#actually i think this specific version was

[hustlerose]

i don't like this sort of dogpiling, but i guess i'll give my 2 cents on the "how to pick up trans girls" article

i think a lot of ppl are having some trouble articulating exactly what is uncomfortable about it. i honestly think a big part of it is his tone, demeanor, and underlying attitude.

there's a lot of words in there like "advantage" and "plan" that betray the way this guy approaches women. this is a game, a sport, a competition. the goal is for the man to get in the woman's pants, but she doesn't want to give it up, so he needs to use a strategy guide

it's this framing that's creepy, it think. if it's a competition, then any dirty trick is fair game. speak dishonestly, be manipulative, pressure her with all you have. press the advantage

or it's the constant millenial stereotyping. as if dropping specific references will score you some points. it reeks of pickup artistry. it's all men who don't really enjoy the company of women, telling each other about how all women secretly operate

i'm honestly relieved we're all having a conversation about this, even in a shitty format like social media. i'm glad we're culturally rejecting this tired old shit. we don't need a t4t version of this type of guy. the guy who gets mad when the gamefaqs "how to pick up chicks" guide fails him. you have to actually try to get to know a girl. listen to her, in her specifics. care for the real girl, as a friend and lover. or she will leave

and please do not build an echo chamber that affirms your masculinity by making you into a misogynist. girls don't find that very attractive

[webtomo]

Tomodachi Life Mods

By far my most popular post on this blog is my post about the gay marriage mod by Kobazco. To my knowledge, this mod has been on hiatus for quite some time, and unfortunately will probably continue to remain on hiatus for a long time. This mod requires reverse engineering of the games code, which is complex and takes time.

HOWEVER, there are a multitude of mods that I would like to highlight that actually are available for download currently (including one that actually works around the gender issue). All of them are relatively simple to install (assuming you are either using Citra, or have custom firmware on your 3ds).

Below the cut, I have chosen some specific mods and addons I would like to highlight!

Gender Removal Mod

This mod aims to remove any and all gendered language in Tomodachi Life, replacing any mention of "He" or "She" with They/Them pronouns. Of course, this does not get rid of the gay marriage discrepancy, but it does prevent any of your Miis from being misgendered.

The only issue in my experience, is that the European version of the mod does not change pronouns in Mii News (which I believe is not an issue in the US version of the mod). Some visual stuff is also not edited, but is possibly subject to change in the future, though the developer has not updated the mod in over a year.

Japanese & Korean Tomodachi

This mod replaces Japanese and Korean text from those versions of the game with English text. This mod is relatively recent and still has a few issues, but I think this is a really cool mod if you want to check out the Japanese or Korean versions without having to manually translate text. Most of the text in this mod is not directly translated, and instead is pulled from the English version(s), but it does seek to translate the stuff that is not available in any English versions.

The biggest issue I have had with this mod is specifically with the Japanese version not being able to open Mii News without crashing. I have also had issues with it crashing on an emulator in both versions occasionally (and also has some text formatting errors). Regardless though, I will keep an eye on the development of this mod, as it is being actively worked on currently.

HD Mii Texture Pack

This is a Citra texture pack that gives the Mii faces HD textures. Though not technically a "mod" for gameplay, I do want to highlight it. This texture pack exclusively for Citra that just replaces the low res Mii face textures from the Mii Maker with higher resolution textures. If you are deciding to play the game in HD on an emulator, I think this is something you will appreciate, considering the Miis make up a good percentage of everything you see in-game.

I personally have had no issues with this texture pack, though it seems that some people have had issues with lag and crashing. So, I would just be aware of that if you decide to install this pack.

Tomodachi Enterprise

This is a mod that changes tons of food, adds custom rooms, clothing, activities, interactions, items, and more. This is a mod that I have not actually played myself (yet), but is one i am looking forward to finally checking out. This mod is currently in development and is being actively updated, and I would consider to currently be the most in-depth mod for Tomodachi Life.

The only reason I have not played this yet is other life obligations, but I have seen a lot of what's in it. I would still say that if you are interested in mods like this, I would definitely go check it out yourself!

---

But yeah, this is what I would consider to be interesting mods for the game if you are looking for something like that. All of these come from Gamebanana, and this is not the full extent of what is available on there, these are just some of my personal favorites. I suggest looking into it yourself if you are interested, or if you are interested in developing mods for the game yourself! I just wanted to highlight some mods that I find interesting. I may post some other mod related stuff if you are interested!

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Felt like I should let you know about it but your blog appeared in my dream tonight. As leader of a team of experts tasked with catching the Cluemaster. The Riddler wasn't there but there was a mention of him on your blog saying that you'd rather have to catch him than Arthur.

hang on I actually need to run numbers on this

on the one hand, Arthur is WAY more likely to go rogue (no pun intended) and stop leaving clues, which is going to make him harder to track. but on the other hand he's usually just trying to steal something, and while there can definitely be casualties there's probably gonna be a WAY lower body count than whatever high concept bullshit Eddie is trying to get up to. oh, Arthur is lifting a truck full of stolen laptops? damn, that's crazy. Eddie knocking out power all over the city. which you might think would make me more inclined to want to catch Eddie, but actually that's a point for Arthur because I can't handle that kind of heat. I refuse to be on the one responsible for hundreds of people dying because I couldn't solve a riddle for sad gay babies.

now admittedly Arthur can actually fight, which means he will be more dangerous to me personally in the process of apprehending him. I'm pretty sure that in a pinch I could take out Eddie by just clinging to his leg and screaming. sure, he might have a gun, but I also believe he has wimpy little wrists and I can break his grip easily. But Arthur? I'm gonna level with you. Arthur could probably kick the shit out of me pretty easy.

unfortunately that's not enough to deter me, because while Eddie is kind of a generalized asshole and nuisance Arthur is frequently SPECIFICALLY and an asshole and nuisance to his poor long-suffering daughter in extremely personal and hurtful ways, and giving Steph a hard time is enough to land anybody on my shit list. so hunting him down would be a honor and a pleasure and I will do it out of spite alone.

in conclusion. your dream version of my blog was wrong. I'm sorry.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi Raven! I just had a quick question because I was hoping to clear up some confusion for me.

In book 5, when getting ready to audition for the VDC and the actual audition, I interpreted it as us just helping and being moral support for ADeuce. However, with some of the things I’ve seen, we, the MC, might’ve auditioned? Bc I really hope not lol I have no musical talent and would be so embarrassed I know I’m a bad singer I don’t need Vil the Queen telling me

Thanks! Have a good night/day :>

Good question! I went back into the game to check and… well, it’s more complicated than you might think! Let’s go through it all.

