#it's giving rose i'm trying to resonate concrete

[scullysflannel]

what like it's hard

[the--highlanders]

thoughts on the star beast!! under a cut bc spoilers

first of all just. as someone who really did not vibe with the chibnall era at all. dear god it feels good to be excited about doctor who again

it was FUN. it was great bouncy silly charming fun and that is exactly what the show needed at this point I think. I can really imagine kids tomorrow running around pretending to be the meep

also the meep was great and I'm SO glad it was practical effects, it looked so good

setting aside the doctor-donna plotline, the callbacks to the rtd era were fairly low-key (resonating concrete!) and fitted in with the episode but they were fun if they meant something to you

on the other hand the glass divider between the doctor and donna and him raging at having to kill her really felt like a kind of. reverse of ten and wilf and the radiation chamber. which HURT. ten raging over having to save wilf vs not-ten raging over not being able to save donna.

rose was lovely!! I really hope we get some more substantial stuff with her, I think she'd be a great companion

seeing unit again was fun, and I really liked shirley actually!! I hope she's a recurring character, I thought she worked well with the doctor and her gadget-y wheelchair was fun

also kate sorting out a place for wilf to live 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I did think the solution to donna being able to keep her memories was pretty creative, and the acknowledgement of the doctor being outside the gender binary made me yell

that being said I really didn't like the line about a 'male-presenting time lord never thinking of [letting go of power]. I feel like that was rtd trying to be too hip-with-the-kids progressive, which like. obviously I want the show to be progressive!!! but it's the sort of thing I hate

like, first of all, we've just established that the doctor is more or less nonbinary - and the show has been very obviously referencing time lord society as genderless since like, twelve's era. time lords feel that they are /genetically/ superior - it's a species thing, not a gender thing. a 'male' /or/ 'female' time lord is going to have a tough time giving up power. and this felt especially incongruous when we've just had thirteen, a doctor who used her white privilege to hand the master over to the nazis. doesn't seem like she was very interested in giving up her power there.

imo one of the doctor's whole character tensions across the whole show is them trying to break away from time lord superiority, and again that's species-based, not gender based. and it was literally established in journey's end that the doctordonna could think of things the doctor couldn't because of her human part! there was already a solid logical grounding for donna and rose to give up their time lord powers /because they were still part human/

there were a few thematic things I would have liked the episode to dwell on a bit more, like the whole cute-appearing vs frightening-appearing thing with the meep and the wrarth warriors, and how appearances are sometimes deceiving; or the stuff with the doctor and gender; or even just rose's character as a whole

that being said, this was an episode with an awful lot to do, and also an episode which was there to be a fun romp. it HAD to be a romp. so from a sort of metatextual point of view I can understand and forgive

overall I really liked it!! it really recaptured the magic of doctor who for me after so long not feeling it and I think it's going to do a good job of its most important task, which is getting the show afloat again in terms of casual viewers.

also SO glad they've gone back to a confidential-style program, unleashed was so fun

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Doctor Who, but Chronologically: 36

It's such a treat to get sensible two-parters, look

And we're back! The cliffhanger is resolved by the Doctor sternly telling the gas mask zombies to go to their room because he's very cross, and they meekly do. This is actually a very clever way to get out of it, I think. It's nice when Moffat manages a genuinely clever twist.

Also, it means right before the opening credits roll, the Doctor breaks the tension by saying "I'm glad that worked, those would have been terrible last words." Eighteen years ago, in a student house in Rhoath, we shat ourselves we laughed so hard. Still a great line.

Anyway, fuck, this is SUCH a good episode. The plot is actually relatively brief (it turns out that ambulance Jack crashed here was full of medical nanogenes, and the first thing they found was a now-dead child still in a gas mask. But they'd never seen a human before, so they 'healed' him to a zombie creature. Now they're trying to heal all humans. The reason they're asking for their mam is because it's Nancy! Not his sister after all.) But, the episode contains multiple repeated creepy scenes to fill in for the lack of plot, and they're all bangers and all undercut with just the right amount of humour to be a foil. Love the Doctor replacing Jack's gun with a banana. Love the line "Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete." Love Rose discovering that the future of the human race is to fuck its way across the stars and that Jack has probably fucked a space squid. All great

It's just a shame about all the cringeworthy sex and romance talk disguised as a dancing metaphor. That made me wince two decades ago and time has not made it better. Even editing doesn't give Moffat the ability to write anything romantic that doesn't feel like unsettling wet noodles. Sometimes, being synaesthetic is a curse.

Ultimately Nancy tells the Bluetooth zombie that she's his Mam and the nanogenes realise her DNA is the correct one. This means there's an absolutely delightful bit where Christopher Eccleston throws his whole pussy into yelling "Just this once, Rose, everybody lives!" and the day is utterly saved. It's true, that is rare. I am still haunted by Horror of Fang Rock. What an awful story. Never forget poor Vince.

