#other people can still have value and unique places in someone's life even when they've found their love though!

[septembersghost]

What do you think is the actual deal between Harry and Taylor? Because they seem to be each other's muses- and with the lyrical back and forth that's been going on, EVEN AFTER A DECADE- it can't be nothing. They give off major soulmates vibes (musical-wise) and even relationship-wise (although they could also be star-crossed lovers) with such shitty timing everytime 😂 i've supported joe and taylor for years, but I've got this inkling in my mind like someway and somehow, H and T might still find their way back to each other. Joe just seems meh :/ tbh.

i almost feel like i shouldn't answer this because it's a bit loaded, but it's 3:30 am so why not 😅💕

i'm going to first defer to my friend @cowboylikedean who said:

"they can be soulmates, but not romantically. Consider: their whole relationship has been leading to a friendship which was always destined, but needed a contextual foundation that only an ill defined on again off again/only communicating through sex then song could create. Consider that. Joe is Taylor's forever person. doesn't mean Harry has to be nobody."

we don't know if they've forged a friendship behind closed doors or not, and whether we ever know anything about that is up to them. their interaction at the grammys was warm and familiar, which at the very least speaks to their feelings of respect and kindness towards one another as artists and people. taylor's support for him was clearly genuine (though you could say that of her support for basically everyone in that room). i think it's really important and meaningful to acknowledge that there are a vast array of dynamics that can be considered a soul connection - not only romantic, but familial, platonic/friendship, artistic, those can all be transcendent and vibrant relationships too. i personally feel there's a soul element and connection within their music that needed to exist as a spark to get them where they are today. (had they not been what they were to each other, what would their careers even look like? what would 1989 be? what would hs1 be? etc) and they were also, in many ways, peers when they were together, and in unique positions of fame at a young age that most other people couldn't understand. their timing was consistently wrong/off, but that connection in their hearts and art still came through clearly. to me, it's part of the invisible string - they had to meet and have that complicated on/off thing and have love for one another to be on the paths where they were supposed to go, in different ways, and to be able to stand in a room together where they're both succeeding and both feeling gratitude for what all of that meant.

i think it's a disservice to joe to...not pay attention to what taylor has explicitly said about him, and why that relationship is so different and profound for her. i've seen a LOT of commentary lately about him being boring and not "getting" their connection, and it strikes me as somewhat unfair because we don't see it, we're not privy to it, and we shouldn't be, that is very much by their design. (she did say romance isn't dead if you keep it just yours!) but because someone like h is sparkly and charismatic and a musician, and joe is somewhat more reserved and less obviously visible and an actor, there's this sense that we "know" him less, which can easily seem less interesting, but keep in mind that how any fan sees him and how taylor herself sees and describes him are totally different. he's home to her, he's that gorgeous dream to her, he's the daylight to her, and that's what matters. he's who she's built her life with and found her peace with for many years now, and vice versa. h hasn't found that yet, but i hope he does. but that doesn't necessarily mean harry has to be nothing to her. whether that's fondness and recognition of their influences on one another and gentle nods to the past, or whether that comes in actual friendship, i think it's really important and valuable to acknowledge that the soul connection can happen and NOT be romantic, or initially be romantic/sexual and then transform into something else later, and it's no less of a cosmic pull. in one way or another, they'll always be connected, even if it remains in lyric and melody - and that's also always going to keep having a life of its own.

[jostenneil]

what parallels about brutalia and dickkory stand out to you the most?

it turns out i answered this once before on twt so i’m gonna copy paste my answer with some modifications lol

to me, dick is more like bruce than he wants to admit. i think this stems not only from bruce nurturing him as a fellow crimefighter but also from the inherent need in any child to feel like they can meet their parent's standards and be worthy of their love. dick's high standards for competency obv have their origins in how he's trained (whether as an acrobat or crimefighter), but he also probably learned to hold himself to a high standard bc he suspected it was what would make bruce respect him as a partner (though obv this is a misconception on his part. bruce isn't interested in competency to meet some standard, he's interested in it bc he wants his partners to be safe rather than reckless). and that high drive for competency and effective crime fighting, despite it stemming from different places for dick and bruce, renders them both into. . . quite ornery people at times. they're very harsh on themselves and sometimes in particularly strenuous circumstances that can impact their interactions with others and render them quite unlikeable and intimidating, despite the fact that they may very well be right about something on a practical level

