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wolveria · 3 years

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Inside Your Wires - Ch 7

Pairing: Human!Connor x Android!Reader

Series Warnings (18+ only): Eventual smut, slow burn, fantasy bigotry, violence, brief noncon elements, angst with a happy ending

Chapter Summary: You try to smooth relations between you and Detective Anderson, made difficult when the human wants nothing to do with you.

AO3

Story banner by @uh-kitty-got-wet

You allowed the glass door to swing quietly shut behind you, smoothing your tie as you followed at a polite distance on the detective’s heels. The hunch of his shoulders was interpreted by your social module as a sign of discomfort and tension.

You were given several options on how to approach the human, even one suggesting taking several minutes before engaging him in conversation, but your mission prompt wouldn’t allow you to have that flexibility.

[EARN DET. ANDERSON’S TRUST]

Standing directly next to his desk, you appraised the human’s belongings, noting all of the items you had scanned upon your arrival. The human had an assortment of items, including an ancient mp3 player [Zune, manufactured 2008], a work cell phone, a bonsai tree [Japanese maple, dying], and several personal photos printed out and taped to his display board.

They were of different places and at different times, going by the various types of clothing, but they consisted of mostly the same subjects. Three men wearing nearly identical faces that only android software could differentiate between, and an older man catalogued as Captain Hank Anderson. He was marked as the adoptive father of the triplets.

Even though you had done it several times before, you scanned the detective’s features. His identifying information displayed on your HUD, further settling in your memory banks each time you did it.

DET. ANDERSON, CONNOR

Born: 08/15/2008 // Police Detective

Criminal record: [Sealed Juvenile Records]

You blinked and the identifying information disappeared, leaving you to fully observe the detective where he sat, hunched over his terminal with a scowl on his face.

“I know the situation is not ideal,” you began in your most diplomatic tone, “but I look forward to working with a law enforcement officer of your caliber."

The human gave no indication he heard you, but his heart rate increased by a small percentage, and his fingers pressed down on his flat keyboard in a way that was counteractive to typing.

You were prompted with more dialogue options, and once again went with the friendliest approach.

“It seems we will be working together for some time, so perhaps it would be beneficial to get to know one another.”

The human remained reticent, glaring at the terminal screen as if it were angering him personally. The detective also narrowed his eyes, indicating an intense dislike, but remained silent on the state of his emotions.

Your gaze drifted down to the empty mug of coffee next to the withering bonsai tree.

[ESTABLISH RAPPORT WITH DET. ANDERSON]

“What are you doing?”

You tilted your head, freezing your motor functions when the question was asked, putting you in the position of half-bending over the detective’s desk. You had blocked his terminal with your body as you attempted to reach his coffee cup, and he now stared at you from inches away with a wide, startled expression.

“Sorry, Detective. I thought you might like a refill.”

You had received a helpful notification that caffeine withdrawal can result in headache and irritation, both of which you had identified in the detective’s tense expression.

“Okay, fine, could you just—“ He released a puff of air, fluttering the loose lock of hair that strategically fell to the side of your face. “—hurry up so you’re not in my goddamn lap?”

You weren’t in his lap, or even in the relative vicinity of his groin. It would have been more accurate to say you were closest to his face and hands, the latter of which had been rapidly retracted when the front of your chassis had brushed against them.

You also noted the rise in temperature of his skin, the pink hue across his cheeks, and the dilation of his pupils—all indications of arousal and attraction. These were common occurrences with your model design, and you dismissed the pop-up that asked if you wished to run the sexual subroutine. Such programs were low priority and only used as a last result if the detective were uncooperative with the investigation.

“Sorry, Detective,” you repeated, forming your lips into the approximation of a warm smile. “I’ll return shortly.”

You carefully picked up the mug and moved into a standing position, and the detective released a long exhale, avoiding meeting your eye as he turned back to his terminal.

Satisfied in your endeavor, you crossed the short distance to the station breakroom.

Two humans resided inside, leaning against an elevated circular table as they spoke. Both turned their heads to stare, and you took the opportunity to scan them.

CPL. LEE, HELEN

Born: 05/19/2005 // Police Corporal

Criminal record: None

LT. ANDERSON, COLIN

Born: 08/15/2008 // Police Lieutenant

Criminal record: [Expunged Juvenile Records]

You blinked away the notifications and gave them a non-threatening smile before turning to the coffee machine. It was a large unit, meant for offices with frequent foot traffic, and a brief scan indicated it was overdue for a cleaning.

You weighed the negatives against the benefits of obtaining a beverage from this machine, and determined it was worth the possible contamination risk.

Placing the mug underneath the drip dispenser, you pushed the appropriate buttons after determining the detective’s preferred blend with a quick swipe of your fingers to the interior of the cup and placing them on your tongue.

There was a noise from behind, a slight huff of air and the soft pad of rubber soles against linoleum. One pair vacated the breakroom, and the other approached and stopped at your back.

“Connor done having his temper tantrum yet?”

You turned to face the lieutenant, examining his features and finding open curiosity. He stayed a polite distance away, unlike earlier, when he had stood so close that you had been forced to take a seat at the detective’s desk.

You wondered now if you should have tolerated the lieutenant’s close proximity, since occupying the detective’s chair had seemed to upset him.

“Must be bad if he’s already sent you to fetch his coffee,” he added with a nod to the mug sitting on the drainage tray. “Usually, he waits a day or two before terrorizing the rookies.”

“I volunteered,” you hurried to say, not wanting a ranking officer to get the wrong idea about the detective. “I believe it will be an appropriate icebreaker for our new partnership.”

“That so? Pretty sophisticated for an android, and terribly hopeful.” He canted his head to the side. “You got some kind of human instruction manual inside that processor of yours?”

The lieutenant dropped his gaze down your body, lingering in a way it had done many times before. The evidence of his attraction was even more obvious than the detective’s, but your sexual subroutines had never been activated by his interest before. You were assigned to Det. Anderson’s charge, and therefore, it would serve no purpose to offer your additional features to the lieutenant.

“In essence,” you answered, passive but friendly enough not to antagonize. “My human relations program assists in easing the interaction between CyberLife androids and humans.”

“I see.”

He moved closer, face neutral but his eyes highly observant. He reached out and took your tie, tugging it upwards. The tie clip stopped him from lifting it far, but the lieutenant seemed satisfied with letting the fabric run through his fingers.

“What else can your human relations program do?”

The tone of his question was easy enough to decipher, your program indicating the query was of a sexual nature.

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that, Lieutenant,” you said. “Only Detective Anderson has access to my specialized subroutines.”

The fingers threading your tie went still. The open curiosity vanished from the lieutenant’s face, replaced by a calculating appraisal.

“Well, then. My brother’s a lucky guy.”

His lips pulled into a languid smile that didn’t match the tightness around his eyes.

You carefully pulled your tie from his lax fingers, once again giving him a non-threatening expression.

“The coffee’s done brewing. I must get back to the detective now.”

Turning back to the coffee machine, you kept a significant number of your processors focused on the sound of Lt. Anderson’s heartbeat and breathing, even sampling the micro sensors on your skin.

He remained at a close distance, though by the time you turned around with mug in hand, all you could see of him was his retreating back as he went around the corner down the hallway. From your downloaded schematics of the building, you knew the most likely route he was taking was either to the unisex bathrooms or the station gym.

Your statistical readouts stated the chance the lieutenant would try to engage in sexual activity with you at some point was at approximately 35.2%, and you tasked your processors with running the probability in the background. It was important that erratic human behavior didn’t interfere with your investigation.

“Have a nice chat with my brother?” the detective asked, tone flat as he stared at his monitor.

You filed away possible tension between the two siblings to observe further. You placed the mug next to his keyboard, this time on the side nearest you so you would not lean over and agitate the human again.

“It was informative,” you simply said, straightening into a standing position once more.

The detective gave a huff through his nose and muttered, “I’ll bet.” His eyes narrowed, and after seven seconds of glaring at his terminal, he locked on your face in irritation.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes,” you said, letting a friendly smile appear. “I would like to know where I can access the DPD’s database. I wish to review the case files.”

The skin around the human’s nose crinkled. He seemed to hold some kind of internal conflict before he sighed and indicated the desk connected with his own.

“Belonged to my last partner. You can use it. For now.” He emphasized the words, as if you had possibly forgotten the temporary nature of your partnership.

“Thank you,” you said with a small nod. The detective rolled his eyes and turned back to his terminal, seemingly already having forgotten you.

You knew he hadn’t. Every observant sensor of your body informed you of his continued wariness, even while his eyes were mostly focused on the glass screen in front of him, he was constantly tuned to your presence.

By the time you had sat down in the chair of the empty desk, you had already pulled up in the DPD database to discover what had become of the detective’s last partner.

Sheila Pernell, also a detective, had transferred to another precinct months earlier, citing the difficult nature of working with Anderson and his unpleasant personality. The language she had used had been colorful and extremely unprofessional.

You made another note in your background processes: Detective Connor Anderson displays hostility toward work partners and colleagues. Difficult to connect with others on an interpersonal level. Approach and adapt to antisocial tendencies as needed.

You turned toward the terminal and placed the fingers of your right hand on the keyboard, allowing your synthetic skin to pull make to interface with the device. Connecting to the network and pulling up the cases assigned to Det. Anderson, you downloaded all 243 into your memory bank.

Hoping to prompt a conversation with the detective, you turned toward him from your chair, slightly tilting your head as you analyzed his tense posture. It hadn’t relaxed at all within the past two minutes since your last interaction.

“There are two hundred and forty-three cases dating back to February of this year, many of them originating in Detroit. An AX400 abducted a young girl from her home last night. I thought that might be a good place to start. It’s flagged as the most urgent case due to it being a crime against a minor.”

Your social module had indicated bringing up the danger to a child would have prompted some kind of response, but the detective remained fixedly silent, leaning the side of his jaw against his propped knuckles.

A more drastic approach was needed. You stood, walked around the joined desk, and approached the detective as he made a noise and turned away.

Coming to a stop directly next to his chair, you adopted the understanding demeanor, hoping to placate the detective’s agitation.

“I understand this isn’t an ideal situation, Detective, but perhaps it would be best to set aside your personal issues, and—“

“Excuse me?” the detective snapped, glaring at you out of the side of his eye. “Were you just about to suggest how I do my job? Because if so, I advise you to shut the hell up. You’re not my boss, and you’re definitely not my partner, so perhaps it would be best if you fucked off and didn’t come back.”

He turned away again and picked up his tablet as he pretended you were no longer standing there.

You plucked the device out of his hand, ignored the surprised noise he made, and placed your other palm between his shoulder blades to establish a physical connection he couldn’t ignore.

“I’m investigating these cases whether you like it or not, Detective.” You leaned closer, speaking directly next to his ear so as not to be overheard. “If you continue to refuse to cooperate, then I’ll find someone else who will be more amenable to my presence.”

For the span of two seconds, the detective remained completely frozen. And then he abruptly stood, grabbed you by the jacket, and swung you around. Your back slammed against the glass partition with a solid thud.

“I’m only going to say this once,” he growled, inches from your face. “I don’t care how many Barbie dolls CyberLife sends to the station. If you keep mouthing off to me, I’ll shoot you myself and throw you in the dumpster. Am I understood?”

“Perfectly,” you calmly answered, which served to only agitate the detective further.

His brows creased as his hands tightened around the edges of your jacket. The human was stronger than his wiry frame gave him credit for as he managed to hold you between himself and the glass, your toes brushing the ground but unable to find purchase.

You remained silent, returning his glare with a bland, pleasant expression despite the discomfort traveling your circuits. If the detective was going to continue to be a problem, you would need to report his behavior, and that might further delay the investigation.

Trying to adapt to his psychology was proving fruitless, and it was clear you had underestimated just how socially challenged he was. Perhaps seeking a new partner was the right course of action after all.

Elijah had stated that if the detective became too much of an issue, his brother would be a suitable replacement. But when you thought of the lieutenant, the idea of working with the human was…

Unpleasant.

You studied the human’s face, searching those dark brown eyes, but found no acceptance there. You were going to have to work harder to—

“Detective, uh… sorry to bother you…”

At the sound of the timid voice, the detective released your jacket and allowed you to stand on firm ground. He didn’t turn to look at the officer standing behind him, however, and continued to level a glare at you, effectively penning you in so you couldn’t step around him.

“What is it, Ralph.”

“It’s about the AX400? The one who kidnapped the little girl? Someone just called in on the APB, said they saw it in the Ravendale district.” He paused, wide hazel eyes darting between you and the detective’s rigid back. “If you need me to bring this to the lieutenant—“

“I’ll handle it,” he said, the heated glare finally pulled off you when he turned and walked away.

