#why even call it a sequel if you erase everything from the previous game

[ganondoodle]

one of the few zelda youtuber guys that seems to actually love totk made a video about it (i guess bc so many talked about why they dont like it) and while i didnt watch it i took a peek into the comments and of course its full of people going "LMAO people only dislike it bc it didnt validate their crazy theories!!" "its always the same when a new zelda comes out lol at first they hate it and then later its a classic haha idiots" "people who dont like it are just caught up in their nostalgia and cant accept anything new being introduced!!"

also thanking him for "speaking up" about loving the game ... which i find kinda mind boggling bc the internet is full of praise and 10/10s for it

i obviously dont want to villainize people that love totk but like .. these kinds of comments are so unecessarily judgemental? how dare someone NOT like an entry in the franchise and voice legit criticism, how dare someone not worship the game just bc it has zelda on it! CLEARLY they are just made delusional by their own fantasy and will realize later just how wrong they were! hah! those fools!

on my rants there were quite a few people who actually said they like the game but agree with alot of my views on it regardless, it is very flawed but i can also see that the good things outweigh the bad stuff for others, even if i legitimately hate it; but i also had to block multiple people bc they got so butthurt about me criticising it

and i dont think its 100% just an opinion thing either, totk, even when i disregard my personal feelings on the matter, has alot of problems, moreso than the other zeldas (each judged for how it was in their time) and in pretty much every part of the game too (story, lore, continuity, gameplay and rewards, UI-) and i think alot of it stems from its conception, they have never done a true direct sequel before and it came from a DLC idea, and it shows (though i still believe even coming from that you could have done something way better..... bc they also made botw, which seemed to prepare fertile ground for more storytelling that was all discarded for NO reason)

BUT that doesnt mean you cant like it anyway! there are some very horribly shitty games out there that are beloved by people anyway! and thats fine! i love ww and botw, both of which HAVE flaws too! and thats okay!

you dont need to be dismissive of any hint of criticism like that, there is no holy honor to defend, it just makes you look like a jerk

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Worst of 2019 (So Far)

And now we get to the opposite of yesterday’s post: the worst of what we’ve seen so far. Time to give them a proper thrashing before they (hopefully) fade into obscurity. Disappointingly, there's a general lack of films that were bad but in an interesting way. Mostly, it’s either been the same sorta dreck we usually get with a couple of unusually offensive stories and a couple of soul-crushingly bad superhero flicks. Curious? Read on.

10. Serenity

I like to save my #10 spot on the “Worst of” list for a movie that has a chance of becoming a favorite among those who love bad movies. Serenity is competently enough made that it does not belong in the same category as The Identical or Runaway. It’s another kind of bad movie, the kind that baffles anyone who sees it and who will have film historians scratching their heads in the future. It’s not quite on the same level as 2017’s “The Book of Henry” but close. Top-notch actors at the top of their career in a story so poorly conceived it would’ve been brilliant if it weren’t awful and utterly absurd.

The revelation that everything we've been seeing is actually part of a video game programmed by an angry teen who hates his abusive father, and that his actions are tied to those of Matthew McConaughey's character is the kind of nutty decision someone at some point should've questioned. My advice? Surprise some unsuspecting friends with it. Periodically pause the movie so they can write down how they think it'll all fit together and then watch their faces as they're proved wrong.

9. After

I’m not going to remember After down the line so this is my opportunity to give it another flogging. I can’t believe fan-fictions of real people is a real thing and that one of them was deemed legitimate and popular enough to be turned into a movie. It plays out like the clone of a clone of a clone of Twilight. At least that movie had danger in the form of vampires and werewolves. This has nothing to offer except embarrassing drama and a prepubescent’s idea of what romance and love look like. I saw it in the theater with a friend and thank goodness she was there; it made what would've been a chore... slightly more bearable.

8. Dumbo

I’ve already gone on about how I feel about Disney’s string of live-action remakes. For the most part, they fail to validate their own existences; they’re just copies of the original but with “real” actors dancing around animated backgrounds, objects and locations instead of everything being traditionally animated. Dumbo isn’t like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. It does try new things. It diverges from the source material significantly in the worst way. The titular character winds up playing second banana to a bunch of circus performers no one cares about and in the end didn’t contain an inkling of the emotion the 1941 version did.

