#And one of the comments disagreeing was like

[armageddon-generation]

Empire of Death was bad and cemented several fundemental flaws in this season.

I watched this in the theatre, and the contrast between everyone's excitement before Empire, and their universal disappointment leaving the theatre was super disheartening. I'm gonna try to articulate my problems with episode, and how they're linked to fundenental structural issues of this season.

SPOILERS BELOW:

Sutekh

The moment the UNIT characters died the story was robbed of any stakes. (Also? Kate and Ibrahim?? During Pride month?? Disgusting)

Sutekh was pointless, big CGI spectacle who was barely there. Saying he's been latched onto the TARDIS since Pyramids of Mars was such an asspull. Why couldn't he have latched on during Wild Blue Yonder? wouldn't that make much more sense??

You're telling me the guy who holds all life in contempt is invested enough in learning the identity of Ruby's mum he willingly reveals himself??

And then they defeat him by dragging him through the Vortex just like before, which it's been explicitly stated *didn't work* last time? He just *lets* Ruby leash him??

The 'death of death is life' bit, and the idea of the Doctor representing life as a Ying to Sutekh's Yang, is a cool concept just jammed in there with no real buildup or depth.

The issue is bringing Sutekh back takes so much effort- a literal, clunky clipshow of Pyramids of Mars, a whole episode spent building up to the reveal of a silly anagram entirely unrekated to Sutekh's previous appearance. And it just... amounts to nothing. What a silly way to cap off a season meant to be jumping-on point for brand-new viewers.

Mel was just takingup space. Pointless.

Ruby's Mother

I don't have a problem with the *concept* of Ruby's mum being normal. I really like the idea thematically. The execution was terrible.

First of all it leaves so many unanswered questions (why the snow? Why was time changing? Why was she shadowed? Literally just for the sake of the mystery-box?) and represents the worst thing about this new era- RTD using fantasy logic to handwave any logic at all, and just do whatever he wants without properly justifying it.

Second, I *hate* how easy and simple and neat the reunion is. Ruby seems incapable of getting angry with anyone. She has never once argued with 15, or Carla, or anyone besides that one moment in 73 Yards. She has never expressed any kind of negative feeling towards her mother for abandoning her. And it's fine for her to reach that conclusion! It's just bizzare we never see Ruby struggle with her feelings beyond the shallow goal of wanting to find her.

(Also Carla? Has nothing to say?? Just welcomes that woman in with basically no comment? Carla is a 2D cutout of a person, used as a plot device and otherwise relegated to the single character trait of I Love My Daughter. The children yearn for the ilk of Jackie Tyler, Sylvia Noble, even Francine Jones.)

15 & Ruby

The emotion behind 15 & Ruby's split felt entirely unearned because we've never seen their bond develop. They never argue, never disagree, Ruby hasn't learned anything about herself or grown or changed. The closest we got to that is 73 Yards, which was undone. She was already brave and kind and musical and sure she loved her adoptive family when we met her in Church on Ruby Road.

Similarly, 15 tells us Ruby encouraged him to talk about family in a way he never has, but that was in what, two moments across the season? And they seemed random, unrelated to Ruby being with him. New viewers will assume 15 is just that open anyway- he was discussing fatherhood with a dead man's hologram- and old viewers assumed trauma-dumping was just a new trait of 15's personality, not Ruby-specific.

The problem is we're told Ruby & 15 are best friends but it isn't earned. I liked 15 crying initially but both he and Ruby do it so much (15 cries about 5 times in this one episode) it loses its impact and I'm becoming numb to it. There is no contrast, no downtime.

Season Structural Issues

I think the biggest problem is Season 1's storytelling priorities. It's much more interested in selling *the show* (look at our big budget! And guest stars! And how flexible our format is! Musical episode! The Beatles as props! Bottle episode! Indie folk-horror! Black Mirror! Gay Bridgerton!) it forgot to put effort into developing and investing us in its characters. I liked a lot of the individual stories this year but in retrospect a lot of them feel like they're wasting space that needed to go to essential character and theme setup.

These skewed priorities, combined with the cut down episode count, really impact the pacing of the season. Ruby and 15 were barely together! Even in Rogue they were seperated for most of the story!! We only loop back to a flashback of 15 meeting Carla in Rogue!

This is made worse by the baffling insistence on a 45-minute runtime. We know key sequences were cut from almost every episode, with highlights including:

The Gobin King invading Ruby's flat and her banishing him with scratchcards in The Church on Ruby Road: Her missing 'companion saves the day' moment!

Refrence to the Toymaker in The Church on Ruby Road, which was itself referenced in The Devil's Chord. 'I told you about the Toymaker when we first met' sir, objectively you did not.

The TARDIS jukebox playing the Sugarbabes' Push The Button in the opening scene of Space Babies, hastily cut around in the final edit. This is the setup of a running joke still in the episode, and part of the story's climax. The first encounter with the Bogeyman was also longer, with 15 taking particular interest in its skin

Extended scenes in Abbey Road from The Devil's Chord, including an apparently significant speaking role for Cilla Black, according to her annoyed actress.

Cut dialogue from The Devil's Chord explaining the musoical number was caused by Maestro's power lingering, and that banishing them undid everything they'd done. Fans inferred thos based on the rules established in The Giggle, but again, new fans haven't seen The Giggle and were left clueless.

An opening sequence for The Legend of Ruby Sunday where 15 & Ruby meet Susan as a nanny in 1947 America, a blue-skinned waitress, and an astronaut meeting a colony of giant, sentient ants. At the end of this we actually see 15 decide to go to UNIT for help. In the broadcast version he just sorta shows up.

Really what Empire of Death exposed to me is how emotionally hollow the season was. I enjoy the exoperimentalism, but not at the cost of character. And then in the finale Russell reverts to almost a parody of his RTD1 finales, with the nonsense logic and lack of consequences. All the worst bits of Last of the Time Lords and The Giggle put in a blender.

[woo-wahhhh]

[ study buddies ] studying with umemiya was always fun, though it wasn't like he studied at all on most days. most days, it was just you and him sitting in one of the old classrooms for a couple hours– you, studying and writing notes, and umemiya, telling you about his day or quietly humming as he did his best not to disturb you.

that being said, you could never tell him he was a nuisance, even if some days, he spent a bit too much time bragging about his new produce.

spending time with someone whose life was fundamentally different from yours was charming. try as you might to focus on the quadratic equations scrawled on the test papers and your grid notebooks, but your eyes couldn't help but sparkle when he told you about the shenanigans that he got up to every day.