Adjusting your jacket of its newly acquired wrinkles, you took a moment to process the detective’s unstable and problematic behavior, and quickly followed before the detective left the station without you.

Next Chapter

#human!connor x reader #connor x reader #connor x android!reader #human!connor x android!reader #reverse au #dbh #my writing #my fanfiction

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rachelbethhines · 4 years

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Tangled Salt Marathon - One Angry Princess

There’s two halves to this episode. The first is a well constructed, if over simple, mystery for the kiddos to solve. The other is a failed attempt at being ‘deep’ and ‘mature’.

Summary: Attila is finally opening up his own bakery, but people generally don't want to stop by because of his scary helmet. The next day, Monty's Sweet Shoppe is destroyed, and Attila is arrested. He is about to be banished from the kingdom, but Rapunzel makes an appeal to investigate the matter further.

The Episode is Meant to be a Homage to 12 Angry Men, but Misses the Point of the Original Film

So for those who haven’t seen the movie, (though really you should) 12 Angry Men is about a jury trying to decide if an accused person is guilty of a violent crime. At first the evidence seems clear, but one lone juror refuses to vote guilty until the evidence has been gone over again. One by one he convinces the other men to vote not guilty as they each have to face they’re own personal biases.

Sound familiar?

In the show Rapunzel is the sole believer in Attila’s innocence despite evidence to the contrary. She insists on investigating herself while challenging everyone else’s personal biases.

The difference?

12 Angry Men is a hard hitting look at how privilege, prejudice, and cognitive bias can interfere with the American judicial system. None of the jurors are named, but they are all middle class, presumably Christian, white guys. And that is the point. They are all different from the accused; a young, poor, arguably non-white teen (the play is intentionally vague about the kid’s race so that you can slot any minority in there) who has a history of getting into trouble. If you were to change the ethnicity, race, gender, class, or age of any of the 12 characters then you would suddenly have a very different story. It’s their backgrounds and pre-formed opinions that inform their decisions. Even the main protagonist is not exempt from re-examining his own personal biases.

Meanwhile the writers of Tangled: the Series are too busy showing off how clever Rapunzel is to actually deal with the themes of injustice and bigotry that they added in themselves in the first place.

Rapunzel Knowing Attila Before Hand Weakens the Message

In 12 Angry Men none of the jurors know the accuse. In fact, they can’t know him. It’s against the law. In order to have an impartial jury, no one can have any ties to either the defendant or the prosecution, and they must not have knowledge of the case or have had specific experiences that might cause them to be biased or unfair.

Rapunzel being Attila’s friend means that she already has her own bias and an invested interest in making sure Attila goes free. She’s not acting out of the simple goodness of her heart here. She’s doing something that directly benefits herself.

I don’t expect a children’s fantasy show to recreate the US judicial system with all of the complexities there in, but I do expect it to uphold it’s heroine as the selfless person it claims her to be. Yet the show constantly undermines this supposed character trait by only having her help the people she befriends, and only if that help doesn’t require anything emotionally challenging or mentally taxing from her.

How much more powerful would this episode be if Rapunzel was defending a stranger or someone she actively disliked? Imagine if it was Monty who was being accuse and Raps had to swallow her pride in order to do what is right. But that would require the show having Rapunzel actually learn something instead of placing her on a pedestal. It would also mean giving Monty a reason to exist rather than keeping him around to be a convenient red herring.

Rapunzel Shouldn’t Have to Prove Attila’s Innocence

Rather than have a courtroom drama the show opts to have a ‘whodunit’ story instead. This unfortunately gives the implication that Corona’s judicial system runs on a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ mantra, which is backwards to any humane legal system. ‘Innocent until proven guilty’, ‘reasonable doubt’, ‘due process’, are the cornerstones of our modern social ethics.

In 12 Angry Men, we never find out if the accused actually committed the crime or not. That is because his actual innocence isn’t the point of the story. It’s about whether or not the system is working like it should or if it’s being compromised by human error.

Once again, I don’t expect a recreation of the US judicial system, but if you’re writing a story for a modern audience then you need to reinforce modern morals. Simply crouching Corona’s legal system as ‘of the times’ or ‘fantasy’ while ignoring why we no longer have such systems in place reduces the story to puerile fare.

It also means that show’s writers didn’t put enough thought into their world building.

No One Calls Out the Obviously Corrupt System

The show has interwoven throughout its ongoing narrative themes of classism, injustice, abuse, and authoritarianism, but then fails to follow through on those themes by not having any of the protagonists actually examine any of these issues. They just sit there in the background, even as the show tries it darndest to present Rapunzel as an arbiter of reform. However a person can’t bring about change if they can’t even admit that there is a problem to begin with.

In this episode alone we have

Banishment is considered a reasonable punishment for an act of vandalism. A crime that is usually considered only a misdemeanor unless the damage goes over a certain amount. Keep in mind that not even most felonies would be given such a punishment in the real world

Introduces the prison barge that regularly carries away convicts. In the past ‘undesirables’ would be shipped off to prison colonies as a form of persecution. Attila and every other person we see subjected to Corona’s legal system are of a lower class.

Many prejudge Attila based off his appearance, lower class, and past upbringing. However, it is either Attila who is expected to change or Rapunzel who is expected to win people over. At no point is anyone told that they shouldn’t be prejudiced to begin with.

There is no judge, jury, or lawyers. The king alone decides the fate of criminals, the Captain is expected to be the both the prosecutor and the ‘executioner’, which is a conflict of interest, and the defendant has no one to represent them unless they so happen to know a kind statesperson. Meaning you have to be either rich or well connected in order to even have a chance to defend yourself.

Oh and there’s this...

Uh, yeah you do. You’re the flipping king. You make the law. You’re the one to bring charges against Attila, and nearly every other criminal in the show, in the first place.

The show constantly wants us to view Frederic as simply an everyman who is only doing his job, but he’s not. He’s a ruler and as such he has powers and responsibilities that no one else has or ever will have. The series gives both him and Rapunzel all of the privileges of being in charge without holding them to account for the consequences of their actions.

By not pointing out how wrong these actions are, the show winds up avocating them instead. When I call Tangled the Series authoritarian, this is why. Because authority is never questioned even when clearly wrong and nepotism is presented as the solution to conflicts as oppose to being the problem itself.

The Show Introduces Complex Issues but Then Oversimplifies the Conflicts Surrounding Those Issues

The creators of the show have constantly declared that the series is ‘not for kids’. That they were shooting for an older audience than the pre-school time slot they were given. Now ignoring the fact that Tangled was always going to have a built in audince of pre-teen girls and ignoring that children’s media can be mature, TTS lacks the nuance needed to viewed as anything other than a pantomime.

As stated before, this episode alone ignores the very real issues interlaced within the conflict in order to give us an overly simple mystery that anyone over the age of five could figure out.

It’s frustrating to watch the show constantly skirt towards the edge of complexity only to see it chicken out and go for the low hanging fruit instead. As a consequence the series winds up being for no one. Too shallow for adults and older teens, but too confused in its morals to be shown to small children and younger adolescents.

I wouldn’t recommend this show to a parent, not without encouraging them to view the series either before or alongside their child in order to counteract it’s ‘lessons’ and I know parents within the fandom itself who’ve stopped showing newer episodes to their kids; stating that they want their child to be old enough to point out the harmful messages to before doing so.

Once Again No One Learns Anything

Rapunzel doesn’t learn that the system is flawed. Attila doesn’t learn to open up to people. Nobody learns to treat people with respect and to not judge others based on appearances alone.

The whole point of the episode is to just show off how much ‘better’ Rapunzel is than everyone else. The show constantly feels the need to tear down other characters in an effort to make its favs look good as opposed to just letting the mains grow as people.

Conclusion

Tangled the tv series is no 12 Angry Men. It’s no Steven Universe/Gravity Falls/Avatar:TLA/She-Ra/Gargoyles/Batman:TAS either. It barely reaches the same level as the likes of DnD, Sonic SATAM, or Voltron. Interesting ideas but poor pacing, build up, and lack of follow through, with some naff decisions thrown into the mix bring things down in quality. And unlike the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon from the early 80s, TTS lacks the benefit of being a pioneer in the field of animation, where such flaws are more forgivable.

#tangled #anti-tangled #Rapunzel #rapunzel's tangled adventure #king frederic #critique #salt

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bemused-writer · 4 years

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VNC Chapter 41 Analysis

What a chapter! After reading this one, I was left reeling a bit, I won't lie. Certain things didn't surprise me all that much, but then there were revelations that I definitely didn't see coming whatsoever. So, without further ado, let's take a look at what took place. The first thing we see is Olivier and Roland fighting side-by-side without much success. We already knew they were comfortable with one another, but to me this sort of cemented it. They've fought together many times in the past and they're used to one another's ticks.

Contrary to what I've been thinking, Olivier is definitely the more high-strung between these two, even in battle. XD Not that I ever thought Roland was high-strung, but Olivier is the kind of character who could have easily been written as calm and collected above all else in everything. Instead, he very much is not: he seems to be barely keeping a lid on it, at least around Roland. I'm loving this about him, because it actually fits in very well with his portrayal in The Song of Roland. He tolerated Roland's antics there, but he was completely done more often than not. For VNC it makes for an interesting foil to Roland. Olivier is more serious about his job, but Roland generally has a calmer personality, even as he branches off to do whatever he thinks is right. Olivier still maintains his more sensible, responsible streak from The Song of Roland, though. He reminds Roland that they're short on time. Soon, they will have to kill Chloé. I find this interesting because neither of them is happy about it. They're just doing their jobs. It's not super obvious what Olivier thinks about vampires just yet--he's been a lot more concerned with Roland just being a good paladin and not rocking the boat, but he's never said Roland is wrong to question either.

[Volume 4]

[Volume 5]

He strikes me as someone who will do whatever it takes to make sure Roland stays out of trouble. He even says that he recommended Roland for Jasper because he thought some responsibility would help him settle down. Now, in The Song of Roland, Roland was engaged to Olivier's sister, Aude. I wonder if some of Olivier's concern with Roland is because he views him as part of the family, a brother of sorts.

He also knows that Roland cares very much for his own family; he has several siblings and it sounds like he joined the chasseurs as a way of providing money for them. Personally, I think this is nearly the only reason why Roland obeys the chasseurs whatsoever. Olivier was right when he said Roland "believes in himself as a follower of God." He will do what he thinks is right first and foremost, consequences be damned. But the consequences of disobeying here are retribution against his family.

I'm very curious to see just how long Roland will manage to keep this up. Things worked out well enough this time around, but his loyalties are essentially split between the chasseurs and Noé. That can't last forever. Meanwhile, Vanitas has realized saving Chloé will be a little more difficult than he'd anticipated. This is at least the third time that a specific malnomen has been brought up. The second was in the catacombs:

[Volume 4] Vanitas of the Blue Moon: It's a vampire's shadow made physical. The shadow of one under this curse begins to writhe as if it has a will of its own. Swelling and growing larger and larger, it swallows the vampire to whom it belonged in the end. Prédateur is a glutton. It kills and eats anything it can reach. Until the moment it consumes the last of the life force of the vampire who created it, its only goal will be to devour life. When I first read this section, I assumed Prédateur was simply a manifestation, a part of the curse. However, the description of Chloé's malnomen gave me pause:

