#( ruby. / && connection. )

[mulderscully]

1.08 | 14.01

[claraoswalds]

This is a brand new science for me, and I love it. The language of luck. 'Cause what is a coincidence but a form of accident? Two things bumping together unexpectedly. Like you and me.

[corallapis]

Yeah, but you've got a granddaughter? Like, now? Like, today? Back in our time — my time. Ah! Where is she? I don't know. How can you not know?

[ohmerricat]

sarah jane spends the majority of her adult life believing her parents abandoned her as a baby leaving her alone in a pram to be adopted by her auntie but it turns out in the end that she was the one who caused the events that led all of that to happen and essentially dropped her baby self off on the doorstep of a new life. something to think about regarding ruby sunday and figures under a hooded black cape. im on to you rtd. the trickster legit sounds like a member of the pantheon. maybe he’s running the tv show

[riversofmars]

73 Yards was outstanding actually!

[dalesramblingsblog]

I know we've been commenting since The Star Beast on the irony of Russell T. Davies taking Disney money and using it to say trans/gay rights as part of one of the biggest British television events of 2023/2024, but I think Dot and Bubble fully opened my eyes to something I've been quietly contemplating since at least the time of The Giggle.

I am genuinely convinced, knowing everything I know about Davies' comments on the state of the BBC and the kinds of art he's been making of late, that Series 14 is a brilliant and purposeful piece of artistic subversion that has taken Disney's money to not just say trans rights, but to actively comment upon the cold, empty yawning abyss that is modern MCU franchisecrafting.

Time and time again, the show has returned to the idea that that sort of "artistry" is completely anathema in a cosmic horror sense to the very fabric of Doctor Who. The Toymaker is an arbiter of rules and continuity, who threatens to turn Doctor Who into a knock-off of The Avengers before everything collapses back into a game of catch with the Doctor in his underwear.

73 Yards is quite explicitly about the loneliness, emptiness and futility that accompanies human beings trying to impose rational, ordered frameworks and narratives on a fundamentally chaotic and strange universe. The very fact that the episode exists in a media ecosystem where hackish YouTubers will be falling over themselves to make "Ending Explained" videos for it *is part of the point*.

And then we have Dot and Bubble, where the modern glut of franchisal/social media (and the two are often close to interchangeable, as proven by this very blog post) is explicitly shown to have an anaesthetising effect that insulates people from real-world suffering. But it's more than that, because that same anaesthesia ties into expressions of actual, direct racism that are so baked into the foundations of that media and who it tends to uplift (white, conventionally attractive and implicitly straight people) that they become indistinguishable from said suffering.

After years of Doctor Who trying its hand at being a generic MCU-esque property and fans creating mockups of Phase-esque release timelines with a million spin-offs focusing on the Wacky Adventures of Miss Evangelista or whatever other bullshit fandom constantly clamours for, here is an era that puts its foot down and says "Actually, the foundational elements of that brand of media consumption are materially connected to the constant racist or sexist backlash you see against the casting of Ncuti Gatwa or Jodie Whittaker or Kelly Marie Tran."

And it is absolutely, positively, 100% correct.

How, then, does Doctor Who resist the creeping power of this monolithic cultural entity? In a world where studios seriously try to argue for the artistic worth of tripe like Morbius or Madame Web or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, what is the appropriate response?

The same response that it's always had, the thing that it's been doing for sixty years. Getting people to learn how to run down corridors from hokey aliens, hoping against hope that those people don't turn out to be massive fucking racists and telling them exactly where they can shove it if they are, and instilling the children of the world with a healthy dose of fear and light-hearted humour.

Welcome back, Doctor Who. God, I have missed you.

[killrisma]

Finally watched “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” and there are far too many implications that Ruby is the second fucking coming of Christ for comfort

[arealtrashact]

That last photo set of Sting just made me realize that the homelander actor would be really good to play him in a biopic

It's the bad dye job and cold little eyes

Coincidentally, I was watching concert footage a few weeks ago and had a bit of a déjà vu moment seeing Sting's reaction to a 'fan' throwing mud at him. I half expected red laser beams to start shooting out of his eyes.

There's something familiar about his ability to track down the offender in a massive crowd, threaten to tear his arms off + kill him and alert his security all while continuing to sing and hold down a steady bassline.

Tfw you want to drop the act and maim someone but the show must go on.

