#apple mongers

[loadingartist]

Apple Mongers merch now in the shop (get 15% off everything too):

[curioscurio]

Genuine question, if you are voting for Biden why not just vote independent? Biden is not going to win regardless. Why not just skip the vote for genocide and vote for someone that actually cares about Palestinians

Because I live in Florida, which is a powerful swing state. Giving my vote to anyone other than the person who has the best chance at beating Trump is throwing it away. If Trump dies, I'll vote someone else. If Biden dies, I'll vote someone else. If it seems like everyone in the world has finally agreed on a unanimous third party vote by november, I'll vote someone else. Anything can happen before then, and my vote isn't set in stone.

Until then, the majority of undecided voters are going to vote Biden. There's a lot more people in Florida who are tired of the Trump train than you think. They're seeing his trials, his lies, and they're tired. There are a lot of students in Florida who are now eligible to vote. 4 years worth of 18 year olds who all have tik tok and are very much against all the bullshit in the world. And they all understand how the electoral college works. They know their votes could turn Florida blue.

America does not run on Popular vote, it runs on the electoral college. This means that every US state gets a certain number of votes out of 538 total. Some states, like Wyoming, get 3 votes. That means that my state, Florida, effectively gets 30 votes out of the 270 needed to win the presidency. But, here's the catch, ALL of those votes can only go to ONE candidate. (There are exceptions in 2 states, Nebraska and Maine.) If Trump gets more votes than any other single candidate in Florida, all 30 votes go to Trump.

It's called a swing state for a reason, because it can swing the race heavily in one candidates favor. Only Texas and Califorina get more votes at 40 and 54, respectively.

If all the Republicans in Florida vote for Trump, but all the Democrats and Independents are voting for people other than the person on the ballot, Trump will still get 30 votes. Even if some Republicans vote Biden, if everyone else is writing different candidates in, when everything is tallied, Trump could still win.

Imagine you have 270 red delicious apples, 200 Green apples, 38 yellow apples, and 30 macintosh apples. There are still more Red Delicious apples than any other kind, so Red Delicious gets the Presidency. Luckily, people in Florida who liked Red Delicious apples last year are getting tired and might pick Green apples instead this time. They are almost guaranteed to not pick a golden or macintosh apple, though.

This is what happened in 2016 that allowed Trump to win when he LOST to Hillary Clinton for the popular vote. More electoral college votes went to Trump than they did to any other person. From person to person, more Americans as a whole voted for Hillary. It's all about where you live physically.

This is the reason why I'm voting for Biden at the moment. If things change, I'll happily change too!

And Obviously I don't support Genocide. My point is that realistically speaking, Trump has flat out said to just "finish them" already, so it's not out there to assume he will push to accelerate this genocide using nuclear retaliation. I'm not trying to fear monger, I'm saying this system is broken, and they're lying to you about how it works in order to take advantage of your ignorance. Whoever gets the most votes win? Not exactly, but if you don't bother to look any closer, you'll never know you were playing a rigged game from the start.

Vote however you need to for your state. But understand where your vote is going. One vote is the difference between 30 and 3 electoral votes.

[vidavalor]

Costermonger

Ok, you know Gabriel and the tomatoes at the start of 2.01?

A lot of great stuff has been written about this scene already and how it's paralleling Adam and Eve but I wanted to throw in something that I haven't seen that I think might interest you. We've spent a lot of time on the question of 'why tomatoes?' but there's also some wordplay involved in the marketplace containing and selling the tomatoes.

The old-school, technical term for a street seller of fruits and vegetables in Britain is a costermonger, which is sometimes shortened to coster or costard. It is a portmanteau comprised of the words costard and monger. A monger is a seller of something but a costard?

That's the name for a medieval variety of apple.

The community market grocery place diagonally across the street from the bookshop that Gabriel walks by is comprised of a different purveyors selling a variety of food items and the like but all of them share an occupational name in costermonger...

Meaning: that all food is, symbolically, an apple (and The Apple), in this story, even if there are also other, additional meanings as well.

No matter what the farmstand owners of the Whickber Street marketplace are actually selling, they all are, in effect, apple sellers...

...or apple cellars...

...if you wanted to get especially punny about the booksellers and their cellar history...

Making things even funnier? The word costard that describes that medieval cooking apple?

Yeah, it comes from the Old French coste... which means rib...

It's also an archaic term English term for the human head... ya know, that thing Gabriel had some issues with in S2 and which contains the mind. The apple was named as such based on people feeling it resembled a human head in shape but was also a bit ribbed.

In French, costard is also connected to costume and refers to a suit.

Gabriel rather notably missing his signature suit during his arrival... Our Naked Man Friend turning up to parallel Adam & Eve, down to the birthday suit to start the season...

...but also the arrival at the bookseller's cellar at end of the season involving an unexpectedly human-looking, (usually floating) head, in a suit...

...and he brought an apple from the shop...

[muzaktomyears]

Mimi and Paul

I immediately wrote Mimi of the news [of John leaving Yoko]. “If your news re: Y. is sound, well that’ll please me I can tell you. It’s his only hope of getting on an even keel again,” she responded.

Someone had sent her recently taken pictures of John and they made her sad. She thought he looked lost somehow and might be wishing The Beatles would get back together. It was those times she thought he missed all the happy times the group had together. He began phoning her again and had told her that Paul was coming over and that he would be seeing him. She hoped that happier times would be coming out of their meeting.

Mimi seemed to hear from John on a somewhat regular basis again while he was separated from Yoko. If he didn’t phone, he wrote and she was always pleased when she heard from him. He seemed much more like his old self, she thought, and he had continued hopes that he and Paul might get back together again.

---

Mimi had talked to John (before the Paul [getting arrested in Japan] news had broken) and determined that he would never tour again. He and Paul had just spoken on the phone and Paul had been complaining “how hard the tour was”. So John had asked him “why the hell do you do it then?” The honest answer, according to Mimi, was that he simply could not give up the publicity.

---

“…I was talking to Neil Aspinall – Apple. He too is furious about the book ‘Shout’, such a pathetic liar for money. I had a good ‘shout’ about Paul too. Behold! A couple of hours later a phone call from Paul! He was nervous of me… I told you… many excuses. Thought I was annoyed with him. And so I was. Also Paul seriously thinking of going after Philip Norman over ‘Shout’. If ever I see Philip Norman I’ll pitch into him. Paul advised me not to do it myself. It is monstrous that this scandal monger can write such things.”

---

[re: Paul ringing in April] Mimi had truly been upset that he’d not called her before then and she had bent Neil Aspinall’s ear one Sunday afternoon. Two hours later all was forgiven with a phone call from Paul. She said she scolded him, telling him he should have known she wasn’t thinking of any ridiculous slight he might have been worried about. It had been John who had been killed and Paul should have known she was thinking of nothing else. I don’t know what he said but they both cried, she said, and any resentment was gone.

She said she could hear children in the background and asked him if all those were his. “Yeah, we’re like rabbits around here.”

They discussed the book Shout! by Philip Norman and how they resented parts of it. He told her not to get involved and that he would handle it, though what he intended on doing or what he actually did, I have no idea. Since Norman is now writing a biography on Paul and claims to have received a rather conceptual OK, I would assume all is forgiven there as well.

Before ringing off, Paul said he would be down to visit her one day; something she was still waiting to see happen.

The Guitar’s All Right as a Hobby, John, Kathy Burns (2014)

[boop-le-snoot]

welcome to

⚡ Welcome to Bun's Cockstop! This is a place where I thirst over cute dirty old men! Most of my works can also be found on AO3 (here).

⚡ My name is Bun/Bunny. I go by any pronouns.

⚡ I do not write RPF (real person fiction). That said, any kind of drama mongering, moral policing and other purity culture bullshit is not welcome on my blog. At best, I will block you; if you annoy me enough, I just might be inclined to prove your opinion wrong (with citations).

⚡ I am pro-ship, pro-dark!fic, I think sex work is work, I don't support communism (and Russia! seriously, GTFO) and I support the death penalty for crimes against children. If you find yourself wanting to argue w/me about these topics, don't waste our time and block me.

⚡ I communicate in English and Russian and understand several more assorted languages. Don't be shy and say hello 😌 This is my Spotify <3 😌

⚡ My blog is meant for an adult audience. It will contain topics such as sex and various kinks, drugs, trauma, queer stuff and lots of rock-'n'-roll. All the things I post are tagged accordingly, therefore it is your responsibility to block the tags/blacklist the content you do not wish to see. You choose the content you consume & I am not here to babysit.