So beginning in 5-4, you first learn about the VDC/SDC. Grim expresses his excitement: “I want in on this competition!” In Japanese, you’ll notice that Grim uses “ore-sama” which is an uppity way to refer to oneself in the singular. Here, Grim is talking about his own intent to join the competition both in English and In Japanese.

Now let’s jump ahead to 5-9. This is the part where Adeuce and Grim are practicing their dance moves on the basketball court. After witnessing how bad they are, the player is granted two dialogue options, one of which makes use of the word “we”. This could imply that Yuu is practicing dancing with Adeuce and Grim. Important to note, however, is that the Japanese version includes no such subjects and could be interpreted as not including Yuu because of this.

Also!! Jamil comments on the dancing abilities of the other boys in both EN and JP, but not on Yuu at all.

In 5-11, Jamil asks if “you” have applied for the audition yet. In JP, Jamil uses the phrase “kimi-tachi”, which is closer to “you all” (ie more than one person). He does not make specific reference to Yuu, nor does he single them out with the “you”.

Then in 5-12, Adeuce, Grim, and Yuu approach Rook to sign up for VDC/SDC auditions. Rook announces their personal details and then tells them "Since you have informed me of your intent, you do not need to fill out any paperwork". In Japanese, the subject "you" is not present, but the implication is that he's referring to at least Ace, Deuce, and Grim as a group. There's not much here to implicate that Yuu is also signing up.

When the actual audition happens in 5-16, Rook announces that Ace, Deuce, Grim and Yuu "may enter". This could imply that Yuu is there for moral support or that they, too, are auditioning.

In 5-18, a little while after the auditions, Yuu has a dialogue choice: “Did we flunk?” The use of “we” here could imply Yuu auditioned, or it could refer to their group of friends + their efforts to cheer them on. It should be noted that JP lacks pronouns in these same options, so it’s unclear whether or not Yuu is referring to themselves and/or the group.

5-20 perhaps gives us the most definitive answer. Grim gets annoyed that he was summoned despite not being accepted into the NRC Tribe. More specifically, he points out that he and Yuu were left out of the conversation. Grim then says “Why’d you call us over when we already flunked out?” Given that every other student present has been accepted, the use of “we” here HAS to refer to Grim and Yuu. In JP, Grim uses the term “ore-sama tachi”, which makes a plural or group of people. So here, both EN and JP are very clear and agree with each other; they seem to suggest Yuu auditioned and failed.

It's very easy to miss this if you aren't paying close attention! (I overlooked it myself, www) I wonder if the writing was intentionally vague or dragged its feet up to part 20 because a lot of details surrounding Yuu are left vague to allow for as much or as little player projection as they like. That way, people who have no interest in it can imagine just sitting out while the people who are interested can imagine performing their heart out. I know that there's some fan art of individual people's Yuusonas auditioning, but the majority of the fandom seems to be satisfied with Yuu fulfilling more of a support/cheerleader or managerial role for book 5.

Interestingly, Yuu failing the auditions here can support a line that Azul says in book 3 when they're negotiating the terms for a deal (in 3-10). He states that Yuu is "not gifted with a beautiful voice [...]" but doesn't remark on their dancing abilities. So... Yuu might have been mediocre at the singing part of the audition?

Ace, Deuce, and even Grim seem to have improved a bit thanks to Jamil's coaching earlier in book 5, but since Jamil did not comment on Yuu... er, maybe Yuu didn't see a little improvement and so didn't get accepted into the tribe? Not sure why Grim wasn't either, especially since Vil was convinced by Rook to go for "unpolished" gems to make himself shine even brighter; maybe cuz he's a lil' cat and would steal all the attention/j)

[adragonsfriend]

There are no trash takes on Jedi philosophy, there is contextual analysis.

As may be obvious from the title (humorous--I have gone through several common misinterpretations myself), this is about that infamous scrap of poetry,

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.

And the other version,

Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force.

I've seen quite a few interpretations of these along the lines of "the second version is reasonable but the first version is crazy and stupid," so here's why I think both versions are actually communicating the same idea, and the wording doesn't really change the meaning much at all.

So just like I did in my post about "do or do not there is not try," let's start by asking some questions to establish context before we look at the text itself.

Is it THE Jedi Code or just a mantra? Legends says it's the Code, canon says it's a mantra. The fact of the matter is that no matter what, it's really a scrap of poetry which couldn't encompass the entire philosophical basis of a culture even if it was trying, so we'll consider it a mantra.

Does the fact that it's a mantra rather than THE Jedi Code mean that we can't get anything deep or meaningful out of it? Of course not. Just because it's not the whole of or a full explanation of Jedi philosophy doesn't mean it's just a nice sounding string of words.

Who is saying this to who? This mantra is often used to focus a meditation, with the first phrasing used by adults in the culture, while the second phrasing is more often used by children.

What were George Lucas' inspirations for Jedi culture that relate to this mantra? (borrowing from this post) A combination of christianity, buddhism, and his interpretations. I'm not an expert in any religion, and definitely not in buddhism, but I know enough to know I'm about to make some sweeping generalizations, so take this with a grain of salt. Disclaimers aside, this mantra, and the way it is phrased, indicate it is being inspired more by buddhism. The way christian texts, specifically the Bible, are written typically goes "here is a story about people doing something, and here is how big G god and/or Jesus reacted." There are metaphors sprinkled in, but they are mainly there to clarify for readers. Buddhist texts on the other hand (and lots of other eastern belief systems as well, like daoism, hinduism, etc. It's an important note that these belief systems don't necessarily conform to the western idea of what a religion is, and often their original languages don't even have a word which is equivalent in meaning to "religion") use metaphor in often deliberately contradictory ways, to make the reader think about things which are difficult to express in words alone. The ongoing struggle to reconcile contradictory descriptions is the point. This doesn't mean those texts can be interpreted however a reader would like. There may be multiple right interpretations, but there can also be wrong interpretations.

What the mantra does NOT mean:

"There is no ___ …" =/= "The experience of ___ is fake news."

"There is no ___ …" =/= "___ is not a useful concept."

"There is no ___ …" =/= "We should totally ignore ___ and pretend we've never heard that word before."

The mantra is not realy a set of advice on how to act. It's a set of statements about Existance. And I do mean capital E, philosophical, epistemological, weird, deep, think-y, Existence.