"– and then the grandpa was suuuper thankful for some reason and he gave us huge load of yakisoba as thanks!" umemiya boasted, tipping back in his chair just a little to splay his arms out wide to display his enthusiasm.

"ume, you're gonna fall out of your chair," you chuckled, reaching out to him to pull him back– which he took, his grip strong and secure.

"but get this!" he exclaimed, suddenly drawing himself close, leaning in. he had so much force in that one tug, that it drew you closer as well, until his face was merely an inch away from yours, with a cheeky, cheeky grin. "i got you some too!"

his happiness was so infectious that despite the light blush dusted across your cheeks, you giggled along with him as he dug into a white plastic bag and handed you a sealed container.

studying with umemiya was always fun because the things that you paid no mind and followed like clockwork were from another world for him.

it was a given for a star student like you to carry out homework and tests and all sorts of studying without making an error because that was simply what was expected of you; it wasn't like you liked it. it was expected that you would unquestioningly sink all your time into your studies because if you slipped up and scored lower than you should, you would never hear the end of it from the people around you.

"you know, it's pretty amazing how you can sit here and crunch through all these sheets without getting distracted, (name)," umemiya had randomly blurted out, his chin planted in his palms as he propped his elbows up on the desk.

your head snapped up at the sudden comment, before grimacing at the sudden action since you had been looking down at your notebooks and writing for so long.

"i mean... it's just... writing stuff down," you replied lamely, more so unsure at how to take the sudden compliment. "i'm sure that if you put your mind to it, you could do it too."

"don't you think i'd get distracted too easily?" so you're aware you're like that? you thought to yourself in mild disbelief, half pitying hiiragi, who usually has to deal with umemiya's inherent randomness.

"i won't disagree with that," you laughed, stretching your arms over your head before continuing to scrawl out notes. "but it's not that amazing, you know. anyone can do this."

"yeah, but the fact that you stick through with it is pretty cool." you grit your teeth together at that comment– it isn't like i want to, you wanted to say bitterly, but his continuance surprised you pleasantly. "lots of people would quit under all the pressure, but you keep going. isn't that worth appreciating?"

your hand paused its movements, processing the tender heat that crept up your spine and made its hearth upon your rosy cheeks. you giggled delightfully at the sudden praise, a painfully rare but giddily wide smile spreading across your face.

unbeknownst to you, umemiya's grin dropped, lips falling slightly ajar– awe and warmth settling into his bones as that became the day he became fully entranced with you.

studying with umemiya was always fun– sort of. you're not sure what to think of when your back hits your chair and his hands thread through your hair and push the strands away from your profile so delicately as if that's gonna soften the fact that you're desperately kissing him in an abandoned classroom when you should be studying for your exams.

"i'm sorry," umemiya muttered in between kisses, though the apologies fell on deaf ears as you tightened your embrace around his shoulders and pulled him back. "i'm distracting you, aren't i?"

the contradiction made you giggle into his lips– he was so gentle, yet so desperate to kiss you. it was funny to see how gently he treated your hair when his own styled hair was disheveled after you ran your fingers through the strands.

"are you going to stop?" you asked, panting as you pinched his cheeks with a teasing smile. umemiya, who was standing before you, shook his head– like a puppy, you thought, though he did have the decency to be a bit sheepish– before leaning back against the desk.

"man, what ever will i do if i fail my exams?" you suddenly cried out dramatically, casting a hand against your face. "what will i do if my parents catch me getting seduced by–," you gasped, pointing an accusatory finger at umemiya, who made a scandalized gasp right on cue, clutching at his jacket, "–a teenage boy?!"

"wow, what a dilemma!" umemiya shouted, matching your melodrama as he thoughtfully feigned pressing his hands against his heart. "however– i think i have a solution!"

"and what might that be?" you asked, barely keeping endeared giggles at bay as you hooked your feet around his ankles and lightly pulling at him as to prompt him. "what miraculous conclusion have you come to, ume?"

"if your parents ask about that boy you're studying with," umemiya smirked, tapping your nose fondly with his index finger, "just tell them i'm your study buddy."

sure, you guys broke out into a fit of giggles, but isn't that the truth? you are, in fact, a pair of study buddies.

[alexandraisyes]

Bffr rn. U really think reblogging is going to do anything. Ain't u the one who liked a confession about nonshippers being more toxic than us shippers? Ain't u the one who's annoyed that aroace fuckwads are mad that we're shipping moon with someone? Ain't u the one fighting for SolarMoon? Are u on our side or not? Make up ur damn fucking mind. Like we said these celestial-family fucktards and aroace fuckwads had what's coming to them. U're either with us or u're another apologist of these fucktards and fuckwads. If it's the latter then stay away from SolarMoon and EclipseEarth. We don't need no apologist defending those fucktards and fuckwads who started the hate for our ships

What a sad sack of shit you are! I'm getting a really good laugh out of your reaction. Much appreciated after the shit show of a day I had yesterday. So let's break this down, and maybe it'll be cleaner than the breakdown you are clearly having. But first, let me fix your grammar.

Be for fucking real right now. Do you really think that reblogging is going to do anything? Are you not the one who liked a confession about how nonshippers are more toxic than us shippers? Are you not the one who is annoyed that aroace individuals are mad that we are shipping Nexus with someone? Are you not the one fighting for SolarMoon? Are you on our side or not? Make up your mind, please. We've already told you about how the people who enjoy the canon dynamics of the show and aroace individuals are getting what is due to them based on our biased and immature opinions on how if they don't agree with us they're wrong. You are either with us or you are against us. If it's the latter then stay away from SolarMoon and ShadowPlanet. We don't need someone who doesn't agree with our perverted and revolting actions towards other people defending the minority group who disagrees with us.

I may have also laid your intentions clear as well. Whoops, now the whole world can see what you actually meant.

I don't think that reblogging has any power when it comes to making you realize you need to stop, but it will make more people aware of your hideous actions and be more ready to prepare for the harassment that I am getting.