Vanitas of the Blue Moon: The trouble with this malnomen is that it can't be cured simply by deriving the formula for an inverse operation. Unless the curse-bearer rejects the theater of their own accord, the link can't be severed, and you'll end up erasing them along with the closed space. It's finally struck me that we're dealing with names. Specifically, Prédateur, Millie, and Loup-Garou way back at the beginning. Malnomen aren't simply part of being a curse-bearer, they have a life of their own. Perhaps they are literally members of Charlatan acting through another living vessel or perhaps they're lost vampire souls trying to find absolution. Maybe there isn't a difference between the two. There's a lot to consider there. Also, Vanitas of the Blue Moon definitely has a teacher's aura about her. Everything Vanitas knows about the book comes from her; he didn't simply figure this out on his own. And the way Vanitas of the Blue Moon is teaching him... It's like she knew he would need to do something about curse-bearers at some point. Sure, it could have just been academic, but why mark him and give him access to the book's abilities if she didn't think he'd use it at some point? The mystery surrounding her only continues to grow as well as what Vanitas's relationship with her even was. Either way, Vanitas has to convince Chloé that she should be cured. I want us all to think about this for a second. The fellow who literally said "I'll do as I please, use methods I choose, and no matter what you people want, I will save you without fail!" is now having to reason with a vampire and convince her he should be allowed to save her. Truly incredible. Makes me wonder, what if his issue with VotBM is that she wouldn't let him save her? There's a thought... But getting back on track, Vanitas still isn't great at reaching people through tender methods. No, he berates Chloé and points out things will be awful either way, so she better make up her mind real quick. I'm... not sure he was convincing exactly, but I appreciate his urgency. It works though. The fact that it's her choice, that she has to choose, finally wakes her up and she sees the destruction around her. More specifically, she sees Jean-Jacques. Chloé has never wanted to hurt Jean-Jacques. She hasn't understood him all that well as he pointed out in the last chapter, but she genuinely wants to do right by him. Not an easy position to be in. We finally get to see how Noé's doing at this point in his battle against Astolfo. These two are interesting for two reasons: 1) This is someone Noé can't just "fix." Astolfo's issues with vampires run deep, far more so than Roland's ever did. Noé isn't used to being confronted with a problem without a solution. He's been able to solve everything else so far, so Astolfo is the first real evidence he's had that the enmity between humans and vampires is beyond him; he can't use diplomacy with him. He might not ever be able to. 2) Noé is a good person, but for Astolfo everything he says and everything he does reminds him of the night his family was defiled and killed. We're used to seeing Noé as the good guy, but for Astolfo it's impossible for Noé to ever be anything other than evil. Even though we know Noé would never do any of those things, through Astolfo's eyes we see Noé's image slanted as it becomes corrupt, all because of what he was born as. It's exactly how bigotry in real life works. We can understand why Astolfo hates vampires, but at the end of the day it doesn't make him right or his cause just. Roland goes out of his way to explain Astolfo's history to Noé regardless of it being impossible for Noé to change Astolfo's mind. Why? My guess is that he thinks we should all understand our enemy. Roland didn't understand his enemy, vampires, until he met Noé and realized they could be good. Likewise, Noé can't understand those he fights until he learns some of them are irredeemable. I like that Vanitas is initially outraged at Roland doing this:

Vanitas has been worried this whole arc that Noé won't be able to handle Astolfo as we can see from his reaction to Noé saying he can handle him:

Honestly, this entire arc has been Vanitas worrying over Noé, incessantly so considering who we're talking about. He let Noé fight him in chapter 35, but he also didn't have a choice. No doubt, he thought Roland revealing how tragic Astolfo's past would stir Noé's chivalric side and he'd have difficulty once more. Vanitas knows Noé is affected by these kinds of revelations. When he told Noé his own parents were killed by vampires, Noé took it pretty hard and things went downhill from there. Turns out, Vanitas was both right and wrong to worry about this. When Astolfo goes into the details of how he's suffered, Noé looks affected, but what really takes him off guard is when Astolfo starts bleeding from taking too much of the tonic. Personally, I think this is how Astolfo was able to trap Noé and Noé was forced to lose his arm in order to avoid being literally blown to smithereens. I'll admit, this was the biggest shock of the chapter for me, as I'm sure it was for pretty much everyone reading it. XD I'll get into more detail on that in a second, but I do want to point out that the fact Noé didn't die, didn't hesitate so much that he lost his life, is a big shift for him, and it's thanks to Vanitas, who must have known he had to do something to counteract what Roland had revealed. Vanitas: Don't hesitate, Noé. Don't think about whether Astolfo's hatred is justified or not. Both humans and vampires act on their own concepts of justice. One's just can be someone else's evil. "Being right" is "power." It can easily turn into violence, a weapon that's much harder to deal with than malice. Don't brandish it. Keep it inside. Justice should merely be the light that illuminates the path ahead of you. Vanitas hasn't been prone to giving good advice in the past (or at least not advice Noé would take), so Noé's reaction is understandable:

He's shocked into silence. Vanitas is giving genuine, heartfelt advice, designed to help Noé with a difficult situation. It's possibly the most open we've ever seen Vanitas. Sure, he's told Noé things about himself in the past, but it was always veiled in anger or resentment. This was simply to help without any strings attached. Between how he's been treating Noé this arc and even Jeanne, we're seeing a much softer side of Vanitas than we had previously. And the advice doesn't stop there.

Vanitas looks so fond here and just a touch regretful. I wonder if he knows this way of doing things would never work for himself; he's already devoted to himself to revenge; it's Noé who gets hung up on what's right and wrong and how he can help others. Maybe he wishes he had that kind of solid moral compass for himself. We also see Roland smiling as they talk; he honestly likes, and is inspired by, their friendship.

Another thing about these two panels is that Vanitas is being openly affectionate this arc, in front of Roland of all people, and I genuinely wasn't expecting it. This arc has been a whole lot of Vanitas fussing over Noé and everyone (except the person in question) noticing it. Behold my montage Let's take a look at how things have developed so far:

This isn't even including every single example, but you get the idea. Vanitas's way of caring is a mix of berating (because he doesn't know what to do with the fact that he cares), lying to anyone picking up on it, and opening up/being gentler when he's reminded that Noé really is on his side or by things he's learned about Noé more generally. Most of these events are prompted by Noé doing something first: Noé apologizes for wanting to drink his blood, Vanitas is nice to him on the train. Noé has a tendency to wander about, Vanitas tries to get the whole group to look after him. Noé has a hard time fighting against a particular type of person, Vanitas switches their targets/keeps Noé away from the problem, and reminds them of their goals. Noé is missing/kidnapped, Vanitas spends the entire arc worrying about where he is. Noé can't tell what is real, Vanitas assures him. Noé assures Vanitas that he doesn't look down on revenge as a motive, Vanitas wipes the blood off his face/promises to help Chloé. Noé learns the truth about Astolfo, Vanitas gives him the best advice he's given anyone in this entire series. If the catacombs arc was about Noé learning about Vanitas and helping him, then this arc is definitely about Vanitas caring for and helping Noé.

Also, the advice Vanitas gives Noé about how justice should be the light that illuminates the path ahead of you? Who was it Noé compared to light only a few chapters ago? And was symbolically represented as the only light Noé can see?

None other than Vanitas himself.

We’re definitely seeing how these two are inextricably intertwined for the rest of the series.

Anyway, getting back to the fight with Astolfo, Noé loses his hand and part of his arm in order to dodge the blast. The one thing he can't concede is Chloé and Jean-Jacques. More broadly, if Noé has the capacity to help someone, he can't back down, no matter what.

Dante's reaction to Noé's victory is one I wholeheartedly endorse. I, too, was pretty impressed. Even so, Noé's coming out of this arc a complete wreck. 8D

He still has a head injury, his shoulder seems to be pretty well sliced, and he's missing his forearm. I just... wow. But this raises several questions: How will Noé cope with only one good arm for fighting? Can he regrow it? Will it be missing the rest of the series? Can he withstand that much blood loss? Did Vanitas bring his medical kit? Because some first aid would be a good idea right about now.... Possibly the most interesting question to ponder out of these is "Can he regrow it?" The reason for this is that we already know Noé suffered some kind of extreme injury as a child:

For his entire left eye to be wrapped seems to heavily imply one of two things: it was either gouged out or otherwise severely injured. But we can see that as an adult he has both eyes and they both seem fine. If he was actually missing an eye, then he regrew it and the likelihood of him being able to regrow his arm increases. If it was simply injured, maybe not. But the one time Vanitas offered to give him medical aid, he was pretty nonchalant about it:

Even Vanitas thought that was a weird reaction. Perhaps Noé has unusually good healing abilities. Or he's stubborn. Guess we'll be finding out soon. 8D Also, I’m just going to hazard a guess that, seeing as it’s the same shoulder that’s been injured in both of these examples, the main difference will be that, while Noé turned away Vanitas’s help before, maybe he’ll accept it this time. It's also finally revealed that this whole time Chloé wanted to be human. I thought that must be the case; why go to all this trouble otherwise? It's terribly sad that she never felt like she was really herself once she became a vampire. She's never been able to accept who she is once her entire life. She's spent all these centuries trying to make her family, who has long since passed on, happy.

But Chloé's finally made a choice, and that choice is to remain with those people who are in the present, her new family: Jeanne and Jean-Jacques.

It's an almost suspiciously happy ending and I am fully expecting Mochizuki to take this down a darker path, but I kind of hope she doesn't. It would be nice to see these three get the happiness they deserve, and with how much attention has been given to Jean-Jacques and Chloé this arc, I think it would make a lot more sense for them to serve a role at the end of the series. The chasseurs (or maybe just Astolfo) might be the main problem, or possibly Charlatan itself. But right now, it genuinely looks like things have been taken care of, which would be great because I don't think Noé is going to last much longer if things keep up. Of course, this analysis wouldn't be complete without addressing "Luna."

I have two thoughts on what this could be. One, this is the name of the mark and marks might work like malnomen: they have a life outside of the purpose they serve. Two, Luna could be VotBM's real name and this mark is very literally summoning her power. When Vanitas uses his power, Noé remarks on the formula he sees:

This got me thinking, is he seeing the world formula itself right now or a physical representation of Chloé's name or soul so to speak? I'm leaning toward the latter if only because with Amelia we also saw a unique background when she was cured and it was completely different:

Flowers, which fits perfectly with her name. As for the next chapter, I'll admit I don't have a lot of guesses. I would think it would just be everyone recuperating and healing up. Probably some serious conversations will have to occur. I think it’s important to note that even if things go badly, Vanitas did keep his promise to Jeanne, which is huge. There was no guarantee, but he made the promise anyway and, lo and behold, he kept it.

As for whether the peace will last, I have no idea, but I definitely think this arc is coming to a close and we'll be moving on to the next fairly soon. I'm looking forward to what happens. ^^

#vanitas no carte #vnc spoilers #long post #Bemused's post

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phantomphangphucker · 4 years

Text

Phango - Gifted? Or Dead?

(Crossover + Identity Reveal + Daul Obsession (Space) AU + Dissection)

Mutants around a ghost are sorely outmatched and Danny’s one of the strongest there is, even if he’s a slightly broken kid.

Katherine, also now to those around her as Kitty, nods as she drives past the Amity sign, she wasn’t quite sure how she was going to find this mutant Xavier suspected was here. Or more specifically how she was going to get a hold of him. Phantom was more than just often spotted but was notoriously impossible to capture. She’s honestly a little glad for that, who knows what would be done to him. Even more so as it seems this town was notorious for having ghosts hunters and they all believed Phantom was simply a ghost and thus ‘evil’. Xavier seemed to think that wasn’t the case, that the boy was a mutant of some kind. The way he had frowned slightly leads her to think Phantom might be an experiment. The fact that the town was very well hidden and blacklisted was definitely not a good sign. It took a lot to find any information apparently.

Checking in with the hotel and quirking an eyebrow over the waver the receptionist gives her. Said receptionist answering her expression with clearly practiced ease, “to stay here overnight requires wavers, if you really do decide to stay for your full weeks' reservation, you’ll have to acquire ghost insurance down at the station. This is due to the unusual dangers present in town and you, as an outsider, don’t know how to deal with them”.

Katherine shakes her head slightly, “so this whole ghost thing is quite real”.

“Yup. Here’s your key card”, Katherine takes it with a nod and heads to her room.

She doesn’t waste much time setting up before wandering around the town, hoping to either spot Phantom or find some kind of clues. Finding herself chuckling a little at the mall, the kids' symbol was everywhere, some things even having the ‘inviso-bill’ code name on them. Which was honestly horrible, even her first code name ‘Sprite’ would have made more sense. Shaking her head, if Phantom was a mutant, he was already pretty well established in the world of heroics. He even had tons of detractors already, whether that was because of what everyone thought he was or not.

Ending up at the library, hoping to learn anything about what’s being labelled as ‘ghosts’. Leaning over to the receptionist, “so what're the best option for me to look into on this whole ghost deal?”.

Getting a soft laugh in return before the lady shakes her head with a small smile, “if you’re genuinely curious dearie, FentonWorks, but those two could talk anyone’s ears off for days about ghosts. We have a few books if you just want more generalised or fictional reading”.

“Are ‘those two’ experts on ghosts?”.

The lady nods immediately, “top of the field they say. Built an inter-dimensional portal into the Ghost Zone they say. Are the best makers of ecto-weapons they say. People say a lot, they say even more. They’ve got kids too. One’s probably the smartest person on Earth and the others basically an enigma. All four are strange. Head down the road and to the right. Look for the house with a giant FentonWorks sign that should be a light pollution threat and with a ufo, that can turn into a blimp and a jet, on top”.

Katherine blinks and nods at that, certainly won’t be the strangest thing she’s seen but that’s pretty up there. Turning to head out after thanking the lady.