⚡ a post with fic author recs for stephen-tony-bruce

⚡ masterlist below spoiler ⚡

stories marked with an asterisk* contain adult content

⚡ multichapter fics ⚡

party favours [AO3 link] | tony stark x bruce banner x stephen strange x reader ot4) | explicit | ~120k words | completed

practical alchemy [AO3 link] | witch!reader x established!ironstrange | explicit | in progress (hiatus)

black dog [AO3 link] | badass!reader x negan (twd) | explicit | in progress, 1/3 done

⚡one-shots⚡

tony stark | doll parts | skin starving | butt dial? no, booty call* | degradation* (dubcon) | teasing tony | nerd fishing* | love letter* (dd/lg) | bad day* | trust issues | stitches | sticky sweet* |

helmut zemo | marmalade taffy* |

bruce banner | emotional support nerd* | bondage* | lab delights* | spoiled | blindfolds & edging* | you've seen the butcher* |

stephen strange | dr. feelgood* (as seen on tiktok) | touch me i'm sick* | spellbound* | brat & restraints* | aftercare | mean!dom* (gender neutral reader) | inappropriate use of the eye of agamotto* | selfship drabbles - oral fixation, more horny brainrot | spitfire* | dazed & confused* | year after year | the leg thing* | hand/size kink* |

sam wilson | bad touch* | violent delights* (content warning) |

loki | if life gives you melons* | bondage* (nb reader, they/them) | snow day* (male reader)

natasha romanoff | hot wheels* |

wanda maximoff | caught |

bucky barnes | bother figure (daughter!reader) |

thor | idunn's apples | hired man* (dubcon) | beloved, bejeweled |

otto octavius / doc ock | horny headcanons* | i want to kill you like they do in the movies - part 1 - part 2* - part 3* (fin) |

steve rogers | it drives me wild* |

daryl dixon | cherry - part 1 - part 2* (coming soon) | untitled* | dirt* |

⚡ blurb series ⚡

daddy!ironstrange - daddy lessons* | part one | part two |

rickyl - part one*

[drdemonprince]

MAN im lucky. no nausea, minimal pain, no narcotics, and I woke up from anaesthesia so lucid and indistinguishable from my usual self that even the nurses were like "wow, you seem really awake and fine"

i was mildly wobbly on my feet but made it up the stairs back home with no issues. had an appetite, ate a protein bar and an apple, had my decaf coffee, took a shit right away (post anesthesia constipation who??)

and now im infected w the posting spirit

reminding myself to take it easy even tho i feel so good. damn that shit wasnt scary at all. sorry to flex but i think trans people face a lot of fear mongering about the intensity of these surgeries so its probably beneficial and reassuring to hear an encouraging anecdote!

now healing and not blowing out my scars by doing too much begins.

[fantasy-mixtapes]

Kristen Applebees Season 1 Character Playlist BREAKDOWN

OKAY, SO this one is gonna be an ordeal.

I set a 6-song limit for every other playlist I made, but this is the playlist that started it all. So, I didn't have a limit. So it's 12 songs long.

Which is honestly like a normal playlist length BUT it's gonna be a long breakdown which I will lovingly do because I LOVE Kristen with my whole heart. Either way, this is deffos gonna be a long post so read if you want (i would very much appreciate it obvi but I get this is pushing it).

Genres Included: Folk, Singer-songwriter, Alternative, 80's

1. Save the People, The Mountain Goats

When wilt thou save the people? Oh, God of mercy, when? Not kings and lords, but nations Not thrones and crowns, but men God save the people For thine they are Thy children as thy angels fair Save the people from despair

Starting off strong with my main man John Darnielle. John, as prolific as he might be, did not write this song it is originally from the musical Godspell by Steven Schwartz. I was raised as a theater kid and I remember one summer my mom took out our cable and the only things we could watch on the tv were dvds and vhs tapes of musicals, and the 1973 Godspell movie was definitely one of my favorites. Its like "what if Jesus was around in the 70s and was a hippie clown and also was crucified on a chain-linked fence and beaten by cops" ...ah, good times.

ANYWAYS, I don't feel like I need to get into why this is a perfect Kristen song - I feel like it really gets to the divide between the way that Christianity is taught to kids vs the way it is enacted by the adults that do the teaching.

2. Father Texas, Birdtalker

Father Texas on his toes Tells me where and when to go He's a savior, liturgy man He's a stickler and a soap monger Shove it down your throat Holy answer man He says obey and I'll love ya Now I'm doing just to prove And I'm walking out of fear But the devils done

Ok so I was raised Catholic, which I feel like is a whole different flavor of religious trauma compared to Evangelical or Baptist vibes - which I feel like the Helioic religion gives. Either way, this song slaps and really gets to that Evangelical vibe.

3. Big Houses, Squalloscope

I build bridges with these arms I will not build a fortress In the circle around the kitchen table I say my "amen" because I feel blessed Secretly hoping, while joining hands, that you can't feel my trembling fingertips

Here's young Kristen Applebees - Chosen One of Helio- who just wanted to help people. She meets her first non-religious friends, plans to convert and save them, and then straight up dies on the first day of school. She comes face to face with her literal god, is disappointed and grossed out by him, and then is magically (and violently) revived.

Can you imagine her returning home, trying to answer her parent's questions about the first day, making it through dinner, crawling into bed, and just lying there? AHHHHHHHHHHH

4. Under The Table, Fiona Apple

I'd like to buy you a pair of pillow-soled hiking boots To help you with your climb Or rather, to help the bodies that you step over along your route So they won't hurt like mine Kick me under the table all you want I won't shut up, I won't shut up Kick me under the table all you want I won't shut up, I won't shut up

Speaking of those family dinners, as the days go by and Kristen gets closer to her party, how do you think she's gonna react to whatever comments her parents make about them hmmmmmm? The result of coming out of your social shell and realizing how bad the people around you really are.

5. Cleric Girl, Sisyfuss

I need my cleric girl tonight So she can bless me in this plight Dress me in crucifixes so they die on sight I need my cleric girl tonight

This is just a fun song I see as Kristen finds her groove within the party, kinda around the DJ brains fight. Also it makes me think of the prayer chain thing that she had the whole party on at some point.

6. Cornflake Girl, Tori Amos

She knows what's going on Seems we got a cheaper feel now All the sweeteaze are gone Gone to the other side With my encyclopedia They musta paid her a nice price She's putting on her string bean love This is not really, this, this This is not really happening

There's something about a Tori Amos song that never fucking misses. This song, for me, kinda gets at the part of growing up when you really start to uncover the truth of things for yourself, instead of listening to the things you were always told. Kristen buys the book of world religions and reads about the atrocities people did in her god's name. She is also told that the "cool camps" she was going to were run by an actual fanatical cult. Yikes.

7. Eldest Daughter, Isabel Pless

Bring me your battered, your bruised, and your scarred Florence Nightingale, to your broken hearts Bring me your bleeding I'll stitch it up with a bow Tugging at the sword in the stone The dormant hero in me is yet to be known Dying to prove myself again, but I don't know how Wanna lay my weapons down Lay my weapons down Want everyone to adore me even though People's emotions are out of my control Smothering fires Letting flames claim my hands I would do anything to be needed Over and over again.

Okay, the thing about this song is that we get the root of it here in season one, and it shows up really lightly, but God almighty, do we get one hell of a payoff in the next two seasons. Damn. The first time I listened to this song I cried. It's on several of my dnd character playlists - because, for some reason, I can't stop making dnd characters with self-saccrificing tendencies. HM! I WONDER WHY?

But anyways, yeah... something something, Christian households raising their eldest daughters to be surrogate mothers and laborers, something something Kristen is a cleric while her brothers are paladins, something something Women being healers

8. Angel Eyes and Basketball, Foot Ox

There are flowers growing all around A massive animal inside of me And it's so ugly, and I'm so broken And I'm so ugly, and it's so broken I am calling all of my friends To pull me out of this hole But they're so caught up in their own shit And I'm so caught up in my own shit

Ok, this is full Christian guilt. I also really like the way this song is one of those upbeat but devastating ones because it makes me think about her inspiring speeches to her party members just being her ranting about how horrible everything is, and then they get +1 to attacks and extra hitpoints. Living La Vida Loca.

9. We Fell in Love in October, girl in red

Smoking cigarettes on the roof You look so pretty, and I love this view Don't bother looking down, we're not going that way At least I know I am here to stay We fell in love in October That's why I love fall Looking at the stars Admiring from afar

Ok, I know this is cheesy. BUT TO MY CREDIT: both the song and the season came out in 2018. Also, you know Kristen would stream the fuck out of this song.

10. Running Up That Hill ( A Deal With God), Kate Bush

And if I only could, I'd make a deal with God And I'd get him to swap our places I'd be running up that road, be running up that hill With no problems

AGAIN TO MY CREDIT: I made this playlist in 2020 - two years before Stranger Things brought the song back to the general psyche. No shade, of course, to the stranger things; it's a perfect song to choose, and the scene effectively made me cry.

But anyway its here because at her bones, Kristen would die for her friends and has and will (unfortunately) continue to. Speaking of

11. Arms Tonite, Mother Mother

I cry in the afterlife I cry hard because I have died And you're alive I try to escape afterlife I try hard to get back inside Your arms alive

Kristen's dying count is more than double most of her friends at this point - and golly gee just wait till season 2!

Can I roll a nat 20 and then be alive?

12. Glory (Bunker Sessions), Bastille

And all their words for glory Well, they always sounded empty When we're looking up for heaven Looking up for heaven Way down here upon the ground When we're lying in the dirt There's no looking up for heaven Looking up for heaven

I really love this bunker session version of this song; the strings and the piano just give it a lovely honesty. Gorgeous song. Perfect way to end this season

[deeisace]

that "the only options for mongers is war, fish and fear" post -

went on the index of old occupations to find out what there used to be/other options -

ballad monger, selling printed ballad sheets

cheesemonger! those still exist!

costermonger, sells fruit and veg (not sure, I think a coster is a type of apple?)

fellmonger - 1) dealer in hides and skins, 2) woodsman (felling trees)

fleshmonger - 1) butcher, 2) tannery worker

haymonger - sold hay

ironmonger! do these not still exist? i thought they did

we have several synonyms for fishmonger, too - chowder, pannier man - or fishwife, jouster, if you're a woman - or pikemonger if you specifically sell pike and freshwater fish - a jowter is "a mounted peddler of fish" I guess if you have fish and a horse?

a monger is just a seller of things, so I guess you can add any prefix onto there, really

[eddie-van-munson]

Warnings: Mentions of Smut (no actual), Cursing, Mentions of Blood, Bullying

Eddie's first tattoo was two little bats on his elbow. At this point, Eddie was already the town pariah, endlessly confusing and unnerving to the dull people of Hawkins. Deep down, Eddie was soft hearted. Kind. He'd taught every kid in his trailer park to ride a bike, and widow Halverson down the street knew Eddie was more than happy to mow her lawn anytime she needed. Hell, a slice of apple pie and an hour or two of conversation was payment enough. But, things were different outside of Forrest Hills.