7. Dark Phoenix

This one’s a triple-whammy. Not only was it a deeply disappointing way for Fox’s X-Men series to end, it retreaded old material in a way that was worse than X-Men 3: The Last Stand AND it was a box office bomb. By the time the story finally comes alive… it’s just about over. The whole thing feels like a mistake, bringing in aliens and asking us to invest in characters we just haven’t had enough time to fall in love with. Makes me wonder what the future of the characters is going to be like. Yes there are a number of heroes and heroines we haven’t yet seen, but are people going to care, even when the brand gets a new coat of paint from Marvel Studios?

6. Men in Black: International

Was anyone asking for the Men in Black series to return? Maybe if they'd had a dynamite story this could’ve overcome the public’s general disinterest, but this was an extremely generic plot you could figure out easily minutes in and lost touch with what endeared us to the first. Even with the combined forces of Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth failed, it to generate many laughs. Worse, to make sure I got any references or Easter egg it might drop, I re-watched all of the previous Men in Black movies, including the horrific Men in Black 2.

5. Replicas

This movie goes about itself in such a convoluted way. First, Keanu Reeves plays a scientist working for a company that wants to transplant the mind of dead soldiers into androids. Then, his family is killed in a car crash, prompting him to use the mind transfer tech to put their memories into new clone bodies of themselves. Problem is, he only has the means to clone three out of four family members. This means he has to erase all memories of his youngest daughter from the others’ brains. Following me so far? Good because it keeps going from there. Actually, that’s just the start of it. It’s a classic case of TMSGO - too much sh*t goin’ on. Even with all that, it STILLL managed to have gaping plot holes. No surprise it came and went as quietly as possible.

4. Hellboy

This one hurt. I wanted to see a superhero horror film badly. The early interviews I read about them wanting to adapt Mike Mignola’s books more closely than the Del Toro films got me excited. I was a little apprehensive when the trailers showed some goofy stuff but I figured these were included to draw people in. I should've listened to that sinking feeling. The actual film is awful, one giant mistake after another. Without a doubt, this featured the year’s worst special effects and even this I could've forgiven but the would-be humorous tone was badly misjudged and the story bloated with way too many elements that might've worked... if we weren't also trying to tell the character's origin at the same time. Hellboy ends with a teaser promising more and there’s no way we would’ve seen a sequel even if this had made money at the box office. Cool demons though, for what it’s worth.

3. Shaft

Looking back, I’m struggling to think of anything worth seeing in Shaft. I hated the film’s approach at comedy, particularly when it reverted Samuel L. Jackson’s John Shaft into the kind of man who proudly doesn’t understand modern sensibilities and spews out one homophobic joke after another. The plot was uninspired and uninteresting - not to mention generic - and none of it felt like it belonged on the big screen. On the upside, it prompted me to view the original trilogy with Richard Roundtree and those were enjoyable.

2. Simmba

Simmba is unlikely to be on the “Worst of 2019” list next January. It probably won’t be at the #2 spot. The film mixes two wildly different tones but not well. It begins as a romantic crime comedy, a dated one, sure. Simmba staging a phoney crime in order for the woman he’s attracted to to call him for help and then use the call as an excuse to stay with her through the night is creepy but I guess it might’ve passed like 20 years ago in North America. What makes this a bad film is the way it then introduces a character’s gang rape and murder as a way to prompt the anti-hero onto a righteous path. From there, it turns into this vigilante revenge film that has disturbing implications. You probably haven’t heard of it before now, much less seen it. I don’t recommend you check it out.

Runner Ups:

Aladdin

A controversial choice, as many casual filmgoers seem to have fallen madly in love with it (similar to the way they ate up 2017’s Beauty and the Beast) but honestly, what does this film do better than 1992’s Aladdin? Add an unmemorable song for Princess Jasmine to sing? Reduce the number of talking animals in order to give us more… nothing? Pile on the CGI to the point you wonder why it was made with live-actors in the first place? Like the innumerable direct-to-video sequels of classic films who've been all but forgotten, I tell you this Arabbian adventure won't endure.