where kory and talia factor into this is that they're intimidating figures in their own right, imo. their unique upbringings have sort of demanded they maintain a level of internal strength that doesn't so easily falter even in the face of harsh circumstances (altho admittedly, this is a pretty depressing fact about them). donna and roy are dick's closest friends, sure, but they're also just as young and in many ways unequipped to handle the unique kind of pressure and expectations that dick's dealing with. kory, uniquely, is foreign to human customs. there's some sentiments that any lifeforms will share on a base level, but her ideology is still different and i think it allows her to approach dick from a different angle that he very much needs. she challenges him in ways that other people simply won't, and the mask doesn't mean much to her. he's just dick, even before he’s her leader, even before he’s batman’s sidekick. that's why their relationship feels like one of equals even when they're apart, at least to me. there's a mutual respect there from how they've inspired and driven each other to be better, more whole versions of themselves that feels very constant to me. dick also challenges kory in ways that no one else can, and even in cases where their methodologies ultimately diverge, she still values what he stands for in the face of cruelty and injustice. she values his heart, and that counts for something

along a somewhat similar vein, bruce doesn't have many like minded adults in his life whom he can connect with on a personal level. the justice league, sure, but they're still people he holds at a distance (at least until tower of babel) and can't necessarily talk to about his personal trauma or problems bc he doesn't feel entirely comfortable disclosing them. talia, uniquely, is someone who's privy to bruce's personal life early. she sees who he is beneath the mask, and all of the ugly, messy emotions are on full display for her regardless of whether he's wearing the mask or not, bc she knows him, the real him, and i think that gives her an advantage in that she can't be cowed by him. he can break her heart, sure, but she stands up to him time and time again bc she knows intimately that he's still human beneath the mask, and that he can't always close himself off behind it and all of the other baggage. talia’s belief and inspiration in what bruce stands for as the batman is what compels her for so long to refuse to give up on him. she knows he can always be better, even in his worst moments, and she’s one of the only people willing to challenge him to be better rather than let him wallow in guilt and darkness forever. bruce also challenges talia in ways that aren’t entirely antagonistic despite their stark differences in methodology; he believes in her motives and intent even if he doesn’t necessarily agree with her actions, and the persistence of his morality does play a part in her eventually breaking away from ra’s, even if it breaks her away from him, too.

talia and kory to me are similar in that they're both driven by a sense of love and justice that applies not just to what they do by way of saving people but also to their relationships with dick and bruce, bc they don't let dick and bruce sink beneath the cowls and lurk there forever. as much as dick and bruce are inspirations to them, they also inherently drive dick and bruce to be the best versions of themselves bc they're strong and unrelenting in the face of all that bat clan baggage and trauma, having gone through so much trauma and survived it themselves. they're just. . . the right kind of people to challenge dick and bruce without necessarily acting as antagonists to them. they call them out on their bullshit, but they do so out of an inherent knowledge that either man Does have the capacity to be better, and that's a kind of faith and accountability that isn't as strongly mirrored in the guys’ other relationships, at least imo. i also want to specify that by challenge i don’t mean fix. i don’t think kory and talia are the solution to dick and bruce’s man pain, and i like that both women realize they deserve to put themselves first above their relationship. tbh, to a degree, i don’t think dick and bruce actually even deserve them. but i still appreciate that kory and talia are unafraid to stand up to them and to weather their storms, not out of some desire to fix either man, but bc they know either man can be better and should be better than whatever he’s like when he’s at his worst. it’s the way both couples have a love language of holding each other to a higher standard. and it’s not a standard set out of self interest or idealization, it’s a standard set bc when you love someone you know they deserve to be at their best as much as you deserve to see them at their best, and that’s a level of faith that only the strongest relationships can really exhibit, imo

[warlordgab]

OJ LuNa stuff: What's the appeal of LuNa as a potent pairing?