It really doesn’t take long to find the house, muttering to herself, “that is one obnoxious sign”, before knocking on the door. She can’t help but think that these two would look right at home with all the mutants, jumpsuits were a pretty common sight with them.

Maddie asking, “hello? Can we help you?”.

Katherine nods with a smile, “yes, I’m visiting town and I was wondering if you could tell me a little about the whole ‘ghosts’ thing?”. She makes a point not to react on instinct to the rather massive Jack practically dragging her inside with an almost disturbing level of excitement.

Jack pushes her at the kitchen table, “wait here! We have awesome inventions!”, before running off down stairs.

Maddie smiles at her and points to a kettle, “would you like some tea?”. At Katherine’s nod Maddie starts up the kettle before sitting down, “so what is it you want to know? Outside of the basics of course”.

Katherine nods with a slight smile, “that for sure”, laughing slightly, “anything important for safety and why there seems to be one that’s just...fighting the others”.

Maddie sighs and shakes her head, “ah yes, Phantom. That one’s strange and an anomaly”, smiling a bit, “what we wouldn’t give to get our hands on It and see how It really works!”. Katherine makes it a point to not react visibly to that. While Jack bounds up the stairs, “talking ‘bout Phantom? If we could only get this baby-”, holding up some weird looking Bazooka with a claw hand on it, “-on It, then we could open that ghostie up! Get right down to the molecules!”.

It’s then that the son walks in the front doors, looking honestly skittish, “I’m home!”. Katherine watches him look her over with extreme caution, he was clearly very mistrustful. While he looks to his mom, “mom, who’s this?”.

“Oh jut a curious traveller sweetie”.

Katherine notes how the kid flinches when Jack swings around the weapon thing, “she wants us to blabber about ghosts! And look! We finished the Fenton Ectoplasm Crusher!”.

The kid looks slightly like a deer in headlights, “that’s great dad. I’m just gonna not stay here. I’ll be in my room if you need me!”, the last bit comes out rushed as the weapon goes off and shoots off at Danny, slamming into the wall where he was standing as he bolts up the stairs; the invention electrocuting the wall.

Katherine looking to Jack, “do inventions often go after him like that? Is that safe?”.

Maddie waves her off, “it’s fine. Ecto-weapons can’t hurt humans. It can just be a little startling”, Katherine watch’s as the women shoots her own hand to prove a point. Only thing, for the kid to have any kind of ingrained fear response to said weapons, means they must affect him. At least a little.

Jack picks up, utterly unaware of Katherine’s slight mistrust of them, “so we’ve been in the field for years! And one thing we know is that ghosts are evil ectoplasmic manifestations of post-human consciousness! They’re dangerous creatures!”.

Maddie nods, “we try to catalogue and record as many of them as we can, their powers too. And how best to contain or defeat them. See, they’re not capable of human emotions or being good. Even that Phantom one”, she shakes her head, “just feeding off the attention people give It. Why so many feel the need to see It as anything but a monster we’ll never know”.

Katherine feels like she’s heard this all before. Deciding to ask something more basic, “are they actually dead though? Or just abnormal people?”.

Jack chuckles, “oh they’re dead all right! No bones, no blood, no organs. Entirely made of ectoplasm! Which is a great energy source actually! We fuel our weapons with it!”.

Maddie looks from her husband to Katherine, “yes it sure is. Some ghosts were once human, or dogs, others we aren’t quite sure what they used to be. There’s plenty of work to be done in the field. One thing we can all agree on, those of us in the profession, is that ghosts are simply the negative and obsessive remnants of their living self. Rarely remembering so much as their name. They come to our world to wreak havoc and hurt those that dare still have what they lost. Or they seek power”.

Jack lifts up a few different weapons, and a fishing pole? While he speaks, “most of our inventions are to counteract their powers! All ectoplasm has certain abilities, but the really tricky ghosts are the ones with unique powers!“.

Maddie nods with a sigh, “which is the problem with Phantom. It’s unlike any other ghost. Able to get past anti-ghost things somehow and get into our world so frequently”.

Katherine tilts her head, “our world?”.

Jack beams and nods, “yup! Ghosts come from and exist in an alternately dimension! The Ghost Zone! Our work started really picking up when we figured out how to access the place!”.

Maddie smiles and gets up to pour the tea, speaking as she does, “it’s a very dangerous place, filled with ecto-filth and their lairs. They plot and heal there, before coming here to cause issues”.

Katherine smiles and takes the offered tea, while the conversation continues.

She listens to them, not really sure what to make of it all other than that the two really hate ghosts and wanted to both harm and control them. But she finds herself paying more attention to the coming and goings of the two kids. The daughter eyes held intelligence that likely surpassed nearly everyone’s and something tells Katherine that the daughter is far more watchful and suspicious than she lets on. The boy, on the other hand, only seemed relaxed when his parents were not looking at or near him. Other wise he was jumpy, skittish. But he was making a point to still be around his parents, though clearly avoiding them as quickly as he can. She also notes how the two seem to be able to look after themselves entirely, how the sister puts herself between the parents and the boy, how the parents are absorbed in their work, and how there are anti-ghost things everywhere...even the toaster is anti-ghost.

She smiles at them as she leaves but frowns when she’s out of sight, if she wasn’t curious about the two kids before, she was now. Pausing as she sees the daughter sitting on a bench, just out of sight of the Fenton house, reading an advanced psychology text.

Katherine walking up and asking, “you’re the daughter, what do you think of all this ghost stuff”.

She giggles slightly and snaps the book shut, “it’s Jasmine or Jazz for short. And it’s very real, even if my parents are extreme about it...and wrong in many ways”, Katherine watches as Jazz squints at her slightly before nodding, “you see the bigotry in it. The human mind is a flawed thing, impressive but flawed. It’s far easier to take what we do not know, do not understand, what is different; and label it less than us. Whether to fight against them, research them, or simply hold onto the ideal that humans are some great alpha species. It’s silly, isn’t it?”.

Katherine blinks and nods with a slight smile, “yes, people can be silly like that. I’m guessing you don’t share their opinions?”.

Jazz shakes her head, “very few teens do. But they’re the adults, the experts. So certainly, they must be right. Funny how that works”.

Katherine smiles slightly and nods, “people with power, sometimes it’s good sometimes it’s bad. You’re a smart girl, you’ll do some good things I’m sure”, the two nod and Katherine keeps walking.

The next thing she does is send a message to Xavier for anyone he wants her focusing more on. And it doesn’t take long to get back said list on who to check out. Sighing a bit over all six being teens. Sam Manson, Elliot Revon, Tucker Foley, Todd Brentex, Valerie Gray, and Danny Fenton. She’s going to leave the Fenton child till last, for a lot of reasons.

Using the library to track down the different residencies and to figure out the kids social circles. Promptly moving Elliot and Todd near the bottom of the list at noticing that Sam, Tucker, and Danny were basically best friends and Valerie was also their friend, just seemingly less close. But she can see why Xavier focused in on these six. Everything about Jasmine was very public even if she was odd. She probably was a mutant to a level but only receiving heightened intellect. Hardly what they were looking for and not who needed their help.

Sam was extremely rich, which wasn’t odd really but she also seems to raise pet plants that bite people, eats exclusively plant matter including soil, and frequently disappeared just before or during ‘ghost attacks’

Elliot has impossibly natural white hair and there was video proof of him being chased and attacked by the government. He also changed personas every few weeks, she’s pretty sure he doesn’t know who he actually is anymore.

Tucker was another’s case of extreme intellect but also seemed to hit on everything with legs, had something dubbed a ‘meat sense’ and was romantically involved with his PDA. He also frequently disappeared just before or during ‘ghost attacks’.

Todd seems like a run of the mill asshole, if you exclude the fact that he snarls, bites and all around acts a bit inhuman and creepy. There is a lot of comments about him having abnormal shows of strength.

Valerie likely carries ecto-weapons with her due to the staggering amount of comments about her having them at some point or another. Has a serious and extreme hatred for ghosts that could very likely be intentional as a cover up. She also disappeared when ‘ghost attacks’ happened.

Daniel was notable because of how little there was to note. He loved space, a lot, his Facebook was near nothing but space facts. He was chronically skipping or leaving classes, sometimes lining up with ‘ghost attacks’ sometimes not. Was so severely clumsy he was banned from handling fragiles. Was severely terrified of ghosts, this could be a cover. And that’s it, nothing else.

Nodding and closing her little notes and deciding she’ll approach the techno-geek first.

Promptly running into an issue. Sam, Tucker and Danny were basically never alone. Either they were together, at home or with family. It was certainly strange. But this gives her time to observe them and Sam and Tucker are extremely protective of Danny. Even seeming so towards his parents. Which is a bit worrying. She also writes Todd off during this time as a guy who wants to be seen as weird and is quite literally acting a part. Valerie also seems like the overworked teen type, and she’s not all that involved with anyone else. Plus the ghost hating is not faked, catching her ranting about ghosts was honestly a bit disturbing.

Leaning against a wall in the mall and watching the three from afar when a floating Mecha bursts through a wall and sends tables and people flying, everyone else fleeing. Deciding to duck down and watch, maybe Phantom will come along and she’ll get lucky.

But the expressions on the trio catch her attention, sure they were running off but their eyes were hard and there was slight smiles playing on their faces. Danny even seemed to roll his eyes. Certainly different from everyone else.

Flickering her camouflage and intangibility on to sneak around and follow the trio enough to keep them in her sights. Maybe they had contact with Phantom. Blinking and smirking to herself of watching Danny’s -rather bright if she’s honest- little transformation sequence and catch phase. Ah teens, and yup, definitely a mutant of some kind. Somehow she doubts he’s a ghost that just can look human. Watching as the Mecha hits him with some hook thing and sends both of them intangibly through a wall.

Her jobs basically half done now so she’s content to just check in with Xavier before approaching the mutant.

Leaning back in a chair and speaking over the protected phones, “found your kid. But he might be a more sensitive case than normal”.

“Oh?”.

“His parents definitely do not know and they point blank said they wanted to very explicitly dissect him, Phantom anyway. The house is basically filled with things that hurt him if he actually is somehow a ghost”.

“Very well, I’ll fly down there”.

Nodding to herself and hanging up. It’s not like he’ll take long and she has to go fill out those insurance papers.

A few days later finds Katherine, Xavier, Scott Summer, and Jean Grey in-front of the Fenton house, waiting for an answer after they knew the Fenton parents would be gone for a while. If it took a bit longer simply to ensure the safety of a mutant then so be it.

Jazz is the one to open the door, Xavier smiles slightly at her not even looking surprised. “Hello Jasmine, I’m Charles Xavier”, gesturing to Scott, “this is Scott Summer”, gesturing to Jean, “this is Jean Grey”, gesturing to Katherine with a slight smile, “and I believe you’ve already met Katherine Pryde. Is Daniel around by chance?”.

Jazz steps to the side and lets the four in, hardly blinking at Jean telekinetically levitating Xavier’s wheelchair inside. Jazz commenting as she goes to make tea, “you’d think they’d create things more useful for everyday people, like stairs that can transform into ramps. Rather than hover cars and wormholes”.

Jean raises an eyebrow, “your parents have created such things?”. Jazz smiles and nods, Katherine nodding as well.

Jazz frowns slightly as she speaks, “now what do you want with my little brother?”.

Xavier holds up a hand, “relax, nothing bad, I can assure you. We merely want to talk, privately if that is possible”. None of them exactly want to assume who knows and who doesn’t about Danny. While Jazz squints slightly at them. Xavier speaks up again, reading that she was simply protective of her brother and very much knew, “I am better know to some as Professor Xavier or Professor X, I help people who are a bit different from the rest of humanity. Give them guidance, teach them”.

Jazz nods slightly, “so you are mutants then? I figured as much”, smirking slightly, “and I’m not one to be wrong”.

Scott frowns a bit more noticeably at that, “and you assumed why?”.

Jazz smirks as she pours teas and goes to walk up the stairs, “often those that see the bigotry towards people and creatures as being such, do so because they see and experience it themselves. Much the same has been said about mutants as ghosts”, turning to look at them with one foot up the stairs, “but make no mistake. Ghosts aren’t the same”.

Scott huffs as the girl walks up the stairs, not really believing this whole ghost nonsense. Much more likely were an unusual set of mutants, mutants with similar powers wasn’t unheard of and maybe this place simply resulted in such an occurrence.

All four turn to the stairs as a cautious looking Danny enters the kitchen, Scott and Jean honestly a bit surprised he’s actually alone. Katherine smiles at him, “hello again. Don’t worry, we’re the good guys”. Something about that makes the skittish boy chuckle as he sits down.

