#I didn’t even watch the series. maybe like ten episodes

[irisbleufic]

Of all the bullshit I never expected to be back on with the same intensity of October through December of 2000, Beetlejuice was not it. But I finally got to see the musical yesterday, and the part of me that has adored all 94 episodes of the animated series from the moment I started watching them on ABC Saturday mornings in 1989 just fucking flared—this fond, awful tightness in my chest. It’s the first TV show I ever imprinted on; it’s been with me since childhood. Surreal.

About 4 years into watching the cartoon, I finally saw the live-action movie that the cartoon was based on. I hated it, because it was so malevolent and empty compared to the incredible world-building characters in the animated series. Serious shout-outs to Stephen Ouimette and Alyson Court for all that stunning, hilarious, and often moving voicework.

Now, okay, I need to go back to 2000 again to make this all make sense. I’d watched the show from 1989 until whenever the 4th season ended. It wasn’t until I was in my first semester of college, newly transplanted to New England, that I found a couple folks within my program who had loved the show growing up, too. I ordered all of the episodes on VHS. It was difficult to track them all down in 2000, and it was expensive. But I pulled it off, and we had Friday night watch parties for weeks over the month of October. But that is not where this ends.

I was in the process of winding down the writing I’d been doing on Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow for the entirety of my senior year of high school. Suddenly, I’m in college and watching this fucking cartoon and thinking, there is so much heart in this. How the fuck is there so much heart. I haven’t seen two characters this wholesome codependent in, well, ever. I went looking for forums and mailing lists devoted to the cartoon. I found a mailing list. There were a handful of artists drawing amazing fancomics on there, and they were like, what do you do? Oh. I write. And they were like: do you understand how desperately some of us have wanted fic, but just can’t find it?

That is the wrong thing to say to me when I’m on a downward spiral of realizing I’m not going to escape a fandom without getting myself into a project so long that it’s all I’ll be doing for fucking months on end. If you’re one of the people who knew me back then, you know what I did for those four months in the fall/winter of 2000. I wrote a novel. Sure, I came close to failing a couple of classes, but it was the first time I understood exactly what I was capable of building as a fanwriter. Maybe even as a real writer.

“Time Will Tell” was hosted on a friend’s Angelfire site for a handful of years. People found it via LiveJournal, too, because I linked it there. I put it on AO3 somewhere circa 2012 and took it down again in 2017 because I didn’t feel there was enough interest in it, and also, my 19-year-old editorial foibles and typos were aspects I wanted to amend in it.

The musical took more inspiration from the cartoon than the film. I’m stunned and grateful for that. I found the “Time Will Tell” file buried pretty deep in my Gmail folders. I’ve been reading it since the drive home last night. I just can’t believe there’s now enough of a fandom for me to consider finally polishing it and getting it back online. It’s one of my two oldest surviving pieces of writing.

Anyway, sorry for the Gotham fic delays that I’d been trying to get a handle on. Now that the semester’s over, I feel that getting this thing I wrote twenty-three years ago back to the light of day is the best use of my time for a couple weeks.

If you’re one of the people who read “Time Will Tell” back in the day, thank you. I don’t know how many people out there still remember it beyond maybe ten or so friends I’m still in contact with all these years later. I’m sorry it disappeared for a while.

[assiraphales]

if u ever feel bad about queerbaiting in ur favorite show/film, just take a moment to appreciate that at least it will never be worse than hawaii five o. those bitches should get compensation for what they went thru

[thefiresofpompeii]

i know this is like. minus fourth world problems + autism, and maybe other fandoms have similar issues — i’ve never gone too deep into fandom spaces before and regret doing so — but. why are doctor who fans such incurable haters. i started watching in november after the specials aired and although i’ve been severely critical of certain unfortunate writing choices (as is my right. episodes that suck are… bad) i couldn’t fathom hating an entire series, an entire doctor’s/companion’s run let alone an entire showrunner’s tenure. you mean you can’t stand any of it??

it almost feels like… whenever i come across a person that loves to talk about nine and ten and donna and how much they loved wild blue yonder or w/e, they end up being a shallow moffat hater harping on about misogyny and one-dimensional women as if later series didn’t exist. whenever i find a fellow twelveclara understander who posts about missy and defends hell bent etc. suddenly i come across a post about how they hate rose? what could possibly compel you to dislike the character of rose tyler? i say this as somebody that isn’t a huge fan of tentoo. for more batshit examples saw a post along the lines of “don’t say you think tenmartha is interesting and then post about timepetals” like these are Characters bro. they’re not going to get sad. they are vehicles for the story they’re not people. tenrose was the carrier of the narrative in s2 and tenmartha in s3 and saying i enjoy the complexity of both of these relationships as they progress isn’t contradictory because that’s… the direction that the story takes????????

i don’t even hate chibnall era. even s11 has some redeemable bangers. what i mean is i fell in love with the show as a WHOLE . which means EVERY part of it is important to me and i don’t discount it. every next development builds on the previous. the timeless child ruined a lot of things but opened up many new avenues for exploration! i like the flux i like thasmin i like dhawan master i like the fugitive doctor i love dan and karvanista

you are all allergic to fun. sorry for getting mad about people getting mad it will (not) happen again. im going to go touch grass now

[prince-liest]

I’m a sex-repulsed ace, and reading the latest chapter of 666 (as well as your analysis here on Tumblr) made me realize that I have been subconsciously thinking about MY OWN sexuality from an allo perspective? And that it has kinda been messing me up?? Like, ever since I learned that sexual attraction was actually a Thing and that it’s Important To People, I had been carrying around a fear of being deficient in some way and not being able to love to the same extent as allos. (1)

Even though I know logically that’s complete garbage and totally untrue, I felt left out of the loop because people seemed to care strongly about this thing I couldn’t even imagine. Whenever it looked like a relationship might happen I panicked for a reason that I couldn’t understand. But now I’m starting to realize that it’s because I was subconsciously terrified of an ‘ulterior motive’ behind the other person’s reasons for wanting to be with me. (2) That part of the reason they even cared was because of something I don’t experience. So thank you, because this realization just clicked into place while reading your work. The thing is, this way of thinking was just internalized in such a way that I didn’t even realize it was there until literally this week. And I think you’re right; one of the main reasons behind that is because I’ve always consumed media written from an allo perspective. (3) If ace/aros are shown at all, they’re depicted as “lacking” and their character development usually revolves around being “fixed” by the story. When I was ~10 years old my mom sometimes let me watch the Big Bang Theory with her (looking back, maybe not the best decision). Anyways, there was one episode deep into the series where Sheldon (who for the past nineish seasons was probably the closest thing to mainstream ace rep) has sex with his girlfriend for the first time. (4) Afterwards, he says something along the lines of “that was better than I thought it would be”, and it’s presented as a Very Good Thing and a big step in their relationship. I think a lifetime of stuff like that makes it very easy to internalize aphobia and feel like the lesser part of the relationship. Or to feel like the other partner is making a huge sacrifice to be with you. That got wayy too long, sorry. All that was just a lot of words to say that I appreciate you. Take care of yourself!(5)

The portrayal of asexuality that you see in media being almost exclusively as you described is very tedious to me because it presumes that something is inherently lacking in aro/aceness rather than that feeling of "lacking" being something that is induced by societal norms. Actually, one of the things that I find additionally alienating is that fandom spaces specifically have been getting better and better about ace characters - but got damn does fandom not jive with aromanticism. Like, a character doesn't want to fuck? That's becoming a liiiittle more fine, it's 2024, we stan consent. But not shipping someone romantically?? Not so easy, now.

I'm glad that my work has been something that resonated with you in this respect! Alastor cares a lot about his reputation as a demon but is pretty blatantly a person who could not possibly give less of a shit about being "wrong" for not being experiencing romantic or sexual attraction. The explanation Viv gave at one point for his own understanding of himself (that he thinks he's just "waiting for the right woman") actually stuck out to me a lot because it's a very "well, nothing is wrong with me for not feeling anything, it's the world that's failed to produce a suitable person" perspective.

But having that kind of confident perspective of your own rightness in the world is really not often portrayed in media, or even in fandom, which even ten years ago was still in the throes of standardizing "Oh, no! Me, gay? These feelings are so wrong!" style m/m content and is honestly not that far off from essentially that for aro/ace characters.

Anyway, all of that is to say that there's not yet much out there that doesn't frame allo/amatonormative values as the default that "even aro/ace people can (and should want to) achieve," and that it's really fun to write a fic that is unequivocally from the perspective of a character who is aroace and doesn't see it as even remotely a fault in himself. Does he have moments where he's a little confused and trying to process how things fit for him? Absolutely. But he just doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who thinks he owes romance to Vox of all people, hahaha. I've written him trying to conform to allo/amatonormativity more with Mimzy, because I think the social standards of their time could push him into it, but Vox? Absolutely not, he does not respect Vox enough for it to even enter his mind.

And then, on the other hand, writing it from an aroace perspective centers the way that romantic and sexual interest can feel like a betrayal of a good thing. With a character like Alastor, it frames romantic and sexual attraction the same alien way that we usually see aromanticism and asexuality framed as.

In the end, this is just one of a plethora of different experiences that aro/ace people can have, but it's one that I really wanted to see represented more, so I'm very happy to write it. I'm glad that you're enjoying it!

[avelera]

I don’t know how to recommend Wolf Hall

The first time I watched it I sort of didn’t get the hype. It was quiet, and slow burn, and by the time things began happening earnest I thought wow, the tension in the scenes around Anne Boleyn’s fate is so off the charts, I can see why this series was well regarded…

Then the show ended. I didn’t even realize that it was the last episode.

I thought it was well made. I’d enjoyed it. It was fine.