This is the first entry in a new series of “analyses.” The difference is, these aren’t mine. The original posts were made by other LuNa fans I “secretly” met in the OJ forums before things went a little out of hand there.

I merely rescued their posts, while trying my best to update them. Well, without further ado, let’s get into the meat and potatoes!

Sometimes semi-canon pairings are far more compelling that relationships that already became canon. Part of the reason being that growth and development catch the attention of the audience more effectively than a pairing that already got a relationship upgrade with relative ease.

Of course, the expectations surrounding a genre has an effect on whether or not the audience gets invested on any particular relationship. But, when it comes to the shonen demographic, a significant amount of readers may end up supporting bonds that take time to evolve without resorting to clichés, cheap jokes, or off-screening development.

And that leads me to the main subject of this post: the appeal of LuNa

Some may feel drawn to how comfortable and safe Nami feels with Luffy. We already mention how Luffy is her "rock," someone who gives Nami emotional stability and strength during difficult times.

One notable moment being Nami seeking comfort and relief in Luffy's arms...

She contained herself and didn't start crying until she saw Luffy.

Another aspect of their bond that makes it more compelling, is that they're both "equals." It's not like a master-servant relationship, where one drools or idealize the other. They're actual partners who, while seeing both the virtues and flaws in their respective characters, developed a strong companionship.

Nami not only trust Luffy with her life, like other characters do. He is one of the most important person to her, and Luffy himself promised Genzo back at Cocoyasi village that he’d never let Nami lose her smile. And there's the iconic "pass of the hat," a gesture meant to provide comfort and inspire both trust and confidence.

Luffy conveys a silent and deep message through this particular gesture.

A third aspect  of their relationship is how Nami confronts Luffy when he acts in a stupid or reckless manner, but still puts her faith on him. Instead of idealizing him as a flawless being, or turning a blind eye to his faults, she sees Luffy for who he is. It might not sound big, but one good book decribes the purest form of love as the capability of seeing the faults in someone you care about, and still valuing them as a person dear to you.

And Nami has seen him at his worst: his obsession with food, his lack of manners, and so on, but she's also seen his best: his courage, his steadfast loyalty, his leadership... While Luffy has seen her crying, he’s seen her sick, he’s seen her fail, and he’s seen her determination...

If their do end up together; it would be a culmination of feelings. From strangers (Nami the pirate-hater, Luffy the adventurist), to friends, to heroes, to lovers.

Their dynamic, while sometimes overshadowed by arc fatigue or a faulty adaptation, is another aspect that adds to the overall appeal of their bond.

Aside from the huge moments, the story offers little details that get readers invested. Which is why we can tell this relationship shows multiple facets:

Many of their interactions offer something fun that feels natural. Their misunderstandings, Luffy’s incoherent personality, Nami’s obsession for money, their roles as captain-navigator and their love-hate relationship. Despite the fact that Nami’s patience is growing thin for his captain’s dumbness, and Luffy having to put up with Nami’s money obsession as well as her bossy personality, both of them tolerated each other’s unique self. They could have just rid themselves with each other yet they didn’t that’s why the longer they stayed, the stronger the bond became. It just sums up to a really beautiful relationship.

Arlong Park, Skypiea, Strong World, and Water 7 all gave us a bit of drama that takes advatange of their potent bond. True chemistry occurs when both of the characters involved can affect each other in meaningful way

There are many other points we could address, but they've been mentioned in previous analyses.

The conclusion is that these two share such a deep and unique relationship that no other character can take the place each hold for the other. Even if some people say Luffy’s bond with the each of her crewmates is equally strong, we know that isn’t the case. E.g. he’s not as close to Brook as he is to Zoro

This emotional connection between Luffy and Nami only exist between them, and it’s incredibly difficult for anything or anyone to connect with them on such a level.