Too many times to count, Wayne had come from work to find Eddie spitting blood into the kitchen sink, a bag of frozen peas held to his cheekbone. The whispered rumors that floated through the town only ever added fuel to the fire. One week, a PTA mom was swearing she'd Eddie seen performing a ritual sacrifice in the parking lot afterschool. Then a member of the track team claimed Eddie had been dealing coke on the playground across from the Kreel house. Next, a cheerleader was advertising that if you snuck behind the school bleachers on a Friday night, Eddie Munson would give you the best head of your life.

Those rumors were the most confusing to Eddie. He'd only ever had actual sex once, and his further experience ran thin at some over the clothes action, but nonetheless, a lot of girls were intrigued by the idea of "fucking the freak." Maybe Eddie should have just been grateful for this, but something about it made him feel like he was the butt of a joke. On the rare occasion that a girl would actually approach him, urged on by a group of her giggling friends, Eddie would ignore her. He had learned the hard way that in all likelihood, they were only trying to fill a stupid dare.

That didn't mean he didn't have fun with the rumors though. He'd always loved messing with people...leaning into the whispers just to see how outrageous they could get. It was endlessly entertaining to scandalize boring people.

The bat tattoo was evidence of this in itself. At first, it was just the two bats on Eddie's elbow. It wasn't anything super noticeable. That is, until Eddie caught wind of a whisper.

"You see the bats on his elbow? I hear he adds another bat everytime he fucks another one of the girls on the cheer team. He's already got two."

Immediately, Eddie's brain started swirling with evil little ideas. This...this would be fun. Eddie had gotten his face beat in multiple times by every one of those cheerleader's boyfriends, and high school romances never lasted long...

The first victim was Tommy Jackson, an old friend of Billy Hargrove's. His girlfriend Sarah dumped him over the weekend at a party, giving Eddie a golden opportunity to begin his fear mongering among the jocks. Monday morning, the students of Hawkins high were shocked to see a third bat etched onto Eddie's arm.

The implications sent the student body spiraling. Rumors flew like it was going out of style, but the consensus was unanimous. Tommy Jackson's girlfriend had dumped him to have a round in the sheets with the freak.

The next was Tony Andrews. Everyone knew Tony and his girlfriend had been on the rocks. The rumor mill would tell you that she had been cheating on him. Eddie's arm would tell you exactly who she was cheating with. The school was in shambles.

Tony slammed Eddie against the lockers the next morning, knocking the air clean from his lungs. "What the hell kind of game do you think you're playing, freak?"

Eddie chuckled, giving a wolfish grin, "Tony...I have no idea what you're talking about."

One by one, Eddie's arm sent every member of the football team spiraling. The best part was, the cheerleaders seemed to enjoy the attention just as much as Eddie did. The majority of them would lean into the implications of the bats, refusing to confirm or deny having had any run ins with the devil of Hawkins himself.

***

[sincerely-sofie]

no worries if you aren't sure/rather not answer, take as long as you need, public response over private is okay does schizophrenia come under dissociative disorders, and if not, what's the difference?

i know i have /some/ form of dissociative(-like?) thing, as many people with DID or similar have pointed it out. but i don't have the alters separate memory different people fronting thing. what i do have is myself, logic brain, emotion brain, possibly other stuff, and

the part(s) that's actually relevant here - what feels like a peanut gallery of cptsd-induced hecks reinforcing internalised stuff. why i'm asking is your description of the hallucinations sounds more like them than a lot of experiences i've read, so i'm wondering if it'd be worth me looking into (i'm already in the process of signing up for therapy, but more info for initial assessment always good)

it's definitely not identical because as far as i know i don't hallucinate images or sounds (besides that i used to hear my sibling calling my name when they weren't for some reason?), and i don't know how to identify anything distinctly let alone have mental images of any of them like your drawings, but.

i'd appreciate any insight you may have, but no obligation of course (i know you probably know that already but peanut gallery yells at me if i don't make it clear) thanks even just for reading even if not sure how to answer :)

Media portrayals of schizophrenia vs. dissociative disorders oftentimes blur the lines between them. It's very understandable to be uncertain on which you may or may not be experiencing period--- but throw in the public confusion on the differences and it's a muddy mess to understand their distinctions. ESPECIALLY Dissociative Identity Disorder, oh my goodness. You mentioned DID by name, so I'll be using it and schizophrenia as the main apples and oranges I compare. Keep in mind that there's various forms of schizophrenia and dissociative disorders, though.

(Obligatory disclaimer that I am not a medical professional and the only qualifications I have to answer this is that I'm a field researcher of sorts. Good on you for starting signing up for therapy, PLEASE keep that process going. Do not take my word for gospel. I'm one person with no degree or training. Anyone reading this and relating to the mental illnesses I'm describing here should seek out medical professionals and be particularly wary of self-diagnosis for these disorders.)

The DSM-5 (aka The Big Book of Mental Bad Vibes) classifies schizophrenia and DID under two different umbrellas: psychotic disorders vs. dissociative disorders. They're two distinct, but similar, conditions. Schizophrenia's diagnostic criteria centers on a disconnection from and altered perception of reality. DID's diagnostic criteria, meanwhile, revolves around a disconnection in identity, awareness, and memory. People with a textbook case of schizophrenia, while they likely experience delusions, do not display alters--- though there may be erratic behavior and moods in individuals that can come across to outsiders as such.

While they're very distinct, they have a number of similarities and a distinct amount of overlap between symptoms at times. I've seen statistics saying that anywhere up to 50% of schizophrenia patients meet the criteria for DID--- though I'm personally wary of that statistic, as DID's diagnosis criteria and treatment has been shifting all over the place in recent years and I'm not sure when the statistic was said. It also reeks to me of the fear-mongering a lot of classic horror movies used when lumping the two disorders into a scary boogeyman figure.

All of that context aside, I'm a very strange example of schizophrenia, and my doctor has said at times that the diagnosis was more so something I received because it checked enough boxes and less so because it was something I truly embodied. He's said that if Anxiety with Psychosis were in the books, he'd have given me that diagnosis in a heartbeat. It's not, though, so I got the shiny moniker of Early Onset Undifferentiated Schizophrenia--- which basically means "Your brain exploded while you were a teen and the aftermath sort of fits into this one psychotic disorder's box, but only sort of". My experience with schizophrenia is not typical, and knowing what I know now about my mental health background, I'd say that PTSD and C-PTSD is the strongest overlap with my experience--- just with added psychosis for extra spice. Ultimately, my hallucinations were largely manifestations of my various complexes and neuroses--- this makes them a lot more comparable to thought processes in patients with a form of post-traumatic stress than your average schizophrenia patient's hallucinations.

It's important to note that a small degree of hallucinations / psychosis is normal--- we've all thought we heard a notification from our phone when no such thing happened, and hearing someone call your name when they actually didn't is a pretty typical experience. It's not cause for immediate concern. Heck, I thought hypnagogic hallucinations were part of my diagnosis--- it turns out over half the population experience them!

TL:DR; if my description of my hallucinations resonates with you, you're more likely to have some form of trauma or anxiety disorder than straight up schizophrenia or DID. I'm a weird case, and the way my hallucinations formed was apparently very atypical. So I really would recommend looking into the anxiety disorder / trauma angles before you start gaslighting yourself into questioning your perception of reality. Check out Cognitive Behavioral Therapy strategies. The ones described in this workbook in particular ultimately did more for my recovery in the end than medication did--- and medication did a lot for my recovery. Absolutely keep seeking out therapy, because you need a medical professional to sift out whatever may be going on in your head--- ESPECIALLY if you suspect a psychotic or dissociative disorder is at play. Others with disorders might be able to identify someone with a similar condition, but they may also be only identifying symptoms which merely overlap with their own experiences. They are not professionals. Their word is valuable, but ultimately you need a doctor for this kind of thing.

[mlarayoukai]

Why was don't eat apple seeds such a big thing like yeah they have cyanide but you'd need to eat 100s to 1000s of seeds to die. Which is unlikely. Apple juice usually uses crushed whole apples and it would take a few litters to kill you. We've been prevented from eating apples whole from fear mongering adults

[thunder-the-ranger-wolf]

Someday I guess, someday at best

Some post I can’t remember got me thinking about cousins and them showing up for each other randomly and I have word vomit over a fic I haven't touched in years.

Phil Coulson and Tony Stark are cousins in the way that Peggy Carter and Howard Stark were friends. They show up for each other. But that's more Tony dropping in at random times and Phil knowing when he's needed. Here's the latter.

AS KIDS

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"Being the best cousin ever. I brought ice cream and apple juice."

"You're weird." "I can go-!"

"Mine!" Tony snapped, springing forward. "You said it's for me."

"I said I brought ice cream and apple juice."

"You're the worst."

"Yap yap yap."

"Say, we're cousins, right?"

"Yep."

"Then how come my dad and your grandma are the same age?"

"Men can have kids until they fuckin die or something and women can't."

"That's bullshit."

"Sure is."

"I wish my dad was dead."

"Someday."

LITERALLY RIGHT AFTER THE WORST OVERSEAS TRIP EVER

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"Being the best cousin ever. I brought that detox shit that worked on Annie. Figure you'll want something to kick the shakes."

