This stupid event making me feel things while also being wayyy too cheesy and over the top. Ah there were some absolute gems though. Screenshots below the cut because spoilers.
Okay I just can’t with some of these idiots.
MC being the one to bring Satan home after he gets angry and runs away 😭
Diavolo always having to be in Prince mode except when he’s with MC 😭
Bonus because MC asks him if he thought Barbatos noticed when he snuck away with MC. I just think it’s cute that he’s so delusional 🥹
MC being the only one who sees this guy’s struggle (or who he allows to see it) 😭
NOOOOOO MY HEART. MC reminding Solomon of his humanity I’m unwell 😭😭
And now for the best one because of course I lost my mind when Barbatos brought MC to his own room. I know Lucifer did too but Barb did it first!
YEAH 'cause I'm expecting you to tell me you love me!!
Look at how serious he gets...
... and then that sweet subtle smile...
HE KEEPS THE SHELF A SECRET. 😭😭😭
Excuse me I’m just gonna go pass away now. 🪦
These feelings are enough for me to overlook those doofy hats even. Why do they insist on hats they look so silly no matter who wears them.
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“Nine would have treated Martha better than Ten did”
I need to talk about this argument that never seems to stop circulating.
Note: Not a venomous/anti post. There’s more than enough of that across fandom spaces as is, and this is supposed to be a place for ✨sweet, blissful escapism✨
When making this argument, people seem to envision a scenario in which Nine never met Rose.
While I can appreciate a good hypothetical, recognizing Rose's significance to the Doctor (Nine and Ten) is essential to understanding why things with Martha played out the way they did in the first place.
In the third series, the Doctor is grieving. This grief is deliberately threaded into nearly every script, whether spoken aloud or not (and these are just a few examples):
He's burning in Rose’s wake the entire time Martha travels with him, which is why it’s so frequently called upon: It’s 100% deliberate in framing his grief. He grieved as Nine too, of course— having been fresh on the heels of the Time War — but then he met Rose, which changed everything.
Back then, he was still a rude, traumatized pain in the ass, but we watch Rose soften more of those jagged edges with every episode as they grow closer; as he lets his guard down and forms a deep connection with her.
He falls in love (against his better judgment) and it's game over.
And yes: provided S1E1 had been titled 'Martha', one can realistically assume things might have unfolded similarly to how they did with Rose. However, it wouldn’t have been that way just because the Doctor was Nine and “Nine was different” — it would be because he wasn’t already in love with someone else. The same can't be said for the start of S3.
Think of it like this: if Rose AND Martha had been in that cellar — if Nine had taken both of them along with him in S1 — we’d eventually be looking at the most melodramatic love triangle ever, what with him living in close quarters with two brilliant, gorgeous, compassionate young women... But Doctor Who is plenty “soap opera” as is with just one woman in the TARDIS.
(I certainly wouldn’t object to reading that fic, though)
Now, regarding the unrequited elephant in the room…
His inability to be romantic with Martha isn’t because he thinks her lesser, nor is it for lack of compatibility. It isn't because Rose is any better than her. It certainly isn’t just because he’s Ten.
It’s really only for one reason, which can't be denied — and now I’m a broken record:
He is still in love with Rose.
(cut from a tenrosedaily gif)
Nine is Ten, and Ten is only such a mess in S3 because he’s just lost the love of his life. Martha merely got caught in the crosshairs of a volatile Time Lord in mourning, and yes — it sucks. Absolutely.
But it also feels dismissive to chalk Ten and Martha’s relationship up to little more than some sort of mindless dance of pining, jealousy, and toxicity.
Ten trusted Martha with his life over and over again — and hers, with him. He constantly praised her brilliance, happily carting her around time and space with no intention of letting her go. In the BBC’s extended universe of novels/comics/cartoons/etc, there’s so much depth to their relationship: love and trust and trauma and sacrifice. They had their own special bond as mates, their own complexities — so it’s a bummer that it's forever overshadowed by the other things.