Then I watched it again.

I’m not even sure why I watched it again. Maybe it was the soundtrack, which I couldn’t get out of my head. Maybe it was because I sensed I’d missed some things because the pace was slow so I wanted to rewatch with a better understanding of what was happening now that I had the full picture.

I finished it.

Then… I really wanted to watch it again.

I can’t even explain why. Perhaps the slow, methodical pace and the generally quiet atmosphere makes it a good background show. Maybe just because it’s so different from everything else, so much less frenetic while still being riveting. Maybe it’s the maturity of the work. Maybe it’s the soundtrack which I still can’t stop listening to even though it’s probably ten minutes total when looped straight. (It’s a banger of a soundtrack I will say.)

I’m not sure how to recommend it. It didn’t grab me by the throat in the traditional sense, but months later I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ll probably put it on again after writing this. It’s somber and mature and beautifully performed. It’s very good and very different from more sensational period films. The tension isn’t based in surprise, we all know what’s going to happen to characters like Henry VIII or Anne Boleyn or even Thomas Cromwell, if you’re familiar with that era of history.

I will say it’s the most unexpected show that I can’t stop thinking about and if nothing else, I can recommend it on those merits.

[theangelwithawand]

Because of Good Omens brain rot, I’ve been doing a Ninth/Tenth Doctor rewatch. And I was reminded of something I started to notice when I did my first ever rewatch.

The jokey attitude Rose has in the face of danger is a trait she shares with the Doctor, but it’s not something she picks up from him.

In Aliens of London/ World War III, Harriet chides her for making jokingly says something to the effect of how the Slitheen’s compression field works as a kind of weight loss program. This is the first time it’s ever been called out, but it’s not actually the first time she’s done it.

In the first episode, while the Doctor is explaining the living plastic she makes a wry comment about all of the breast implants coming to life. She’s only known the Doctor for a few hours at this point. It goes completely unremarked on, but it’s there.

She does it in the Empty Child when Jack catches her in his transmat beam. Her voice is literally shaking in this one, both from physical exertion and terror.

The thing is, I think it’s a coping mechanism. I think Rose has learned to bury her fear behind snarky remarks and jokes, one she probably picked up to deal with her life on the estates, to deal with being belittled, to deal with her abusive ex.

The first time I really came to this conclusion was while watching Tooth and Claw for the second time.

During the episode, Ten and Rose have this little bet running to see if she can get Queen Victoria to say her “we are not amused” line. Every time Rose does it, she is giggling.

Until she says it after the werewolf (this is a really strange episode even for DW…) attacks.

After taking a second to be relieved at being alive, her face kind of drops, her eyes widen and glaze over a little bit. The line “I bet you’re not amused” is rushed out of her mouth and significantly quieter than she was a minute ago. The delivery is uncharacteristically monotone until the little emphasis she puts on the end.

She does this weird almost-smile like she’s going to laugh even though she is patently not smiling. She does this small little head shake, her arms are tense.

It’s a really unsettling moment, and it was this performance by Billie Piper is what made me start thinking about this.

Queen Victoria yells at her, and Rose immediately apologizes, won’t even make eye contact with anyone. She curls in and turns away a bit.

This moment always bothered me and it took me a few watches to really articulate why.

Rose is scared.

I didn’t see it immediately because Rose displays fear in so many ways.

When she fears someone she cares about is going to leave her, (usually it’s the Doctor), Rose will lash out. This happens in Father’s Day, School Reunion, and Girl in the Fireplace. (The last one is so justified. She’s way more compassionate than I would’ve been at the end of that episode). She also does this Fear Her (when Nina Sosanya’s character continually refuses to watch her possessed daughter)

Other times, she’s able to turn her fear into action. She does this in her very first episode, the series 1 finale, the Cyberman two-parter, the Satan Pit two-parter, and earlier in Tooth and Claw.

Sometimes, she runs. In Christmas Invasion, she is facing a world-ending threat without the Doctor for the first time. She can’t do the heart of the Tardis trick again without ripping a hole in the universe.

Many times she’ll turn to the Doctor or her mother (who does her best but doesn’t always say the right thing)

But sometimes she makes a snarky comment or tells a joke to convince herself and maybe others that it will be okay.

She uses jokes for this specific reason to cheer up the Doctor in the Satan Pit.

Because Rose is compassionate. To Raffalo, to Gwenyth, to the Empty Child, to Jack. To Cassandra and Flora and Elton. She even tries to comfort Reinette, who is condescending towards her and who the Doctor repeatedly abandons her for because she regrets antagonizing Sarah Jane last episode. (I mean Sarah Jane was kind of mean too despite being a grown woman and Rose only being in her early twenties).

It’s the final confirmation the Doctor needs to realize she’s possessed on New Earth.

She will allow the Doctor to sacrifice her without question to save people and shows compassion to a Dalek both before she knows what it is and after it proves to be capable of changing.

She will drop everything for her mother despite whatever disagreements they have, will bend the universe to keep her father from dying alone.

She will literally sacrifice herself and stare into raw time to save the Doctor.

A lot of people think that Rose’s character in s2 is not as interesting. While that’s true, I think it’s more to do with the lack of interactions between her and Ten that aren’t about their romance. Nine and Rose have interactions that challenge each other’s morality. (Dalek, End of the World, Fathers Day, Unquiet Dead). On the rare occasions that Ten and Rose clash, it’s over jealousy brought on by Rose’s fear of being forgotten and Ten’s fear of committing, or feels like it’s in the shadow of his behavior with Reinette. Ironically, it’s their debate in Fear Her (a not great episode) that is one of the more interesting exchange of views that they have.

I wouldn’t completely agree that Rose loses her compassion in the second season. I think some of her more toxic pre-existing traits are just brought to the surface. And her protectiveness does become selfish.

But series 2 dumps a lot on Rose’s shoulders.

Ten’s weird hot and cold demeanor is probably emotionally taxing too. She has a lot of inferiority issues, probably because of how she’s been treated by her mother and others in her life. She frequently reiterates that she doesn’t matter. You can see how much it means to her when Nine earnestly admits she saved his life in response to her nervous teasing and posturing. And you can see how crushed she is when he calls her stupid in a moment of anger in Father’s day. (An event that is partially his fault because he didn’t explain the rules to Rose until afterwards) He immediately apologizes. (He does have that weird flirtation with Lynda but that is dropped just as abruptly as it starts).

The Tenth Doctor has this deeply frustrating set of episodes in series two where he is utterly awful to watch, and it’s after this that the relationship becomes the shallow, unhealthy, codependent one people remember. (I will expand on this in another post)

But it’s not even necessarily because of the Doctor that it’s hard for her. She says in Parting of the Ways that it wasn’t even the adventures she loved, it was him showing her a better way of life.

The adventures, the death, those are what wear her down the same way they wear down Ten.

She is, at one point, told by literal Satan that she is going to die imminently.

No matter how cheerful an episode begins, the loss always brings something melancholic out of Rose, but also someone desperate to hold onto the person she loves and carve out some sort of hope for a future. Impossible Planet does this really well with the little exchange about getting a mortgage. You can tell both of them find the idea appealing, or would if the Tardis was on call for the occasional weekend trip and weekly visit to Jackie. Because Ten likes Jackie, likes having a family.

Because deep down what these two want is each other and to rest. Not stop, they never could do that entirely. That’s why, I think TenToo works well in Empire of the Wolf (I don’t think it’s handled well in the actual show). Because they are still having new adventures with their daughter, just smaller ones.

So while Rose does have her flaws (selfishness, jealousy, a coping mechanism that is not always in the best taste). But she’s 19, she’s human. She’s allowed to and -as a character in a piece of media- should have flaws. I think they are what make a fundamentally brave and compassionate character feel like a real person. They make her more compelling.

(I want to do a later meta on Mickey, because Rose could’ve handled that better, but I also have issues with early Mickey. And it ties into some other stuff…so later meta.)

[snickerzanddoodlez]

I just don’t like Violet from Wordgirl. To be honest, I think she’s a bad friend.

I’d like to say: Violet is not a bad character. Some people may find her annoying, but I really don’t! Violet is fudging hilarious, her delivery is perfect and the show wouldn’t be the same without her.

But I don’t think she’s a good friend.

To clarify, this is an opinion! It’s not fact! I think early season Violet is a sweetheart and deteriorated later on. If you disagree? Great! Opinions are awesome!

Also, I know they’re ten haha, so don’t take this too seriously. I hold Violet to much different standards than I would an actual 10-year-old.

Also: I know Becky isn’t perfect! She has her off moments, but I think we see consistent effort from her to be as good a friend as she can.

I think there’s more to this story than just the events of “Rhyme and Reason”, but I think they’re worth acknowledging.

She reacts poorly, getting upset, offended, etc….but she isn’t the only one to go through this.

Scoops finds out about her secret identity as well, and expresses that he’s offended by it- but he does not go through the same guilt-tripping theatrics that Violet does. Yes, Violet and Becky are closer friends than Scoops and Becky, but it’s worth acknowledging.

I’ll elaborate more on Rhyme and Reason later. There’s another episode that I think displays some issues with Violet as a friend.

In “Too Loud Crew”, Becky- after avoiding being truthful- admits that she doesn’t feel comfortable at Violet’s house. Violet immediately takes offense to this- “Well, maybe I don’t feel comfortable at YOUR house!”- storming off, etc.. We see why Becky is uncomfortable at her house (the singing stone and things of the sort), and even while she’s trying to apologize Violet insists that she has to follow the house rules.

In the end, Violet says “just tell me how you feel next time”….and she did! This line wouod be more understandable if she overheard Becky complaining about Violet’s house to someone else, but Becky did tell her how she felt. Yes, this is nitpicky, I realize that…..for me, another example of something that I wouldn’t get mad at if there weren’t so many other things I was made at.

