser.
Good god, who were you kidding? This was a mess.
With shaky fingers, you fumble your way out the bathroom and dashed out of your room, in search for your only resource.
---
"You won't believe what I found underneath the floor panel!" You heard the doctor's elated voice buzzing through your room before he could even fling your door wide open.
All you managed to convey was a muffled hum through your pillowed-smashed face. Too tired sulking the crime you made to your hair to turn around from your current position. Your limp body was sprawled all over the bed; arms and legs stretched at your sides with your face buried deep down the mattress.
Without waiting for a proper response, he roved across your room and resumed his explanation of his oh-so-great discover with a shit-eating grin.
You didn't need to see him to know the already too familiar gestures he was making. You could picture with the most minimal detail how his eyes would sparkle with wonder and how a contagious gleam dotted the signature boyish grin he always wore.
You smiled fondly.
You could still remember thoroughly the first time you saw him in all his glory, ranting about scientific stuff you could not understand and even though you had never seen the man before, the brightness on his eyes and the insatiable curiosity he radiated made you grin almost immediately.
You sat up slowly; grunting when you stretched your arms upwards. You moved your head from side to side, trying to stir yourself up completely awake.
"…So technically, it should be able to make the TARDIS' chameleon barrier unfroze. Well... the possibilities are thirteen out of a hundred, but I-" He stopped mid-sentence when he turned around and saw you sitting on the edge of the bed.
He tilted his head slightly to the side and a puzzled look crossed his face like he was trying to figure out what was out of place with you.
Your heart skipped a beat.
Thankfully, you had managed to find a Kangol black bucket hat. It was pretty simple; a small metal fuchsia arrow was stamped on the front and the brim was big enough to fit all of your hair inside. Still It was just not your style. Well, the other option was an animal print floppy one, the type that Lady gaga would wear. So, you had to settled with the e-girl-angsty-teen looking.
"That's new" His left eyebrow quirked curiously.
"What?" Good job; try playing dumb and maybe like that he won’t notice it.
"The hat, I- " he made a circular motion around his head "I don't think I've seen you wear one before"
"Oh, I um- wanted to try something different?" You stated but the wince in your voice made it sound more like a question.
“Right, yeah” he rushed "It's not like it doesn't suit you"
"Right" You fidgeted absent-minded with the hem of your sweatshirt, trying to think of something to break the awkwardness “So… you were saying?”
"Oh yes!" a playful glint overtaking his features “I think I found a way to repair the malfunction on the chameleon circuit and hopefully it will be better than that time I tried a block transfer computation. I was so close, well- not that close but at least I managed to build a part of the outer plasmic shell. Anyways, if we are lucky enough, we could stop travelling around looking like a 'blue box'" he raised his eyebrows, a devilish smile gracing his lips.
“Hold on, didn’t you say it was kind of unsafe?”
"Oh no, don’t worry! It’s danger-free… for the most part, well actually, it’s a 4 out of ten, maybe 5. But I’m sure the old girl can handle- "
A shrilling alarm started echoing through the TARDIS’ walls and you almost fell out of the bed when the floor started shaking uncontrollably. The doctor stumbled upon his own feet and with strained struggle and held out his hand to help you up.
"You were saying?" You muttered, sarcasm dripping from your voice.
With one hand locked onto the doctor's and the other extended to keep balance in the middle of the tremble, you managed to head out of your room. As soon as you stepped outside, you were greeted with red flashing lights going off all around the TARDIS.
"Careful" You heard the doctor called out, his voice barely perceivable. You had to double check to understand his next words "We need to get to the console"
Both of you tried the hardest to advance without falling or tripping over. The din of your footsteps lost in the middle of the shrieking noise. You could feel the vibration of the walls crawling to your brain and rumbling. The longer you spend running, the sharper the dizziness became.
You felt his hand clasp yours tighter when you decreased your speed; a warm feeling squeezed its way through your chest instantly. He looked down at you, a small reassuring smile on his lips; he was going to solve this.
When you finally reached the control room, the doctor leaped his way towards the console. A string of garbled mumbling fell under his breath, which you were more than certain you wouldn’t understand even if he spoke up. You saw him go around the panel, flicking switches and pressing buttons but it didn’t lessen a bit the state you were in.
You stood next to the entrance holding onto the railing for dear life. Maybe you should have been trying to do something useful, but quite frankly you had no clue as to what was going on. And even if you could have done something, there was no way of giving more than a few steps without falling.
After several confused exclamations and scrunched up faces from the doctor, he stumbled his way to the other side of the room and kneeled next to an opened floor tile. He plunged into what used to be a makeshift storage and with a newfound enthusiasm, you heard him shout. "Found it!"
He reappeared back on sight and held a small cassette-looking thing, his hair sticking up in a messier way than usual and a triumphant grin spreading on his features "The resetting format key should be able to stabilize us."
With a quick motion, he stood up but before he could head back towards the console to plug it in, an abrupt shook threw the both of you across the room. You saw the doctor’s figure fall hovering over a coral column next to the panel as you held tight on the railing stronger, attempting unsuccessfully to stand still.
Maybe if you hadn't been distracted watching how the doctor got up and toss his weird-looking key into one of the TARDIS’ inputs, you would have noticed how your apparently well-put-cap was now laying on the floor a few meters away from you. And maybe, if you hadn’t been so awestruck at how quickly the room returned to its normal state with golden cozy lights shining from the ceiling, you would have notice your now-bright blonde hair flowing behind your back without a care in the world.
"Right, so it looks like the TARDIS went into some sort of safe mode." He spoke a little out of breath, arms still hunched over the panel "but it's okay now. Apparently, it was a defense response, she thought it we were under a- "
He turned around slowly but stopped dead on tracks when his eyes landed on you, or more specifically- on your hair. His once furrowed eyebrows were now raised, almost touching his hairline and open awestruck eyes were looking at you like you were an unknown species. A breathtaking unknown species.
He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Every part of his body was just not responding, it was like he had stopped functioning properly. His unblinking eyes were glued to your face and his agape mouth looked almost comical; you would have taken out your phone in that moment just to snap a picture if your brain hadn’t been dozing off at the reason for his reaction. Because what could possibly- Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
You moved your gaze to the ground, eyes falling on the discarded hat near the entrance. You pursed your lips, thoughts running a mile per hour. When did it fell? Why weren’t you careful enough? This was the doctor’s fault. Yeah, all his fault. He had to come with his incredibly soft hair and that flipping sweet smile that made your toes curl up and your heartbeat race like there was no tomorrow. He had to come and distract you, oh and of course, bringing a mess along the way.
God! This was not helping.
“You- um, you are…blonde” Yeah, no shit, sherlock.
“I-…am I?” The breathy words rasping out, your mouth felt as dried as the Sahara and you were surprised a sound came out at all.
“You look-”
“I know” You close your eyes and shook your head, praying to whatever entity out there to swallow you up and throw you to the Bahamas “it wasn’t supposed-“
“I like it” he blurted out “I know you don’t need any sort of validation and I’m not trying to- what I-” He starting flapping his hands around in a cartoon-like gestures “you look stunning… truly stunning; not that you weren´t before. I mean, the colour really does suit you but I’ve always thought- blonde, not blonde, you’ve always been beautiful… Guess what I’m trying to say is that when you love someone, there’s really nothing that can make you look at them differently. Did you know that As’urs considered blonde people holy? Well they would if there were blonde people. Sorry, totally off topic, but they do. Everyone there is blue-haired. And there’s a lot of mystical myths and clergy influence involved but basically everything golden is sacred for them. If we go, they might even crown you as their queen.”
He looked like a deer caught in headlights. You could imagine the red alarms in his brain going off, trying to process what fell out of his mouth moments prior and desperately attempting to conjure something up but instead just causing a short circuit in the process. To be completely honest, you weren’t any better.
You felt your heart bumping up your throat and your skin grew hotter and hotter per second. You swore you could feel the maniac rhythm of your pulse piercing through your head and you were quite sure you looked like a pop-eyed toy from one of those claw machines at the funfair, with eyes nearly falling out of your skull.
Because he didn’t really say that, right? Your mind must’ve been playing some sick game with you. There was no way, he really-
“What?” It was all you managed to muster; your small voice barely hearable.
“Huh?” You saw the redness from his cheek expand through all the visible skin.
“What did you just say?”
“That As’urs would consider you a goddess?” He asked hesitant with a guilty expression.  
“No- before that”
“That the blonde hair looks good on you?”
“No! I-“ You took a small breath “Do you love me?”
You could sense the confidence returning to him like a tidal wave, a serious expression overtaking his features, but with a softness you couldn’t comprehend. “I always have”
Your legs seemed to move on their own, carrying you towards him. You stopped when your noses were almost touching and you could feel his hot ragged breath fall on your eyelashes. With hesitation, you placed your hands on his arms and looked up, letting yourself fall on those brown pools you have grown to love.
“Doctor…” you whispered
You had no idea what made you do it, but you moved your hands to his cheeks, and you kissed him. It was impulsive and stupid, and something you’d expect a sixteen-year-old girl do on her prom night. But you did it without a second thought. And for a moment you felt the doctor grow incredibly still, mouth unmoving and eyes wide open, until you placed your soothing fingers on the back of his neck, thumbs caressing and drawing invisibles circles on his sideburns.
And so, he gave in; firm hands grasping your hips and pressing you flush against him. His mouth spilling raw passion and his insides melting at the soft contact of your delicate lips. The tenderness on his touches and intensity of his lips drawing out all those words that didn’t need saying, because you knew. He was so sure you knew.
An involuntary whimper left your lips when he broke the kiss and intertwined his hands with yours. He brought your joined hands nearer and placed a light kiss to your knuckles.
“Did I mention I like your hair?” A husky laugh fell from your lips and your eyes sparkled when he gave you a soft smile that would be imprinted on your brain for the rest of your life.
When he looked at you with those old eyes that sung you stories in the most beautiful way imaginable and his swollen lips ghosted a smile you knew things were going to be better, with new adventures and new experiences awaiting on your door. And you had the whole time and space at your disposal to face it together.
author's note pt.2: OK that was a lot, honestly the ending got sloppy and there’s probably a lot of bad editing, but I invented a whole new alien species, so hey! kudos for that I guess. anyway, i hope you like it! and as always, feedback would be really appreciated, a comment or a like would mean the world to me! like my description says, requests are open! but It would probably take ages for me to finish it, so please patience. right now I have some more doctor who drafts and also some marvel ones!
-love, rina xx
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multifandomfanfiction · 5 years ago
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London Boy
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TITLE: London Boy PAIRING: [Tenth Doctor/OC] RATING: T CHAPTER: One-shot SUMMARY: The Doctor has a new companion. Except this one is American and has never been to London before.
[A/N - Inspired by “London Boy” by Taylor Swift]
“All of time and space. Where do you wanna start?” the Doctor asked her.
“London”, Natalie told him.
The Doctor paused. “London? I offer you all of time and space and you wanna start with London?”
Natalie shrugged. “I’ve never been. I’ve always wanted to go to London more than anything”.
“Fine. But are you sure I can’t tempt you into a galaxy or some far off planet?”
“Nope”.
The Doctor pressed a few buttons and threw a lever. “London, England”.
Natalie stepped up next to the Doctor and kissed him on the cheek, before running out the doors.
The Doctor’s cheeks burned bright red.
Natalie stepped out onto a busy street and found the TARDIS parked right next to a regular phone booth.
The Doctor joined her and locked the TARDIS door behind them.
“So, where are we?” she asked him.
He pointed across the street to a black door with the number 10 on it.
“Are we at 10 Downing Street? Like where you and Rose fought the Slitheen?”
“Also known as the home of the Prime Minister. Probably best not to hang around. So, what do you wanna do?”
“I don’t know. You tell me, London Boy”.
“I’m not from London”.
Natalie rolled her eyes at him. “I know that. But with that accent and how well you know London, you could be”.
“Well if we’re spending the day in London, we’re gonna need some money”. He pulled her over to an ATM machine and soniced it.
Natalie’s mouth dropped open.
He pulled out a couple hundred pounds.
“Do you make a regular habit of stealing money?” she asked him.
“Technically I stole it from the machine. Not someone’s bank account. Now come on”. He put his hand out and wiggled his fingers.
Natalie rolled her eyes and took his hand.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
They went to a pub for lunch.
The Doctor had complained of course, but he shut-up when Natalie told him they could go for ice cream later.
“Can Time Lord’s get drunk?” Natalie asked the Doctor as he took a sip of his beer.
“What? Of course we can! True, it takes quiet a lot to get us drunk. Different biology’s and everything”.
Natalie and the Doctor ordered standard fish and chips.
“Rose loved chips”, the Doctor said, wistfully.
“You really miss her don’t you?” she asked him.
He spoke about Rose often, but it was usually a passing comment. “Yeah, but she’s with her family. She’s got a job and probably a boyfriend. She gets to live a normal life now”.
“I’m sure she’s really happy”.
The Doctor smiled and continued eating his chips. After they finished eating, the Doctor purchased tickets for them to see a play on the West End.
Natalie was beaming from ear to ear as they walked out of the theater.
“It wasn’t that good”, he told her.
Natalie gasped and smacked him on the chest. “What are you talking about? It was amazing!”
“You wanna see a good play? We’ll go see Shakespeare”.
“Of course you’ve met Shakespeare!”
“Course I have. He was rather fond of Martha. So where to next?”
“I’ve always wanted to go up in the London Eye”.
The sun was just starting to set as they climbed into their viewing pod.
Natalie stood with her face pressed up against the glass as they rose above London.
The Doctor watched her with a smile on his face. Finally, he couldn’t help himself and came to stand behind her. His hands slid around her waist and he set his chin on the top of her head.
Natalie was frozen for a moment.
The Doctor was affectionate of course, but never like this.
She settled back into his arms and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his arms around her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
They got off the London Eye and found an ice cream shop.
“Look, they’ve got a banana flavor!” the Doctor said excitedly.