I’m not denying that there was a lot of stuff that sucked/was for sure toxic about Ten's S3 behavior, but so many of the things I've seen him catching flak for can be directly attributed to being A Clueless Fucking Alien Idiot (not a trait that’s unique to Ten) — as well as his flat-out obliviousness to Martha’s feelings.
So yes, I agree: if Rose never existed, he would have treated Martha differently as Nine. He also would have treated her differently as Ten. Certainly.
But Rose did exist, and when discussing canon, it matters.
“He tells me that he absolutely, 100% loves Rose... He tells me how my daughter; my wonderful, beautiful, clever little girl saved him from himself before… And he says that’s all because of me! I made her into the Rose Tyler that saved him.”
-Jackie Tyler, Flight Into Hull!
Martha got the short end of the stick in S3. She came round at the wrong place and time, but that doesn't mean it was all bad. It doesn't mean the Doctor didn’t adore her. It certainly doesn't mean the time they spent together was wasted or worthless. They were brilliant!
Sure, he could be a twat, but let it be known that he was a twat with Rose as well, both as Nine and Ten. I’m sure Tentoo can be plenty infuriating, too. So while I'll defend Ten (and Tentoo) into the ground forever and ever and ever, I'll concede that he's fucked up.
The Doctor is a certified Pain In The Ass. It’s one of the things I love so much about this character — dynamics.
But never forget that Martha was goddamn tough as nails and overcame every bit of it. She moved on with her life, and the Doctor moved on with his. One can only pray that, when they inevitably drag her back onto the show (which feels inevitable if I'm honest), we see at once that she's been living her best life for all these years.
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So I've been carving my way through Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3, and I can't help but consider how a similar romance mechanic would be absolutely perfect for Horizon 3.
Divisive concept, I'm more than well aware. But seeing the way it's already being implemented with fidelity and elegance and depth in the opening of BG3 gives me the perfect image of how it could work in Horizon 3.
To be perfectly clear, I'm talking specifically about the romances. We already know that Guerrilla is not pursuing branching narrative paths for the Horizon series, the way BG3 and Mass Effect do. However, I want to point out that the romances of BG3 don't alter the central narrative the way other choices do. They provide this lovely and emotional character depth and player engagement/agency without affecting the main story or outcomes.
Each is their own kind of side plot, for flavor and flair and to add a sense of romantic connection to the experience, should the player want to pursue that. And that in and of itself is not unprecedented in the Horizon series: the Desert Clan commander quest not only forces a choice, but that choice then affects the side quest that follows.
Imagine it! A more refined Base mechanic, in which Aloy can take a few of her buddies out with her on quests (since the point is that she's Not Alone Anymore), and begins to get closer to whichever potential LI the player wants to pursue. The Base/Camp would be a domestic/cozy reprieve for her, with her LI and her friends. You know she deserves it.
Another thing I want to be clear about: there's always the argument that Aloy isn't a blank slate character, therefore romance choice wouldn't work for her story. And sure, Tav is. However, BG3 also allows you to play as premade origin characters--basically, you can play as Shadowheart, Karlach, Wyll, etc. They maintain their backstories and personal motivations while still being able to romance another party member. (I cannot WAIT to smooch Karlach during my Shadowheart run.) The chosen romance doesn't dilute or change the Player Character's preset characterization or narrative outcomes.
I just. I cannot see how a purposeful romance choice mechanic would be anything but additive to Horizon 3. I cannot see how it would cheapen Aloy's development. Personally, I've had a huge issue with the way the writing in HFW and beyond has very much Told, not Shown. This would remedy that somewhat by adding another level of more active participation than we've seen--and would give the player a chance to engage meaningfully and personally with a small (but emotionally-impactful) part of the overarching story...rather than being told exactly how to feel about certain characters, which is a HUGE pitfall over which the series has stumbled and is still stumbling.
Bottom line: a romance mechanic like BG3's would fit the parameters of Horizon's narrative structure near-perfectly. It'd be an amazing tool to allow the player to feel involved and engaged in another layer of Aloy's story (not, I repeat, the outcomes of the main narrative). To have a hand in shaping that would be an absolute boon for emotional and personal investment in Horizon's themes of hope and connection and growth and belonging.
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