"Shakes stopped a week ago. Just nightmares now."

"Ain’t that a damn shame... I'll think of something."

"Good luck with that."

BATTLING IRON MONGER

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"Being the best cousin ever. Pepper's fine. You were a dumbass last night and I'm pretty sure I need to get my ears checked."

"Join the club, pal, that thing never went on the market for a reason."

PRE-PRESS CONFERENCE

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"Being the best cousin ever. I brought good news and bad news. You have a press conference. I tried to tell Fury you'll nix his idea but he wants you to see it anyway."

Tony snatches the paper from Phil's hand and gives it a once-over.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. What, does he want me to split myself in half and call the clone whatever the press is running with?"

"He wants you to not die."

"Fair enough. Now what's the good news?"

DEATH PARTY CLEANUP

"The fuck're you doin 'ere?"

"Being the best cousin ever. I brought burges, Supernanny, and a fuckton of cleaning supplies. You and me are gonna get this place back to some form of habitant and we're gonna bitch at those incompetent shitheads while we do it."

"Why should I? Not like it'll matter in a few weeks."

"It matters now. C'mon. We can get burgers and ice cream after."

KIN GETS FIRST CALL PT I

"The fuck do you want?"

"I'm not the person you want to see. I'm sorry I don't know if you’ll ever see him again."

"He's alive?"

"It's touch-and-go. I came to give you the room he'll be in when he's stable."

"Thanks, I guess. Fuck off."

"Fucking off."

KIN GETS FIRST CALL PT II

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"Being the best cousin ever and the most alive I've been in fuck knows how long. You got any ice cream?"

"Sure do. Check the freezer. You tell your spy twins yet?"

"They're on leave. He'll, so am I right now. Catch me up. What season of Supernanny are we up to?"

SHIT'S FUCKED AND SHIELD IS DEAD

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"Bout to be the worst cousin ever. I brought the worst movie ever, some ice cream, and everclear."

"Everclear?! What the fuck?!"

"You're gonna want it after you see this."

"Phil, what the actual fuck?"

"I need you to watch it first. Before I lose my nerve. You need to know."

"Fine, whatever. I was having a bad night anyway. Jarvis is scooping up as many of your burned folks as he can."

"Great. Thanks. Not why I'm here."

"Play the damn tape, Jarvis."

"You're gonna want the everclear in the ice cream and a fuckton of it."

"Why?"

"Don't ask."

"I'm damn well asking, Phil, why the fuck are we falling off the wagon?!"

"It's... it's about the drunk driver."

"Shit. Pour the damn can into the ice cream. What the hell came up after all this time?"

GUESS WHO'S BACK

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"Being a loafer. I bring absolutely nothing but chaos in 3... 2... 1..."

The elevator rang and out trooped the fuckers who decided to live there. Tony exhaled the world-weariest sigh he could muster. "Is that Coulson?!"

"Yep."

DEAGING OF ULTRON: THAT'S NOT HOW CODE WORKS PT I (STAND DOWN)

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"Being the best cousin ever. You're going to bed. This code can wait."

"I just got-."

"No. You're getting sleep and probably checked out tomorrow. Fuckin touching random glowing shit. You're just like your father."

"Says the carbon-copy grandchild of the spoilsport."

DEAGING OF ULTRON: THAT'S NOT HOW CODE WORKS PT II

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"Getting you the fuck outta here. Jarvis's backups kicked in. He's missing maybe a week or two, but he's stable."

"Thank you. Really thought that fucker killed him."

"More of a whack to the head. Let's get him up to speed, yeah? And call in some reinforcements. If this Ultron is half as smart as Jarvis, we're still very fucked."

AT SOME POINT

"Say, if you're cousins, why were his grandma and your dad the same age?"

"Men can have kids until they fuckin die or something and women can't."

"That's bullshit."

"Sure is. Thank God my dad is dead."

"Cheers to that, pal."

"Couldn't have happened to a more deserving person."

"Winter Soldier fucked him all the way up."

"I wish he'd left my mom alone."

"Me too."

"I'll see her someday."

"Yeah. We'll see them someday."

[eruthiawenluin]

The biased news coverage is unbelievable. This was on Apple News, in every Apple user’s side bar. The headline, the fear-mongering, the conspiracy theorizing, compare it to the actual facts provided within the article itself.

Now compare that to the very deliberate use of passive voice in this headline:

No one bombed the hospital and killed people, people are dead, there was an explosion.

Notice how, when it comes to the Israeli hostages, journalists are quick to put out unchecked misinformation and dish out theories, but when it comes to Israel bombing this hospital, the headlines are slow and careful to come out, giving Israel time and the benefit of the doubt until they can release a statement of innocence.

Compare that to everyone hopping on the claim that Hamas is beheading babies and raping Israelis, despite their own released hostages claiming they received humane treatment within the confines of the Geneva Convention. Biden himself publicly repeated the terrorism claims, despite how the rumor (read: racist propaganda) was never confirmed. The Palestinian resistance is labeled terrorism with no evidence, whereas the world stops and waits for Israel to make excuses for every war crime they commit. It is not a war between Israel and Palestine, Israel is an occupying colonial force, and the Palestinians are an indigenous population facing genocide by their hands.

The news cycle CANNOT be trusted right now. Be careful what you read. Be careful what you take as fact.

[goobtacular]

I'm rating Marvel movies based on how biteable they are. I've done my best to estimate equivalent foods for each example for those who sadly do not feel the urge to bite these fine fellows.

Iron Man 1 9/10: This is an incredibly biteable movie. I want to bite the movie, I want to bite the characters, and I want to bite the suits. There are few Marvel movies that compare to the breadth of bitability this film provides. I would bite, individually, every single thing that appears on screen, admittedly some on principle alone. This era of Marvel is rife with competition, yet it comes out on top.

Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, 10/10: Stupendously biteable. He's at his most biteable during captivity but always looks ready to nibble. He's your childhood. He's homemade cookies after school. Bitability index is boosted because of nostalgia, but compensating for bias is still at least an 8/10

James Rhodes 8/10: A crispy man if there ever was one. There is minimal variation in his bitability index throughout the film. This iteration of Rhodes gives off chip vibes.

Mark 1 Suit 7/10: A satisfying crunch. The Mark 1 is a carrot, crunchy and tasty, with a bit of juice. In terms of solid, dependable biting experiences, there are few better than the Mark 1.

Harold "Happy" Hogan 6/10: There's something off about Happy. He's a crisp, refreshing apple, but he gets stuck between your teeth, and you accidentally bite one of the seeds. Actual bite feel would likely be high, but taste brings down the score.

Mark 7 Suit 6/10: Gooey chocolate. The actual bite feel is low; it's too flimsy for a good crunch, but it gushes nicely, and taste always boosts the score.

Agent Phil Coulson 5/10: Coulson is not very biteable, in a good way. He brings the feel of the later movies to the early ones, like food that's been washed. The seasonings are gone, but so is the dirt. I feel no urge to bite Coulson, but out of affection, I must.

Obadiah Stane, aka Iron Monger 5/10: Would bite only on principle for much of the movie. During the opening scenes, I almost wouldn't bite, but as the movie progresses, he gets more biteable, peaking inside his suit—the human equivalent of plain bread.

Pepper Pots 2/10: Gets the award for least biteable character. She seems almost stale, like old pita bread that's been left out for too long. Or perhaps a wet marshmallow. This changes in later films.

[f-117-nighthawk]

How about we trade? You receive: playlist update. I receive: plot

What is UP buttercups it’s pride month and along with a fic that’s been in my drafts for LITERAL YEARS I bring you….

Playlist update.

Under the cut, because as usual this be Long

Two side notes: since, for complicated and somewhat stupid but out of my control reasons, I cannot access Apple Music at work, some of you have been treated on Spotify to the in progress versions of the playlists that usually only I see, not just the versioned ones I keep active. Surprise? 

Second, keep in mind if you see a repeated (or remixed) song, that means something. Sometimes it’s different than a simple “these take place at the same time” ;) you should also pay attention to similar lyrics, things about the same concept… there is a lot of thought put into these. 

An organizational note: there’s seven playlists now! They’re sort of ordered here to what they’re most closely linked to: the main one and Dystopian Fiction, Through Apocalypse Skies and Endless War, Filaments and For Who I Could Have Been, and Design Your Universe is… mostly by itself, except the times it’s not.

Dark Matter

I am Dark Matter, your road to ruin…

Your World Will Fail and Dark Matter are what they’ve always been: the beginning. the end. Everything. Nothing. 

(Your world will fail my love/It’s far beyond repair/Your world will fail my love/It is already there)

(Bring me your soul/Bring me your hate/In my name you will create/Bring me your fear/Bring me your pain/You will destroy in my name)

Things got shifted around a bit here to accommodate some things that fit better in another playlist, but No Remorse No Regrets is still the key one here. It is Haggar, and sort of Zarkon, but also not. 

(It won’t remember so it won’t forget/It knows no justice or regrets for the blood it lets/Believing nothing, it knows no pain/And it feels no remorse when it enters your brain)

The End of the World and Apocalypse 1992 are the two halves of the Fall. More in that playlist :)

(Sold on a dream of a future serene/then why does it feel like the end of the world)

(Fly high through apocalypse skies/Fight for the world we must save/Like tears of a unicorn lost in the rain/Chaos will triumph this day)

Apex is the final moments of the Fall from the Blue Lion’s perspective (yeah, I said Red Lion last time, but this makes more sense. Trust me)

(Now we sleep/for a thousand years/something is coming/coming for me)

You Keep What You Kill covers the slow degeneration of the Empire between the Fall and present day. The knowledge harshly taught by the Thuranial War has been long lost, and the Devourer reigns once again, searching after Its missing part and the Burning Star. Zarkon and Haggar, under the Devourer’s… guidance…, scour the universe, adding to Its power. Marzin and Galraasa rise the ranks as the left and right hands of the Empire, omens of destruction before the might of the Empire. The ‘holy half dead’ that shape the devouring of the universe.

