A/N: Sorry, really quick note, thank you so much for pointing out the mistake in Angel's age in the previous chapter! It was a complete typo, she's 797 and I went back and fixed it :)
~8~
Planet of the Ood: The Song of Mourning
"The Ood," a man's voice spoke, "They came from a distant world...they voyaged across the stars, all with one purpose..."
"Do you take milk and sugar?" an Ood asked, his orb lighting up in its typical fashion.
"...to serve."
A man stood in his office, watching the ad playing out on a monitor, an Ood standing behind him, silent and waiting, "That's good," he nodded, speaking into his comm., clearly pleased with the ad, "That's excellent. I like it. 'Buy one now.' Direct. Straight to the point."
"We play that across the tri-galactic for two weeks, then introduce this," another man replied over the comm..
"Now only 50 credits…" the ad continued again.
"50?" he raised an eyebrow, scoffing at the amount, "We're reducing the price to 50 credits?"
"Sales are down," the man over the comm. sighed, "We've got to reposition ourselves. So get going."
He rolled his eyes, cutting off the comm., "Idiot!" he muttered, glaring at the frozen ad, "He's bleeding us dry," he turned to the Ood, "You there! Get me last month's military export figures. The army always needs more grunts," he turned and sat at the desk.
"Yes, sir," the Ood nodded, going to do just that.
"Mr. Bartle, you asked me to contact you?" a young Indian woman called over the comm..
"Solana, when those buyers arrive, we're gonna pitch like never before," Bartle began, "I want those Ood flying out of here," the Ood returned and placed a binder on the desk in front of him, "I said military figures. That's the domestic file," he handed it back...more like shoved it back...to the Ood without looking at it.
"The file is irrelevant, sir," the Ood slammed the file down, its eyes red though Bartle didn't notice.
"Oh, and why is that?" Bartle turned to look at the Ood, gasping at the sight of the red eyes they'd only ever heard whispers of.
The Ood simply placed his translator ball to Bartle's head, electrocuting him, "Have a nice day."
~8~
The Doctor and Donna were jostled about as the TARDIS flew through the Vortex, Angel just barely managing to hold onto to the center of the console to keep steady enough to land her wherever it was the old box had taken them. All they really knew was that the Doctor had set the controls for a random planet, as per Donna's request to see one, and SHE wasn't allowed to 'peek' ahead to where it was or what might happen, also as per Donna's request. They'd both been all too willing to agree. The Doctor because he loved mystery tours, Angel because the Doctor had been right when he spoke to Lucius, sometimes knowing what was coming made things a bit dull. She knew enough of her abilities to know that she could, if she really, really tried, force a glimpse of the future, or at the very least, get a feeling about something. But most of the time, she didn't really want to know. When the feelings and visions happened, they happened, and, more often than not, she was able to help someone as a result. But...there were things she'd rather not see, like...if something terrible was coming. Yes, she could try to stop it, but, knowing something bad was coming up was just...she didn't want to see it once and then have to live through it. The only good thing about those was she could help, and that's all she ever really wanted to do, help and protect people, much like the Doctor loved caring for people and making them better.
They were quite the pair, weren't they?
"Set the controls to random!" the Doctor called as the TARDIS settled, walking around the side of the console to look at Donna, sliding his arm around Angel's waist in the process as he came beside her, "Mystery tour. Outside that door could be any planet, anywhere, anywhen in the whole wide…"
"Are you alright Donna?" Angel asked, seeing the ginger standing there, almost trembling, stiff even.
"Terrified," Donna said, though she sounded very excited as well, "I mean, history's one thing, but an alien planet!"
"We could always take you home," the Doctor joked.
"Yeah, don't laugh at me," Donna warned.
"And don't you dare," Angel poked him in the side, making him squirm away, ticklish, "I've only JUST started showing her how to pilot the TARDIS," she poked him again, making him take her hand and kiss the back of it.