[aroacespacerock]

I just watch Boom! I think my life is forever changed wowwww that was so good

here’s my footnotes as per usual:

spoilers! Read at your own risk!!

the acting in this episode was phenomenal

if you weren’t convinced that ncuti was a great doctor before, this episode will do it for you

in the poem he recites to calm himself there’s a line that goes “don’t you know there’s more to life than the presidents wife and the moon”

the second time that has been referenced in nuwho (first being Missy talking to Clara about the dr)

is this a real canon event?? I need to look into this lmao

ruby Sunday also shone in this episode!! My girl I love her to bits, she’s so so brave and no nonsense.

taking away “the one who runs” ability to run away was a BRILLIANT idea

say what you will about moffat (and I’ll agree) but damnn can he write, under rtd especially

welcome back anti-capitalist messaging in dw!!! Missed you babes

fish fingers and custard reference in 2024??????

also STOP taunting me with the master (“can you write a song with drums?”)

lesbian shoutout 2 episodes in a row??? Let’s actually go lesbians!

Anyway, best episode of the season so far, no notes 10/10 ⭐️

[anthurak]

Well, would you look at that...

The cat created a flash of white, or perhaps silver LIGHT which then envelopes RUBY, a girl with the power of light.

Yeah, this is DEFINITELY feeling important.

Also, the cat’s line ‘Time’s change you know, and so do we when it’s our time to change. Don’t you?’

We’re getting that recurring theme again XD

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

plot twist: Ruby is the Master under chameleon arch

[claraoswalds]

#mrs flood who are you: time lord edition

[fullscoreshenanigans]

I headcanon that at first Ray is adamantly against the use of nicknames and pet names for himself because he thinks it's silly.

"My name is Ray. It's literally three letters and one syllable long. Just call me Ray."

But Emma can't let that stand. She has "sunshine" and "Em," Norman has "Nor," "Norm," and "Boss."

So her proposed solution is for Ray to change his name so that "Ray" can be a nickname and show of affection. Ray balks at the suggestions she litters throughout their conversations, addressing him as Raymond, Rayner, even Raybert at one point.

Norman is more deft in his timing so the first time he drops a "Raymond" during one of their chess matches he ends up on the receiving end of Ray channeling Isabella with this look

He does eventually come around to them calling him Sunray.

[ohmerricat]

hello??? am i insane or are you seeing this . fictional character named ruby s. comes to life

[strqyr]

— "This says I'm a Huntress now. But I don't feel like I know much more than I did at Beacon."

[causalityparadoxes]

I think Mrs. Flood may be an Osirian. Specifically, Isis / Alozza

If they focus on the Osirian/Egyptian Mythology side of Sutekh, it would make sense: Isis is a goddess that has been associated with a million things. Importantly for this, she is connected to the sky, to rain, and to fate. She was also the sister-wife of Osiris, who himself is associated with cycles of nature. Including, the annual flooding of the Nile.

From there, the name 'Mrs. Flood' tracks! She is both the flood of rain and the wife of its endless cycle. She's also a widow, so of course she would have a married title yet no spouse.

It would make sense to include her specifically, as she is important to the Osiris Myth that Sutekh's history is based on. In it she collects pieces of Osiris that Sutekh/Set scatters after murdering him. After finding them, she resurrects Osiris for long enough to have Horus (or an aspect of him at least). Horus then 'defeats' Set. Which parallels the story in Pyramids of Mars.

Being an Osirian would explain her creepily ominous warning to Cherry. As while she would not be with Sutekh, she would still be a higher being with alien priorities. Her being on earth would also somewhat fit with the dweu. Where Isis waited on earth for Sutekh's awakening. Though not 1-1.

It could also connect back to Ruby, as Isis' has strong connections to motherhood. If Ruby was say, secretly an Osirian, there are options. Especially considering her name's reference to both the Sun and the colour red, like girl is nearly a verbal description of the Eye of Ra. She could be the daughter of Isis herself, maybe a younger aspect of Horus (God of Light but also a god of the Sunday), hidden away as a human. Though that would be a very literal take. Honestly, when it comes to Ruby I'm not sold on anything specific.

Lastly, If they go this direction, I'm guessing the "vital object on a distant planet with no name" that rtd teased, will be related to the Osirians. Since they've already used the Eye of Horus, perhaps the Eye of Ra? It is has been depicted in relation to Isis. It's also often personified as a Goddess so, maybe Ruby herself? A living trap/weapon, idk). Whatever it is though, Mrs. Flood would be instrumental in defeating Sutekh. We'll see.

(Also: disclaimer and apology in advance to both people who actually know about the religions I'm mentioning, and to EU/Faction Paradox fans. For anything I may have got wrong 🙏)