(Defying dimensions/These ruthless creatures will steal your soul/Breaking away from the chains of mortality/They won’t be taken down/Bow now to the holy half dead/The master to death mongers calls)

Ensheath is about Kolivan, placed here due to its relevance as he is forced into the role of Fourth General under the worst circumstances, and everything that almost causes him to follow Raelos in losing faith, were it not for the first of his ‘radiant knight’s. (Side note, if you play Arknights, guess who Margaret Nearl is here?)

(I once had the fight of a radiant knight/before I learned that justice may never exist)

Immutable is about Krolia. It’s her thoughts as she joins the Blade, as she leaves Earth and Keith behind, as she makes her way through a universe changed in the ten thousand decaphoebs she was asleep. It’s about the universe passing one by, and what she’ll do to keep her hope safe. 

(She’ll risk it for the lives/She’s left behind/Hope’s on the rise/But she’s flying blind)

The Glory and the Scum is the reason Krolia isn’t around until MGHM. Suffice to say, she isn’t happy with some of the fallout of the events that lead into Ensheath, and decides that if Kolivan isn’t going to listen to her, she’ll go save the universe somewhere else. She is, after all, a Paladin.

(Look at what we’ve done/Take a step back/Shake your head at what we have become/We’re the glory and the scum)

The Seven Sisters is about Keith, and is the first of four fics connected to Closure by its influence on Child From the Stars (Lost in the Dark), as well as its relation to MGHM. It’s half the source for the Pleiades symbolism that crops up throughout Dark Matter. 

(I cast my hope upon The Pleiades/The Seven Sisters who would come for me/They’d fall to Earth to grant a child’s dream/But I’m still waiting)

Starlight is the Adashi song. Here is the sad part, where they’ve separated by the launch of the SFSS Genesis and the things that were said. It’s also Shiro’s thoughts from the war as he watches Earth from ‘distant skies’. 

(At night the earth will rise/And I’ll think of you each time I watch from distant skies/Whenever stars go down and galaxies ignite/I’ll think of you each time they wash me in their light/And I’ll fall in love with you again)

Waking Dream and Abyss are Awakenings. Mostly the Red Lion, but also extendable to the others. 

(Centuries like flowing streams as years go rushing by/Waiting in the dark for afterlife)

(Open my eyes in a daze/How long has it been? Am I so out of place?/Warmth I can no longer feel/My mountain is gone, I’m surrounded by steel/The strangest of structures arises ahead/Seems to be held up by nothing/Where have I gone, do I dream?/How can the stars be all I can see?)

Who Will Save You Now is about the Paladins in First Contact. It’s the video messages they send to their families, the warning that Something Is Out Here. It’s a declaration of protection for the Earth, but also a recognition that they may not be able to do it themselves.  That is, of course, if they even get the message.

(I will not take from you and you will not owe/I will protect you from the fire below/It’s not in my mind/It’s here at my side/Go tell the world that I’m still alive)

It Has Begun is the Battle of the Sarnan Nebula (aka: Blackout)

(Even a well lit place, can hide salvation/A map to a one-man maze that never sees the sun/Where the lost are the heroes/And the thieves are left to drown…We will face the odds against us/And run into the fear we run from/It has begun)

And then it’s, of course, The End of the Beginning, it’s eponymous fic. And one of many, many connections to String Theory. 

(Every night I die just a little/All this time, I’m caught in the middle/All your life, you fought with no winning/This is just the end of the beginning)

A Simple Plan is, well, not so simple. Several ‘simple plan’s come together, from Lotor’s scheming, Haggar’s suspicions and own needs, Galraasa’s orders to go beyond, and Team Voltron struggling to fit into their new roles while also building the Coalition. And to top it all off, everyone needs one thing to make all this happen: marthuzitok. 

(How long can we hold off ending?/How long can we pretend we’re ok?/No one goes on fighting it forever/I know I’m better this way)

Crown of Mine is at the very end of A Simple Plan, but also woven together. It’s about a Black Paladin who doesn’t think he deserves the title, and his eventual desire to ‘burn this crown’ he never wanted. This also makes ASP the second of the Closure fics. 

(I wish I could be the me that you see/But I’m too drawn to black and white/Don’t be confused, spare me the excuses/It’s not even worth the fight)

Outnumbered, Bringing it Down, and Wildfire are the Siege of Naxzela/Breaking of the Naxzela Line, the one major victory the Coalition manages to get before the Raid on Hell due to the success of Project Kuron. Oh, and remember that episode where Shiro tries to talk to Lance in the meld? Yeah that. Wildfire is specifically related to that one scene in String Theory where the real Shiro tries to help Voltron.

Why is it that songs from two different gachas ended up here with the same motif about breaking the clouds? I dunno, but it’s useful

(Outnumbered but we can’t back down/It’s us against the world, us against the world/Outnumbered but we can’t back down/Ten to one, on the run/We will still overcome)

(Devouring me/Devouring me alive/There’s something inside you that isn’t right/Something that haunts your dreams/There’s something that you have lost/And you’re bringing it down/You’re bringing it down, on top of us)

(Unsheath a sword to rend those clouds above the ground/wake up it’s time to gather now)

Shortly after is Memories of a Girl I Haven’t Met, which Every Time Our Earth Shakes is the end of. Krolia content!

(In this lonely place, bathed in silence and thoughts of you/I can’t see your face but I’m trying to envision you/So are you really out there? Are you awake with memories/Of a boy you haven’t met yet who’s wished upon the Pleiades?)

(Surrounded by lonely, bruised, and broken love/I’ve seen it and I won’t be like everybody else/Wave after wave, no change in my faith/I’m here for you through high or low/And every time our Earth shakes, I’ll fight through the pain/I’ll die before I ever let you go)

Remember that line about dinosaurs in MGHM? Laser-shooting Dinosaur. I’ll leave it there. 

(Here I come/drop your jaws to the floor/I’m riding on my mighty shooting dinosaur)

Then, the aftermath of MGHM and Laser Shooting Dinosaur is Brothers of Crail, where Allura finally makes contact with Oriand. 

(A secret ancient brotherhood, with laser sword in hand/guardians of ancient technology from centuries gone by)

Legion features the Whispers, Voltron, a few mullets, the Druids making a dangerous mistake, and… does this thing count as a robeast?

(Fallen angels ripping through/The circuitry inside this suit/Of flesh and bone that’s overthrown/No matter how hard you try/They keep waring deep inside/Where there’s a star collapsing in your heart/There’s something in your eyes/That’s coming back to life)

And then, which you can finally read, TRIALS (reimagine), Wrathful Cerulean Flame, Fools of Damnation, String Theory, I Am the One, and Final Mission ~ Quantum Burst. Yes the last one is mostly here for the whole big fun mess in The Architect to Rule Your Fate :3

(Hear me from the bottom/Forged in regret, I’m the silversmith/Doomsday, you we had it coming/Marching the streets with an iron fist/Obey no more in silence/The steel in our hearts will be monuments/Today, they’ll hear the violence/We’ll rise from the dark like Lazarus)

(So follow me/And we’ll burn the clouds away/And we’ll burn the clouds away/Keep our demons all at bay/There will be an end someday/And I must lead the way)

(Fool, dance for me again/I am your destiny, mark my words/Don’t you ever disagree/Fool, kneel for me again/I am your agony, walk my way/I will never set you free)

(You don’t believe in space/You don’t believe in light/You don’t believe that anything is well beyond your might/We walk across the sky and beneath the ocean floor/We’re never going anywhere we’ve never been before)

(I am the one/I am the architect to rule your fate)

House on Fire is the follow up to String Theory, dealing with the political fallout of having a spy in Voltron itself for decaphoebs, as well as the more personal struggles the Paladins go through in that fact’s wake. 

(So I’ll just hold you like a hand grenade/You touch me like a razor blade/I wish there was some other way right now/Like a house on fire we’re up in flames/I’d burn here if that’s what it takes/To let you know I won’t let go of you)

Belgrade, which I'M POSTING RIGHT NOW! Is the klance shenanigans in the aftermath of House on Fire and finally resolving that little plot point about Lance’s reoccurring crush. 

(We pretend in the darkness/We pretend the night won’t steal our youth/Singing me the sweet songs of seduction/Let me be the fool, fool, fool/Who will live and die for you)

Here to Save You is about Sam. And Pidge. And Matt. And Zaivorg cannons. 

(A slave for humankind/I made sure I would survive/To stay alive/Now it’s time to move on/When there’s nothing left to prove/I’m coming to get you)

Iron is the third Closure inspired fic, and I cannot believe I have managed to give away so little of the plot so far so we’re gonna keep it that way. But it is, as all Closure fics, about Keith and his struggles with identity. 

(You can’t live without the fire/It’s the heat that makes you strong/‘Cause you’re born to live/And fight it all the way/You can’t hide what lies inside you/It’s the only thing you know/You’re embracing that, never walk away)

Storm the Castle is very related to the next few, but wouldn’t have happened without Iron. It’s our Last Marmorait making a point. One that Zarkon isn’t happy with. 

