#like yeah okay that's interesting... next season. and for the doctor. but not really for ruby!! and not for s14 as a whole!!

[aerithisms]

i think my problem with this dw season arc accusing the audience of fanbrain for theorising about ruby is that it both feels deceitful and isn't actually that compelling from a character perspective. the season goes out of its way to build up supernatural mystery around ruby and even invokes susan more heavily than ever before in a way that is deliberately trying to get the audience to make those connections. and then it turns around and says you stupid idiot why would you ever try to connect these dots i have deliberately tried to get you to connect.

building up a mystery only for the character to be ordinary is an impossible girl arc redux only this time accusing the viewer of failing to see the humanity of the companion, whereas the impossible girl arc was turning that accusation on the doctor. 7b didn't really blame the audience for viewing clara as a puzzle and in fact several times spells out the fact that clara is perfectly ordinary before the big reveal to give the audience a chance to catch on. as 7b goes on, instead of laying the mystery on thicker, the audience just gets more and more affirmations that clara is a normal human being (rings of akhaten, journey to the centre of the tardis, hide). i found this approach compelling because it was rooted in character, focusing on the doctor's disconnection from humanity/the gendered dynamic of a man treating a woman as his manic pixie mystery to pull him out of grief. s14's meta approach of accusing the viewer feels both unfair, given it has deliberately led the viewer towards theorising, and personally less compelling to me because it wasn't tied into character in any way.

the thing about rey's parentage in tlj is that the reason rian johnson chose to go for that reveal was that it was the only answer that was interesting. none of the theories - rey is a skywalker, rey is a kenobi, and even the eventually canonical rey is a palpatine - were interesting or satisfying because they brought nothing compelling to the table for the story being told. the only satisfaction to be gained from those answers was a fanbrained "omg rey is important because she's related to that guy from the other movie." on top of that, rey desperately wants her parents to have been important, to give her life and her abandonment some kind of significance. so them being ordinary provided the most compelling trajectory for her character because it was the thing she least wanted to hear. it forced her to do the most introspection and growth, as well as tying into the film's themes about the capacity of ordinary people to be special. it wasn't just a choice made to "gotcha" the viewer, it was rooted in character.

i don't think ruby's mother being ordinary accomplishes the same thing. by invoking susan, s14 is engaging with the most egregious example of the doctor's streak of abandonment, which has potential to be very compelling in relation to ruby (and now also the doctor's) own abandonment issues. theories that ruby might be susan, or be somehow related to susan, or somehow related to the doctor, weren't just fanbrained "omg she's related to that guy i know from the classic series." they were theories genuinely rooted in character and the potential to explore both the doctor and ruby's issues with abandonment. and this is something the show willingly led fans towards by invoking susan so much in the first place. so for the show to turn around and act like they were shallow out of nowhere ideas when they were not shallow and were based on potential character conflicts the show itself deliberately invoked, feels misguided.

as well as that, ruby's mother being ordinary does not require that same growth from ruby as it did for rey because it is exactly what ruby wanted to hear. she never wanted her mother to be important, she just wanted to know who her mother was and have a connection with her. so finding out she was a normal woman who still loves her and wants to be a part of her life is everything she's ever wanted. it doesn't introduce interesting conflict for her the way rey's parents being ordinary did for her, because they were written as different characters with different hangups over their abandonment.

tl;dr i don't necessarily dislike ruby's mother being ordinary as an idea but compared to the things it was inspired by - 7b and star wars - it is not nearly as compelling in terms of how it relates to the characters or themes. and the meta angle, while conceptually interesting, doesn't quite work for me because it feels a little manipulative of the audience.

[jonstuartstewart]

everyone fawning over robby's melodrama in this episode and yelling at santos in the other moment... whew misogyny is REAL

[from-mars-to-venus]

I’ve had a day to think about The Interstellar Song contest and like, yeah, I think I’m out of love with NewWho.

This episode was scripted and filmed well before the current genocide in Gaza began, and I think any accusations toward RTD saying anything to the contrary are people trying to anchor and extrapolate on their *VALID* frustrations with the extremely weird messaging of this episode. Nevertheless, we are absolutely in a massive geopolitical moment where we can take a look at narratives that ask “what if a member of a violently oppressed out group tried to retaliate with sectarian violence?” and demand better answers than “boy, that would be crazy.” It wasn’t good when the Zygon two-parter did it. It wasn’t good here. It certainly sucked shit to see the Doctor textually torturing a genocide victim, a moment that itself was met with a narrative shrug and a frown. Noo Doctor that’s rude :/

I’ve seen some people suggest that the frustrating weightlessness of this episode’s messaging was, like, the point? But, if that’s the case (and I really think it isn’t), for God’s sake it is on Juno Dawson and RTD to provide a thematically coherent narrative.

Season 2 insists on pointing at social ills— inceldom, the rising tide of conspiratorial thinking— and rewarding itself for calling them bad. Okay. Great. We don’t need to sit here and discuss “the male loneliness epidemic” or give conspiracy theorists the time of fucking day but if you are going to insist on playing in this sandbox, especially if you are invoking GENOCIDE, then you are going to need to have something to say about it. You are going to have to do more than just call it bad. It’s bland. It’s lazy. It is not entertaining to point to the disaffected youth and correctly name them disaffected if there is nothing else you aim to say.

I thank RTD for his invaluable contributions to television and the Doctor Who project, but this project is not serving its intended purpose if not championing at least SOME SORT of thoughtful dialogue.

I won’t stop watching because of course not. This blog is practically a dedicated Doctor Who blog at this point. I’m not making any concessions or apologies that I am hanging out while my Favorite Thing goes through another “dogshit neoliberalism” moment. Doctor Who is bigger than RTD, Moffat, or Chibnall. But we’ve hit an inflection point where there is this very weird taste in my mouth and we’re really just going through the motions here. I will find it hard to be interested until we get some true new blood in here. It’s no coincidence to me that The Story and the Engine has been the best thing in this season so far. Like what do you mean the podcast host with an entirely incoherent ideology is one of the Big Bads next week. Shut the fuck up lol

RTD— thank you. Get out.

[foundfam2754]

s18e4 live reactions!!

Spoilers…obviously

no expectations going into this one really, I’ve seen minimal spoilers

not really sure what’s going to happen

obviously really interested in how they are going to explore post-will life

seeing will fall to the floor - even in the recap - is never gonna be easy

ohh it’s a heatwave

wait…who’s driving?

MGG’s IMDB still says he’s in e4, so idk if I’m expecting to see him

cool super freaky scary ring

i love Penelope’s outfit

i love greenvez besties sitting next to each other

tyler, luke and em? That’s going to be a fucking funny combo

“we don’t..” *looks at Rossi* “we don’t.”

JJ’s already back? how long do we think it’s been?

Penelope hugging JJ is all of us this last week, and i think the whole team frankly…

aww Luke chuckling at Penelope hugging JJ, he LOVESS her and EVERYTHING about her

“penelope…” and she goes back, that’s so couple-coded and so fucking adorable AND look at his smitten smile

2 weeks?? JJ, go home

what in the world is this, omg I’m going to have nightmares

goodness, it looks like she hasn’t slept :(

em’s hair looks so good

jemily besties <3 <3 I’ve loved these two’s friendship since s2

she’s not fine, but okay

ah, i see the reference to the episode title

damn, em, “better than you” is a lil harsh lol

when is dr ochoa going to…. become more involved? i’m still unsure about how she’s going to be integrated

yes, Elias, you are a bad person…. sorry, bud

dave and emily are peak humour this season

girl, really?

