#please discuss with me

[mediacircuspod]

Coanda effect,,,,, guys I’m frothing at the mouth. I think the tie is so fucking important. With f1, the argument of who the “goat” is will never be fully answered. You can have stats back ur claims up but at the end of the day there are drivers who’s careers are cut short, those that could have done better in different cars, drivers who have tied in stats, drivers who have a better handle on certain mechanics then others. We can go in circles about who the best driver is and as the fic has mentioned multiple times, time is a flat circle. The best inspire the best because they are the best. There is no one “goat”. Gojo had to learn that. That he WAS the best during HIS time. That it’s okay that he may not be anymore. That he can move on knowing his legacy has inspired more of the best, and that’s really what being the best is all about :)

[sapphirebluejewel]

If Next Class had a Season 5/6 (written by me*)

Esme Song-Therapy and diagnoses for her issues obviously. But it needs to be a different journey than we've seen in the past. There are always new ways to treat mental health and it is a continual conversation. But I do think she needs to apologize to Frankie. Also a new hairstyle, please.

Baaz Nahir-Since the actor has beefed up I think his arc will be joining a sport(swimming because iykyk) and becoming more popular and kinda wanting to be more than a nerd. He becomes friends with Saad and some other less friendly people too through the swim team. Has a cute small relationship thing with Megan. Has to learn to balance his new friends with his old ones.

Vijay Maraj-He's involved in student council again. Queer Straight Alliance president for sure. We can discover more about his home situation. My idea is that his dad left when he came out and started a whole new family. Also, he needs a love interest because he needs an actual good relationship. All around just make him a more three-dimensional character. I think his look could evolve as well. We know he's into social media but that has been explored a lot in the past.

Hunter Hollingsworth-Hunter needs to work in his bigotry and while he does he's shunned by the school. This means he is NOT in all-inclusive since well he's not very inclusive. I imagine he gets voted out. That's his whole storyline and he might beg for Yael back but they won't have him. And I want to have him and Frankie bonding and her trying to help him.

Frankie Hollingsworth-So I want her to actually have a healthy polyamorous relationship! Degrassi needs to represent a healthy poly relationship. Cause so far they haven't. I'm thinking with two new juniors and either all three get into it first and two of them and then a third is added. I don't really know all I know is that I think it would be good for her character. Also pan storyline and her going to a therapist to talk about her past and maybe how her father actually affected her. This is probably where her trust issues stem from. And her acknowledging her privilege.

Lola Pacini-Regular up and downs in her relationship with Saad. She wants him to be more involved. Maybe they break up? She goes to talk to Yael about this stuff. But Miles definitely comes back in the graduation episode and they have a talk and he tells her what he would have done if she told him she was pregnant. And just them staying in touch. Also, I'd want to see her relationship with her dad and a storyline with that. I love Lola and she's an interesting character but I don't know what else to do with her.

Yael Baron-Expanding on the nonbinary stuff. They meet others who aren't binary and learn more about all the different types of pronouns. Becoming more confident and realizing they don't need Hunter. Issues with the binder and learning you can't wear it all the time and talks about top surgery. And expanding on their style. Also I want to know why they wore the wig before.

Saad Al'Maliki-Lola encourages Saad to put himself out there more and make friends in Degrassi since it really isn't that bad of a place. So he joins the swim team and starts to make friends with Baaz. Also more of his photography. His relationships struggles with Lola.

Shay Powers-Shay for president? And then she will struggle under the weight of school, sports, applying for colleges, and a relationship. I would push her as the main girl in this new era. She had a breakdown most likely and Tiny comes back to help her through it. To Shay it just seems everything is happened at once.

Rasha Zuabi-Rasha will direct and star in the school play. Part of her storyline will deal with her struggle in her long-distance relationship with Zoe but I think they will ultimately stay together. Degrassi needs a college relationship that doesn't break up at all. She will also struggle with not having many friends at the beginning of the season and not fitting in with the trio of senior girls.

Abra Al'Maliki-I'm thinking a little crush on Baaz especially because her brother is friends with him. I don't think he would like her back just because she's Saad's sister and not like his new image but it wouldn't be creepy or weird. Also, we just see her with a friend around being teenage girls giggling k'now. Her maturing and wearing makeup and stuff.

New Characters

Imani Shaw-Abra's best friend, she becomes insecure about her body throughout the season. Social media should play a role in her insecurity. We just see her being a teenage girl with Abra in the background. Junior as well like Abra who I always think is way younger. African American.