(We will not be prisoners/In a kingdom taken hostage by her crown/But we will not abandon her/…Rise now, stand and fight/Take your freedom, claim your right/Rise now, stand and sing/Storm the castle, kill the king)

The second major turning point in the war is Monarch, Birthright, and Firewall. The first two are about Lotor more than anything else, and the very high level target the Coalition is after. Firewall is the same event, but focused on a very… specific thing. The Devourer is not happy, and things learned in the framing story of Through Apocalypse Skies and String Theory swing back with a vengeance. 

(I am not the person you remember from before/The one you patronized and stepped on, the one you hurt/And I have pulled the arrows, now my skin has become stone/No longer am I prisoner to your empty fucking words)

(The voices in my head have all begun to sing/(The voices in your head have all begun to sing)/And they sure as hell hope I am listening/(I sure as hell hope you are listening!))

(They come to your dreams with illusion/They come to bring shape to your mind/You know how to stop the intrusion/We all have to fight for our lives)

And then… The Day the Earth Collapsed

(How much time has been elapsed/Since the day the earth collapsed?)

Here Comes the Reign doesn’t fully come into effect until several months after Firewall, but starts with The Day the Earth Collapsed. The Burning Star rampages through the universe, taking back what is rightfully Its, but the Devourer Star won’t take that lying down. 

(You made something they can’t take away/Now bring the fire of the burning sun on everyone)

Supersonic is here as a microcosm of everything that happens between Firewall and Soulbound as the Colation go after the warlords, culminating in Holding Out for a Hero as the Paladins, exhausted of war and going a little crazy from their string of victories, decide to have a little fun

(Supersonic, polyphonic, this is our war/Mustering the armies, marching faster than before)

(I need a hero/I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night/He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast/And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight)

Earthrise and But Tonight We Dance are the last Closure fic. They’re both very much klance songs, although BTWD is a little more than that. Earthrise is Lance mooning (hah), while BTWD is here to remind everyone that Keith is Very Aro. Also, Keith loses a fight with a rock.

Have I mentioned they need to stop having relationship milestones in a war zone?

(I still fall for you like suns do for skies/Cerulean pouring in from your eyes/Just a hollow moon that you colorize/So powerful, I feel so small but so alive/Like watching the Earthrise)

(Tomorrow we might wake in servitude and silence/I will give you everything if only you would have me/Tomorrow we will sweat and toil/Our hands will quiver, caked with soil/Tomorrow we’ll give it one last chance/But tonight we dance/But tonight we dance!)

Closure is placed here with the last of its fics. Closure in general is a lot of Keith’s character development, coming to terms with his identity in many ways and accepting his place in the universe and amongst his family. So this last one is then bright light at the end of the chorus, with a ‘last goodbye’ meaning never having to say goodbye. 

(I am the child from the stars/That got lost in the dark/Between heaven and hell/I am forced to live on/I am the cause when you sin/I am the demon you skin/But there is no more tears to beautify/This is my last goodbye)

Alchemy and Soulbound swing us back to universe level action. Revelations from String Theory and Firewall slam themselves into a Whispers-Voltron mission, leaving them reeling and Krolia questioning her very identity in Disappear. 

(Synthesized and transformed/pathetic life form)

(Soulbound, endlessly forever/Locked between the darkness and the light/Don’t drown in the swarming, blackened rising/Hold on to humanity and fight)

(Stone heart, paired with empty eyes/That stared right through mine)

Something Wicked is. Well. Too bad this song isn’t on the album Vessels. 

(When all of the forces/Have been overrun/You’ll whisper, serpent tongue/What you fear you have become/Something wicked this way comes…)

Shortly after that is My Darkest Hour and Faster than Light. Haggar decides enough is enough and goes after the final piece of her puzzle with [something wicked], sending the Blade into chaos and the Coalition scrambling. And this leads directly, and I mean directly, into…

(When the sun comes crashing down/When the world is spinning round and round/I will face what must be my darkest hour)

(Once more we’re flying fast as light/Dark matter passing in the night/Pursued by a force we can’t outrun/As we hurtle towards a dying sun/We maneuver through the remnants of a moon/On the solar winds of supernovas/There is not a place to hide, the Matriarch is close behind/It’s plain to see she’s coming for us all)

Cosmic Vertigo and Other Worlds than These. Together they are the second of two revelations into the truth behind the Devoured Star and Burned Star. 

(Banish me like burned down planets/Write my fate with sparkling lies/I am the universe; you’re just one sky)

(Pull the wool out from your eyes/It won’t shade your frail belief/In the end we cannot hide/There are other worlds than these)

Godhunter is Team Voltron, well, hunting pieces of the gods.

(She’s been watching for a century/With hatred, and with scorn/If you know the hunter’s coming/Then you hide or keep on running/'Cause she’s slain the gods before)

Trophy Hunter, Coldharbour, Ember, and Redemption are the culmination of Godhunter. They also link directly to Soulbound, and are one hellish battle, which is a problem because they lead directly to…

(You, you won’t escape me, I’ll rise from the deep/In this final moment, no words left to say/I can’t let you be when a life fades away/You, you won’t escape me ‘cause I’ll set you free)

(If you kill my flesh tomorrow/then I’ll take my final breath/it’ll turn into a last laugh/and I’ll lay in a silent death)

(Dark matter falling from the sky/Dancing flames reflecting in your eyes as you watch them burn/Watching all your riches witches burn) 

(Remember me not for the mess I’ve made/But who I could have been/Finally I’m going home)

World on Fire, This is a Call, The Reckoning, Game Ender, The Wind that Shapes the Land, and Louder than Words. :3

(World on fire with a smoking sun/Stops everything and everyone/Brace yourself for all will pay/Help is on the way)

(This is a call to action/This is a call to arms/All lives for one, together/There are no false alarms)

(I see your face, find peace of mind/Between the madness and the sadness and the fire burning/The end of war, the great divine/We’ll see the day of reckoning)

(We will rise as one/Stop what has begun/Bringing down the main offender/If you hear me now/Scream the words out loud/We will be our own defender)

(Search within/Uncover the will to win/Turn against the tide that washes o'er/Find the strength to fall and rise again/Open up the gates, unleash the force/I am the wind that shapes the land/Old as time and twice as strong/Oceans arise at my command/I alone can carry on)

(We have the force to fight/We have the blinding light/A war is more than heard/Coming in louder than words)

Of course, we can’t leave without the denouement. World with no Sun is Haggar’s final thoughts at the end of Louder Than Words, while Diving Bell is the Paladins’. 

And a sequel hook. ;D

(I wish I could give it all back/But it’s tied to the moment that I took/I followed a most selfish path/Waiting on a world that can’t see me/Waiting on a world that can’t see me/Waiting on a world that wants no one/Waiting on a world with no sun)

(Wake me when the new day comes/Together we will ride the sun/The future is an empty gun/We fire onto them one-by-one)

Dystopian Fiction

The pages of our lives aren’t bulletproof…

Dark Matter is here as it always is, but it’s also about… something super spoilery. 

(Don’t stop, don’t think/Move up, don’t blink now/On your knees pray for rain/Don’t breathe when you take your aim)

Waiting on the Sky to Change is Akane’s song. It’s about ‘The Necromancer’ and her drive to fix Earth, how she’s tired of sitting around waiting. It’s time to do something.

(I’m done running towards the eyes of tornadoes/pretending this is hope)

The Human Condition is the advent of the Éshkayklos and Cascade, who oppose Project Necromancer and everything it and its champion stand for. Infected then is the slow, uhm, infection of the Sol Federation with their ideas and some of the results of that.

(We have the cure for the disease/Locked down inside us/When all is dead, then we will see/We are the virus)

(Here’s a challenge for all mankind/The preacher man is warning of the end times/The weatherman agrees but she don’t know/So she’s got to go now)

A Place I Thought I Knew is Earth, but especially Adam, in that tumultuous time after the Genesis disappears. 

(And here I remain/still crying out his name/I stand alone at the dawn of a new horizon)

Who Will Save You Now is Sam’s abrupt arrival back on Earth, and several things that follow from that. 

(Alone with this vision/Alone and blind/Go tell the world I’m still alive)

Tunnelvision is Team Earth going “no, fuck you Sanda and Torrent, we need to tell people about the impending alien invasion”. It helps, but…

(You took me for a fly/And fancied yourself a spider in a web of little lies/What a nice surprise/When the curtain’s pulled back, you can see the whole trap inside/And now the emperor has got no clothes/What a lovely show/When your cover’s blown, you’ll never know/'Cause you can’t see past your nose)

Codebreaker and Cross the Line are the Éshk’s final offensive before things really hit the fan in:

(Codebreaker can’t you find/Can you read between the lines of code?/Tell me all that you know/How far down the hole does it all go)

(Cross the line, redefine, break away unbent, unafraid/Together we stand in the dark/Seeking the light and what is right, together we cross the line/Our journey will come to an end and then our human cause will be/Justified)

The Day the Earth Collapsed

(How much time has been elapsed/Since the day the earth collapsed?)

Leaving Earth and Help is on the Way are the common populace dealing with the effects of the previous song. More specifically, they’re Adam’s parents, and all the horrors they never wanted to see. Dystopian Fiction, in contrast and as the title track, is the Garrison, specifically everyone left at Levitt Base, struggling against the same effects. 

(We were told just to sit tight/cause somebody will soon arrive/help is on the way/but it never came)

(I’m a dead man/In the wasteland/I’m a soldier fighting for superstition/Under searchlights/In the long nights/We’ve been written like dystopian fiction)

World on Fire and The Reckoning are the two songs of that big finale that make it over here, as they’re the ones that have bits that happen before This is a Call comes into full effect. 