TYLER ON THE JET! I REPEAT. TYLER ON THE JET! (i’m only saying this because RJ posted this on his insta lol)

dang, the jet got fancy

the freaky ring came back

this reminds me of something they did in season 7? 8? Definitely 8. I think it was called “God Complex” or something

who directed this, i’m curious

i think this is a nightmare? or smth?

yeah bc of the mask

called it!

i definitely don’t think elias is faking it now, BUT i think he’ll remember later and be pretending

i love these two

oh penelope, maybe not the time?

“i’m fine, it’s fine, everything’s fine,” i love smart script writing, love that it ties to the episode title

okay tara called her “hon” earlier, and penelope called her “honey” just now - they have literally never done that before in all seasons, pre-CME included. is that a choice that everyone’s treating her extra careful? i mean, to that extent, emily’s the only one treating her normally and maybe like what she knows JJ needs…

or idk have they always done it and we never got to see it??? either way, i don’t hate it, but it does seem out of nowhere

AWW JJ AND PENELOPE BESTIESSS i love them, and i love that we got this scene

s18 is doing a fantastic job so far at leaning into these relationships they all have, platonic, romantic etc and i like it, feels like CME is maturing, coming into its own (it took a while for CM to get there, maybe s11? maybe earlier but only with the s3-7 dream team)

damn, zach really committed to the bit there

he’s talking to dave, I assume?

yes, i was right

lol “snip, snip”, really love that Emily and Rossi are leaning into this cynical, sardonic humour

ahh..this is how Dr. Ochoa gets involved?

are they going to give Elias…real clothes at any point? he’s been wearing sweats for 4 eps

the irony of elias not feeling safe around dave

HAHA i love greenvez besties so much

lol penelope stop flirting

ew i can’t see ty ty flirt with penelope

but she doesn’t treat ty the same way she treated luke when HE first joined. is that bc she sees him just as any other team member? and the ‘please’ thing was just messing with him? or does it mean that she’s not being the same way bc they’ve already dated and they’re already comfortable? like she is NOW with luke? idk, am i overthinking this? i’m overthinking this.

i feel like i know the doctor actor from somewhere…

oh IMDB says he was an actor in s2 ep of CM

OHHH…he was in Castle as Mayor Weldon

lol the “who helped you, dr. lewis?” sounded so sassy and like the old elias it makes me think parts of him are coming back

oh holy heck, they played the sicarius theme in that flashback

OH SHIT, HE’S GOING TO REMEMBER

oh damn

is he going to become a different person after this?

also, now that part of his memories are unlocked, i bet he’s going to go back to the old elias

is this the turning point for elias to be bad elias again?

oh damn, was not expecting that

oh, it’s going to be about being near her mom or something, right?

poor ty-ty, this is going to be tough on him :(

em’s outfit! her hair!!! the entire episode!!

“Ls” is not it, friends…they are full-fledged adults…

why does it feel like emily is to tyler what dave/hotch is/was to her

aw, em. that’s great advice. you’re incredible!

AWWW, em, you’re such a softie

omg JJ, you’re so smart

how did… JJ diagnose him before Dr. Ochoa did?

oh god, i think voit’s going to remember her, and say something like “JJ” and then it’s going to cut/fade to black idk

oh never mind

lol it took Tara 3-5 business days to intervene

damn, I’ve never seen JJ so pissed

“I’m fi-:” *and cut to black* HOLY HECK that’s an INCREDIBLE ENDING

Kudos to whoever directed this, and to AJ and Zach especially - they just keep on delivering this season

These episodes have been so consistently good!

Until next time, folks!

[clowns0cks]

First episode of the season out!!! How are we feeling Joey? What are your thoughts?

Personally adoring Belinda, I just love companions that challenge the doctor! Very Donna, I love to see it. Love it when dr who says fuck incels, and 15 just has so much energy I live for it. Feeling optimistic about this season so far!! (Now what would really make it perfect is bringing back the master. Russel t Davies if you can hear me.)

I'm really happy about it!!!! But I'm always happy about doctor who, there's rarely an episode I genuinely dislike. I love Belinda too!!! She looks like she has a lot of potential and I hope I will keep liking her in the next episodes, I really loved how she's not fooled by the doctor AT ALL. A lot of companions are fascinated by this weird alien stranger that can travel in time but she has no interest and no time for him, she just wants to get back to her life and I appreciate it cause it's really rare for companions to be like this so she's a breath of fresh air. I really hope they don't make her something special or connected to the doctor...I'm kinda tired of companions like that for now.

ALSO I really loved the doctor's characterisation in this episode idk he was so full of personality and energy as you said. I'm not saying he wasn't before I'm just saying that now his personality as the doctor is really shining for me. I'm finally like. Okay yeah. He IS the doctor.

Kinda obsessed with how by the end of the episode when Belinda confronted him he was trying to laugh it off with a smile and not taking her seriously. He's not used to companions confronting him for the weird stuff he does and thinking he's the most important thing in the universe (even if he wouldn't admit it), and he thinks he can just smile and take it as a joke while he does whatever he wants instead of acknowledging it. I kinda hated him in that moment but that's the good thing!!! I was supposed to hate him cause he was, even if maybe not intentionally, being manipulative. That was so good!!

the choice to make it an incel commentary was funny as hell cause I already know the many many annoying incels that like doctor who are gonna HATE IT I can't wait to see them mad.

However I am a bit confused about the timelines and how everything happens ??? I didn't understand it really well. I mean, I know it's part of what the doctor is going to solve but I'm not really sure I even grasped what was happening with that?? I liked the polish polish robot though. Silly asf.

DON'T MAKE ME talk about the master cause I'm seeing things where there are NONE and going insane by myself oh my god. I'm gonna open that gold tooth up with my bare hands if I'll have to

[realchemistry]

"Masks" - A few things about tonight's episode and what's ahead

~9-1-1 spoilers ahead~

Let me get this out of the way first: Eddie sucking on that ring pop... I never understood the "don't ask me the color of anything" and "babygirl" concepts more than I did then. Also: both Buck and Eddie having the same Christmas picture of them with Chris and abuela? I'm fine. The ending montage with Eddie being alone looking at his pic from Halloween with Chris... no, I'm really, I'm okay.

The BuckandEddie of it all:

It's interesting that they kept pairing Eddie up with other members of the team during calls but Eddie was all over Buck still. Like... they are partners, and they continue to be like at the pumpkin call (LUBE? PLEASE, I AM BEGGING), but Eddie was with Buck at the hospital (both for Buck and Denny) and at Buck's loft and at the station too.

Buck and Eddie are always entangled in each other's business but this season's been like a whole other level. The framing, the dialogue, everything about them is pointed as fuck and it's no coincidence (the lube, I can't get over it!!!), of that I'm sure.

This episode, which had a lot of Buck and T, had a ton of Eddie in between them which allowed us to see their dynamic and it was a sight. We had Eddie in the hospital room, by Buck's bedside, asking the doctor questions, while T was on the other side of the door, observing. Eddie was there to tend to Buck's boils and reassure him it'd be fine and even bet and shake on it to try and keep Buck from spiraling while T was just... there. Eddie was apparently distracted on his phone, sucking on a freaking ring lollipop (looking at Buck like that!!!!!) but he was actually well in tune with Buck and what he was doing and Buck protested his boyfriend's claims that he had been picking on his boils but he didn't argue with Eddie about it at all.

So yeah, Buck has a boyfriend that could fit right in, being a firefighter and getting more into the 118's business and sharing time with Buck and his BFF in the whole wide world. This episode showed in part how T didn't fit exactly right (why were they not sleeping on the bed, I'm so confused...), how Buck realized that and sent him a message that he wanted him to. And I think they will make it past the next episode, actually, because I have a feeling that if tptb are going where we all think/want them to go with Eddie, they might want to establish that on its own.