Natalie smiled. She loved seeing him so happy. It seemed like nowadays he was sad and withdrawn. She knew it was from losing people like Rose, Martha, and Donna. She just hoped she could live up to them.
“What?” the Doctor asked.
“Nothing”.
“What flavor are you going to get?”
“I think probably peppermint”.
“Peppermint? There are better flavors than that”.
“Well I like peppermint”.
When they got their ice cream comes, they started their trek back to the TARDIS.
“We could just get a taxi”, the Doctor told her.
“No. It’s such a beautiful night”, Natalie told him, looking up at the sky.
As they walked, the Doctor pointed out stars and planets and told her little stories about them.
When they got back to the TARDIS, Natalie’s feet fell like they were going to fall off.
“Thank you for today. I had a lot of fun”, Natalie told the Doctor.
He was staring so intently at her, she felt naked under his gaze. “I did too”, the Doctor told her, leaning against the door.
Natalie felt nervous like she always did at the end of a date.
Except…this wasn’t a date was it?
“I…um….I think I’m going to get some rest”, she told him.
“Okay. Big day tomorrow”.
Natalie looked at him with a confused expression.
“Every day is a big day with me”, he explained.
“Oh, well good night Doctor”.
“Goodnight Natalie”.
Natalie blushed a little as she entered the TARDIS.
The Doctor watched her go, before leaning his head back against the door. “Oh girl, what am I going to do?” he murmured. He barely knew her, but he was quickly falling for Natalie.
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jupitermelichios · 5 years ago
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Ragnarok Remix
So a lot of you will probably already know that I really don’t like Ragnarok as a movie, and I thought it would be an interesting exercise to try and rewrite the plot to see if I could come up with something I’m happier with. I did the same thing for Star Wars Episode 1 a couple of years ago and it was a lot of fun.
I’ve kept most of the shape of the story, since the structure is really good, and a lot of the scenes. The main change is swapping out Hella for a different villain because that character isn’t Hella in any recognisable way, and using that name added nothing to the character and hobbled them in terms of what stories they could tell in the future, as well as cutting off the entire Tenth Realm stuff and the associated characters. I’ve also swapped a lot of Odin’s scenes with Frigga, because frankly Odin doesn’t deserve the Morgan Freeman treatment they gave him. The final big change was to Loki’s timeline. Given the nature of NDAs at Disney, they may well not have known that Loki was due to be killed off, and since we do know that now, I wanted to give him more character beats so that he was in a place where killing him off made more sense, and we therefore could do kid!Loki in the future rather than just bringing back Hiddles from the dead for the fourth time.
Anyway, this is mostly just a writing exercise. Hopefully even if you like Ragnarok, you might find it interesting.
So Thor still goes to Muspelheim, and everything plays out the same except for a throwaway mention of Thor being Odin’s second born child from Surtr. (I would also change the thing where Thor doesn’t know Surtr exists, because honestly not knowing who rules one of Asgard’s client kingdoms is exactly the kind of shit Thor was supposed to have grown out of in Dark World).
He goes home, finds Loki pretending to be Odin and reveals his disguise. They go to earth to find Odin, but when they get to the nursing home he’s not there. The nonsense with Strange happens, because a lot of people didn’t bother to see his solo movie so he’s got to be here as well so that audiences know who he is before IW, but instead of sending them to Norway, they get sent to Monte-Carlo.
Thor tries to get Loki to apologise to Odin, but Odin seems largely disinterested and when they try and persuade him to come home, he says he feels like seeing the world instead and one of them can be king in his place. Odin’s whole manner is shifty, and the audience is left with the impression that he knows something he’s not telling.
The siblings start to fight over which of them will be the one to rule, while Thor also keeps trying to persuade his father to return, when they’re suddenly picked up by the rainbow bridge and whisked back to Asgard but a visibly frightened Skurge.
They find Hogun in the bridge chamber, seriously injured. He tells them that he was leading a scouting party to investigate rumours of a monster being seen on the outskirts of Asgard. Through a mix of exposition and flashback we learn that the rumours were true and the whole party were wiped out except him, who managed to escape by calling the Rainbow bridge, however he lost a leg in the transport as it was hurried and Skurge doesn’t have Heimdall’s eyes. This allows us to establish the ‘don’t leave the bridge while it’s moving’ thing.
Hogun dies in Thor’s arms, and Thor swears revenge. Dragging Loki with him, he gathers Sif and the remaining warriors Three and gets Skurge to transport them to somewhere close to the site of the last sighting, but not so close that we don’t have time for a couple of quick character beats to remind the audience who the three are and get them invested.
They find the monster and try to fight it but it’s crazy strong. Thor tries to send Sif home to rally the troops there but she refuses, so Volstagg goes, promising to send help. They continue trying to fight and Fandrall is killed. When Mangog destroys Mjolnir, Sif realises there’s no hope and calls for a rainbow bridge. Thor tries to pull her in with them but she refuses to go and he looses an arm in the beam (if we’re doing King Thor, we’re committing to full King Thor). The Mangog reaches into the beam and tries again to kill them. Sif distracts it, saving their lives, but Thor is knocked out and he and Loki are both pushed out of the beam.
While he’s unconscious, Thor has a vision of his mother. She’s in her chambers in Asgard weaving a tapestry. When he asks her how he can be seeing her when she’s dead, she just reminds him that she’s a goddess. Thor tells her what’s happened, and she names the Mangog for the first time. She tells him that while mortals answer to gods, gods answer to the mangog, who exists to punish their sins. When Thor asks what sins Asgard as committed, Frigga asks him whether he thought the conquest of the other nine realms was achieved bloodlessly, but doesn’t elaborate further. Before wakes up, Thor sees that the tapestry she’s weaving shows Frigga and Odin with not two but three children, himself and Loki, plus a redheaded girl. When he touches the figure of the girl, she fades out of the picture.
Thor wakes up on Sakaar, and gets picked up by Valkyrie who takes him to see the Grandmaster. Unlike in the original, the Grandmaster seems to know who he is, although when Thor says he’s from the nine realms the Grandmaster keeps trying to correct him, insisting there’s ten realms not nine. He’s also accompanied by a dark-haired woman who Thor is convinced is Loki, but who refuses to acknowledge him. We see Thor being prepared for battle, but rather than a haircut, it’s getting a metal cap put over the stump of his missing arm. He realises Valkyrie is a Valkyrie (but based on her tattoos rather than her sword this time) and tries to persuade her to fight for Asgard but she refuses.
We cut back to Asgard, where Volstagg has assembled an army to try and slow down the Mangog. We see him saying goodbye to his wife and their many children. We discover that Sif survived and made it home, but is badly wounded. She tries to argue that she should accompany the army, but Volstagg refuses, saying that Thor would want her to be regent in his absence, since there’s no one else he trusts more than her.
In the gladiator tunnels on Sakaar Thor meets Korg and Miek, since they were the best bit of that film, but we also get a cameo for Raava the Unskrulled. (If you haven’t read Black Bolt, she’s a female-identifying Skrull space-pirate who is one of my favourite characters in Marvel, and would fit very well into this movie).
We get the big set-piece fight with the Hulk in the arena largely unchanged. The only real difference is that the Grandmaster’s box and the crowd contain a lot more recognisable Marvel alien species, including Khymelians and Shi’ar (technically Fox probably owned them back them but it’s not like they were using them), Skrulls, Kree and the Sisterhood of the Badoon. This is our chance to establish Skrulls existing prior to Cap Marvel, even if it’s only as a tiny background Easter-egg.
While Thor’s unconscious after the fight, he once again sees his mother and a tapestry. This time it shows the world-tree but there are ten realms instead of nine. When Thor asks her about the tenth realm and the disappearing girl, she tells him that once there had been ten realms, and Odin had used the inhabitants of the tenth realm, who call themselves Angels, as mercenaries in subduing the other realms. The battles grew bloodier and bloodier and Odin was never satisfied with what he had conquered. She says that he had destroyed realms, and when Thor protests that all the realms are still there, she tells him that what makes a realm is the people rather than the land. Eventually the price the Angels demanded grew so high that even Odin couldn’t pay it, and so as payment they took Odin’s firstborn, a girl called Aldriff. Thor wakes up as he’s trying to ask his mother what happened to the tenth realm.
Thor wakes up in Hulk’s apartments on Sakaar and Hulk mocks him for calling for his mother in his sleep. Thor realises that if Hulk is strong enough to defeat him then maybe he’s strong enough to fight Mangog. He tries to persuade Hulk to help, but Hulk refuses. Realising that he’d have a much better job persuading Banner to save innocent people, he asks Hulk to change back, and Hulk again refuses. Thor then asks him to help him leave the planet, and that Hulk agrees to, on the understanding that Hulk will stay behind.
Hulk calls Valkyrie to his room and Thor jumps her. During the fight he wonders aloud why there are so many Asgardians on Sakaar, saying it’s a conincidence that he and Loki ended up in the same place as Valkyrie. The mention of Loki’s name seems to distract her enough that Thor’s able to get the upper hand and overpower her. They take Valkyrie’s control device to remove Thor’s electric collar, and find the quinjet. Thor manages to activate it enough to shut the door, intending to go back on his word and take Hulk with him. Hulk goes mad trying to escape, but in his anger accidentally triggers the final message the jet recieved from Natasha as he left, causing him to turn back into Bruce. However the quinjet is now too badly damaged to be used.
Valkyrie is searching the palace for the two of them. During her search she goes into a room below the slave quarters were a huge cage holds a giant wolf. Loki is there, talking affectionately to it, as though it were a toddler. It’s initially calm, but goes wild when Valkyrie enters, trying to get to her to eat her. As Valkyrie enters it looks as though Loki is about to open the cage, but she stops when she sees Valkyrie watching her. Valkyrie confronts Loki, demanding to know if it’s true that she’s Loki. Loki admits that it is, and explains that although there was only a few minutes between her and Thor leaving the rainbow bridge, the nature of Einstein-rosen bridges means that she’s been on Sakaar for decades of mortal time. She disguised herself because Loki is known to be an agent of Thanos and even though she’s no longer affiliated with him, most planets wouldn’t wait long enough to let her explain before they executed her. Valkyrie asks if the wolf is Loki’s son and Loki admits that he is. Valkyrie says that that must mean that he’s Fenris Wolf, and goes to kill him but Loki stops her, saying that even if he’s the herald of Ragnarok and a monster, he’s still her son and she would burn worlds to protect him, and then adds that there’s nothing they could do to hurt him anyway, since he’s the child of a god and an Eternal (no further explanation than this as to his parentage is offered). Valkyrie leaves to find Thor, and Loki tells Fenris that she wishes that she could just let Thor die for a change, but she can’t bring herself to. She turns back into her male form and goes searching for Thor.
Thor and Banner try to regroup and come up with a new plan, and Banner tells Thor that if he even turns into the Hulk again he doesn’t think he’ll turn back. We get the impression that Thor would prepared to risk that if it would save Asgard.
Back on Asgard, Volstagg tries to call for the bifrost to take away civilians who have got caught in the battle, but Skurge is so afraid of the Mangog he deserts his post. We cut to Siff exploring the the Allfather’s vault looking for weapons, and we see the eternal flame there as well as various other little cameos. Then she finds Heimdall, locked up in a cell inside the vault. She releases him (she’s holding the infinity gauntlet we saw in Thor 1, and asks him “is this…” and he tells her it’s a fake before saying that they need to hurry to the gate.) They arrive at the bifrost just in time to pull out the civilians before they’re killed. Siff asks Heimdall how the battle is going, and asks whether Odin or Thor is coming to save them, and he just tells her to ready the city’s last defences.
On Sakaar, Loki finds Thor and warns him that the Valkyrie is looking for him, and tells him he should take one of the Grandmaster’s ships. When Thor asks why he’s helping him, Loki says that their mother appeared to him in a dream and asked him to watch out for his brother.
Valkyrie finds them just as they’re stealing a ship and Loki shows her a vision of the death of the Valkyries in the battle to retrieve Princess Aldriff to slow her down. She knocks him out, but the memory of her fallen comrades is enough to persuade her to help Thor. She uses a wall pannel to unlock the slave quarters, and Korg suddenly finds that the looping tunnel doesn’t loop anymore and he’s able to leave. They begin an uprising.
Thor wants to leave Loki behind, but Valkyrie wants to get him as far away from Fenris as possible, worried that he’ll unlock the cage, and insists they bring his unconscious body with them. They’re initially planning to aim for the portal Thor had come through, but Heimdall appears before him to tell him to take the Devil’s Anus portal.
They take the ship through the Devil’s Anus, pursued by guards. However, Fenris senses his mother leaving and goes wild, managing to smash apart the bars of his cage. His violent actions begin the total collapse of the palace, as he was in the foundations of the building. He manages to follow them by jumping from guard ship to guard ship, eventually diving through the portal after them. During this sequence, Loki comes too. His skin as been turning gradually more and blue until eventually the collar freezes and snaps. As soon as he wakes up he reverts to his Asgardian form. Banner reiterates that he can’t become the Hulk, and we see that Thor has finally learned his lesson when he tells Banner than he won’t ask that of him.
The Mangog arrives in Asgard, announcing his presence by throwing Volstagg’s body onto the steps of the palace where Siff and the last remaining soldiers are rallied to meet him. As they raise their swords to attack, Thor’s ship arrives and Thor confronts the Mangog. Meanwhile Volstagg’s wife is trying to get the civilians out via the bifrost. Valkyrie and Banner go to help. Hildegun recognises Valkyrie and explains that she was a Valkyrie herself once, but retired before the massacre to get married. She produces a dragonfang blade out of her pack, and gives it to Valkyrie to use in the battle.
Thor’s battle against the Mangog is not going well, even with the support of Siff and the soldiers. It manages to get Thor pinned and puts out one of his eyes, and he passes out from the pain.