Tolkien

So much potential squandered on a boring story. It didn’t take an astute viewer to recognize the film was crippled by the studio failing to obtain the rights to Tolkien’s actual work. I get the feeling we'll see another shot at a biography of J.R.R. Tolkien in a couple of years and this will be the Christopher Robin to the much superior Goodbye Christopher Robin.

The Hustle

It’s an unfunny comedy, what more is there to say? Rebel Wilson makes yet another bad career choice playing the same character she always plays. I only realized it was a remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels while writing my review, which is unfortunate. Hopefully I can expunge this film from my memory soon enough and forget anything it might’ve spoiled about the original Bedtime Story or the 1988 remake.

1. Unplanned

The numerous instances of technical incompetence - mostly coming from the performers who are given lackluster material - would be enough to condemn Unplanned to this list. What made me hate the film is the way it blatantly lies and attempts to manipulate the audience into further entrenching themselves in a certain point of view through cheap, manipulative means. I can respect that genuine passion was poured into the project but the way it goes about it is shameful. Do not go see it, even if you're curious.

Yuck. That last one really left a bad taste in my mouth so I'm going to talk about a movie I did enjoy and am enthusiastic to direct you towards Alita: Battle Angel. Rosa Salazar as the titular Alita impressed me and I really dug the action scenes. I'll also right a wrong from last year by reminding you to find and watch Paddington and Paddington 2, both movies I should've put on my "Best of" lists the years they came out. I don't know what I was thinking but I keep coming back to these in my head. They're excellent for kids and adults.

And with that said, the list is over. Back to our regularly-scheduled film reviews until something big comes up. Thoughts or comments on the list are welcome and I hope you enjoyed reading.

[curriebelle]

Episode Ignis Feels Like Fanfiction and That’s a Good Thing

Ok so I’m having a Thought.

You know when people say something reads “like fanfiction”, and it’s meant to be a criticism? The phrase is one of those intangibles, one of those agreed-upons, where no one can define it quite accurately but everyone thinks they know what it means. Usually it’s a combination of deviation from the original tone, bleaching out character flaws and complexities, a lack of understanding of nuance, and a reverent or worshipful attitude towards old characters, moments, settings, and iconography (and iconography is just the Stuff. Star Wars iconography is lightsabers, wookies and Jedi robes).

That’s a pretty reductive description of fanfiction of course, because a lot of fanfic - whether it’s well or poorly written - doesn’t necessarily follow those patterns. Weirdly enough, saying a sequel or reboot reads “like fanfiction” often implies that the writer doesn’t understand something about the source material - that they’re oversimplifying, or they’re fanning about while failing to understand what a “good” sequel would actually require. And that’s pretty ironic, because fans - obsessive detail-hoarding, secondary-character-worshipping pastiche-crafters that they are - often know the source material better than anyone, sometimes better than the creators themselves, and they are very aware of what they are erasing or changing when they move Marvel into a fluffy coffee shop AU. 

But I’m kind of digressing, because my point is that “this feels like fanfiction” shouldn’t be seen as a criticism, but rather as a gut feeling that we need to unpack. Sometimes it leads to legitimate criticism that, while worth addressing, actually has very little to do with fanfiction. And sometimes it leads to this weird 4:30 am conclusion: Episode Ignis is when “this feels like fanfiction” should be deployed as a compliment. Spoilers onward, for both Episode Ignis and FFXV.

I’m talking specifically about the alternate ending, here, which is tantamount to an FFXV fix-it fic. In this version Ignis averts the tragic ending of FFXV, and though he prepares to sacrifice his own life to do so, it ends up costing nothing. Ignis survives with even prettier hero-scarring than he gets in the regular plot. The episode fills in a sizable story gap after Leviathan knocks Noct out, and closes a few additional plotholes (I wondered what happened to that one obnoxiously overdesigned Imperial guy: turns out Ravus stabbed him). It spends some time with likable characters (Ardyn, yeeee) and underdeveloped characters (again, Ravus). Ignis gets roughed up and drenched, loses the glasses, and I’m 90% sure the animators made his eyes bigger in the cutscenes for extra pretty. He gains maximum plotline power, and Adam Croasdell voice acts the shit out of some sassy comebacks and anguished screaming (ok, this is unrelated, but when he’s doing the regular stormbind combo, it sounds like he screams FUCK in one of his battle grunts and it makes me laugh every time). He can liberate Altissia more or less by himself, and that’s before he drives a goddamn speedboat away from pursuant megarobots. So for anyone calling Mary Sue, yes, Ignis dives headfirst into that. He basically becomes Magic James Bond.