Thạch Ngoc Erin -One of Frankie's new partners who is on the Bright Sparks team. Her shown being an actual good autistic representation. Maybe kind of a mysterious bad-girl image because Degrassi hasn't had that in a while. Junior and Vietnamese. Her parents arrived as refugees after the Vietnam War.

Koda Migizi-A new friend Yael meets in support group. Auditions for play later on. Has to contend with being indigenous and genderfluid. Freshman. First Nation of Ojibwe but I am not well versed in the indigenous people of Canada so tell me if this isn't accurate.

Adrian Qadeeh-Frankie's other new partner and on the Bright Sparks team. He's Jewish and faces casual antisemitism. Maybe Palestinian heritage because that would be relevant to what's happening today. Junior.

Josh Moore-A junior boy on the swim team. Basically, a typical jock who's stuck up, sexist, a bit dumb, and a bit aggressive. Degrassi needs one of those again just to cause issues. Maybe he vapes too cause that's something that goes on with teens now. This isn't an issue that has to be resolved but to just make him more relatable. White if that isn't obvious. He's like Degrassi's version of Spider from Heartbreak High.

Esther Chassé-A sophomore aro spec ace spec person Vijay meets in GSA. Has OCD but that isn't revealed until later and she struggles with it. Starts up the Degrassi radio show again with Jesus. The radio show would be in the background during other storylines.

Megan Chuang-A sophomore girl introduced in season 6 who has a crush on the newly popular Baaz. Her parents have been divorced since she was small. Others may think it's weird but it's all she's ever known. Involved in student council as like a junior representative or something. Her mother is Chinese and her dad is not. Has step siblings.

Jesus Botello-Sophomore is the other half of the Degrassi talk show. He would be in classes with little quips. Uses crutches as a mobility aid and sometimes a wheelchair. Maybe money problems because of whatever causes this disability. How his family's money issues seperate him from others who are more carefree with their money. Latino.

Guglielmo Iggy Brigham-Vijay's boy toy who doesn't actually go to Degrassi. The veiwer won't find out his name and he's just called Iggy throughout. He is not out to his family.

[digiblueslush]

guys i've been wanting to yap about this for a while but its something that initially sounds kind of bad, but once I explain it I think it makes sense. This is a HUGE hear me out, and it is a complex, twisty, confusing idea and i get that, but if you have different or similar ideas to what I'm talking about PLEASE discuss with me I'd love to hear your thoughts about it and learn more about the debate too.

I think AI is actually somewhat ok.

I mean think of it. I am an artist, but I learned how to draw by observing other art. I learned what styles I like by observing others and replicating a combination of what I like. I google things and use what I find on google and tell other people when they ask about it. Is that not what AI does too? everybody can ask to be credited if you use their work as inspiration, but truth is unless someone is tracing or totally plagiarizing (which I think is ok as long as it stays as sketchbook practice or is credited when posted and isn't claimed to be original and isn't commercial. I've encountered my fair share of terminally online artists who think if something is just somewhat similar to theirs its plagiarism), most artwork IS a combination of observations we've made throughout the years both in the real world and of other artists we enjoy. Doesn't AI do that too?

This doesn't mean I have no issue with AI. In fact, I do have pretty significant issues with it to the point I won't use it at all, even if its right there when I search something. The issue I have with AI isn't within its programming, but rather how it is utilized. Currently AI, specifically referring to AI and art, is an EXTREMELY commercialized field. It is used to cut corners and make money with slop. If a human artist were to make art for a company, they likely wouldn't do so without being paid or at least benefitted in some way. Majority of people now only care about efficiency at least in some way. Social media has shifted to be more efficient in getting you to laugh, getting you to be angry, and getting you to stay on their app and watch their advertisements for as long as possible. Same day delivery is typically preferred over 1-2 day shipping both by consumers and big cooperation's. And AI gives company's that additional boost in efficiency.