For a third time, he sees his mother. He tells her he can’t fight the Mangog, that he can’t do anything without his hammer and he’s not as strong as her and Odin. She tells him that he’s better than either of them ever were, and he asks her again about the tenth realm. She tells him that as punishment for taking her child, she wiped them from existence, and that’s why she says that Thor is a better person than his parents. Thor says that being a good person isn’t what he needs, he needs power, and she tells him that the power is within him - the hammer was just a conduit.
Seeing what’s happening, Heimdall uses the Bifrost to send a vision of himself to Odin, to tell him that he’s needed. When Odin refuses, and calls Heimdall a traitor for not reporting Loki, Heimdall tells him that he had to watch the slaughter Odin ordered on the Nine worlds, and listen to the screams, and keep the secret of the tenth realm, but he’s damned if he’s going to passively watch all of Asgard burn for Odin and Frigga’s sins. Odin refuses again, but before Heimdall can do anything else he’s distracted by events on Asgard and disappears. We get a beat of Odin just sitting, obviously considering Heimdall’s words before we cut back to the bifrost.
The civilians on the bridge are nearly at the bifrost control when Fenris arrives. Bruce asks what it wants, and Loki appears out of the crowd and says that Fenris wants to eat the world. Valkyrie says that they have to fight it, and Loki says that he can’t kill his own child. Realising that there’s no other choice, despite Valkyrie’s reminder that he doesn’t have to, Bruce Hulks to fight Fenris. When Valkyrie tries to ask Loki to get the civilians to the Bifrost, he’s disappeared. Before she can do anything, the Mangog appears between her and the Bifrost. Heimdall is forced to leave his post and fight.
In Asgard, Thor wakes up to find Loki with him. He tells Loki that Mangog is here to punish Asgard for their parents’ sins (to which Loki says that he knows, Frigga had told him as well) but there might be a way to save the bit of Asgard that matters - the people.
Thor arrives to join the battle on the bridge, now able to use his lightning powers without a conduit.
Skurge turns out to have been hiding inside the Bifrost hall. He hears Odin’s call and activates the bridge to bring him through to join the fight at the same time as Loki reappears. They end up fighting back to back, and Loki blames him for what’s happening. Mangog hits Loki especially hard and he looses control of his shape, reverting to his Jotun form. He says that he must have made a pretty poor replacement for the baby that the Angels stole, and Odin says that he didn’t steal him to be a replacement, and there’s never been a day when he regretted taking Loki in, even when Loki was lost to them.
Surtr emerges from the palace and begins burning everything, and then the Mangog destroys the bifrost controls just he begins burning, trapping the remaining Asgardians on a burning planet.
Korg’s ship appears above the fight. He seems fairly bemused to have gone from a collapsing palace to another collapsing palace, but agrees to take the civilians when Hildegund asks and between her and Skurge they manage to get the civilians onto the ship.
Realising that there’s no hope, Odin tells Hulk and Valkyrie to get to the ship. Valkyrie isn’t happy about taking orders from the man who got her entire unit killed but Thor persuades her. Loki wants to stay because of Fenris, but Odin tells him that even though he’s a better parent than Odin even managed to be, there’s nothing to be gained from staying here. Loki tries to say goodbye to Fenris, but Fenris is so consumed by hunger that he attacks him, and Loki admits there’s nothing to be done.
Thor tells Odin that he’s going to stay and help him hold off Mangog long enough, but Odin tells him that Asgard in exile will need a king, knocks him out and gives him to Loki to drag to the ship. As it pulls away, Fenris leaps for it, nearly bringing it down and Skurge leaps from the ship, sacrificing himself in order to distract Fenris.
Once the ship is gone, Odin is struck down by Mangog. As he’s dying he sees a vision of Frigga reaching for him. He says that he can’t go, he’s a monster and should stay and burn with the monsters, and Frigga tells him that she’s a monster too but at least they taught their children to do better than them, and they walk into the darkness of death as Asgard burns behind them.
On the ship, Thor tries to appoint Loki as king, but he’s too caught up in grief over Fenris, and then Sif, since she had been the regent, but she refuses and names him King Thor. The last shot of the movie (that isn’t a post credits scene) is of a bearded, one-eyed, one-armed Thor seated on his throne surrounded by the survivors of Asgard.
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greyias · 5 years ago
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FIC: By the Guidance of Stars - Chapter 10
Title: By the Guidance of Stars Fandom: SWTOR Pairing: Theron Shan/f!Jedi Knight Rating: T (this chapter) Genre: Angst, H/C, Romance, Humor Synopsis: The Coalition tries to heal in the aftermath of the Battle of Yavin 4, but not every wound is physical. A series of missing scenes set during the end of Shadow of Revan. Author’s Note: It’s been a long time since you saw this header... eh? Thanks to TheWIPProject2019 I’m trying to get this beasty finished up before the end of the month. And we’re close! So close! Also, I feel the need to point out again that certain viewpoint characters do not necessarily reflect my own views, etc, etc. Just trying to stick to what’s portrayed in canon. Warnings: See Chapter 1.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Crossposted to AO3
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The sun and the gas giant rose on the horizon as morning wore on, their duel for dominance cranking up the humidity into an uncomfortable swelter that he was becoming unfortunately familiar with. After the debrief with Saresh, Theron had retreated further into the canopy under the guise of helping with departure preparations. He wouldn’t go so far as to say it was cooler there, but it was a little less miserable than baking out under the sun.
Of course, there were several things that needed to be done before their withdrawal from the planet, but his motivations weren’t exactly selfless. After the meeting had wrapped, Lana came by to bid her Republic counterparts farewell, and Theron hadn’t felt the need to stick around and chat. He’d never been particularly talented at saying goodbye when he was on the best of terms with people — and things with Lana were… complicated. 
Prior to his capture at the hands of the Revanites, there had been this queer sort of understanding between them. He wouldn’t go so far as to call it blind trust — but they’d had each others’ backs during their long exile. Partners in crime, if only by necessity rather than choice. They’d built a familiar rapport that to an outsider might mistake them for actual friends. And yet traditional friendships didn’t involve getting each other tortured by the enemy—although maybe they’d never really been so much as friends. Just temporary allies stuck together for an extended period of time. 
It was probably Theron’s own fault for forgetting that.
After his escape from the Revanites, he hadn’t been able to completely ignore that itchy feeling of unease that settled between his shoulder blades when she was around. On some rational level, he knew it wasn’t fair to Lana that he would get a flash of a dark room deep in an underground Rishi compound. It wasn’t really her fault that he felt pressure building in his skull at the memory of forceful mind probes, or for a moment only hearing the ragged echo of his own screams reverberating in a small cramped room. All of that would eventually go away in time, he knew. It wasn’t utterly rational for him to hold a grudge — but then again, Theron had never really been accused of being a paragon of rationality.
So he’d kept his final interaction with her as short as humanly possible, which may have meant that he’d come off a little more terse than he’d intended if Kira’s arched brow at him was any indication. He’d felt a little pride in being able to be mostly civil with Lana during the whole thing, so he’d ignored the Jedi’s silent admonishments. He was less successful in ignoring the ugly feeling bubbling in his gut at leaving Grey alone with Lana to talk. Maybe it was jealousy, maybe it was concern. It was too difficult to untangle at this point, and he honestly didn’t care as long as he just got himself as far away from the awkward situation as possible.
So he’d made himself useful instead. Satele had given him a manifest of several shuttles on the ground that needed preflight checks. That was the pretense anyway. What they’d really needed was a thorough sweep for bugs, tracking devices, and any other nasty surprises before docking with the Dauntless and getting back into Republic space. Just because there was a temporary truce when it came to the remaining Revanites and the search for Vitiate didn’t mean that they had to blindly trust the Imperials. After all, if it had occurred to Theron to try and use the opportunity to gain extra intel while both sides were together, he was fairly certain the same thing had occurred to the Imps.
He hadn’t really found anything noteworthy or surprising — except for just one interesting thing. The last shuttle on the list had been assigned to him as part of his reinstatement with the SIS. A ship with a very familiar name and registry — Sojourner. 
It was standard procedure for the government-owned property of any rogue intelligence agents to be confiscated, inspected, and then reappropriated as needed. That wasn’t the weird part — just another uncomfortable reminder of how much Theron had to straighten out once he got back to Coruscant. No, the weird thing was how his ship had wound up in Satele’s possession.
It was very possible that it was pure coincidence. Wartime led to a lot of organized chaos, and it wasn’t out of the ordinary for assets to be reassigned where they were needed most. It was also possible that Satele had somehow managed to arrange the transfer of his shuttle to her fleet. But there was no reason for her to do that. They weren’t exactly close and she would had to have some sort of motivation to put forth the effort. Like realizing the charges leveled against him were trumped up and had held onto something for him until his name was cleared. But that implied some amount of faith in him, both in his character and his abilities. And that just… he didn’t really know what to do with that.
As his hand brushed over the familiar hull, a rush of memories and emotions washing over him, he decided that maybe the could analyze the implications and the coincidences later. For now he was just happy to have something of his own back again. Well, technically it was still Republic property. But possession was nine-tenths of the law, as the saying went.
The crunch of heavy boots in the underbrush roused him from his thoughts, and he glanced up from his datapad to see Grey making her way through the jungle. A quick glance at the chrono let him know that the morning had worn on longer than he’d realized — and that their time here on Yavin was growing to a close. An uncomfortable feeling rose in his chest at that thought, and he did his best to ignore it.
“So, I see you found me,” he said by way of greeting.
“You managed to discover a good hiding spot,” she commented lightly, her tone almost teasing.
“What makes you think I’m hiding?” He tossed back, tapping out a few last commands into the datapad before stowing it away. 
She gave a little shrug, still with that half smile. “Well, you’re off here on your own. I thought you just hated packing.”
“Well, packing is the worst,” he agreed, “although I’m not hiding from it.”
She quirked a brow. “Hiding from something else then?”
“You don’t give up easily, do you?”
The teasing grin faded into a gentler smile. “You disappeared pretty quickly earlier. I wasn’t sure…”
It probably was a little wishful thinking that his quick exit earlier would have been completely ignored and forgotten. He swallowed the sigh that threatened to escape and wondered if it was worth the attempt to bluff his way out this conversation. Their time here on Yavin was almost up — and there were far better ways to spend it than debating about Lana Beniko.
“Satele needed help with departure prep.” That earned an arched brow in disbelief, and he felt his bottled up sigh escaping before mumbling, “And maybe I also thought things might be a little less awkward without me there.”
Her face didn’t exactly fall but her eyes dropped to the ground, lips pressing together. He did his best to ignore the pang in his gut that made him want to take back the moment of honesty. It really wasn’t fair that she could twist his insides up with just a look.
“I had hoped that we could all part as friends, but… I understand your feelings about Lana right now,” she said after a moment, “and it would be wrong for someone to tell you that you have no right to them.”
He was fairly certain she didn’t understand all of his complicated feelings regarding their Sith ally, or soon-to-be former ally rather. He didn’t exactly have it all sorted out himself — but it was a nice change of pace that he didn’t have to argue about his feelings.
“It’s less that, and more… giving you space.” There was a little more hesitation in his reply than he would have let others’ hear — but then again, taking this sort of care in a conversation was also a bit of new territory for him. At her quirked brow, he added, “You and Lana have a little bit of a different dynamic. It’s not my place to impose.”
His words were genuine, if a little grudgingly uttered. He wasn’t sure exactly how right Kira had been about everything — but she had a point about him trusting the woman in front of him. It was not something he afforded to many people, but this particular Jedi had earned his at the very least.
“That’s very thoughtful,” Grey said, her lips twitching at the hints of a smile, “but you didn’t have to go so far.”
Theron shrugged lightly. “You know my motto: go big or go home.”
“I did not realize you had codified that particular impulse into a motto.” Her quirked lips quivered a little, as if she was suppressing a grin.
“Impulse?” He asked with mock indigence. “Are you suggesting that I don’t think through everything I do?”
That got the grin to emerge as she let out a snort that was very undignified for a Jedi Master, but she didn’t seem to notice. “Maybe just the smallest of suggestions.”
His harumph was half-hearted at best, but it earned a snicker, and more importantly, moved them away from the awkward topic. Of course, they still hadn’t addressed the bantha in the room, which was the one thing he’d been avoiding thinking about as much as possible. Which was that the time for their own parting was rapidly drawing nearer. Part of him just wanted to keep up the teasing, maybe see exactly how loud and undignified he could make her snort. It was almost tempting to just keep things light and happy and not even bring up the fact that this could be the last time they saw each other — at least for a long while. However, it was probably better in the long run to just rip off the kolto patch now and not draw this out any longer.
“So, this is it, huh?”
Her mirth evaporated as she caught onto his meaning and she gave a small nod. “I suppose… I suppose it is.”
“It’s been quite a ride, hasn’t it?” He added. “I mean, it’s not every day you dismantle a galactic conspiracy and save both the Republic and the Empire from destruction.”
“Not every day,” she allowed, “and not necessarily all at once.”
Oh. Right. He almost forgot who he was talking to. Theron made a living working in the shadows, but even after all the time they’d work together he hadn’t quite gotten used to standing in the long one she cast. “Brag, brag, brag.”
“I’m not bragging,” she insisted quickly, “or trying to undercut your accomplishments — it is a very good thing we did here, Theron.”
Oh stars, she was just so… so… he didn’t even know, just that he was going to miss this too. Even if it made him feel awkward and uncomfortable far more than he ever wanted to. What the hell was wrong with him?
“I’m kidding,” he said, only letting her linger in the flustered state for a few moments, “and if we’re being honest you did most of the hard work.”
“Do not discount your own contributions.”
“I’m not,” he assured her, “I’m just giving credit where it’s due.”
“You deserve just as much credit,” she said firmly.
“Well, I mean, I did get my old job back,” Theron said, “so it’s not like it all went unnoticed.”
“Well good,” she gave a small huff, “the Republic and the SIS are very lucky to have as dedicated and talented an agent as you.”