It’s sad, because I don’t think Violet was always a bad friend. Especially in the early Birthday Girl episodes (I.e. The Birthday Girl and Slumber Party Pooper) she seems much more genuine and does much more for Becky’s sake.

Upon watching “Slumper Party Pooper”, (an episode where Violet accidentally tells Eileen about Wordgirl’s slumber party, and she comes to disrupt it) @skwangly-fingers and I joked that if this were a later episode, Violet would be mad that Becky was ruining Eileen’s birthday. Though we were joking, we do think there’s a sharp decline in Violet’s overall “good-friend-ness”.

Something else that rubs me the wrong way is that Violet wins who matter what. I don’t think this in itself makes her a bad person and would be funny to me if it didn’t feel like she always gets whatever she wants.

For example, in “A Vote for Becky” she wins the class election without even running. This is played as a joke, and isn’t really Violet’s fault- but I think how often she gets things she didn’t even ask for has not helped my resentment towards this child.

Art’s Parts is an episode I think is worth mentioning. It displays negative traits from both Becky and Violet….and I think my main issue with it is that the argument of “which is more powerful, art or words?” only ends with Becky realizing art is powerful, not both sides learning to understand each other…..which (this could be incorrect) feels like a theme in the show. Becky always seems to bend to fit Violet’s wants, but barely vice versa.

I think Violet gets much more upset during their argument than necessary, but so does Becky. The argument is here at 2:15 https://youtu.be/clKDbs6XqrQ?si=De4XZwaObUuHJIN8. This scene I felt was important to include.

I just think as the series goes on, she becomes more ignorant to Becky’s feelings.

Now, onto everyone’s talking point: Rhyme and Reason.

I would like to point out that evidence finding out Wordgirl is Becky, Violet seemed to really look up to Wordgirl, at least early on. She makes some less than flattering remarks, but we have to remind ourselves that Violet did not realize she was talking to Wordgirl herself when she said them.

I think Violet’s theatrics when she discovers Becky’s identity don’t paint her in a very flattering light. Yes, I understand that it’s there to build suspense, and I think it’s very good writing! But keeping some of her other behavior in mind, it can really come across like Violet is playing mind games with her.

“All you’ve ever done is lie to me.” I understand that she is emotional, and that could be causing her to say some things she doesn’t truly mean, but this line especially rubs me the wrong way, especially because Violet never apologizes, nor is she ever implied to be in the wrong, when I’d argue that she is for at least some of what she says.

I think it’s the difference between “Have you ever meant anything you’ve said?” and “All you’ve ever done is lie to me.” One is a genuine question born out of emotion, one feels more as though it comes from a place of bitterness.

Again, I think the moment is masterfully written, but I don’t think it’s very flattering to Violet. And again, I don’t think this scene would bother me so much if Violet herself didn’t do so much outside of it to provoke me.

I think Athena P puts her opinions very well. I don’t agree with everything she says, but I think it’s important to include (also, Athena P is one of my favorite YouTubers. Very based. Pog, if you will. Go watch her, she has some spicy takes but is very entertaining and is the person who got me into the show.)

ATHENA P: “So at first I thought Violet infuriated me because she gets everything she wants. She’s dating Scoops- the guy Becky likes-, she was the lead in the school play, she even won class president despite her not even running. But what really threw me over the edge was the Halloween episode where she’s just eating up that everyone thinks she’s Wordgirl……

But what really gets me, the real reason I am beefing with this ten year old, is her entitlement.

In Too Loud Crew, Becky tries expressing to Violet that she just feels uncomfortable in Violet’s house. So instead of Violet hearing out her friend, she immediately jumps to defensiveness. Why don’t you want to come over to my house? Oh, you’re uncomfortable? I always hang out at your house! So Becky, as always, tries to compromise, she goes over to Violet’s house and tries to make herself comfortable until Violet points out that Becky is holding the SINGING stone which means that Becky has to sing her feelings- actually, it was even stupider…”

“I really think that they wrote her to be annoying. So if anyone feels otherwise I’m sorry but this is my video. This leads me to the two-part series finale where Violet realizes that Becky is Wordgirl. This earth-shattering realization leads Violet to say that they can’t be friends anymore and she doubts they were ever friends to begin with- Violet, you are not the first person to realize that Becky is Wordgirl and no one has reacted this mellow-dramatically.

I understand the use of the “I feel lied and deceived” trope, I understand that it builds tension and makes people feel like they weren’t let in on an important part of their important friend’s life. That being said, it’s also just stupid. I’m sorry. I think they dropped the ball in the finale. I don’t think they’re realized it was gonna be a series finale, ‘cause it was a fine season finale.

I also don’t blame Becky for not telling Violet when Violet couldn’t even keep her mouth shut about Becky’s first sleepover to the only person Becky didn’t want to invite! …. My theory is that Violet isn’t used to her friend being the exceptional one.

She’s used to her friend being a word nerd but not THE word nerd. She even says something along the lines of, “but you’re not just Becky! You’re Wordgirl, you’re so much more” which if I were Becky I’d be very insulted by.”

If you have any disagreements or anything you think I should add to this post, please let me know! All I ask is that you’re respectful….I wouldn’t hold real ten-year-olds to the standard I hold Violet to, haha!

Again, this is my opinion, if you like Violet, great! Again, I think she’s charming and funny, I just think she’s not the greatest friend.

[cathchicken]

Ok so here is my view regarding the betty and Simon stuff from the finale, cause. I got things to say (spoilers ofc)

basically I am satisfied with the direction they went with Simon, him choosing to accept Betty how she is and learning to move on and find that he is worthy of staying alive even without her is good. Tough, but good. Also the little detail of the Betty statue being golbetty now is nice reminder of that too. Now, for Betty? I’m not sure… when I watched the scene where she says goodbye, it hurt but it made sense. She is letting go to do her own things.

But, then it shows her destination changing to a demonic place, and her becoming golbetty. It makes me think. Is she really happy with this reality? Simon is safe but, even if she’s fairing well as golb, I don’t actually know if this is truly what she wants for herself. I feel like if there’s a season two, maybe expanding on Betty’s true ending would be interesting… I don’t want her to change “back” or be with Simon, necessarily. I want her to become what she wants for herself.

Now ofc, what she really wanted was to keep Simon safe. And as Golbetty she also saved ooo. Maybe she is happy with this, that she can protect the people she cares about. But again, I feel like it… isn’t fair for her. It’s reality, it’s not like we can go back in time and change that. That was the main point of the bus scene anyway. But moving forward, and thinking about Fionna’s “shouldn’t we get to die as ourselves?” line makes me feel that this isn’t Betty’s end. Simon and Betty have reached a consensus and understanding of the flaws of their relationship and how they should move on. But for herself… Betty is still sort of left in the dust.

Now I don’t think this loose end is a bad thing for this season. Like, the whole season was about Simons struggles and Fionna’s. Betty was a very minor character and if anything it makes sense if her current issues are left untouched for now. If they do plan to extend the series in some sort of way, which seems possible, I feel like this Betty conflict might have been intentionally left unresolved. Because hell yes, I would absolutely take a season/mini series dedicated to specifically wrapping up Betty’s story.

I’m not sure how that would fit in specifically in Fionna and Cake though..? Because besides Simon, Fionna’s story was. Wrapped up pretty tightly. I can’t think of anything a second season could do to expand her world more… hmmmm….

All in all, the finale was really good to me. Episode ten definitely felt rushed but they had the right ideas, so I’m not too disappointed. Although I felt like Scarab was a bit underwhelming… he didn’t feel like a big threat to me in the end. Sort of a shame. Oh well. But hey, it leaves me wanting more!! Cause I can’t get enough of this series haha. Or maybe just adventure time in general :)

Edit: also I forgot about this. Erm what is she doing here, it looks like she’s changing form..??? What does it mean WHAT DOES IT MEAN

Like guys there HAS to be more to her story. There’s gotta be.

[beauty-and-passion]

Attack on Titan: the eternal circle of life and war

It’s hard to talk about Attack on Titan. Not because there’s not much to say, but because there’s too much to say. And if you spend your free time watching videos about it (like I did in the past 3 days), you will hear all sorts of analyses, explanations and comments.

So, instead of talking about all the great things in this anime, I just want to give some of my thoughts on a story that accompanied me for 10 years. A story I never talked about here, not even when season 4 came and gave us some of the most wonderful episodes ever. Not even after Memories of the future, which has the most majestic plot twist in a series that has a ton of incredible plot twists already.

But If I want to talk about the finale, I have to talk about the series too and I will inevitably end up spoiling something.

So, if you never watched AOT before, just listen to this: if you want a story with fights, character growth and science-fiction/drama, trust this story. Trust the words these characters say. Trust their growth, because there will be one. Trust the plot, because it knows where it’s going. And even if seems like “urgh, that’s the typical structure of a shounen”... wait for it. This story is much more real than you think.

_________________________

Ten years together

I’ve always been an AOT anime watcher, not a manga reader. The only time I spoiled myself something from the manga, was between season 2 and 3, when I feared this story would never be fully animated and I wanted some goddamn answers, instead of waiting forever for something that would never come.

I made the mistake of not trusting the plot. And so, when I found out what was in the basement, I was a bit taken aback. Uh, that sounds forced, I thought.

Then season 3 came and, okay, maybe this plot point can go somewhere. Wait, if I look at the story in retrospect, maybe it goes somewhere. Maybe it explains Reiner’s character a lot more.

This is when I realized the story knew where it was going. There were no fillers. It was all connected.