Way to be a real stalker, going through posts to see who liked what and writing them all down. Everyone loves a prepubescent teen who is obsessed with them! It's very attractive, don't you know? (Obviously, this is blatant sarcasm, but I can't be too sure you would pick up on that so I have to call it out.) However, it's true, I did like a single person's perspective about how sometimes from the side of the shippers it can feel like the non-shippers are overly hostile. That doesn't mean I agree that it's all the time, and I have the media literacy (which you seem to lack) about how that post was targeted specifically to the non-shippers who, gasp, are toxic, and not to all of the non-shippers.

And wow it's almost like it has nothing to do with whether they ship or don't and more to do with them being a toxic person in general, kind of like you! But I digress.

"Aren't you the one annoyed with the aroace-" blah blah blah

Oh, honey. I'm a sociopath. I don't give a fuck what other people are doing as long as it's not harmful. Every now and then I may comment about how I don't understand how people have gotten this idea that Old Moon was canonically repulsed since we have no proof of that, and Old Moon himself said he didn't know where he was on the aroace spectrum because SURPRISE! Old Moon was aroace.

But obviously, you've forgotten that.

I'm actually not fighting for anything, believe it or not, except for people like you to get off the internet. My friends all know that I do not ship SolarMoon, but I support my friends because it's their interest and I agree with them having an interest that's harmless, unlike you. I think that everyone has a right to ship and not to ship whatever they want, since it's all personal preference, and I don't get butthurt when someone doesn't ship something I like. You should give it a try, honestly.

"Are you on our side?" I am on my side. And on my side, we don't worry about what people do and don't ship. On my side, we don't harass people over a YouTube channel. On my side, we pay bills, because we're adults, and we don't have time to give a fuck about what other people are doing. On my side, we celebrate the canon family dynamics of the show while also having AUs where the dynamics don't exist and we can ship the characters as we please, since my side understands that this is a YouTube channel about fictional robots and that it's not that deep.

I will not and will never associate with someone who thinks it's okay to send unsolicited gore and death threats to minors. Or to anyone really. I think it's cowardly, and it's most definitely below my standards. So no, I'm not on your side.

And don't worry, my mind was made up ages ago when I realized that fandom drama is for people who don't have bills to pay and don't have anything bigger than the box in their hand to worry about.

HOW DARE THEY LIKE THE CANON SHOW!??!?!!? How fucking dare they, you're completely right I take back everything I said because people shouldn't like the canon material!!!1!!!1! How could they like the canon material that makes up the entirety of the canon show!?!?!?!?! How could they enjoy just liking canon?!!?!??!?!?!? WITHOUT SHIPPINGS?!??!?!?!? ILLEGAL!111!1!1!!

You sound like you're 12.

Also, I'm aroace, dumbass. You would have known that had you spent even an ounce of time doing any research into who I am. I have always been aroace. Double also, I like the canon show. Again, you would know that if you've done any research into who I am. I run an entire thread on the official fan server where I talk about the canon family dynamics, and psychology, and Eclipse. He's his own category.

Do you even know what that word means?

Now, I may be out of the loop, but I don't think that not sending gore to minors is controversial. You're an apologist. You are providing an argument in defense of harassment.

And no, I don't think I will stay away from SolarMoon and ShadowPlanet. I've been shipping ShadowPlanet much much longer before it became popular, and I have witnesses to confirm if you need them. As far as SolarMoon? I'm currently writing a SolarMoon (two actually) one-shot where I explore two different dynamics (canon and fanon) in similar settings. One will be posted on my main Ao3 (18+) and the other will be on my side sfw account since it's going to be about their dynamic in canon as found family. Because as a writer I have that power and I do what I want.

And you're just going to have to sit there and cry about it.

Oh and don't worry, I'll even use the main fandom tags so everyone can point and laugh at what a sad little person you are.

[hyperfocuscentre]

i’m gonna make a statement and the sirius/severus fans might not like this one but…

sirius and severus are very much opposite sides of the same coin.

(before you continue, i would just like to suggest proceeding with caution as i will be mentioning topics such as abuse and bullying).

sirius grew up with wealth and privilege, severus did not. however, it’s heavily implied in canon that they both experienced some form of abuse whether it be mental or physical. gonna sight some sources because i’ve had people argue with me over that:

^ as shown above, we get a lot from sirius that suggests the way his mother’s portrait acts is similar to the way she acted in life (although presumably more extreme). furthermore, we get a direct comparison of harry’s childhood house to sirius’ from harry himself, implying there’s similarities in their treatment and the memories formed in these households.

it was actually much harder to find evidence for severus’ possible abuse, but there’s definitely signs of neglect. he was obviously poor, so his appearance might just be a reflection of that but the stuff about the arguing and his father’s distaste for everything does imply abuse.

^ as shown above, this is actually considered a form of emotional abuse.

ANYWAY, onto my original point! both sirius and severus do negative things, possibly as a result of this abuse:

- severus’ distaste for muggles, stemming from a young age, is arguably because of his father. he joins the death eaters and picks prejudice friends as a result. however, it’s also possible he joined the death eaters to feel powerful, considering it’s implied he’s felt anything but throughout his childhood (and also during hogwarts because of james and sirius). this, obviously, is an awful decision and cannot be justified but it’s always interesting to look deeply into the motives of morally grey characters.

- also, he rejects his surname and creates the title ‘half-blood prince’ which probably suggests bad relations with his father (or maybe he just wanted a cool name, although that’s not an argument that fits with my yapping).

- sirius similarly seeks power through his constant defiance: he becomes a gryffindor (there is some level of choice during the sorting, remember!), he completely opposes his parents beliefs and was probably only further motivated by their mistreatment considering he ends up disowned. additionally, he seeks out power through bullying in canon. it’s a well known fact that bullies maybe be acting this way due to bad situations in their home life.

arguably, these two guys are acting out in attempt to combat their shitty situations.

FINALLY, in adulthood these two guys seem to be heavily controlled by their past. sirius never got the chance to mature and grieve, stuck in a prison with creatures that literally sucked the happiness and positivity out of him. he was stunted, dealing with his grief and incapable of joining society. instead, he got trapped in his childhood home which was probably full of great memories!! (sarc) he remains impulsive and clearly still holds his childhood grudge against severus.

severus’ only purpose for living was avenging lily (i believe?). he joined dumbledore in attempt to save her, and then just continued to help him when he failed. he’s very clearly burdened by his mistakes and stuck grieving for his past friendship. adding onto that, he can’t let go of his anger at the marauders: he takes it out on harry, absolutely jumps at the chance to get sirius ‘kissed’ and blatantly despises remus.

i’m done! i’m not doing a conclusion because i hate those so… enjoy my badly worded ramble? please don’t be mean in the comments if you disagree!