Efficiency in itself is also a complex discussion. I view it as a generally bad thing, especially with how it is being utilized in the government right now (sadly in the US). I don't really think whats going on in the government is actually efficiency for the governments role, rather for the oligarchy. Outside of that context though, efficiency to some extent is necessary. If were talking AI, I don't view it as necessary or even wanted in most scenarios, but while writing this I thought of 2 uses that I think are currently acceptable. I think some people don't recognize the fact that AI provides many people with access to knowledge and information to those who otherwise wouldn't have access. Yes AI might not be as well as a doctor, but AI is quick AND (at least some softwares) free. In a society where the healthcare system is a giant cooperation rather than actual healthcare, it is great that people are still able to access medical information and somewhat reliable advice when they don't have insurance or transportation to the doctor or don't have a support system knowledgeable on health conditions. The second one I thought of is small businesses WHICH I KNOW SOUNDS BAD but hear me out for a second here. small businesses are typically a very high initial investment. Unless it is a business where a logo and advertisements are something that the business should reasonably be capable of (artists, graphic designers, screen printing, ect.) hiring an artist adds to that initial investment. I would still 100% prefer if a small business factored that into their costs, but I also understand its hard to initially get footing being a small business. If that is the one thing from preventing a small business from opening, I think using AI would be ok as long as they hired an actual artist for other projects moving forward

BACK TO THE ACTUALL TOPIC HOLY SHIT LMAO, the issue I have with AI is that big companies use it out of greed, not of necessity. Billionaires aren't something that can ethically exist. I would argue the same thing for the majority of millionaires as well. in what world is it acceptable for these companies to use unpaid services over paid services that already exist and are knowingly much better at the actual task at hand? especially considering the fact that AI is relatively new, meaning they would've HAD to already have artistic and creative services within their company. AI is not to the point that it can act independently, at least to public knowledge. If AI was truly as advanced as humans are, it wouldn't be as big of an issue since I'd assume they'd also want to be paid. But its not. AI is still just a tool. tools cannot make art. Tools help giant companies become gianter and maintain their status against threatening companies. Until AI becomes completely independant, it is not something I can fully support.

TLDR, AI existing and doing things is fine, but only when its fully independent (which it currently isn't) or when used to provide access to those without access to certain knowledge or information. It is midterms this week, I'm running off of little sleep and dimension 20, I have a convention I'm unprepared for this weekend, and ultimately i know this likely isn't phrased right but I needed it out of my brain so it just kinda happened.

ID LOVE TO DISCUSS THIS THOUGH BECAUSE I ONLY SEE POLARIZED "GOOD" OR "BAD" THOUGHTS ON AI AND I THINK ITS MUICH MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT SO NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK OF IT PLEASE ITS SO INTERESTING TO THINK ABOUT

i swear if modern philosophers could exist outside of a religious context id be SO. FUCKING. GOOD.

[ahsokalegend]

One of my favorite choices the Apothecary Diaries made was making the Emperor a “normal guy” (as far as I know as an anime-only). He’s not evil. He’s not hindering Mao Mao’s journey. He respects the concubines.

If anything his lack of autonomy and presence as the most powerful person in the country further enhances the show’s themes of working within the confines of class and gender inequality.

The previous emperor was a horrible, horrible pervert. Okay, then this emperor only weds women of age… Until he’s forced to take his father’s precious wife due to politics. The current emperor reasonably avoids her.

Eunuchs exist? Bam! now the surgery is outlawed, but this will create a reduction in male labor around the palace.

The emperor clearly favors few women. Well, now he must recognize a concubine with a powerful politician father playing the system.

He supports Mao Mao toeing the line of social expectations for women, but hasn’t removed the law against women preparing medicine. It makes one think, if he wanted to, could he make the change at all? For every two steps forward, he’s forced to take one step back.

In this universe even the Emperor is limited by social pressure and the expectations of his station. His life and that of his children is out of his control, and if that isn’t such a compelling piece of world building I don’t know what is.

If that’s how the author twists the narrative of the Emperor you better believe her female characters dealing with women’s issues in this society are even better written.

[crowleysgirl56]

Wait! WAIT! Wait a god damn fucking second!

Was “Oh Crowley, nothing lasts forever” actually about being in Heaven?!

Crowley says to him “You can’t leave this bookshop” and then Aziraphale responds “Oh Crowley, nothing lasts forever.”

Was what he saying actually “If you think we’re leaving here forever for Heaven, then please know it’s only temporary, we’re only going to Heaven to fix things, then we can come back here.”

Is that why he gives that confused look with that sad little smile when Crowley covers his eyes. Because he doesn’t understand why Crowley hasn’t understood his meaning?!

DID I FIGURE IT OUT?!