And so, I trusted the story. I stopped looking for spoilers, I detached myself from all videos and explanations. The story had a direction, I wanted to see where it led to.

It was a… well, not completely unexpected finale. I mean, I knew Eren would die. But back then, when he took the Warhammer Titan, I thought he wanted to get all Titans inside him then kill himself - thus ending all Titans and Ymir’s curse at the same time.

Then, he started acting all alpha male gigachad I-don’t-care-about-my-friends I-want-to-destroy-the-world and I realized: oh, he will sacrifice himself. But he will play the Lelouch card and become the world’s enemy. That’s where it’s going.

And yes, this was where it was going. However, knowing where a story is going, doesn’t automatically mean the story is shit. It all depends on how you reach that ending.

And the way we reached it, was perfect.

_________________________

The inevitability of destiny and the power of friendship

The conversation between Eren and Armin is one of the most beautiful parts of this finale. I feel kinda sad for the manga readers, who got a weird conversation and Armin telling Eren stuff like “Thanks for becoming genocidal”, which sounds very questionable.

In the anime conversation, it’s very clear Eren is wrong and pathetic. He’s so pathetic, he himself says it.

And even if some people say this is the lowest point of Eren’s character, this is not. This is what Eren has always been. A child, because he is. He’s 19, not 30 or 40. He is a child.

But he’s not just a child: he’s a child soldier. He grew up surrounded by war, he fought and killed. When he looked at the sea for the first time in his life, he didn’t see a beautiful sight: he saw another barrier overcome, to reach the people on the other side and kill them. And he did all of this because Eren has always sought freedom and never reached it.

Just like he said, Eren is a slave. Of freedom, sure, but also of destiny. Eren cannot escape from the destiny he himself threaded for him. He put all the pieces in place, from the very first Attack Titan, so he would inherit that role and start the Rumbling. His destiny - and everyone else’s - is inevitable and inescapable, no matter how hard he tries to change it.

So when Eren breaks down with Armin and admits he doesn’t want to die and wants to spend his last years with Mikasa… that’s not Eren’s character assassination. This is Eren showing the most human parts of himself. The human who doesn’t want to die. The human who wants just some peace. The human who doesn’t want to follow the predetermined destiny, but has to.

I don’t really believe in the inevitability of destiny, but oh boy if it’s not fascinating in its tragedy. And in AOT is even more fascinating, because it’s Eren who wrote it for him. Because once he realizes what the future holds for him, he still keeps following it. He keeps putting pieces in place. He keeps up the façade. And only a few times, he lets that façade slip, to reveal the scared boy hidden underneath. The boy who doesn’t want to die.

And yet, he keeps going, because he wants this destiny. He wants to destroy the world. Because, just like when he saw the sea, he thought that if he killed everyone on the other side, his loved ones would finally be free.

That’s absolutely, terribly tragic. And I felt pity, by watching this young boy, who thinks everything could be accomplished only by killing, who knows he has to do that to ensure peace for his loved ones, who knows he has to die and doesn’t want to. He’s pathetic, he’s tragic, he’s caring, he’s human. He’s imperfect. And that makes him interesting.

But what’s even more beautiful about this part, is how friendship prevails. Because after admitting his fears and sins, Armin doesn’t leave Eren behind. He acknowledges his own sins and promises he will meet Eren in hell.

And that proves Armin is amazing. He doesn’t try to justify his actions because he’s on the right side of the story. He killed too. He took a lot of innocent lives. And if he won’t pay for them now, he will pay in the end.

And so, he reassures Eren: he is condemned, he will die, he will pay for his sins, but he won’t do it alone. Armin will be with him. Their friendship will overcome death itself and the inevitable destiny. As he said, they will be together, forever.

That’s what friendship truly is. Not to justify your friend, but to promise to be there. Not to say “but you’re good”, but to say “you’re bad, but I’m bad too. Let’s repent together”. For me, that’s way more powerful than a simple “let’s atone our sins” or “we’re besties”: it’s the sum of them both.

_________________________

Love as a chain and love as freedom

I’ve never been a fan of Eren and Mikasa as a couple. It reminded me too much of the Japanese trope of “step-parents being lovers” which is illegal and also urgh.

But the way Isayama handled this love is very clever. It’s not the typical “I love you baka” or Mikasa with heart eyes or other stuff. Sure, there are moments when she simps for him and that’s annoying. But in general, it’s very subtle and not thrown in your face.

So when we reach the end and Mikasa asks herself if she should kill Eren or not and cries and doesn’t know what to do… well, that’s realistic. That’s what every real person in love would think. That’s not Eren’s fangirl talking, that’s a real girl who is torn between doing the right thing and the guy she likes.

And in the end, Mikasa does the right thing, freeing the world, Eren and Ymir. And by doing that, she showed her that love doesn’t have to be a chain. You can love and still be your own person. You can still love and be free to do the right thing.

This is also why I like the credit scenes a lot: it wasn’t fair to let Mikasa spend her entire life sitting on Eren’s grave. It was fair to let her mourn him for as long as she wanted, then move on with her life. Again, that’s human. That’s realistic.

And that’s what Eren wanted too. Because along with the more childish idea of wanting her to think about him only forever and ever, there was also a more adult mentality - the mentality of a man who truly loves: to see Mikasa moving on with her life.

That’s true love. Not keeping someone with you, locking them with you forever because of your egoistical need. It’s letting them go. Because if they truly love and care about you, they will come back.

Like Mikasa does: she get married, has children and grandchildren, but still, she comes back to visit him. She moved on but didn’t forget. That’s one of the most beautiful, real representations of love and the reason why, in the end, I appreciate how their relationship was handled.

_________________________

The meaning of life

The conversation between Armin and Zeke is another masterpiece, especially because one of the characters involved is Zeke. You know, the man who always saw life as pain, mistakes and doing wrong things and the only happy moments he had were short and with his fatherly figure, while his real father didn’t care enough about what Zeke needed.

So when he realizes that oh, life doesn’t have to be just perpetration of life itself but also experiencing that life…that was great. Loved it. One of the few moments that almost made me shed a tear.

Personally, I also think that’s the true meaning of life. Sure, life is stubborn and loves to multiply and that’s what we keep doing from the very first bacteria that developed in the ocean. But we’re not just bacteria. We have a brain and memories and conscience. And we don’t see life just as “have more kids to pass your genes”: we search for something more.

And what could this “more” be, if not life itself? What the meaning of life could be, if not to live it?

This makes Zeke’s last scene even more beautiful because, for probably the first time in his life, he looks around, enjoys the world for what it is, takes a moment to appreciate everything. And then, he accepts to die and atone for his sins. Truly a great conclusion for his character.

Another scene that celebrates life and its importance, is the baby’s scene. A desaturated scene, where the only pop of color is the red of the baby’s cloth and the reddish pink of his face. Definitely wasn’t expecting an anime to refer to Schindler's List, but here we are.

But that’s what makes this scene even more impactful: because in both works, the red and the young child are a symbol of hope and desperation, of the strength of humankind and the importance of life.

The baby was condemned, just like all the people on the cliff. Moving the baby away from the edge of the cliff wouldn’t have saved them. The Titans were there, these people were destined to die.

And yet, the stubborn humanity pushed that child towards safety. Why?, Zeke would’ve asked. Why save a baby, when the end is there? What would be the point of fighting, if the final goal is to die?

Because that’s how we work. That’s how life works. Even if the end is there, even if the child will die, the goal is to keep the baby alive as long as possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s one minute or two seconds: the goal of life is living. Living for the sake of life itself. Because life encloses all the possibilities and the younger a human life is, the bigger the possibilities are. So ending one life is like ending endless possibilities. And life doesn’t like to waste anything.

_________________________

The neverending cycle of war

Isayama didn’t offer us a perfectly good ending. The “and they all lived happily ever after” ending. It gave us something real - which is, by comparison, worse than a tragic ending.

After the Rumbling, Paradis became a fascist state, while Armin and the gang turned into peace ambassadors. And, somehow, there was peace. And there was peace while Mikasa was growing old. And there was still peace for a long time after her death - 20.000 years, according to the ending song.

It’s very ironic that Eren’s genocide really managed to let his friends live in a peaceful world. But hey, I suppose that a massacre that led to the death of 80% of the world population is something humankind remembers for a very, very long time.

However, what do we see after all this time? World peace? People living all together and dancing in a circle? No, we see another war. After all this time, humanity fell for another goddamn war.

If this sounds realistic, it’s because it is. That’s the story of mankind. That’s what we are: imperfect beings who keep fighting and do horrible things, so we promise to remember, to not make the same mistake again - until enough time passes for us to forget our mistakes and repeat them all over again.

Just look at our current time period. Just look at how long peace lasts. In Europe, we managed to keep it for less than 80 years, before starting another war. And in other places all over the world, war never stopped.

AOT’s ending is darker than any tragic ending, because is real. Because it’s the real world within a fictional story. Because it’s a crude, realistic warning: war is easy to achieve, peace is hard to protect. And if enough time passes, humankind will give in to the easiness of war again.

_________________________

The neverending cycle of life

The ending of AOT tells us that this story is a neverending cycle: it starts, grows, dies and starts again, over and over.

However, the ending is open too, so it’s up to the viewers to decide how this next cycle is going to be: will it be the same? Will the boy and his dog get the power of Titans again, to start a new cycle of terror, fear and war? Or will something change this time?

This reminds me of something very specific, so please be warned: I will make a HUGE spoiler of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. If you read it/don’t want to read it, you can keep going. Otherwise, skip the following paragraph.