[memento-rory]

omg omg omg hear me out: Movie/Binge nights with Ted and Schlatt!!! All of you being in a cuddle pille. Occasionally tossing popcorn into each others mouths. Running to grab Jambo or [redacted] during a scary scene.

Bonus point if you force them to watch bridgerton or Barbie movie (justice for bibble)

STOP THIS IS SO CUTE. they’re definitely watching bridgerton bc it’s currently one of my hyperfixations. (justice for bibble tho fr)(also this is so silly pls indulge me) (if you haven’t seen bridgerton don’t read this, spoilers are vague but still spoilers) (also sorry i recapped almost all of the first episode) (ok bye)

“alright, (y/n), it’s your turn to pick what we watch.” ted says as he plops down on the bed next to you, a bowl of freshly popped popcorn in his hands. he passes the bowl to you so he can make himself comfortable, slipping under the comforter and cuddling up next to you, with his back against the headboard and an arm around your shoulders. schlatt’s not far behind him with drinks, setting them on the nightstand on his side of the bed. he crawls into bed on the other side of you, and you lift the popcorn bowl over his head as he wraps his arms around you, resting his head on your stomach. ted takes the bowl back and sets it in the little space between the two of you.

“thank god,” you sigh in relief, already grabbing a handful of popcorn, “if i have to watch another film bro movie i might go insane.”

“okay,” ted playfully scowls at you.

you make a face at him as you stuff the popcorn in your mouth, accidentally dropping a couple pieces onto schlatt’s head.

“hey, watch what you’re doin’,” schlatt scowls up at you, and you only giggle, picking the pieces out of his hair.

“sorry, babe.” you apologize, and he nods. “yeah, you should be.”

“what’ll it be?” ted asks, starting to pass the remote to you, but suddenly moves it out of your reach as he says, “no barbie movies, please. i know you love that little fucking freak bibble, but we’re just going to have to agree to disagree.”

“fine,” you grumble, and ted relinquishes the remote. “how about bridgerton?”

schlatt lets out a long groan, and you pat him on the head sympathetically. “you’ll be hooked by episode two, i swear.”

and of course, he is. they both are. they’re obviously both prone to commentary, so they have a lot to say during the episode. you stay relatively silent, thoroughly enjoying their comments and questions.

“how the fuck do they breathe in those things?” ted asks, referring to corsets.

“is this just softcore porn? this is just softcore porn.” schlatt remarks, but it’s not a complaint.

“okay, well, they don’t have to be so fuckin’ mean to penelope. what the fuck.” ted comments through a mouth full of popcorn.

schlatt’s eyes go wide as you, as viewers, are introduced to the duke. he lets out an exaggerated gulp, and ted laughs a hearty laugh. “fuck, he is handsome.” ted agrees.

“they’re fucking again?” schlatt exclaims, re: anthony and sienna, “that’s twice in one fuckin’ episode!”

ted scowls as the string quartet starts playing. “…is that ariana grande?”

“lord berbrooke looks like such a fuckin’ creep.” schlatt says, emphasizing his statement with a shudder.

“what is anthony’s problem, dude.” ted’s shaking his head.

“wait, why is she so pissed off at her sheets?” schlatt asks, and when you look at him pointedly, he goes, “ohhhh.”

“oh, this tension is palpable,” ted murmurs, re: bridgerton family dinner w/simon.

“no way they’re fucking again,” schlatt grumbles, then gestures angrily at the tv, “and he’s breaking up with her right after? you’re fuckin’ kiddin’ me. what a fuckin’ asshole.”

“okay now what the fuck is her problem?” ted groans about cressida, “i’m gettin’ pretty sick of everyone being so fuckin’ mean to penelope.”

“she has to marry berbrooke?” schlatt yells, startling you. “nah, fuck that. this guy fuckin’ sucks.”

ted and schlatt both let out a reaction like they just watched someone score a touchdown when simon punches lord berbrooke. “yeah, get his ass!” schlatt exclaims.

“okay so they’re definitely gonna fuck, right?” ted theorizes as simon leads daphne onto the dance floor.

as the credits roll, nobody moves. “wanna call it a night?” you ask teasingly, and schlatt shakes his head furiously. “no way. i gotta see how this plays out.”

[notcalvinklein]

Yeah, so I’ve been seeing this for a while and I’ve finally come out to speak about it. This is not to cause drama, so if you see this and reply in a passive-aggressive manner, you’ll most-likely either be blocked out your comment will be deleted.

Okay so, y’all know how I’m in the Osmosis Jones fandom, right? You guys also know that I am a minor, so this is coming from a younger person’s perspective as well.

To get straight to the point: I’ve been looking through the main Osmosis Jones tag, and most of the stuff I’m met with is porn from accounts like Kharsagi, and supporters like JellyFishSun, stuff like that. And to be completely honest, it’s beginning to make me uncomfortable. And I’m sure that it makes a lot of people, minors or not, uncomfortable as well.

Am I saying that I hate not-safe content and such in general? No, but I AM saying that simply telling people that it’s a ‘minor DNI’ page isn’t going to stop minors from interacting, and as a grown adult you know damn well that kids will come across it as some point.

“You can just block them!” That doesn’t change what I have seen already, and that doesn’t change anything when it comes down to other minors seeing it as well. Not only that, but there’s adults on this app/Twitter that I’m sure who’ll agree.

“They are just being themselves!” I’m not saying that they can’t, but I am saying that this needs to stop. People should have the basic human decency to spoiler not-safe works, especially full-grown adults that one: know exactly how the internet is, and two: have had the choice in front of them from the very start, yet don’t do so anyway.

Not only this is a problem, but there’s also other things that I notice as a biracial trans-masculine man that just rub me off the wrong way. Before I continue, I’m going to remind you that again, this is from my viewing standpoint, if you disagree then that’s fine, just know that starting an argument over this isn’t going to change my mindset.