This means Richard Wilson lives!

"Uh, all your patients will in fact be fully healed," the Doctor says. "Just quietly take credit and send them along."

"Doctor!" says a random woman. "My leg's grown back! When I came to hospital I only had one!"

"Well, there is a war on," says Richard Wilson, with devastating comedic delivery. "Is it possible you miscounted?"

And then Rose and the Doctor rescue Jack before his ship blows up, and then the episode ends EXACTLY ONE SECOND after Jack enters the TARDIS, yes that's right, there is NO MORE OF THE EPISODE. They most certainly did not ruin this incredible story with one of the most nauseating and awful scenes in televisual history that still gives me bone-creaking second-hand embarrassment. Nope. It ends when Jack walks in. He says "It's bigger on the inside" and we all just... move on. We're done. The end. Tidy.

Anyway!!! Only one new plot thread, I think - Jack reveals at one point that he used to be a Time Agent, but they stole two years of his memories. Exciting!!! That has also happened to the Doctor. I wonder if it's related?

“She” (an unknown person) is returning (perhaps River returned as Missy. Maybe Me? Maybe Clara???!)

There is something on Donna’s back

An entire planet, Pyrovilia, just… disappeared, somehow. (Maybe because the TARDIS is exploding??? Saturnine was also lost, and that WAS because of the TARDIS exploding. The lion man’s planet was also lost but he was a bit of a knob about it if I’m honest.)

Amy is maybe dead (she’s not)

The Doctor has been cubed (he’s out, but how?)

River is possibly blown up  (unless she’s Missy. NEW INFO: she is definitely not blown up)

The TARDIS has blown up  (It’s fine now. Except it’s sort of melting now because it’s corrupted, but it’s fine again)

The universe appears to have ended  (the universe is back again)

The Doctor has employed(?) Nardole

(And Nardole was “reassembled???” Nardole had glass nipples and invisible hair?? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE)

There’s a vault in the TARDIS and it contains Missy but we don’t know why (sometimes she knocks for the bants)

There’s an immortal Viking girl now. Her name is Me and she’s now looking after the people the Doctor abandons

Why was Rory entirely unconcerned by the entire world suddenly going silent when that is Not Normal and should have been, at the very least, extremely disconcerting?

What did the Doctor do to Queen Lizzie One?

Why is Amy seeing a one-eyed woman in a vanishing window? (She’s with the Silents, but we don’t know why Amy saw her)

Why is Amy’s pregancy inconclusive? (Maybe because the baby had Time Lord DNA?)

Who is Sarah-Jane Smith?

How is the Doctor Bill’s teacher and why/where does he have an office?

What is going on with the Cyber War and the Cyberium???

What happened with the Other Cyber War?

What happened with the Third War that deleted the void?

Why does Rose seem particularly important?

What order do these Doctors go in? (Eccleston, Tennant, uncertain, Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker)

Which companion just… forgot the Doctor, and how?

Yaz and Vinder are about to die as Mori/Mwri/Muuri

There is a Lupari shield around Earth.

What’s a Time War?

What’s the Rift?

What’s Bad Wolf?

In which war did the Doctor become a war criminal, and how?

Who is the Master?

Why has Amy forgotten Rory?

Is Rory plastic or not?

Why is the Doctor sulking on a cloud?

How exactly does the Doctor have a cloud?

What exactly happened with Strax to, uh, tame him?

Which friend killed Strax?

Which friend brought Strax back?

Where did this lesbian lizard and human couple come from?

What happened with Clara as Souffle Girl and the Daleks?

How does Clara actually join?

Why so many Claras?

Why is Missy apparently in robo-heaven?

Why is probably!Missy pushing Clara and the Doctor together?

What is Trensilor and what happened there?

Who is Handles?

The Doctor is about to be dissolved by a beautiful geode man

The universe is being crushed by the Flux

Will the Doctor open the fobwatch?

Sontarans are invading Earth again

Who is Kate?

Who is Osgood? Another name of Clara’s again?

The fuck is the deal with the Grand Serpent

Does Martha get to go to an ice cream planet with 12-fingered massage aliens?

How did the Doctor forget Clara?

Who is Bill’s puddle girlfriend Heather?

How did Nardole die?

When does Bill get Cyberman-ed and die?

When does the Doctor shrink and enter a Dalek called Rusty?

Whittaker is falling to her death rn

Was that ring relevant?

Does anyone know the Doctor’s name?

When did Yaz talk to Dan about fancying the Doctor?

When did Dan talk to the Doctor about fancying Yaz?

What’s happening with the bees?

What happened with Donna’s ex and a giant spider?

What war wiped out the Daleks, and is it one of the ones already mentioned?

What did the Doctor mean when he said “The (Daleks) always live, while I lose everything?”

If Dalek Caan is the last Dalek left why are there more now?

How did the rest of the Time Lords die?

How and why did Amy melt?

What’s the question that will make silence fall?

Why do the Silents… want silence to fall?

How and why are Silents at war with the Doctor when he… hasn’t even heard of them?

How does Hitler get out of the cupboard?

What’s the significance of fish fingers and custard?

Why does the Doctor feel guilt about Rose, Martha and Donna?

What happened with the space whale?

When does Rory defend Amy for 2000 years?

How does the Doctor survive River

How does he erase himself from history

Did Captain Jack lose his memories to the same people as the Doctor? What did he lose?

[goodsology]

Mental Health Wednesday

Hello! Time for some mental health Wednesday!

I wrote this fanfic a couple years ago. I was in a dark place and it felt like I was just stuck in a hole, with video games being the one thing I could use to cope. I'm in a much better place, but I hope this fic can resonate with you :)

Also while the characters are from Fire Force, its an alternate universe and fandom blind, so you don't have to watch the anime before reading this!

Apathy

Blond girl. Blue eyes. Short hair. Just a plain-looking girl, sleeping in a vast, open field. She opened her eyes to the gray sky, the sun out of her vision. The gray sky and clouds overshadowed everything, even the shining sun. Sometimes the clouds even blocked it out, not giving a damn. 

Static rang through her ears. Memories, moments, illustrations? She didn’t know what it was, and she didn’t wanna know. Gray skies over the gray buildings. Concrete and gray roads, gray sidewalks with some white here and there, and people. Gray people. No faces. They just walk and walk and walk and walk until they reach gray stairs, climbing them to an unknown area. Some dash their way up, tripping almost themselves or jumping over others to keep climbing. Others fall, either being pushed or they do it themselves. Or, some just...stop or go down the stairs, people avoiding them like the plague.

She despised that place so much. But, there was one thing she adored more than anything…

She closed her eyes once again, only for the surrounding area to transform. Gray skies were blue again, clouds were white and puffy like cotton candy, and the sun shined with all of his might and energy. She breathed in the nice, cool air before opening her eyes. Static was replaced with the breeze and birds chirping in the distance. 

Her eyes sparkled at the vast, open field of grass and flowers. Pansies, roses, and all kinds of flowers surrounded her. She smiled, dropping down to pick one until something strange happened. 

A yellow trampoline appeared in place of a flower. Then another. And then another. Soon, blue trampolines were above them, just a few feet off the ground. With curiosity, she poked the yellow trampoline. Very bouncy. Then, she put her foot on it, checking it for durability. Yep. Bouncy and durable. With no more hesitation, she jumped onto it, moving on to the other trampolines.  More of them appeared as soon as she was in the air. White, red, purple, green, orange, black, even more, complex colors appeared. 

And she could never fall. The trampolines were always within her reach and even if she missed the next one she was back at the previous one, ready to keep trying. Soon she was well above the clouds and the day turned into night. She and the moon were on the same level as she sat on a platform, taking the time to relish this moment before jumping once again. 

“Iris!” She turned around. Hibana, her sister, just came home. She called from downstairs, putting away her coat before barging into her room. Hibana sighed to herself. “You’re still playing those games?”

Iris rolled her eyes, getting back to her ‘game’. Hibana shook her head, muttering under her breath, “when will you just grow up? I can’t take care of you forever you know.” 

She closed the door, leaving Iris to her game once again. 

She continued to sit on the platform, now with a handsome braid with her, holding hands with her while they watched the moon. So beautiful, yet Hibana had to ruin it…

Her mind wandered back. Static came once again, starting with a low noise that she could ignore into ringing. It became louder than before.

Her mom with her coworkers. Her sister with her coworkers, her friends, even her boyfriend. Iris, on the other hand, with what? Friends? She didn’t have those. 

A boyfriend? In her dreams. 

Coworkers? Not really.

A career? She had one, emphasis on ‘had’. 

Her mom, her sister, that was all she had. But she even questioned that. 

Here she didn’t have to worry. She didn’t have to ask. Here, she had friends. She had a boyfriend. She didn’t need coworkers or careers or money. Well, she did need money, but she could get it without too much of a challenge.  This world was fair. It was just. So what if it was ‘just a game’? This was her reality. A Reality that made sense.  No more harassment. No more people abandoning her. No more people telling her to ‘grow up’ or ‘do this, do that’ or ‘okay...’ in response. 

But even this world had its downsides. 

With just a push of a button, her world was instantly gone. She could come back to it, but who knows when that’ll be? She’ll still have to deal with the static. Her sister. Her mom. Her health. Her hunger. Those damn stairs. Her exhaustion. Her green. Her blue. Her pink. Her red….

Her yellow…

She was back in that lifeless world again, only with empty eyes and tears free-falling to the ground.

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