[lovelydeadlysocialite]

Request for Reassignment (Vyn/Kat)

Vynette sat at her desk, finishing up the paperwork assigned to her, just like any night in the office. The only difference was her demeanor. Something about her was tense. She caught a look from Kat more than once for her heel tapping nervously, and the elf kept sneaking glances at her Director to almost make a comment before sealing her lips again.

Finally, without looking up, some of the proposed words in her head finally managed to tumble out. "I was talking to an agent from another Unit today. I guess they've had eight agents now put in to answer the call for aid. From, you know, the Covenants."

"Uh-huh," Kat muttered in response without looking at the elven operative, her focus remaining on the papers she shuffled, expression blank.

It was more or less the kind of response Vyn expected. She sighed, knowing she was going to have to move things forward. "It seems like the need for more trained hands is still pretty great. And what with the duties of wartime off everyone's plates, more or less," her voice trailed softer and quicker as she mumbled, "I was considering requesting a temporary assignment to offer my abilities. Ma'am."

Kat froze in place, staring at the document in hand as a slow exhale spilled over her lips. Eyelids shut as lips curled inward over the teeth and the paper set aside. "There are plenty of eager hero types and jar-heads t' fill the ranks." Her response monotone as the stark gaze shifted to the elf.

"We have plenty t'do here."

The air in the room thinned out at Kat's tone and in any other instance, Vyn would have dropped the topic. Unfortunately, the circumstances here were unique. "I know. There is work to be done, and I'm not ignoring or underplaying the work we do." She may have come to Unit Eight looking for a job and a safe place to hide, but she did understand the value they added to the Alliance she was somehow a part of now.

"It is just... the request came for me specifically." An uncharacteristic uncertainty softened Vynette's voice. "My teacher is part of the House of Eyes. He has called for me to aid the Necro Lords."

Without missing a beat, Kat's eyes narrowed sharply following Vyn's confession. "I see..." Her tone and demeanor turned ice-cold, and the eye contract broke, the Director diving back into her papers.

"So after everythin', I've done, everythin' I've risked, yer going t' abandon me just like that." Pain and anger laced Kat's words, her jaw tightening towards the end. "One letter from a ghost and I'm nothin' t' ya'."

Vyn's bright blue eyes went wide at the shift in tone. It was rare to see such intensity drawn from the otherwise collected and calculating Director. As someone who genuinely respected Kat, Vyn felt the pit of guilt in her stomach. "No, that's not it at all! You're... you mean a lot to me. You took a chance on me." She spoke of the risks Kat took for her in a hushed voice, not wanting to raise suspicions of anyone who might still be lingering in a nearby office. "I owe you everything."

Taking a deep breath, Vyn pressed forward, mustering up her determination. "I am not looking to leave beyond a temporary reassignment; my home is here. With you and with the Unit." Their office was one of the few consistent places anyone could find her these days. "But he was the one who got me here. He saw value in me and gave me purpose. And I failed him. And he died," she finally admitted.

"And I saw value in ya', and gave ya' a new purpose!" Kat quickly countered, pointing a finger in the elven woman's direction. "A purpose that could have, and still could, get us both killed."

With a scoff, Kat's head shook, and her arms crossed as she stood from the desk and paced. "Ya' failed him, but he sends a letter? Have ya' gone dense Vynette?" For once, the Director addressed her elven shadow by the first name rather than the forged surname. "It has trap written all over it. Or did ya' forget how ya' were ejected from the Horde?"

It would have been easy to call her paranoid; plenty of people in SI:7 had already. The real pain came from the truth in her words.

"I was overconfident when I got set up. I'm not that anymore thanks to you," she pointed out. "Being by your side is important to me."

Vyn was to the point of pleading, even when she knew Kat was not so easily swayed. What else could she do? "Kat..." She addressed the woman, not the title. "There's still closure I need from my time as an apprentice. Shit I'm still carrying with me. My loyalty is with you; no one can change that. So I'm asking-- begging for the chance to serve the cause in the Shadowlands and put my ghosts to rest."

A heated exhale pushed through the nostril as Kat turned her back to Vynette's pleading, facing the wall where documents, pins, and red string put together the tapestry of their current case. She did not appear to be swayed by the elf's begging, not entirely. Something in that final statement did bring a silent pause.