In the last book of the series, once Roland enters the Dark Towers and climbs its steps, he finds out that everything is a cycle. He already climbed those steps. He already reached the end, only to start all over. And so it does: in the end, he’s back at the beginning of his journey, searching for the Tower again. But this time, he has his friend’s horn with him. This time, something is different. And maybe the outcome will be different too.

The last time, Ymir was scared, wounded, alone, chased by dogs, escaping her assailants, fearing for her life. This time, there is a young child, who is walking around, exploring the place accompanied by a dog. He doesn't look wounded, nor sad, nor scared: just a little tired.

Maybe that’s not enough to assure us everything will be fine, this time. But the elements are different. Something changed. And maybe, the different conditions will lead to a different outcome. Maybe the neverending cycle of war will keep going, but the neverending cycle of life will keep going too.

And if we think about it, between the two, in the end life always won. War destroyed, but life reclaimed everything. After the Rumbling, nature reclaimed the earth. After 20.000 years and another war, trees reclaimed the island and grew taller than ever. War may come and destroy but, in the end, the true winner is life.

And, again, this is real. This is what the world truly is. Just think about how easily nature reclaims what we made/still make. Once again, that’s our world in an anime series.

At the end of the day, this is probably what makes this story so impactful. AOT is real, despite taking place in a world of monsters and incredible powers. AOT shows us the good and the bad of our world and our nature and does it cleverly. I don’t think world peace or total annihilation would’ve been as good as this ending. This was just right. This is what it was supposed to be and, for once, I’m glad my expectations weren’t subverted with a resolution that could’ve been a lot worse.

So after ten years, all I have to say is that it was worth it. It was worth watching this anime and enjoying the fights, foolishly thinking that what was outside the walls was the biggest mystery. It was worth it for the plot twist, the characters' growth, the devastating deaths. It was worth it for the realism and the deep themes.

AOT changed a lot of things and I’m glad I was there to witness it until the end. So thank you Isayama and thank you to all the people who made this. It has been a long journey and it has been great. I will never forget it.

[dumbfilmstudent]

Watching a 14 year old 8th grader

Things I have been told/asked:

She showed me EVERY Pokémon and made me judge them and then told me I was wrong about every single one

Why Luka is a better boyfriend than Adrien Agreste (thankfully something I could understand)

Made me explain the entire plot of Steven Universe bc she saw one episode but couldn’t find the rest

That she is in love with a Splatoon character

Explained the full Five Nights at Freddie’s Lore (maybe better than MatPat who, by the way, she has no idea who he is)

Asked me about those Urban Legend Horror games like Bloody Mary and the Elevator game and then proceeded to have to sleep with every light on bc she was scared

Told me she doesn’t swear and doesn’t respect people who swear and that she has cut off friends who swear. I have to apologize every time I accidentally curse because of this.

She had me read 14 pokemon ffs on fanfiction.net to make sure there wasn’t any adult content.

In that same vein told me that she had learned how to use ao3 filters (something I had accidentally taught her how to do last time I watched her)

Asked me if I knew what Dokidoki literature club is and made me read 5 of those fanfictions too to make sure there was no adult content (there obviously was. How she ended up in dokidokiliterature is beyond me. She said it was because she is in love with Monika)

Made me read the ao3 ship stats and then asked me about every single fandom/show etc

Quick rundown of what she said when I explained them: Hannibal “remind me never to watch that”, Harry Potter “no one even cares about Harry Potter. Is Dumbledore gay?”, Supernatural “why are ppl shipping brothers” and then I explained destiel and how he got sent to hell and then she got mad at me for saying Hell, 911 “why does 911 have a fandom? People being hurt isn’t funny” I had to pick around a bit but realized she thought that 911 emergency calls were being made into fanfiction, BTS “who even are these people”, My Hero Academia “an anime? I don’t watch it. Is there any Comiket Communicate in the top ten?”, MCR “what’s that” I showed her some music and mvs “why do people like this it’s weird” to which I explained ppl were emo bc I didn’t know how else to explain and she said “my friend is a tall and skinny emo” and then wandered off

Made fun of me for thinking 53 degrees was cold. (We live in California. It is cold)

A dream she had where her friends are baking cookies but her one friend who she calls her little brother climbed into the oven

The fact that her friend group play house and she is the oldest sister

While roleplaying as a family they also roleplay that they can all turn into Eevees (this is not a one time game. They have done this for three years)

Asked me why there are so many fanfictions about BTS because she doesn’t understand how ppl can ship real people

While I was trying to explain it I accidentally mentioned the Dan and Phil real people shipping problem and she proceeded to ask me about who they are. I tried to be vague but she kept asking questions until I explained their whole online career.

Asked me what Doctor Who was and what he was a Doctor in.

Made me watch Friday Night Funkin modded videos for what felt like six hours and then had me watch her play animal crossing.

Told me that boyfriend from Friday night funkin was not good enough for girlfriend and that girlfriend should be with Sky from the Sky Mod (I don’t know what these words mean but I’m sure I agree)

Explained an Eevee YouTube fanfiction series in its entirety.

Wandered back and forth across the living room in front of me listening to music in headphones breathing incredibly loudly making me incredibly overstimulated (she’s got a cold it’s not her fault)

Explained her entire friend groups sexuality, gender and pronouns, mental illness, and the Eevee evolution they are when the rp.

Btw the first time I met her she asked me if I had ever had a fictional crush, I said yes, and she said “I only have girl fictional crushes” which through her mother for a loop she told me later, not bc she’s homophobic (she’s literally a lesbian) but because she had never met me before and was surprised how open she was around me.

Today proceeded to try to explain the nuances of bisexuality vs pansexualty. She has never been on tumblr or twitter but was definitely aware of the arguments.

Asked me what one direction is

Got mad that I named a character in a Pilot for a college film class after a girl who is her friend at a math tutoring place who I of course have never met and then yelled at me until I changed the name. I didn’t but she doesn’t know that.

Told me I need to vacuum my car. I do.

Handed me a warhead and watched me eat it with the most malicious look on her face as though she was tricking me or something.

Cooked all of her meals by herself, gets up and leaves for school on her own, does all her hw immediately, doesn’t swear, let’s the dog out every morning. Literally the most self sufficient child I have ever met (was able to do all of this three years ago when I started watching her) the only reason I’m here is in case of a freak accident or because she freaks herself out at night at can’t sleep.

Then she puts the pot she used to cook pasta on the floor for the dog to lick up…

Asked me what pecan pie is

[aprikosenklang]

Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender Live Action

First, some context: I started watching A:TLA when book 2 was airing. Since then, I watched it at least 10 times. Half of it in German and half of it in English. The last time was in 2020. I know a lot of lines by heart—yes in both languages. Zuko was my fist teenage crush and Oncle Iroh’s quotes helped my through a lot of dark times in my life. I might be biased because I love the original series a lot. But I try to reason everything carefully.

The Good

I loved it visually! Bending looked so cool and never felt out of place or weird. All of the shown places could be recognized in a blink. It was beautiful to see this world adapted in a realistic way.

The casting was mostly done perfect. A lot of the characters looked a lot like I would have imagine them.

The Kiyoshi Warriors were really awesome. Especially Suki—even though she didn’t got a name at all?!

I loved the addition with the 41st devision. It gave Zuko‘s crew actually a reason the respect him and fitted to his character and backstory.

Zuko and Iroh give the same energy as in the original. Usually this wouldn’t be something to mention, since I would expect this from and adaption. But due to issues you can read further below, I have to mention it. Zuko and Iroh might be one of the few characters that never felt out of character. I’m happy we got those two true to original at least.

The Bad

Since there is so much, I structure it even further into story, production and costumes.

Story:

I didn’t liked any of the story changes. I don’t even understand why they had to tangle all the storylines. The original book 1 is 20 episodes each about 20-25 minutes—which results in 400-500 minutes in total. The live action had 8 episodes each about 45 minutes to an hour—let’s say about 400-450 minutes in total. So basically, they could have taken the timeline as is is. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t advocate for a 1:1 adaption here. I just don’t get why they saw the need to tangle storylines, pull in things from later seasons and leave out important scenes, places, character traits and even whole characters. Each and every story change felt out of place, out of character and over all pointless. Nothing added anything that made sense. Just like it was changed because they had to change something.

Aang didn’t even learn water bending!!! Like what is the whole season even about if the main character doesn’t have a real character arc? All he does is having guilt over disappearing for 100 years. Yes that’s also a thing he has to overcome. But it is just half of it. And he even doesn’t really get over it. He has none of his childish fun moments like he does in the original.

Why did Sokka have SOOO much screen time?!?! Sometimes it felt like he‘s the protagonist of the series. Especially with Aang not even learning water bending.

Momo in contrast had like 0 screen time. But than in the last episode when he became important as plot device Sokka was weirdly attached to him.

Katara being her own master made it pointless to actually go to the northern water tribe. Yes there was Aang's vision. But in the original the plot is not mainly driven by what the fire nation does, but by what team avatar needs to do. Like… Aang learning bending!!!

We didn’t get the epic intro we could have. It felt like they tried to make up for it in the first episode. But having three different versions of the epic lines and finally Gran Gran dropping the original ones was actually the worst. It felt forced and as if she would read them out.

Everything regarding Azula was sooo off for me. She felt like a completely different character with other motivations and struggles. I wish she would not have been so present in the first season.

Uncle Iroh drank not enough tea. Lol. This is maybe a personal one and I cannot reason it to be honest.

I‘m disappointed by the Lu Ten moment. Fist of all, why did it need to be in season one?! But also: It was a bonding moment for Zuko and Iroh. It didn’t payed any respect for Lu Ten in my opinion. And leaves from the wine was barely noticeable and didn’t make feel anything.