Temperature Metaphor

You know the first time someone tells you as a kid that cold isn't real, it's just the absence of heat and you're like… "but I'm touching something right now and it feels cold???" It sounds wild the first time you hear it, but as you think about it more, maybe learn about it a second time in science class, get some more context about how molecules work, etc. it begins to make more sense. It gets easier to grasp, until eventually the knowledge feels intuitive--especially if you're a STEM person who thinks about it a lot. We still talk about cold as a concept, because it's useful to us as well--lack of heat can have damaging effects on our bodies after all, and a cold drink is great on a hot day--and it's more efficient to say "cold" than it is to say "lack of heat." But there are some situations, like developing refrigeration or air conditioning, where it is not just useful but essential to think of temperature as it really is--heat exists, cold doesn't--and thinking of it colloquially can only hold us back (if this isn't actually intuitive to you, that's fine, it's just a metaphor--you could also think about dark being the absence of light, vacuum being the absence of mass, any number of things mirror this).

Probably the easiest like to get one's head around, imo at least, is "there is no ignorance, there is knowledge."

Taken hyper-literally it would mean "why seek out knowledge ever when everyone already knows everything?" But if we say knowledge is to heat as ignorance is to cold, then we can understand the real meaning--knowledge is real, where ignorance is only the name of an experience.

The Whole Mantra

This is the way the Jedi are understanding of emotion, ignorance, passion, chaos, death, etc. They are introduced, as children, to the idea that whilst they may feel all of these things, what they are actually experiencing is the lack of the other things--peace, knowledge, serenity, harmony, the Force. That's why they start with the "___ yet ___" phrasing--it introduces them to the first steps of understanding:

They can feel emotions, yet peace is still real and out there to reach for no matter how overwhelming those emotions may be at the moment,

They can feel ignorant or unknowledgeable, yet knowledge is out there to find,

They can experience passion (meaning suffering or pain in this context), yet know that serenity will return to them,

They can find their surroundings chaotic, and yet look for the harmony in the noise,

They can understand that death happens, yet be comforted by the fact that the person dying is still as much a part of the Force as they ever were.

Eventually they move onto the full mantra:

They will always feel emotions, but if they always reckon with those emotions and pass through them they can always return to a place of peace,

If they feel ignorant, they must seek out knowledge, rather than acting rashly. Also, their own knowledge is not the limit--others may hold knowledge in places they consider clouded,

They may experience suffering and pain--it may even feel like a good thing--but there is no wisdom in pain, it is the distraction from serenity, which is where truth can be found,

No matter how chaotic the world appears, it is actually a part of an underlying harmony that makes up all the patterns and the beauty in the world,

Death is not an ending, no matter how much it may look like one. It is a natural transition back into the Force, the place all life comes from.

A Jedi youngling is someone for whom this understanding is an essential part of the culture they are being brought up in.

A Jedi Padawan is someone who is beginning to learn to apply this understanding outside the confines of the Jedi temple, in a world where not everyone shares it.

A Jedi Knight is someone who has learned to apply this understanding on their own, without supervision.

A Jedi Master is someone for whom this understanding has become intuitive and automatic, no matter their surroundings.

All this is to say,

[rems-writing]

Variant 1126

Trope: Loki!Wooyoung × Avenger!reader

Context: Loki is the Norse god of mischief. In the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), he is dead. When the Avengers defeated him in 2012, he was last seen chained up and ready to go back to Asgard to be imprisoned. However, in Avengers: Endgame, Loki escapes with the Tessaract when the 2023 Avengers show up and fuck up shit as they try to gather the Infinity Stones from all across the realms in different time periods.

Setting: this will take place during the Loki series. Specifically, season two. If you do not know by now, Loki sacrificed himself in the end of this series and is now the god of stories. He did this so the others could live. The fic will start with Mobius hanging out with Hunter B-15, Casey, Ouroboros, and Sylvie before all five of them look onto a random screen to see other versions of the Earth we know today. Yes Wooyoung will be a variant lol

Includes: Hongjoong as Odin, Seonghwa as Freya, Yunho as Thor, Yeosang as Dr. Darcy Lewis, San as Bucky, Mingi as Dr. Jane Foster, and Jongho as Lady Sif.

To clear up any confusion, Odin!Hongjoong and Apollo!Hongjoong are two completely different godly figures.

Additional inclusions: crack at the beginning, mentions of a painful past (iykyk, especially if you're a Bucky fan), Wooyoung being a cheeky little fuck lol, Fandral and Volstagg being absolute dicks (trigger warning: Volstagg mentions ripping off body parts), slight coercion, fluffy ending

@newworldnet

@blossomnet

Thank you to @bunnliix for helping me decide the order of the fics that I write and post

I also decided to tag @ja3hwa since they're a huge Bucky enthusiast 👁👁

"You know... I'm curious about something."

Mobius said out of the blue as he looked at his three friends peacefully eating their key lime pie. Hunter B-15 looked up at him curiously.

"What is it?" B-15 asked.

"Have we ever taken in variants that were actually doing what is told in accordance with the sacred timeline? As in they were doing what they were supposed to do yet we accidentally took them in?"

Mobius's question left them puzzled and they were now thinking about it.

"I want to know as well." Sylvie asked as well. The blonde Loki variant tilted her head curiously. Casey then came up with something.

"Remember that one Loki variant we took in? The one that Renslayer misinformed us about? He had eyeliner and a lot of piercings on his ear. He also bites."

B-15 knew who Casey was talking about and she blushed out of embarrassment.

"We were all awkward that day, including Renslayer. She apologized to the variant and we all left quickly. That same day, we never did anymore missions and just waited the next day." B-15 explained. Casey & Mobius nodded grimly while Sylvie was confused.

"A Loki variant that bites?! What is this variant? A vampire?" Sylvie exclaimed and Mobius chuckled before taking out his tempad and scrolling through the past Loki variants before stopping on the one they were talking about.

"This is him. Variant 1126. He is a Loki variant but when he visits Earth often, he goes by Jung Wooyoung."

Sylvie's jaw dropped as she saw a picture of a beautiful man on the tempad screen.

"He's a Loki variant?! He certainly doesn't look like one!" She exclaimed as she kept staring at him."

"I wonder what he's doing now." Mobius said curiously. The other three grew curious as well and they all sat beside Mobius. The older man soon clicked on the file and all four of them peered into the life of Variant 1126.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"PUT ME DOWN, YOU SMELLY FUCK! I'M NOT GOING TO ASGARD WITH YOU AND THE OTHER BIG BITCH!"

Yunho laughed heartily while San giggled lightly and tightened his hold on his sibling. One minute, you were sleeping peacefully. The next minute, your brother hoisted you up and over his shoulder before walking alongside the taller man outside of the Avengers Compound.

"YEOSANG! MINGI! DO SOMETHING!"

The two doctors tagging along simply giggled. Yeosang playfully swatted your ass while Mingi shrugged jokingly as if to say 'Sorry. My hands are tied.' Finally, you gave up and laid limp in San's hold.

"HEIMDALL, WE'RE READY! BEAM US UP!"