Other things that I have seen/unnerve me:

- The specific targeting these people have with Osmosis and Thrax. If you want to ship them then go ahead, just don’t make it look like a fetishization.

- How most of the fanfics (which are SMUT) have either Osmosis or Thrax as a trans-masculine man. It’s just weird man.

- These people interacting with minors despite not wanting them on their accounts (both Twitter and Tumblr).

- The way that they project their kinks onto Thrax…specifically the whole ‘muzzle and chains’ thing. Like, if you wanna do that, then that’s fine, but as background information: Thrax is a black-coded character, putting him up in chains and such is just…odd to me, in a way.

In all honesty, stuff like this rubs me off the wrong way, several ways, and I thought that it would be best to call this out while I had a clear head.

[puck-bunny-for-all]

I was made fun of - B.T

@nicoleeee.tkachuk : y'all Brady told me he doesnt love me anymore (made fun of my outfits). please tell him hes wrong below 👇🏻

tagged : @taryntkachuk @Matthew_tkachuk @bradytkachuk

location : tropics

matthew_tkachuk : well... in order for someone to be wrong, people have to disagree... I do not. 🙀

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : ya know what shmatty... I didn't ask 😾

↪ matthew_tkachuk : you quite literally did.... but ok

_quinnhughes : I mean they are a bit bright

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : OMG WHY IS EVERYONE ON HIS SIDE TF😡😡😡

jackhughes : personally I can see where hes coming from

lhughes_06 : he made fun of you cause they are ugly

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : Lucas... youre ugly. dont test me, ill break all ur sticks

g.brindley4 : depends on where ur going

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : THE BAHAMAS

↪ g.brindley4 : o

seth_jones : personally I like ur outfits🤷🏻‍♀️

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : THANK YOU SETHYYYYYY

bradytkachuk : babe... all I said was I dont think you need that much pattern in your life🤨🤨🤨👀👀

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : ALL I READ WAS "I DONT LOVE YOU" SMH🫨

macewen66 : maybe you should see couples therapy....

ellie_connell : OMG YOURE LITTERALLY STUNNING @bradytkachuk HUSH🫸🏻

keichler211 : personally I dont care

28cgiroux : I think Brady is just upset his fashion sense sucks

brassardderick : you look like you got dressed in the dark...

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : THE LEVEL OF DIS-RE-SPECT is INAPPROPRIATE

mads.sogaard : I plead the fifth

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : good idea

mathyjoz21 : i suck at fashion so idk

ridleygreig17 : they are apropriate for the occasion

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : thank you!

↪ bradytkachuk : I NEVER SAID THEY WERENT OMG

_jakesanderson : Brady is a bad boyfriend period.

chantel_tkachuk : Oh sweetie, dont you listen to Brady at all! You are stunning !! 💖

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : awww thank you Momma T

drakebattherson9 : Brady youre wrong, please dont kick me off the team thanks

parks_17 : its an outfit that's for sure

taryntkachuk : YOURE STUNNING MY BROTHER IS STUPID ILL BEAT HIS ASS FOR YOU

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : thank you baby girl

↪ bradytkachuk : stop plotting against me please and thanks @taryntkachuk ESPECIALLY WITH MY WIFE

ryannegiroux : You slay each and every outfit, Brady Tkachuk knows nothing about fashion!

shanepinto : this has been an interesting time in the comments

brannstromerik : I dont think the world cares tbh

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : WELL ARE YOU THE WORLD!???!!!

thomaschabot5 : if I have to hear this argument one more time

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : WHAT TOMMY BOY!?!?!!? WHAT WILL YOU DO

↪ thomaschabot5 : ....

↪ nicoleeee.tkachuk : THATS WHAT I THOUGHT

A.N :

lil Brady boo action idk why I feel like he would get flustered if Emma wore anything but jeans, leggings, t-shirts, simple dresses bc he doesnt know how the fuck to coordinate with her and so he just buys her basic shit only LOL.

ok ily

tagged : @quinnylouhughesx43 @skylershines @noahkahansorangejuice

[youthofpandas]

What’s up with how the dunmeshi fandom just lies about this kind of stuff all the time. It is easily confirmable information that it was a monthly series, something incredibly common in the industry.

A not weekly magazine schedule is literally common !! Especially in the seinen shoujo and josei demographics, sometimes monthly, sometimes biweekly, sometimes every two months, sometimes seasonal! Please stop lying about how Dunmeshi was some special unique creation that defies all standards of manga just to hype it up because it is so clear that every single one of these comparisons is centered around Weekly Shonen Jump (and understand that SJ has many magazines under its brand that are monthly or semimonthly). Not everything is WSJ and it needs to stop being the only point of reference in conversations like this 🤧

[front-facing-pokemon]

[gojonanami]

Uh? It’s CANON Gojo and geto saw each other as BROTHERS.

alright I’m gonna answer this now lmao — I think with fiction everyone is entitled to their own take on things but with gojo and geto I believe the two to be soulmates — whether it’s platonic or romantic —

I personally see it as romantic, but if you don’t that’s completely fine and I’m not here to force my opinion onto you — it was in the tags — you don’t like, don’t read it! That simple.

I mean I could explain to you why I see it as romantic —

gojo calls geto his “one and only,”

the button left behind when geto defects is his second button that gojo ends up with — the button often given in Japanese culture to romantic partners / interests,

gojo literally says, when he sees kenjaku in geto’s body, “I know in my soul you’re not suguru geto” even in the English dub they localized is as “in my heart and soul,”

to add to that, kenjaku’s whole plan hinged on gojo freaking out upon seeing geto’s body — gojo is someone who is always very calm — he only gets emotional when it comes to geto. literally itadori dies and megumi got taken over Sukuna and he stays completely calm (for the most part), nothing in comparison in his reactions to geto’s defection or kenjaku

geto’s body literally fights back against kenjaku when trying to hurt gojo — and kenjaku has been alive since the heian era at least, and he says he’s never seen that happen before — what that says about their connection is pretty clear cut in my opinion.

the whole theme of jjk 0 is that love is the most twisted curse of all — where did gojo learn that from? Obviously there’s more than one type of love — but this movie was focused on romantic love in particular (between yuta and rika) but also was reflecting on geto and gojo’s relationship

gojo’s last words to geto are allegedly three words according to the VAs and what else could they be? Other than the theme of the entire movie — “I love you???” and then Geto literally blushes in the manga and says, “at least you could have cursed me in the end” — which gojo kinda did.

there’s a whole bunch of other things I could analyze and I’m not here to debate with you or anyone else! it’s fiction — it’s up to us to interpret things that are vague. And you are entitled to your opinion — but what I don’t like is you telling me that my opinion is wrong when it’s not!