It was something she had decided to do ever since Mickey had come along as her companion. She liked making the humans feel included, she liked helping them understand things and not feel left out or missing something. She knew all too well how that felt to not be able to follow something others would think of as simple. So she'd always tried to at least show them the basics of the TARDIS controls, simple buttons that they could operate and things like that. She'd only gotten to show Donna the heating and cooling controls and how to turn on the radio and that was NOT enough in her book.
"I know, I know," the Doctor laughed, "I've only JUST started showing her the wonders of the Universe," he agreed, "Far too much still left to see."
"Is that what you say to all the girls Doctor?" Donna teased, egging the Doctor into a small bickering match.
Angel's smile tensed a bit as she watched their bickering. Her stomach was very...unsettled and her head felt like it was buzzing, making her feel slightly light headed. It wasn't quite a headache but just...fuzzy. But then again, that had been one of the more bumpy rides the TARDIS had taken them on, much more jarring than normal for some reason, she'd be surprised if her stomach hadn't gotten all twisted from it. She hadn't really been able to help pilot much as a result either. The Doctor had gotten a bit too excited at the prospect of his first 'Mystery Tour' with his newest companion and shot them off before she could get to the console to help. She'd only just got her footing moments ago.
"I know what it's like," the Doctor told Donna gently, steering the conversation in a more 'serious,' well, as serious as the Doctor could be, direction, "Everything you're feeling right now. The fear, the joy, the wonder, I get that!"
"Seriously? After all this time?"
"Oh yeah," he nodded, "And not just about the travelling," he winked at Angel.
Donna had been right on so many counts earlier, when he'd found them in the wardrobe in the most laughable outfits one could imagine, they'd had quite a surprisingly serious and meaningful conversation with the woman...which was odd when one considered she'd been wearing glasses with bushy eyebrows and a big plastic nose through the whole thing and hadn't seemed to notice. But she'd mentioned that, every time she saw them, they were more in love with each other and that she didn't think that would ever change.
She was SO right.
Even now, even having had Angel with him nearly every waking (and sleeping) second of every hour of every day of every infinite year in the TARDIS since the moment they'd met...she awed him still. He didn't doubt she wouldn't ever stop completely captivating him. Everything she did, every expression on her face, every laugh, every smile, ever touch...he'd memorized. He couldn't help it, he was just...drawn to her. She was truly the most exquisite thing he'd ever been able to call his. He was quite certain she might even best the TARDIS in that respect. The box was a wonder, yes, but Angel...she was a treasure. He'd been telling her the complete truth after dealing with that killer star, he really would give up everything, all the travelling, even the TARDIS, if it meant keeping her, being with her forever. He just...loved her so much it actually hurt at times to think of what it would be like if anything ever happened to her.
He tried not to, he tried so hard not to ever even imagine that, not wanting to jinx it. But...there WERE times he couldn't help it. When she was in danger, which she DID seem to get into quite a bit of despite his best efforts, sometimes, it seemed, even more so than his companions did. Like falling off the window cleaner's cradle or getting kidnapped in Pompeii...those moments where her life was on the line his mind would, for only a split second before he violently forced it back, go to an image of what he'd be like without her.
It scared him.
Terrified him really.
His world had been so dark after the War, so empty, so...cold. He'd met Rose and she was a good distraction, he could pretend for a moment or two that he was just flying away from Gallifrey, from the Time Lords and all their stuffy rules, and just showing the Universe to his next companion. But that was all she was, a distraction from the truth. Angel though...he couldn't describe what she was to him. If Rose was like a meteor, streaking across his darkened sky, lighting it up for a moment before fading and leaving him in darkness once more...Angel was like the sun, the ever-rising, never-setting sun. She was always there, she was always shining, and happy, and smiling, and laughing, and warm, and...meeting her had become the most important moment in his long life. Meeting her...he didn't feel dark, not with her faith in him and her trust and belief he was a good man, he didn't feel empty with her love shining at him through her eyes and her presence always at his side, he didn't feel cold when she gave such magnificent hugs that literally warmed his hearts and her hand fitting perfectly in his when she held it sending the best feeling up his arm and into his body.
It actually scared him at times how perfect she was for him, how much she balanced him. Whenever he felt himself tipping towards the dark and the rage and the hate...there she was, his guardian angel, lighting the way back.