A bright light descended from the sky and crashed down onto the five of you before beaming you upwards to Yunho's realm.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You thought you were going to hurl.

After you guys successfully made it to Asgard, you immediately ran over to the beginning of the rainbow bridge and dry heaved. Luckily, nothing came out. However, you were still nauseous. San patted your back and helped you stand up. Once you recovered, the five of you began walking to the kingdom of Asgard, taking in the sights before you.

You soon arrived at the entrance and two soldiers greeted you guys before allowing entry inside. You, Yeosang, San, and Mingi marveled at the sights of the golden interior before seeing two golden thrones and two men sitting atop said thrones.

"Welcome back home, my dearest Thor." The king greeted the god of thunder.

"Father~ I told you to call me Yunho!" Yunho whined softly and the king chuckled before standing up and walking towards him. He brought him into a hug. The queen followed suit.

"You know your father. The ever forgetful man he is." The second man chuckled. "Are these your friends?" He asked as he gestured to the rest of you.

"Ahh yeah! This is Dr. Kang Yeosang, San Barnes, and Y/N Barnes! But uh..." Yunho grabbed Mingi's hand and his voice softened. There was a hint of love and affection.

"This is Dr. Song Mingi. He's my boyfriend."

The second man clapped in delight while the first man's pretty smile never left his face.

"Greetings, Dr. Song. My name is Odin but you can call me Hongjoong."

"My name is Freya but you can call me Seonghwa. It is lovely to finally meet you. We have heard so much about you from our eldest son. He wouldn't stop gushing about you!"

"Mother!" Yunho exclaimed out of embarrassment and the tips of his ears turned red while Seonghwa simply giggled. While Hongjoong was talking Mingi's ears off, Seonghwa approached the four of you.

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Kang."

"Same here, Hwa!"

You were about to swat Yeosang's head for being informal in front of the queen when you heard him laugh.

"Oh my. You are quite the excitable one."

Yeosang toothily grinned and Seonghwa returned it before turning to you. Both you and San were nervous as all hell. You two were sure that Hongjoong and Seonghwa would treat you differently due to them hearing about your past sins. When Seonghwa brought you two into a hug, all of those worries washed away and all that was left was shock and confusion.

"Welcome to Asgard, Namhae Wolves."

To hear him call you guys your official hero names rather than the Winter Soldiers almost made you cry. San let out a shaky breath of relief as Seonghwa pulled away. He held San's face in his hands and a choked sob escaped San's lips.

"I thought we would be treated differently. Forgive us for the hesitancy, your majesty." San spoke quietly. You nodded along in agreement and Seonghwa shushed you both.

"You are freed from the hands of HYDRA. You are both forgiven."

San smiled weakly while you bowed before Seonghwa. The queen turned to you and tilted his head curiously. His eyes were assessing you and you were growing anxious under his gaze. A teasing smirk appeared on the pretty man's lips.

"Y/N Barnes right?"

You nodded nervously and a slight chuckle escaped his lips.

"Oh my... so you're the one that my youngest son sees in his dreams. Looks like his prophetic visions have come to life." That smirk never left his lips and you grew confused by his words.

"Uh... what do you mean by that?"

"Oh don't fret, my dear. I just...remembered something. That's all." He patted your head lightly before bringing his hand down to your face. His fingers caressed your cheek and you found yourself leaning into his touch.

"Come now. We all have much to discuss."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had only been a few hours since you landed in Asgard and so far, you loved it. The food was great, the conversation was lively, and the environment was relaxing. After lunch ended, all of you went your separate ways. Yunho and Mingi went with Hongjoong and Seonghwa to walk around in the gardens while Yeosang dragged San along to go check out the labs.

Leaving you by yourself to wander the grand hallways alone.

As you walked around, you were making a mental note of the structures and the archways perched above various giant doors that lead into different rooms. You then noticed a lone figure leaning against the balcony, reading a book. You were about to approach him when another figure blocked your path.

"Hey. May you please move out of the way?" You asked politely. The new person, with an arrogant smile, stood before you defiantly.

"Greetings! I am Fandral! Welcome to Asgard!"

Oh.

He was one of those people. Oh boy.

"Shall I show you around this grand ole palace or... shall I introduce you to a special room just beyond those doors? Where you and I can be alone."

As Fandral wiggled his eyebrows, his friends behind him cheered loudly and egged him on. Except for a young man who seemed tired of the bullshit his friend was doing.

"Since when...?"

Fandral was confused by your statement yet he kept the smile on his face.

"Whatever do you mean?!"

"Since when did I fucking ask for this shit right here?"

Your snappish tone made his friends quiet down, the young man snap his head up to pay attention, and Fandral's smile waver.

"Surely, you must jest with your words. I mean... look at me."

"Yeah i'm looking at you. All I see is an egotistic douchebag who thinks he can sweep anyone off their feet with those horrid pick up lines alone. Now run along. My patience is running thin and you do not want to see me when I'm impatient."

"But -"

"Scram!"

Your raised voice made everyone flinch and they ran off. Fandral trailed behind them like a dog with its tail hanging between its hind legs. Only the young man remained and his gummy smile was present.

Cute.

"No one has ever stood up to and rejected Fandral like that before. You certainly have guts."

"Let's just say I've had my own fair share of Fandrals before back on Earth, or Midgard as you call it."

"Fair enough."

The man with the gummy smile stuck out his hand.

"I'm Lord Sif, but you may call me Jongho."

"Nice to meet you, Jongho. I'm Y/N."

As the two of you walked down the hallways to get to know one another, you were unaware of the lone figure looking straight at you as you passed by. A mischievious smirk played on his lips as he closed his book shut.

"Well well... you're certainly a fiery one."

As he walked towards the library, he thought about you some more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been now a few weeks since your stay here in Asgard.

Yeosang and Mingi were making good progress on whatever project they were working on with Hongjoong and Yunho by their side. Meanwhile, you were bored so you pulled San into a practice room and asked to spar with him.

Ever the competitor, San obliged.

As you two were stretching, you heard light footsteps approach you. You lifted your head to see who approached you.

And you almost toppled over onto San.

A body clad in black and green armor with gold accents, a sharp jawline, piercing eyes that reminded you of a fox, eyeliner underneath said eyes, and many piercings adorning both ears.

'His lips look soft'

'DON'T BE WEIRD'

'But they are'

'DON'T BE WEIRD'

"If you want to know how soft they are, why don't you come here and test them out yourself?"

His mischievous voice snapped you out of the daze you were in.

"Did I say that out loud?! Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" You exclaimed and hid yourself behind San's wide frame, hoping your brother would protect you. The young man chuckled smoothly and stepped closer.

"No you didn't. I can read minds y'know?"

Ok that was fine.