The whole episode is also pretty blatantly queer-coded. We get a very cuddly flashback to kid Noctis, and Ignis’s vow to stand at his side. Ignis is monomaniacal when it comes to finding Noctis. Noctis eiher drops the l-word, referring directly to Ignis and the freshly fridged Lunafreya (I’m still salty about that one, sorry), or says Ignis will always be in his heart depending on the ending. There’s a fantastic gifset going around of the official couples in previous Final Fantasies (Squall and Rinoa, Tidus and Yuna) declaring the exact same thing Ignis does in the alternate ending. “Rinoa, even if the world turns on you, I’ll be your knight”. “There’s no way I’ll let Yuna go”, even if I have to break all the rules of your stupid religion. Even if it costs my own life, I won’t let you take Noctis away. The queer subtext here is one of those things where it’s purposefully vague - just enough emotional evidence and physical contact that you can read romantic feelings there if you want, but just short of an actual romance to leave interpretations open. If you’re convinced Noctis and Luna were in love, Episode Ignis probably won’t debunk that.

So Ignis and his Episode are both powerful, emotional, pretty, potentially kinda gay, and ridiculously awesome.

And honestly, it is phenomenal.

Episode Ignis is a blast to play. His combat style is very fun and quick and fluid and flashy, and the grappling hook in the first portion makes you feel superheroic. Killing Ardyn, meanwhile, makes you feel godlike. It is an incredible surge of adrenaline to take on armies and deities by your lonesome. The gameplay and narrative reflect each other here, just like they do in the base game. FFXV seems happy at first, and the combat is pretty entertaining with all the goofy combo-attacks, but that game is a tragedy. It’s all the more tragic by how fun it is to begin with, and by the end it is painful to play. Characters get older, places fall apart, people die, and you have to escort Ignis around for a chapter while he grows used to being blind and Gladio constantly bitches at you for walking too fast. The photo mechanic is introduced to break your heart later, to show you how fleeting youth and pleasure can truly be under backbreaking destiny.

And in retaliation, Episode Ignis thrives on the power of Fuck You. Long commutes by car, mundane in the moment but peaceful upon reflection decades later? Fuck You, I have a grappling hook. Sections that force you to walk slowly through a dungeon and think about what you’ve done? Fuck You, I’ve got two daggers, lightning teleportation and button-mashing hands. Musings about the ravages of time, and aching nostalgia for youth? Fuck You, Ignis is prettier than ever. A tragic ending pre-ordained by prophecy? Fuck You, Ignis is going to re-write that fate by being clever, patient, and brave enough to sacrifice his life, but double Fuck You, he gets to live as well. Bullets flying, health bar low, multiple explosions and Atlas Ripped decking airships in the background? Fuck. You. It’s time to make some fucking soup.

With all that in mind, it makes sense that people might accuse Episode Ignis of being tone-deaf, of being fanfiction in all the “bad” ways - it neglects the nuance of the original, and papers over complex themes so everything can end up hunky-dory, but I still think that’s too easy.

Here’s the thing: Episode Ignis can only exist as fanfiction - or as alternate-ending DLC, I guess. FFXV is the story of Noctis and his story has an ending and it’s horribly, horribly sad, but it’s also what the story is built around. You might find it too depressing or too grim or you might find it just right, but it is well-structured. FFXV is careful with its themes and patterns and foreshadowing.

Because of that care, Ignis screwing Ardyn’s plans out of whack and saving Noctis from his fate couldn’t occur in the main game. FFXV is not about Ignis. It’s about Noctis. And the gameplay, built as it is around creating nostalgia - photographs, long car rides, camping, friendship - wouldn’t work if the ending wasn’t agonizing enough to make you long for the good old days. Maybe Noctis didn’t have to die or maybe he did, but the ending of FFXV was always going to hurt.

FFXV is an emotional project, and that project is to make the player painfully nostalgic. With that intriguing goal achieved, Episode Ignis exists as a response, and it can never really be more than that. It’s an ending I like better, but it is an alternate ending.