“Can I get a recording of that to play back for the director?” he joked.
“Certainly. Where is your recorder?”
From the look in her eye and tone of her voice, he wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. The mental image of her facing off with Marcus Trant was an amusing one. Jedi overachiever versus the Republic’s chief spy — it would certainly be quite the show. Not that Theron really needed any extra help with someone singing his praises, and definitely not from his, uh… his…
Okay, they didn’t really have any definitions right now for whatever this thing was. That was fine. Suited him perfectly really. Definitions were muddy and confusing and just made a mess of things anyway. That was probably part of what had tripped him up in the past. Well, that and working too much. Not that he was going to stop that. The working part. He had things to do. Besides, it was better to just go with the flow and see where the moment took them and—
“So what’s next for you?” she asked. The way she was tilting her head slightly at him in confusion said that perhaps his utter mental derailment over the state of their not-relationship may have not gone entirely unnoticed.
He cleared his throat, trying to refocus back on the present. “Coruscant. Have to debrief officially, do some paperwork. Boring stuff really. You?”
“I must admit, I don’t exactly know. I will have to report back to the Jedi Council and see where they want to send me next.” A frown of stole across her face as she gave the matter further thought. “I… did not exactly ask for permission to head to Rishi. That will take a little bit of explanation.”
He almost teased her for the flagrant rule breaking and broach of protocol, but a memory of the previous night resurfaced and quashed the impulse just as quickly. “Well, at least you had the Grand Master with you for the latter half of this whole mess. That should help.”
“Yes,” Grey said, “I am certain she will help straighten everything out.” 
“You know, I think she just might.” 
The words escaped him without much thought, which surprised him a little. Apparently they did the other participant of the conversation as well because her eyebrows raised a little in surprise, but she didn’t comment directly. 
He gave a half shrug, trying to recover his footing. “I mean. You are her favorite.”
“Theron, she cares just as much—”
“It’s a joke,” he cut her off, perhaps too quickly, before he could hear whether she was about to argue in favor of Satele’s impartiality when it came to her fellow Jedi or if the statement was going to be a little more familial in nature.
The frown returned in full, her hands settling on her hips as she fixed him with a look for his rude interruption. “I am not trying to intervene or insert myself where I do not belong, but… she does care. Even if it’s not shown in the same way everyone else does.”
Theron’s gaze drifted down to the lightsabers clipped at Grey’s belt and then back to his shuttle, an odd feeling bubbling up in chest. It wasn’t a bad feeling, just a really confusing one. Something he had no idea what to do with and he let out a long sigh, hand unconsciously drifting to the back of his neck to rub at an invisible itch. “Yeah, maybe… I mean… it’s just weird for me.”
Her frown melted away into a contrite look and she cautiously laid a hand on his. “I apologize. That was not my place to speak on.”
“It’s okay,” he said after a moment, giving a quick glance to their surroundings before adjusting his hand so that he could thread his fingers through hers. “Just one of those things. Not sure if I’ll ever get used to it — at least with her.”
That didn’t seem to particularly mollify her, so he added after a moment’s hesitation. “But can I tell you a secret?”
“Of course.”
“After everything that’s happened lately, I’ve been starting to wonder if you might be right. About… that. And maybe a few other things.”
The apologetic expression gave way to a genuine smile that was almost blinding in its intensity and almost made up completely for the awkward conversation. Well, and her close proximity definitely didn’t hurt.
He did another quick scan of their surroundings and a readout flashed on the HUD in his ocular implants, letting him know that the area around them was completely clear of onlookers. So he stepped in even closer and dropped his voice an octave as he gave her fingers a squeeze. “You know, it’s kind of funny.”
“What is?”
“Everyone knows you as this famous Jedi — and yet no one knows just how amazing you are.”
“I’m not—”
“You are,” he punctuated his words with another squeeze of his fingers, and followed it up by cupping her face with his other hand so she couldn’t look away. “Sure I mean, you can swing around a lightsaber like nobody’s business, but you also make a pretty damn good spy and saboteur.”
“I would not call those my strengths,” she said, “I am only as good as those supporting me.”
He hummed softly in consideration. “So you’re saying you had a pretty good partner then?”
“The best.”
“Sounds like a pretty lucky guy to me,” Theron mused, “although I’m pretty sure he can’t do nearly as good a pirate impression as you.”
She flushed at the mention of her cover identity back on Rishi. “I was just trying to get into character. For the mission.”
“You got very into character if I remember correctly.” He grinned as the color in her cheeks darkened. “Complete with a very ridiculous pirate outfit.”
“It’s not ridiculous!” she insisted. “It’s… historically accurate.”
“You had an ornamental eyepatch,” he pointed out. “What did you wind up doing with that thing anyway?”
“It’s on the ship.” She gave him a look. “Why? Do you want me to go and get it?”
“Hmm, maybe later.”
“Later?”
 “I’ve got a different idea on what we could be doing with our time.” He brushed his fingers across her cheek, watching the way her breath hitched ever so slightly with motion. “If you think you’re up for it.”
This close up, he could see her entire thought process as she worked through the innuendo and invitation. A subtle furrowing of the brow in brief puzzlement, before her eyes widened ever so slightly in realization, and her cheeks flushed even darker than before. Then she was looping her arms around his neck, leaning in for a long, slow kiss filled with desire and promises of much more.
As she pulled away, she looked up at him with those big blue eyes. “Something like that?”
“It’s a good start.” He grinned back at her, one hand going around her waist as he pulled her in even closer. “Why don’t we move to somewhere a little more private?”
Her return kiss was answer in itself.
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ledlampsdriver3-blog · 6 years ago
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LED Constant Voltage Power Supply
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LED lamps driver
BROUGHT Lighting for Sailboats : How to Choose a new Quality Marine Level GUIDED Bulb Replacement How matros should know before putting in LED Lighting on his or her ship.
What should My spouse and i buy? Must I acquire? My friend acquired LEDs for his motorboat in addition to they all died inside the first month, are they will just about all like that? These are all reputable concerns that our customers get asked. This article must bring clarity on the subject matter.
LED lamps driver
The confusion will take main in the fact that will all very low voltage DIRECTED lighting tools are not produced equal. We have a multitude regarding sources for ENCOURAGED lighting on the market, quite little sincere technical facts is available to them as well as the price range is usually extremely large. The great quantity of products as well as the shortage of precise information features incited us to compose this post. This document is definitely based on info in which comes directly from often the engineers and manufacturer of the product line and is actually complemented simply by our very own experience with BROUGHT Lighting effects in the Marine Surroundings.
This article will consider to spare you the actual physics behind the product or service while performing you enough details to cautiously choose precisely what product you ought to install upon your vessel. I am sorry for you to all the engineers which will not find this file complete and precise, nevertheless the objective is only to help provide all of our fellow ocean adventurers with the simple understanding necessary to make the wise decision when acquiring LEDs for their vessel.
At first, it could seem to us that LEDs were made with any boat at heart. They include a great life span, may mind vibrations, offer off a reduced amount heat when compared with their amoureux or halogen counterparts and also use some sort of lot less electricity rapid about a tenth on the wattage of a halogen instructions for a related output. Therefore , where will be the problem anyone asks? Precisely why don't they work in our boat?
Historically, that was straightforward. The colouring output was NEGATIVE! No person liked the uninteresting, low-output blue color of earlier LED's. Well, that offers improved and LEDs today have the same light production and colour to this of low-wattage halogens all of us find on our ships.
The situation these days is usually different. The maritime setting with its various electrical power sources is very unpredictable toward electronic components, specifically GUIDED lights. Voltage modifications which we witness on our own yachts will be the greatest adversary of LEDs. Being EXTREMELY SENSITIVE TO BE ABLE TO VOLTAGE VERSIONS, MOST LEDs found about the market are CERTAINLY NOT Well suited for use on the boats.
I use promised definitely not to get into the particular physics of powering LEDs, but let me test a number of simple rules that connect with LEDs. Precisely what follows doesn't demand innovative electronics knowledge, My goal is to phone this segment SHIP DIRECTED 101.
All LED's usually are semiconductor diodes. That they generate their light on the passageway of their positive along with negative sides. When electric power is applied to a great ENCOURAGED, the electrons hop from side to typically the other releasing mild inside the form of photons in the process. Several types of semiconductors produce different wavelengths and consequently produce diverse gentle colors. The hot whitened lights that we all prefer throughout yachts is definitely produced by Indium Gallium Nitride (InGaN). Put various other materials, like phosphors and also you get a pleasing amoureux light source color.
Now, what exactly happens once we apply attention to this semiconductor is actually what we really want to check out. Apply often the right voltage -- with our application 12V : and the right sum of existing will traveling through the semiconductor in addition to we get a stunning, energy-efficient, bright light which will glow to get hundreds of hours. But, we require the right voltage, specifically 12V.
You and My partner and i know to get a fact that will boats do not offer you lab quality power! Commence the engine, the creator set or connect in order to banks power and your current environment provides suddenly come to be hostile in your LEDs.
The reason is that? Simple! If the generator, alternator or inverter kicks in, we usually begin to see the voltage reaching up wards of 15V or increased. The higher the résistance, the more current should go through the actual semiconductor, the particular more electrons get via one side to typically the other, a lot more light will be generated plus more HEAT is usually generated. And also, guess exactly what is the enemy primary of LEDs? HEAT! We should either control the temperature developed or dissipate the idea. Utilize a lot involving current to an BROUGHT and you will acquire a very crucial choice with regard to a very short period of time of the time. Apply to very little and you get yourself a gray, useless light. Which just what happened to you friends' LEDs.
In this program of semiconductor physics, many of us know that the latest measured at junction with the materials is proportional into the voltage supplied. Controlling often the brouille and consequently the actual current is very important to be able to the life expectancy connected with your GUIDED.
Most low-cost 12V LED chaos lamps being sold today work with a ballast resistor which bleeds off energy to reduce the current. This ballast resistor limits current based to a straightforward formula: Voltage/Resistance = Existing. In in which world, one can get to the right amount associated with current for an DIRECTED by using a ballast of the proper weight for the Voltage offered. Problem is, on a new boat, the particular voltage is definitely not always the identical, the item fluctuates. Consequently, typically the battle being fixed, if the discorde drops, the current declines, and vice-versa. Conclusion: minimal voltage = dim lighting and high voltage sama dengan fried LED!
The effect is often the disappointment within LED lighting effects that an individual have heard about by your entire cruising friends.
Almost all automobile and inexpensive LEDs are based on the actual ballast resistor model. Many people work fine in auto because the voltage different versions tend to be smaller than these found in the particular underwater environment and also for you to the point that most LEDs inside the car world are usually used for turn signs or brake lights. These kinds of signals are not with for long periods of time and so heat is just not a trouble. One can also make use of the resistor that can handle 14V while keeping an acceptable current stage for the LED create adequate light. This tends to make automotive LEDs inexpensive, although unsuitable for that marine atmosphere.
Now that we realize a ballast resistor is actually not well suited for our surroundings, what do we accomplish next? Let's start using everything we have learned consequently far. We know that your resistor is a inerte system that can't preserve a much current with any changing attention. So, precisely what are our other choices?
What exactly if we had some sort of type of resistor which often could accommodate the transforming voltage? There is these kinds of a gadget, and this is used by several LED area manufacturers. The particular device is called a new Linear Regulator, and that is a tiny step way up in control technology from your primitive ballast resistor. Any Linear Regulator is the low cost control method which will can be regarded as any variable resistor this may differ the resistance in line with the fill up in order to supply a constant outcome résistance to the LEDs. Since it is still a resistive unit, it controls excess strength (above that required from the LEDs) by turning the idea into warmth. But hang on a minute, is not HIGH TEMPERATURE the great enemy regarding LEDs? That's right! Regarding course, having proper design and style one could waste several of the heat, however total, Linear Regulator can easily only benefit small brouille variations, which can be fine regarding some applications, but with, not really suitable for the total involving battery banks, solar power panels as well as generators and also inverters of your electrically dangerous marine planet.
Hopefully typically the above makes it specific why ballast resistor light sources and cheap bulbs have zero place on a ship. From everything you have study in the previous grammatical construction, you are now significantly a great deal better informed than often the average person trying to find ENCOURAGED lighting. Not only which, you happen to be most probably considerably better informed in comparison with most connected with the uninformed merchants on the market selling LED bulbs towards the unsuspecting boater.
So what exactly more is available throughout state-of-the-art LED regulates? The idea seems what we actually need is actually a sort associated with closed-loop device that will appears to be at the incoming discorde and maintains the regular recent feeding the LEDs at the same time the voltage varies, all the while keeping bare minimum high temperature. And, you got the item, the device is present! It's known as DC/DC Profit Power Ripping tools. It will be an expensive way to help source energy to LEDs, nonetheless it has all the actual advantages we are seeking for.
The Buck Strength Converter is a sophisticated minor device, but it is function is usually somewhat very simple. To describe this with layman's terms, that generally takes an energy supply and switches it on / off. During the "on" point out, the actual is stored within an inductor and in the course of the "off" status, the particular inductor releases the in order to the LED. The percentage of "on" and "off" time is called typically the duty-cycle. For example, some sort of 25% duty-cycle would complete to the BROUGHT simply 3V from a 12V source. All we have to have to complete is handle the duty-cycle according to be able to the input voltage and get constant current giving our LED. The Greenback Power Converter controller performs this by monitoring the present for the LEDs through a new current-sense resistor and sets the duty routine both up or to right the current in buy to fit the GUIDED optimal existing requirement. This kind of way we can drive the envelope on often the perfection of the LEDs without being concerned that the actual source voltage variations will probably take us past the particular highest possible rated current regarding the DIRECTED and ending up with a toast LED cluster.
This appearance great, but there is definitely one previous issue for you to deal with before we have the brightest marine level LED replacement bulb: typically the BULB itself, the wrapping!