It’s vague in the manga for a reason. never did they call each other brothers, nor did they call each other lovers — all they said is that they were best friends. And a lot of people are best friends with their brothers but also a lot of lovers are best friends so

you are allowed to have your opinion friend, just don’t tell me mine is wrong — if you don’t like the ship, read the tag and don’t read the fic!

[skellydun]

starting to realize why I never used twitter or reddit after my carefully cultivated internet enclosure gets broken into

[metabolizemotions]

The creative choices on the show are as subjective as each of the viewer's interpretations.

I think a lot of why I personally feel deeply uncomfortable n resistant is the asymmetry.

I get the need for variety. The same thing may be expressed differently for different characters. A healing journey will differ from person to person. Each step is also taken on a personalized timeline.

But I can't help but think of the asymmetry of how the show dealt with Mason vs Beckett n even Dixon. They condemned Mason immediately at his worst but dug deep to show the sides of Beckett n Dixon that were still human despite it all.

The trigger shot scene with Beckett felt like 0 to 100 in his reconciliation with Maya. It felt like a 12-step program of which he skipped many steps when it came to Maya. From the get-go, we saw a sexist, incompetent captain who was demeaning to his team n constantly put them under stress n in danger, on top of endangering civilians n even equipment. For months, we saw this middle-aged man in a position of power, take perverse joy in bullying a younger female subordinate to appease his ego. That was workplace harassment. He also took out his unresolved trauma on the people around him, in this case, people he had authority over. Alcoholism was not the sole reason for all his bad behavior. Even if it was, it should not be used to excuse it.

The team, esp Maya, was trapped in this hostile work environment sanctioned by the female chief. This was a more common n insidious manifestation of toxic masculinity, one that was amplified by his position of power, n sometimes even supported by women, when their goals aligned in the power struggle.

Yet the show gave so much more grace n compassion to the bullies than the bullied. The team treated Beckett n Ross with more kindness n respect than they earned, n less kindness n more apathy towards Maya than she deserved.

Then he was given a long, carefully constructed redemption arc, while Mason, a rushed condemnation arc.

It felt like 100 to 0 with Mason. We saw Mason briefly in earlier seasons, mainly thru the eyes of Maya. We missed a lot of the in b/w. We caught him again at his worst. We only saw the side that was full of hate ideology, but not his side that was also human. We knew about his addiction n homelessness. But we didn’t see how as a young abused person w/o positive role models n a support system, he was vulnerable to these hate groups, which he clung to, when offered him just a semblance of belonging or respect. He had not learned to let go of his resentment of their parents n Maya but taught to transfer this unresolved hate to fill a meaning void.

The scene itself b/w Maya n Mason was great. It was an urgent n imperative story to tell. Maya's actions were right n necessary. But in the bigger scheme of things, it felt like a quick tie-up of loose ends, of a once-beloved brother, who came n went abruptly. Despite it being a logical narrative choice to wrap up the nature/nurture discussions of Marina n discovery that Maya's deepest fears about herself manifested in her bro instead. It's heartbreaking n yet disheartening that it was again about queer hate when it came to another main queer character on the show.

It is just jarring to juxtapose Mason with Beckett in 703 then 707. Also juxtaposing his empathy towards Maya with the lack thereof from the others, despite everyone having just been thru 706 n having witnessed Maya's breakdown. So, in a way, I see the actions of these characters as being designed with the goal to emphasize Beckett's empathetic side, in support of his arc.

When looking at a scene with 2 scene partners, what it is really about? Who it is really for? Would the scene be the same if one is replaced?

There are many different takes on this. For me, it was really about Maya, but choosing Beckett as the scene partner made the scene more for him. If it were for Maya, other scene partners would be more meaningful n realistic. Esp those who earned their right for her to be vulnerable with. Maya, who bottled her feelings, let alone spill her deeper emotions, to someone whom she never had a proper conversation with, not to mention a fraught shared history. To add, alone in a small enclosed space, while administering a shot that made her even more vulnerable.

For the realism argument, this was not more realistic to me than having Carina, for a show which took a lot of liberties. It was a choice to design the circumstances to make Carina n the others unavailable n combine 2 scenes together. Carina's also Maya's life partner n best friend. A more realistic choice for Maya to share this devastating heartbreak n grieving process with. It was a big aspect of their marriage. We saw many discussions b/w them yet when it finally came to the conclusion, it was with the least likely person, an almost stranger.

I see the trigger shot as part of Marina's baby journey I wish we get to see them undergoing together. It reminded me of 5b in that Marina's story about their own baby journey - again with someone of a fraught shared history, of a different nature - was more about him n to lead to his own bio family story. Marina's story was messy n got nowhere. And here we r, seasons later, rushing thru it.

It's not that Maya/ Carina or Marina should not have scenes with others. It's that it's usually more about the others even if it's their storyline. Or they r the backdrop for others' drama. They either isolate Marina or suddenly include them or one of them in an in-depth discussion of their private matters with others, usually something we hear about for the first time. I just don't remember something like that happening with other characters. Is it too much to ask to see a married w|w couple, with little screentime, share a meaningful conversation or moment first, also or exclusively? We so rarely see such a rep on TV. The show is not about Marina, but shouldn't their own story reasonably prioritize them?

[northern-passage]

i've shared some of Alex Freed's narrative writing advice before and i recently read another article on his website that i really liked. particularly in branching/choice-based games, a lot of people often bring up the idea of the author "punishing" the player for certain choices. i agree that this is a thing that happens, but i disagree that it's always a bad thing. i think Freed makes a good case for it here.

...acting as the player’s judge (and jury, and executioner) is in some respects the primary job of a game’s developers. Moreover, surely all art emerges from the artist’s own experiences and worldview to convey a particular set of ideas. How does all that square with avoiding being judgmental?

[...]

Let’s first dispel–briefly–the idea that any game can avoid espousing a particular worldview or moral philosophy. Say we’re developing an open world action-adventure game set in a modern-day city. The player is able to engage any non-player character in combat at any time, and now we’re forced to determine what should occur if the player kills a civilian somewhere isolated and out of sight.