(Sent by forces beyond salvation/There can be not one sensation)

(We’re all alone, walking in twilight/The night has been long and so many have fallen/Feel no remorse, light will be breaking/Our freedom is worth it all)

Through Apocalypse Skies

Chaos will triumph this day!

TAS starts off setting the stage for everything.  Not all of the five main members of the Daibaaltea-Taibderion Alliance have songs yet, but they will eventually. Holy Flaming Hammer of Unholy Cosmic Frost more sets the stage for everything broadly, about how the five of them fit together, and the trouble brewing under the surface. Hail to Crail is Altea, more specifically the Knights of Zhael. Questlords of Inverness, Ride to Galactic Fortress is the Dalteri, with focus on the flagship Invernes itself. Fellows of the Hammer is the Aberdéts, because, well, dwarves. And guess what’s back for the Galra: Remnants of Stars

The Taibdee will get one. Eventually.

(Behold the knights of Crail/atop the city walls/they swore a mighty oath to say/Dundee will never fall!)

(Here every day the warriors train/in the art of epic fights/riding on eagles, questing so true/a legion of powerful knights emblazoned cross the sky/hear the kingdom cry/hail to Crail!)

(Ride on the wind and hail to the king/when the questlords of Inverness ride)

(The new blood of the realm now/flows from the seven stars/and spoken by all of us/to be strong when the time comes/is the oath made by everyone)

(As children of space/with stardust in our veins/we will give in to know the truth/we are the remnants of stars)

Rigor Mortis is the Voltron Comet slamming into Daibazaal. The beginning of the end. Dark Matter rises from its open, frozen maw. 

(Hydrate in violence/the darkness that you see/awaken the virus/to spread your disease)

(Bring me your soul, bring me your hate/in my name you will create/bring me your fear, bring me your pain/you will destroy in my name)

The Promise is exactly what it sounds like: the first of the Harbingers making a deal with the devil. Alchemy and No Remorse, No Regrets are her experiments in this context, echoed throughout the other playlists. 

(It won’t cost you much, just a single drop of blood and I’ll hand you the things you have long been wishing for/ it’s an easy way to choose, what do you have to lose?)

(Drink me/you know I can guide you through oblivion/trust me/I know what’s inside you makes you bleed)

(Strange persuasion/clearing the way to the clearest path/dreams illuminating/parting the seas to take it back)

Summon the Choir is a success, from a certain point of view. 

(First blood from cosmic wonders/a dark flood of power from under)

Can You Hear It? is… well. Remember the Sinkline Comet?

(Can you hear it?/the tolls of madness ringing/do you fear it?/an ancient choir is singing/all consuming/calling to me/in a dream, it’s a thorn I can’t dig out/can’t you hear it too?/if you listen close now)

Unfortunately, all that leads right into The End of the World, the end of Daibazaal. All is quiet for a moment, like the happy little whistle at the beginning of the next song.

(Sold on a dream, of a future serene/then why does it feel like the end of the world?)

Then we record scratch into The Fall. She Will Weep is a dialogue between two siblings, unwilling to compromise on their ideals, even if they ultimately want the same thing: peace and stability for their recently displaced people. But the one who’s side god is on, who is crucified but still alive, escapes to Altea, bringing the horrors with her to the Battle of the Five Armies. (Yes, this is a LotR song, but also, guess what serves a very similar purpose to the arkenstone. I’ve been looking for a song explicitly about the arkenstone to stick in here, but haven’t found one. I’m surprised Wind Rose doesn’t have one tbh). Crack the Sky is… it’s not quite a literal crack in the sky, but it might as well be. All of this is Apocalypse 1992

(What used to be two loving hearts/what we felt at the start/somewhere down the barrel of a gun/it was all torn apart)

(Confounded, distracted/trapped by a stone of power/Ensorcelled, corrupted/await the final hour)

(I know that you hate me but I think that I can live with that/last man standing, last resort/I’d rather walk alone than save myself)

(Fly high through apocalypse skies/fight for the world we must save/like tears of a unicorn lost in the rain/chaos will triumph this day)

But again, we can’t leave it without the denouement. Silent Tears of Frozen Princess, Ashes, and Apex are all the perspectives of survivors of the Fall, waiting, watching. Voltron will rise again.

(Frozen princess in this land of fears/your mighty kingdom has fallen/I see the glitter of your silent tears/afar in the wuthering dark)

(What will we do when the world it is ending/and time it is halted for friend and for foe/try to hold on to the time as it passes/I’ll tend to the flame, you can worship the ashes)

(Brother mountain, now we sleep/for a thousand years/I will see you again/something is coming/coming for me)

Endless War

‘Cause you’re fighting an endless war, hunting a miracle…

The beginning of Endless War is from one of the perspectives of She Will Weep, the other sibling than we follow during most of TAS. Dark Matter here intwines with I Am the One far, far earlier than the Paladins of the present time figure it out. That’s what happens when one stands directly next to two Harbingers throughout most of Apocalypse 1992. 

(Don’t stop, don’t think, don’t look back/You’re a bolt of lightning in the sky now/Don’t stop, don’t think, don’t look back/I’ve pulled you in, nowhere to hide now)

(I am the one/I hold the dreams from fallen heroes)

(From the caves beneath Dundee/Ancient hermit arrives/A messenger to the war in the stars/Korviliath is nigh!)

Ashes is a needed perspective of one sibling on another, the beginning of the Fifth General questioning her orders. Meanwhile, remember how I said Alchemy was an experiment of the Witch’s? 

(What will we do when the world it is ending/And time it is halted for friend and for foe?/Try to hold on to the time as it passes/I’ll tend to the flame, you can worship the ashes)

(Take the poisoned cup/you cannot hide behind golden shrines/you can be the one in crisis, give into your greed)

The Truth Beneath the Rose is the birth of the Fifth General of the Blade of Marmora, although no one calls her that yet. Raise Your Banner is her newfound resolve and her first steps to creating what will become the Blade. 

(Blinded to see the cruelty of the beast/It is the darker side of me/The veil of my dreams deceived that I have seen/Forgive me for what I have been, forgive me my sins!)

(Wake up/I’m defying you, seeing right through you, once I believed in you/Wake up/Feel what’s coming deep within we all know)

Silver Moonlight is her ultimate goal, but not everyone agrees with it. Not everyone thinks it’s even possible, or that it still exists, or that this will be anything but an Endless War.

(I’m impatient, but it’s colors that I need/Too many shades of grey, I cannot breathe/The dreams I have ain’t tainted, I need you to believe/The only way to make them real, oh)

('Cause you’re fighting an endless war/Hunting a miracle/And when you reach out for the stars/They just cut you down/…/Is it worth dying for?/Or are you blinded by, blinded by it all?)

Of course, the fact is that the Endless War does end. Alchemy’s effects are still strong, even as they fight Against the Tide. The Fifth General is betrayed on Holy Ground, with her final stand in I’d Rather Burn. 

(I finally get what you’ve been saying/now that we’re knee deep side by side/the storm clouds are circling above us/as we struggle against the tide)

(You got inside my head, I want you out/'Cause I’ve been betrayed on holy ground)

(Won’t let you take my soul away/I’d rather go to the stake/I’d rather burn)

But even that isn’t enough. Empty Eyes and The Departure are [beeeeeeeeeeep]

(I don’t know where I’m going/In search for answers/I don’t know who I’m fighting/I stand with empty eyes/You’re like a ghost within me/Who’s draining my life/It’s like my soul is see through/Right through my empty eyes)

Filaments

Filaments is intimately connected to both the main playlist and the following one, and I’m doing my best to explain some things, but some you’ll have to wait and see. 

How long is the body beholden? How long ‘til we run out of road?

First Light is the dawn of something… a little different. Filaments is the title track, and I’m not going to say more than it’s connected to the same exact things First Light is.

(We can change our fate. We can change the future. We can change… the past)

(These glowing filaments/Conducting this enchanting/Sarcophagus that’s holding us)

Starlight and Carry Me Home are primarily adashi songs, but also follow the transition between the two playlists’ proper stories, as well as Shiro’s retirement from Voltron.

(Don’t leave me lost here forever/I need your starlight and pull me through/Bring me back to you)

(Carry me home to the morning light/carry me home before you wave me goodbye/Oh, carry me home…)

Prognosis is about record skips that only certain people can remember, and the decision that it’s time to back into The Breach. 

(How long is the body beholden?/How long 'til we run out of road?/Deep down in the black of the ocean/Fading from the glow)

(Follow me/Follow me now once more into the breach/Can you see?/Can you see how this is the way to destiny?)

This next part is supposed to act similarly to the beginning of TAS. there is an overarching story, but there’s more specific songs for specific… well, Other Worlds Than These. Right now the only song here is Masters of Destiny though, which is also sort of an overarching thing and also sort of a single world. We’ll get there. Of course, as these things sort themselves out, Something Wicked this way comes.  

(In the end we cannot hide/there are other worlds than these)

(I used to be sure it’s me who sleeps/but can it be/somewhere there’s a life/that dreams of me?)

(And it clawed/Back in the world again/Here for a new revenge/An enemy I can’t condemn)

The Art of War is the beginning of the end, with Cascade finally showing his true colors, the Sol Federation not having a good time, and Voltron getting dragged into it. But the consequences…

(I can remember all the days of violence/I can remember all the days they fought for rights/When men united all by fear and interest/I mustered them with hopeful promises I’ve broken)

The Future is Now and Tresspasser sort of take place during The Art of War, sort of not. Team Voltron is trying to figure out where their Black Paladin is, why exactly all their sensors are so incredibly broken, and what’s up with Krolia. Meanwhile, Keith is in the middle of an argument with himself.