And they would also want to do what Oliver said and take it slow on the Buddie front, and I know it's been slow enough, but Oliver and Ryan have alluded to wanting the story to develop naturally and to not have them be bi/gay and into each other because of the message that could send. I have a feeling that means reaching Buddie after both have time to go through self-realizations away from each other and having Buck be in a relationship actually serves that scenario better. At least for a little while, then they can let the pining begin.

Some other things:

The thing about this show that I both adore and dislike is that I know every main is gonna be okay (there was only ever one exception to this) and they're not going to kill one of their children either. So I simply couldn't get into the mindset of feeling sad over Denny dying because I knew he wasn't going to.

I love that we got more HenRen and I wish next time Karen and Eddie share a scene, it'll be a less tragic one. I love Denny so much, the actor is so good and such a cutie, I'm glad he got to shine. It's also funny that once you get old enough in the show, you're fair game to be in harm's way. Rite of passage.

Chim was so scary and cute and great as well. I just think Kenny's so good at everything and the show sometimes failed to properly take advantage of his skills so I'm glad they're finally getting to showcase his range fully and all at once.

Peter was also having the time of his life being a carefree version of Bobby, and I'm here for it.

Josh's whole costume being Eddie's mustache. Plus Buck also having one. Ryan, the man that you are.

Maddie, once again, going for the kitty ears.

The teacher... I know her pain.

About the next episode ~more spoilers~:

They really are having an "Eddie Begins" type of emergency on an episode called "Confessions" which will focus on Eddie. I'm sure it's gonna be just fine. I'm sure nothing major will happen with my favorite character in the world, Eddie Díaz. I'm sure.

[wanderingskylooker]

Super 4: High School AU

(Not native English, awful at class.)

Context you don't need, I just felt like I had to explain myself, you can skip until the pink words for the AU.

Okay, okay, okay, so yesterday I finished the second season and it was an incredible great memory, better than I remember, and so I started rolling down super 4's Tumblr tags and saw a Pokemon AU, Alola version, and I was like: "YEAH, Alola my home, awesome place", and reading I realized Alex reminded me of Ilima,

(This guy ↘)

who is called the "school prince", at least in the Japanese anime, so I started thinking about the Pokemon School, and I started thinking about a school AU of Super 4.

Then I kept rolling and I realized that it already exists. But if we are here it is because everyone can make their own AU, so with all the respect for the others AU, this is mine! (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

Now, THE AU.

Fairies

My version revolves around the gangs idea, instead of classes, in a modern-90's/2000's stereotypical groups.

The fairies would be this girls gang of so called witches, but not the cool witches but the toxic female group who thinks of themselves as better and more special than the rest, and think of being outcasts as misunderstood with a hidden talent.

They do the kind of spells of "take a bath at 00am with rosemary and a photo of the girlfriend of the guy you have a crush on to make them break up", and even if the rest of the school thinks they are weird or that their stuff is nonsense, some or other way their spells work (the world is technically non-magical), more out of casualty, but the successful spells have been being coincidences too many times to be "coincidences".

While the fairies are aesthetic witches with a very disturbing way to perceive relationships and the value of people, the witches of the show (Babacara and peers) are the witches who are more emo and careless about their looks, but actually go to the really old none fashion books to read about historical accurate magic and judge the fairy-witches from the dark corners of the school.

What about Twinkle? People would ask.

In this AU Twinkle was also part of this girls gang, to awkward and weird not to be, although she didn't choose it either, the rest of the school thought she was part of them for being so... "outcastable".

Actually, Twinkle had been trying to fit with the witches-fairies, but she just couldn't. Their friendship ended when they were making a beauty spell for their leader, the upperclasswoman Queenie (the Queen Fairy), but Twinkle instead of buying pink candles she took green candles and... The next day the Queen had the whole the school laughing at her chronical acne problem. She expelled Twinkle from the group, and even tried to get revenge on her, but the fairy-witch's positive energies are so strong that they repel any curse.

Technopolians

As far as all of us can agree that they would be scientist students, I think they would be more precisely the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) geeks. They monopolize the computer lab and the ICT workshop after school, where they programme or build robots and codes (I don't know about computing). They are the ones who look down on witches the most, although they do not have the best reputation either. Their leader/club representative/president, Doctor X (a nickname he insisted on using before his real name) is a egocentric maniac. He is the one who pushes to the floor Gene the most.

Gene is, no wonder, a genius student. Technopolians actually do not dislike him, only Doctor X, but that doesn't mean they admire him either.

Gene is the best at computing, programming, coding... But he also studies natural sciences, and not precisely or only to unravel the genetic code. He is interested in other living beings, how they live and how they think, and he wants to go out there to study them, too bad the world is "too dirty and full of retrograde people" for the technopolians taste.

The first time Gene went out was with his AI friend, Lenny. Lenny is not a normal machine, is programmed to understand and adapt to the different environments, natural or social and cultural. But since Gene made human friends, he hasn't used or talked to Lenny as much as before. Anyway, that doesn't mean Lenny is not his friend, even if it is a programmed machine Gene will keep its memory chip safe forever.

Gene use to argue with Twinkle due to the fairy witch way to see the world.

Gene: "Energies? Horoscope? Tarot? Nonsense. How can a color of a candle unleash a biological reaction in the dermis?"

Twinkle: "Oh Gene, sometimes you are so dummy. Everyone knows the red candles are used for love, pinks for beauty and white for pureness. It's magical."

Pirates

If it wasn't noticeable in the introduction, I love Alola, so think about the pirates a bit like a Team Skull if you know them.

The pirates are a group of stray or heavily deprived of care and attention from their tutors young men. They are a bit all ages, from children with awful parents to guys in their twenties whose families disown them. Most of them are not schooled, or just elementary school, or had been working from a young age. They live on the outskirts of the city, near the port, where they can have easy jobs or steal from the cargo ships.

Sharkbeard is not as good with his crewmates as Guzma is with his messy Team Skull, but he is still that guy in his thirties, too old to be part of a youngsters gang, but the only one who actually cares about them instead of their own families. Rubens was a close member of Sharkbeard, helping with robberies, burglary and stealing stuff (Sharkbeard was never fond with "follow society rules like work". If society had pushed him aside, he won't play their legal game either), but one day he found a baby abandoned next to the beach. The steps had been erased by the sea, or maybe that child came from the ocean. Whatever it was, the young man decided to take care of the child, not wanting for her the same he had passed as a homeless child.

Ruby never went to elementary school, Rubens taught her everything. How to defend herself, reading, writing (as far as he could with his knowledge), basic math... But little Ruby wanted more. Rubens never wanted her to do something illegal, but she was amazed by the skills, the adventure and action of the rest of the gang. Unluckily for her, she faced the same words her canon version did: "A little girl an expert fighter and burglar artist? Don't make me laugh!". She tried to impress the gang, be more than they would never be. She began her career as a master of theft, but when Rubens found out that she was grounded forever. He had told her that a woman is not as strong as a man, but she proved them wrong, she is fast, swift and skillful. She could have a bright future, but not stealing. Ruby's father offered her other way to be more than those airheads, study. To afford the tuition, books and school supplies (plus decent clothes and shampoo) father and daughter worked on a near tavern. Ruby managed to enter the high school a year later than the rest, but she is there, and Rubens has been working and moving up the ranks at the tavern since then.

Ruby can be seen at the Principal Kendrick's office often, but he just talks calmly to her and lets her go. Half of the time the problems related to Ruby are Sharkbeard and his gang attempts to make her drop school, and clearly she and her friends are way more skillful than the chaotic pirates.