He couldn't imagine his life without her...
He couldn't imagine what HE'D become without her...
"It's why he keeps going," Angel said, pulling him out of his thoughts.
He just looked at her a moment smiling, before he pressed a kiss to her temple, pouring all his happiness into it, beaming when she smiled happily up at him in return.
"Oh!" Donna grinned, "Alright, then! This is barmy!" she turned and made her way to the door as the Doctor swung his coat on, Angel stepping around the console, her stomach a bit more settled, "I was born in Chiswick," she turned back to them, "I've only ever done package holidays. Now I'm here. This is…I mean, it's…I dunno. It's all so…I don't even know what the word is!" she turned once more and stepped out of the TARDIS onto a planet where snow was falling all around, the wind breezing past them, "Oh, I've got the word. 'Freezing.'"
The Doctor and Angel stepped out moments later, hand-in-hand, as they looked around, "Snow!" the Doctor exclaimed, "Ah! Real snow! Proper snow at last! That's more like it."
"It's lovely," Angel nodded, "What do you think Donna?"
"Bit cold," the woman shook a bit, chilled, even Angel crossed her arms a moment at a particularly nippy gust of wind.
"Look at the view!" the Doctor gushed, looking at the beautiful, though barren, land.
"Yep. A beautiful, cold view," Donna remarked, before glancing at the snow and then smiling at Angel, "Ever made a snow angel before?"
Angel frowned, "A what?"
Donna stared at her, "You've never made one?" Angel shook her head, "Not ever?" and again, "Well then," she marched over to Angel and took her hand, leading her off a few paces, the Doctor watching with a grin, "Follow me," she told Angel before letting herself fall back into the snow.
Angel blinked but did the same, falling with an 'oomph' and a little laugh, "Now what?"
"Swish your arms and legs, like this," Donna demonstarted, Angel sitting up just a bit to see her before doing the same.
The Doctor chuckled and walked to Donna's feet, "Like a hand?" he grinned, reaching out for her when she finished.
"Thank you," Donna nodded, taking his hand and getting up.
"And you," the Doctor turned to Angel, offering his hand to her as well.
She beamed and took it, letting him pull her right up and jump a bit out of the impression she'd made. She looked down at the two impressions, looking very much like the angels her mother had often talked about, and smiled down at them, "Oh that's wonderful!"
She loved this! She loved learning new things, especially Earth traditions and little human ideas, they were brilliant!
"A snow you," the Doctor tapped her nose as they looked at the snow angel she'd made, "But I think it's missing something," he remarked.
"What?" Angel frowned, looking at it critically before turning to Donna, "Did I do something wrong?"
Donna shook her head, "No, they're perfect," she said, shaking quite a bit, considering perhaps if she should have waited till she got a jacket or something to do that...speaking of, she glanced back at the TARDIS and dashed for it...
The Doctor just walked around Angel's snow angel as she watched him and knelt down, drawing a circle at the top of its head, a halo, and then leaned forward to make two hearts in the center of its chest, "There we go!" he stood up, brushing off his hands, "A much closer rendition."
Angel laughed and shook her head at him, "I made a snow angel on another planet," she remarked.
He laughed, "Millions of planets, millions of galaxies, and we're on this one," he sighed, nodding at the magnificence of that, "Molto bene!" he walked around the snow angel, to Angel, and pulled her into his arms, spinning her around in a little dance once more, "Belissimo! Says Donna, born in Chiswick," he called to her, though he didn't take his eyes off Angel, nor her off him, "You've had a life of work and sleep," he spun Angel away and pulled her back, "Telly and rent, takeaway dinners, birthdays and Christmases, and two weeks holiday a year and then you end up here! Donna Noble, citizen of the Earth, standing on a different planet. How about that, Donna?" he dipped Angel and looked over, Angel looking upside down, to see the other ginger in question was missing, "Donna?" he pulled Angel back up.
Donna simply stepped out of the TARDIS, a warm fur-lined coat over her, "Sorry. You were saying?"