Most games either:

allow this heinous act and let the player character depart without further consequence, relying on the player’s own conscience to determine the morality of the situation.

immediately send police officers after the player character, despite the lack of any in-world way for the police to be aware of the crime.

But of course neither of these results is in any way realistic. The problems in the latter example are obvious, but no less substantial than in the former case where one must wonder:

Why don’t the police investigate the murder at a later date and track down the player then?

Why doesn’t the neighborhood change, knowing there’s a vicious murderer around who’s never been caught? Why aren’t there candlelight vigils and impromptu memorials?

Why doesn’t the victim’s son grow up to become Batman?

We construct our game worlds in a way that suits the genre and moral dimensions of the story we want to tell. There’s no right answer here, but the consequences we build into a game are inherently a judgment on the player’s actions. Attempting to simulate “reality” will always fail–we must instead build a caricature of truth that suggests a broader, more realized world. Declaring “in a modern city, murderous predators can escape any and all consequences” is as bold a statement on civilization and humanity as deciding “in the long run, vengeance and justice will always be served up by the victims of crime (metaphorically by means of a bat-costumed hero).”

Knowing that, what’s the world we want to build? What are the themes and moral compass points we use to align our game?

This is a relatively easy task when working with a licensed intellectual property. In Star Trek, we know that creativity, diplomacy, and compassion are privileged above all else, and that greed and prejudice always lead to a bad end. A Star Trek story in which the protagonist freely lies, cheats, and steals without any comeuppance probably stopped being a Star Trek story somewhere along the line. Game of Thrones, on the other hand, takes a more laissez-faire approach to personal morality while emphasizing the large-scale harm done by men and women who strive for power. (No one comes away from watching Game of Thrones believing that the titular “game” is a reasonable way to run a country.)

These core ideals should affect more than your game’s storytelling–they should dovetail with your gameplay loops and systems, as well. A Star Trek farming simulator might be a fun game, but using the franchise’s key ideals to guide narrative and mechanical choices probably won’t be useful. (“Maybe we reward the player for reaching an accord with the corn?”)

Know what principles drive your game world. You’re going to need that knowledge for everything that’s coming.

[...]

Teaching the player the thematic basics of your world shouldn’t be overly difficult–low-stakes choices, examples of your world and character arcs in a microcosm, gentle words of wisdom, obviously bad advice, and so forth can all help guide the player’s expectations. You can introduce theme in a game the way you would in any medium, so we won’t dwell on that here.

You can, of course, spend a great deal of time exploring the nuances of the moral philosophy of your game world across the course of the whole game. You’ll probably want to. So why is it so important to give the player the right idea from the start?

Because you need the player to buy into the kind of story that you’re telling. To some degree, this is true even in traditional, linear narratives: if I walk into a theater expecting the romcom stylings of The Taming of the Shrew and get Romeo and Juliet instead, I’m not going to be delighted by having my expectations subverted; I’m just going to be irritated.

When you give a player a measure of control over the narrative, the player’s expectations for a certain type of story become even stronger. We’ll discuss this more in the next two points, but don’t allow your player to shoot first and ask questions later in the aforementioned Star Trek game while naively expecting the story to applaud her rogue-ish cowboy ways. Interactive narrative is a collaborative process, and the player needs to be able to make an informed decision when she chooses to drive the story in a given direction. This is the pact between player and developer: “You show me how your world works, and I’ll invest myself in it to the best of my understanding.”

[...]

In order to determine the results of any given choice, you (that is, the game you’ve designed) must judge the actor according to the dictates (intended or implicit) of the game world and story. If you’re building a game inspired by 1940s comic book Crime Does Not Pay, then in your game world, crime should probably not pay.

But if you’ve set the player’s expectations correctly and made all paths narratively satisfying, then there can be no bad choices on the part of the player–only bad choices on the part of the player character which the player has decided to explore. The player is no more complicit in the (nonexistent) crimes of the player character than an author is complicit in the crimes of her characters. Therefore, there is no reason to attempt to punish or shame the player for “bad” decisions–the player made those decisions to explore the consequences with you, the designer. (Punishing the player character is just dandy, so long as it’s an engaging experience.)

[...]

It’s okay to explore difficult themes without offering up a “correct” answer. It’s okay to let players try out deeds and consequences and decide for themselves what it all means. But don’t forget that the game is rigged. [...]

Intentionally or not, a game judges and a game teaches. It shows, through a multiplicity of possibilities, what might happen if the player does X or Y, and the player learns the unseen rules that underlie your world. Embracing the didactic elements of your work doesn’t mean slapping the player’s wrist every time she’s wrong–it means building a game where the player can play and learn and experiment within the boundaries of the lesson.

[swords-of-a-soilder]

I've sleep on it here's my beef

If you wanna log in to participate in a event that fine, I get for some CC's purgatory 2 isn't lore (I mean it clearly is, but some players are choosing not to involve it in their lore.) But when you've made the discussion not to take part in the lore you can't ask about it on screen.

I literally got confused when someone told me bad had a reason and to check there lastest reblog, thinking the book gave them the reason and apologising, this fully left me thinking that the residents where told to return home until I was discussing with someone else and realized I fully misread that (I need to wear my glasses more TBh)

But this play apart of the problem because what I except was a lore reason and I went looking for it, just to find out later there is no lore reason bad just calls himself vactionbadboy halo when he wants to log in.

Look I get playing purgatory for fun, I get wanting to log in to see your friends, Tubbo did it, and Pac did it; but the difference with them being they made up a reason to be there (the boat didn't leave) is a completely valid reason.

I can see them going home and then later being drag back to the boat by the incompetent egg Island workers, but jumping back and forth to the island in the middle of purgatory is problematic.

If you don't want to take part in the lore then don't, don't ask questions about what's happening lore wise (on stream he can always inquire in dms ) , don't do things on the Island that messes with other people's lore or breaks the immersion make it easy for the actual people who care about the lore; Ie: fan fiction writers, artists, role players (I am all these things) to pretend you're not there!

This sounds dumb but I genuinely, when lore is happening take note of every little the to go "how can I explain this in lore, how could I enhance this in lore" to help with my fan art or fan works.