If you think about it, Episode Ignis didn’t need that alternate ending. It could have existed perfectly well as a companion to FFXV, filling in a much-needed blank (and without the alternate ending that’s exactly what it does). But in making a response to FFXV instead, they challenged a lot of assumptions FFXV needed to make in order to tell its story. FFXV assumes its prophecy is the only answer, as do its characters. FFXV yanks a great deal of agency away from Ignis, Prompto and Gladio when it asks them to sit still for a decade and wait for their friend to die without hunting for an alternative

Why can’t they try something else? Why can’t they defeat their nemesis on their own terms? I mean, who the heck does Bahamut think he is, anyway? Who says the ending can’t be happy, and the future can’t be bright?

Those are exactly the questions a fanfiction writer would ask. FFXV created those questions, and Episode Ignis addresses them, but in a way that acts as more of a breach than a closure. It’s one route to a happy ending - so maybe there are more. This is also the reason I brought up the queercoding in Episode Ignis. If there is any genre that needs a complete overhaul from grimdark tragedy into happy endings, it’s the scourge that is the modern queer romance story. There are so many of those bloody stories ending in anguish or separation or suicide or displeasure, and not nearly enough fairytales. Having a tragic ending overturned by the power of queer love is an insanely empowering experience, and that’s probably why you see so many posts about how Ignis’s gay love can pierce the veil of death and save the day. Episode Ignis didn’t need its queercoding any more than it needed its alternate ending, but the two make sense together: both of them are stories that people are absolutely aching for.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything quite like this - a company actively revising their story, overturning its mood, questioning its plot, granting a completely different ending, and then asking fans to pay 6.99 for it. It’s different from alternate film endings, because those are DVD extras and one always wins the theatrical release. It’s different from re-imaginings or adaptations because Episode Ignis is...just not quite that. It can’t exist on its own, unlike most remakes. Video games are always fluid texts to a certain extent, but now developers are even relinquishing the solidity of lore and cutscenes. It’s so odd.

At the decision point of Episode Ignis, you can use R1 and L1 to flip the camera back and forth, moving between a shot of Ardyn and a shot of Ignis. It’s a tiny, insignificant moment, one that almost feels like a mistake - like maybe the developers couldn’t figure out how to stage a normal shot-reverse-shot. But that moment became an oddly powerful synecdoche for what Episode Ignis was to me. If you want to look at this story from a different angle, well, go for it. Here’s another place you can point the camera. Maybe the sun will rise over there too.

[imyourliquor-youremypoison]

Peter Pan Fic Rec

Okay so since I’m the one who’s been complaining about soft hearted OC or Y/N, I think I owe y’all this. I keep track of every single fanfiction I read on a rec blog (but it’s in French and not on tumblr) so I figured I should make the same thing here.

Echo by PurpleLady

I just had to be her. The one he fell in love with, the girl who was taken away from her brother, got aged back to being sixteen- forgetting my memories for 28 years in the process, and then having to jump into a giant portal not knowing where I would be taken. "He thinks I'm Robin Hood's twin sister who got kidnapped by Peter Pan for two decades."

It’s over 300k long and it’s mindblowingly good. The author recreated the way the episodes work, she swtiched between past and present scenes that intermingle really well and everything is perfect. She did incredibly well with so many characters and the OC has depth and is relatable. Also, she’s a ‘bad guy’ technically.

Red Rebellion and its even better sequel Never Seas by thoughtsofanonymous

Based in the future. [Peter Pan x OC] [Captain Swan] Emma and Killian's rebellious daughter is paid a visit by a very intrigued Peter Pan. 

[Sequel to Red Rebellion] Killian and Emma's headstrong daughter Elizabeth Swan had always been a handful. As if her relationship with the mischievous Peter Pan wasn't already enough of a headache, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday she inherits powers beyond her control. [includes subtle themes from Pirates of the Caribbean]

These two a jewels. Especially the second one. In case it’s not clear: this is a OUAT x Pirate of the Caribbean crossover, with Elizabeth Swan, daughter of Killian Jones and Emma Swan, as main character. And it’s fabulous from beginning to end. The author magnificently writes this complex crossover (since OUAT is very disney-like and PotC is a lot darker) and she doesn’t tone it down because of the fairytale characters but rather takes them to a whole other level of authenticity and complexity.