Danny mutters as he plays with the teacup, “everyone always thinks they’re the good guys”.

Xavier nods with a slight smile, “true. I have an old friend who always believed he was doing what was right, what was best. For those like us, for the world, for the future. He did not care who he had to hurt to achieve his idea of the perfect future”.

Danny squints a little, “‘people like us’? Are you including me in that ‘us’ thing?”.

Scott scoffs and crosses his arms, “we know you’re Phantom, kid. We’re mutants”. Scott groans slightly as Danny curls in on himself a little, clearly paranoid and skittish. Jean levitates a tea cup to herself and smiles softly, looking to make the kid feel more comfortable.

Danny watches them for a bit, “you're not with the government...are you?”.

All four shake their heads instantly. Xavier speaking, “we’re not looking to report you or hurt you or anything of the kind. I’m here to offer my help. You see, I run a school for gifted youngsters. Young mutants like yourself”, he steers his chair around the table to put himself in more full view of the skittish Daniel, “it’s a safe place, protected from any who would want to harm us. Where you could develop your gifts around others like you. And be free from the dangers posed to you”, Xavier nods towards one of the strange guns on the counter. “Mutants have been regarded with fear, hatred; as you’ve experienced yourself. There are some even who see us as a new species, but humanity has never been one to share. Our school has plenty to offer, the top classes in everything as well as training facilities that can be specialised to every mutants needs”.

Danny raises his hands and chuckles a bit awkwardly, “I’m, um, not a mutant. I mean, I guess that depends on whatever makes a mutant or whatever. But um, you really can’t tell anyone about me. I’d really rather not get dissected”.

Scott sighs, “kid, did you miss the protected part? The school’s a safe place and from what I’ve heard you can at least float and shoot energy rays, you’re a mutant”, Jean levitates up a pen and Scott lowers his visors quickly to shoot a little beam at it, destroying it. While Xavier explains, “mutants are people with a special gene, the X-gene, resulting in the mutant developing their gift around puberty. And I can assure you, no one is going to be experimenting on you”.

Danny scoffs and rolls his eyes, looking rather tired, “don’t promise things you can’t deliver. And I’m not a mutant then. I wasn’t born with some gene. Just got into an accident”, looking to and squinting at Scott, “um, what do you think ghosts are?”.

Scott shrugs, “collection of mutants probably”.

Xavier nods, Daniel wasn’t lying, “well sometimes traumatic events or emotional distress can cause the surfacing of a mutants gift. But even if you might not be a mutant, my school would and will accept you regardless. We are not ones to discriminate or turn away any gifted youths”.

Danny rubs his neck and shrugs a little, “could it awaken these genes or whatever in late twenties? Because if not, then I’m definitely not a mutant. But I guess thanks for not being discriminatory or whatever, nice change I guess”.

Jean frowns, goes to rub his shoulder reassuringly but pauses when he flinched away. He’s clearly been through a lot and doesn’t trust easily, “you have a place if you want it, and you will be accepted. Clearly this place isn’t safe for you”.

Danny scoffs and rolls his eyes again, fiddling with and looking down at his cup, “no place is really. And my folks don’t know, they don’t mean to hurt me. Even if they do shoot at me a lot, dad’s not that good of an aim though”, he smirks but it’s a little hallow. Looking to Scott, “ghosts are exactly what they sound like. The dead. I guess since you guys went and revealed yourselves, I’m a hybrid. Half dead”, chuckling and drinking the tea a little, “let me tell you, electrocution is a very painful way to go. Four billion volts, people don’t survive that. But hey, also having a ghost portal open up on me fixed the whole dying problem...partly anyway”.

Katherine breathes out, “well damn”, that was pretty awful. Looking to change the subject, “so what can you do? I can walk through things. Intangibility. And camouflage, it’s almost invisibility”, pointing at Scott, “laser eyes over here”, pointing at Jean, “empath, telekineses”, pointing at Xavier, “telepath in basically every-way”.

Danny jerks a little bit from hearing Xavier’s voice in his head saying ‘hello’ while Xavier smiles a bit playfully. Xavier speaking while Danny watches all of them, “I’m one of the strongest there is, I can manipulate any part of someone’s mind, shutting down their body functions even. But I don’t of course, won’t. I like to think humanity has good to them, at their core. That we can exist peacefully. I know you’re good, and that you fight the ghosts to protect people”, gesturing to the three mutants, “we do much the same, fighting less reputable mutants who want to harm”.

Danny eyeballs them and chuckles, “that’s pretty intense. Mind control really. I’ve been mind-controlled before, I broke it though. Kinda funny you came here with a bunch of people with similar abilities”, Danny levitates over the ectogun and pokes it to spin around in the air, “telekinesis, I don’t use it much though”, shooting a little ecto-beam at it, making the ecto-gun explode, “more laser fingers than eyes, can do that to though”, phasing his hand through the table before flickering invisible, “literally every. Single. Ghost. Can use intangibility, invisibility, and gravity nullification”.

Danny sighs and gets up, putting away his cup; three of the mutants a little surprised at the numerous powers. Xavier nods slightly, “you have more powers, don’t you”.

Danny scoffs and laughs a bit, “many. I don’t know if your school could make a training room actually able to handle me honestly. And I would bring danger with me. I’m wanted by the government, many ghosts want my hide -one very literally-, and there are the ghost hunters. Plus,” Danny sits on the counter and fiddles with the sink a little, letting the tap turn on but making ice shapes with the water, “I protect Amity, I guess some friends of mine could cover for me though”.

Scott scoffs, “don’t underestimate us kid, mutants always bring danger around with them; dealing with that is half the point of the school”.

Xavier nods, “we've seen everything from intolerant parents, to government-funded mad scientists. We’re well equipped”.

“Could I leave at any point to come back here in case?”.

Xavier nods, “of course, it’s not a prison. Though it is a school all the same, you will have classes you’re expected to attend”.

Danny mumbles, “course”, before getting up for some food. Opening the fridge and promptly getting spattered by green stuff, the fridge saying ‘anti-ghost fudge theft mode activated, eat hot ectoplasm Spook!’. While Danny yelps and shakes off his face and hands, Jean moves to help him wash off in the sink; everyone able to see him wincing and the nasty burns where the stuff had contacted him. Danny rubs at his face and looks a little beaten down, “yeah, okay, I’ll try your school thing out”. Jean and Katherine asking, “are you okay?”.

Danny shrugs and mumbles, “I heal fast”.

Jean shakes her head, “you shouldn’t have to be worrying about your own house attacking you”. Danny just shrugs again as he sits back at the table, throwing a slight glare at the fridge.

Xavier smiles anyway, this was certainly an environment he shouldn’t be in. If anything, it seemed Daniel was in more danger than most of the youngsters they collected, “how likely do you believe it is that your parents would allow you to go without any of us having to divulge too much about the school or the reasons behind your attendance?”.

Danny shakes his head, “none. They’ll want to know everything they can. They care, they’re just...not that good at it. But if you have, say, a space program of some sort then that would work for cover”. None of them miss how his eyes sparkle a little, clearly he was fond of space.

Xavier smiles, “we certainly could. Are you interested in space?”.

Danny grins and leans forward a bit, “I landed a spaceship once, been to space a few times. I could build an exact to-scale replica of the Mars rover, pretty well every model of spaceship, and any of the satellites, right now. My goal was NASA before the whole dying thing trashed my grades and being Phantom became more important”.

Jean smiles softly, “well, part of what we teach is managing lifestyles. I’m sure you could do both”.

Katherine giggles a little, “and at least you already have a code name, no one trying to give you unfortunate ones. Have your own designed suit too”, smiling slightly, “you’ve put a lot into this already. Most your age just play with their powers, show off. I was hardly better”.

Danny frowns a little and pats at is chest, “I didn’t design anything. That suit is what I died in but colour inverted, like my hair. It’s part of my body. Phantom though,” Danny smiles slightly, “that’s my fun little pun on Fenton”, sighing and frowning again, “and these mutant kids, they just have powers, I’m part of another dimension and species. So it’s different”.

Xavier nods, “all the same I’m sure we can accommodate you. Accommodating niches is one of our goals. Now the school is a boarding school, located in my mansion, our classes are small but they are specialised to needs. The dorms are comfortable and anything you need you can ask for, no matter how strange or hard to get. Power usage is both accepted and encouraged so long as you avoid intentional damages. The danger rooms are where you can really use any powers”.

Jean smiles and nods, the danger rooms were often what really got any teens exited, “they can be set up for any situation and unique to work against or towards your own skills. There’s no worry about really hurting anyone or thing, so it’s wonderful for testing limits. They get used most often by those looking to become X-Men”.

Scott looks Danny over, the kid was already doing the whole superhero thing, “no doubt you’ll be an X-Man, you’re nearly already doing the job”.

Xavier tilts his head, “with working in the space field as well of course”.

Danny shrugs, “with my vitals I highly doubt they’ll actually let me”.

Xavier grins at that, “oh we have our ways, that sort of thing can be waved”.

Danny goes a little wide-eyed and whispers, “really?”, everyone else nods and Danny grins like an idiot, “okay you are totally allowed to adopt me!”.

Xavier laughs, “not literally of course. But you are free to stay at the mansion as you please, so long as you enrol”.

Danny nods, clearly either more comfortable in their presence or more focused on space, than safety.

They leave after giving Danny the more nitty-gritty details of the school and its programs, giving him one of the schools hoodies, and after explaining what they can to his parents; they were more than a little excited about Danny going to a more specialised school where he will hopefully do better and get to be an astronaut like he always wanted.

Half a week later finds Katherine back at the Fenton door, waiting to pick up Danny. Smiling at him as he opens the door with his bags in tow, obviously already having had the whole farewell talk and hug fest with his family. “You good to go?”.

Danny nods, looking a little sad and nervous but otherwise just a fourteen-year-old kid, “yeah”. Both jumping when Jack sticks his head out the door and shoves a container of fudge at Danny before giving him a thumbs up and disappearing.

Katherine shakes her head, “you’re parents sure are something”.

“Heh heh, yeah”, Danny turns and eyeballs the sleek little car, “well, at least you didn’t show in something overly fancy”.

Katherine smiles as she gets in, speaking as Danny closes the door behind him, “discretion is part of how we maintain safety. We’ll be getting to the jet later”.

“I flew a jet once”.

Katherine shakes her head a little as she drives off, Danny really had clearly been through a lot of weird situations.

Danny looks around a little as they enter the mansion, he didn’t seem all that impressed but more so simply cautious and paranoid. Watching him eyeball possible exits, areas where someone could hide, anything that even slightly seemed like a threat. Katherine watches him eyeball a kid floating paper airplanes around above his hands, “huh, guess that is pretty normal here”.

Katherine nods, “yup, you have to do something very flashing, please don’t, to really get anyone to care. You seem pretty unfazed by the mansion itself. Most gawk more, I know I did”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “my archenemies is bigger, a lot bigger”.

“You really have an ‘archenemy’”.

Danny shrugs, “not much else to call the guy, other than a crazed up frootloop. He’s one of the richest people in the world, wealth acquired by control and manipulating other people. Wants to kill my dad, marry my mom, force me to be his son. He’s got a power and possession Obsession”.

Katherine is definitely a bit concerned by that, sounded like a mutant who was using their powers unethically. Not to mention rather creepy. The two walking into Xavier’s office while Danny grumbles about this archenemy more, “spy's on me with cameras, puts bounties on my head, the whole cloning incident, attempts to take over other times, made me fully dead in another timeline, more attempted murders than I can count”.

Xavier raises an eyebrow, “hello again. Who is this person we’re going to have to keep an eye out for?”.

Danny sighs and sits down in one of the armchairs, scanning his eyes cautiously around the room quickly before speaking, “one of the only others like me. The first Halfa. Vlad Masters, yes that Masters”, Danny shrugs and fiddles with he chairs fabric, “he went to college with my parents. They built a mini-ghost portal, half-killed him. Same as they built a full ghost portal and half-killed me”.

Both mutants blink at him, Katherine shaking her head, “your parents are hazards”. Danny just smirks slightly in response, still looking around the room a little.

Xavier nods, “so not a mutant either. And what of the others like you? Better company I would hope”.

Danny snaps his eyes to Xavier and bares his teeth a little, “touch her and I’ll cut you”, softening a little and seeming to be thinking a bit while Katherine blinks a bit caught off guard. This kid was quiet and skittish not aggressive. Whoever this ‘her’ is she must be special.

Xavier smiles slightly, hearing that Danny is considering bringing another Danny -the identical names was slightly confusing- here, if he felt it safe. Though Xavier’s not pleased she sounds to be on the run, “she’ll be quite safe here, though I’m sure you’ll decide that for yourself”.