"If bein' by my side is so important, then why so eager to leave it?" She chose to hone in on other points and skip over the please, keeping her back to the elf. There was still a tinge of pain and anger in her tone.

"Livin' in th' past never moved anyone forward. I need ya' here. Or is suddenly wot I and this job I graced ya' with no longer of importance? I didn' say a bloody thing when I came back to find yer visage eerily similar to mine, plucked a hair from the office, no doubt. Even when my patience is tested by yer sometimes questionable motivations and comments in the borderline territory of breakin' my rules, I allowed yer leash to remain lax. I never asked fer anythin' other than service in return, even after footin' the bills to fake and create yer life in the Alliance. But this is the thanks I get? T'be abandoned fer some Horde dog."

Vynette got to her feet, because she disliked the tone Kat was taking regarding her teacher. Vyn rarely defied Kat; it was not in her nature. Still, she persisted. "You've let my leash remain lax because I've done everything you've ever asked of me, without question. I've followed every order, completed every mission," her voice dropped lower, but picked up its intensity, "I've done every off-book task you've needed with a smile because I'm your knife. I've committed sins for you and I'd commit them thrice over and you know that."

Scrunching her nose at the realization that her tone was getting away from her, Vynette composed herself. "He's not some Horde dog, Director; he's found a place of high standing in the House of Eyes. If I went over your head, they'd give me the go ahead. Hell, I could go to Fiske. I didn't do that because I don't give a shit about their authority. You're the one I follow."

Looking down at her desk, Vynette sat back down feeling resigned to defeat. "If you command me to stay, I'll stay. I don't ask for much. But I'm just asking for you to trust me. I have debts to repay, but he's not my master anymore."

As the Operative's tone began to get away from her, Kat looked back over her shoulder. One brow lifted as she stared the elven woman down from across the room as if cursing her for the act of defiance.

"Go over m'head or t'Fiske, and it won't be a temporary reassignment." The Director barked. Whether it was a threat or fact was anyone's guess.

Fingers ran through her raven tresses, pulling the strands back as she sighed quietly, seemingly content with Vynette's concession. "When this case is over," Kat motioned to the wall at her side as she turned to face the elf. "Then I will consider signin' off on a temporary reassignmen'. I will no' make any promises, however."

The tension in Vyn's shoulders released. Resisting Kat's authority made her physically uncomfortable, but she had made it to the other side. They both knew the elf would not go over Kat's head, but she was still being given an out. She could handle finishing their assignment at hand. She would cling to the hope that, if she continued to be on her best behavior, Kat would give her the chance to settle her past.

"Of course, ma'am," she replied with an earnest salute and a genuine, radiant smile. "Til then, the only thing on my mind is our case. I'm all yours; you have my word."

"Good," Kat murmured as she returned to her desk and the papers scattered atop it.

"Now get out of m'sight for an hour or two before I change m'mind, and there better be a bottle in one hand when ya' return."

[ @kat-hawke​ ]

[in-silks-and-flesh-and-leather]

Thank you for doing this FED because this thing has been weighing on me for a bit and I need to let it out! I’m so frustrated at myself. I literally had a textbook friends to lovers, will they-won’t they situation laid out in front of me and I blew it. We’re talking years in the making of mutual pining and everyone rooting for us to make the leap from platonic to romantic and he tried many times but I pushed him away every time because I was too scared to let myself be loved. We had one night of intense make outs and decided to actually go for it and give this romance thing a shot but I broke him with him two days later because I got scared again (and he ate my face, but we could have worked on kissing technique). Even after the breakup we still had this mutual pining dynamic but he fully cut ties with me because I couldn’t make up my damn mind. I can’t even imagine the pain I’ve caused him by pushing him away all those times so I don’t blame him for removing himself. But I’m still pining. I still hear people rooting for us to get together and make it work. I feel more sure of my feelings now but I can’t bring myself to reach out to him because I’m not confident that my own insecurities won’t take over again and hurt him. I just feel like that was my one shot at love and I fucked it up beyond repair. I think a part of me will always love him and hate myself for hurting him. I don’t know what to do with this guilt or how to stop grieving what could have been.