Katara never lost her necklace. Which I don’t mind. But it made a huge plot hole for the headhunter Zuko hired. They tried to cover it with randomly finding a piece of fabric. But how did they know this belonged to the Avatar? This change feels similar to the one with the water bending scroll. Important things just become meaningless.

Agni Kai was once mentioned but never explained. If I didn’t know what an Agni Kai is from the original series, this would probably be either the most missed or confusing thing.

Hei Bai was never healed!!! Yeah sure, Aang saved the villagers. But what about the forest and spirit?! And why was there no winter solstice? And in general why did everything in the spirit world was so all over the place?

The siege of the Nothern water tribe being a distraction for Omashu is stupid. It would take them way too long to hear about it. So they would not be able to send troops there by time and it would not weaken them in any way.

The world feels super flat and boring. Because they tangled so many story lines, they got rid of a lot of places. No fire nation prison in the earth kingdom, no nothern air temple, almost no villages. You never get a change to explore the world and learn about the ordinary people.

Production:

The directing felt bad. A lot of people say, the acting was bad. But I don’t agree. First of all, a lot of the cast were children. I think it is not fair to judge them so easily and hard. In my opinion the directing wasn’t good. And you could tell because even the older and more experienced actors were really stiff.

The dialogs were almost always awkward. This adds to the previous point and is another sign that the acting isn’t the problem. The lines were sometimes random, jokes felt forced and original lines never made the same impact as in the animated series.

Some of the CGI green screen backgrounds were awful. They reminded you that this is a show which really pulled me out of the immersion.

Costumes:

The costumes felt lifeless. They could have added so much details to the garments and accessories. But of all things they decided to stick to the original with the costume design?! I expected the outfits to be a lot more toned down in brightness too. That’s something you need in an animated series, but not in a live action. So much missed potential.

Why could they not cast old people for old characters? All of them looked so stale, emotionless and almost uncanny.

I was sooo disappointed by Yue! Maybe I’m biased here, because she was one of my favorite characters of book one. But somehow she was the only character that didn’t felt casted perfectly. And especially her hair was awful and looked like a cheap wig.

Conclusion

Overall, I‘m disappointed. Again, I didn’t expected a 1:1 adaptation. But I don’t see that the same care was put into it like it was for the original. I would have wanted to have something that creates similar emotions and an overall known feeling. But it doesn’t. It’s confusing, flat and carelessly made. I can definitely see why the original creators stepped back from it.

If you think about watching it, I would recommend you the original. Especially because it is not that much longer. So better invest your time wisely.

[ithebookhoarder]

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (Obi-Wan x Reader): Part 2

Summary: After Obi-wan’s accident, and Anakin’s brutal words, you left the Jedi Temple to try and let you both move on. However, you soon realise that forgetting your fellow Jedi is harder than you thought...

Part 1 - Part 2

A/N: Well, it’s been a hot minute since I wrote the first part of this and I know people were keen for a follow-up but I always struggled to get the words out. However, I blame the new Kenobi series for utterly re-igniting the flame I have for this character and this came out - finally! That and the fact the third episode has RUINED me today... 

Warnings: Angst, mention of injury, implied smut / start of smut

Masterlist:

It had been two weeks since the night you’d left - or, run away, if you were being more accurate. 

In fact, despite remaining with Padm�� at the embassy for the duration of her stay, you couldn’t help but feel like you were still running. Every time you ignored a message, or a call, or even the very mention of anything to do with Obi-wan Kenobi you felt your heart ache worsen. 

Just because leaving was the right thing didn’t make it the easy thing. 

You couldn’t just magically forget the past fifteen years or so, no matter how much you wanted to. Maybe then you could find some kind of peace. 

Maybe then you wouldn’t be up all night imaging the pain and confusion he must have been feeling, waking up and finding out that he had saved your life, only for you to have left and ended things without a word to his face.

Yeah. You pretty much hated yourself too at this point. 

You could only hope it got easier with time. 

Until then, however, you were content to bury yourself in your work and the reason you were actually here on this planet - to watch over the woman sat next to you, strapping herself into your ship as you prepared to escort her to the latest in a long line of meetings. 

How Padmé could do it day after day, never complaining or showing her exhaustion publicly, was beyond you. In private, though, it was a whole other story. In fact, her tales about some of the long and dreary meetings she’d been stuck in were the highlight of your evenings. Last night had been particularly amusing, with Padmé sharing how one senator had actually fallen asleep during the ten minute rant another had given at the proposal of increasing taxes in the area. 

You’d snorted into your tea, trying and failing not to picture it. It was the kind of thing you’d have normally passed on to Obi-wan. For, despite his sometimes sensible exterior, he had a sense of humour like yours and irritating senators, in particular, always made him chuckle. 

You’d reached for your comms device, force of habit taking over as you went to message him. However, the sight of the numerous unopened messages already waiting for you on the screen were enough of a reminder for you to put it down. 

The soft sigh that had escaped your lips didn’t go unnoticed by Padmé, but she hadn’t said a word. Not until now, anyway.    

“You know Anakin called earlier.”

You blinked, tensing for just a moment as you focused on programming your flight plan into the ship’s mainframe. “Oh?”

“Yes. He wanted to know how we were getting along.” Padmé smiled. “Don’t worry, I said we were making progress even if things have been running a bit behind schedule since that storm the other day. He also said Obi-wan is back on his feet again… just, you know, in case you were wondering.” 

You paused. You could sense the question in her tone, as if she could see straight through you and the nonchalant way you nodded. “Well… good. I’m glad to hear it.” 

“He asked after you.”

“Anakin did?”

“Yes, but on behalf of Master Obi-wan, who says he still hasn’t heard from you since we left.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh. I don’t know why you’re surprised. He’s your friend, Y/N,” Padmé scoffed, rolling her eyes at you. 

She sounded surprised and a little confused as she looked away from her harness, and turned her chair to face you. To be fair, apathy at the news that Obi-wan was alive and well was not exactly your style. 

You might have well as just come out and said that something was wrong. Why else weren’t you dancing with joy? 

“I don’t know what happened between you but I know you both. You can work it out. You can only spend so long hiding from your problems, staying with me on this planet and ignoring his messages. He’ll still be there when you get back and he clearly misses you.” 

It took everything in you not to break. As it was, you gripped the controls a little tighter than necessary as you chose to prepare the ship for flight rather than meet the Senator’s gaze. “That’s the problem.” 

“Problem?”

“Forget I said anything.” 

“But Y/N-“

“Padmé. Please.” You hated how your voice cracked. “Drop it.” 

Padmé sighed but honoured your request. She didn’t say another word about it, even if you did catch her shooting you pitying looks throughout the rest of the day. Maker knows what she thought was going on between the pair of you. 

You didn’t even know how to explain it to yourself. How were you supposed to explain it to Obi-wan? After all, he deserved an explanation and you knew he’d be asking for one the moment he was back on the same planet as you were.

At least he was well enough to do so. That was the thought that gave you comfort as you tried to suppress your pain and focus on the task at hand. You were supposed to be working, after all. 

So, you held your head high, doing your best to look the part of a Jedi. 

Standing guard as you chaperoned Padmé through her various meetings was a good distraction, as was making sure that there were no possible threats to the proceedings in general; It was hard to think about anything else when you were busy thinking about how many possible weak spots there were in the room for a brave assassin to target. 

The answer - as you determined - was 34. 35 if they happened to be under 4 feet tall…

Needless to say, you were glad to make it back to the embassy in one piece as the day drew to a close. A hot bath and a tall glass of whatever alcohol you could get your hands on sounded divine right about then to help ease the pain of listening into hours and hours of diplomatic jargon that made no sense to you. 

With a smile, you bid Padmé a goodnight, watching as she went into her rooms across the hall, before you turned to do the same. 

However, you’d barely stepped over the threshold before you heard it. 

“So, this is where you’ve been hiding.” 

The voice made you jump as did the sight of the man sat, waiting for you, on the sofa in your room. Without looking up you knew who it was; you knew that voice anywhere.

“Obi-wan… what? What are you doing here? I thought you were back at the temple resting. Should you even be up?”

“Hello to you too,” he smirked, his usual sarcastic tone oddly comforting. “I’m alive and in one piece, if that’s what you’re asking.” 

Thank the Maker for that. 

Given the condition you’d last seen him in, battered, bruised, and bandaged within an inch of his life, you couldn’t believe how normal he appeared (most likely the result of Anakin’s diligent care and an impressive amount of time in a Bacta tank). He barely had a hair out of place. 

It took everything in you to fight the sudden urge to throw yourself into his arms and prove to yourself that he was indeed alright. 

Instead, you took a step closer, trying your best to compose yourself so that he wouldn’t feel the way your heart threatened to burst out of your chest. Then again, it was most likely too late. He’d probably sensed it the moment you’d entered the room. 

He’d caught you off guard and he knew it - it had most likely been his plan all along. 

“Anakin said as much to Padmé. We were both relieved to hear you were out of the med bay.” 

“Were you? I must have missed that message. Then again, something must be wrong with your comms,” Obi continued, his meaning clear as he gestured to your traitorous data padd lying on the caff table in front of him. “After all, I’ve left several messages the past few weeks which have gone unanswered. Needless to say, I was surprised to arrive to find your communicator is, in fact, working.” 

“Well, I...” you stammered, feeling the heat rising in your cheeks at his accusation. 

Nervousness seemed to have crept up on you, because all you could do was stand there like an idiot, your breath caught in your throat. It felt like you were a youngling again, standing before Master Yoda as he scolded you for whatever mischief you and Obi-wan had got yourselves into. 

“Yes?”

“I left a note-“

“Ah, yes,” Obi hummed, rising to his feet. “I was wondering when you would mention that. Would you care to enlighten me as to why you left the temple without a word, other than that note?” 