Knights

They are the drama club and you cannot change my mind. No fencing club, not school council, not school presidents, they are a bunch of overdramatic teens! Overdramatic but pretty versatile. As Sir Gareth says "Be an actor is to understand the multiplicity of human nature. An actor cannot be good only singing and lack of movement, or be strong without being graceful. Fight, recite, think, improvise, organize, guide... All of them are necessary to be a good actor". He is the main upperclasswoman, along with Sir Ulf and Sir Archibald. Don't ask them why they use "Sir" for everybody or they will use their worst weapon, talking about the whole meaning of being an actor for three hours straight.

Alex and Leonora are the children of the Principal of the school. Sir Kendrick was an important member of a nationally famous theatre company, even writing some of their performances, but after losing his special half at acting and living, he dropped that. By that time the siblings were very young. A few years later, Kendrick decided that he couldn't just sit sad inside his house, and applied for the school's call for applications. He was hired as Professor of Dramatic Arts and Dance, and inspired many students, such as Sir Gareth, who was a new student by that time, to make the drama club. Soon the abilities of the teacher Kendrick guaranteed him a permanent position, to be able to teach Drama and Language and Literature, and even become Principal. Then his children entered high school (I know usually the children don't study where the parents teach, but let's forget that for the plot).

Alex and Leonora are children of the Principal, but also one of the country's theater stars (along with their mother), so their family is loaded. They had joined the drama club too, half their interest half Sir Gareth insistence due to them being related to the "great start". Leonora loves the attention and seems to be the perfect heir to the family's drama legacy. Alex is natural too, but he prefers real action instead of fencing performances. Defend people, help others, have adventures... And Sir Gareth's infinite code of the good actor doesn't give him that.

The only thing which makes Alex jump on stage like a spring is the Black Baron. That guy has been around his sister for a while, and Alex is sure he only wants the family inheritance. It is not like Leonora is blindly in love with him, but she loves when he plays the brave lover at any romance performance (because she is obviously the female main character). Alex, in attempts to protect his sister, is always ready to get back to the stage and ruin the Baron's shenanigans.

Remember "Super Gene" ep? Then keep it in mind.

I don't think Ruby's grades are the best, so Alex invites her to participate in a performance to get extra points. The only, small and tiny problem is that Ruby is not precisely a damsel in distress.

Ruby: "Oh, Romeo, Romeo, why you- no, what-"

Alex: "No, no. Ruby, it's ''Oh, Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?'' Let's try again."

Ruby: "Argh! I am done! I won't play the pretty princess, Alexander."

And that's how Ruby was a handsome Romeo and Alex a beautiful and husky Juliet. The only change the performance had was when Ruby refused so strongly to kiss anyone, even for a play, that she preferred to drink the potion and stab herself before keep acting.

Alien

He was the origin of the Super 4. In this AU alien is not a real animal, he is the only fantasy thing which stays the same as in the serie.

He is the, small but incredibly strong and strong for his size, fifth member of the team. None knows what creature he is, or if there are more of him (the mysterious and the furious are unknown), not even where he comes from. They protect him because they have watched too many movies to know that a new species would be used for cruel experiments or something like that. Actually they don't know and are just playing the "hide weird stuff sitcom" B series.

The first person he met was Alex, and then the origins roll like we know, but I am already working on them.

At the beginning he alternated his living quarters between Alex's house and Twinkle's, sometimes Ruby or Gene's, but when Gene ended the habitable adaptation for the Chameleon, instead of being just an all-terrain and exploration test vehicle, he added folding beds, containers, cabinets, cubicles, etc, Alien spends the night time watching over the vehicle.

[umbrellasareforever]

Empire of Death

Alright I'm so fresh off watching it and normally I want to give myself time to think before I say anything but also to think I need to get it out somehow so ya'll are getting my thoughts as I process them and then maybe I'll make a more intelligent post later.

Let's start with things I enjoyed!

Mel was fantastic, as always. Bonnie Langford is a treat and honestly, watching her this episode made me almost wish she could be the series companion again.

The Memory TARDIS! A genuinely unexpected surprise and while it made not have made 100% sense, it was a fun reference and a unique way to get around the fact that the TARDIS wasn't available to them.

I enjoyed the scene with the Doctor and the woman in that ramshackle hut. It was a sweet, somewhat slow moment that let you feel the universe a bit. Honestly, I wish the episode had started with that, it would've been a great hook.

As much as I adore my Paradox Baby™️ theory, I do think that having Ruby discover that her mother is, in fact, just a person was quite sweet. It was nice to see a RTD companion actually have a happy ending for once (although we know she's coming back, but hey, it's still a sweet moment).

Okay uhhhhh let's get into my problems...

If Ruby's mother was really just a person why the hell did it snow every time her mom was mentioned? I get the whole "the more significance you give something, the more important it becomes", and I know that the universe is now more supernatural than it was before, but was that the supernatural bleeding in? And while we're on Ruby's mother, why did she point so dramatically to the sign? No one was looking, no one would've known that's what she named her daughter. Is it just a total coincidence that she ended up with that name? Am I crazy?

The moment Rose died so unceremoniously I knew that it was going to end up being one of those "no consequences" episodes and I felt incredibly deflated. I get that Russell needs to make the stakes feel high but I really don't think this is the way. You can't have every season end with a universe shattering event and then just as quickly put everything back to the way it was and expect me to still feel like there's a threat.

Piggybacking off that, whyyyyyyyyyyy the HELL did Mrs. Flood have to say the whole "end in abject terror" thing? I'm so sick of it. I'm so sick of every season ending with or being advertised with "OHHHHHH this next one is gonna be the biggest threat the Doctor has ever faced! Nothing will ever be the same!!" STOP!!! STOP IT!!!!!! YOU ARE KILLING ME JUST STOP IT ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speaking of Mrs. Flood, as curious as I am about her and whatever the hell she is (Iris, Romana, Susan, the Trickster, something else entirely), I also think that the lack of any answers about her and the constant cutting back to her really pulled me away from the story as a whole. Whether it was because I'm more interested in her or because seeing her so much made me think her story was going to be more important in the episode, it just took away from the already limited time we had.

Which kind of brings me to my biggest problem; time. All season every episode has felt like we were rushing through, as if we didn't have nearly enough time to actually tell a story, and it sucks. It leaves stories feeling like first drafts and unsatisfying and meh. I know pacing is hard, but there's gotta be a way to make this stuff work.

On another note, the whistle was... uh... yeah. I'll accept the Doctor having Intelligent Gloves™️ and Intelligent Rope™️ and Psychic Earrings™️, but when a whistle falls out of a cupboard and he puts it on with 0 explanation and then uses what we can only assume is a normal whistle to control the TARDIS to *checks notes* shoot a cannon out of the console and fly it over to him and Ruby... Yeah I just... that's a bit much for me.

Also Sutekh's been on the TARDIS for how long??? Since Pyramids of Mars??? What happened to him in Flatline? What happened to him when the Master turned it into a Paradox Machine? Or when it was blowing up constantly in Series 5? Or when House took it over in The Doctor's Wife? He was just straight chilling?? Honestly this is less of a genuine complaint and more of a "Wow, Doctor Who is wild!"

Now this is VERY much a nitpick and I need to get over it, I know, but God I need 15 to wear more Doctor-esque clothes. Seeing him walk around this whole time in blue jeans and a t-shirt or combat cargo pants and a t-shirt just felt so off. Seriously, when he had that leather trench coat outfit back on at the very end I felt a moment of relief.