When One Day Is Equal to a Thousand by YouSaidWho

Indigo Garcia walks worlds - out of time, out of place - and unrestricted by anyone's rules. And she has one mission; it's going down on Pan's island. 

This one is a little wonder too. The author obviously knows what she’s about and she carries out her idea beautifully. She’s written other Peter Pan fanfics I haven’t read yet (but I will) and you will find them below. I have no doubt they are as good as this one because the author’s style is awesome! Plus, if you like Hook, this one is definitely for you!

Secrets by xPeterPanNeverFailsx

For my own safety, there had always been two things that I had kept to myself. The first: they had made one huge mistake when they brought me to Neverland. I was no lost boy. The second, well, I suppose it's a secret for a reason. 

This is a oneshot and it has a nice twist I think, which I really enjoyed. It’s about 6k long and it’s the only one of I found with this ‘plot’.

Never Let Me Go by expecto-patroniam

I spent years away from him. Decades. I left because I thought that was what he wanted. And now, after all the hell I've been through, he tells me that he never actually wanted me to go. 

Also a onehot but much shorter than the previous one. This one I read a longer time ago and I don’t remember exactly what it’s about but I rated it 75% so it must have been somewhat good. It won’t cost you much time to give it a shot anyway :)

What You Care About Most by xPeterPanNeverFailsx

When it comes time for Pan to cast the spell again, the spell that brought all of the people in the Enchanted Forest to Storybrook, he must decide if it is worth it to sacrifice the heart of the thing he cares about most, the only girl he has ever loved. 

I don’t remember much about this oneshot either (I’m really useless, right???), but I wrote (and I quote) “Heartbreaking but beautiful” so- idk hold onto your feels?

Alpha by Mikki19

Omegas weren't supposed to exist any longer. They were said to have died out many years ago, so why was Polly-Anna feeling the prickly heat when the Pied Piper pays another visit to Hamelin? 

This one is a lot of smut sprinkled with a bit of plot, but mostly smut. I’m not joking at all, this is the smuttiest fanfiction I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot of them. If you’re not comfortable with graphic scenes, this is not for you.

Jewel of Neverland trilogy by DreamerGirl96

The Jewel of Neverland

They say Peter Pan is a monster who can't love. Then the shadow brought back stubborn, naive Amy. No matter how she denies it, she's falling for the cruel boy. Will love be Pan's saving grace or his ultimate downfall? Takes place before, during, and after Operation: Save Henry.

Safe and Sound

The backfired curse has sent all of Storybrooke and its inhabitants back to the Enchanted Forest, including Amy. Only her memories seemed to have survived and her magic has grown stronger. Threats lurk around every corner as she fights for the ones she loves and not destroy herself in the process.

Shatter Me

The missing year has Storybrooke in confusion and chaos. Felix and Serena are back to being reluctant allies, Henry has no memory of his home, and Zelena has the Dark One captive, along with Peter and Amy. It's a race against time to save the past and stop Zelena from preventing her sisters from never being born.

I am in the process of reading this trilogy but so far it’s fairly good. It’s written in the first person narrative, which is not my personal favorite but it’s fine. There are a few mistakes here and there (grammatical mistakes) but it can be overlooked too. The plot is good as far as I can tell (I’m only halfway through the first part). The three combined parts are about 300k long.

The following I haven’t read yet but they are on my to-read list

Dream Nightmares For Me by ForeverNeverlander

Cheri Regan finds herself on Pan's island, Neverland. All of the fairy tales told to her in her childhood are false, and she is kept "captive" in this "Pan's" camp. She doesn't talk, doesn't respond to Pan's efforts. She then finds herself in the middle of a game that she has no idea of it's consequences. 

This one has smut in it, you are warned.

Never Never Neverland by DREAMLESSLY17

Aria, daughter of Captain Hook and a mermaid, was born on Neverland. Who else would she fall in love with but Peter Pan? When Hook escapes Pan's control, he smuggles Aria with him. He erases her memory and returns to the Enchanted Forest. She's then swept up in Regina's curse separating her even farther from her love. Now 28 years later he has a plan to get her back. Season 3.