[bromantically]

u seriously have to let go of the idea that "man" and "woman" are totally separate. u have to be comfortable w the idea that identities are way more complex than a binary. if u wanna break the binary u HAVE to accept that there are identities thatll blur and coexist in ways that are only truly contradictory if ur still adhering to the gender binary u claim to reject. sometimes women are gay men. sometimes men are lesbians. these are not impossible and theyre not contradictory, theyre just experiences that exist because man and woman are just 2 genders out of countless others, not opposites

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[teaboot]

Social anxiety level: Chatting with someone experiencing a schizophrenic episode and becoming increasingly self-concious of how I'm just saying "That sounds really stressful", "I've never heard of that but it sounds scary", and "You must be pretty worried about that" over and over again

[frenchublog]

[manixpixiefangirl]

Mel being an empath

(Okay i just got say arcane has sparked passion in me i haven’t felt for a show and fandom in yeeeears i haven’t written a meta in forever so bare with me.)

Anyway at first watching act 3 the reveal of Mel being empath felt crazy like that’s such a huge bomb that we didn’t get build up on or much follow through but i do think it explains so much about her character. Traditionally empaths are written to be overly emotional or sensitive sort of like telepaths and being smart but Mel wasn’t written like that she’s quite calm and collected her most emotional outbursts are with her mother and jayce and even with jayce it’s only because he’s hurling accusations at her and she still remains relatively calm in her responses. I think her knowing people’s emotions wether she was aware of this or not plays into this she knows Jayce is coming from a place of hurt and confusion where as her mother back in season one she knows she’s being disingenuous with the reasons of being in piltover.

First watch this just seems like a disgruntled daughter and her mother trying to get on her good side but knowing that Mel can read people’s emotions adds another layer she see right through her mother which not only from just being raised by her but through her her empath skills.

also wanted to bring this up someone pointed this out tiktok and someone else pointed out that this maybe because we’re seeing this scene through Mel’s POV and since she is empath she see that Maddie is secretly enjoying executing Caitlyn. This got me thinking about her career as council member/politician I’ve wondered how she got so high up while seemingly not only being the youngest member but being young period if she’s assumed to be Jayce’s and Victor’s age this makes her about 24-27 in s1 which is extremely young for council member which essentially this region’s governing body. Being able to sense people’s true intentions allowed her to know who to align herself who not to, knowing when people agreed and disagreed with her, or when people sympathize with your views, causes, or concerns on certain issues which all helped her advance quickly her career. I’m sure being from a high born house helped but we see other high born houses in council positions but they’re all older.

She also seems to be somewhat bored with politics and somewhat disillusioned when we meet her i mean giving a fellow council member a child’s toy almost like a practical joke doesn’t seem like someone who views politics and her colleagues with utmost seriousness it isn’t until she meets Jayce that we see the passion for change. I think being empath she saw that Jayce and Vicktor’s vision for hextech and Piltover and Zaun were pure and genuine which is why she supported them. I also hate the rhetoric that Mel never loved jayce and just manipulated for her own gain she does everything in her power to stay true to him and Vicktor’s vision she doesn’t push him to do anything that goes against their morals and goals. When Jayce is worried about Vicktor and his absence at the council may lead to she reassures she won’t let them corrupt their dream. Like i said early she isn’t written like a typical empath she also isn’t written like a typical manipulator(if you can call her that) she is genuine in what she’s says to Jayce she just also knows how people work and his feelings on the matter so she’s able to play on that.

Ambessa describes her to be too soft and she tells Jayce she didn’t Medarda standards i think the way she operates as empath is the cause of that I don’t think Mel is welling to corrupt herself or others when getting what she wants unlike her Mother and the rest of her family i think they operate much more cut through in their goals.

Whew anyway mind any typos i didn’t mean for this be as long as turned out just wanted to share revelation i had!:)

[whathappeninglestappen]

F1 Fans, We Need to Talk About What Happened After the Race

Okay guys, this is going to be long, but I can’t stop thinking about it and I really need to talk to someone about it.

After the race, Max goes to get weighed. As soon as he returns to his P2 stand, MBS comes over to talk to him. Max hasn’t even set his helmet down, and you can already tell MBS is pissing him off. Max looks visibly annoyed. Right after, he heads straight over to talk to Charles. You can see him walking away from MBS with his eyes locked on Charles.