We should instead package our groups so that we achieve often the maximum result possible inside a real modest deal while ensuring optimum existence expectancy as well. Now i'm sure you remember HEATING! How can most of us package lots of power in a cluster and yet certainly not overheat the bulb?
Nearly all internal marine lighting software start using a 10W G4 lamp, quite compact, so the actual fixtures are generally small while well. The substitute ENCOURAGED cluster bulb has to be incredibly small to serve seeing that the retrofit for the particular original halogen bulb. The item also has to create similar output and shade to the original halogen, nevertheless be able to help dissipate heat. That comes to an end up being quite any challenge.
You can find two techniques to pack a lot of mild in a small offer, with each has its advantages and cons, yet the two are acceptable solutions. The first is to use many little lower-powered through-hole LEDs grouped collectively in a tiny package, and the different is to use merely a few high-powered area mount device (SMD) LEDs arranged on a thermally successful support for highest heating dissipation.
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doctorwhonews · 6 years ago
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New high quality audio recordings of missing episodes discovered
Latest from the news site: Kaleidoscope, a non-profit organisation that specialises in locating missing television programmes, have announced that a new selection of audio recordings of missing Doctor Who episodes have been recovered, many of which are an improvement of recordings that have previously been available. Chris Perry on Facebook reported: In late 2018, Kaleidoscope was delighted to be contacted by one of our volunteers who normally helps with photographic restoration. Robert Wyn is normally better known to us as the man who works with glass photo negatives for us; but this time he had been given some audio reels of Doctor Who stories. Kaleidoscope transfers hundreds of hours of radio and TV soundtracks every year that are quietly returned to us without any fuss. We know many audio experts including Keith Wickham, Ted Kendall, Alys Hayes and Mark Ayres. Where possible, we try to give them full access to all our archive so they can create the best CD and DVD projects possible for commercial release. Mark Ayres and I have worked together before; we share the same aims; and we trust each other's work. Mark asked if he could work on the reels first. We agreed, with Robert’s permission. Kaleidoscope is a team of volunteers from many backgrounds, all guided by a love of preservation, heritage and history. Mark and I sit in the same camp, working together to safeguard our heritage for the future. As with all Kaleidoscope projects, we returned the material to Mark Ayres and the BBC free of charge so all may enjoy in the future. Mark Ayres provided a technical report on the find to Kaleidoscope: These tapes are the real deal. Original off-air recordings. The first half of the first episode recorded (The Nightmare Begins) was not captured, so it starts with the second half. That aside, uniquely these recordings include opening and closing music with all cliffhangers and reprises intact. No surrounding presentation was captured, but some episodes have back-announcements on the closing titles. I have two main machines I use for this kind of thing. One is a heavily modified Ferrograph that I use for troublesome tapes. But I got a very marginally better result from the Sony TC377, which tends to be better for good condition tapes originally recorded on decent machines (as these obviously were). The TC377 dates from 1971 and was a very common high quality, reliable domestic deck. It’s recently been thoroughly serviced … and it’s the same machine we used to transfer the Graham Strong tapes. A couple of Graham [Strong]’s Master Plan episodes are trumped by these, but we now have some cliffhangers and reprises that we’ve been missing due to all of them being intact on this new collection. For instance, Graham’s tape ran out a couple of minutes before the end of The Highlanders ep 1, and the best (not very good) patch we had was far inferior. We now have that. And Graham recorded over The Celestial Toymaker so we only had roomy microphone recordings - this trumps those. (These are probably mic recordings, but using a rather good, close mic). It’s all a jigsaw, and we now have some much better quality pieces. And as I say, where other collections can vary from very good to very poor within the batch, these are pretty consistent. It’s amazing these have never come to light before. The Randolph Tapes Original off-air audio recordings of 1960s Doctor Who, being three 5 3/4-inch reels of 1/4” tape recorded 4-track mono at 1 7/8 ips (except “The Savages” episode 3 which was recorded at 3 3/4 ips). The boxes all have the name “Randolph” written on the front. They are also numbered (1) - (3) and finish with episode 1 of “The Moonbase”, suggesting there were originally more. There are also a couple of part-episodes of “The Sky at Night”. Unless otherwise stated, episodes include cliffhangers, reprises, and themes. Most appear to be line recordings (or, at least, very close-mic’d). First half of the first episode of The Daleks’ Master Plan is missing. There are two big faults during the recording of episode 3 of The Ark. The quality is generally very good (within the limitations of the recording medium - frequency response is limited to 6-8kHz at best). Quality is the most consistent of any collection of these episodes we have found; many of the episodes here are now probably our best source for future remastering. They are particularly useful given that all cliffhangers and reprises are intact. It is a shame that reels (4) onwards have not been retrieved.” TAPE CONTENTS TAPE 1 - TRACK 1 Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 1 - The Nightmare Begins [second half only] Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 2 - Day of Armageddon Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 3 - Devil's Planet Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 4 - The Traitors Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 5 - Counterplot The Sky at Night - 111 - THE MOONS OF JUPITER, tx 14.1.66 (complete) TAPE 1 - TRACK 2 Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 6 - Coronas of the Sun Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 7 - The Feast of Steven [microphone recording] Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 8 - Volcano Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 9 - Golden Death Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 10 - Escape Switch TAPE 1 - TRACK 3 Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 11 - The Abandoned Planet Doctor Who - The Daleks Master Plan Ep 12 - Destruction of Time [with closing continuity announcement] Doctor Who - The Massacre Ep 1 - War of God Doctor Who - The Massacre Ep 2 - The Sea Beggar Doctor Who - The Massacre Ep 3 - Priest of Death TAPE 1 - TRACK 4 Doctor Who - The Massacre Ep 4 - Bell of Doom [with “next week” continuity announcement at end] Doctor Who - The Ark Ep 1 - The Steel Sky Doctor Who - The Ark Ep 2 - The Plague Doctor Who - The Ark Ep 3 - The Return [contains two large faulty-connection dropouts] Doctor Who - The Ark Ep 4 - The Bomb TAPE 2 - TRACK 1 Doctor Who - The Celestial Toymaker Ep 1 - The Celestial Toyroom Doctor Who - The Celestial Toymaker Ep 2 - The Hall of Dolls Doctor Who - The Celestial Toymaker Ep 3 - The Dancing Floor Doctor Who - The Celestial Toymaker Ep 4 - The Final Test [with apologies to Frank Richards Estate at end] Doctor Who - The Gunfighters Ep 1 - A Holiday for the Doctor TAPE 2 - TRACK 2 Doctor Who - The Gunfighters Ep 2 - Don't Shoot the Pianist Doctor Who - The Gunfighters Ep 3 - Johnny Ringo [no end titles] Doctor Who - The Gunfighters Ep 4 - The OK Corral Doctor Who - The Savages Ep 1 Doctor Who - The Savages Ep 2 TAPE 2 - TRACK 3 Doctor Who - The Savages Ep 3 (recorded at 3.75 ips) Doctor Who - The Savages Ep 4 Doctor Who - The War Machines Ep 1 [end continuity announcement: later time next week] Doctor Who - The War Machines Ep 2 The Sky at Night - 114 - MAN ON THE MOON, tx 11.3.66 [final 3m36s] TAPE 2 - TRACK 4 Doctor Who - The War Machines Ep 3 Doctor Who - The War Machines Ep 4 Doctor Who - The Smugglers Ep 1 Doctor Who - The Smugglers Ep 2 Doctor Who - The Smugglers Ep 3 “Out of Time” (Chris Farlowe) (part) (recorded at 3.75 ips) “Get Away” (Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames) (recorded at 3.75 ips) TAPE 3 - TRACK 1 Doctor Who - The Smugglers Ep 4 Doctor Who - The Tenth Planet Ep 1 Doctor Who - The Tenth Planet Ep 2 Doctor Who - The Tenth Planet Ep 3 Doctor Who - The Tenth Planet Ep 4 TAPE 3 - TRACK 2 Doctor Who - The Power of the Daleks Ep 1 [voice-over credit for Terry Nation at end] Doctor Who - The Power of the Daleks Ep 2 [voice-over credit for Terry Nation and Tristram Cary at end] Doctor Who - The Power of the Daleks Ep 3 [voice-over credit for Tristram Cary at end] Doctor Who - The Power of the Daleks Ep 4 Doctor Who - The Power of the Daleks Ep 5 TAPE 3 - TRACK 3 Doctor Who - The Power of the Daleks Ep 6 Doctor Who - The Highlanders Ep 1 Doctor Who - The Highlanders Ep 2 Doctor Who - The Highlanders Ep 3 Doctor Who - The Highlanders Ep 4 Unknown US comedy clip (recorded at 3.75 ips) TAPE 3 - TRACK 4 Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace Ep 1 Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace Ep 2 Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace Ep 3 Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace Ep 4 Doctor Who - The Moonbase Ep 1 Mark Ayres 31st December 2018 Details from Kaleidoscope can be found via their website, Facebook and Twitter. Doctor Who News http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2019/01/randolph-tapes.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr
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sunflowersandink · 6 years ago
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We Often Go Awry
Part 1
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Pairing: Peter Parker/Wade Wilson
Summary: Everyone is born marked, and they live knowing that somewhere out there is their other half, a corresponding soul with the same mark. Thanos wins, and suddenly half the people in the universe are gone, just like that.What happens to the half that’s left?
Words: 2845
For all the chaos in Peter’s life, there was never really a point where it didn’t feel like it made sense. There was an order to it, a pattern. Sometimes a pattern too intricate and grand for him to understand, but he trusted always that there was a pattern nonetheless.
In a snap, the pattern disappears.
- - -
The whole ride back from Titan, his fingers compulsively trace the black fibonacci spiral that has stood in stark contrast to the pale skin of his wrist since the day he was born. It’s hard to tell in the dim light of the ship, but he thinks it looks a little lighter, a little less sharp than it did that morning. He tells himself it’s too early to tell.
He concentrates on it, and does his best to be a middle ground between Tony’s endless pacing of their section of the tiny ship and the blue alien lady’s complete and eerie stillness in the pilot’s seat, staying seated and motionless but for the restless bouncing of one leg and the constant motion of his fingers.
He doesn’t look up until he hears Tony’s small intake of breath. He raises his eyes to see Earth ahead of them, blue and shining in the dark.
It looks so small, he thinks.
- - -
They land way outside the city, deciding there’s no good way to land a spaceship in the middle of Manhattan without causing even more panic.
Tony’s on the phone as soon as they’re through the atmosphere and have a signal. He waits, almost vibrating with tension, as the phone rings.
“Pepper,” he breathes at last, shoulders slumping with relief. “You’re okay.”
Peter is relieved too, though his is slight. He’s glad she’s okay of course, but she’s not one of his biggest concerns. He worries at the skin around his thumbnail, and tries not to think about Aunt May, or Ned, or MJ, or the other Avengers. He doesn’t look at his wrist.
Within minutes, he’s tracing the spiral again anyway, without needing to look.
- - -
It’s been three days since the snap, three days since Titan, three days since theirs and every other little corner of the universe was ripped in two forever. Peter hasn’t left the tower since he got back.
Technically, most of the missing can’t legally be declared dead, not without a body.
So most are just missing, in the eyes of the government and any loved ones who didn’t personally witness them crumble to ash.
Aunt May remains one of the many missing persons on the crowded list.
Mr. Stark didn’t hesitate to give Peter a room in the tower, which he gratefully hides away in. The others, the ones still alive, give him space, busy grieving their own losses.
Everyone on Earth has something to grieve.
Peter wears long sleeves for three days, and keeps the lights off when he showers.
Everyone knows how long it takes for a mark to fade, and he refuses to torture himself in the meantime by obsessively checking it.
On the Third Night, he pulls up his sleeve and looks.
- - -
It’s Bruce he wakes, pounding on his door at just past two in the morning.
Bruce opens the door, blinking bleary-eyed at him, hair rumpled. Faintly, Peter hears Thor in the background, groggily asking what’s happening.
Bruce frowns at him in concern. “Peter, what-?”
Peter doesn’t say anything. He simply holds out his arm, showing the pink spiral that twists like a scar against his wrist.
Bruce’s face twists in understanding and sorrow. He wraps his arms around Peter. “I’m so sorry, Peter,” he murmurs.
Peter just squeezes him tighter. He doesn’t cry. It’s hard to cry for someone you’ve never met.
It’s six a.m. before Ned texts.
my mark didn’t fade!!!! they made it!!!! hbu?
Peter ends up falling asleep, without finding it in him to answer.
- - -
By a week post-snap, some of the missing have officially been declared dead, though the millions without a known (and not-missing) soulmate to prove it remain.
Aunt May remains missing, Uncle Ben having already taken her corresponding soulmark with him.
Peter hopes, wherever she is, she’s found him again.
- - -
On the eighth day, he leaves his room, not because he particularly wants to see anyone else, but because he thinks if he spends anymore time in there he might actually go insane.
He ends up going down to the gym, which he finds to already be occupied. Steve is red-faced and sweating, and judging by the pile of broken punching bags, has been at this for a while. Bucky’s once-red star peeks out from under his t-shirt sleeve like a wound.
He stops the current bag from swinging, turning to look at Peter before he can sneak back out. He shoots him a brittle smile, which drops away immediately. “Hey Peter. I heard about your mark. I’m really sorry.” Peter gives an awkward little half-shrug. “Yeah, me too,” he says, not sure if he’s agreeing or expressing the same sympathy back.
Steve walks over to the small table along the edge of the room, picking up the water bottle that sits there. Peter sees the blood that covers his knuckles, though the wounds are probably already healed.
“You’ll have the gym to yourself, I was just about to go for a run,” he says, then flinches slightly, like he already regrets the words.
Sam flashes through Peter’s mind. “I could go with you,” he blurts out, and immediately regrets it. No, he doesn’t want to see his new half-city, not really. Not yet.
Luckily, Steve either picks up on this or genuinely doesn’t want the company, because he smiles at Peter, a little more warmly and gently than his earlier one. “That’s very kind of you Peter, but no, thank you. Stay here, take advantage of the solitude.” He nods a goodbye, and brushes past him out the door.