"Feel better?" Angel smiled as she brushed the lingering snow off her own sweater.
"Lovely, thanks."
"Comfy?" the Doctor asked.
"Yep."
"Can you hear anything inside that?"
"Pardon?"
He laughed, "Right. I was saying, citizen of the Earth…"
Suddenly a rocket flew past them, overhead.
"A rocket!" Donna gaped, "Blimey, a real, proper rocket. Now that's what I call a spaceship," she whacked the Doctor's arm, "You've got a box, he's got a Ferrari! Come on, let's see where it's going!" she reached out and took Angel's hand, pulling her forward with her as the Doctor looked back at the TARDIS, miffed.
~8~
Outside a warehouse, the rocket landed and a man strode out dressed in a black suit, slightly balding, with an Ood and two guards at his side, "Mr. Halpen, sir," a man in a white lab coat greeted, "Dr. Ryder, new Head of Ood Management," he held out a hand but Halpen ignored it.
"How many dead?" he asked, getting right to the point, "Come on, facts and figures. I haven't flown all this way to discuss the weather. Which, by the way, is freezing."
"Solana has the figures, sir," Ryder motioned for a young Indian woman who was beside him to step forward.
"Solana Mercurio, sir," she greeted as well, "Head of Marketing and Galactic Liaison."
"Just what I need," he rolled his eyes, "A PR woman. I don't want a word of this getting out, is that understood? Now, get to the point, how many dead?" they turned and walked inside, heading to an executive office, the one where Bartle had been killed.
Solana stepped forward and played the security video of what happened, "In the past financial quarter, we've had three deaths in the complex, all attributed to heart attacks or industrial accidents. But now we've captured this on tape, the cause would seem the same."
They watched as the Ood stepped up to Bartle and struck him with its translator, electrocuting him.
"Using the translator ball as a weapon," Halpen frowned, "How does that work?"
"No idea," Ryder sighed, "I'm checking the equipment. Nothing so far."
"Can't see its eyes from this angle," he muttered.
"I think we have to assume…"
"Red-eye."
"I would think so, sir."
"That Ood...what happened to it?"
"Oh, ran for the hills, sir, like a dog. One of the guards fired off a shot. It'll be dead by now."
"Can I ask, what is red-eye, sir?" Solana asked.
"It's some sort of infection. The Ood eyes literally change color."
"Drink!" Halpen called and his Ood prepared a small glass.
"I can't find a source. All the bacterial scans register negative..."
"I'm sorry, but according to your own rules, sir, there's no alcohol allowed on base," Solana eyed the Ood and the glass it was now holding out to Halpen.
"It's hair tonic, if you must know," he told her, taking it from the Ood and gulping it down, "Five years ago I had a full head of hair. Stress," he tapped his head, "That's what this is, stress!"
~8~
The Doctor and Angel walked through the snow, hands still held fast, the Doctor having tugged Angel away from Donna as soon as he'd caught up with them, Donna walking beside them, all of them laughing at something, when Angel just...stopped, "What is it?" the Doctor asked, looking down at her.
"Someone's singing…" she muttered.
The Doctor frowned and listened, hearing the song moments later, "Can you hear that? Donna, take your hood down."
"What?" Donna pulled her hood down.
"That noise, it's like a song…"
"Over there!" Angel pointed, running off. They dashed across the snow to an Ood half buried in it a small ways away.
"What is it?" Donna grimaced a bit as the Doctor and Angel knelt by its side.
"An Ood," the Doctor muttered, pulling his stethoscope from his pocket, "He's called an Ood."
"But its face..."
"Donna, not now."
"He's a 'he,'" Angel told her gently as she took the Ood's hand in her own, "Not an 'it.' It's alright," she reached out her other hand to Donna, gesturing her to join them.
Donna knelt on the other side of the Ood, "Sorry."
The Doctor moved the scope around the Ood's chest, frowning, "I don't know where the heart is. I don't know if he's got a heart. Talk to him," he glanced at the gingers, "Keep him going."
"It's alright," Donna turned to the Ood, "We've got you. Um...what's your name?"