Innocence by kkshootingstar

A girl doomed before her own birth to be violently wanted by every person in her entire world, and then imprisoned for her entire life starting at age 5, of course wants nothing more than to escape. His Shadow is called to her, and takes her to Neverland, where she gets her freedom. And when you give an evil boy an innocent girl, opposites attract.

Paperkites and Paperchains by YouSaidWho

Evelyn Asteri gave Peter Pan her love. And now he's come back to claim all of her. Lost girls and lost boys are at war across realms where love and hatred collide time and time again in an endless battle of hideaways and secrecy where only one side will remain Panfiction! Pan/OC. Slight Hook/OC, but Lieutenant Duckling cause CS is endgame. M for smut and violence.

[18 years after Paperkites]

Tasha Highmark is a nineteen year old musician struggling in New York City. With memories coming back to her in disturbing vividness, she must rely on those around her to help her return to the Enchanted Forest and rescue the people in her dreams before it is too late. Sequel to Paperkites. AU. M for Smut and Language. Pan/OC. Felix/OC. Gremma. CaptainSwan.

A Solider’s Curse by YouSaidWho (with alternate ending)

Trapped by Peter Pan in a deal that she never truly agreed to, Ella Hart is bound to serve his will. Defying everything she was and everything she believes in, she obeys everything he asks of her. That is, until hope arrives in the form of a pirate. Multiple Pairings. Pan/OC, Hook/OC.

[chasingthecosmos]

Two Words to Keep

Fandom: Doctor Who Rating: G Pairing: The Doctor/Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler Chapters: 5/14 Read on AO3 here.

“This new body was all about words, but in that moment, the Doctor found himself struggling to find the right ones to say. He knew already that there were really only five that he absolutely needed to tell her - five words that would change their lives forever.”

A (sort of) season re-write centering around the Doctor’s touch telepathy and the many inconvenient ways that it gets between him and his companion, Rose Tyler. This work is based around Season 2 and the Tenth Doctor. It’s a sequel to “A Hand to Hold”, but can also be read as a stand-alone. This is NOT going to be a Doomsday fix-it fic, but there will be a separate Journey’s End fix-it sometime in the future.

Chapters will vary in length. Rating may go up as the story continues. Tags will be updated as I go.

Chapter Five: Tooth and Claw

The Doctor was pleasantly surprised when they landed in Scotland next and he discovered his new body's propensity for imitating accents (something that his previous body had been rubbish at). What was decidedly less pleasantly surprising was the werewolf from space hunting down the Queen of England. And then, of course, he had to go and top himself by getting knighted and exiled within the span of just a few moments.

"Don't think I've forgotten that ten quid, either," Rose reminded him cheekily as soon as he had piloted the TARDIS back into the safety of the vortex. "I refuse to take exile as an excuse. I still won, fair and square."

The Doctor whinged about it and put up a fuss just to make her laugh, but in all honesty, money had never really held any sort of importance to him.

But all playful banter came to an abrupt end when Rose scuffed the edge of her boot against the TARDIS floor grating and screwed up her brow as though she were in deep thought. They were sitting a companionable distance apart from one another on the console room jump seat, but at her sudden change in attitude, the Doctor leaned closer in an attempt to catch her eye as he asked, "Rose? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, just ..." she sighed as she shook her head and continued to stare hard at the floor, "something the werewolf said ..."

"What did he say?" the Doctor asked, his tone low and serious as he carefully inspected her expression for any hint of a clue.

"He said ... there was something of the wolf about me." Rose shook her head quickly from side to side, but it did nothing to soften the hard line between her brows. "I know that it's silly, but ... it made me remember something. It's hard to explain, though. It was like a dream ..."

The Doctor swallowed hard as he continued to carefully monitor Rose's expression. He knew exactly what the werewolf had been talking about, but was it safe to tell Rose the truth? He had yet to make himself sit down and have this conversation with her. It seemed that now was as good a time as any ...

"What do you remember?" he asked gently.

Rose flashed him a doubtful look out of the corner of her eye before returning her gaze to the floor grating. "It was back on the Game Station, before you ... changed." When the Doctor made no response, she took a breath and turned to face him fully. "What happened?" she asked insistently. "You never properly explained. I want to know, Doctor."

The Doctor's eyes were soft and pleading as he gazed back at her, wishing desperately that they didn't have to have this conversation - but he already knew that if it didn't happen now, Rose would just continue to circle back to it until she eventually wheedled the information out of him.