Danny glares slightly but nods, “it would be nice for her to have a home. But if I have to blow up an entire mansion to protect her, I will. I’ve done it”.

Xavier nods, “of anyone, I can certainly understand protecting the gifted; mutants or otherwise. Many of the students here are runaways themselves, many more come to consider this place home. Even upon graduating, they tend to stay and become X-men and teachers. Always having a permanent place here, found family, and protection”, driving his chair around the desk and smiling kindly at Danny, “I can only hope you can come to feel fond of this place yourself, and of the gifted around you”.

Danny nods a little stiffly, Xavier doesn’t even have to read him to know he’s slightly overwhelmed. Changing to a topic more well-loved by teens and of some level of importance, “now follow me, I’ll take you to your room. Kitty has responsibilities to attend to”, starting to drive out of the room and looking back at Danny as he gets up, carrying/dragging his things, “feel free to levitate those, I encourage it actually”, speaking again as Danny smiles slightly and does just that before they start walking down the halls, “now one thing that is something of a right of passage, as I’ve heard many of the students say, is choosing code names. Of course yours is already set in stone for you I imagine. So the question will more be, what do you want to be called here? Do you wish to go by Danny still, or Phantom? Both perhaps”.

“The ghosts officially call me Danny Fenton Phantom, but most just say Phantom...or something insulting. But um, Phantom, Phantom’s what I’d like”.

Xavier smiles to himself at that, unlike the mutants that faced persecution Phantom did not hate his abilities, didn’t even dislike them truly. He merely seemed to dislike when they acted up and had learned a policy of absolute secrecy about them, over all he was proud. “What you would like is all that matters, Phantom”.

Phantom pauses in his walking for a beat before shaking his head with a slight smile and following again, “just like that huh? Guess that’s normal here”.

Xavier only nods slightly as they come to a stop before the room that’s meant for Phantom, “here’s where you’ll be staying. If you set up quickly, you’ll have time to make it for lunch. I quite recommend you do”.

Phantom raises an eyebrow but watches Xavier go for only a little while before heading into his room.

Anna is curious, she’s heard mutterings of there being a new student. Like always, that kind of news made everyone excited and buzz about. Curious what the newcomer could do, what their backstory was, if they looked unique. Certain people, glaring slightly towards Monique and her little gang, certainly were more interested on the looks than anything else. Todd, of course, was only going to care how strong the new kid was and if there’s be some kind of challenge to his place as ‘top bitch’. Sure, he said ‘alpha king’ but everyone else just said ‘top bitch’; largely to annoy the overpowered fire-starter. Fire-starter not just because of his power but also ‘cause he’s a prick that fights everything. Sighing as she walks through the lunchroom doors, though peeking up when she sees her good friend Lily and walks over. “So you heard the gossip too I guess?”.

They chuckle, “oh definitely, hard to miss that kind of gossip. Hopefully, they’re not a dick”.

Anna groans, “tell me about it, all five of the recent newbies have been total jerks. I’m almost tempted to think powers only come to the cocky and hotheaded”. The two snicker and eyeball Todd slightly, the unspoken joke needing no further context. Before both of them turn their heads to the side after sitting down with their food, hearing people start to whisper

“Look, it’s the new face”.

“Awww he looks so boring and plain”.

“Think he’s seen some shit? Looks kinda skittish”.

Anna sighs and shakes her head seeing a skinny slightly twitchy black-haired boy with intense crystal blue eyes. Muttering to Lily, “he’s going to get eaten alive”. Apparently he heard though and smirks at them slightly, before waking off to inspect the food. Promptly stuffing his face and clearly trying to ignore the staring, he seems used to it and that pings a little sad place in her.

Anna pokes Lily, “well, wanna see if the newbies an asshole? Seems tolerable so far”.

Lily looks around and shrugs, waving over their two other friends Jackson and Reverent.

Jackson asking, “what we doing?”.

Anna just smirks and points at the newbie. The three following after her as they approach. The kid is clearly eyeballing them cautiously as they sit down in front of him.

Reverent sticking his hand out and beaming a poster-worthy smile, “hiya! I’m Reverent, you’re new. Hopefully, your day’s not sucking. Moving here can be shit, so far away and all that. You seem nice though, I think I approve. I’m a photokenetic”.

Jackson shrugs, “I’m Jackson, ice boy. Please don’t say that’s cool”.

Lily waves slightly, “invisibility and levitation, I know two powers, lucky me. Name’s Lily”.

Everyone looks to Anna, who smiles slightly, “Anna, and my power’s pretty shit, so don’t worry if yours sucks. I can steal people’s life force”.

Lily rolls her eyes and elbows Anna, “and extend your own. That’s practically immortality girl”. Anna just shrugs before everyone looks to the new kid, who swallows harshly.

The kid eyes them a little then shakes his head slightly, “just out with it like that huh? Pretty different from what I’m used to”.

Reverent nods dramatically, “yeah people can be awful. But here’s better! Everyone can be themselves, I intend on being a teacher here one day. Help other kiddos you know?”.

Lily nods but snickers at Reverent a little, “you’re too nice not to get steamrolled by literally every student”, turning to the new kid, “so what’s your name”.

The kid clearly thinks for a bit before smiling a bit sheepishly, the other four deciding this kid's one of the decent types, while he speaks up, “it’s Phantom. And I’m a bag of confusing bullshit”, Phantom holds up a hand and creates a ball of green light, then forms a ice crystal floating above his hand, then turns said hand invisible and floats off his seat a little, “technically I can force a soul out of a body, but that’s not really stealing their life force. Plus, I’ve never done that to someone who was actually in their own body and not someone else’s”.

Anna blinks, Todd was going to hate this kid, even if Phantom’s control sucked or he had some kind of limit, tons of different powers could kick the ass of one. “Well, you hit the Jackpot, damn”.

Phantom rubs his neck, “oh I hit something that’s all right-”. Phantom gets cut off by Todd predictably slamming a hand on the table and saying with a sneer, “look at that, twig boys got himself a little arsenal. Well it’s nothing to this”, Todd dances flames off his fingertips into the kid's face.

Phantom just sighs, “um, good for you?”, he lifts up a palm and creates a ball of green fire floating above it.

Anna slaps the table and laughs, this was great. While Todd glares and covers his own hand in flames, clearly trying to be menacing.

Phantom sighs, seemingly more comfortable with confrontation than friendly interaction, “yes yes, you’re very fancy firebug. But don’t make moves to threaten me unless you’re going to follow through”.

Todd growls, “oh I’ll follow through”, before going to punch Phantom with his flaming fist. Phantom smirks a little to himself when the guy hits a green shield. Trying again results in him going through the intangible kid and flailing to the floor.

Phantom spins around on the bench and looks down at him, “I’m used to fighting actual villains. So I’m not going to actually hit you or something”.

That gets Maxi’s attention, as he walks over and looks down at Phantom, “wait, you’ve actually fought villains?”.

Phantom groans, “only every day of the week and weekend for that matter”, Phantom fiddles with his food, “I’m kind of already an established superhero. Xavier brought me here more so to help with schooling than powers I think. Other things too”, sighing and glancing down at Todd, “I’m going to give you a warning I guess, to be nice and all that. My perfectly normal friends back home could kick your ass. My enemies are all more or less indestructible, I don’t fight the breakable”.

Todd scoffs and walks off, glaring at everyone, while Reverent claps his hands together, “well alright then! On to something less dark! What're your favourite movies...”.

Phantom walks awkwardly into the medi-bay, grumbling something almost unintelligible under his breath about not knowing he signed up for scientific examinations. Xavier is instantly tipped off by the way he says that, and the images flickering through his mind are more than just unpleasant and concerning. The Fenton’s are very strange and aggressive about how they ‘treat’ things as simple as just a cold. The Manson parents seem pretty bad too. Speaking to him after sending a nod of greeting to Jean, “relax. The danger room can be rather stressful and it is always best to be cautious. Wouldn’t want you to get inadvertently hurt or traumatised. But I assure you, it’s nothing weird or extreme, certainly nothing with strange dream catchers or whatever that green bath was supposed to be”.

Phantom glances at him and chuckles a little, seeming both less and more on edge. Which is expected, many people would far prefer for him to stay out of their minds. Jean smiles at Phantom and gestures at the bench, “hello again. I hear you’ve chosen to go by Phantom officially. Good, you’re pretty fond of the way you are huh? Most of us are, when we’re older anyway. Now please have a seat, I’m just going to be doing basic things. Temperature, pulse, heart rate, lung capacity. It’s not to see if you fall in line with ‘normal’ though”, she ends with a slight wink.

Phantom sits down as some other guy also enters, raising an eyebrow at him. The guy grunting, “Logan. Or wolverine. Don’t care. So you’re the different mutant who’s already got some kind of culture following huh?”.

Phantom scoffs and rolls his eyes, but Xavier’s the one to speak up, “actually it would seem this one isn’t a mutant. But rather much more unique. He’s different even among those who are different, yet he’s a proud one. Don’t go causing him issues Logan”.

Logan scoffs and leans against a wall, “don’t intend to”, nodding his head a little at the kid, “I’m pretty out of the norm around the others too. Still a mutant though. But hey, I’m up for something interesting”.

Jean shakes her head and looks at the curious-looking Phantom, “he likes to stir up trouble, maybe he wants to see if you’ll choke me like he did”, Logan rolls his eyes, Jean points at Phantom‘s shirt before setting up everything she’ll need, “shirt off”.

Phantom looks down, seeming more than a little nervous, “uhh, rather not”.

Xavier smiles, “no need to worry, different appearances are rather normal around here. Even scars”.

Logan scoffs, “understatement for some of us, adds to the look if you ask me”.

Phantom fiddles with his sweater some and eyeballs the examination supplies, awkwardly muttering, “at least nothing’s green”, before sighing and pulling the sweater over his head. Everyone’s silent for a bit, he was seriously scarred up and no one needs to even guess what the Y shaped one came from. Logan mutters, “Jesus fuck. Alright then. Colour me surprised he doesn’t hate humans”.

While Jean studiously draws no attention to the marks as she busies herself with her tasks. Explaining medical jargon as she goes. Xavier, meanwhile, can’t help but frown over Phantom‘s memories. Frozen, unable to move, and under scalpels and bone-saws. With nothing but his own lab basement and his parents' goggle covered faces to look at. The fact that he’s not truly traumatised is impressive, Phantom‘s mental fortitude is more than a little impressive. If he hadn’t already decided that Phantom needed out of that house, his mind would be made up now.

Phantom, clearly catching the way Xavier’s looking at him, speaks while tracing the Y shape, “they're good people, just good scientists first. They wouldn’t have done it if they knew though. They’ve known about me a few times, but um, I undid that. I’d rather this”, poking at the centre of the Y, “than them getting hurt in the crosshairs because they wanted to ‘help’ or ‘protect’ me”.

Logan groans and walks in a little circle, looking up at the ceiling, “the self-sacrificial kind, lovely. Don’t go pulling that on us kid, we can look after ourselves. And I sure as shit wouldn’t be so okay with anyone involved with experimenting on me”.

Phantom raises an eyebrow while Jean works around him, “you were experimented on?”.

Logan unsheathes his claws and waves a fist around a little, “understatement kid”.

Phantom tilts his head but smiles, “at least you got something out of it”, Phantom pokes his chest, clearly ignoring the too slow beeping of the heart monitor, “I just got to find out my organs are green”, Phantom shakes his head and looks off to the distance.

Everyone deciding not to interrupt his mental musings, Xavier giving him some privacy with that.

By the end Phantom‘s revealed to have vitals that are definitely not something someone can actually live with, but that it’s his normal.

Xavier nods to him as they leave, “you’ve seen a lot in a small time, you’re a strong person. An old friend of mine was much the same, but he let it make him bitter, restful, full of hate. You’ve become more protective instead, the amount of caring I see in you is remarkable”.

Phantom shrugs as they head to the danger rooms, “it’s what’s right. It’s my Obsession too, one of them anyway”.

Xavier nods, a student having unusual needs was not actually unusual, “Kitty explained Obsessions as your parents told them. Are their theories accurate?”.

Phantom nods as they come to stand before a door, “yeah, it’s, um, less for me. Halfa means only half the things”.

Entering the room, which Phantom gaps around at, the place looked like a sprawling city in chaos devoid of any people or life. Phantom mutters, “well damn”. While Xavier chuckles lightly, “impressive, isn’t it? Don’t worry about damaging things. I’ll be watching”.

Phantom muttering, “ominous much” as Xavier leaves the room.