Aww, my dear ❤️❤️

That sounds very difficult to deal with. I'm sorry it's all weighing on you, and I'm sure him too, so heavily.

Please, don't take this at all as me presuming to know anything about your life or telling you what to do, it's just some observations from an old lady and an outsider perspective. These have helped me in my life, so I hope they can be of value here.

First, I've also tried to nobly protect my partners from a lot of my own darkness and they've all reported to me that they gladly would have taken it on, even if it ultimately turned out they couldn't handle it.

If you feel such a deep insecurity or fear of intimacy, don't let it hold you back forever. There are ways to overcome it and the rewards are absolutely amazing.

What's helped me was honestly asking what I felt and what I wanted, regardless of how I felt about the other person. There were times when I was simply was not ready and no amount of their love could have turned it around. Other times, I felt like I could take the chance because I personally was in the right place.

So I'd ask myself, are the doubts you're having about you two as a couple, or about yourself?

If it's you, for your own life and happiness, it's worth tackling those bad feelings - and it's much easier said than done, I am not at all saying it's a quick fix.

And if it's about being with him, but you still feel so strongly, it might be worth at least clearing the air. Perhaps writing those thoughts down and letting him know where you're coming from in as clear a way as possible, if nothing else, than for the sake of honesty and a chance for closure.

I know that when you're in the thick of love, it's impossible to believe this, but I truly think that there is always a chance for a new love. It can take a long time and a lot of pain and growth, but you become someone wiser and stronger and deeper, and the new love you experience on the other end is totally new and unique because, by this point, you are someone else too.

I don't know what I'm trying to say here and nobody asked for my dumb opinion, but I believe in true, fulfilling love for you and for him, whether it's together or separately, and I'm sending you all the best wishes and hugs from my heart to yours 💕💕

[omegangrins]

A Treatise On the Doctor

I don't know how to start this. Because I think of Peter Capaldi's words when he said that the only thing required to be a Doctor Who fan, is kindness.

I like 13 and think Chibnall is doing his best job writing the show.

So I struggle to write this because I am engaging against that very unkindness in the Doctor Who fandom, and trying very hard not to be angry back. "Allways try to be nice but never fail to be kind." But I've begun to wonder more and more if those who speak so loudly against the show really know what the show itself is about.

Enough of talking about other people though, cause frankly they're only important as set-up for this conversation. And again, I'm working kind.

So here's what you're gonna learn from this lifelong fan (and the best Tl;dr you're gonna get):

1. The Doctor sucks. From the very beginning. People complain about character traits now that have been around as long as the show.

2. Due to the Doctor's suckage, they tend to do more harm than good. (And because of this, most of the Doctor's "friends" along the way have been, well, let's leave it at the air quotes for now cause it's a damn big list of "BOOOO!!!".)

3. All of the showrunners and writers and actors and editors and everyone else has allways knows this and has played it this way.

4. And last but not least, since this is a time travel show. If you wanna know what and why stuff is happening now, look it up. Everything that happened before is allways in play.

5. None of this is bad, and in fact, it makes the show morally grayer. It's about kindness at all costs. Even your own.

A. First things first, the hard thing. The Doctor is not grrrreat. I mean, sure they try, but they fail a lot more often. In Extremis, a majority of those fatality index counts come from people the Doctor failed to save. That's why it's worded so specifically as "cause of death". All the death's caused by the Doctor's very interaction with time and lack of saving those around them. And part of it's not their fault, but more often than not, the Doctor says I can save you, and can't, won't, or chooses not to.

And that would be alright, but it took them over 1000 years to realize they should start letting their companions lead lives outside of theirs so THEY DON'T DIE. A bit too long as someone who claims to be better.

Not to mention how many times the Doctor is dismissive of their companions and the people around them only to use them for their help and just bug off again. If they truly cared and wanted to help, they would stay and listen in between adventures. Their lifespan is near infinite anyway. What's a few extra Earth hours with some friends you made along the way. You know, maybe fix some of the psychological and emotional damage created by encountering things behind a human's original scope of reasoning. But nope, we gotta go adventure more, byyyyeee!!