Charles turns to Max, and they have this quiet, kind of awkward exchange. It really seems like they both want to say more but can’t. Charles asks Max about the penalty, and Max just nods—he doesn’t say a word. I think they were both super aware of the cameras on them, and Max probably couldn’t say what he really wanted to. Charles definitely picks up on Max’s silence too. Usually, those two debrief a bit more after a race.

Charles then puts his watch back on, and Max returns to the P2 stand while Oscar is doing his interview with DC. That’s when MBS approaches Max again. I couldn’t really catch Max’s body language because F1TV stayed focused on Oscar’s interview, but something was definitely off.

Then Max goes to give his own interview—and it’s clear he’s angry. He keeps it super short, and Charles looks visibly surprised when it’s his turn.

The cooldown room was awkward. Charles and Oscar tried to keep the conversation going, but Max was clearly in his head. He laughed at their jokes a bit, but he still seemed really defeated.

On the podium, Max looked depressed when he walked out. And side note—did anyone else notice Charles squirming during the anthems? He looked dizzy for a second, like he might pass out. I was genuinely worried he wasn’t okay. I think that’s also why he didn’t spray Oscar as much—he might’ve been feeling sick.

And Max didn’t spray anyone either. He deliberately stepped aside to avoid it and stayed in the background. I honestly didn’t think he was even going to stick around for the photo. He did congratulate both Oscar and Charles with a bottle clink, which I thought was really respectful.

So, in conclusion: I don’t think Max is upset with Charles or Oscar at all. In all his interviews, he praised Oscar. I genuinely believe MBS said something threatening to Max in parc fermé. While I agree Max deserved the penalty or should’ve given the position back, I don’t agree with drivers being silenced.

The FIA is supposed to be a governing body that protects the drivers and enforces the rules fairly. How can they do that if they can’t even handle criticism? Max doesn’t deserve hate just because he’s not allowed to speak his mind. The drivers can’t speak up against the FIA, but we, as fans, can.

I don’t know what we can do exactly, but I do know we need to do something.

If you made it this far—thank you for listening to my rant. Happy for Max’s P2 and Charles P3!

[chikorra]

'I'll be who you were and I'll be even more.'

[Practice with reference - Mother & Daughter photography by justinveenema]

[itsahotminuteinbetween]

You guys ever think about the implications of the dca's unmoving faceplate?

I don't know exactly what material it's made of, but I'd assume metal or plastic or a similar unyielding substance. There probably aren't any active sensors there, besides something light-sensitive to allow for the color-swap when switching between Sun and Moon - otherwise, I doubt any further complications would be added to their design, considering Fazco's determination not to waste a single penny.

But think about it - obviously, by that logic, Sun and Moon can't feel their face. If you were to cup their cheeks and hold either side of their faceplate, they wouldn't understand the feeling you're trying to convey.

They'd feel the pressure, sure - but nothing else, nothing tangible. There is no warmth that passes from your palm to their stylized cheek, no soft touch or careful sincerity; only an empty number calculated by the uptick of an empty, unfeeling machine which knows the meaning of the gesture only through the understanding that others have.

Even so, it cannot convey its gratitude; its plastic smile does not bend to the will of emotional facsimiles. Its eyes cannot crinkle with mirth. It can only let out a garbled, artificial expression of gratitude, processed by a microchip the size of the tip of its cold fingers, sent through an electrical current to create a wavelength of sound that you can process - a mere echo of what you send from your heart to their hollow chest cavity.

[lurker2773]

Characterization for the Hex if the Operator were sent back instead of the Drifter

I like to think about what 1999 could have been if the Lotus sent the Operator back to follow Entrati and not the Drifter. I know it makes the most sense from a character development standpoint to send Drifter, but the Operator is a much more experienced and capable (lorewise) warframe combatant with countless years of practice under their belt - it'd have been equally pragmatic to send the Starchild to 1999 to make sure whatever needs to get done in there happens and have the drifter get trained up and acclimated to the Origin system where there are other tenno to rely on to make up for inexperience and general rookie-ness.

So instead of the Hex getting a grown-ass person with magic void powers from the future, they'd get to have a war veteran trauma child - bonus points if that child is nonverbal or refuses to speak directly to them, and the Hex have to interact with them through the KIM.

And also, consider that most players from a gameplay standpoint habitually keep their Operators cloaked to prevent them from getting shot once they leave their 'frames to do whatever - canonically, the Operator and Drifter don't have a time limit on cloak, I don't think. The Hex are basically never even going to see the kid, and that could be more terrifying. Imagine seeing a puppet version of what you could be, dangling from the strings of some invisible, intangible thing with superpowers and magic lasers coming out of their hands.