WAIT A DAMN MINUTE -

"Wait. Mind reading, black and green armor, a mischievous voice, and..."

That's when you noticed it.

The golden horned helmet he was holding in one hand along with a book in the other hand.

"You're Loki... aren't you?"

Your shy voice made his heart melt yet he hid it behind a suave demeanor.

"Yes. It is I. But since everyone here is using their Midgardian names, then I supposed you can call me Wooyoung."

The tales of his silver tongue were no joke.

As you approached him, you studied his facial features more. Wooyoung noticed this and decided to take advantage of your curious nature by leaning in. You squeaked in surprise and Wooyoung laughed airily at this. He retracted himself and walked over to the bleachers before finding a suitable spot and sitting down.

"Oh don't mind me. I am just observing. Continue with what you are doing."

As if to prove that he's telling the truth, he opened the book he was carrying and began reading. You huffed lightly and continued stretching before turning to face San.

"Want to start?"

San, who noticed the entire thing unfold, nodded. He had an unreadable expression on his face as he narrowed his feline eyes suspiciously at Wooyoung momentarily before getting into a fighting stance.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"FUCK!"

You were slammed down into the mat while San hovered over you.

"You're getting weak, little sis." He teased you while he helped you up. You were breathing heavily and hunched over. Wooyoung looked up discreetly from his book and watched the beads of sweat trail down your face.

How could you look so ethereal even whilst sparring?

He felt himself blush and looked back down at his book so San wouldn't catch him staring.

"Best two out of three!"

"You already said that -"

"I don't care! Best two out of three!"

San lightly chuckled before getting into a fighting stance once more. You tackled him and tried to get him in a headlock yet he beat you to it.

"Come on now. You should know by now that this tactic is getting old."

"I'm aware. Which is why I'm doing this!"

You jumped up and slipped out of his hold before grabbing his wrist and flipping him onto his front whilst you landed after practically doing a somersault mid-air. San groaned in pain and you pinned his arm behind his back.

"Ha! I win."

San laughed weakly as you let him go and helped him up.

"Finally! That was fun. I'll be right back. I'm going to grab us some water."

San turned and jogged off somewhere to fetch water for the both of you. You walked towards the bleachers and sat next to Wooyoung. The young god conjured a towel and handed it to you. You thanked him as you wiped your face to get rid of any sweat buildup.

"You sure fight hard. Do you and San always do this?" Wooyoung asked curiously.

"Yeah we do. Even way before we were captured by HYDRA, we would always spar in our old gym and see who the best was." You told him and looked down at the metal arm that was beside you. You moved it, flexed it, and wiggled your fingers around before sighing deeply.

"With these metal appendages, we're stronger than ever. However, we both try not to use them as much as possible since... uh..."

"I heard about what you both had to go through. And I'm so sorry this happened to you. This must not have been easy for you."

All mischief was lost and all you heard in Wooyoung's voice was softness and care. As he scooted closer to you, he looked down at your metal arm.

"May I...?"

You were unsure of what he would do yet you trusted him somehow so you nodded and Wooyoung lifted your arm before observing closely.

The intense gaze in those fox eyes made you anxious. He trailed his slender fingers up and down the metallic plating before skimming downwards to your hand. He then intertwined his fingers with yours and brought your hand up to his lips.

Wooyoung's plush lips made contact with the cold metal and stayed there for a minute before bringing it up to his face. He flinched slightly as your metallic palm made contact with the warmth radiating off his face. He leaned into your touch and his stare softened. A small smile was on his lips and he shifted closer to you.

"I'm sorry. I don't even know your name. My apologies." He said sheepishly and you laughed quietly before reassuring him that it was fine.

"My name's Y/N. Y/N Barnes."

"Y/N..."

The way your name rolled off his tongue made your insides feel tingly. Before he could speak any further, you heard a cacophony of voices booming down the hallway. You both turned to see Fandral, Jongho, and a bunch of Fandral's friends storming towards you. One of them threw Wooyoung off the bleachers so Fandral can take his place. Jongho helped him up while you rolled your eyes and crossed your arms.

"Listen here, you lowly mortal. I am Fandral the Dashing! I will not stop until you are mine! Do you think your malicious words can bring me down?!"

"Well you seemed butthurt so I assumed you were -"

"SILENCE, MORTAL!"

You rolled your eyes but shut up nonetheless as Fandral talked nonsense.

"However, I am willing to forgive you. You just need to do one thing."

"What?" You growled.

"Give me a kiss."

"No."

"KISS HIM, YOU PATHETIC MORTAL!"

The man that shoved Wooyoung off grabbed the back of your head and pushed you towards Fandral's puckered lips. You squirmed in his hold and tried to resist him without using your metal arm.

You were annoyed but you vowed to never touch anyone with your metal arm again.

"HEY!!!!"

A loud voice was heard and all of you turned to see an angry San sprinting towards you at lightning speed. The man holding your head punched San square in the face and laughed as he went down.

"PUNY MORTAL! NOW WHERE WERE WE, FANDRAL?!"

Wooyoung sprinted into action and tackled the man holding your head, leaving you to be free. Jongho helped Wooyoung pin down the man while you tried to get up so you could help San. However, you were stopped by Fandral.

"Come on now. It's just one measly kiss. What could go wrong?"

"Everything could go wrong if you don't unhand them right now."

You were relieved to hear Yunho's voice echoing in the hallways. Fandral froze and turned to see the god of thunder with the angriest of faces on.

"Thor! What a surprise. Could you please tell them to just -"

"I will not tell them anything. You on the other hand..."

Yunho grabbed Fandral by the collar and lifted him from the bleachers easily. Fandral's feet dangled as he tried to escape his grasp.

"Wait! Thor! You misunderstand -"

"Shut up, dude!" Jongho hissed to the man that was pinned down.

"Sif, you are on that pa-"

"Choose your words carefully, Volstagg."

"Like I will listen to you, Loki! Do you not know of both their past misdeeds as Winter Soldiers?! They have killed countless people mercilessly! And with those metal arms! If I was there, I would've ripped their arms off and beat them with it!"

Everyone went quiet as Volstagg, the pinned man, spoke of yours and San's former HYDRA induced sins in such an arrogant and proud tone. Yunho grew angrier but Wooyoung saw red. He was about to lash out when a booming authoritative voice.

"YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK ILL OF OUR GUESTS! FANDRAL AND VOLSTAGG, I SENTENCE YOU TO THE BRIG FOR FOUR WEEKS!"

Fandral nor Volstagg spoke a word as Hongjoong walked into the room.

"O-Odin... sire -"

"That's your majesty to you! Guards, take them down to the prison cells!"