"Tell me what you remember first," he encouraged her quietly.

Rose sighed heavily and cast her gaze to the time rotor as though the TARDIS might help give her the strength that she needed to deal with the Doctor's stubborn evasiveness.

"I looked into the heart of the TARDIS, where there was this singing and a light," she explained slowly. "Everything after that was just ... images and feelings, but they were all ... confused and out of order, somehow? I don't know how to explain it. But then you kissed me and it was just ... gone."

"You looked into the time vortex," the Doctor agreed, forcing himself to meet her confused gaze with a calm, reassuring expression. "You had all of time and space running through your head. You became someone - well, something else."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, a hint of panic entering her tone as she gazed back at him in wide-eyed shock. "How is that possible?"

"You called yourself the Bad Wolf," the Doctor continued, leaning even closer than he had been before but still not daring to reach out and span the small distance between them.

"So ... those words really were a sign," Rose muttered thoughtfully, her expression screwing up once more as she thought back on the two words that had seemed to haunt them from the very first moment that he met her. "They led me back to you after all."

"They led you to your death, Rose," he corrected her grimly. "No one is meant to hold the entirety of the time vortex inside their heads - that's why all of those memories have been erased from your mind. The time vortex was killing you."

"But ... but you ..." Rose was looking at him with that wide, horrified expression once more and it broke his hearts to see sudden realization dawning over her features. "I remember the light going into you, that's why ... that's why you kissed me."

Well, it hadn't been the only reason why he had kissed her, but the Doctor decided to keep that information to himself for now.

"Does that mean ...?" Her words trailed off on a gasp and he could see sudden tears building behind her eyes as she repeated, "Does that mean ... it was my fault that you died?"

"What? No, of course not!" the Doctor denied instantly, having no other thought than to stop Rose's tears before they could fall. Rose Tyler should never be crying - especially not over him.

Good, clever Rose wasn't fooled, though. She groaned and brought her hands up to hide her face from him, which in a way was even worse than the tears.

"Rose, don't," he insisted quietly. "Don't blame yourself, not for this. Besides, look at me! I'm fine!"

"Yeah, but you weren't," she reminded him, her tone coming out watery and uneven from between her fingers. "You were hurt and then Earth was almost destroyed at Christmas and it was all my fault."

The Doctor hushed her as soothingly as he knew how, his hand hovering nervously around her shoulders before settling lightly against her back. In this new body he was still so awkward when it came to touching her - not quite sure what was allowed and what wasn't.

Rose quickly eased his anxiety, however, when she leaned into him and buried her face in his shoulder. "Can you ever forgive me?" she murmured quietly into his suit.

And the request was simply so ridiculous that the Doctor couldn't stop himself from chuckling out loud. In his eyes, Rose Tyler could do no wrong. What was there to forgive her for?

"Rose, listen to me," he insisted, bending his arm more securely around her shoulders. "Would you go back and change it, if you could? Would you have stayed on Earth and walked away and never gone back to the TARDIS? Would you have been able to just say goodbye and let me die on that Game Station 200,100 years in the future?"

"No ..." she admitted quietly.

"Well, I wouldn't change any of it, either," he explained, turning his nose into her hair and allowing himself the simple pleasure of just breathing her in. His lips were already just barely grazing over the warm skin of her forehead, so it was a simple thing to press in a little further and leave a few comforting kisses there.

"I would gladly die a thousand times over for you, Rose Tyler," he admitted, squeezing his eyes shut tight against that terrifying revelation. His free will when it came to her had disappeared long ago, he already knew that - but admitting it out loud was a confession that he never thought he would have had the courage to do.

"Don't say that," Rose chided him lightly, but she wrapped her arms around his middle and pulled him closer and the Doctor knew that he had somehow managed to find the right thing to say.

"Promise you won't send me away again," she continued insistently.

But the Doctor knew that that was a promise that he would never reasonably be able to keep, and he wasn't about to lie to Rose Tyler, so he calmly shushed her again and placed more kisses against the crown of her head, pressing a thousand other promises into her skin and her mind as he projected feelings of peace and devotion towards her.

Rose's satisfied sigh was answer enough, and they were content to let the conversation drop there for the time being.