"Designated Ood Delta 50," he said, the sphere he was holding glowing faintly.
"My name's Donna..." Donna spoke into the ball.
"That's only for him," Angel told her softly, nodding at the ball.
"Sorry," she nodded, putting it down, "Oh, God…"
"This is the Doctor," Angel whispered to the Ood, "And I'm the Angel..."
"Just what you need. A doctor and an angel. Couldn't be better, eh?"
"You've been shot," the Doctor's eyes widened, finding the wound.
"The circle…" the Ood strained to speak.
"No, don't try to talk," Donna shushed.
"The circle must…"
"The circle?" the Doctor shook his head, "What do you mean? Delta 50, what circle? Delta 50? What circle?"
Angel suddenly pulled the Doctor away as the Ood opened its eyes to reveal they were red. Donna jumped back as the Ood sat up and growled...before collapsing, dead.
"He's gone," Donna blinked, feeling tears in her eyes as she moved over to the Ood once more.
"Careful!" the Doctor called.
"There you are, sweetheart," Donna rested a hand on its chest for a moment before gently running a hand along its head, "We were too late. What do we do, do we bury him?"
"The snow will take care of that."
"Who was he?" Donna turned to them, "What's an Ood?"
"They're servants of humans in the 42nd century. Mildly telepathic."
"That's what the song was," Angel realized, "It was him, his mind calling out to the other Ood."
"I couldn't hear anything," Donna mumbled, getting up, "He sang as he was dying."
"His eyes turned red," the Doctor looked down at it, suspicious.
"What's that mean?"
"Trouble," he sighed, "Come on," he took Angel's hand and led them off, "The Ood are harmless and completely benign."
"Except when we met them last time," Angel reminded him, before explaining to Donna, "There was this...thing..." she supplied, not wanting to frighten the woman by implying the Devil was real, even if he had been dealt with, "That started to control them. It turned their eyes red in the process..."
"What sort of thing?" Donna frowned.
"Long story," the Doctor murmured.
"Long walk."
"It was the Devil."
"If you're gonna take the mickey, I'll just put my hood back up."
"Must be something different this time, though, something closer to home…" he looked over the crest of a small snow hill and grinned, "Ah ha! Civilization!"
And there it was, a factory, a string of warehouses really, with 'Ood Operations' written on it.
~8~
Solana smiled as she stood before a group of potential buyers, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ood-Sphere and isn't it bracing? Here are your information packs with vouchers, 3D tickets, and a map of the complex," an Ood stepped forward and passed out packets of papers, "My name's Solana, Head of Marketing. I'm sure we've all spoken on the vid-phone. Now if you'd like to follow me…"
"Sorry, sorry!" the Doctor cut in, he, Angel, and Donna pushing through the crowd to join them, "We're late! Don't mind us! Hello. The guards let us through."
"And you would be?"
"The Angel, the Doctor, and Donna Noble," the Doctor flashed her the psychic paper.
"Representing the Noble Corporation, PLC Limited, Intergalactic," Donna nodded.
"Nice to meet you," Angel gave her a little wave.
"Must have fallen off my list," Solana smiled apologetically, "My apologies, it won't happen again. Now then, Miss Angel, Dr. Noble, Mrs. Noble, if you'd like to come with me..."
"Oh, no, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, gesturing at Donna, needing them all to understand Donna was NOT his Mate, "We're not married."
"We're so not married," Donna added.
"Never."
"Never ever."
"My Mate," the Doctor put his arm around Angel and pulled her close, "Right here."
"My sister," Angel added, nodding her head at Donna, "Right there."
"Of course," Solana eyed them a bit oddly, "Here is your information pack. Vouchers inside," she held one out to the Doctor, "Now, if you'd like to come with me, the executive suites are nice and warm."
Angel paused a moment from stepping forward and looked back, a second before an alarm went off.
The Doctor followed her gaze and frowned, "Ooh, what's that? Sounds like an alarm."
~8~
"For God's sake, we've got buyers arriving!" Halpen shouted in the office, "Who sounded the alarm? Drink!"
~8~
"It's just a siren for the end of the work shift," Solana smiled tensely.