And while I'm nitpicking, I know they didn't even really play a part in the episode but I want to, once again, voice my frustration with how much UNIT is a part of RTD2 so far and how it feels like there's not even a hint of military critique about it.

Yeah okay, those are my thoughts for now. If you really read all this, I appreciate and applaud you, and I very much hope you enjoyed the episode. I wish I did.

Here's to the Christmas special, I suppose!

[batsylikeme]

so here’s my silly little rant/opinions on the new doctor who season

if what i say pisses you off just keep scrolling mary i don’t have the energy to deal with negativity rn

so firstly i don't wanna talk abt how the new doctor regenerated okay that made absolutely no sense to me. idk why even 10 came back as well like ig donna's story was left "untold" ….but so is every other companion’s?

and idk how they split??? i really don't understand how they can do that but it’s aliens so whatever.

im also not gonna go into the christmas episode or the baby episode i...dont wanna relive that.

so!! i love the doctor i think he’s so fun and hip and his style is amazing.

personally i think the fact that he doesn’t have a set outfit is bc he’s trying to figure out who he is, which is always so exciting as the viewer going on this journey with him.

and ruby is awesome as hell!! low key fuck you writers for not making her a lesbian ( i mean she has the eyebrow slit and everything you should be ashamed).

also cool background story i love that she's interesting and a mystery. plus when villains are like "who...are you" that's always so dope.

i think that the "family" of the different "gods" is really cheesy but GOD i loved jinx they did so fucking amazing their performance was everything. i want them to act in every show ever honestly.

with that being said.. that episode specifically wasn’t my favorite, it was a cool concept but idgaf abt the beetles so 😭

and in that episode when the doctor ran away and hid?? that was new to the doctor that we know and i was like “yeah let’s go we’re gonna watch his character develop!”

so you would think it would build up to some sort of solution bc the doctor is tryna figure out who he is and that's gnarly love it

….then they DIDNT?

they didn't do anything with that?!?? at least that i was able to notice?

okay but after the jinx episode the rest of the episodes were actually fierce!

the landmine one had some really cool dialogue moments especially with the bickering like love i'm obsessed. ruby was also really cool and i love how much she cares about the doctor and how she wasn’t scared. i think that says a lot about her character. not to mention i think having her so in awe of the planets was a really good choice bc that reaction is so human and i love it.

buttttt the other characters were like mad infuriating which may have been the point? and throughout the episode it was so tense and nerve racking but the end was so anticlimactic. i loved the idea, and i loved that the dad was able to save the day (even tho i wanted the doctor to save the day but whatever) but i wanted MORE. i wanted the doctor and ruby to go into town, or to see the government and face them and call them out on the war! the fact that it was in one area the entire episode was just not it, me no likey.

the ruby centered episode was AWESOME.

that one was so unsettling (in a good way) and it was sooooo cool to see her like basically save the world and then she dies but BOOM they're back when the episode first started. i loved it, so peak doctor who timey wimey stuff

even tho i'm still a little confused as to if the lady was ruby? but whatever i still really enjoyed it i honestly have no cons on this episode it displayed what kind of person she is perfectly.

next, the bridgerton episode was fun! love the gayness they even kissed and they flirted it was so fierce. and ugh ruby’s character just keeps getting better and better honestly shes so fun and it’s so easy to root for her.

…but… the dialogue wasn’t good in this episode….at all. especially having the aliens say the word ‘cosplay’ took me out of the fantasy completely

also side note but not really-

what always impressed me growing up watching doctor who was that even back in 2005 the alien makeup was always so FIERCE like cunty boots down house houston bc it's makeup centric!

it also allows talented people to show off their skills and add really personal features to the actors who are playing the aliens. but nowadays they rely on the cgi so much that it just doesn’t seem believable and honestly it doesn't look good anymore. like mentioned before with makeup you can use the actor’s features to your advantage which creates the perfect illusion.

makeup + a LITTLE bit of cgi is the way to go and i don't get a fuck if it's more expensive ur a fucking successful ass company you have the money now USE IT

the episode itself was good until the very end when rouge sacrificed himself and then the doctor was like "i move on that's what happens" like bruh

by having him say that, it honestly makes you think that all of the losses the doctor has endured is just moments of his past, and that he’s moved on

like no i want the doctor to be angry, to be motivated!!

and that's what i think this doctor lacked.

there was no motivation or drive for him, which is so fucking stupid bc the actor is amazing.

the episode that ended with the doctor experiencing racism for the first time…you can tell that the actor put his whole heart and soul into his performance (especially the scream). he was unleashing a whole new part of his doctor and it was absolutely perfect.

so why not use that to give the doctor more motivation, more anger? seeing the doctor not being able to move on, to be selfish at times bc that makes him feel human. which would make sense BC!! he has spent so much times with humans and earth is important to him.

moving on; one of the biggest things that made this season an issue was that they cried every. single. episode.

when you only get something every once and a while it makes that thing so much more precious. the doctor only cries like once a season, and when he does it's like actually thrilling bc you don't get that side of him a lot.

and usually it's with a lot of anger bc the doctor is angry!! we've been through how many seasons of the doctor suffering?? i mean the man literally blew up his own planet. he's been thru the ringer.

there are so many episodes of the doctor not having the best morals, of him letting the villain die bc of his own selfish intentions. he's not supposed to be a hero, and i think that’s also what makes the doctor so compelling.

another con was the dialogue. one of my biggest tv / movie turn offs is when they say what they’re doing. and not in the super impressive like monologue way but in the simple way of being like "i'm cooking" like mary yeah i see you doing that??

and this season used that a lot. and again NOT in the cool monologue saving the day way speaking of that, no cool monologues? none? nada?

the best part of doctor who is when the doctor goes against all odds and saves the day with that sexy smirk and has the coolest monologue with the kick ass music in the back and during it gives you goosebumps! it also allowed the actor to put forth a lot of emotion into their performance and allowed them to build who their doctor is.

despite all of that, i did really enjoy the episode with ruby growing old and the racism episode. the fact that they didn’t have to say it was perfect and i think was a really good choice bc it was a surprise factor, especially with the doctor’s reaction. when they brought in a random character to save the day and him be so unlike the rest of his race and then kill him is always gonna be classic trope, bc my sister and i were GAGGED. perfect, absolutely perfect.

however. the season finale can go fuck itself.

UNIT is so cheesy now, and it feels so unreal and silly which i think is stupid. they’ve had this facility for so long so the fact that it is unserious now is lame. it feels really fake whenever they're trying to be serious and sciency, which is not the way to go when ur a literal army based facility.

anyways back to the season finale-yeah it was cool to have a throwback especially with the fact it was “the one who waits” that was gnarly! however,,, when sutukh whatever his name was literally kills the entire universe…it didn't feel like it??? it happened so quickly it didn't have that shock value it was supposed to and i was actually confused.

i did love the throwback to the ruby episode so it made you feel like it was tying that together which is nice!! give them some recognition yay!!

now let’s talk abt the whole plot with Ruby’s birth mother.

the build up of her real mother i mean it's been every episode when they mentioned it. in the first part where they were in the time window, that was giving me the creeps! i loved that it was scary and confusing and i couldn’t wait to figure it out!

so when the birth mother of ruby, the woman that even the god of death was infatuated with, the woman that the doctor couldn't figure out, the woman that was stuck in some sort of time thingy…………..is just a regular woman? its just some teenager who got knocked up and gave away her kid? that's it?

i've been getting edged this entire fucking season just for this?

if you enjoyed that it was a regular person i get it! it’s a throwback to whenever the doctor made his speech about how no one is ever just unimportant, which i do love and appreciate.

the whole reason she's important is bc the unknown is the most powerful thing which honestly i agree. my biggest fears are always the unknown. so yes absolutely i get it….but….are you...are you kidding me?

and then ruby leaves? ruby is done traveling with the doctor? i just. ugh.

there was so much potential and i’m just so empty now.

yes it had its cool moments, but im honestly so heartbroken and disappointed with how it turned out like, some bitch on tumblr could have written this season better than this.

i really really really hope the next season is better, at this point it’s just the writing. so get it together writers!! Ncuti is a phenomenal actor he is so fun and his range is so raw and captivating. not to mention Ruby! i’m really sad she’s leaving so soon, she was really fun and complimented the doctor well.

i can’t wait to see what’s next, and honestly no matter what i’m gonna watch doctor who bc it’s so special to me <3

[thewomancallednova]

Who Watches the Watchers?