You gulped. “Because Padmé needed an escort and there wasn’t time for me to wait, to tell you in person. I said all I needed to in that note.”

“We both know that isn’t the truth, Y/N. Please. I came here because clearly this is the only way to get you to talk to me-”

“Well, you should have saved yourself a trip because there’s nothing to talk about.” Your voice cracked as you turned around, feeling a wave of guilt wash over your body at the sight of him. He looked so tired, so distraught, and you knew it wasn’t just the accident that was to blame. Yet again, you left nothing but pain in your wake. “Please, Obi. You shouldn’t have come. Just… leave me alone.” 

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Obi-Wan-”

“Please.”

His tone almost broke you. 

You never had been able to deny him. He had somehow rooted himself deep within you, tethering himself to you with an invisible string that somehow always drew you back to one another. Even now, it felt like he was tugging on your heart, causing a deep ache at the thought of banishing him from your side.  

You let out a sigh of reluctance. “Fine, but only because we both know Anakin learned his stubbornness from having you as a Master and I don’t need you following me around until I give in.”

“Thank you.” Obi-wan was quick to nod his head in gratitude (even if he didn’t refute your point).

Somethings hadn’t changed. 

You remembered the first time he had tried that tactic on you, constantly shadowing you around the halls of the temple until you agreed to help him steal Qui-Gon’s ship on a dare. You were only ten at the time, but it felt like you had known each other for a whole lifetime - it had been that way since the moment you’d first laid eyes on one another as younglings. 

Despite fearing the consequences of what would happen if you two were caught, you had eventually agreed to help, unable to resist him for long. 

How simple things had been back then… 

You sighed. 

“You know, you didn’t exactly answer my question before. What are you doing here? And why do I feel as if Padmé is somehow involved in this?”

“Because you always were rather perceptive,” Obi-wan chuckled, reclaiming his spot on the couch behind him. 

He gestured to the seat opposite in clear invitation - one you decided to accept, despite the fact that this was technically your room. After all, it had been a long day and if you were to open this particular wound then you would at least be seated whilst doing it. 

You were also relieved, but not surprised, to see he had already helped himself to your tea collection too. At least he’d had the decency to pour you a cup. 

“That, and we both know our friend, Senator Amidala, all too well. She simply cannot stand not being able to fix something, including us it seems.” 

That sounded like Padmé. Hell, you’d been in that meeting room long enough today to know the true extent of his words. Padmé saw every problem as a puzzle to solve, and nearly every time, she did - even if it meant sticking her nose where it didn’t belong, or getting herself in the middle of trouble along the way. 

No wonder she and Anakin were close. They were practically the same person, in that regard, and were more than likely responsible for the few grey hairs both you and Obi-Wan had discovered over the years. 

“Us? What - but I - I haven’t told anyone anything -”

“You may not have, but I cannot say the same for Anakin,” Obi smirked, sipping his tea as if to hide the expression. “Nor, his eager apprentice, either. Apparently they may have mentioned to Padmé about our… lack of communication, amongst other things.”  

Why were you not surprised? 

“Of course they did.”    

Maker, you hated this. 

You hated that you had acted as judge, jury, and executioner without letting him plead his case.

You hated the echoing chasm that now existed between the both of you.

But most of all? You hated that you left and stayed away for so long. 

It shouldn't have been this way; you should have been at his bedside when he awoke, ready to thank him, and celebrate his recovery in person. You should have been helping him heal his wounds, rather than hiding away and licking your own. 

“I was a coward.” 

Saying the words aloud somehow made you feel lighter, even if you knew it would take more than words to fix this. The guilt was enough to cause your eyes to water, while you tried your best not to look at him. 

However, admitting the truth was the first step on a long road to enlightenment, as Master Yoda had once said. 

“I was a coward and I ran. I ran from you and the feelings I had for you - the feelings that I know you feel for me too. That crash was too close, Obi. I almost lost you and what’s worse is that it was because of me. I hurt you. Even Anakin knew it. You would never have done something so dangerous and stupid otherwise. You took out that fighter, at cost to yourself, because of me.”  

The confession came pouring out of you. 

“So, I ran and I left that note because I wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t say those things to your face without you knowing that I didn’t mean them, because I don’t - and I’m trying so hard, Obi. I want to honour you and the promise you made to the order, to Master Qui-Gon and Anakin… I don’t want to put you in that position.” 

“So you left?”

“Yes.”

“You made that decision for me, on my behalf?” 

You blinked, sensing the hurt behind his words. “Yes. I did, and I’m sorry... I love you too much to do this to us anymore. I thought by making the choice for you I was sparing you pain in the long run.” 

“Well, you thought wrong. I need you to hear me when I say this, Y/N. I choose you. I choose you, no matter what it means for us or whatever our future may look like. I choose you because I love you and I have for as long as I can remember.”

You knew how much he meant what he said when he used that tone. It's the one he used often when addressing the council or when there was some sort of important threat that needed to be dealt with. It was resolute, and left no room for misunderstanding. 

“These feelings came to be all on their own, and I could never resent you for them. You didn’t force me to feel this way, nor do you force me to act in any way I would not choose to do myself. Do you understand?” 

“Obi-wan… I-" you choked, unable to convince yourself that he was not still angry with you. However, he seemed to know exactly what intrusive thoughts were plaguing you - the same ones that had caused you to flee in the first place. The ones that told you deep down you weren’t enough, that this was a mistake, that he couldn’t possibly be here saying these things to you. 

"Tell me that you understand that. Please." 

You gnawed at your bottom lip. "I... understand."

Relief flooded in his eyes at your words.

Finally, both of you seemed to be on the same page, but it still didn't erase the shame you felt. Tears rolled down your cheeks as your lips trembled.

“Obi, I'm so sorry... you were hurt and I abandoned you. Seeing you like that, and knowing my part in it all, I let my emotions take over and you didn’t deserve that. I left and I should've stayed. I messed things up-" 

The words died on your lips as he took your face in his scarred hands, passionately pressing his lips against yours.

Your mind was reeling but all you could do was hum in the kiss, fighting the urge to pull away. 

No. 

No more running from this. 

On that point, he was right; whatever steps you took next you would take together, and denying this connection was clearly not possible. Not when it consumed you so entirely, your soul crying out for his and causing your knees to go weak. 

His lips clashed with yours, his fingers threaded through your hair, tilting your face up. That devious smile grew, and your toes curled in your boots as you saw the smile you’d spent the last few weeks dreaming about. “There’s my darling, Y/N.”

“Obi,” you sighed. 

It was odd how much you’d missed this… missed him… even the way his beard lightly scratched your chin as you kissed him made your heart skip a beat. You felt as if you were somehow complete, like a piece of you had been missing but now returned as he took you in his arms, pulling you roughly against him. 

You were his and he was yours. 

"I'm never letting you out of my sight ever again, you understand me?"

“I’m never leaving you again,” you whined earnestly, a smile of your own escaping your lips as he began to trail his kisses against your jawline and neck. He knew you all too well and was clearly not above playing dirty when it came to reminding you. 

Hence his choice of tactic, tilting you both backwards until you lay against the sofa cushion - penned in, with no escape, you were forced to listen as he pulled back long enough to meet your watery gaze once more. 

“I need you to remember, it's ok to get scared. It's human. You're afraid of losing me the same way I'm afraid of losing you, Y/N,” Obi stated firmly. "I love you and I'm not going anywhere. Not unless you’re beside me, wherever that may be.”  

You stared up at him with a hesitant, watery smile. 

His throat bobbed. “I missed you. Every second, every breath. Not just this,” he said, shifting his hips for emphasis and dragging a groan from deep in your throat, “but … talking to you. Being with you. Having you beside me. I missed having you as my friend even more.”

Your eyes burned. “I know.” 

As soon as the words left your lips, his arms tightened around you in reply, his forehead lowering to press to your shoulder. 

You stroked a hand through his silken hair.

“I know. Never again,” you promised him, and whispered it over and over.

Taglist (people who asked about part 2):

@obiwanownsmyass​ @tommysparker​ @graniairish​ @itscheybaby @blondekel77 

[rusty-gloinks]

No I don't want to watch it, I'm not a huge fan of him these days. but I was kinda expecting a video on a mysterious series like Murder Drones for a while from him.

I excepted that he'd try to predict a while back maybe by episode 4.

And was it really that bad? Like I get he needs to make videos once a week for a job so it might not be the best, but he's got a whole editing team who he talks with...

I feel like we all were expecting that. Of course he would try and rack in views by making content of a pretty popular web-series, and ending up failing for the most of it. He only put one thing together for me, and something I didn’t realize after the tens of hundred rewatches I’ve done, is that the drone that is in the beginning of episode 5 was Cyn (I think, don’t know if I can trust him on that since the rest of the video is just ramblings of misinformation). He points out several times that Uzi is going to turn into Cyn, when in all honesty it’s not? Cyn is her own person, whilst the solver is a mutation that took over Cyn for not being disposed of properly. Pretty sure the more Uzi uses her powers, the stronger the mutation is, or becomes. Also he said that the drones bite in order to inject nanite acid, when it’s actually the tails job to do that and sting. Khan even says it himself that they got to nori with the nanite acid, and N mentions that he’s "stung" himself and told Uzi to just put her hand in her mouth to heal it (from memory, though might’ve been stuck? Unsure, feel free to correct lol). Also the S theory that he randomly mentions? No idea where he got that from. I’ve seen some theories that S was going to be CYN (before the release of episode 5, I think Juno was saying this if I’m correct), which was reasonable since it did say the admin (?) was TSA (possible abbreviation for Tessa). And totally ignores the events in episode 6, which pretty much humiliate every word he says. Like how S is going to be an important drone that they’re gonna meet in episode 7 or something like that? Somehow also ignoring the chat between Tessa and N. (For context: "When we get to the labs and find that list, I’ll need you to choose the universe over one little drone N.") which was pretty key information. As well as a bunch of other stuff he mentioned that I cannot remember for the life of me (my attention span is wonderful /sarc).