Angel eyed her suspiciously, knowing she was lying, she was hiding something.
"Now then, this way! Quick as you can!"
The buyers and the trio shuffled inside, not seeing Solana's smile drop as she glanced back as well.
~8~
"Mr. Kess, what the hell's going on?" Halpen called over a comm..
"Ood on the loose, sir," Kess called back, "Looks like we've got another one."
"Red-eye?"
"As red as sin, sir. Don't worry, Mr. Halpen, we're on it."
~8~
An Ood ran out behind the patrol and a guard spotted him, "Sir!"
Kess turned, "Alright, lads, go! Get him!" they gave chase.
~8~
Solana stood before the group of buyers, a large screen bearing the 'Ood Operations' logo on the wall behind her, as she spoke about the Ood, three of which were now standing on pedestals, "As you can see, the Ood are happy to serve and we keep them in facilities of the highest standards…"
~8~
The Ood ran for his life as Kess and the guards chased him.
~8~
"Here at the Double-O, that's Ood Operations, we like to think of the Ood as our trusted friends."
~8~
"He's over there!" Kess shouted, "You two follow me!"
~8~
"We keep the Ood healthy, safe and educated..."
~8~
"Take him alive!"
~8~
"We don't just breed the Ood, we make them better..."
~8~
The Ood cowered behind some barrels.
~8~
"Because at heart, what is an Ood...but an extension of us?"
~8~
Kess and his men found the poor thing.
~8~
"If your Ood is happy..."
~8~
Kess raised his weapon as the Ood turned, eyes glowing red as he growled, and fired...
~8~
Angel flinched a bit, her gaze turning to the Ood a moment, swearing she'd seen them flinch as well.
"You alright?" the Doctor asked her quietly, having felt her flinch with his arm around her.
"Then you'll be happy too," Solana finished with a small nod of her head, the buyers clapping at the delightful presentation.
"She's lying," Angel whispered, her eye now on Solana.
The Doctor frowned, "About what?"
"Everything," she looked up at him, "The Ood, the siren, how they're happy," she shook her head and turned back to the Ood, "They're not happy. They're just...I dunno, they're not what she says they are. She's lying."
The Doctor nodded, his own worries confirmed.
~8~
"Mr. Halpen, this is a bit more than red-eye, sir," Kess called into the comm. as he watched the Ood foam at the mouth, "This is something new. It's rabid, sir."
"Take it to Dr. Ryder," Halpen ordered, "Just...get it out of sight!"
~8~
"Sales figures needed by 1900, sir," a man's voice came over the comm. to Halpen as he worked in an office of Ood Operations.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he muttered, getting up from his desk and walking over to the mirror where his Ood followed, rubbing his head, "What do you think? Growing back? Just a little bit?" the Ood just blinked, "Like you'd know."
~8~
The Doctor frowned as he, Angel, and Donna watched Solana approach the three Ood on pedestals, "I'd now like to point out a new innovation from Ood Operations. We've introduced a variety package with the Ood translator ball. You can now have the standard setting. How are you today, Ood?"
"I'm perfectly well, thank you," he said in a normal voice.
"Or perhaps after a stressful day, a little something for the gentlemen. How are you, Ood?"
"All the better for seeing you," a sensual, female voice spoke.
"And the comedy classic option. Ood, you dropped something."
"D'oh!" the third Ood mimicked Homer Simpson, getting a laugh from the buyers.
"All that for only five additional credits. The details are in your brochures. Now, there's plenty more food and drink, so don't hold back."
"Why don't you go get something to eat," the Doctor murmured to Angel, though his gaze was on a small control board attached to the screen on the wall.
She shook her head, "I'm not hungry," she told him, staring at the Ood, she really couldn't even think about eating right now, there was just...something SO wrong here.
He nodded, understanding, and took her hand, leading her over to the control board as he slipped on his specs and switched it on while Donna went to get a drink before heading over as well, "Ah, got it," he brought up a picture of space, "The Ood-Sphere. I've been to this solar system before, years ago. Ages. Close to the planet Sense-Sphere. Let's widen it out..."