Logan and Katherine join Xavier in watching. Logan asking more or less rhetorically, “he’s strong, isn’t he? But if he’s not a mutant then what? And who the Hell beat him up?”.

Katherine smiles and elbows him, “you and your soft spot for damaged kids”.

Xavier smiles, giving Phantom a signal to go ahead, “if I recall Kitty, you were one such kid. And he exists on the cusp of life and death. Alive and dead. His existence is nearly unique, how it’s even possible I can’t even fathom. His mind seems to view himself as a glitch in the matrix so to speak. Created by accident and purpose. To say he has a hero complex would be a ridiculous understatement. He seeks and needs to protect others, holding himself to an ideal that only he can do it. He has deep-seeded fears and mental blocks around the idea that he could fail at that. And he has seen a world, the land of the dead, we could barely begin to imagine”.

Logan scoffs, “sounds like a bit of a god complex too”.

Katherine rolls her eyes, “oh and like you’re any better. Mr. Lone wolf”.

Xavier shakes his head, “those with god complexes do not hold a fear of themselves. He fears what his gifts could do, should they be used to harm or destroy. He fears anyone being hurt or him hurting someone. It’s not the shameful kind of fear as it is for most students, it’s more resolute and concrete. His fear of that, reinforces him to not be that, with pride and something like reckless abandon”.

Katherine smiles, he was clearly a good kid who had been through far too much.

The three watch as Phantom looks around awkwardly before seemingly steeling himself. Then a bright ring of light appears around his waist and suddenly it’s the Phantom seen in what little footage they could find floating in the air.

Logan grunts, “transformation huh? Guessing there’s more”.

Xavier grins, “oh yes”, not missing how Phantom instantly likes more bold and cocky. Phantom was a hero and he knew the role well, lived it. Watching him fly off and zip around. Blasting things to smithereens with a wide range of blasts/rays.

After a while of him phasing through stuff, blowing things up, flickering out of visibility, teleporting, tossing things around with his mind, and one point where Logan jerked slightly from the entire place getting coated in ice and forming hundreds of little ice weapons.

Katherine gapes slightly when there’s suddenly three Phantom’s though it’s clear this is a bit harder for him to do or maintain, “I think he’s just running through a list at this point”.

Xavier nods, “precisely”.

Logan shakes his head a bit as Phantom starts electrocuting things, “alright, so the kids overpowered. The others are going to love him...or hate him”.

Katherine tilts her head when Phantom turns and asks, “you sure this is all indestructible? Cause I’m not going to hold back then”.

Xavier raises an eyebrow, responding, “that’s its purpose. So please do”.

Phantom shrugs, “if I blow out your wall, it’s not my fault”. They watch as he sucks in a breath and releases a sonic wailing sound, massive blasts of green energy resonating from his mouth.

Logan covers his ears and snaps, “fucking Hell. Remind me not to pick a fight with this one for no reason”. Xavier’s eyebrows raise as the place shakes, before Phantom does indeed blow out the wall. Phantom points to them as he steps out, “you lied”.

Xavier waves off the damage, “everything can be repaired. The whole mansion and various compounds have been rebuilt many times over the years”.

Phantom shrugs and lands his feet on the ground, rubbing his neck, “still sorry though, and to think I only got up to thirty percent there”.

Logan blinks, “seriously glowstick?”.

Phantom chuckles with a wily smirk, making it very obvious he was more confident and brazen in this form, “yeah and that’s a new one. Usually, it’s ‘whelp’ or ‘dipstick’ or ‘babypop’ or ‘ghost child’ or ‘punk’ or ‘ectoplasmic scum’ or ‘ectoplasmic filth’ or ‘spook’ or ‘half creature’ or ‘bastardisation’ or most annoyingly, ‘little badger’. Though I guess there are positives to, like ‘great one’ and ‘saviour’. But if you call me ‘inviso-bill’ or ‘billy’ I will shot you”.

Logan snorts, “saviour? Really? And how is ‘litttle badger’ worse than ‘bastardisation’?”.

Phantom glares a little, “‘cause it comes out of the mouth of a pompous creepy cruel piece of shit prick. Nailed a dead badger to my door once for emphasis. And how many times have you saved the world, Claws?”.

Logan rolls his eyes, “original. Three or four”.

Phantom chuckles and starts floating off, “it’s been seven for me in the past year”.

Xavier nods to the two mutants as Phantom floats off back to his room, confirming that he’s being honest. Again, the things this kid has been through.

Anna, curious, sticks her head into Phantom’s room and looks around. Gapping a little at the strange glowing green star constellations on the roof. Phantom promptly dropping the pieces to a model spaceship from floating in the air, “oh it’s you”. She looks him up and down, it was still the same kid but glowy and white-haired and green-eyed and...in a spandex jumpsuit? Well alright then. “Hey, was wondering if you wanted to go hang out with me and the gang? Also, something tells me you’re going to keep being surprising”.

Phantom smirks, “oh you don’t even know the half of it”, floating over and landing his feet on the ground, “sure, why not. So long as it ain’t a dissection party or something”.

“Man are you ever morbid”.

“Well, I am dead. Life and death took a piss on me so I’ve earned the right”.

Anna coughs and is pretty sure the only reason he’s walking is not being used to others seeing his powers, “you're what now?”.

Phantom blinks and laughs with a loud echo, “oh yeah, guess I never mentioned that. See I’m the idiot who got himself offed in a portal and now...”

He ends up explaining some of his story as they walk, going to meet up with their friends outside the mansion.

End.

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fardell24b · 5 years

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Compilation of Doctor Who Series 11 reviews

Reviews

Doctor Who 11.01 'The Woman Who Fell to Earth' Review

The first episode of series 11. The opening scenes, before the Doctor appears, were done rather well, efficiently introducing each of the 'new best friends' as characters. Ryan trying to deal with his problems. Graham being supportive of his wife's grandson (more on Grace below). Yas wanting more than being a beat cop who has to deal with parking rage. The progression from Ryan throwing the bike away, to finding the strange alien (egg, or device) thing, was well done. From there to the scenes on the train is a logical progression.

From her sudden appearance on the train onwards, the Doctor is much like her previous selves, taking charge and wanting to solve the issue that is threatening the Earth (or just the population of Sheffield). “When people need help, I never refuse,” is very apt. Her memory problems are consistent with previous post-regeneration stories (e,g. Castrovalva, the TV Movie, Deep Breath). Her building of the new sonic multipurpose device from Sheffield steel was done very well also. Also consistent with aspects of previous Doctors.

The concept of the Hunter is not new in Science Fiction (I haven't seen any Predator movies, but I was reminded of the Hirogen from Star Trek: Voyager), nor is the concept of taking teeth as trophies (last seen in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), but this depiction was unique enough. The Doctor's way of opposing him was consistent with previous Doctor's but with her own quirks. However the real kicker is with Grace sacrificing herself to take out the creature the toothyNotHirogen was hunting.

The concluding portion of the episodes, with the Doctor getting to know her new best friends was a cherry on the cake, especially with her attending Grace's funeral and comforting Ryan when his dad doesn't come. The cinematography of the concluding shot of the four after they are teleported was an efficient conclusion. 9.5/10.

Doctor Who 11.02 'The Ghost Monument' Review

The second episode of series 11. But first, the new Titles. Very 'snazzy'. The introduction scenes, where Graeme and Ryan meet Angstrom and the Doctor and Yas meet Epzo, were done very well. A very effective lead up from the conclusion of the previous episode, where they ended up in space. The cinematography of the crash sequence aboard Epzo's ship was quite well done. The set up of the Great Race was also interesting. What is Ilin's motivation behind running this race? This isn't answered in this episode.

Then there is the mystery of the planet, which is efficiently built up through the episode. This along with the tension between Angstrom and Epzo make this a rather good story. (And the efficient use of storytelling tropes. e.g. the cigar which is later used to get out of a rather tight spot.) That the Doctor and her friends are outside the race is used effectively. Of course a story needs antagonists, and the threats that planet holds are rather effective at that. Specifically the robots. The Doctor's point that brains are better than bullets is very apt.

(No, Ryan, running out and firing widely isn't going to work against robots. This isn't Halo!) Of course the robots aren't the only antagonists. Flesh eating bugs in the water. (The scenes on the boat are rather good also.) But the scientists who created this stuff working for 'Tim Shaw's race? Is that going to be the arc for this season? And those Remnants, very creepy, and what is the Timeless Child? Is it the Doctor as a child? Or Susan? Or something else entirely? (They're not the only entities to feed off fear though).

Angstrom's backstory is sad though. It isn't certain that getting the winnings from the race (especially if they're dual winners) would be able to help her family. But getting the two to both win, is a very Doctor solution. However, the new console room will take some getting used to. Very organic, and analogue. Overall a great episode. 9/10.

Doctor Who 11.03 'Rosa' Review

The third episode of series 11. A rather good episode, and rather topical considering the world today. Like others there was a fear that the TARDIS crew would be encouraging Rosa. But the story was more about confronting a future racist who wants to prevent Rosa's moment of defiance from occurring. Motivation? His bigotry is all the motivation he needs for what he was trying to do. However it is also about Rosa, and her fight against the system of oppression that the Deep South was built on.

Landing in Montgomery, Alabama, they quickly find themselves subject to the bigotry and prejudice of the era, when Ryan attempts to return a dropped handkerchief to a white guy. There are also the scenes in the 'whites only' motel. The Doctor's “There's no one here who has no right to be here,” to the policeman is very apt. The conversation between Yas and Ryan behind the dumpster shows that there is a long way to go in fighting ethnic and religious prejudice in all their forms. Present day Britain is still far perfect in that regard.

(As is present day Australia...) However, the TARDIS crew also find that the future racist, Krasko, was attempting to change history by preventing Rosa's protest via the butterfly effect. The efforts of the Doctor and her friends trying to counteract Krasko's efforts was well done. E.g ensuring that James Blake was driving the bus, ensuring that the bus would actually run, making sure that the bus was not blocked. Krasko was simplistic, but he didn't need to be. The focus was where it should be, on the Doctor ensuring that history would play out.

The pivotal scene where Rosa remains seated and Blake calls the police was done very well indeed. Showing the bigotry of Blake opposed by Rosa's defiance in a way that in unmistakeable. The pain of the Doctor and her friends having to witness this moment in history was done rather well also. The only misstep may be the song over the end credits, but an episode well worth seeing. 9.25/10.

Doctor Who 11.04 'Arachnids in the UK' Review

The fourth episode of series 11. An interesting episode, but the resolution of the main plot was a let down. But more on that later. But first, the landing back in Sheffield. The interactions between the Doctor and her friends they arrive in the South Yorkshire city was rather good. It very clearly shows how lonely the Doctor can be if there is no one else travelling with her in the TARDIS. Yas' family was very realistic. Her Dad and sister's interaction with the Doctor and her other friends were quite on point.

The scenes involving Graham's grief were done rather well also. But on to the 'meat' with the Doctor investigating what was going on with the Khan's neighbour, and Yas discovering what is going on at her Mum's (Najia) workplace... Thus the discovery of the enlarged spiders was done rather well However, Robertson's antagonism was done well. Not sure what to make of him going up against Trump. (rivalry?) But firing Yas' Mum, Najia, wasn't a well thought through decision on his part.

Rather a pattern with him, considering what is beneath the Hotel. Along with a scientist, Jade, who was experimenting on spiders, the Doctor, Ryan and Graham come to the hotel. The investigation of the spiders, leading to the disused coal mine beneath the hotel, was done rather well. However, the resolution of this plot was lacklustre. What to do with the Spiders? Certainly just leaving them there to continue to mess up the ecosystem in South Yorkshire wouldn't have been a good idea. But just luring them into a panic room isn't a good conclusion.

Considering that there would still be more out there. And Robertson gets away (even if his bodyguard didn't.) However, the conclusion where her friends decide to continue travelling with the Doctor, despite her warning that their experiences will change them, was quite good. Like, #teamtardis. An arachnophobes' nightmare, but better than many clunkers in the classic series. 7/10.

Doctor Who 11.05 'The Tsuranga Conundrum' review

The fifth episode of series 11. Certainly an interesting episode. A cavalcade of interesting ideas, albeit with some caveats. The junkyard planet (or a cluster of junkyard planets?) is an idea I would like to see explored further. Not sure what the Doctor was looking for, but it's a great set up. I can also see why there would be booby traps in such a place. The sonic mine was also a good idea. That the Doctor was willing to sacrifice herself to protect her companions is consistent with the characterisation of her earlier selves.