[lurkingshan]

The Eighth Sense 5&6

Two of my meetings got canceled so I high-tailed it to Viki to watch this and OH MY GOD. If you have finished the episodes PLEASE COME TALK TO ME I AM LOSING IT. And if you haven’t yet get off tumblr unless you want to be mega spoiled.

- YES Ji Hyun and Ae Ri besties era has begun

- Yoon Won is such a nice senior but Ji Hyun and Jae Won totally had plans for a date, didn’t they

- Seeing Ji Hyun come into his confidence is so lovely

- Introvert/extrovert friendships are so funny, Ji Hyun looks at Ae Ri like she’s an alien

- Jae Won not wanting to waste his first call to Ji Hyun on a quick info exchange/errand is honestly very sweet

- Ack their cute little smiles after talking to each other

- Tae Hyung really has an inferiority complex about Jae Won, doesn’t he. And he just said Jae Won is “luckily” an only child, but we know he has (had?) a brother. Does Tae Hyung know that? Just trying to figure out if he’s a standard jerk or an unbelievable asshole of the highest magnitude.

- The instinctive thigh grab!! That just speaks volumes, doesn’t it.

- I am living for Ji Hyun and Ae Ri negging Tae Hyung. Yes, bully that man!

- Welp the angst has arrived. Ji Hyun is handling it admirably well so far.

- Anyone else noticing that the little brother kinda looks like Ji Hyun 😬

- His pain over Jae Jin seems very raw. I wonder how recently he lost him.

- Ah he feels responsible. And his dad is “aggressive.” I hate this.

- Ji Hyun is Jae Won’s place to rest 😭

- Jae Won attempting to get a larger volume of pills makes me very nervous. As does his affect in this car ride.

- What are folks making of this bright light and soft focus filter at the start of episode 6? I thought it was meant to convey something about Jae Won’s state of mind, but it’s present even in the scenes he’s not in.

- And what’s with this light-hearted music? What is happening. Is this a dream or something?

- Jae Won corrected the guy in the store that he’s with a boyfriend, where Ji Hyun didn’t. And store guy recommend a trot mix for a gf and fireworks for a bf.

- Okay this must be some kind of altered state we’re in with Jae Won. Everything about this is out of step with the rest of the series - the lighting, the music, the tone. And Ji Hyun keeps trying to get him to open up, which is maybe something Jae Won wants.

- Ji Hyun has water trauma from childhood and braved going back into the ocean for the first time just so he could connect with Jae Won.

- Jae Won, where are you going with this Ae Ri stuff? He seems like he’s kinda teasing, kinda sincerely jealous, kinda flirting with that self-destructive thing of pushing your loved on toward another.

- Even this night scene is brightly lit. And Jae Won just magically pulled a pair of hiking boots out of his little cart. I don’t know, this just doesn’t feel real.

- Yes Ji Hyun why do you suddenly have all this camping gear?? Even the characters know something is off.

- Ji Hyun is the same age Jae Jin would have been…

- Jae Won wants to be asked about his brother and is also unable to talk much about it. Which is striking ten years after the loss.

- And now this sleeping scene feels more like the show we know again.

- And we’re right back to the dreamy overexposed light in the morning.

- The physical intimacy escalated quickly! I didn’t expect high heat in this show.

- Omg. Was this a memory instead of a dream?? Or is it a fantasy version of this day in Jae Won’s head? I knew something was off. I’m losing it, y’all.

[pochapal]

I shall tempt fate!

Thoughts on the thirteenth doctor?

I didn’t like the era much but 13 is awesome imo ^^

[approximately 1 trillion turrets taking aim] okay SO the thing with 13 is that everyone who watched her and hated her was a needless redditbrained loser who didn't understand a thing. yes she was kind of mid in the end BUT not for a single reason any of her detractors like to espouse.

she was on track for a very good slow burn tragic arc of over-correcting twelve's flaws (he got too attached and this burned him over and over and over again) where in her attempts to protect her companions from the same doomed fate as every previous human to enter the tardis she ends up not showing how she really feels at all until it's too late for it to count because whether or not she's attached or distant all humans die in the end and to travel with the doctor is to in part indulge in a death drive because by nature of being a companion it means eventually you are going to collide face first with tragedy. all the pieces for this are there very much in her first two seasons and this reading even explains why the finales were kind of lacking oomph (her distancing in attachment also extended to Being The Doctor on some level; this could have compounded with all the latent Gender stuff real nicely but didn't) since it was kind of all building to one core tragic break.

this likely would have happened in her third season but then covid kind of destroyed production and obviously every ambition/plan had to be downscaled into flux which was like. fine??? nothing really bad to say about it other than it feels a touch truncated but that was mostly due to pandemic filming restrictions than anything else (and will never be as terrible as the parts of the moffat era which suffered extensively as a result of sherlock existing and taking up the lead writers/producers time and effort). only issue with it was that it shifted tone/direction in a way that kept all of 13's era on this same flat note right at the moment when this naturally should have been shifted up a gear for the third act.

unironically in an ideal world we got a full length third season for thirteen and the one thing that needed to happen was yaz dying. like i liked yaz and everything but girlie needed to die so badly in some episode and for her to die thinking that the doctor never actually cared about her, forcing thirteen to realize becoming disattached doesn't prevent tragedy from happening it just deprives her of love. continuing this ideal scenario the next beat that needed to happen was thirteen absolutely fucking snapping as yaz's death serves as the catalyst for all the other billion emotions she's been pointedly Not Feeling in this incarnation - this in turn would allow us to see shades of the rogue doctor or whatever her name was (renegade doctor? fugitive doctor? exile doctor?) and create an interesting interplay between the two. this'd then lead to an "Oh Fuck I Have Really Fucked Up At Being The Doctor Huh" moment where she starts aggressively Being The Doctor (maybe strongarming dan into being a companion semi against his wishes to fill the void?) and maybe fucking with her own history/reputation or w/e which might've fed into the timeless child mystery thing somehow (don't ask me i'm spitballing on half-remembered information). also identity crisis heartbroken thirteen at the end of her life reaching back into herself and re-using ten's face as a kind of "second chance" at all the parts of herself that ten embodied and she didn't (the absolute love for companions and humanity) where the tension is now whether or not fourteen ignores the literal centuries of history separating himself from the last time he wore this face and that feeding into the new rtd era.

even a small number of these things would have made thirteen probably one of the best doctors in the series in all the metrics that really matter but we didn't get that so we have to contend with what we do have and that was mostly just...okay. thirteen for me is like. she was brimming with potential to go down a certain route i would have eaten up but things never quite fell into place. probably a whole bunch of reasons behind the scenes why thirteen's era fell short of total greatness but i still enjoyed good chunks of thirteen more than certain doctors who i can and will name (doctor eleven they could never make me like you) so she has that going for her at least. also can't be fully mad at the writing because i actually have an unjustified soft spot for chibnall (this is my biases talking but the countrycide episode of torchwood top 1 piece of doctor who media and i'm so mad he didn't lean back into the folk horror aesthetic again for the witch trials episode in thirteen's run) and overall thirteen's era was just. it was consistent. i really wish covid hadn't fucked over the final season so the nascent themes in her arc could've come to a more satisfying fruition because i will always be a forever truther thirteen's era was slow-building up to something really good. the haters will never convince me otherwise.

[quantumshade]

[image id: a tumblr reply from user @/mothmanyeetus. it reads: “As a jew… what? I didn’t see a problem from the Jewish perspective? It was part of the plot and they didn’t say a word about Jewish people? The master is meant to be an awful person who’s willing to exploit everyone INCLUDING nazis. Of course I can’t talk from the race perspective though. but I’m sure if Sacha really wasn’t okay with it he wouldn’t have gone through with it and they’d probably find a work around.” End image id.]

@mothmanyeetus okay, let’s talk about this.

like i said in this post, it is absolutely not part of the plot. they could have set the episode absolutely anywhere else. it was unnecessary to set it in nazi-occupied france.

“they didn’t say a word about jewish people” Okay But That’s Worse. You Do Get How That’s Worse, Right? it’s fucking paris in 1943. you and i both know what was happening in that time to jewish people, and so did the writers. they just didn’t care.

do you seriously think that you would have to verbally talk about jews for jewish people to be uncomfortable with a beloved character wearing a nazi uniform. or with seeing swastikas on the screen. do you seriously think that them ignoring jewish people would make it less triggering for people.

this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the master as a character. they are an opposite to the doctor, a narrative foil, and they do terrible things, but they are not a mindless force of evil. watch series ten and maybe you’ll calm down.

and even if they WERE evil enough to be down with nazis (they’re not.) that doesn’t make it any less triggering and disrespectful to include. like yes they kill people but there is a marked difference between killing indiscriminately and. nazism.

as a person who lives in the real world you know damn well the difference between exploding a fictional planet and real world genocide.

saying “the actor went through with it” is not a good argument. actors, especially younger and somewhat less established actors, often CAN’T say no to this kind of thing without getting blacklisted or labeled “hard to work with”. turning down stuff like this can end your career. i don’t know if he was okay with it or not, and ultimately that doesn’t even matter. none of this is dhawan’s fault. its the writers’ fault. it’s chibnall’s fault.

look, i’m very glad that you personally weren’t triggered or made uncomfortable by that scene. but i was, and a lot of other people were, and it’s a really shitty thing to do to just dismiss that.