Two guards dragged Volstagg while Fandral was released from Yunho's grasp and taken as well. You were glad that was over.

You could cry freely.

You fell to your knees and sobbed into your hands, which startled everyone.

"Father, should I wake San -"

"No, my dear. Look."

After Seonghwa finished speaking, Yunho looked to see his little brother comforting you to the best of his ability. Wooyoung held you in his arms and shushed you gently and lovingly.

"You are free of them. They will not track you down. It's ok. It's ok."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a month since the incident. San was grateful for Wooyoung's presence. At first, he was weary of the young god. However, when he heard from Yunho that Wooyoung successfully calmed you down, he approved of him.

You were leaning against Wooyoung as you two watched the sunset from the balcony of Wooyoung's room. Your head was on his shoulder while his arm was wrapped around your waist.

"So what happened during that meet up with your friends?"

You knew that Wooyoung went away for a bit before coming back in time for dinner. But you were curious as to what for.

"One of my good friends is gone."

Your eyes widened. A god died?!

"No no, my dear. You misunderstand me. He left behind his life in the Duat, the Egyptian underworld, and joined Midgard as a completely different man. With a clear mind and an open clean heart. He is currently with his beloved right now."

After the clarification he gave based off reading your mind, you understood.

"May I see what he looks like?"

"Of course."

He pulled out a group photo and showed it to you. You recognized Yunho and Wooyoung but the others were new to you. He pointed out each one.

"The one that looks like my father? That's Apollo. The one that looks like Dr. Kang? That's Ptah. The one that looks like your brother? That's Hercules. The one that looks like Sif? That's Sekhmet."

He pointed to the last god.

"The one that looks like my mother? That's the god that joined Midgard. His name was Anubis."

After looking at the eerily similar figures of the five gods, you looked back up at him. Wooyoung's face was filled with nostalgia and a hint of sadness. You gave him a side hug and Wooyoung gladly returned it.

"Have you guys thought about finding him?"

"We have, but we wouldn't know where to look. We don't even know if he is a man, woman, non-binary person, a pet, and so on. All we know is that... he is happy. And if he is happy, then who are we to rain on his parade? While we would love to know who he is in his new body and reunite with him, it just wouldn't feel the same."

You nodded in acknowledgement to his explanation and kissed his cheek.

"I love you, Wooyoung."

"And I love you, Y/N."

He kissed the back of your metal hand before holding it gently as you two continued watching the sunset.

[litlunacy]

Thinking about the implications of playing a Dalish Rook and dealing with actual elvhen gods and having said gods look at your face and see your vallaslin and like...just assuming they own you since they were originally slave markings. And extending that to Davrin and Bellara as well. Which led me down a hole of trying to figure out which vallaslin they both have (1. Because I am a sucker for anything Dalish related and 2. Possible story ramifications? Who knows).

Davrin seems to have a fairly straightforward Ghilan'nain vallaslin, though slightly altered from before, which isn't surprising. The blood writing has already undergone changes between Origins/2 and Inquistion (Regional variations I suppose? Would definitely make sense for Merrill's Ferelden clan and Quiz's Free Marcher clan to change them slightly. Anyway.) But he has the delicate curved branches on the forehead and the small chin design so I'm fairly confidant about that one.

But Bellara has absolutely stumped me. I kinda figured that since we got confirmation that it was Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan at the end of the gameplay trailer, that since Davrin's is Ghilan'ain it would make sense for Bellara to have Elgar'nan's. But hers looks absolutely nothing like the previous versions.

So that's out. But it does bear a very very slight resemblance to the June vallaslin.

Or at the very least has a lot of similar elements, such as the cross-hatching, the double series of dots, and a focal point in the central forehead.

My only other guess is Andruil or Dirthamen, because the DAI versions of both of them also feature series of dots, and none of the other Vallaslin do from either Origins or Inquisition.

Maybe somebody will ask the devs for confirmation on twitter or in another Q&A or something. Because I am vibrating with curiosity.

(Honestly, since we're gonna be dealing heavily in this game with a lot of ancient elf stuff, I really hope we at least get a little bit more from Dalish characters about their specific vallaslin. Like, I wanna know why my party members chose the vallaslin of that particular god. You don't sit for hours in total silence as your Keeper pokes your face with a needle without putting some kinda thought into what's going to be on your face for the rest of your life.)

[fairymagiceverlasting]

Insights on manifestation were found in retranslations of ancient biblical texts!

This is fascinating! I'm rereading a book called The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden, which emphasizes that the key to manifestation is feeling; emotion. (Neville knew this, which is why one of his books is called "Feeling is the Secret.") In The Divine Matrix, the author talks about how this is knowledge that has been recorded in many ancient traditions for thousands of years.

"How beautiful," I thought, "And how simple! Just as the late-20th-century experiments had shown, it's human feeling and emotion that affect the stuff our reality is made of - its our inner language that changes the atoms, electrons, and photons of the outer world. However, this is less about the actual words we utter and more about the feeling that they create within us. It's the language of emotion that speaks to the quantum forces of the universe... feeling is what the Divine Matrix recognizes."

- The Divine Matrix ✨️

I was thinking this over today and vaguely wondering why the "Ask and you shall receive" instruction in the Bible says nothing about feeling or imagining that you have what you desire. We know that simply wishing or asking for something doesn't tend to bring it about.

Then, like a Divine answer to my question (which tends to happen quite often), I came upon this section of the book which explains how a LOT was lost in biblical translation over the years, and what was left out was crucial.

First, the modern and condensed King James version reads thusly:

"Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name,

he will give it to you. Hitherto ye have asked

nothing in my name; Ask and ye shall

receive, that your joy may be full."

However, here is the recent retranslation of the original Aramaic text, and what I've italicized is what was left out:

"All things that you ask straightly, directly...

from inside My name -

you will be given. So far you haven't done this...

𝘚𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥

𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 -

𝘉𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭."

Wow. The parts that were missing were 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵! Let's take the retranslated prayer piece by piece.

"All things that you ask straightly, directly..."

Have a 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 clear concept of what you want. Be specific: straight and direct. I made a post the other day about how I manifested $40 for the county fair, and was indeed handed exactly $40...to buy our tickets! I wanted it for spending money, but left out that crucial detail. Be specific.

"...from inside My name - you will be given. So far you haven't done this..."

"From inside My name" means, to me, with the knowledge that you 𝘢𝘳𝘦 God and are letting that power work through you to manifest your desire; knowing that it's not something you're doing as an outside entity. You and God are One. You are 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 God, 𝘰𝘧 God, and by saying "I Am" you are not only stating that truth, you are acting within God's name to become whoever you wish to be. Whatever follows the statement "I Am" is the state you're choosing to embody. Whatever you set out to manifest is done 𝘪𝘯 God's name.