The introduction to the characters on the Tsuranga was quite good. Especially Astos' dissuading the Doctor from being selfish in re-directing the ship back to the junkyard planet. The Doctor's realisation of her selfishness was done well. The reveal of each character was also done well. (Even Joss. Not sure what to make of his story, but the reassurance by Ryan that he can be a good father was a good addition.) The plot line with the General Pilot and her engineer brother was also good, although the android consort was just, there.

Mabli's growth as she deals with having the responsibility of looking after the ship and the patients aboard her was done rather well also. But any good storytelling has a problem to deal with. The Pting was certainly a problem! If rather reminiscent of a Gremlin (one movie I haven't watched, but am familiar with the concept of). (But not of Nibbler, despite my being a fan of Futurama's early seasons, nor Stitch, having seen Lilo and Stitch a few times.) It's existence and the threat it presented were presented rather well.

Then there is the self destruct on the ship, being activated if there is a threat detected (like say, a Pting...) This is also presented in a believable way, although it is a little predictable. However, the Doctor being enthusiastic about the iCERN Antimatter Drive was a rather nice touch, another glimpse into how she is developing as a character distinct from her earlier selves. A very good episode. 8.5/10.

Doctor Who '11.06' Demons of the Punjab' review

The sixth episode of Series 11. Yas is curious about her grandmother's past after she says that she was the first woman to be married in Pakistan. However, she, the Doctor and the other two find themselves in over their heads, landing during the Partition of India. Overall this was a rather good story, which shows many sides to human nature, both the good and the bad. Yas is surprised to find that her Nana Umbreen is indeed getting married, but to Prem, who isn't her grandfather. A rather large surprise.

A larger surprise is the presence of 'demons'. The Thijarians, who the Doctor recognises as a race of assassins, and who Prem had seen during his World War II service, fighting in Singapore. The investigations of the Thijarian ship was done rather well. As was the Doctor confronting them about what she thought they were doing. (Whittaker is really coming into her own.) However, that isn't the 'jist' of this story. Something tragic was going to happen on the day of Partition, to separate Prem and Umbreen.

Hatreds on all sides. Between Hindus and Muslims, the underlying political stresses that had lead to Partition. And Prem's younger brother Manish had been listening to 'angry men on the radio', Hindu nationalist rhetoric. Passions were being stirred on both sides, against the other... Thus Prem and Umbreen are caught in the middle. A victim is claimed, a Hindu holy man who was going to officiate at their wedding. The way the Doctor works out that it was Manish who killed him was rather well done.

Thus it leads to a devastating conclusion, where Manish leads others to the farm, leading Umbreen to flee into the new Pakistan, and to Prem's death. His line “This isn't what I fought for,” is quite poignant given this aired on Armistice Day (or the day after Remembrance Day, as it is called in Australia). The cinematography of the shot, as the trigger is pulled on Prem, and then the focus shifts to Team TARDIS as they hear the shot as they walk away, was quite sad, and well done. Overall a very good episode. 9.25/10.

Doctor Who 11.07 'Kerblam!' review

The seventh episode of Series 11. The Doctor receives a delivery of a fez from a retailing conglomerate. Investigating, Yas discovers a call for help on the packing slip. This is a great set up for the plot of the episode. However, the overall intro sequence is rather good. Graham's lack of understanding when the 'Doc' shouts “The Kerblam! Man!” is understandable. “You're just making sounds now!” is quite understandable. (By the way, the Kerblam! jingle is quite catchy...) This a good segue into the TARDIS's landing outside the Kerblam! warehouse.

The introduction to the situation at Kerblam! is rather good. The story takes time to introduce each new character. Julie, Kira, Dan, Slade, and Charlie (more on him later). Then there is the real life parallels. (Amazon can't be the only one...) Poor conditions for workers, given unrealistic productivity goals, and automation taking jobs. (More on this later.) Team TARDIS infiltrate the company to find out what's wrong. Yas connects with Dan. The Doctor and Ryan connect with Kira, an orphan who only had one gift in her life.

Of course, Graham connects with Charlie, the Janitor. (No one notices the janitorial staff...) The background of each character is explored (some more than others), and the background of the company is explored, but what is important is what was going on. Laws requiring 10% organic workforce. (Should it be higher). The Doctor discovers, that indeed there is a conspiracy going on, which she doesn't like, and sneaks into Slade's office. Her confrontation with Slade is rather well done.

“The System isn't the problem, it is people who control the system who are the problem,” is a great line. This links in with the actual villain. Charlie. The Doctor realises what is going on, but not soon enough to save Kira from the explosive bubblewrap. Charlie's plan isn't well thought through. Such a terrorist attack isn't likely to make the Kandokan authorities to change their labor laws to allow more organic workers. However, the end point where Julie and Slade promised to hire more organic workers was good.

(Although I would have liked to see Yas give Dan's daughter the necklace.) 8/10.

Doctor Who 11.08 'The Witchfinders' review

The eighth episode of Series 11. Team TARDIS lands in early 17th Century Lancashire, where they find a village where Witch Trials are taking place. But there is a lot more going on than there first appear. A landowner who has 'duncked' 36 people, and King James VI/I. And for the first time, the Doctor is really up against sexism. The Doctor insisting on non-interference is consistent, but she quickly finds that something is wrong. Something is causing the witch hunt to be out of proportion for the time.

The Doctor trying to save Willa's (and Becka's) grandmother after the 'dunking' was very good, and consistent with her character. She is more compassionate than her previous selves. (Some of her previous selves would have done it also, but others would have left it up to their companions to do so.) The use of the psychic paper, to pass off Team TARDIS as witchfinders, was also a good choice. But King James would come in and ruin that idea. (Are you forgetting your immediate predecessor, as Monarch of England, James?)

However, His Majesty's characterisation is well set up in these introductory scenes. It certainly matches what I knew about the real King James. This is where the sexism comes in. The Doctor is put off by having to put Graham in charge as Chief Witchfinder. The various investigations that ensue from this encounter are handled rather well. Especially where Yas tries to encourage Willa to overcome her anxiety (by telling her about an experience with a bully). These disparate plots all lead to the revelation of the Morax...

That Bekka was the one who released them from their prison was a surprise, but the set up through the episode was well done. It didn't come out of thin air. The Doctor confronting Bekka about it was quite effective, and her escape from her 'dunking' was very Doctor-ish (including the lesson from Houdini during that very wet weekend). The explanation of the Morax and the role of the tree, was rather effective, as was the method of combating them. It was a very effective way to conclude the story.

The Doctor quoting Clarke's Third Law was a very good ending to the episode. 8.25/10.

Doctor Who 11.09 'It Takes You Away' review

The penultimate episode of Series 11. Team TARDIS find a blind Norwegian teenager who's father seems to have abandoned her. But, as always, there is more to the situation than there first appears. Hanne is afraid of something that 'takes you away'. But what is that? The Doctor knows something is off. Was there a monster outside? (Besides bears?) But the Doctor investigates (as she usually does, getting to the bottom of whatever is wrong). But it is Ryan who discovers the pertinent item, a non reflective mirror...

That the Doctor deduces that it where Hanne's father went, is consistent with how we know her mind works. But trying to hide the fact that her father may be dead from Hanne, probably wasn't a good idea. (Not sure that leaving Ryan there alone with her was a good idea either. Probably better to have left Yas.) Hanne is very quick on the uptake, demanding to know what the Doctor had written (she knows it's not a map of the house). Ryan is at a loss to explain in a way so as to allay her fears.

The mirror portal leads to some kind of in between space. A cave space, inhabited by a being calling himself Ribbons of the Seven Stomachs. He is quite mercenary wanting something in exchange for his help. And the Doctor offers the sonic. The Doctor also recognises it as an Anti-zone, a buffer formed when space-time is under huge stress. They escape some carnivorous moths to find another portal, into a mirror reflection of the Norwegian lodge house, where they find Hanne's father, Erick, with his wife who's supposed to be dead?

Then there's Grace! Both Trine, and Grace remember dying, but is it really them. Meanwhile, of course Hanne would go into the mirror (followed by Ryan, who had discovered the monster isn't real). The nature of the world on the other side, as some kind of anti-universe, the Solitract was a surprise. It had lured Erick in, with its copy of Trine, from his mind. (And now Grace from Graham's mind.) When Hanne arrives, she realises it's not her mother. The Solitract's loneliness and it's addictive effect on Erick and Graham was depicted very well.

The Solitract taking the form of a frog wasn't too weird. And the Doctor making friends with it makes sense. (Still, Erick isn't a good father, despite the circumstances.) 8.5/10. (Did anyone else think the Solitract was Omega?)

Doctor Who 11.10 'The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos' review

The final episode of Series 11. Team TARDIS responds to a distress call, to find a deserted spaceship. These initial scenes set up the setting and themes of the episode really well, leading one to want to know what happened there. Especially after the amnesiac captain, Paltraki, is found. The planet causing problems for people's brain functions is an interesting concept. (But it wasn't made clear whether it's an innate feature of the planet's environment, or a result of the various battles.) It is a good setup.

But that isn't the intro to the episode. We first see the Ux, talking about their belief system, with the younger showing scepticism towards the elder's teachings. This was quite realistically depicted. (Of course, I wondered what their 'creator' was.) This is also effective set up for what comes later. The 'mcguffin', the object that turns out to be important is a also a good set up. Important enough for the Doctor to threaten it, to guarantee the safety of Paltraki's crew, and important enough for the Elder Ux to demand it back.

They then go to the building where the Ux are waiting. (Ryan's line “don't aliens bother with doors?” was rather good, as well as the Doctor saying to Paltraki 'You're new. I always put my foot down with new people.') The group then divides into, the Doctor, by herself looking for the 'creator', Paltraki with Yas, and Graham and Ryan. The Doctor confronts the Elder Ux with the object. However it is Yas who discovers what the objects are when she finds the Younger Ux. Planets the 'Creator' has abducted.

However, the ending is more impactful than the journey to get there, if a little underwhelming. However, Ryan saying that he loves Graham as a grandfather was a rather good development (but more about that in the overall series review). The discovery that the 'Creator' wasn't a deity at all, but 'Tim Shaw' didn't really come out of left field at all, but surprising enough. The Doctor and Yas' talk about choosing between the Ux, and the Earth was good as was the use of the TARDIS to rescue the planets, alongside the Stenza tech and the Ux abilities, but a little underwhelming.

However, the best part was Graham deciding to be the better man, by not killing 'Tim Shaw'. (But is leaving him in a stasis chamber indefinitely really any better? The Ux deciding to leave the planet with Paltraki and his crew was interesting also. 7.75/10. (Hopefully Resolution is a better resolution to Series 11 than this.)

Doctor Who – Series 11 overall review

The first season with Chris Chibnall as showrunner. Quite interesting, especially when it came to important moments in 20th Century history, but there are many aspects that left things to be desired, especially towards the end of the series. (It was such a good beginning.) Where did it go well, and where did it go wrong. There are many threads running through this series. The Doctor getting used to her new regeneration. Family, particularly through Graham and Ryan, but also Yas' family (Demons in the Punjab in particular).

Grief, especially Graham's for Grace, is a major theme through the series. It is a major part of why he wants to travel with the Doctor, and is a major plot point in It Takes You Away, where the Solitract uses a simulacrum of her to hook Graham. (This would make a more satisfying conclusion than The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos). Villainy not being the result of being a megalomaniac (except for 'Tim Shaw', but as a result of typical human prejudices (especially in Rosa and Demons of the Punjab, but also in The Witchfinders).

Other forms of ordinary human villainy are on display. For instance, the mistreatment of human workers by the Kerblam! Corporation, which parallels the treatment of human works in real life corporations like Amazon. This links back to the prejudice theme, with Charlie's prejudice against Amazon, leading him to his terrorism plot with the explosive bubblewrap. This aspect was rather well done. However these aren't the only themes running through the series. There is also the theme of family.

The best example of this is the relationship between Graham and Ryan, which improves through the series. In The Woman Who Fell to Earth, the only connection between the two of them is Grace. However, their experiences through the season, starting with working together despite the pervasive racism in Montgomery, 1995, allow them to draw closer as grandfather and grandson. Indeed, it is the Solitract!Grace's refusal to help Ryan (stuck in the Antizone) which convinces Graham that it indeed isn't Grace.

Thus Ryan's admission of love on the alien ship. Family is also important for Yas, but we find out more about Umbreen in Demons of the Punjab, than about Yas herself through the entire season. Some hints are dropped about the Doctor, but they aren't (yet) brought up. Maybe those are for a future season. 8.5/10. (There is room for improvement in Resolution.) Despite some missteps, this has been a good season.

#doctor who #review #series 11

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