"The year 4126," Angel smiled a bit at that at least, she was always very good with time, "That is the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire."
"4126?" Donna gaped, staring at the screen, "It's 4126? I'm in 4126?"
A/N: Please read:
...you know what really gets to me? When people don't bother to get the full story about something. I received two very...hateful...PMs about a note I had posted months ago, about a previous plagiarism. Apparently the senders believed I was making it up, since the copied chapters had been edited since then to remove most of the plagiarism and nothing else had been said by the author at that point about why the chapters were changed. They were very...vocal...in calling me a, and please excuse my language, 'slanderous bitch' and 'fucking pathetic' so you can imagine what the rest of the messages were like and, given that those particular phrases were also used in their subject lines, how upsetting it was to see every time I opened my inbox, I actually had to delete them it upset me that much, and I never delete PMs (to me, if someone takes the time to write their thoughts and message me, I shouldn't just throw them away). Apparently the senders believed I was accusing the other author because I was 'intimidated by the success of her story,' that I was lying about it (despite my saying that I had already contacted the author and stating changes were in the process of being made at the time about it), and flat out refusing to ever read anything I write because of that. Unfortunately, the impression I got from the messages was that they had only briefly looked at the beginning and end of that story, the original parts, and not the meat in the middle, the ones that had originally been copied (and even then it's been edited).
Because of that, I just wanted to say I have no problem with flames in reviews or people who don't like something and want to message me about it, I firmly believe that: everyone has their own opinion, not everyone will agree with what I write/think/feel, and not everyone will like my writing. That is fine with me, to each his own. But language like that is, to me, unnecessary and there are better ways to get a point across without having to use it. I truly believe that all the research and facts should be gathered and both sides of the story (assuming one side doesn't lie) heard before sending something like that to someone else and assuming knowledge of what is going on. As you are probably aware, it was plagiarism, the other author did admit to me that she copied me on accident (which I am inclined to believe as more than half her story at the time WAS original till she hit those chapters), and she did fix the chapters and is continuing to only use transcripts instead of my chapters in their place, which means a lot to me as, since it was the first time I'd been plagiarized, I really tried to be nice and give a chance to change it. It hurts not just as an author, to have people flat out refuse to read your work, but as the 'victim' to have someone go after you as though you were the one at fault.
I just...I'm still trying to get over the fact that they would assume I was lying about something like that, I DO know how serious an accusation of plagiarism is and I would NEVER EVER bring it up to all of you in a note without literal and solid, side-by-side comparison, proof that something was actually word-for-word copied first. I am so thankful when others tell me about possible plagiarism of a story of mine but I ALWAYS look into it myself as well before I do anything else. Mostly I'm just offended by the language used and the lack of willingness to listen and hear people out, when I had finally calmed down enough to try and respond I found that the users had blocked me. If we can't talk things out like rational adults then there's no point. I will gladly and calmly argue/defend/explain my beliefs or choices in a story if someone had an issue with it (like Rose in the Academic Series).
-sigh- I just...no real A/N today :(
I'll still do the notes on reviews though...but I apologize if there's no :)s, I'm just...not in a very smiley mood right now :(
The Crimson Horror, well...it'll depend on if Jenny is still the one to save him. I've got 3 OCs to do that episode for, so you never know, ONE of them at least might have to deal with that little moment.
I haven't seen Iron Man 3 nope, now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen Iron Man 1 & 2 completely either lol. I've seen parts of it, but never saw the whole thing.
As for the spoiler with Angel and the Crucible...my note in the Poison Sky really could be a game-changer about that and...I really think it's a note that not many people will be happy about -sigh- I would put it earlier, but the things I talk about fit more for the last chapter of The Poison Sky. We'll have to wait and see when we get there whether I've spoiled Angel's survival or not. One question though, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'emphasis-happy' with Angel's personality? I can definitely let you know if it's intentional or not no problem, I think I know what you mean but I just wanted to be sure. And yes, Angel's 797 not 897, thanks! I was literally smacking my head when I saw that I'd missed that lol.