"So ask without hidden motive"

Don't say you want one thing, when you really want another. The other thing you 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 want would be your hidden motive. I'm immediately reminded of The Neverending Story novel, where it talked a lot about how your life path is only going to be led by your 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 wishes, and you may not always be honest with yourself about what they are. So "know thyself", and know what you really want.

"Be surrounded by your answer - be enveloped in what you desire, that your gladness be full."

This is saying nothing less than to imagine that you're already living in the state you desire, to lose yourself to it entirely in imagination, and to 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 the joy of having it: "that your gladness be full." The modern text makes it seem that you'll be glad 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 you receive, but the original translation makes it clear that you should be glad now as if you've 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦. It's seemingly such a small disparity, yet it's actually of such importance!

Isn't it so inspiring to discover new information in ancient texts which affirms the power of imagination, affirms our ability to shape our lives, and tells us exactly how to do it? My heart soars! 🩷

[dollypopup]

Okay, I pinky promise this will be my last post about this, but I genuinely think the fury and hellfire people have about Luke Newton and him having a girlfriend (and insisting he was disingenuous or lying during PR) boils down to the desire for authenticity from celebrities and the lack of understanding that we will never get it. This fandom hungers to feel like they KNOW the people they are fans of, and so feel betrayed when something comes out that shatters that perception in any way, getting unreasonably upset because of it. We are in a culture where we want to feel like they're relatable, that we know them. And I think the world and fandom would be much better in understanding that not only will we NEVER truly know the famous people we admire or look up to or enjoy performances by

but that it is very much by DESIGN. Acting and performing is their JOB, and it requires a lot of sacrifice of the self to do so. You go into the public eye and have very little opportunity to leave it, so when you see them live, when you see their interviews, when you see their social medias, these are cultivated. They are wearing Personas, and they HAVE to do that for their own protection. No one person can give all of themselves to someone or something all the time, else they burn out and fade away

Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan BOTH put on personas on their Press Tour. I know people don't want to hear that, but they did. All that you think is genuine and relatable is very, very carefully curated. The stories told, the outfits worn. Sure, there were definitely moments of true genuine glimpses into who they are as people, because that is inevitable when you are constantly scrutinized, and they DO have a close relationship that was easy to embellish, but the Nicola you admire is not the Nicola she truly is, just as the Luke we see is not the Luke he truly is. These are enhanced versions of themselves that are polished for the sake of their careers, and it is very much a PART of having that career. That's not to say they're disingenuous, it's to say that they are protecting themselves, and portraying a specific facet of who they are for the sake of their careers.

Nicola herself even says that people will be upset at her for wearing a specific outfit or for changing her hair. It is a protection mechanism to go 'well, then they don't actually dislike ME, they dislike the persona'. Furthermore, it's a way of differentiating who you are professionally and who you are personally. The person I am around my friends and in my personal life is very different from the person I am at work, and that's by design.

So being upset at Luke Newton for shattering your fantasy of him means considerably less and hits much softer if you recognize that it has always been just that: a fantasy. You and I will never know him truly. Sure, he's much less guarded now early on in his global career than otherwise, but we have seen this change happening slowly but surely over time. He left Twitter, having started it interacting heavily with the fandom, sharing jokes and memes, his Instagram is highly polished and professional, having deleted a lot of personal touches from it, and he has become more comfortable in interviews. Partly from immersion and just having so many of them so he's used to it now, but also partly because he has fully settled into the expectations of his role: he is not the same Him with his family and friends as he is to his fans, and that is FINE.

That's not him lying, it's him doing his job: acting. And being mad at him for that is as silly as being mad at a teacher for not shooting the shit with parents- he is taking on a professional role. Him having a girlfriend should have no bearing on that professional role because we have to recognize that who he is personally and who he is professionally do not actually intersect. We want it to, we crave that authenticity, but it is on us as fans to recognize what we love is a persona, is a role, is an act. And that he is no lesser for that, just as ALL the celebrities we love are no lesser for that act. Because fans can be HORRIBLE, and they have to protect themselves, and they also have to think of their careers.

I think this fandom would be a lot happier if they recognized that Nicola has had years over him to come to this understanding, and so of course she acts accordingly. She has kept her personal life so private and separate BECAUSE she understands that she is putting on a persona in her professional life that is cultivated to appeal to fans and amass fame, and that people accept that now because she's kept it under wraps. She sells the mythos of authenticity from celebrity figures, but no celebrity is relatable. No celebrity is truly authentic. And that is OKAY!!! That is par the course for being so in the public eye. Every single popular figure does this. No poet, no author, no artist, no musician, no actor, no ANYONE is their true, pure, 100% authentic self to their fans, and they do not OWE that to them, either. Luke Newton does not owe us a fantasy, he does not owe us a sacrifice of his personal life, he does not owe us anything, just as Nicola doesn't.

We would do well to remember that, and simultaneously not to resent them for it. We are fans of their performances. That's the point.

[billpottsismygf]

Empire of Death

That was a very enjoyable 55 minutes, but I can't help but feel a little underwhelmed. So much happened and I enjoyed a lot of it, so it's going to take a while for me to fully untangle all my thoughts, but my current feelings are mixed. First, for things I liked!

I loved Gabriel Woolf's delivery; it's just as good now as it was 44 years ago, with so much menace but also a great subtlety to it. I also actually quite liked Sutekh's redesign this time. It feels like a nicely scaled up version of his bat face mask at the end of The Pyramids of Mars. I also like a lot of the ideas at play here. I like the Doctor realising he has literally trailed destruction in his wake, especially after him saying he brings disaster last episode. I like the Doctor killing Sutekh and saying that Sutekh has won because of that - coward or killer returns, and this time he was forced to choose killer. It also places the Fourth Doctor's lack of remorse for killing Sutekh originally into an interesting contrast. I'm also generally fine with the Doctor taking Sutekh back through the vortex and bringing death to death. I'm not entirely sold on why that works, but it's fine in the context of the episode.

However, there were issues at play. The level of destruction wants to make this feel extremely important and epic, and it did remind me of Flux at times but with more emotional reaction from the Doctor and companions, but, much like Flux, it did more to undermine itself than anything. For instance, Kate's death really shook me (and everyone else in the room, but I was focused on Kate). I fully expected some people to not make it out of this episode alive, so it seemed very possible that she might actually be dead. However, as soon as the death dust spread out a certain amount, I knew it would have to be undone and that Kate et al. would be absolutely fine. Now, I love an 'everybody lives', but it just fails to have any stakes at all when it's so obvious that that will be the outcome.