So when people talk about these qualities in 13 in a negative aspect I have to laugh because I'm not sure if they understand the joke. Cause we're talking about an alien that grew up around a species calling themselves Time Lords. I try not to blame them too much for it. 1 had to learn how to be hospitable to humans and it's been a bit of a slow learning curve ever since.

B. After the Doctor survived the horrors of the Time War and happened upon a human companion they felt worth connecting to, what did they do? They took Rose to watch her planet burn in front of her eyes. Great, first date, amirite?

And that's a little bit of companion damage. Do you know that the Doctor is responsible for the almost complete genocide of the Silurian race across multiple occasions. I am legitimately surprised there are any left after all of the ones the Doctor has killed. Like before, they cause destruction either purposefully or accidentally or simply by force of being there.

Remember before how I said that the Doctor just flies away. Yeah, they leave a lot of problems behind when they do (something that I can see Chibnall is planting the seeds of). If you had a time and space machine and practically unlimited capabilities and you choose to just leave after a situation and not check up on them from time to or see if there are any other underlying crises to be solved. But oh no, "gotta follow that rule of time and keep going even though I stopped in the first place because of how interested I was.". This is why 9 has a great arc about this. He thought he killed all the Daleks. They came back. He thought he'd gotten rid of the Slitheen. They came back. He thought he saved Satellite 5 from aliens. But opsies, they came back. And look! They're Daleks. Which he "finally" got rid of.

The Doctor just bounces around all carefree and without an ounce of care for themselves, their companions or consequences unless there's consequences for themselves or their companions. Then they get indignant.

Is that really kind of the person you want flying around fixing things in time and space? Who knows. But at least they are trying. Most of the time the T.A.R.D.I.S. lands somewhere and the authority figures are the most pretentious bull-headed pigs you can find. To me, I laugh cause it seems like both sides end up getting a taste of their own medicine. Usually with the bull charging to death in a sad glory while the Doctor wiles on metaphorically about not being as good as them.

But again, as a "superior" alien with "advanced" technology and "culture" you'd think they'd just know better already. But that's all part of the character. The Doctor may be in flux, but true change is difficult. The real hero of every story is the other people BESIDES the Doctor.

Cause the title is Doctor *Who* . The Who being half of the title, despite having less letters. It's the constant question of "What and why and who is that crazy person that's trying to help?" Why do you think they keep flying back to Earth? (Besides set construction reasons.) They've grown as attached to us as we have to them. And at this point, a lot of their saving us is guilt and embarrassment at having a hand in our timeline.

This is also the same reason the Doctor dumps companions in a fluff. Baggage. Every time a companion gets too heavy to carry the memories of... off they fly.

Except for 13. She's stayed. To this end, we can see how the Doctor changes. Not on our smaller, human timelines, but on the timeline of a god with way too much power.

D. With that in mind, we go Classic. It's the Who you need to consult if you wish to make any critique on what's happening now. Because how can you know how a part operates inside of a whole without seeing the whole part?

Cause I don't know if you've watched it but it can be rough, and I don't mean in the sense of production value (which admittedly they do a fairly decent job of using what money they had. A problem the BBC plagues to Doctor Who to this day.). The 3rd Doctor shits on every one they call friends constantly and then turns around expecting help. 4 did the same. Then 5 masked that contempt with a plucky face and a cheeky word. But it was still there, bubbling out of 6 and 7 as the inability to suffer fools gladly and using their own righteousness to enact change in their companions. A trait that kept going til an entire war and regeneration was used solving the question of "Doctor Who?" Only for them to try and forget twice more by putting on their pretty grinning faces and running away from it.

And I'm only talking from a companion perspective. Each of the Doctors has enacted their own form of genocide on countless species. Sure, it's to "save humans" but at the end of the day you'd have to ask yourself if we're really worth that blood. And this is all in the Doctor's history. As much as they claim better, they're hands are still gushing red.