Imagine mid mission Arthur turns to look at the weird and mysterious time-travelling entity and just sees a collapsed Baruuk on it's knees or frozen completely still in a weird position before it suddenly zooms about thirty meters away midair and starts straightening itself back out again in ways that joints shouldn't move in before slamming into the ground and rushing headlong into a crowd of Scaldra to 'build melee combo,' whatever the hell the demon child means by that.

Here's the meat of the post, though - the Hex (and newcomers like Flare and Kaya) can play the Context(TM) game like they do with Drifter through KIM and slowly piece together that this is a magical child soldier with a bodycount larger than all the people they've ever collectively laid eyes on, and then react in interesting ways that would lend interesting characterization.

Eleanor and Arthur would be horrified, probably, and Arthur might start talking down to the Operator because it's 'just some kid' who's clearly in over their head. Most of it's concern, but I think some small amount would be bruised pride - how could some kid be better at killing than a trained soldier?

Aoi would be heartbroken at the revelation that their new ally is a child soldier - how could anyone let that happen to them? How sick do you have to be to make children kill whoever the government pointed at with techno-organic corpses?

And Quincy would definitely be fucked up in the head for a few days after he figures it out - that could open up some opportunities for more characterization given his soft spot for kids. Would he try to keep up his aloof act, like he does with the Drifter, or immediately discard it to try and comfort a child that has already made peace with their ridiculous capacity for murder?

Amir might do something similar to Arthur, but more patronizing than hostile - he means well, but this is a kid. If Amir himself feels out of his depth in the current situation and he's an adult, then surely a child would feel even worse than he does about killing a person.

I think Lettie would be the most chill of the original Hex, though. She's jaded enough that she'd be concerned, but would probably decide that it's not really any of her business - especially considering just how talented the Operator is at mass homicide.

Velimir and Minerva could also be really interesting. On the one hand, they could see little bits of Rusalka in the Operator, but that could also lead to coddling or 'replacement goldfish'-like behavior not unlike how I imagine Amir's reaction would have been.

Flare would have been the first to know. One wayward comment from Lizzie calling the Operator demon-child or something of the like, and they'd have put it together pretty quickly after that.

Kaya would just be glad there's someone else who understands being underestimated by older people just because they're younger.

[glouris]

I do not agree with the notion of characters' gameplay paths not being their 'lore' paths at all.

imo they wouldn't be called 'pathstriders' if the paths we were shown were not correct at all. the way I see it, a person who's personal ideals and actions allign with one path could easily belong to a larger faction that follows another eon as a whole.

excuse the genshin allegory here, but I think hoyo made paths funcion like visions - a character on the path of the hunt could easily be following preservation, like a character with a pyro vision could hail from fontaine. but then also an emanator of nihility could not be something else, like an electro archon could not have a dendro vision.

so, I decided to take a look at (almost) every character and propose some reason for them being assigned their path

Nihility: things losing meaning, falling into fears and hopelessness

Erudition: pursuing or keeping vast amounts of knowledge

Destruction: eradication of the self or what's around you

Hunt: condemning something, leading it towards your judgment 

Preservation: protecting what exists in this moment

Abundance: letting life flourish, continue in the future

Harmony: not letting a single part of the collective to collapse or overpower the other, keeping things ‘whole’, peaceful

if we take, for example, Dr. Ratio - even his gameplay kinda makes sense. he launches follow-up attacks when there are enough debuffs on the enemy - he's eradicating the influence of Nihility. same thing with Acheron.

some reasons I'm thinking off here might be wrong, or there must be much more to think of here, but I'm pretty sure that the gameplay paths are the actual paths of the characters. plus, it's been stated that the pathstriders could change their path, unlike eons and emanators.

[slypstream]

i think quite a few people actually missed what the original midnight episode of dr who was about! the creature made everyone turn their backs on each other. this was the first interaction it had with any kind of life, and the message it learned was that power to one comes when people are divided. the first time it met the Doctor, the lesson it came away with was that the way to gain power is by making others turn on each other. the people become monsters, and do the work for you. it became what it is precisely because of what they did to each other, and the original episode was intended to highlight exactly this concept. also, likely why the doctor was so incredibly haunted by it originally. he's seen the best and the worst of the universe, and yet, life doesn't change.