The Mintakans!

That was easy, next one!

okay, okay, i joke but this was pretty great

Doctor Pulaski mentioned! *party emojy*

The whole scene with Picard and Nuria on the Enterprise was great

Love that Troi and Riker immediately get horny about the Mintakans' sex practices.

I do find it funny that at the start Picard suggests letting Liko die under strange circumstances would have been a better option than saving his life and erasing his memory.

Picard is obviously horrified at the prospect of being recered as a deity, but from everything I've heard Patrick Stewart say in interviews I bet he'd love to play that role.

Really, the whole episode works very well, so I don't have a ton to say on it. A few more minors points:

Very interesting that the Mintakans have those forehead ridges that the Romulans have. I speculated at the start of season one that they were introduced to further remove the Romulans from the Vulcans, but here they seem to be doing the opposite. Which either means my speculation was wrong, or plans changed.

I do like that humans aren't the only species with inexplicable look-alike species running around.

I didn't love that they emphasize how rational the Mintakans are. The way it's presented it feels more like they're saying that it's an inherent Vulcan-ish trait, than a part of Vulcan culture. Of course I'm coming at this from a post-SNW perspective. And I think the Mintakans behave very normally, so to speak and not overly rational or logical in that specific Vulcan way. it just irked me a bit.

The only major issue I have with this episode is the whole "Federation spying other cultures" bit. And like, obviously it's a great way to get our inciting incident, but it feels more than a bit gross. These scientists basically treat a bunch of real and sentient people as the objects of their studies with no regards for their privacy or consent. And while I generally liked the conclusion of the episode the bit about I think it's a false dichtomy that Federation observers have to either stay completely hidden or will inevitably interfer with them. The third option would be for the Federation people to disguise themselves and establish contact with the native people directly. You don't have to say that you come from the magical space ship and so on, but it sure seems more ethical to me to openly approach pre-warp cultures like that. And they knew that in TOS! What I just described was Kirk's assignment on Neural!

But yeah despite my nitpicking this was an excellent episode.

[championoftheoppressed]

Doctor Who - Season 2 / Series 15 Thoughts & Review

Normally, I organize these posts into what I liked and didn't like. But I've gotta be honest... this was not a very good season of Doctor Who. The performances and aesthetics are phenomenal, but that's not enough.

Spoilers under the cut.

First and foremost, the season simply isn't long enough. Eight episodes is not enough time to establish a good Doctor/Companion dynamic, have a series of fun adventures, and deliver on a season-long arc. That being said, I do think they could have done a better job than this. We need more normal episodes. We need silly little adventures that focus on the characters, instead of making every single one the next big thing.

Because that's the main problem here. Ncuti Gatwa is phenomenal in the part, but it's pretty much all his natural charisma. The writing has let him down so badly and doesn't give him enough to work with. I'm not surprised that the season ended with Fifteen regenerating -- Ncuti's departure has been rumored for ages -- but it still felt far too soon. The length of his run is comparable to Christopher Eccleston's, but the Ninth Doctor got a full character arc in there. Meanwhile, Fifteen was a lot of fun, but not much else. We didn't get nearly the same depth as we've had from other versions of the character.

And Belinda? Oh, what wasted potential. She started out so strong! A badass nurse in over her head, who refuses to sit idly by when there's work to be done. And the idea of an unwilling companion, like in the classic era, is great! But the show does not follow through on these. As the season progresses, Belinda slowly loses everything that made her interesting. She's simply along for the ride. She doesn't contribute much to the story lines. She never develops a proper rapport with the Doctor. And the finale even retcons her entire backstory, for no particular reason. I honestly felt like I was watching a Chibnall era companion again -- there's just nothing there. Which is especially infuriating because Varada Sethu is so good.

It's also even more apparent that Belinda doesn't work because whenever Ruby shows up, she is instantly more interesting and enjoyable to watch. The show actually put in the work to develop her last season, and it's blindingly obvious when you have both characters side by side.

The individual episodes are also more misses than hits. I enjoyed "The Robot Revolution," "Lux," and "Lucky Day." Everything else was a bit of a mess. "The Well" is an entirely unnecessary and infinitely worse follow-up to "Midnight." "The Interstellar Song Contest" has offensively messy political messaging, plus the inclusion of the Doctor casually torturing someone for no reason. And... okay, I think I owe "The Story and the Engine" a rewatch, because of how many people adored it, but I have to admit, I was not really a fan on first viewing.

The reveal of the Rani is so unsatisfying. Mrs. Flood feels like a repeat of Susan Triad from last season, and then the two of them don't have the presence or the personal connection needed to carry the finale as primary villains. The resolution is also quite anticlimactic, with Omega eating the Rani and the Doctor just zapping him back into place. Like, really? That was it?

The whole idea of the wish world created by Conrad is interesting and visually well-executed, but without any real substance to back it up, it's just not enough.

Poppy's inclusion is also baffling. She becomes all-important, and I just don't buy it at all.

And I'm sorry, but Billie Piper? Haven't we already had our novelty regeneration? Can't we move on to something new? I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Tennant's return to the role, but I don't think RTD is capable of pulling it off twice. Especially if this is the quality of writing we can expect.

So yeah. This is a bummer. I don't think this is the worst season of Modern Who -- Flux still has that honor -- but this is certainly near the bottom.

Here's hoping Ncuti and Varada can get a kickass Big Finish series to do their characters more justice.

[serving-saucy-fanfics]

My Kinktober 2024 Masterlist & First Kinktober Experience (with my Overall Opinion & Tips for Month-long Challenges at the End) 🍁🔥

Warning: As Kinktober is a challenge centered around sexual content, there are sexual terms like kinks in the chapter titles!

Before October: I'm excited, maybe I'll try Kinktober this year.

Day 1: People tell me that spooky season has begun, I think "Yay, more fanfic & fanart". 🖤💕

Day 2-5: Exactly. I wanted to be one of those people. 😆🤭 Well, let me look at a few lists and see what I could write

Day 6: Hm, why not take this prompt to a fantasy level? Also, can I make the reader's sex neutral like people make their gender neutral?

->Yes. Yes, I can: You Raise Me Up (So We Have Sex in the Air) — Fluffy NSFW Homelander x Gender-neutral Reader /AO3

Day 7: Okay, Okay, I've got this. Someone else wrote a fic for this character with a similar kink once, I can write this knowing that a good execution of it is possibly.

->voilà: Gotham!Edward Nygma x Reader: Doctor, Doctor, Please (Think Better of Yourself) Chapter 1: Comfort and Negotiate (Medical Play, nothing explict) /A03

I wanted to write an actually explicit ending but the lead-up to a kink I wasn't that familiar with took up all of the fic.

Still, I made it and oof, uploading it to tumblr & AO3 took time.