The Doctor left Jo because she fell in love. They drove Adric to put their life on the line in order to feel adequate. The entirety of the Silurian race has been wiped out fivefold under their watch, with one time by their hand itself. Same for several other singular and unique species you won't be able to find elsewhere in the universe. 7 used time travel to enact a personality change in Ace while simultaneously using her as a pawn in an interdimensional war. The Time War itself. Sure it got erased but the Doctor still did those things ("War" Doctor or whatever nonsense titles they feel necessary to delude themselves). The entirety of Amy's childhood was destroyed by their presence, and Rory got erased. Twice! Sarah Kingdom. We know the list. Hell, the Doctor whisked Barbara and Ian away because they wanted to teach the snobby humans some lessons.

They may have a time machine, but we have the bill of their actions. This is where 13 excels. Because they're trying to be better than themselves. They've learnt the lessons of all those years traveling and the failures they wish they could reverse but don't as a way of keeping a scoreboard of pain. It's not perfect by any means, but look at 12 needing cue cards to understand and react to human grief under duress. They've come a helluva long way. After 50 years, I'm inclined to believe better. After all, it's what the Doctor would want.

E. You know how people like the ASOIAF series because it offers up morally complex characters existing in a morally complex world where black and white are harder to define than grey? Have you ever thought of Doctor Who as the same? Strip past the fairytale and adventure and "wibbly wobbly timey wimeyness and it's just people reacting to situations. We're just harder on the Doctor because they're hard on us. You could go round and round on who's the bigger killer, but at the end of the day Time Lords and humans fight and feel about the same things. It's allways been a joke to pretend otherwise.

That's why I love the Timeless Child. Not for making the Doctor anymore special but for saying that even despite having all of their specialness ripped away and repurposed to create a lie of a society then having the memory wiped of said event, the Doctor broke out of their mold, stole a TARDIS and told the Time Lords to fuck off. That's not a Captain America/Superman hero. That's Batman in space with a society of Lex Luthor's. Gotham and Gallifrey. The Doctor saw what they were a part of and broke free, without even knowing the more horrifying truth. Cause it's the thing I see many fans missing because they're so preocuppied with the Doctor being special. The thing that made the Doctor different was their ability to know the difference and walk away to find better. Now, the Doctor has a reason to go back and find out why they never stopped running.

The Time Lords might be the greatest monsters in the universe. It is in the name. "Lords". Those who would lord over us and impose their will with a banthium fist.

And this is a children's show.

C the thing is, the people who made and make this show all collectively rail against one thing: Hate. Kindness is the way of Doctor's. Even if they're sawing off your leg, it's to do the kindness of saving your life. This is because the people who make this (United Kingdomers) have seen centuries of war and conflict and oppression enacted by their own country in the name of progress. And they want to see it no more. Look no further than any of the Doctor's adventures with UNIT. Allways advocating for peace and being ignored for the comfortable war-cry. It's why it's hard to blame the Doctor when we do very similar and often worse (though we don't have time travel.... yet). The creators of this show know better, see better, and wrote better, to know that the powers that be nipped would nip their creations and sanitize them. So they wrote their messages so strong that you can feel them from the future. They're powerfull enough that even across eras they have all collectively moved me to write this.

That's another point I have to laugh at people saying Doctor Who has never been in your face about progressive politics. The Green Death. Survival. Trial of a Timelord (Yes, all of it. Sit down and power through.) The Happiness Patrol is one of my all time favorite episodes for going there in this regard. People may poo poo but history has its' eyes on you. Doctor Who loves taking potshots at the issues of the day. As long as you don't make the aliens black of course. Make them all the colors of the rainbow but never make them black. That'd be too on the nose (That's something they used to say back in the day! Crazy how far we've come).

So bravoa to Chibnall for continuing the legacy of Doctor Who. From where I'm standing, he's not doing anything different than any other showrunner before him. Cause if you want to argue canon, you at least have to know what created it. This show owes what it is to those Classic eras. And if you think Chibnall is shitting on those years and your childhood.... well, then why did you read this whole thing?