Mel's death was similarly shocking, though I was a bit more prepared for it. Again, I thought there was a real possibility she might really be dead because she wasn't dissolved like the others but turned into an agent of Sutekh. However, I didn't fully trust it because I could already tell there were going to be a lot of death retcons, and indeed her death seemed to be undone just as easily as everyone else's. Susan Triad too, of course, who seemed entirely unfazed by being a transplanetary and transtemporal being with thousands of different existences.

What actually is Susan's initial origin? We know why she was everywhere and why she's called Susan, but not who she actually was originally or why Sutekh created/used her specifically. Continuing with the agents of Sutekh, what about Harriet? Her name is Harbinger, so is she like that little boy from The Devil's Chord? Or is she like Susan or Mel and is still just a person underneath it all? I think she got killed for real by the TARDIS blast when the Doctor whistles open what I assume is the heart of the TARDIS (though that's never actually said), but this is not focused on at all. Does she not matter? She may be the only person to actually die in this story and I had to go and check the episode again just now to make sure she really had. It all seems rather underexplained and underwhelming - and unfair! Justice for Harriet!

Another underwhelming aspect was Ruby's mother. Now, don't get me wrong, I adored the Doctor's speech about Ruby's mother being ordinary and being important because they think she is, like gods but also like people. However, it's extremely underwhelming after the question of who she is has been hyped up so much. More problematically, I just do not buy that Sutekh cares so much about her. I'll see what I think on rewatch, but right now I'm just left wondering what all this was about. Sutekh's desperation, the extremely dramatic pointing, the way she flickered and moved about in the time window, the way the memory changed, the goddamn snow! What does it all mean? I really liked Ruby reuniting with her, but there's a disconnect between the set up and the pay off.

Mrs Flood is a remaining mystery, but at least she's meant to be. Last week gave the impression that she was malicious, but in her interactions with Cherry this episode she doesn't seem so at all, and her remark about the cup of tea not happening now seems to be just because she knows Sutekh will kill them both. She's even got her arms around Cherry and calls the Doctor 'that clever boy'. We're back to her speaking directly to the audience, and this time as an all-knowing narrator figure. It feels very book at bedtime on Cbeebies, especially with the 'night night', which was in fact name-dropped in The Legend of Ruby Sunday. It also feeds into the unreality/TV theory a lot of people are running with. Mrs Flood's final moments also felt rather Mary Poppins, with the umbrella and the suitcase. The latter perhaps suggests she's no longer going to be Ruby's neighbour, maybe because Ruby is no longer actively travelling with the Doctor (for now).

Speaking of Ruby, this was far more of a farewell than I expected! We know she's going to appear next series, but I wonder how much. Will she jump back in as a main companion pretty quickly? Will she be in a handful of episodes series 4 Martha style? Will she only appear once? I can't remember if much has been spotted of series 2 filming, so I guess we'll find out. One possibility is that she's dragged back into the storyline due to proximity to Mrs Flood, but as I mentioned above, I suspect Mrs Flood is moving out. Does Cherry remember the strange things she said, I wonder?

I don't know where else to put this, but we also got more 73 Yards stuff. My favourite of those was the confirmation that the Doctor stopped Roger ap Gwilliam in the original (and current) timeline, because it solves one of my lingering problems with the episode. Even though I like the episode enough to ignore its issues, I'm still glad to get that resolved. It just makes it a lot neater. It's interesting that the focus this time was on his DNA testing rather than the nukes. I don't mind that, but I think it would have made the reveal of how they can find Ruby's mother more satisfying if that had been seeded into 73 Yards itself. I just checked the transcript, though, and it doesn't look like it was mentioned at all. We also get the TARDIS field being 73 Yards and the Doctor saying that you can see things at 73 Yards, but there's no further exploration of that. I'd be happy to just leave it at that, but that combined with the CCTV footage of the church being 73 yards has me wondering if more will come of it.

So, that's all I have to say for now. It's a somewhat underwhelming finale after all the hype, but then this is also the first RTD finale I've ever experienced fresh as an adult. I knew going in to this era that I probably wouldn't be quite as forgiving of its flaws as 9-13 year-old me was the first time round. Still, I've overall really been enjoying this new era. I wish we'd had more episodes this series, but that can't be helped. At least there won't be such long gaps between series as there have been!

I don't like hating on the Chibnall era too much, especially given all the unwarranted flack it got, but Flux broke me somewhat and even before that there was something a little meh about it for me, so this has been re-invigorating. It should be clear from this review that I don't think RTD is perfect, but I also can't deny the fact that I'm excited about the show again in a way that I haven't been for years and it's been so wonderful and exciting. This finale was messy and ridiculous in a number of ways, but that's kind of the nature of the show and I'm still very excited for what comes next.

Misc:

I really liked the idea of memory dying because the things that created those memories have died.

Likewise, I love that the memory TARDIS was indeed explained and relevant.

Morris literally having guns in his mobility scooter? I know Shirley did in her wheelchair, but who let the thirteen year-old have deadly weapons? And he's shooting them behind other UNIT officers who are higher up than he is. He might be more dangerous than Sutekh.

Kate got to have a little hand hold with Ibrahim, which sure okay. I don't really care about them apparently having a thing and it feels a little odd to just shove it in there, but I suppose it's kind of sweet.

Still no Susan (Foreman), though I enjoyed seeing her in old footage. In fact, I liked all the old footage used. I thought it was funny that the Doctor didn't ever explicitly say that the man with the curly hair was in fact him.

I loved the Doctor calling Sutekh Sutes at one point. That was so extremely Fifteenth Doctor.

Sutekh's been attached to the TARDIS since the 1980s, so like throughout the Time War and everything? When House took it over? That's such an insane lore bomb to drop.

Also, as I keep bringing up, what about Fourteen's TARDIS? Did Sutekh just stick to Fifteen's TARDIS at the diverging point? Is part of him still attached to Fourteen's?

[forevercloudnine]

Not to be nosy, but is there any particular reason you are running a tally of which Batman villains are sterile?

I was going to say "it's a long story" but actually I guess it's a very short story

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Why would you—That's not—I just wanted to ask for help, why did you have to go and make it awkward???

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[ghostly-cabbage]

We need to talk about the worst thing about making AUs....

The fact that then when you inevitably think about crossovers you don't want the crossover with the canon you want it with your specific AU. Your brain worms, your circus, but THEN WHAT?

Oh, yeah, to understand this crossover you need to go read this entirely different fic/series? Girl help 😭 you can't do that

[sonknuxadow]

ive seen a lot of people joke about shadow only having a crush on super sonic and not normal sonic and thinking that normal sonic is a loser in comparison and i think a funny contrast to that would be knuckles feeling similarly about werehog sonic. obviously inspired by this archie sonic panel

[thekittyokat]

you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah