#more i really don't do s9 and 10

[donttouchtheneednoggle]

yet more Stargate text posts:)

(part 1) (part 2) (part 4)

[yamujiburo]

POKEMON SERIES RANKED (IMO)

I get this question a lot and haven't made an updated list with Journeys

Original Series (S1-S5)

Sun & Moon (S20-S22)

Chronicles (S0)

Diamond and Pearl (S10-S13)

Advanced (S6-S9)

Journeys (S23-S25)

Black & White (S14-S16)

XY (S17-S19)

Original Series (S1-S5)

OS had that first season charm. Very unpolished, still finding its footing but super enjoyable for those reasons

Probably the strongest series comedy-wise

That GORGEOUS 90s anime style

Main character dynamics were REALLY strong

Ash's personality felt much more like a shitty little 10 year old which was entertaining

Dub writing was also the best hands down

Sun & Moon (S20-S22)

Honestly tied for first with OS for me

REALLY fun ensemble cast! They do a fantastic job giving each character enough time for you to get to know and care about

Excellent modern anime style that perfectly fit the vibe of the season and allowed for some of the best character animation of the show's run

Finally figured out how to write Ash like a 10 year old again (but in a kind/sweet 10 year old way as opposed to OS)

Very different from previous series in terms of the formula they'd follow. Doing a school series instead of another "8 badges to championship" plot felt new and fresh!

This series genuinely made me cry the most (MEMORIES IN THE MIST!!!!! LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME)

Chronicles (S0)

Fun concept! It was really nice to see more of the side characters without Ash there. We get to see more of Misty, Tracey, Daisy, Brock, Ritchie, Oak, Delia, Butch, Cassidy, Jessie, James and Meowth!

Stylistically really nice. Just solid drawings all around and it retained the 90s anime style in digital form more successfully than other digitally done series imo

BUTCH AND CASSIDY!!! Team Rocket centric episodes!!! Training Daze!!!!!!!

Idk how possible it would have been (seems like a TON of work) but it made me want one of these in between each season, where we'd follow the characters that Ash had just said goodbye to for the next region.

Diamond and Pearl (S10-S13)

Series I grew up with! Honestly I was kinda a hater as a kid but having watched it back, I love the series

Love that Ash and Dawn were bros. They had a really fun dynamic.

Debatably peak Team Rocket. They had some of the best Team Rocket centric episodes this series.

Contests were really fun and a bit more figured out compared to the Advanced series

Fun, memorable rivals for Ash (Paul and Barry) as well as Dawn (Zoey, Kenny and Jessilina sometimes)

This is unfortunately where I stopped caring about Ash as much. He feels kinda watered down for the next couple series.

Advanced (S6-S9)

Pretty tied up with DP for me

Really fun series! Still had some of that early Pokémon charm

I appreciated that they put Ash in more of a mentor role for May (but he still had a lot to learn himself).

Ash and May constantly butting heads was really fun

May was a very compelling character to me, being very clumsy, kinda lazy, directionless, not really into Pokémon, etc. But then over time, she comes around and finds something she's interested in!

Journeys (S23-S25)

I love the episodic take as well as the way they let the characters jump around from region to region at random

Goh was a GREAT travel companion to Ash. They contrast each other nicely, have moments where they get on each others' nerves but still get along and have a mutual admiration for one another.

It was fun that they made Goh's thing catching every Pokémon (the motto of the entire series) so they could focus on Ash just training and prepping for Worlds.

Amaaaazing style. Took the great parts of classic Pokémon, roundness of SM and blended em together for a really fun look.

Black & White (S14-S16)

I don't think it's that controversial to have BW this low haha

I did enjoy Iris and Cilan but it felt like the writers didn't reaaally know what to do with them? Also this was their first time in a while not having Brock and it shows. I feel like Brock was successful because he was grounded and lower energy compared to the rest of the kids. Having 3 pretty eccentric characters is kind of a lot. No hate to the characters in the slightest, there was just not as much balance.

I think maybe they leaned on Cilan and Iris for more comedic relief because they killed the comedic relief that was Team Rocket this series. I appreciate them trying something new with Jessie, James and Meowth but I don't think it worked very well lol

XY (S17-S19)

I've ranted about this series a lot LOL. I get the appeal of it, but it just wasn't for me. I felt like it was the weakest comedy-wise and took itself a bit too seriously for my taste

My main gripe is that Serena, Clemont and Bonnie all like,,, worship Ash. By doing so, Ash begins to feel like a side character because we're constantly looking at Ash through their eyes. There's so little conflict within the group so their dynamics feel really flat. I think this dynamic could have worked if they leaned waaay more into Ash being a mentor and maybe feeling the pressure of having to be a role model for the people around him.

Team Rocket very much feels like an afterthought in this series. They did in Journeys as well, but at least in Journeys they were doing something silly and also had a handful of episodes dedicated to em.

Outside of that, the episodes weren't super memorable for me

I think it's just frustrating because there was sooooo much potential character-wise

[megabuild]

sorry for another poll but im really curious lol

please feel free to rb and be more specific about when or how in the tags ^_^

[trans-queen-administrator]

Worm Fanfic Recs

No rankings at play here, just my favorite fics that I think other are really good. There are fics I like that aren't listed because I have a bad memory, but everything here is something I really really enjoyed. I have biases obviously, this isn't objective.

The Fics

Our Private Crises - A nailbiting murder mystery with unique and well done POVs from a different character each chapter. The mystery and reveal at the end were stellar, and it got me attached to characters I never thought I'd care for. 29k words. Complete.

It's Cold Out There Every Day - Missy is trapped in a time loop on her birthday. Genuinely stellar characterization, it has the best Missy and Aisha I've ever read and its such a creative and well executed premise. 41k words. Complete.

Tilt - Unpowered homeless girl Taylor fakes a thinker power to get in the Wards and secure housing. She's even more self destructive and self deprecating than in canon. 10/10 characterization for a slew of POV characters including Taylor, every ward but especially Sophia, Rachel, Lisa, and a ton of other characters. Despite not going through all of what canon Taylor went through, this fic nails her character better than pretty much any others. 220k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

Tear Apart, Stitch Together - Taylor triggers with Shatterbird's power and kills thousands. Short and sweet, everything that's there is great and it wraps up well I think. 13k words. Complete

Memories of a Simurgh Victim - The Simurgh attacks Brockton Bay. Has two storylines, one following Taylor and one following Amy and Vicky. Among the most fucked up things this fandom has to offer, a terrifying showcase of the Simurgh and her power. 62k words. Taylor's story is incomplete but the Amy and Victoria story is done.

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Pleasures - Cherish altpower Taylor tries to consensually fix Amy's incest fetish. A trainwreck I can't look away from, the worlds first psychological horror romcom. It's so fucked up and so amazingly funny, and has good well written characters. I don't like Pillbug and I'm not a big fan of altpowers, but this fic is still one of my favorites because it's so damn compelling so definitely check it out if you actually like either of those things. 211k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

Roots - The Slaughterhouse Nine attack a small town with a roster of OC capes, but something is very off about the place. POV shifts every chapter, and the OCs are interesting and unique. The S9 are also wonderfully characterized here, I've never had a fic make me sad for Crawler of all people. 67k words at time of posting. Ongoing. Criminally underrated.

Roma Fade - Ciara and Fortuna both try to grow past who they were as capes and find themselves as people in a small town post Gold Morning, having found common ground posing as moms to a recovering Taylor. I'm sure fake dating would never end in real attraction, that would be absurd. Incredibly gay, incredible characterization for everyone, the best post-GM fic around in my opinion. 87k words at time of posting. Ongoing but currently on hiatus.

Case - Lisa and the Simurgh start a detective agency. It's just great humor and a lovely story and wonderful despite being short and deceased. 14k words. Dead.

Silence is not Consent - Taylor intervenes and saves Victoria from Amy and gives her a place to stay, Victoria massively struggles dealing with what happened. Amazing characterization, Victoria's POV is unique and incredibly well done, and her seeing Taylor from an outside perspective is interesting. Be warned that this is a very heavy fic emotionally, but it's really fucking good. 212k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

A Word - Altpower Taylor is obsessed with writing a story. I don''t know how to describe this fic honestly it's hard to do justice, but it has perhaps the best conclusion to Gold Morning I've seen in a fanfic. 11k words. Complete.

Scarab - A fantasy AU where powers are thought to be magic, and the Faerie Queen takes an interest in Taylor. Filled to the brim with creativity and passion, this fic is teeming with fresh ideas and interesting depictions of canon characters. The worldbuilding is great as well, no other fic on this list has a map, so this is clearly a cut above the rest. 139k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

Swallowtail - Ok I lied this one has a map too. Taylor with an incredibly interesting stranger power joins Faultline's crew. There is a truly astounding amount of AU elements and alternate powers for canon characters, it feels like a new world while still being recognizable and distinctly Worm. Has a large amount of alternate POVs and the first arc can be rough, but it's creative and amazing. 360k words. Ongoing but currently on haitus.

Soliloquy - Ex-Slaughterhouse 9 Taylor is in prison, bitter at the world and herself and especially her clone who saved the multiverse. A heavy fic about someone slowly recovering and becoming a better person when they're convinced it can't be done. Made me cry. 71k words. Complete.

TWNY - Post-GM Taylor finds herself in the world of RWBY with a pair of moth antennae. Multiple POVs, all very interesting despite me knowing nothing of RWBY. Probably the best characterization of Taylor in any post-GM crossover fic, she's heartbreaking in the recent arc, and it feels like the fic has barely scratched the surface of what it'll eventually cover. Also it's very gay. 136k words. Ongoing.

The Great Escape - Eidolon is struggling after his reputation is destroyed and Cauldron is revealed, and then the Birdcage opens. Amazing use of seldom seen characters, great POV with Eidolon, well done and interesting fights, has String Theory. 107k words. Ongoing but currently on haitus.

Happiness Is Inevitable - NSFW. The only damn erotic mind control Simurgh smut in the fandom somehow. Besides the porn (which is a lot of the fic, who woulda thunk it) the story itself is actually pretty interesting and has a lot of creative parts, and it has better characterization than most fics. 29k words. Ongoing?

Oneshots

Break me so that I can be whole - This accursed fandom is tragically bereft of QA / Taylor fics, but this one shot is great, love an eldritch take on shards. Probably fucked up but I'm not actually a good judge of that so be warned. 1.8k words.

Book Worm - Dragon helps teach Taylor how to read and speak and understand language post-GM. Bittersweet and lovely. 2.5k words.

Defiant Didn't Dox Saint For Nothing! - Taylor goes back in time and the first thing she does is kill Saint because he sucks. Cracky but I like it, fun little oneshot. 1.6k words.

Ruling Ash - Glory Girl flees Brockton Bay during the Slaughterhouse Nine and ends up living with Damsel of Distress. Cute, and Starsong before Ward is very interesting. 2.8k words.

My Sunshine - Leviathan goes worse and Brockton Bay is destroyed. Taylor and Victoria survive. Very somber, but well executed. 3.4k words.

Cherry on Top - A character study of Cherie Vasil, showing how she went from running away from Heartbreaker to joining the Nine. Extremely well written, absolutely incredible depiction of her character. It depicts abuse and actions typical of Heartbreaker and Cherie, so be careful reading. It's a lot emotionally. 12.7k words.

Devil in a New Dress - NSFW. Shatterbird / Reader, I'm not explaining myself on this one. Neat Shatterbird characterization, hot, pretty fucked up so be warned. 1.7k words.

[randomfoggytiger]

If there was another revival like what they did for seasons 10 and 11, how many episodes would be appropriate to have a complete season? I know that 24 is impossible, but 10 was just not enough to get into their stories and get some great depth of characters. BUUTT, if they did a full season closer to 24, why couldn't they add more depth to enrich the storyline so that the G and D wouldn't hate the work. I miss the days when a show lasted all year and kept my interest.

These short seasons of today's shows feels like ADHD television. I finish one show and then change to another for the rest of the year. There's a risk of losing viewers and interest because we don't have the investment. Remember the feeling of starting a show when the school year began, following your favorite characters through the holidays and hoping for a special Christmas and Valentine episodes, then as you're reading to go to summer vacation, you look forward to the season finale and then waiting in anticipation for the return when the season finale was a cliff hanger? We actually had an investment worth our time.

Carter would also have to be removed from writing the storyline.

I get what you mean with the longer series-- going from ~24 episodes to 10 is a swift and hard pivot, to be sure.

The intended purpose of shorter episodes is to enhance the character writing: shaving off unnecessary plot points and focusing 110% of the writing skill on important character beats. And it works, it really does... when well-executed. That's a hard balance to strike, even with seasoned writers; but it is achievable.

The problem, I found, is that the Revival shortened its format yet didn't change its content. Chris wanted to do more episodes but was constrained due to Gillian's distance and schedule. Further, Carter isn't a "domestic" writer, i.e. he isn't focused on character exploration (that's why he hired the other powerhouses on staff.) What interests him is the ever-spiraling mytharc. The quality and investment of his work goes down when outside his comfort zone.

So, he tried to squeeze 24 episodes of plot, plot, plot into a character-focused format and flubbed all the way 'round.

Babylon was his attempt at character work, I think. And that ep. would require a delicate touch in 2015 (and to this day), which he hadn't (hasn't) been able to pull off siiiiiiiiiince... S8 mytharc? S7 mytharc? (He and Spotnitz fudged by, then-- with David's help, let's be real-- but S9 really showed the cracks.)

Those are my thoughts pre-Founder's Mutation, anyway~> ;)))

[feministsouthpark]

South Park Filler Guide - Season 24

Link for Seasons  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

S24E1 The Pandemic Special is CANON

I considered this to be a filler episode, since none of it really gets addressed ever again, however there is one point I realized which makes it essential: This is the introduction of the covid arc. Many fans do and even Trey usually forgets this, but South Park isn't just a copy of real life. It's a fictional story, in which some things happen the same way as they do in real life. But many years from now, the covid phenomenon won't be as self-explanatory as at the time this episode special was made. So for inner world building, this is actually build up of a virus that will stay to be a major plot point for the remainder of the season. S24E2 South ParQ Vaccination Special is CANON

The boys (except for Kenny) break up, Margaret Nelson passes, Herbert returns as a teacher and for some reason has a fourth-wall breaking moment that really feel like South ParQ building towards its ending. S24E3 Post-Covid is CANON

First, I'm going to address this, that despite the different networks and what the DVD might tell you, this is part of the season by production code and by cohesive narrative as well. And yes, it is canon, part one of the culmination of the whole show. S24E4 The Return of Covid is CANON

So this is it. South Park has ended. We have our grand finale. Of course the destination of any series is canon. Wait, do I hear more episodes coming up? Well, now we just have to see how those will fit into the timeline of this story.

SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

S24E1 The Pandemic Special is CANON S24E2 South ParQ Vaccination Special is CANON S24E3 Post-Covid is CANON S24E4 The Return of Covid is CANON

CANON counter:

S1: 9 out of 13   S2: 3 out of 18   S3: 6 out of 18   S4: 10 out of 17   S5: 8 out of 14   S6: 11 out of 17  S7: 6 out of 15  S8: 4 out of 14  S9: 8 out of 14  S10: 4 out of 14  S11: 4 out of 14  S12: 8 out of 14  S13: 3 out of 14  S14: 7 out of 14  S15: 6 out of 14  S16: 2 out of 14  S17: 4 out of 10 + a highly lore based game  S18: 8 out of 10  S19: 9 out of 10  S20: 10 out of 10 S21: 7 out of 10 + a highly lore based game + 2 DLCs S22: 9 out of 10 S23: 8 out of 10 S24: 4 out of 4

Overall: 158 out of 312 Personal notes: We have the second ever season to be considered fully canon! However this really is the conclusion of the story. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that more episodes exist after this, but one has to wonder how they will pull of a second conclusion, once the show is actually ending.

[sam-loves-seb]

gallavich questions

thanks for the tag (and the questions) @callivich !!

What’s a fic you’ve read more than once? intro to quantum dating by @spoonfulstar, i think i've read it 3 or 4 times now, it's one of my all time favorites

What’s a gifset you always have to reblog? anytime i see a gifset from that one s5 deleted scene, yeah that one, i have to reblog

What’s a headcanon you can’t stop thinking about? i have a very specific headcanon for a tattoo ian gets post-canon for mickey, and i hesitate to even explain it now bc i think one day i do wanna write a fic about him getting it, but whatever--my headcanon is that he gets an M tattooed on his left ring finger and it's a subtle yet sweet nod to his husband. (i could talk about this for 9 hours but i will limit myself and stop here)

What’s a fanart you love looking at? i've spent an obscene amount of time staring at this fanart by @doodlevich it just checks all my boxes (domestic, husbands, fluff, etc.) and it's so well done, i'm obsessed with this pieces

What’s an idea you’d love to create if you had the time/inspiration? listen, i have this idea for a rock band au that lives rent fucking free in my head, and if i can find the time and the inspiration to actually turn these vibes and unorganized plot points into actual words and a coherent story in the new year, then maybe it'll see the light of day in 2024 but no promises. for now, i leave you with this: four milkovich siblings are in a rock band that is rising to success with the launch of their second studio album and subsequent tour, and ian gallagher is lead singer mandy's (fake) boyfriend--at least in the eyes of the public--and he spends some time that summer touring with the band and hooking up with their lead guitarist in secret until the band's manager/father catches wind of what's going on behind closed doors

What’s something you’ve discovered since entering this fandom? A new trope you love? A different analysis of the show? Something else? i've always been a post-canon enthusiast for almost all of my ships, but i think before gallavich i always envisioned them with a very cookie cutter standard american dream family with the house and the careers and the 2.5 kids, which usually fits a lot of my ships, but with gallavich i... don't have that same vision ?? i think they're actually my first ship that i hc more often than not without kids in their post canon life, which is a new vibe for me entirely but i kinda love reading/writing it. idk if that answers the question you asked, but it definitely answered a question

What’s an underrated trope or concept you’d like to see more of? honestly i want more s9/10 prison era gallavich fics (and/or fanart). i think it's a gold mine era with so much untapped potential, and there are very few fics/series/whatever that really get deep with it and get to the good stuff of these two boys who haven't spent any significant time together in years but still love each other like they did way back when

What’s your favourite season? And has this changed after multiple rewatches of the show? it flip-flops for me between s4 and s5, like right now i think it's s5 but idk if i could actually pick one or the other as my absolute favorite

What’s a plot hole you wish had been answered or resolved? i would give my left arm to know how the fuck (and why the fuck) mickey started rolling with his dad again in post-prison s10 era, like in 10x08 he's going to terry for advice on how to protect ian, just for terry to try to kill him again 3 episodes later ??? make it make sense john wells i'm under your bed

What scene or moment do you feel isn’t discussed enough? personally i think the promise ring scene in 10x09 is criminally underrated and not talked about nearly enough, like you don't understand how happy that scene made me (stay with me here) seeing mickey stand up and fight for the future he really wants with ian and not settling for anything less

What line/dialogue/description from something else (a poem, a book, a tv show, a movie, or something else) do you feel describes Ian and Mickey’s relationship? can i do song lyrics? i'm gonna do song lyrics--i've always thought the song godlight by noah kahan was very gallavich, especially the chorus, and especially during s4/5/6 era and it may or may not be a piece of inspiration for my big bang canon divergent fic

What do you think is next for Ian and Mickey post-finale? i think they take a while to really settle into their new place and and make it their own, and it's a bit of an adjustment (for both of them) to fit in with this new crowd and this new environment, but they're learning how to grow and evolve together and at the end of the day that's all that really matters to the both of them

tagging: literally anyone who wants to play bc my brain is tired and i am too tired to try and remember everyone i probably should tag

[variousqueerthings]

Regency England. Bit more black than they show in the movies.

it's "thin ice," which is personally the episode to me that cements some of this season's (perhaps some of this era's?) ethos. it's also the one that people often bring up about twelve-as-the-doctor, and I do appreciate it. I've had critique of twelve's writing throughout most of s8 and a faaair bit of s9, and I think the twelve that people fondly remember is mainly s10 (with a dash of s9 and a few choice scenes in s8 -- it's not all bad) but I am happy that capaldi was able to give the doctor real nuance bit by bit until we got to this point and can sort of feed that back down the line, even though I'm not convinced that the beginning of writing him knew what it was doing entirely

also this episode has a really big fish in it. and the fish... is people! (sort of, it's an animal, but animals are people!)

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 7/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 6/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 7/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 8/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 8/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 7/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 7/10

FULL RATING: 77/100 (if I can count….)

imagine if we'd had this the whole time...

OBJECTIFICATION: Bill wears this really cute regency fit, the Doctor's swaggering about in a top hat he then gives to a homeless kid, looks upon looks

PLOT-POINT: Bill and the Doctor unexpectedly land in the past (no doubt because the Tardis doesn't want to end things just yet), and she navigates everything from being Black to the Doctor's morality. it's a very clear trajectory from episode one (the wonder, but with some personal sadness), episode two (the danger, but with the feeling of doing good) -- in episode three, Bill realises that things aren't so clearcut, and that the Doctor is, despite being her professor, a bit of an enigma to her

it's not as big of a Thing as back with Rose in s1 or Clara in s8, where they were both really wondering whether the Doctor wasn't a bit fucking unhinged (I'd say Martha as well, but her unhinged Doctor flavour was... unique RIP), but it's a bit of that

of course the Doctor has had their own character growth by now so is sort of more able to not fall to pieces on the whole + isn't the kind to seemingly ignore suffering for the sake of the bigger picture, which I don't think would have been on with Bill at all. yes the Doctor speaks about the bigger picture, but it's about protecting the kids

also I think Bill witnessing the Doctor standing up for her was good for her belief in him, as well as her own worth

COMPLEXITY: it's quite a simple plot. a child just fully dies relatively early on, and I don't know why that's shocking but it just is. I think because the plot is on the whole a tad on the sillier side, but then the villain is truly vile, and the the heart is very much in the right place (what if orphan kids were people! what if big fish trapped in the Thames was people!) so it becomes very Doctor Who

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: there's not technically much Big plot advancement, but Bill and the Doctor feel like they advance a lot in their understandings and trust of one another

at the end of it there's a bit of spooky banging on the door, and it's the Master we know this. knowing it's the Master makes me wonder a bit about how the various hints work out. I need to rewatch the bits where the Master is properly revealed, because yes they're bored and frustrated, but how do they really feel about the Doctor seemingly ignoring them/moving on at this point. banging on the door and all that, but that feels more for effect. idk what I'm saying here, it's not actually critique, I think I'm just wondering about a fic from the Master's perspective while locked up

COMPANIONS MATTER: yeah Bill is both emotionally and practically important in this! it's been more than a week so some of the details are hazy, but she definitely Participates. I think a little less on her own steam than in some others, but definitely doing some Stuff

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: as far as I remember there's nothing egregious in this episode beyond the fact that the Doctor takes charge most of the time and there aren't any really distinguishable single-episode characters who carry some of that side of things. there's the bad guy and the kids, and youknow... hypocritical perhaps, considering how often I've felt like this era has had kids who were kind of superfluous to plot and often unfortunately not good actors, but I'd have liked to have seen more of these kids beyond the Idea of them, if that makes any sense

they're introduced very strongly with the pick-pocketing and the death and finding out where they live, but for the main gist they fall a bit on the wayside

maybe this is the wrong point to be talking about that -- my point is, if the episode had been able to make the kids make more choices in the plot, then the Doctor could have been leading it slightly less

it's not a big thing, it's just a thing

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: the Doctor's been to the frost fair a few times, which is very funny to me and gets a mention. otherwise this isn't much of a referencing episode, and that's fine

“SEXINESS”: can we cross this one off the list for good? (almost, but there's ooone episode I just wanna talk about... well, and then I don't remember if it gets really bad near the end, it's a bit of a risk, as much as I'm so into Gomez!Master, sometimes she does still get the bad dialogue + with the sexism Type that they write the first doctor as at the end of the season... we'll see...)

INTERNAL WORLD: it's the frost fair of 1814. there's circus. there's orphans. there's an evil rich man. there's the Thames. there's the big fish under the Thames. I mean, what more do you need tbh

POLITICS: this is the episode that's famous for the Doctor punching a racist in the face. I cannot say if anyone would have preferred it to be Bill or for it to not have happened at all or... personally I think it's pretty great and of course feels a bit like a direct answer to critique no doubt gotten for some of Martha-in-the-past episodes, where the Doctor never stood up for her and she never really had her worries/fears taken seriously

in this episode you've got a very similar beginning (stepping out of the Tardis and getting nervous because it is 1814), the Doctor allaying those fears in a way that I think was pretty acknowledging of them, while also giving us Black people 1814, as youknow... there were Black people in 1814. including one of the single-episode main characters, so it's not just background characters and Bill

and then the Doctor loses his cool because of racism, which is both admirable and unhelpful to their situation, as it does get them captured. but youknow. you wanted the Doctor to stand up for Martha and this feels like a long time coming -- I don't think it needed to be subtle, I think a bit in-your-face was very needed. now the question ofc is whether we think Ryan and Yaz in chibnall!era are able to continue that... I don't remember

and the next question of course is whether the fifteenth Doctor adds even more layers to the story as a Black character (Ncuti Gatwa at least has said that he thinks so, which is exciting). as a whole though, it's interesting watching this from the perspective of where we are now. Freema Agyeman as Martha shouldered a lot of weight and while I think her character was fantastic and her arc was interesting and nuanced, we know they didn't (and the fandom certainly didn't) give proper space for her to be a Black woman and also just... didn't give her space, in various ways -- however one might have seen it, gracious read is that they "wanted her to be like any other (white) companion, without being singled out," or "they were afraid of writing race," or or or... we know it can be done better (and that if Martha were to come back, say, right now.............) Bill was a very different character to Martha, and after her Ryan joined the team, and since then Rose (Noble), and the fifteenth Doctor are now a part of a much bigger, more exciting (or maybe I should say less depressing) analysis of writing Black characters on Doctor Who, which will only grow as the character roster grows

and the thing is, this season isn't just "important because we need to support Black characters in scifi" in the sense that it's badly written and we're kiiind of gritting our teeth through it, it's... it's quite good. it's not perfect, and I think others could give a much more in-depth analysis of that than I can (specifically in terms of race), but as a trajectory both for writing Black women, for writing marginalised main characters generally, for writing queerness -- which is more my wheelhouse to critique and I do -- for writing the twelfth Doctor's character arc, for the end of this particular era of the show... I think it deserves that kudos. sometimes. someone's gotta punch a racist in the face. and a Black woman can know that her white buddy has got her back. and the two of you can save a big fish and a bunch of homeless orphans and get said racist eaten (or drowned, I forget if the fish got him)

that's good political theory

I want to also note the orphan kids. I mentioned I wish they'd been more fleshed out after the first act/been more heavily involved in the plot, so that the ending really pinpointed how it wasn't just good because homeless kids is... bad... but specifically also from a character standpoint. this especially because one of them died at the beginning, and I feel like it didn't quite sit through the rest of the story -- that being said ofc, the ending is neat. good on you Bill for getting this through and confirming it happened

FULL RATING: 77/100 (if I can count….)

I feel like I did a good summary in the above point. solid stuff. big fish

Just realised "thin ice" obviously also refers to someone who is metaphorically on thin ice- we talking the Doctor taking Bill out even though he's not supposed to? the Doctor and Bill's relationship having a tense moment? the Doctor generally getting "bored" and needing to do something? perhaps and yes, and also ooh big fish

[swiftfootedachilles]

What's your favourite trops in gallavich fics?

ummm that's a great question lol i don't really know. i guess i just read whatever looks appealing and well-written. i would say its easier to say what i DONT like than what i do like lol. but i guess here are some tropes i gravitate towards, based on my bookmarks

smut obviously lol (is this a trope??)

kink/bdsm also obviously lmao (is this even a trope either?)

onlyfans/cam/sex worker au

enemies to lovers/enemies to friends or fwb to lovers

friends to lovers

childhood friendship au

canon divergence/fix-it

s9/10 prison era

s11/post-series married life

AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES

canon compliant fill-ins

one or both are trans

they actually communicate to each other

ems worker ian

mickey and lip are mechanic coworkers and are frenemies

lots of tattoos and piercings

modern/urban fantasy

umm okay i cant think of any more lol thank you!

[strobbylemonade]

Hermitcraft Season 9 Retrospective

Across 3 versions and nearing the span of 2 years, HC9 has been an absolutely delightful and awe-filled experience. A summary and retrospective of Hermitcraft Season 9, and a personal introspection of how this season has affected me over the years. Words: 1099 Read Length: 5mins 30secs

Like many, Mumbo was my introduction into Hermitcraft - I started watching a bit way through "Sixfinity" and the absolute scale of the projects then blew me away. I honestly didn't think they could pull it off better, just so many fantastic builds over such a long time that it would take a monumental effort to beat it.

Boy was I wrong.

I watched Mumbo bumble through the start of the series, with him, Scar and Grian blasting their way through the diamond war and move out of the rampaged starting area - I began watching Scar as Scarland unfolded in all of its monumental glory, but I really only preferred watching Mumbo.

And then he went on break.

Previously I thought it was insane that some people watched so many members - how do you have so much time on your hands? But when every single member of the server spends so much time and breathes so much life into their builds, their projects, and their community, you can't help but stop and stare (Decked Out aside - Scarland and Pearl's gorgeous alien base are the two most astonishing builds I've seen in my life).

Not only did Mumbo taking a break encourage me to watch other hermits, but there was also a melting pot of individual projects and community events: The King and its following war (where I started watching the Soup Group more often, and my now-favourite hermit, Pearl), the Rift, Stat Poker, TCG, the Prank Wars (again), Decked Out, and lately the Hermitcraft Grand Prix. The community events went above and beyond in entertainment and creativity, and also displayed the fantastic organisational skills (especially Rendog and Grian) needed to create collaborations of such scale.

Again I must sing Decked Out 2's praises - it may as well be one of the most impressive feats built mostly by one person in survival Minecraft. I've watched so many of Tango's streams - through him, I've both seen a different side of the hermits I'm familiar with (congratulations to Pearl for beating decked out), and saw the best side of hermits I don't watch often (Hypno is such a fantastic and intelligent runner). And our other highly detailed all-season-project card-deck-based not-so-mini-minigame this season - VintageBeef's TCG - was also turned into a real card game! Both bringing hermits together hermits to play the game, and commissioning so many fantastic and dedicated Hermitcraft fan-artists to draw art for the IRL cards, Hermitcraft TCG was no doubt a hallmark of the community, both with the hermits and fans.

And to the "hermit-adjacent" series, honourable mentions go out to: 1. The thrilling and murderous Life Series (which had THREE seasons during S9!) 2. The fantastic Imp & Skizz podcast (Impulse is now a part of my "hermit-rotation", and fingers crossed for Skizz in S10!) 3. The Hermitcraft Recap which I've sat down and watched during my breaks at uni every Monday (both catching me up with the members I don't watch and also saving my sanity)

One thing I would like to talk about is TinFoilChef, who passed away last year. I honestly didn't believe it happened. I very rarely watched him on occasion, and he never really appeared in the people who I watched's videos - a true hermit in every aspect of the word. I've seen the neatly lined mines in the previous seasons, spreading out like tendrils just underneath the surface of the beautiful builds - a functional, cacophonous, and sprawling web of mines dug out by hand, invisible above ground but ever-present.

Season 10 will be the first season without him.

It's been a while since he passed. He reminded me a bit of my father, and him just being gone hit close to home. I just assumed he'd be on Hermitcraft forever, somehow. I do thank you, TFC, for your laughter and your boisterous presence. You'll be sorely missed, and Hermitcraft will always carry a piece of you with it.

This season alone has spanned many of my personal milestones - it started in my final year of high school, some of the emotionally roughest times in my life, and has stayed with me through the first year of university. It's seen me graduate, get a job, file my taxes for the first time, go to my first anime convention, make a Twitter and Tumblr account, make friends, lose friends, and comforted me throughout. There's something special about coming back after a rough day, falling apart at the seams, and being able to put on some smooth music as the most gorgeous monument you've seen gets constructed in front of your very eyes. There's something comforting about knowing that no matter how many firsts or lasts I'm going through, and how scary it is, I can always turn on a video by someone I love watching and turn my brain off for a second. Having this exciting (thanks Decked Out) yet confidently unending (thanks, Decked Out) was some stability I really needed in my life. Having Hermitcraft - the server, the game, the community - to always come back to, and spinning stories out of funny little block people during times when everything felt so serious and talking to friends was overwhelming, made my life that much better.

Overall, like Season 9, this retrospective is nearing an end. I've definitely missed some things, the biggest of which is Xisuma's Vanilla Tweaks and otherwise commitment to the server, but otherwise here's a quick recap of my personal highlights of the season:

Here's the hermits I started watching this season: Pearl, Bdubs, Tango, Gem, Impulse, Grian, Scar, Zedaph, and a handful of Doc, X, Cleo, and Ren. 14/26 - that's over half the members! For someone who's only been watching one hermit for 4 years beforehand, that's a feat for me.

And here's my favourite moments and events: • The entire run of Decked out • The entire run of TCG • Doc's Perimeter • The entire server covering Doc's Perimeter • Any moment where the hermits have just come together and hung out (Waiting in minigame lobbies in particular) • Pearl, Bdubs, and Scar's absolutely magnificent and artistically wonderful megabases • "This time on Hermitcraft - Me!" by Pixilriffs during the crossover • Hermitcraft x Gamers Outreach charity stream (where they hit the goal before the stream even started!) • All Zedvancements

My love goes out to the Hermitcraft server, its members, and its community; here's to wonderful Season 10, and a well deserved break for all the hermits.

[heatwa-ves]

top 5 doctor who episodes

allowing myself to group 2 parters into one for this bc otherwise the entire list would be just the S9 finale. also it's 10 not 5 because I have too many opinions

1. face the raven/heaven sent/hell bent. to the surprise of no one it's the twelveclara episodes at my number one 💖 heaven sent the best timeloop episode ever. he spent four and a half BILLION years dying over and over and over for a chance at bringing clara back to life. and then he was gonna do to her what he did to donna but she reversed the polarity (doctorification of clara oswald. hello. can you hear me) and he lost his memory of her!!!!!! and the diner scene!!! references to impossible astronaut!!! "I think it's called Clara"!!!!!! Every single thing ever!!!!! claras third insane immortal lesbian situationship!!!! Rigsy!!!! It's the best written episodes ever I'll never recover

2. the empty child/the doctor dances she's got everything! christopher eccleston being excellent as always I miss him. dancing as a metaphor for bisexuality and polyamory! captain jack!! no monster!! just this once everyone lives!! a beautifully hopeful ending!! genuinely scary at times!! great minor characters!! rewatching this last november is what got me back into dw it's That Good

3. flatline CLARAAAA CLARA CLARA ITS A CLARA EPISODE. the doctor is her little purse dog. rigsy being great. scary ass monsters. clara being everything. this kickstarting my favorite plotline. beginning of claras doctorification. "goodness had nothing to do with it." clara lying to her boyfriend because she's fucking insane and still dedicated to maintaining her actively failing relationship with a guy she never loved. The ending scene. Clara.

4. mummy on the orient express twelveclaraisms 💖 this episode has everything the drama the intrigue the murder mystery the orient express IN SPACE! MAISIE!!!!! one of my fav side characters! such incredible lines "everything would be easier if we liked the people we're meant to like, but then there'd be no fairy tales" twelve getting clara to lie to maisie that she can be saved!!! more doctorification!!! THE I LOVE YOU SCENE. CLARA OSWALD. SHAKES YOU. god it's everything. have I mentioned Maisie. I love Maisie. claras hair and outfit

5. deep breath more twelveclaraisms idk what you expected from me. claras perfect outfits. the beginning of the best dynamic ever. peter capaldis first episode! a dinosaur! jenny and vastra!!! moral questions!! missys first appearance!! and of course the final scene!! the final scene of this episode is THE best twelveclara scene perhaps the best dw scene in general

6. world enough and time/the doctor falls I have never cried so much 👍👍👍👍👍 canonical selfcest which is not addressed enough that was insane. awesome premise the cybermen returning in tandem with the master to once again reflect their relationship with the doctor in a twisted version of humanity! Missy!!! Everything about missy!!! goodness without hope without witness without reward!! her death as the perfect scene that her whole arc has built up to!! everything about bill!!! at least she got a happy ending god bless immortal lesbianisms. I feel sick.

7. amys choice amy centric episode 💖💖💖💖💖 really really good what else can I say. It was one of the first dw episodes I watched several years ago and its still a banger. can we talk about how she killed herself rather than live in a world without rory. "this can't be reality because rory isn't here and if it is reality I don't want it" perfect episode no notes

8. the waters of mars it's so fucking good there's nothing else to say. really good standalone episode even if you've never seen any other dw.

9. silence in the library/forest of the dead beginning of the river arc!!! impeccable doctordonna chemistry as always they work so well together it's astounding. really compelling and interesting!!!!! it's so good!!!!! another one that's worth watching even if you haven't seen any other dw

10. the angels take manhattan okay listen. hear me out. it's objectively kind of bad because of the awful awful massacre of the angels lore BUT I will ignore that because every single amy and rory scene is pure perfection. another contender for best dw scene. the last scene with amy makes no sense because eleven and river were looking at the angel so it shouldn't have been able to move but ill ignore that because its sooooo good. I love amy I love rory. worst part of the episode is that she changes her name to amelia williams tho she would not fucking do that. it's rory pond not amy williams.

honourable mentions: smith & jones, utopia, every single episode in S4, the eleventh hour, vincent and the doctor, the girl who waited, the god complex, the lodger, listen, thin ice, oxygen, twice upon a time. ANYWAY!!!!

[itsclydebitches]

Idk why but Ruby's whole break down is reminding me of the Apathy arc in season 6. Post-Cinder fight with the fate of a kingdom in the balance, post-ally getting stabbed (although Penny did die), something goes totally wrong and so their fight against Salem seems so much harder (Jinn's revelations for s6, for s9, um, many parts of s8 to choose from but I'm going to say Penny's death) so therefore the girl(s) spirals.

And it also reminds me of the Apathy because there are some absolutely stellar concepts here, in isolation I love the judgement of the dead as a moment but.... but it just doesn't quite work because of the larger context around that scene.

Okay, I sorta veered off into a weird direction with this, but comparing the two arcs really helps emphasize (for me anyway) how RWBY keeps escalating without even a gesture towards victory:

Enemies are plotting and planning, but the heroes are equally prepared, including training the next generation and controlling the Fall Maiden powers

Never-mind, Beacon has fallen and the powers are lost

Relics are introduced and now the sub-goal is to keep them safe, but the group also comes to the realization that Salem is immortal

Instead of making headway towards defeating her and/or keeping the Relics permanently out of her reach, two are now lost, a Kingdom has fallen, and the heroes are trapped in the Ever After

Summarized like that it doesn't sound much - maybe even just a season or two of the characters going through expected, necessary conflict - but for RWBY this was seven volumes, the vast majority of its whole run. With Volume 10 not yet greenlit and the vague expectation that it won't last for too many seasons more, I worry about how this is all going to get resolved when we've had this much escalation across this time much with zero work done to inch the heroes towards better prospects. Ruby just committed suicide! The heroes have been at their 'lowest' (from a destroyed school/lost arm to the protagonist fully giving up in the most shocking way possible) for almost the entire show. What are we supposed to do with that? Especially with RWBY's tendency to 'solve' things in a single scene. I can't help but worry that the show as a whole is going to become a version of the Ambrosius conversation. Instead of naturally introducing the Staff, its powers, its limitations, the quirks of its soul, and the building blocks of a creative idea that will eventually save the day, RWBY speed-runs that like whoa, all in a single scene. Here's what the Staff does, the problems you have to circumvent, oh look they figured out how to do that off screen and now they're implementing it! A two Volume conflict (the buildup to this entire trolly problem) is solved in, literally, a single conversation.

Given the expectation (hope?) that the Ever After will be at least a little plot relevant, I'm waiting for the inevitable moment when the show hands Ruby a Get Out of Jail Free card. Like, for example, some handy-dandy device to take back to Remnant (like a leaf) that will deal with Salem (through Ascension), so all they have to do is hop over to Vacuo, spend a Volume engaging in minor fights as they put off the final confrontation, and then magic Salem into being a Good Person through the power of suicide allegory, therefore freeing Remnant from her clutches, lifting Ozpin's curse, ignoring the Gods' involvement in all this, dodging the heroes actually needing to do anything to earn victory, and bringing forth the Happily Ever After for the not-fairy tale.

Okay, obviously we don't know if any of that is going to happen, but I'm afraid that something like it will, largely because yeah, we're getting these repeated cycles of Awful Things Happening, each worse than the one from before. The show, given that it's already in season nine, can only continue doing that for so long before the writers go, "Shit, we're ending. Quick! Hand the heroes a simple solution to wrap it all up."

[incarnateirony]

tbh if you ever feel like dishing I would be interested in a breakdown of the writing room in-fighing in spn ;) I always find the tidbits you drop here and there very thought-provoking. I have my own bias in terms of which writers I stan and I enjoy thinking about bts dynamics. No pressure ofc, but since you mentioned that you *could* expand on that but didn't think people would believe you, I figured I'd let you know you'd have an interested reader here

Alright. I got another comment asking for this too, so here we go.

I'll be clear in that while I know some business decisions before season 9, most of my actual dedicated info for this starts season 9, hence saying seasons 9-15.

Before that though, it's important to learn about a few other things so let's dig in.

So first off, when SPN was made this old blooded industry guy had found a guy writing under WW Vought for Sam's War, filmed it, it didn't work, they tried again. Singer was basically the sign on to give kripke a shove, and stayed long after kripke. he had his personal idyllic takes on the show which aged like milk.

Showrunners rotated and Singer stayed. After Kripke fully left, Singer even hired back in his wife. Singer was never GOOD industry blood. His highest rated film was Cujo which is still a rotten tomatoes embarassment. But he had the clout to get it rolling.

Over time, new showrunners came in and had less and less power compared to Singer more and more rooted in with his wife.

While season 8 carver came in with his 3 year plan, most of it ended up on the cutting room floor or dumped in a bathtub

Carver ran his room a little bit competitively-- like, it was bad enough dealing with Singer's takes, and Carver wanted to do what he wanted to do for that plan and assigned it through. If authors had other ideas, they kinda had to pump it out in an episode, which is why you got killer standout episodes from individual authors like Thompson or Edlund. (One exception arose: the Thompson-Berens friendship picking up one another's plot ends eg First Born > Executioner's Song, Colette, etc which berens even brought up as MOC in S15)

But Carver wasn't down for Singer's shit. Almost the whole room railed against Singer about Charlie, but he made sure his wife wrote it and he directed it when everyone protested. This also made for the season 11 author exodus once contracts expired.

By season 12, not only was Dabb taking over, but really only singer's wife eugenie (and buckner), and bobo were left of old guard. Everyone else walked out. Bobo was still amped for Wayward and stayed. It started as a season 10 fan pitch, got rolled around a few years and almost got launched S12 but was delayed for creative reasons. So he stuck while everyone else walked out.

This is also when the market testing started, and probably came by way of the S9 Destiel books Some Folks:tm: sent to Some Authors:tm: about demographics and testimonials, which Meg Fitz was reading a week after joining Dabb's crew.

For the first year or so (s12), the new writing room was a little cluttered but it was because bobo was grooming the new kids into working as a unit, rather than a competition. Dabb opened up his methods "melting pot" style on ideas, everyone threw their stuff in, they laid it out and figured out how much they could use and where to assign it.

But Eugenie still clung to Eugening and for a while, they tried to write around her. Dangled Mark P carrots to keep her happy and hyperfocused on that and then didn't touch the topics themselves and wrote around it in a way you can almost delete Mark P.

And they were like, hm, this is working. But really eugenie and singer don't even watch the show, they barely ever check the dailies

what would happen if

because god doesn't care

...we just... all... were dabb.

And so they did.

So Dabb gave Berens permission to forge showrunners notes and shit, and kept giving authors clearance to write on whatever. Bobo sort of fathered the philosophy charge and bound together their work, and just. Like, Jeremy for example talking about the help Berens gave him with Last Call is the friendly face of it. The less friendly is fandom wondering why "We Are" is in 15.02 when it's not in the script. I told yall for ages that was Berens overwriting Eugenie, and this is how, and that's not the only place.

Over time you might notice, especially S15, buckleming eps weren't... awful? they weren't overall great but they'd have some surprisingly good shit and be a little less chaotic.

It's because Dabb and Berens realized, you don't argue with Singer, or someone gets dumped in a bathtub offscreen. Just use the fact that chuck doesn't care and wanders off until he wants to force his version of the story down everyone's throat.

The crew was actually intending to make use of budget and filming/schedule limits to run a ball. Covid dropping was just. Ugh. It gave Singer time to realize his entire crew had betrayed him basically.

It wasn't JUST corporate itself slapping back. Singer was that old industry arm for that, and why we had a deadweight on progress and change. It was Singer slapping back and digging in the knife. Or the dickbar. And laughing as Dabb's Pie got smashed in Dean's face when he finally wanted to live and eat. Yeah you can see him laughing with his covid band. Classy.

Dabb got boned at the end. As it was he was barely writing it. He tried to save a lot of Berens and Meredith's work and plans, or what could make it, like Miracle. But I mean, they were fucked 17 ways to sunday, he didn't have his team, his rebels, his crew, he didn't have any of his shit. He just had singer, eugenie, and showalter trying his DAMNDEST to still tell a visual story with 15.19. There's a reason Showalter came back and Singer didn't.

Berens trained up Meredith as his protoge in that time. Others like Yockey were on board, Davy was the supportive and energetic friend and Dabb Let Them Do. Yockey moved on, the others stuck through and ran it as hard as they could.

But there's a reason Meredith was called Berens Work Boyfriend, despite the genders and stuff not matching their sexual prefs etc. It's because the S15 shit was real, man. Chuck didn't care and they would never give him the story they want. Everyone knew Meredith was Dean and Bobo was Cas and they were Work Boyfriends and that's just what it is, so fucking cope.

This shit is why it was kept low key. Like, yes, A FEW SELECT PEOPLE knew it was written first on the season, and got screamed at and called delusional all year by denialists. But even people that know these authors IRL were largely clueless--Natalie Fischer, for example, knows Meredith IRL, but was so clueless about it that she was arguing "don't get people's hopes up" when I said an ILU was coming... and I had the leak in three languages.

It was the only reason he stayed. Anyone that knew him--REALLY KNEW HIM--knew that, before he hinted it at S15 SDCC. Wayward getting murdered on contract BS almost made him walk out, but he stayed only for this, and wrote it first, and made sure the season orbited it. Then they got fucked again by covid, and 2po makes confused monkey sounds why berens might still be influencing it via talking with his bestie but not wanting to sign his soul into another 2 year contract.

Which is why I talk about fandom not understanding the limits of their would be leakers. Know their caps, man.

Either way that's the rough of it. If there's any followup questions I can probably add to it.

Robbie's heavyhanded romance sprint he was told to chill down the accidental predestination on in The Winchesters showed signs of Carver-Singer room trauma. Like THESE ARE MY IDEAS, MINE, I'M WRITING THEM ALL, IT'LL BE A 3 HOUR EPISODE, FUCK YOU. And his friends get to be like. calm down dude you can cowrite the whole season nobody's taking it away from you now. We can do this right.

[talltoontales]

MARCH Monthly Archive/ APRIL Update

Well, March was a better month for my writing, at least. Threw in two extra stories, so now I'm up by three weeks, and only had one story last month that I absolutely did not like. I'm also taking a few more days when writing some stories, and I feel like the quality has improved because of it.

On the more positive side, I blew up outta nowhere last month. Mostly on Tumblr, but Reddit showed me a little love too, and I gotta say it really made my month. I was just goofin' off at work when I saw a notice on my phone, and now there's definitely a video of me dancing like a kid on the security cameras. So thanks for that!

I'd also like to shout out to @agirlandherquill (Tumblr) & @kentuckyhobbit (Tumblr) for being my first followers! I hope you both enjoy the ride!

I'm also doing a new thing with these archive posts where I give you my "Best Foot Forward" story. Basically, if you had to read one story from me last month, the BFF would be it.

That being said, let's get to the archive:

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S10/Wk-10: Ruth-Less

Stated Writing: 03/07 Prompt: Your house is haunted by a ghost, and, upset it can't scare you out, you find it trying to be passive-aggressive now. Prompt By: u/NinjaProfessional823 (Reddit)

S11/Wk-11: Blinded Light

Stated Writing: 03/10 Prompt: "You don't even know what's out there!" Prompt By: @seaside-writings (Tumblr)

S12/Wk-11: Scale-Bound [BFF]

Stated Writing: 03/13 Prompt: You are a mighty dragon king, the strongest magical being. You're determined to conquer the world, but a hero turned you into a cute small dragon. Now, you are looking for a human girl to help you get strong again and dominate the world. Prompt By: u/basafish (Reddit)

S13/Wk-12: ToonMan #4 Vortech: Clog in the Machine

Stated Writing: 03/21 Prompt: "You called me." / "And you really came." Prompt By: @creativepromptsforwriting (Tumblr)

S14/Wk-13: Pandora's Box

Stated Writing: 03/26 Prompt: A mundane and antiquated sub-agency in the US Government was the 1st to stumble across AGI. An internal investigation determined a press release unnecessary. Unaware of the power they control, 12 bureaucrats are assembled to determine the policy and implementation of their new tool. Prompt By: No-assistance1503 (Reddit)

S15/Wk-13: Kung Fu Panda 4 Rewrite

Stated Writing: 03/29 Prompt: Kung Fu Panda 4 felt a little lacking, wanted to try my hand at maybe making it better. Prompt By: Me (ToonMan)

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Previous "Best Foot Forward" Stories:

JAN [S4/Wk-02]: ToonMan #1: Comical Crime Fighter

Started Writing: 01/12 Prompt: You have the superpower of slapstick comedy. Prompt By: u/Paper_Shotgun (Reddit)

FEB [S9/WK-05]: Not Enough Time

Started Writing: 02/02 Prompt: [TT] Theme Thursday - Exhaustion Prompt By: u/AliciaWrites (Reddit)

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Looking back, March was actually a pretty solid month. Let's see if I can keep it up going into April.

Stay safe, drink plenty of water, and be kind to yourself and others!

ToonMan, AWAY!

[hayscodings]

hi!! i know i probably sound insane at this point, but i love your posts so i have a few svetlana questions. if svet and yevgeny had stayed until the series finale what do you think would have happened with their characters? what would svetlana do when mickey gets out in season 10? would she and yevgeny attend the gallavich wedding? would svetlana stay in the thruple or get her own place or would something else happen? what would be a proper ending for her?? she’s such an interesting character and we were so robbed when she left with such a bad ending

Noooo I love your asks and asks in general, I am always more than happy to talk about Svetlana.

So before I get into these questions, I just want to preface this by saying that, even though I'm on my third rewatch, I still don't have a good "big picture" concept of each season, especially past S8. So I probably won't get into timeline specifics because my general recollection of the timeline is...not great. I've also never really thought about how Svetlana's storyline would have played out if she'd stayed on the show, so this will be entirely off the cuff.

Personally, I would have liked to see the throuple to work out. I think, because it was executed imperfectly, that there was a lot of potential to work out those kinks and improve on what needed improving. I think they should have delved into each of those dynamics more and showed us how they complemented one another. One of the things I missed in S7-8 was Kev and Svetlana's friendship. They bonded in S5 and worked alongside each other all of S6, but then as soon as they all became a throuple, the focus shifted to Svetlana and V (to the point where you almost forget that it was initially Svet and Kev who made a connection).

All three of their feelings, concerns, etc. should have been properly explored (one short therapy session scene wasn’t enough) and their issues should have been addressed and gradually worked out over the course of the season. I would have liked to see more meaningful conversations between them, not just short little disagreements that conveniently resolved themselves by the end of the episode without them getting to the actual root of the issue. Svetlana wasn't a good communicator, Kev would resort to immaturity any time he got angry, and V frequently put Svetlana on a pedestal while neglecting to consider Kev's feelings. They all had things they could work on.

As far as how it would all play out, I think it would have been good for Svetlana to be on her own for a bit. She could focus on herself and raising Yevgeny and maybe reflect on where she went wrong in her relationship with Kev and V. So let's say that by the end of S8 she's living in the apartment above the Alibi with Yev and her aunt. (She's not paying rent because Kev and V owe her that much after reporting her to ICE and generally treating her like shit.)

When S9 starts, she still owns 50% of the bar and is working alongside Kev and V. Maybe there's still some awkwardness from the whole breakup, but for the most part they're doing okay. I honest to god don't remember what Kev and V's plots are this season, but I think this is the one where Amy and Gemma start acting up and one of them says something about how they don't remember the girls behaving this way when Svetlana was around? I thought it was odd that they didn't consider that the twins missed their stepbrother and stepmom, so...Amy and Gemma start acting up, and they realize it's because the 'divorce' really affected them.

They talk to Svetlana about this (Yevgeny misses his sisters too) and decide to arrange playdates with the kids. I always felt that Svetlana just taking off to marry that old dude was too clean a break. I mean, they made no mention of a divorce, didn't have to deal with custody, didn’t bring up Svetlana’s 50% ownership of the bar, and never had the kids see each other again? That’s so lazy. So anyway, this gradually ends up bringing them all closer together again. They discuss putting the kids in the same preschool and it's all very full circle to S5.

Another thing I would have liked to see for Svetlana is her no longer having to depend on another person for a visa. The show never addressed her and V getting a divorce, so I have no idea when that happened, but let's say that they get one in S8. I am not an expert in immigration law by any means, but my guess is that Svetlana would be left in a similar position as she was in S6. So, she does some research, applies for a T Visa, and ends up being eligible for one. This is a huge relief for her because it's the first time that her status in the country is legitimately secured. By the end of the season she's saved up enough money to get her own place (the room above the Alibi isn't big enough for three people), so she rents a nice little apartment where Yev can have his own room. She also enrolls him in some sort of activity— maybe dance or gymnastics, whatever he shows interest in.

Come S10 she's thriving. Once again I have no idea what happens this season other than Gallavich wedding, so I apologize for not being able to incorporate more plot-relevant storylines. I'll come back to this ask once I’m further in my rewatch. Anyway, this is the season where shit really starts going her way for once— she's doing pretty good money-wise, she's officially back on good terms with Kev and V, and Yevgeny is thriving. She's got lots of ideas for bringing in business to the bar, and maybe a couple of side hustles for good measure. She's still in touch with most of the girls from the massage parlor and one of them ends up giving her the number of a therapist who specializes in helping survivors of human trafficking. She sits on it for a long time but finally brings herself to call when she gets news from her mother in Russia that her father passed away.

She finds out about Mickey getting out of prison from Ian. They end up reconnecting and talking somethings out and Svetlana tells Mickey that if he wants to have a relationship with Yev, whether in a parental capacity or otherwise, then the door is always open. He asks her about the whole throuple situation— teases her about how he would have loved to be a fly on the wall— and she assures him that that ship sailed and that she blew it. She gets invited to the Gallavich wedding and attends with Yevgeny. Mandy is also in attendance, and the two of them get to talking and wonder why they didn't bond sooner.

S11 is when she's finally a place where she's ready to try and make a relationship work again. She's grown and healed a lot since S8, and she's no longer dependent on anyone for security so that anxiety has ceased being a motivating factor for her actions. Kev and V have since apologized and made up for everything that they put her through, and Svetlana understands why they felt betrayed about the bar and apologizes for hurting them. The three of them start to rebuild their relationship throughout the season, determined not to make the same mistakes as last time. Eventually they decide to move in together and buy a place somewhere away from the Southside, though still not too far. It feels like a proper fresh start.

Ian and Mickey start to be a part of Yev's life and Svetlana considers them family. She also becomes very close with Mandy and encourages her to go back to school so that she can get a better job. She’s relieved when Mickey informs her that Terry died, but attends the funeral in solidarity. His mixed feelings remind her somewhat of her own when her father passed.

Post-series, Kev and V get to practice the little Russian that Svetlana has taught them when they finally meet her family (her mother and grandmother fly out to Chicago to see her and meet Yev for the first time). They’ve learned to embrace her culture. Yevgeny is fully fluent and the tries to teach Amy and Gemma. He’s also inherited his mom’s mathematical prowess. Svetlana is safe and happy and finally has what he always wanted for herself and her son— a loving family. Several years down the line she’s able to obtain citizenship.

[chippdhearts]

hello again! can you imagine if they gave us the female friendships we deserved 😭 like sofia/sara/catherine would have ruled 😭 instead we got that awkward sofia/sara rivalry over grissom (which was also quickly shoved aside and forgotten forever??) what were the writers even thinking

anyway, my favourite characters are grissom (I see so much of myself in grissom - both good and bad traits) and sara (she's so sweet amd smart) but I like everyone, really.

I'm doing something really unhinged - which is I jumped to immortality (which i felt was kinda weird for a series finale, but i digressk) and then started Vegas s1 (although I must admit, I'm not really liking - i hope it gets more interesting). perhaps after I'm done with this, I'll go back to s9 or just jump to s11 like you suggested - maybe a fresh cast is what I need. although I don't want to lose willows too :/

I would have just about killed for a girls gone wild (oh yeah you'll have to watch season 14 and 15 just for these two episodes. All three of the girls go on a girls weekend, x2, and things happen) style episode with the three of them. Literally would have given anything for them to hang out together, they are my girlsssss.

Okay this is interesting! I always think I hate grissom when I haven't watched the show for a while but really I just hate GSR, I don't think it feels like a natural dynamic at all but that's a whole other can of worms. So we get Sara back (season 10 properly iirc) but we don't really see grissom again until imm. But I maintain that we got better content of the girls in the later seasons because it wasn't the 00s anymore and female rivalry was SLOWLY going out of trend.

Immortality was 100000% built for the GSR shippers (aka NOT me) but I was glad to see heather and cat back of course. Vegas is... not the best. I have only watched it once through, and I only admittedly started it when season 2 was airing because I saw they were bringing cat and lindsay back and the concept intrigued me, but they fucked it up big time imo. But also I'm like... just really gay for catherine so it was nice to get to just see her again 😂 regardless of things I did or did not like about various other plot lines.

Cat's leaving arc is SAD but also is probably my favourite character exit. I feel like they gave her the respect she deserved after spending so long on the show. There are many other unrelated to the plot reasons that I really really like that season and it will always be special to me personally. But I do also think that Russell and Finn both get really epic character intros.

Season 10 has, arguably my least fave character (apart from hodges) from the whole series so it's probably the one I have watched the least out of all the seasons. But I think 9-11 are worth watching at least once. Actually this rewatch I found some episodes in season 11 that I liked quite a lot as stand alones. But the overall arc of those seasons are not super enjoyable for me personally.