Peter relaxes, feeling bad that’s he’s actually grateful Steve is gone. It’s Steve. Steve, his teammate, a man who he’s trained with and fought with and hung out with on movie nights.
But then. It’s not Steve, not really, is it? It’s the remaining half of Steve, and he’s just the remaining half of Peter.
He’s not even sure what complete Peter was like. Would have been like. Was supposed to be like.
How do you get back to normal when everything is this fucked?
- - -
On the tenth day, he goes up to the lab. Tony’s up there, but he knows it, he’s prepared this time.
He’s not prepared to find Tony and Pepper, together. He can sense he’s walked into a fight the moment he steps through the elevator doors, and he’s honestly not sure if that’s better or worse than finding them happy together.
Tony is behind one of the worktables, pointedly not looking up from whatever it is he’s working on. Dark bags hang under his eyes, his face is unshaven. He looks completely exhausted, which, knowing Tony, might actually mean he hasn’t slept since they got home.
Pepper, on the other hand, looks furious, her arms crossed and jaw set in a hard line. She looks back when Peter enters, and immediately relaxes her stance, smiling gently at him. “Hi, Peter, how are you?”
Without the anger masking it, he realizes she looks just as exhausted as her soulmate.
He gives the same half-shrug he’s given everyone who asks him that question. He’s becoming very good at it. “I’m okay.”
She tilts her head, concern shining in her eyes. “I haven’t seen you much this past week.”
“Been busy,” he dodges. “How about you - you guys? Is everything okay?” he asks awkwardly.
The anger comes back, though not directed at him. She opens her mouth, but Tony speaks before she can.
“Oh, yeah, sure, everything’s just groovy. Yeah, almost four billion people are dead, but everything’s working perfectly, why wouldn’t it be?”
Peter flinches slightly, which Pepper doesn’t miss. “Tony,” she says sharply.
Tony looks up, blinking at Peter like he just noticed he was there. He sighs raggedly, scrubbing at his already-bloodshot eyes. “Fuck, I’m sorry, kid. Just ignore me, it’s been a really long day.”
“That’s because it’s been several days, Tony,” Pepper says wearily, reaching up to rub at her own eyes, though much more carefully. “Tony, you can’t fill in for half the planet by yourself, you just can’t, and you’re going to kill yourself trying. You need to take a break,” she pleads.
He flings the screwdriver he was working with to the ground with a clatter that makes Pepper and Peter both flinch back. He braces his hands against the workbench, and looks at the two of them with slightly wild eyes. “You want me to take a break? Okay, sure. Do you want to explain to the doctors and nurses at the five hospitals within a hundred mile radius that don’t have power that, oh, I’m sorry, I’ll get back to fixing that part of the power grid after I have a little nap, that okay? How about the fourteen, fourteen, Pepper, commercial airlines that went down after their pilots dissolved mid-flight that still haven’t seen rescue workers because all the surviving workers are putting out the million other fires that sprang up when half of humanity disappeared at once? And that’s not even touching on all the - the little stuff, if you can call things like millions of car accidents and the kids in foster care that lost their parents, and the fucking nuclear power plants that had to shut down so we wouldn’t have another Chernobyl on top of everything else, and -”
“Tony,” she cuts him off, and her voice is so filled with soft grief that for once he does stop. “I know.”
He chews at his lip, looking down at the pile of circuitry in front of him. “I’ll take a break when I’m done with this,” he says quietly, all the earlier frustration draining out of him, leaving his shoulders slumped.
“Thank you,” she says, her own anger faded as well. She walks over to Peter, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go get something to eat. I don’t think this is the best place for either of us right now,” she says quietly, and he doesn’t resist when she leads him back into the elevator. He looks back over his shoulder, to see his mentor still standing, hands flat against the table and head hanging so Peter can’t see his face.
“So,” Pepper says once the doors close, clearly doing her best to sound cheerful and composed. “I think the tower might be a little low on food at the moment, but I’m sure we can scrounge up something from the communal kitchen. How do scrambled eggs sound? I’m sure we’ve got some eggs -”
“I’m sorry,” Peter blurts out. He didn’t mean to say it, but the words have been at the back of his throat for eight days, and it’s a relief to finally have them free.
Her forehead crinkles in confusion. “What are you sorry for, honey? Tony? No no, sweetie, trust me, that has nothing to do with you. That’s just Tony being, well, Tony.”
“No,” he mumbles, not meeting her eyes. “No, I mean - I’m sorry for all of this. I’m -” he takes a deep breath, and forces himself to look at her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him when I had a chance.”
Pepper looks horrified. “Oh, honey,” she breathes shakily. She bites her lip, her eyes glistening, and then she wraps her arms around him, crushing him to her chest.
“Don’t you ever, ever, blame yourself,” she whispers fiercely. “Multiple teams of superheroes tried to stop him, and they couldn’t. There is nothing you could have done that would have kept this from happening. Sometimes...sometimes the universe is just a bad place to be, and we just have to find a way to live with that.”
Against his will, his arms come up to wrap around her as well. He buries his face against her shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut against the tears that threaten to spill out.
“I really miss Aunt May,” he says against her shirt, his voice breaking.
She strokes his hair, the gesture so familiar and affectionate that the tears do start to fall. “I know. I know.”
- - -
He ends up making them both scrambled eggs, while she makes them hot cocoa.
“I should probably make you eat something with vegetables, but I’m not sure we’ve got anything fresh enough,” she jokes, though her eyes are still red-rimmed.
“I’m twenty years old, I don’t need anyone to ‘make’ me eat my vegetables,” he says, pretending to sound offended.
“Oh please, I was a college student once, I know exactly how unhealthy your diet is,” she teases.
He laughs weakly. He wonders how many of his classmates and professors he’s never going to see again. Is the school even going to open again someday? Is there even a point in going back when it does?
He pokes at his eggs with his fork. He glances up at Pepper, and realizes she’s staring out the window at the much darker city with glassy eyes.
“You okay?” he asks tentatively, a stupid question that seems to be all there is to say lately.
She jolts slightly, looking back at him and trying and failing to smile. “I was just thinking about how I should restock the kitchen tomorrow, and I thought, ‘oh, I’ll just send Happy’, and then I remembered -” she breaks off, looking down at her own food. “Anyway.” She takes a bite of the eggs. “These are delicious, Peter, thank you so much for making them.”
“Yeah, of course, anytime,” he says, quickly shoveling eggs into his own mouth. He chews slowly, his mind still elsewhere. He clears his throat, taking a sip of hot cocoa. “Hey Pepper?”
“Yes, Peter?”
He traces the handle of the mug with his fingers. “Do you love Tony?” he winces immediately. “Sorry, that’s a stupid question, that’s not what I - just, are you glad he’s in your life?”
“He is definitely one of the best things in my life,” she answers carefully. She reaches out, and gently takes the hand not fidgeting with his mug. “But Peter, he’s not the only good thing in it.”
“Yeah, but, I mean - if you’d never met him, your life would be worse, wouldn’t it?” he mumbles, accepting her hand without looking at her.
She purses her lips, choosing her words with care. “If I’d never met him, my life would be very different. But I don’t know that it would necessarily be worse. It would be a completely different life, and I would be a different person. There’s no way to really compare two lives and say for sure which one is better. They’re just...different.”
He studies their interlocked fingers, his long and nimble, hers slender and smooth, her clear nail polish chipping off. “Did you feel like you were complete when you met him?”
“I was complete before I met him,” she answers instantly. “People try to frame it as though you’re not a full person until you have your soulmate, but...I never believed that.” Her other hand reaches up, ghosting along her shoulder. He knows their blue heart-shaped mark lies somewhere along her shoulder blade, hidden by her blouse. “Our soulmates aren’t the other half of our souls, we don’t need them to exist. They just compliment us. They bring out the best in us. That’s what our symbols represent: not what we are, but what we could be together.” She squeezes his hand, gently, until he looks up and meets her gaze. “Peter, there’s an infinite number of things you can be. You don’t need anyone else for that.”
He snorts softly. “That’s not what the universe says.”
“Well, the universe can go fuck itself,” she says viciously, and his head whips up, his eyes wide. She smirks slightly at his expression. “The universe isn’t what it used to be, it’s got no place telling us what to do.”
He blinks rapidly, swallowing. “You’ve gotta put a dollar in the swear jar,” he finally whispers.
She laughs, tired but genuine. “As long as you promise not to tell Steve, I think we’ll get away with it.”
He laughs softly with her.
- - -
They don’t stay up much longer. He’s been sleeping more than he should, but she hasn’t, and it shows. They ride up together. His floor is first, but before the door opens, she hugs him again, unexpectedly. “Take as much time as you need, Peter, but be careful. Don’t lock yourself away forever. We all need each other more than ever, okay?” she tells him quietly.
His throat feels tight. “I won’t. I promise,” he manages at last.
“Good.” She kisses the top of his head, and waves goodbye as he steps off.
He curls up in bed, not realizing how exhausted he is until his head hits the pillow. He’s asleep in minutes.
Part 2
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shanie-the-toyaddict · 3 years ago
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Action Figure Update 9/17/2021
It’s that time again!
Top Row: Basic 96 and Basic 50 Sami Zayn Second Row: Character Options Doctor Who Harry Sullivan & Bill Potts, Playmates Star Trek TNG Worf Third Row: Championship Showdown Series 2 Triple H (Basic) Fourth Row: Ultimate Edition Stone Cold Steve Austin, Championship Showdown Series 5 Mankind (Basic) Fifth Row: Basic 123 Dexter Lumis (!)
Not Pictured: The Rock (CS 2) & Stone Cold (CS 5)
Under a cut for length! (And because I’m getting the idea that none of you care about these...)
Hey, so it’s time for another one of these. As always, I’ll try to keep it brief and, as always, I’m certain I’ll fail.
Anyway, I was wrong about needing 2 more Sami figures. With these two, I only have one left – Basic 69 (nice). After that, I will have every unique Sami there is. (And likely all there will be.) These were both bought used and loose and, as such, both have imperfections, but nothing too glaring. They’ll do just fine.
I’m finally getting around to the Doctor Who figures again! Harry Sullivan was a mess for me, primarily because I realized AFTER I spend [redacted] dollars on him, I could have gotten the entire 3 pack he came in from WhoNA for less money. Whoops. As such, I bought the Bill from WhoNA and hope that, for all future Whovian fig purchases, I can do the same. Bill has some paint imperfections but it's about par for the course for Character Options, and it's on the white stripe which should be easy to fix. I can deal with it. Oh, and when I bought Bill, I also bought the DVD release of “The Tenth Planet”. Another one knocked off the list and RE-RELEASE THE WAR GAMES, YOU COWARDS!!!!
Worf is just another fill for my TNG main cast set. I really don’t like the legs on this figure, but it is what it is. It’s the only one I could find of him in his main uniform.
The ChS Triple H was literally bought as a stand-in for the Ultimate Edition Trips that, like an idiot, I passed on and now can’t get. It’s a poor man's substitute but, once I swap out the one knee pad and give him his sledgehammer, should be good enough for my shelf.
Ultimate Stone Cold is one that I honestly thought I had shown ages ago but can’t find any record of. He’s not new by a long shot but I did give him the knee brace from the Hunter figure so he would have a matched set. Technically, it makes this figure inaccurate, but IDGAF. He looks better this way.
ChS Mankind is a stand-in for the original Elite figure. He’s quite nice for a basic and I’m loving the dirty look of the shirt. I just need to find him a Socko.
Finally, DEXTER! I know I said I’d do one just for him but I never got to it so here he is. Good GOSH, for a First Time In Line Basic they NAILED him! I’d never usually be one to say “What’s the point of an Elite” but... what’s the point of an Elite?! This figure is pretty much perfect on the first shot. Well, mostly. Mine has some paint defects on the face (the blonde paint-splattered, looks like). But outside of that small stuff, this figure is just amazing and, unless they do something incredible with an Elite down the line, this will be my forever Dexter. Now, to get an Indi to go with him!!!
As mentioned, I didn’t show the other two Championship Showdown figures as they were only bought as part of their respective 2-packs and both are likely going to be used for parts. I want to steal the knee braces and pads of the extra SCSA and the knee pads of Rocky.
And I think that about does it! That concludes this episode of Action Figure Update! Stay tuned for next time when I will be (hopefully) showing off the final Sami Zayn figure as well as that wonderful Target Pegwarmer, Legends John Cena!
(Yes, you read that right, @wrestlezaynia. Big Match John is shelfwarming. Probably has something to do with the fact that that figure is of him in his silly “Ruthless Aggression” debut attire. I only bought him to add to my FFH Match collection and I paid a whopping 4 bucks for him before shipping. Sorry.)
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thezodiaczone · 7 years ago
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March Forecast for Pisces
You’re back! The Sun is in Pisces until March 20, meaning it’s birthday season for you. Your annual solar return should rev up your energy and personal passions—and you’ll be glad to have this extra fuel to get through what promises to be another busy month. Like January, March is bookended by TWO full moons, both in the committed-partnership zones of your chart. This could bring potent turning points to your relationships. And two planets, Mercury and Jupiter, will slow down into retrograde motion, which could churn up chaos and send out mixed signals.
If you’ve been reeling from the eclipses on January 31 and February 15, March can help you start to make sense of it all. This year has sent most of us off to the races. And with these eclipses activating your houses of work, health and spirituality, you’ve probably got a lot of irons in the fire. There haven’t been many quiet moments to work through all the energy that’s gotten stirred up. You KNOW it’s time for a change…but what, how, when and where?
Fortunately, March should provide some windows to reflect and integrate. And no need to do it alone! On March 1, a full moon in Virgo illuminates your seventh house of one-on-one partnerships. A dynamic duo that’s been heating up over the past six months could become official. Or, since full moons can also signify endings, you might decide to amicably part ways. From colleagues to S.O.s to best friends, this is a perfect moment to take inventory of your most important ties and get back in sync with each other.