Genuinely I have a list of game mechanics,(chat, tabs list, death messages) and have written ways to explain them in lore, so you can imagine my annoyance when someone who isn't supposed to be involved ask questions fresh of a lore event.

I think the confusion to add to it is that Phil has been trying to do more improv on the spot right now rp; like leaving cuucurhoo the notice of the eye guy and keeping his webcam on until a big event ( and I love him for that, genuinely I love lore so much because it feeds art and fan fiction)

But I feel like im being taken a fool when someone who isn't technically supposed to be there asks questions about something they're not supposed to be awear of and even bounces of it like they're in lore "yeah it looks like we're going to war with you guys." we who? You're supposed to be Vacation halo, you aren't in purgatory right, if so how did you get home?!

Get what I'm saying? It sucks because everyone else so far seemed to-do A decent job of staying out of lore if they want to visit some committing to not coming back to the island at all (cough* bolas *cough ) .

If you don't wanna take part in the lore don't complicate the already existing lore, it annoynes me greatly.

I don't mind the attenting events so much, it's the fail rping of discussing something you shouldn't know not long after it happened. (Metagaming)

[allthoseotherworlds]

An Aroace Doctor Reading of "Rogue"

Disclaimer: I am not interested in proving what's "canon". I do not believe that canon exists. I am interested in formulating a reasonable reading of the episode wherein the Doctor is aromantic and asexual, and fundamentally believe that such a thing is possible in basically all contexts with enough determination. If that's not your thing, that's fine, but I don't need to argue in the replies about how this isn't canon). Also if it sounds like I'm arguing with someone, I promise it's probably not you, hypothetical reader, but the ghost of 2015-ish and the mean voices it left in my brain

I finally watched Rogue! It wasn't as bad as I was worried it would be, from an aroace perspective. I think I can reasonably view it as a combination of my already-established beliefs that:

The Doctor likes it when people like them, and does not like being rejected. How they handle this varies wildly - from preemptively rejecting people, to hiding everything so people can't reject them, to being aggressively fun and charming and interesting, which seems to be the fifteenth Doctor's approach. This approach from the fifeenth Doctor in particular can come across as flirty even in contexts where it clearly isn't meant to be, I think because many people aren't accustomed to that level of genuineness and exuberance from a relative stranger

The Doctor, at least recently, does not like outright rejecting people who are sincerely interested in them, probably due to the previously-mentioned desire for people to like them

The Doctor does enjoy banter, including banter that can be read as flirting, because banter and wordplay are fun

The Doctor does not view kissing the same way humans do, perhaps partially because of the touch-telepathy present in Time Lords, and tends to relate to kissing (even mouth kisses that humans would view as romantic) as a general expression of strong emotion or a telepathic tool rather than a strictly sexual or romantic thing. The Doctor is generally aware that kissing is romantic for humans, but how much they internalize this varies (see: the tenth Doctor remembering that kissing can be viewed a certain way and warning Martha they don't mean it that way, but not realizing it's so deeply ingrained in contemporaneous human culture as romantic that she won't be able to just turn it off in her head)

With that in mind, here's my personal take:

The Doctor is suspicious of Rogue, but also thinks he's interesting and aesthetically attractive ("hot" - a word that aroaces can also use without proving we're not aroace)

The Doctor banters with Rogue, enjoys the banter, and is friendly and charming to him because they want to learn more and because banter is fun. They don't trust him at first, but enjoy interacting with him.

Once it's been established that the Doctor is not the enemy here and they can work together, the Doctor is a) charmed by Rogue's proper admiration of the Tardis, and b) sympathetic to Rogue's Tragic Backstory. The Doctor's probably projecting a little at this point because "Bounty hunter who's lost people and is working to do something he thinks is helpful but maybe isn't for a mysterious boss" probably resonates for "Ex-Division-Operative/Ex-Time-War-Participant" reasons, even though they are deeply Not Acknowledging that they have issues, no thank you.

Near-kiss in the Tardis happens because of the Doctor's deep lack of personal space and generally being more accepting of touch in this incarnation

Nothing needs to be explained with the dancing/fake fight/fake marriage proposal, except the Doctor's "Oh shit" reaction to the proposal, which to my mind is that of someone reliving all the other times people have had Romantic or Sexual feelings towards them and it has caused Problems that the don't reciprocate in the same way, even if they care a lot. Also the Doctor's total lack of prior trauma around losing people or being rejected because they are Perfectly Well Adjusted Now

The actual kiss happens because a) Rogue needs to distract the Doctor and kissing is distracting, and b) the Doctor isn't averse enough to touch in this incarnation to dislike kissing on principle I think, and emotions were running high enough that I think they can appreciate it from an emotional/telepathic perspective anyways

The Doctor is sad when Rogue is lost because a) the Doctor hates losing people in general, b) it's another person sacrificing themselves to save the Doctor or their friends when they couldn't, and c) they did care about Rogue and saw potential in him to both grow and learn more and to be a fun person to travel and argue with

Other thoughts about the episode!

I'm glad Ruby didn't actually die this time, but this is a lot of almost-deaths for her now. Makes me nervous!

I really liked the designs for the Chuldur! It was neat that they all looked slightly different but recognizably the same species

I definitely feel like they left this hanging on purpose, and we'll probably revisit Rogue and/or his boss at some point. Whether or not I'll enjoy that depends on how they handle it, probably

(My actual hot take here is that I think Jonathan Groff is just okay, and although to quote my mom "Ncuti Gatwa could have chemistry with a popsicle", Jonathan just didn't feel like he had much chemistry with him to me I'm sorry. Even setting aside my canon-divergent bullshit he's just not as compelling to me as I think he is to other people. I think conceptually though it's fun to have a human from the future around)

I am such a sucker for scenes where someone does a medical scan on the Doctor and is like "Oh shit" so that was very fun. I also enjoyed seeing the Doctor described as a shapeshifter.

I really loved the scene at the end where the Doctor and Ruby are reunited properly and hug and she kind of calls them on their "I'm totally fine please ignore all the traumatic things that just happened" routine! It was lovely, and I really think their dynamic is coming together. Ruby was also great in her scenes with the lady whose name I forgot who went through a breakup.

[novantinuum]

Anyways, I declare this era as Steven Universe Fixation 2: More Fun, Less Bullshit