But wow, I can write and publish something in one day?! 😮 Crazy. 😁

I go to bed tired.

Day 8: Hm, maybe I could write something for this character from a show I watched way back who totally needed some happiness.

->Thomas Barrow x Reader: Sit Back, Relax, and Enjoy (Handjob/Fingering, smut can be skipped) /A03

Again I started the fic on the same day & finished writing in the evening (this is the start of a bad rhythm 😅).

Day 9: I guess if I wrote something for a character from a fandom I'm not really active in, I could also write something with one from a show I stopped watching...containing one of the reasons why I stopped watching it.

->Serena Waterford x Reader: Confusing Comfort to Forbidden Comfort (Non-Con but not main pairing!) /A03

To finish this one in time, I definitely stayed up too long. Writing something in one day for four days in a row is too much for me.

Day 10: Yeah, even if I like the prompts & characters, it takes up way too much time! 🥺

Still->Loki x Reader: Icy Pleasures with a Hint of Lust (Ice Play, the smut can be avoided) /AO3

An interesting thing I noticed: establishing reasons for trying out something kinky (which might not be the reader's thing) often took up enough pages that I could mark the beginning of the smut & people could still read the part before. 🤔 I like it ✅

My sleep schedule though? Has been getting progressively worse since the start of my Kinktober writing.

Day 11: Tired and knowing that I really wanted to post the fic for the next day, I ended my streak today. It was worth it.

Day 12: This idea I already had a few days before, so I thought it would be done faster. On the contrary: I didn't manage to post in time, wrot the end at night, and then forgot to post it! 😭

->Regina Mills x Reader: Mirror, Mirror, Cheering Up (Mirror Sex, smut avoidable) /AO3

Day 13 to Day 17: Mhm, not really feeling it anymore. I'd rather take my time with fanfics, especially if they're about intimate things like sex.

Day 18 & 19: Still, I started working on a story for Day 19, which wasn't finished by then.

Day 20-31: On one hand, I realized how crazy writing something every day would've been giving that my life is already hard enough, but on the other hand I still began new fanfics as well as sequels for the ones I'd written.

As time went on, my goal became to publish at least those, which I didn't manage to do but I'm okay with.

My overall thoughts on Kinktober:

It was a good opportunity to write things that I wouldn't have necessarily written otherwise (cause writing sexual things can sometimes feel like telling too much of yourself, even if something's not even my kink 😂😆)

Even though I'm not much of a horror fan, I wish there was more October-y/autumnal/spookiness. This month has a lot of potential, so "just" writing kinky fics doesn't feel that special to me, since I'm open to write a lot of them anyways. 🎃

Finding out about a bunch of new kinks was fun but for every one of those there were at least two I already knew, just with a different name 😂

My tips for month-long challenges:

brainstorm in advance (for example for me at least one day already helped a lot), ideally for the whole month

set realistic goals, even if they're not the same as those of other artists. Remember: a month-long challenge means that there will be more art than usual regardless of whether you participate or not, people probably won't notice that you don't post every day 🧡

My tips specifically for Kinktober:

Don't underestimate the time consent talks & foreplay can take.

though if writing this much smut is too much, you can also focus on those things 😚

If you know that "hard" kinks can be difficult for you to find out about, make your own list (not gonna lie, I was shocked at at least one kink I found on someone's list)

If the idea of purposefully writing (about) non-consensual things like rape bothers you, make your own list!❗Almost all that I looked up had some type of non-con on it without a warning beforehand.

I hope this helped someone interested in challenges like this or that it felt relatable 😙🧡🤝

If you did a challenge like this: what was it like for you? Do you have other tips & tricks?

[variousqueerthings]

things about the episode + season

yeah 8 episodes is just too rushed -- which i think feels even more obvious in this episode, because it's... rushed. what can ya do, if you've got 8 episodes, i guess that's what you've got but... alas

ruby's story was pretty satisfying. it's smaller in scope than most companions, almost it's own mini-story amidst the wider dw sphere of things, which may be a smart choice, but does mean she'll probably fall under the scope of companions that i think were fun and fine, rather than like. chemistry altering. but then, i don't think she as a character was entirely for me, as much as giving a little intro to new (younger) watchers

(once upon a time that was me and rose, *wistful sigh*)

can you imagine just being some lady who had a bad time of it as a kid/teen, but has managed to build a pretty okay life and then to discover that the idea of your existence saved the universe from the god of death... idk, just a pretty strange day in the life of louise that must have been

i also. listen im a slut for "the doctor can offer someone all of time and space, but for some reason it's never enough (and if it is, it implies something will go terribly wrong)" themes. they're some of my favourite DW themes

back to the "rushed" side of things, the compulsory DNA testing, ive mentioned it so many times by now lol, but eek and the like. as a gimmick to get the episode to the next plotpoint, i was not a fan unless that's something to unpack at a later point. i think in some other point of canon i might have been more chill about it, even as something more thrown in there, but something about it here feels both lazy and a bit tone deaf. may have to unpack that more separately at some point

UNIT continues. to be. my fucking nemesis. why is everyone working for UNIT??? why are we just chill about this organisation in-canon???? when are they ever actually helpful??? (in nu!who) I just. they both add nothing for me and are a politically fucked up notion within the scope of this story in the way they're currently written

sutekh. i think also suffers a bit from "rushed" syndrome for me, in that in the end he just kinda sits on top of the tardis (with a sexy voice) and then gets killed by being dragged behind it, it's kind of the least interesting part of the story to me

as a setup for where this doctor's story is going, am very excited -- both about all the susan mentions, the continued wtf-ness implied by the doctor not being a native gallifreyan, the doctor's therapy self lasting all of... well a few episodes really, but certainly by this episode it's like. "pat pat."

i liked this season. it's given some larger stakes for the future (all those gods i think are still going to make a presence + mrs flood who im ngl i thought for a lot of this season was susan triad woops), but overall was relatively contained and didn't build a million mysteries on top of an enigma on top of a girl and what does it all mean? we'll find out... later.... maybe....

ultimately: good new season, enjoyed our companion, liked her arc, like what it's doing for the doctor's arc

[kameonerd566]

The Resurrectionist Pub

I have a lots of thoughts and observations about the resurrectionist pub lol

okay so first off, I think its going to play a pretty big role in s3; I mean, its called the resurrectionist, and like the second coming is Jesus coming back yeah? Its also got a ton of easter eggs and tie-ins with a lot of what happens in the background of the season.

To start, in an interview with David Tennant, apparently an idea for the sequel title Terry and Neil had tossed around was "668: The Neighbor of the Beast" (hilarious tbh) and the address of the pub is 66 Goat Gate!! I mean, it could just be a little easter egg, but either way i am now INTRIGUED

[Image of the record with "The Resurrectionist/66, Goat Gate/Edinburgh" written on a small piece of paper and taped to it]

I'll add more under the cut

okay so next, when we see the pub, the sign flips and its the Doctor from the grave robbing flashback. Later in he episode, Aziraphale tells Crowley (and us) that this is because that dude killed himself and so they named the pub after him (i guess as a way for his ideas to 'resurrect'?). Why would this information be relevant to us? It seems pretty clear that there is something closely tied to heaven and hell with this pub. I think it is also worth mentioning that in response to this ask, Neil says that they were always going to use the song Everyday for this, because that was the song he and Terry had decided would be best (and funniest) to signify that the end times were near.