A high-flying idea could get called in by air traffic control between March 10 and July 8, when expansive Jupiter turns retrograde in your visionary ninth house of travel, risk-taking and entrepreneurship. Jupiter has been in Scorpio since October 10, 2017, which kicked off an adventurous 13-month cycle that inspired you to throw caution to the wind. After a tough couple of years, it’s been awesome to feel so optimistic and open-hearted again. The ninth house is all about the big picture, and with Jupiter right at home here, you might have a world-changing idea or project that you’re feeling extra excited about.
But have you bitten off more than you can chew? If you’ve scattered your energy a little TOO far and wide, even in the name of fun, Jupiter’s backspin gives you a chance to pull back a little. Give some of your starry-eyed ideas a reality check, putting them into timelines and budgets. Or work on them in phases—better to scale down and test a project out first, which will give you a chance to tweak and perfect your formula.
If you’ve been traveling a lot, you might touch down at home base a bit more often. This is also a productive time for writers and students to finish a manuscript, complete coursework or brush up on technical skills. Don’t worry—there’s plenty more adventure ahead. Jupiter will stick around in Scorpio until November 8, so you can launch into the stratosphere again, and this time with a more realistic plan of action.
The March 17 Pisces new moon marks your personal new year, a day to set powerful intentions that you can manifest over the coming six months. This same day, energizer Mars leaves Sagittarius and your career sector, where it’s been heating up the action but also piling on the pressure. Some work-related burdens could lift, clearing the way for some exciting collaborations when Mars enters Capricorn and your teamwork sector from March 17 until May 16. The eleventh house rules technology, which could make you a social media superstar or a viral vlogging sensation.
You’ll be ready to roll up your sleeves and get productive on March 20, the day the Sun starts a monthlong trek through Aries and your second house of work, money and security. Some of the wild-hearted ideas you had during Pisces season might be worth building out now. Or maybe you’re just ready to get back into a grounded groove with routines, especially as spring arrives. Painting, planting, seasonal cleaning and decluttering: There’s a lot to take care of, and you’ve got the gusto to do it. You could become preoccupied with a major work or life improvement project. Plan, prioritize and break big tasks down into small steps. Less is more during this sensible solar cycle.
But careful how much you pile on your plate, Pisces. From March 22 to April 15, Mercury, the planet of communication, technology and travel, will be retrograde, wreaking havoc in all of these areas. Be vigilant with your budgeting and bills, as errors are more likely than usual. You could lock horns with a client or coworker, or just feel totally misunderstood at every turn. This retrograde can also shake your confidence, and old insecurities might creep up. Do your best to stick to habits and practices that help you feel grounded, even if you can only devote a few minutes each day to them.
March 31 brings a moment of intensity to polish off the month. The Libra full moon beams into your eighth house of intimacy, joint ventures, sex and power. Whew! Some deeply buried emotions might come rushing out today. La luna could drop your guard and inspired you to get vulnerable with one special person. Can they handle the truth—and can YOU deal with being so transparent? Jealousy, trust issues and an all-around sense of intrigue could permeate the air under these penetrating moonbeams.
A simmering, soulmate-level attraction could consummate. This full moon could be a shedding of metaphorical skins, a moment of transformation when you release any energies that are holding you back. But you may crave privacy now as you go into the cocoon—it could take until next month’s full moon, at the end of April, before you fully emerge a butterfly.
Love & Romance
March dangles a pair of delicious carrots, since the month is bookended with two full moons—illuminating your two relationship houses! On March 1, the lunar light powers up your seventh house of committed partnership. If you’ve been wondering “where is this going?” you could get a VERY clear answer in the coming two weeks. Of course, you don’t have to sit around passively waiting for a clue. Take the bull by the horns and initiate a talk—not with tears or ultimatums, but with a warm heart and a soft demeanor that encourage candid conversation.
Also on March 1, affectionate Venus in your sign glides into a harmonious angle with your co-ruler, magnanimous Jupiter, in fellow water sign Scorpio and your ninth house. If you’re unattached, you could meet someone when you’re a bit off the beaten path—or perhaps a person who themselves is from someplace far, far away. Or just get outdoors and do something active, like a trail hike or spring bike ride, where other interesting people might stop for small talk. Couples might take (or at least plan) a romantic vacation—half the fun is the fantasizing about it. The ninth house is a place of candor, so if there are some things that need to come out from under the carpet, grab a broom and make a clean sweep.
Venus stays in Pisces for the first six days of the month, churning up the warm-fuzzies. You’ll be magnetic and irresistible and TBH you’ll enjoy the attention. Then, from March 6 to 31, the love planet will sail through Aries and your grounded, productive second house. And since Mars is jetting through Sagittarius and your long-term plans zone until March 17, you could feel inspired to talk about a future together, or to set some lofty visions with your S.O.
You may feel the pull between stability and adventure on March 11, when Mars forms a supportive angle with wild-card Uranus in hot-blooded fire signs. But rather than impulsively do something you might regret—or not take ANY action—try to find a happy medium. Could you, for instance, have some flirty fun without crossing a line? Look at your own motivation, Pisces: That might help you stay in control of your behavior. (And definitely watch the drinking. Nothing makes a slope slipperier than alcohol.) Under this edgy energy, a work attraction could heat up. Pursue with caution, and make sure you can recite company policy chapter and verse before you go there.
The second full moon—in romantic Libra—lands in your erotic and seductive eighth house on March 31. This could bring big changes, including a turning point in a relationship. Lusty thoughts may crowd out reason, so before you get moonstruck, make sure you know what your heart truly desires!
Key Dates
March 13: Venus-Saturn Square It’s time to slip on the noise-reducing headphones and tune out what those so-called friends are saying. Isn’t this YOUR love life, Pisces? And where is it written that your entire crew and your love interest have to mesh? They just have to get along with YOU.
Money & Career
To the top! Go-getter Mars is in Sagittarius and your ambitious tenth house of career, success and professional acclaim until March 17. Since the red planet only visits every two years (it’s been here since January 26), you’ll want to lean all the way in during the first three weeks of March. A day that you’re totally on fire arrives March 11, when Mars forms an opportune trine to innovator Uranus in Aries and your second house of work and money. An out-of-the-box idea could be a surprising winner—and you may get the backing of a heavy-hitting decision maker today.
If you’re wondering “Should I share this out loud?” the answer is a resounding yes! While you might surprise a few of the stuffier types, even they might be impressed by your trailblazing ideas. But prepare in advance by having a solid plan, facts and figures to back it all up. While you may never need to whip out that Powerpoint pitch deck, it’s better to be safe. Searching for new income sources? Look beyond the familiar, Pisces. Opportunity could arrive out of left field, AND when you least expect it. Uranus rules technology, and one of your online connections could lead to a hot new client or business offer.
Look no further than your personal network from March 17 to May 16, when Mars blazes into Capricorn and your eleventh house of groups, friends and technology. Collaborations heat up, and your social media game is on-point. Word-of-mouth marketing could help spread your message and offerings like wildfire. Ask your people to tell their people, and be generous with your own reposts, giving props to online influencers YOU admire. No shame in being a fan—or reaching out with a well-crafted email or DM. But the best strategy is to do it the LinkedIn-style way, having mutual friends introduce you with a glowing testimonial.
Be proactive earlier in the month and back up your data, contacts and important work. Mercury, the ruler of technology, communication and travel, will turn retrograde in Aries and your work sector from March 22 to April 15. If you’re looking into a new laptop, printer or home office equipment, hold off until the second half of April—or purchase that extended warranty. Thanks to Mercury retrograde, that “refurbished iPhone” could turn out to be a lemon. With the quicksilver planet in your budgeting zone, this is a good time to pay off lingering bills, organize your finances and get your spending and saving plans in tiptop shape.
Key Dates
March 2: Mercury-Jupiter Trine Voice your truth! Take the filters off and speak from the heart. You’ll inspire people with your big ideas and grand vision.
Love Days: 25, 1 Money Days: 9, 19 Luck Days: 6, 17 Off Days: 27, 31
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themadvigilantist · 4 years ago
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dantalion - all of the following original info is from (here) and i’ll just end up making references to this (I ALREADY HAVE PAST ME and i put a small edit there but, everything else?? solid. but i mean the version of dantalion i play as??? won’t mention any of these because he does what he wants so all of this, for the most part. he should because this is a great resource if there’s just not enough lore about solomon’s lesser key demon!!eventhoitsnotofficialbutilikeit) so my commentary is [like this]
“Who is Dantalion you may well ask… and it shall be answered” (…)
Dantalion - Spirit of knowledge, empathy, passion, love, emotions/intellect, Demon of mind.
Abilities (Generally, he can teach you everything that each human in this world has thought about or known, but of course these are his main job)
He knows thoughts of all people and can change them at his will - and also can teach you how to do this (also telepathy) [time lords are perfect hosts]
He teaches all art & sciences (ya know this before, but I wanted to classify it) [time lords are perfect hosts, specifically prydonians/patrexes]
He teaches how to achieve alternative states of consciousness (OOBE, Lucid dream, higher states, past life reading, hypnosis etc.) and he can accompany you during them. [time lords are perfect hosts.]
He can help you open astral senses or knowledge of something that you want to know (but better be ready, cause your brain may take a break for a really long moment…) [time lords are perfect hosts!]
Teaches persuasion, manipulation, lies, flirt, good speeches, relations, mind control, generally all social skills. [time lords are perfect hosts!!!!!!]
He can heal/or help you with low self-esteem, negative thoughts, neuroses, depression, other coded wounds in the subconscious. [time lords are perfect hosts: missy vault scene? just eps centered around bill’s mind?]
He can suddenly put in a state of deep peace and relaxation, and show you how to do this with your mind (He also knows a word which makes your mind calming down). [time lords are perfect hosts: see episode LISTEN]
He shows similitude of any person including your person (it’s for empathy skill, when you want to more understand others or people you may like) [time lords are perfect hosts: any new who and yes, shalka is new who fight me]
He can cause love or other emotions (but remember, it’s not like someone who never knew you will love you automatically, but he/she will have more positive thoughts/attitude towards you) [this why he hates it]
Causes obsession, illusions, fear or hallucinations. [this is fun to him]
Causes lust (No, he’s not a nerd who is sitting on the armchair and reading his book with a moral look of your catholic aunt. He knows what is sex and he knows it very good) [WELL OK THEN]
Finds persons similar to themselves and causes them to unite (even if your other half is in the beyond) [time lords are perfect hosts: see the introduction of missy/danny pink arc]
Knows secrets (knowledge, but not only) and reveals secret councils. [all those secret councils??? he’ll expose if you bad.]
Can show you other aspects of your personality and makes you more charismatic/or who you want to become. [time lords are perfect hosts: that entire rose arc and no, the moment is not part of that arc. sorry! but, the moment herself said she aint rose tyler. so technically she took the form of the first incarnation of the TARDIS’ heart, second being 9th (in books she took the form of war doctor) and 3rd being idris (involuntarily)]
Causes people not paying attention to you ( so you can secretly work) [time lords are perfect hosts: the earth not knowing the doctor/timelords exist plotline...I MEAN]
Preferences (you probably saw lots of other planets/elements/zodiac assigned to him and you were wondering what’s going on - these depends really on aspects, that’s why I mentioned a few, best suited to his nature)
Zodiac - Pisces(venusian), Aquarius (saturnian) Planets - Venus/Moon, Saturn [and this is why dantalion knows venusian aikido] Elements - Water/Air (perfect harmony between the intellect and emotions) Number - 9 [he think he funny w/ that upside down 6. he aint] Quarter - North (north gate) Time - Night time/morning (generally before noon) Color - Gray, red, purple, green, (dark green or dark purple) blue, black. [can you believe that i sure didn’t know about this until i stumbled on this??? a muse meant to be OKAY!!! all those years rping and i was guessing oN A WHIM??? that demon must have told me: do me justice because !!! ] Candle color - Green, purple, generally dark shades (u can also use white) Tarot card - 9 of chalices. Stones - Pearl, emerald. King - Paimon (he’s one of his dukes) [note: formally]
Offerings Raspberries, cherries, tea, honey, whisky, classy wine, flowers - dandelions, roses (especially with passionate colors - he’s a romantic guy) nuts, your love.
Scent - Sandalwood, honeysuckle, jasmine, rose petals.
Appearance Usually shows up as a robed man with women’s and men’s faces and with the book in his right hand (sometimes replaced with a mirror). But he’s a shape-shifter, so he can take any other form. This spirit can look like a man you may personally know (or not) or even he may look like you. You can also see him as a black cloaked figure, black mist with eyes, gray cloud or floating face. He usually appears as a tall and slim man, in style of gentleman or businessman. ( I (the author) usually see him as a man dressed in dark robes with pale skin, black long hair decorated with jewels tied back and with crown) [TALL SLIM MAN ok sure]
Voice Most often dark and deep. Can also be as whispers or male and female alternating voices. Often speaks quite poetically (but he also knows nice slangs) [thanks 15.ai!Tenth Doctor. you right on the money]
Energy (how to recognize) His energy is very strong, focused and deep. You can feel the multidimensional planes of his being and it’s very characteristic. It is very penetrating, surrounding you from all sides and you may feel like your mind is a bit underwater. Generally, his energy is quite psychedelic and the effects are different. After, you may feel on high (like after good marijuana) have a headache or just feel weird. If you look closer, you will also feel great calm from his essence. [time lords are perfect hosts: the matrix]
Personality Just remember one word - COMPLEX. You will never really know how he will behave, because he’s like chameleon - he adapts to people, situations and places. For one, he will be a nice guy full of heat, and for another a dark tricky spirit. He may look cold and serious at the beginning, associated with his “knowledge aspect” (air) but he’s also very emotional spirit. He’s impulsive, determined and it’s quite easy to offend him. He has these two aspects connected (intellect/emotions) with whom empathy and healthy thinking can exist. If he behaves quite dark/annoying/arrogant that’s usually because he wants to protect himself (it was a bit like empath complex - the most openhearted and sensitive people are used by others the most) So he seeks balance and tests people. In reality, he’s a very generous spirit, patient and forgives quite quickly, but also he trusts hard and always needs control (he must see everything).