(They said there was no way/But they forgot the black hole in the sky/Yesterday is nothing/I have half a life to rewrite)

(Where’s my heart?/I want to feel whole again or nothing at all/Where’s my soul?/Because I’m not myself)

Centigrade is Keith exposing a fraud, and Team Voltron [BEEEP], and Miserable Me is very related

(What did you hope to find adrift and lost in time?/Is this the end ready to begin?/It’s time to escape the fate of destruction, excavating within until salvation/No longer pretend the future’s a lie from a past you cannot hide)

(history misunderstood this deity/miserable me!/oh why is the deep dark shored sea the only friend to me?)

This all leads into Unveiling the Architecture, Altas Obscura, Dark Matter, and A Theater of Dimensions. No I will not be explaining.

(All human history a sigh from their endless lungs)

(I am the keeper/I am the secret/I am the answer/I am the end)

(I’ve seen our freedom in the mist of time/The old signs I’ll follow and the day of relief will be yours and mine)

Afterlife and For They Shall Inherit the Earth are a fitting denouement to everything. The Immortal has frequently been used in place of Voltron within the playlists, which given the parallels means it make sense to end on this note. 

(But with such power, think how you could rule/Hold to your promise to watch over those in despair/Why would you choose to serve when you could be master of all?/Be true to your honor and fight for a world that is fair!/Out of shadow, out of darkness, welcome to the light/As the day shines boldly over night/Follow me to finally be who you are inside/Open wide, embrace the afterlife)

For Who I Could Have Been

Your world will fail my love, it’s far beyond repair…

Conflict is also connected to Filaments in ways I will not explain here. Something Wicked is almost the same thing it was in Filaments proper. 

(Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster…)

(A prisoner of time and space/Construct we can’t escape/A fleeting moment alive)

(When all of the forces have been overrun/you’ll whisper, serpent tongue/what you fear you have become)

Rise and Fall serves a very similar purpose to the Art of War. It ends with The Art of Bargaining. 

(You push my back against the wall/when I attack I’m taking all)

(I might be guilty but can a person change/I’ll say it like I mean it but believe it, that’s insane/You’re only making this harder/I’ll make you an offer/An offer you can’t refuse)

Widowmaker, Eon, and Reset Rewind are all about a single decision that changes the fate of the universe.

(Rise above the shadows putting forth your hands/God will shield his eyes in spite of all your prayers and he will not hear/Your hands, stained of blood/What have we become from a smoking gun?/What have we become)

(If time’s a song I won’t wait for it’s reprise/I am done wishing farewells and goodbyes)

(Erase bad times/create a timeline/with the pleasure/heavier than all the pain)

Frequency, Your World Will Fail, The Future is Now, and The End of the World are the fallout of that decision.

(And now the silence screams that you are gone/you’ve tuned me out, I’ve lost your frequency)

(Your world will fail my love/It’s far beyond repair/Your world will fail/If you are alive you must run for your life)

(They said there was no way/But they forgot the black hole in the sky/Yesterday is nothing/I have half a life to rewrite)

(Is everyone everywhere forsaking?/ or is there anybody else out there?)

So, in a way, is Dark Matter and A Theater of Dimensions. 

(Tear down hollows/Take back eternity)

(I’ve seen our freedom in the mist of time/The old signs I’ll follow and the day of relief will be yours and mine)

It’s such a quiet thing, to fall. Far more terrible is to admit it, and to fix it. But that’s what the catalyst does in Redemption, Endlessness, and For They Shall Inherit the Earth. 

(To know that your days are numbered/To know that your time is short/Death is what gives life meaning/So who will you be at the end of the road?)

(Soon, beyond the fields you’ve come to know/You will join the silent flow/Follow me, I am the spark/At the end of everything/Tip the reaper to ensure/The blade is sharp/As soon we’ll go/Follow me into the dark/To the birth of everything)

Design Your Universe

(this playlist is DM canon. But it’s not the DM canon we know and love. We will get to see at least part of it. Eventually.)

Who decides about what’s true or false? 

Dark Matter, because it’s not DM without it

(So climb up and come clean/Move back the smoke screen/It’s all here, it’s all you/Get clear on the darker view)

Divide and Conquer explains where things changed from the DM canon we know and love. It’s about how a dictator, no matter their intentions, is never the correct choice.

(Seek the mastermind/The one who’s always right/We’re searching now and endlessly to set us free/Seek the mastermind (Seek the mastermind)/There’s no one you will find)

Martyr of the Free World is a very specific piece of that change from main canon, while Black Smoke Assimilation is what she leaves behind

(If you gun down the messenger/You guarantee that she will be made/Into a saint/A martyr of the free word)

(Out of reach/I planted you, the seed/You’re learning to believe/That you’re the one that changes everything, everything)

Cosmic Vertigo is here for the same reason as in the main playlist

(Just enjoy it while it lasts/Cling not to the broken past)

The Land of Unicorns is Gloryhammer finally making a comeback, and Team Voltron meeting up with, well, Team Voltron.

(Ride far away, cross the mighty River Tay/Over mountains into the unknown/Follow your heart, let it guide you through the dark/To the Land of Unicorns)

Legendary Enchanted Jetpack is a journey into the depths of the Altean Empire. Return to Me is another fight over the Black Lion, but the players aren’t who you think, which is the final goal of Storm the Castle

(Quest for Fife to end pain and strife/in search of the enchanted engine)

(Return what you have taken from me/Rightfully mine, I will not allow this, thief/Think you know this weapon in your hands?/You are a fool, I am his only command)

(We will not be prisoners/In a kingdom taken hostage by her crown)

Unleashed is from the perspective of The Matriarch, for once, showing a little about how this version of her was not particularly willing

(Where was I meant to be?/I feel I’m lost in a dream/Long for the day I can be myself/Free)

Hootsforce and The Epic Rage of Furious Thunder are a final battle. 

(Fight for the king, for the hammer and the ring/Fight for the ancient story)

(In the epic rage of furious thunder, legends create their tales/when the twilight calls and the dark lord falls our glory will prevail!)

Design Your Universe, as the title track of this one, is all about how a simple change can change the world. It’s also uh…. pretty literal

(We can’t undo what we have done/So show us now what we’ve become/Confront us with our viciousness/And our weakness/We can’t evade our destiny/So show responsibility/For we all surely have a sense/Of our consciousness)

[denimbex1986]

'***** 5/5

It began with an historical bang and ended with a heartbreaking posthumous appearance. In between, Doctor Who (BBC One) delivered a blockbusting adventure. Writer Russell T Davies warned that Wild Blue Yonder was “weird”. Leading man David Tennant said it was “shocking… unlike any episode ever”. They weren’t wrong. This was a deeply creepy, dazzlingly creative hour of teatime TV.

A witty prologue saw the Tardis crash-land in an apple tree, circa 1666. A certain physicist happened to be sitting beneath it. The Doctor greeted him as “Sir Isaac Newton” before correcting himself and losing the honorific. The colour-blind casting of Nathaniel Curtis, the half-Indian actor best known for starring in Davies’s It’s a Sin, could rattle a few cages. The Doctor (Tennant) and Donna (Catherine Tate) were far more concerned with the fact that the influential polymath was “hot”. They left him with the made-up word “mavity” as a parting gift. He’ll get there eventually.

The main meat of the story took place on a seemingly empty spaceship at the edge of the universe. Except this is sci-fi, where spaceships are rarely really empty. Lying in wait was “something so bad that the Tardis ran away”: two shape-shifting, war-mongering lifeforms which morphed into doppelgängers of the Doctor and Donna, planning to steal the Tardis and wreak intergalactic havoc. Like Newton said: “Odd bodkins! What the devil?”

As their physical forms settled, they sprouted long arms, slack jaws and vampiric teeth. They ran on all fours, grew to outlandish size, got stuck in corridors and melted into puddles. Unsettling and strange, they referenced horror films from Invasion of The Body Snatchers to Jordan Peele’s Us.

The design team faced a challenge bringing to life what Davies had written on the page. They rose to it. The show’s new distribution deal with Disney brings a boosted budget, which was visible in the fully realised spacecraft and Hollywood-worthy visual effects. These were supplemented by fine physical acting by Tennant and Tate, playing their own doubles in eerie style.

When they finally returned to Earth, they were greeted by Wilfred Mott (the late Bernard Cribbins), now wheelchair-bound but still a doughty warrior. Cribbins filmed scenes last year before his death. The Doctor spoke for us all when he beamed: “Now nothing is wrong. Nothing in the whole wide world. Hello, my old soldier.”

For all the hype-building talk of shocking weirdness, this was Doctor Who boiled down to its essence. The Time Lord and his loyal companion, landing somewhere mysterious, finding themselves in trouble. No big cast nor political preaching. Just a rollicking yarn in a confined setting with scary monsters. A back-to-basics “base under siege” adventure with a whopping twist.

Tennant was funny and fizzingly charismatic, revelling in his chemistry with Tate. There was warm bickering, clever wordplay and dark hints of the Doctor being haunted by his origins. Their reunited double act feels nostalgic yet thrillingly new – perfect for marking the show’s 60th anniversary, before launching its new era.

We now await next Saturday’s climactic special The Giggle, which marks the return of classic villain The Toymaker (now played by Neil Patrick Harris) – and presumably ends with Tennant’s regeneration into the 15th Doctor (long-term replacement Ncuti Gatwa). In just two episodes, Davies has restored our faith in family-friendly sci-fi. This was a jaw-dropping, joyous injection of sheer Saturday night magic.'