To tie this into the actual s1 and s2 lore, I think maybe it was part of the Ineffable Plan that Gabe and Beez would meet here, like this song, fall in love, and tamper with the jukebox as an accidental way of sending a warning. I wish we knew more about the plan that Gabe refused, but alas, I think maybe this meeting place wasn't so random. Also worth noting that the matchbox Gabe used for the fly is from the Resurrectionist pub, and we get this in episode 1:

[Image of the matchbox with: "Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out." Job 41:19]

It seems that they really wanted the audience to read that, but I can't figure out why- even with the job flashback we get later I'm pretty sure nobody was breathing fire. Is it just a funny pun because its matches? why is it pulled from Job (I'm sure there are plenty of other witty bible verses about fire)? Its interesting to me that so many different aspects of s2 are all pointing to this pub. Not to mention that later when Gabe quotes the thing about the stars singing we can literally hear God's voice in unison with his. ((tangential other theory I have- was God trying to speak through him? is the Metatron lying about how close he is to God?))

so, a quick recap, we know that an idea for the sequel novel that was never written was 668: Neighbor of the Beast, and we know that Terry picked out the song Everyday to be the one to signify the end times getting closer. We know that the matches are from this pub and that they reference Job. We know that throughout the season, Gabe is spitting bible verses with God herself in the background. We also know that both the grave robbing flashback doctor guy has ties to the pub. I don't really know where to go from here theory wise, but yeah, there's definitely some juicy stuff coming and I can't wait to make sense of it all next season!! Pls let me know your thoughts as well!!

[besidesitstoowarm]

"Flesh and Stone" thoughts

i'll be honest i didn't remember most of this episode. most of the good stuff is just teasers for the finale. i do think this story had a really different approach to the angels than we saw in "blink". "blink" was fundamentally about fear of/acceptance of aging. sally loses her best friend only to suddenly meet her grandson; in the space of an afternoon her boyfriend is now a dying old man. the angels themselves are scary, but they don't kill you, they don't even harm you. they just... uproot you. you're in a new world and there's nothing you can do except survive, make peace with the new reality

whereas here, they're sick, they're dying, they're crumbling. they move slowly, and when they find you, they snap your neck and steal your voice. the stone looks eerily like a rotting skull and they reach for you every time the flashlights flicker. they enter your mind and start turning off your body. they surround you without you even noticing. they make you afraid, for fun. it's a much more visceral type of fear, a much more direct and brutal kind. i like that it's framed not as a retcon-y "these are a different type of angel" or "they changed their behavior" either of which would kind of dilute the impact factor, but rather "they had to adapt bc they're about to die"

anyway they get back to the wreck of the byzantium and we get the iconic "i absolutely trust him" "is he some kind of madman?" "...i absolutely trust him" river is so much fun. in the engine room, amy starts counting down from ten and the crack on the wall is back. the angels are very interested in it and so the gang is able to get away through the oxygen factory-forest. amy has to keep her eyes closed bc the angel is in her mind and otherwise it'll get out. poor amy

we hear river is on parole from stormcage for killing a great man. jorah gets headlocked, sad! well there's other guys. the doctor gets so agitated with river for not being straight with him, for getting him in this mess, bc he can't figure out what to do now. amy's guards walk into the light and go to heaven. the angels surround her. the entire scene where she has to try and walk, w her eyes closed, to the other deck of the ship, while also not touching any angels or letting them know she can't see, was so tense. if i were her i'd just have died. i don't like that we see the angels move; i do much prefer the version in "blink" where it seems like we the audience "count" towards having eyes on them, it felt immersive. and improved the scare factor

river teleports her out, the doctor inverts gravity so that the angels all fall into the crack and get erased, the end. it saved amy. river mentions she will next see the doctor at the pandorica, which he calls a fairy tale. i love how much fairy tales are the theme of the season. they flirt and banter, she goes back to prison. amy takes the doctor home and lets him know she's getting married tomorrow and gets. extremely aggressive w him! girl idk where you got the idea he'd be okay w this. and he's not having fun and it's icky to watch and i feel so bad for rory

so yeah i think this story has a really creepy/scary first half and a kind-of-nothing plot teaser second half. which i'm fine with, it didn't bore me at least. and next time i get to rewatch an episode i literally remember nothing about

[eolewyn1010]

Charité, season 4 - episode 1

Alright. Let's do this. Consider everything past this point a spoiler, and yourself warned.

The dramatic lighting and music (vocalizing instead of the instrumentals that dominated the Charité music over three seasons) make the first scene appear very stylized, like a theater play. I don't hate it, but it sure is something else. I guess they broke with the continuity when they chose this season's setting.

Post-Corona, and she's not wearing a mask in surgery? Consider me unimpressed.

Ew. What did that poor greenscreen do to you?

"fires in Czechia coming closer to Saxony" - 2049 taking notes from 2022, huh? Ever so optimistic.

At least we get pretty lesbians. In fond memory of Therese...

They sure took the fashion choices in an interesting direction. And by that I mean, eurgh.

Who is this slimeball and can I castrate him.

Heritage of the last several seasons: An uncouth but motherly nurse with a heavy Berlin dialect; every generation needs one.

See, if you can 3D-project shiny holographs into the middle of the room, you should adapt your architecture. An auditorium that uses this technology should be built in a circle around the projector so everyone has the same chances of seeing the goddamn things! Logic, anyone?

In about 25 years, colors in architecture will have died out for good. Depressing, but not unlikely. The look of this place is giving me anxiety.

This woman's mouth movements don't fit her words at all. Why is she dubbed, and why so poorly?

"I don't eat sweets." *has sweets standing next to her* Is she dumb, or does she think Doc Safadi sr. is dumb?

Oh, nice, they have a botanical garden!

Super-quick zoom! Do you see our modern technology? DO YOU SEE IT YET!? More zoom! Sheesh, cut it out.

Why is everyone so awkward / impolite to Julia? Because her wife is pushing the health reform?

Poly marriage. Nice. ...and also, Nachtigall, ick hör dir trapsen.

Maral is ever so charming to Dylan. Isn't it nice to condescend to your co-worker from day 1?

Oh, nice, they all have universal translators. I get that they want to put in a lot of international variety, but why does the girl not speak any German when her mother does?

Take out ovarial tissue? From a teenager??? If she ever decides to have kids, can't she start by trying it the more obvious way? Why take it out in the first place? It's well-kept in her body, isn't it?

This mother is the worst.

Julia actress's delivery of her lines is very inconsistent. Some scenes, she plays good; others, she sounds like a third-grader reciting Erlkönig.

Did they steal that shot from Tatort: Der Herr des Waldes?

This concrete house is as fugly on the inside as it is on the outside. Thanks, I hate it.

Ehm. Okay. ngl, Martin's and Otto's PDA looked a lot more believable. Can you at least commit to your gay smoochies?

Why does the Armenian-German kid have a French name?

Brat wants to join the army for his democratic values. What, does he want to bring freedom to the poor savages? Gawd.

Starting to think Nils and Seda aren't a couple anymore, which makes the friendly relationship they have all the nicer.

Rest of the family is bitching. Greeeaaat.

Giving your doctor false medical information before surgery? Sure, why not! Is everyone here an idiot?

I don't really vibe with these extreme zooms.

Now she's wearing a mask - that's barely even covering her chin, nevermind her nose. Why is this so inconsistent?

Really good of you to treat a dying patient in hearing distance to another patient who has the same disease. Like. Just lock down sound transmission to the neighbor quarantine room?? Why is everyone so illogical?

Yeah, fuck. He's only a background character, so we give up after three attempts.

Maral got her self-righteousness from Seda, huh?

Yay, pandemics! Every generation needs one.

This all sounds very negative because I'm not terribly into the speculative future setting, but honestly, I don't hate watching it. My engagement with it is low in comparison to previous seasons Charité, but it still is interesting. And I'm kinda committed to the trash factor.