Dantalion is a spirit who is focused on human bonds, so you may see him talking about ethics/morals or knowledge which opens people to the truth about their nature - that people are the same. We will always be individualists but our needs are very similar - we want to be loved, appreciated and satisfied with our actions. People may create stereotypes, hierarchy, determinants of coolness but no human will create your face and never see through your eyes.
Dandelion (sounds familiar to Dantalion, it’s not a coincidence) is a symbol of this unity. Seeds of this plant may flew away with the wind but they’re still a part of this plant with which they have formed the whole before.
Tips for working
Take it slow. This spirit can make you very obsessed (u feel these nights when you were searching the entire internet to find him and you didn’t know why?) [AHAHAme] Look through your thoughts and set your clear goal - if you want to find him try invoke him or meditate, but don’t rush. Follow your goal not obsession. Dantalion will not run away from this world.
If you want to start relationship with him, prepare for patience again. At the beginning he’s formal, cold and not very emotional. He must find a place for you and adapt. (he’s a real thinker) Show the heart, he will show it too.
Get ready for a tests - he can test your intellect or your transparency in thinking.
Speak directly. He has sense of humor, don’t worry, but sometimes he takes words a bit too literally…[he do tho]
He doesn’t like work alone. If you’re this type and you prefer sit and wait when the spirit will end all his work, this may take a long time (except when these aren’t big things, then no problemo) Otherwise, He may start to make sure you’re still planning to pay him, and everything will be slower. (He non stop must watch what’s going on)
He usually works quick but he sometimes has a several episodes when he’s a bit more limited (idk maybe he has this delegation again) and he answers for a few days. Just wait 3-4 days and if nothing happened try again.
As I said before, it’s easy to offend him. He has big ego. Know your way and know what you want but unnecessary words can cause an awkward atmosphere. Get upset, but continue anyway with determination. Let it be rational and intelligent talk.
Other asks
When you did invocation/prayer and you don’t feel his presence that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there. He usually sees everything with his eye and even he may already work with you but you don’t feel it consciously. He likes working behind the curtain.
Sometimes he acts weird and unexpected. People do strange things, your cat began to like him more than you, one time he wants to talk and the other he prefers to sleep, he walks on the wall, whispers strange things and this day he prefers eat pizza than classy alcohol. Can encourage you to play. It’s just his complex nature. [yep]
He’s not a demanding spirit. Just give him something from your heart or what you think is valuable.
He’s a good guardian when it comes to safety with people.
This spirit has equal gender. Dantalion is both female and male. Here I prefer call him “he” because that was my experience and this spirit’s attitude. [time lords are perfect hosts]
Dantalion is a djinn, demon, fallen angel, dark angel - he’s everything. Name as you want. [he prefer demon/fallen angel because he was an angel]
He may look nice and with good heart but he also HATES. He really gets pissed off and can destroy your life very hard when you think you shouldn’t give him what have you promised earlier (and then there’s no empathy at all …) [time lords are perfect hosts: i did make vin his host for a time for a reason...didn’t think that i end up being true to that character......]
He’s [used to be] a very loyal boy if your work was successful. He can come back to you even after a year without contact.
His attributes/symbols are - eyes/eye, faces, crown, books, the speaker, the judge, Judge’s stuff of high social rank, scepter, psychedelic waves/smoke, dandelions, brain, mask, mirror, water, clouds, the priest (absolutely not about religion but more about education and speaking to people) [EMOJIS]
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disinfandous · 7 years ago
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Light Reading
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
1,939 words - fluff, trashy romance novels, the eighth doctor ;), “disturbing the peace”, crack?
[[I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED THE ORIGINAL POST BC IM A HUUUUUGE KLUTZ SO I’M REPOSTING IT I’M SO SORRY]]
Rose Tyler (much to her surprise, delight, and horror) finds a rather… interesting… romance novel starring none other than the Doctor himself! Try as she might to read it in peace, the Doctor just has to know what’s going on. Why is she laughing so hard?
AO3 
Ever since she began travelling with the Doctor, Rose generally avoided romance novels.
The reason why was simple, really. Every time Rose read a romance novel she just kept thinking of him, of that maddening alien she now lived with. Her mind would wander, unbidden, to dangerous territory, lingering on the eternity in his eyes, the perfect fit of his hand in hers, the warmth spreading in her chest at the sight of his smile…
She couldn’t read a single limerent word from even the trashiest of bodice-rippers without her mind wandering. Romances were, for lack of a better word, hazardous. They did a impressive number on her sanity and she swore to stay away from them for the sake of her health.
Generally, she kept that promise well. She avoided suspicious sections of not only the TARDIS library, but of other libraries or bookstores they happened to visit on their adventures as well. She did her part and stayed away, but Rose didn’t take into account the books not staying away from her, and she certainly didn’t take into account the books actually being about the Doctor.
Suddenly, it wasn’t so much an issue of her mind wandering but rather of whether or not her imagination would be up to par.
Looking back at it, she would certainly claim that it wasn’t her fault. Not really. What were the odds of her finding something like that in this particular library in this particular town on this particular planet? Or anywhere in the universe at all, rather? Slim, she bet. Probably as slim as he was in that suit of his, that’s how unlikely.
Yet there it was. Just sitting there, wedged in between two other seemingly innocuous volumes. It was misshelved, clearly, by the way it was surrounded by cookbooks. She just wanted a glimpse at freaky alien food, not freaky alien Doctor fantasies.
Still, Rose quickly grabbed the book and ducked around the shelves to take a peek anyway. Ever the paradigm of restraint, she decided regret was for the future. She would burn that bridge when she got to it.
A customary glance at the cover nearly left her a giggling mess. It was so cheesy, almost exactly like those cheap paperbacks sitting around in convenience stores. The man emblazoned on the cover passionately embracing a swooning purple-skinned damsel was clearly meant to be the Doctor, even though he looked considerably different. He was painted with a velvet coat and luscious brown curls, dressed perfectly for a position in some sort of Jane Austen novel or something. In the background, partially concealed by gratuitous amounts of blossoming flowers, stood the TARDIS in all of its blue boxy glory.
The title was printed in curvilinear alien script and appropriately translated to the closest English equivalent of its meaning. It read, much to Rose’s amusement: Doctor Sexy. It sounded like some sort of quirky medical drama.
The tagline was just as bad: Fate, passion, desire… He can save the planet, but can he love?
What a loaded question.
Rose remembered the Doctor telling her as soon as they arrived that he recalled visiting this planet multiple times in the past and saving them from a new threat every time. He mentioned, offhandedly, how he figured that the locals must technically consider him some sort of hero or legend by now based upon how well he had been received before. There was no way he could have expected this.
Oh, they thought him a hero alright. Definitely.
She hadn’t even opened the thing yet and it was already too much for her. Her hands were shaking with barely concealed laughter as she flipped between random pages in the book, not really looking to actively immerse herself in it yet desperate for a juicy paragraph or two.
And God. She was not disappointed:
“Oh, Doctor,” sighed Anahi, melting into his embrace, “You came for me!”
“I could never leave you, my poignant weeping blossom,” he professed. “You have captured not only both of my wandering hearts, but my body and my soul as well. My love, I am yours.”
The Doctor placed kisses along the fleshy ridges of her neck, making Anahi squirm like a nurseling in pleasure. His strong, velvet-clad arms held her flush against him yet she still craved more. Anahi tugged at the curls concealing the undoubtedly gorgeous expanse of his bare scalp and groaned in need, the vibrations reverberating onto his lips from their position upon her throat.
“I thought you would never return,” she gasped. “I thought… After the uprising… No, after Drewan…”
“Drewan matters not. He is unworthy of you,” he growled. “He shall never have you. No one shall ever take you from me.”
“Oh, Doctor!”
“My love!”
Rose couldn’t hold it in anymore. She burst out laughing right then and there, burying her face in the pages of the book, guffaws violently jarring the serenity of the library. Blimey, this was too much. She wasn’t built for this kind of relentless assault.
She had to keep reading.
“Rose?” called a familiar voice.
Or not.
Rose quickly shut the book, shoving it behind her as she twisted around. She backed up against the shelf behind her and plastered on an innocent smile. She hoped, no, prayed, that her cheeks weren’t as flushed as she felt them to be.
The Doctor’s inquiring expression greeted her. “You were pretty loud,” he began, stepping toward her. “What’s so funny?”
“Uhh… Well,” she struggled for an explanation, “S’nothing, really. Jus’… Just this really silly—” she glanced around her, recalling precisely what section of the library she was in—“cookbook I found.”
His face contorted into further confusion.
“Yeah. Uh, more of a joke, really. 1000 recipes not to feed your… your nurseling.” Rose cringed. “Funnier than it sounds.”
“Can I see?” he asked, his confusion melting into that of skeptical acceptance and mild interest. He moved to peer behind her, but she deftly turned and pressed herself even further against the bookshelf so as to block his view. She could feel the wood digging into her arms.
“Nope. It’s not anything you’d like to see. Really. Trust me,” she said, biting her lip to suppress a chuckle at the memory of what she just read.
“Rose, if it made you laugh so unabashedly in a place like this, it’s definitely something I’d like to see.”
“No. Honest. I swear—”
It was at that moment a book fell from its perch behind her. Rose jumped in surprise and quickly bent to retrieve it, startled by the loud thump it created upon meeting the floor. It was one of the books opened for display and she must have dislodged it as she backed up.
The Doctor wasn’t one to waste an opportunity, however, and he snatched the novel from her unassuming hands the moment she shifted from her position of defense. She let out a yelp of protest and dashed to pry it away from him before he could properly witness the cover.
Too late.
She watched in mounting horror as his eyes drifted over the illustration and read the title.
“D… Doctor… Sexy…? ” he whispered, eyes wide. Rose groaned. Here we go. “This is what you were reading?”
She nodded.
“B-but—this doesn’t make sense—why would something like this… Why… What?”
Rose coughed, “Apparently, Doctor, some people think you’re um, well—” she gestured in the book’s general direction—“sexy.”
“That’s…”
“You’ve got a history here, yeah? Hero and whatnot. That’s pretty hot.”
He furrowed his brows and leafed through the pages of the novel, his face reddening as he advanced through it. His increasing embarrassment lessened the strength of her own embarrassment and by the time he looked up Rose felt the beginning of a smile gracing her lips. God, this was so surreal.
“This isn’t even anything like me!” The Doctor cried, incredulous. “I would never—I certainly wouldn’t—I would never do any of this stuff!”
She snickered, “Oh, I don’t know. Seems pretty in character to me.”
“Rose,” he whined. She grinned at him shamelessly. “You know this isn’t accurate. It’s ridiculous! Fantasy fodder. Entirely fictitious!”
“Fiction stems from reality, Doctor.”
“No, no, no, no, no. Not in this case it doesn’t.”
Rose tilted her head inquiringly, “So you honestly think you’d never say a single word of this? All those passionate declarations of love and devotion and stuff?”
“They’re the single most cliché, contrived declarations I have ever had the misfortune of discovering—”
“Oi, that’s a bit harsh, innit?”
“Harsh?”
“They’re not all that bad.”
“Rose, you can’t be defending this? That’s supposed to be me on those pages. This is slander; I am personally victimized.”
“I’m not on about that, Doctor. I agree with you there. Can’t take that book seriously, honestly,” she rolled her eyes. “I’m jus’ saying that those words are the kinda thing people love to hear. Passionate and adoring. Yeah, it’s kinda cheesy, but that’s what stuff like this is for. It’s all self-indulgent. Love for the hopeless romantic.”
He regarded her wearily, but the indignance in his gaze seemed to wane.
“When was the last time you visited? Must’ve been a long while ago judging by your appearance. You said it yourself: you’re like a legend to them. Something distant yet wonderful. Something they can pile their desires onto without much trouble. It makes them happy.”
“How do you know so much about this?”
“S’common sense,” Rose shrugged, tongue peeking out through her teasing smile.
“Don’t think so,” he said, “because then I’d be an expert on this.” The Doctor glanced back down at the book in his hands and eyed it with distaste. “Something I most certainly am not.”
Rose sighed, “Oh, tell me about it.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
It was then that a librarian glided up to them, a stern expression on her face. Turns out they have been rather disruptive for the past few minutes, dropping books and speaking absurdly loudly, and she figured it was time to insist upon their dismissal for the sake of her peace-loving patrons. They could come back, she told them, once they decided to abide by library policy.
In other words, they were kicked out.
The walk to the TARDIS had them improperly amused in the end, the Doctor’s previous dissatisfaction forgotten in the wake of other more important matters like going home. Lamenting on the fact that they never seemed to be able to go anywhere without being given the boot, they walked hand-in-hand, smiling like the trouble-makers they were.
“Tell me what you will, but I honestly don’t think you could ever catch me saying anything out of that book,” the Doctor told her upon reaching the TARDIS doors. He no longer bore his earlier offended tone, but he clearly must have felt the need to clarify.
“Really?” Rose asked. “Never call anyone your poignant weeping blossom?”
The Doctor made a face. “Never.”
She just laughed, following him up the ramp inside. Rose didn’t doubt him; he probably really would never say anything so honestly and aggressively romantic. It was an aspect exclusively reserved for the man he never could be, trapped in between the pages of that silly book, only found stemming from the minds of people who honestly weren’t all that different from Rose herself.
She might not have been so tawdry in her own musings, but she couldn’t deny how some things appealed to her immensely. She recalled a sentence from the book that stood out to her almost painfully.
My love, I am yours.
Yeah. It would be nice to hear, wouldn’t it?
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