#s12 was one of my favourites so far

[sarahlancashire]

top 5 recently watched? (movies or tv series)

midsomer murders

bluey

under the bridge (ik it's still airing so i haven't technically finished watching it but whatever)

series twelve of taskmaster

palm royale

ask me my top fives

[thirddoctor]

So it's clear Doctor Who doesn't really know what to do with Gallifrey, but what I wanted to ask was - do you think the reboot should've destroyed it in the first place? Like don't get me wrong, I love S1 and Christopher Eccleston is one of my favourite doctors and it's all brilliantly acted and it works...but would you, if you'd been in charge of bringing the show back, have wiped out Gallifrey as a narrative choice?

That's a tricky question, because would I have done it? No, I don't think so. But RTD uses it very effectively to create drama, and so I don't think it was a mistake either. It worked for the story he was telling.

But imo bringing it back for the 50th was also a good choice, which for me personally doesn't diminish the weight of the RTD era, because it's not just a reset that ignores what came before - it's precisely because of the Doctor's experiences post-Time War and dealing with the emotional fallout of the choice he made that he can now find a way to make a different choice. (Meanwhile, destroying it again in S12 does feel like a reset back to the status quo of the RTD era, in a way that undercuts not only the emotional significance of that story, as the Doctor isn't the one responsible this time and Gallifrey isn't even her home planet anymore, but also its own story because the Timeless Child plot is far more interesting if the Time Lords are alive for the Doctor to confront.)

So I guess in summary I'm fine with the first destruction of Gallifrey, hate the second one, and I really wish someone would come along who knows how to utilise the Time Lords properly, because they have a ton of narrative potential that New Who has largely ignored.

[picnokinesis]

Hi!

(A mild panic on the topic of: This is not a question, oh god, this is NOT a question. This is a recommendation of a fandom at BEST.)

So I was reading a fic one day and my brain went very quickly in succession:

a) /Oh/, this is the good stuff

b) No wonder you think so, remember spydoc telepathy edition (And you, Taka, are like an ambassador of that land in my mind)

c) Actually many fics from this fandom are like this

d) Do we think…?

So I had two facts:

1. This is a thing someone I have a great respect for would probably enjoy.

2. There was no indication Taka has seen or engaged in the fandom of Pacific Rim. Despite its notoriety in this neck of the woods due to the concept of drifting in particular.

And what I am doing with those facts is telling you this. I think you are great and I think you would like the fics of Pacific Rim. So if you feel like checking it out, it’s very low effort on entrance. Only one movie to see. Or two. Depends who you ask.

Here are two excerpts to judge for yourself. (Is this a spoiler? I know people for whom this would be a spoiler. For me it’s a tester.)

1) What’s a Little B&E Between Friends? By VoiceOfNurse (Part 20, Chapter 1)

No need to reach for the void, when he was so complete, nestled up against the part of Them that was Hermann. 

…safe… 

Newt was aware, in as much as Hermann was aware. It was difficult to separate himself out, when Hermann’s mind was locked around him like a steel trap made of numbers and chalk dust and spite. They were one organism in two parts- four lungs, drawing breath, two hearts beating in time. There was cold, and there was pain, but it was far away. 

There is no room for (masters-monsters-precursors) here. They are (insects-vermin-insignificant) when faced with (memory-language-connection). We are (brilliant-unstoppable-rockstars). We are (music-logic-science). We are (Newt-and-Hermann) and they are nothing. 

2) What’s a Little B&E Between Friends? By VoiceOfNurse (Part 20, Chapter 2)

They were Drifting. Tendo couldn’t quite work out the whys and hows of it, especially now that he was being bitten to within an inch of his fucking life, but he was certain. He’d hurt Hermann by moving too fast, probably jostled the guy’s leg, actually, which was folded weirdly under him with Newt on top, but the closest set of teeth bit him. Newt wasn’t even conscious in the traditional sense of the word, but Hermann was. Hermann was, and apparently Newt’s teeth were available to rectify the situation. Newt’s urges, too, because Tendo didn’t really picture Hermann as a biter. 

HELLO MY FRIEND oh my days I'm SO sorry but I'm laughing so much because this probably happened because tumblr search function is useless but 'no indication' sksksksk, oh my sweet summer child: here's the pacific rim tag on my blog LMAO - or, even better, the entire pacrim au I came up with for s12 of doctor who one time. Also. Also. Buddy. This is so funny, I love you so much. Are you aware that I'm obsessed with the works of one of the biggest Pacific Rim fanfic writers ever? I did, to be fair, literally take their name off my blog description yesterday to replace it with Bloodywood instead, and I'm more on the Stargate Universe side of things these days - but cleanwhiteroom is one of my favourite authors, and I read Designations Congruent with Things before I touched any of their Stargate material. If, my dear anon, you've not heard of cwr, then I really highly recommend their stuff, but I'll add a link below and see if I can dig up the other fic that I really loved from back in the day. Thank you for the fic rec though!! Those excerpts look excellent haha, I shall check that fic out when I get chance because you're absolutely right I love that kind of thing.

(also, absolutely DELIGHTED that you read this sort of stuff and thought of me - that is SUCH an honour oh my days! Like...rancid spydoc telepathy ambassador....what a title, I'm dead chuffed at this haha bless you!)

I think this is just so funny to me because - you couldn't possibly know this, of course, but like you know where I got this from? This love for writing weird, messed up mental connections between people?

Pacific Rim fanfiction HAHAHAHAHA

(and, later SGU - but I mean, mostly just cleanwhiteroom tbh. I was 16yo and I imprinted okay. But there were also other fics too, and they had an influence. Guh, Newt/Hermann post-drift fics are PEAK man)

Okay but actually let me tell you the story of how I got into pacrim because I think it's hilarious. So most people get into fandoms by like, yknow. Watching the film, reading the book, seeing the show, etc. I mean, how else would you do it? I'll tell you how. I was pottering about on deviantArt, back in the the grand old year of - oh, it must have been 2014. 2015? Something like that. Anyway, I stumbled across some Newt and Hermann fanart, and I didn't know the fandom but I was intrigued and REALLY liked the artstyle (I think the artist was feriowind?) - anyway I went on their profile and was MORE intrigued when I found they'd done some gorgeous cover art for THIS FIC, which got me so curious that I decided to read it. Without having watched the film. What I did was: read the plot summary on wikipedia, watched a couple of newt and hermann fanvids/clips (LIKE THIS ONE) so I could see them/hear their voices right, and then just blitz on through the fic with google images open in another tab so I could google thing like 'the shatterdome' and 'the LOCCENT pacific rim' and stuff like that for visual reference SKKSSK. Damn this is a throwback, I'm having a great time. ANYWAY. Read the fic. Loved it. Read the sequel. LOVED IT. Started looking for more fanart and stuff like that - and found a bunch of people kept on mentioning this fic called Designations Congruent with Things. Searched it up, found it on ao3, read the first 6 chapters and it almost melted my brain LMAO so I stopped. Then I couldn't stop thinking about it and I came back to it and oh my days. Oh my days. It fully rewrote my brain and DAMN I was obsessed. By this point I was vibrating in place at the mere thought of actually SEEING THE FILM, YKNOW. The film I'd read hundreds of thousands of words of fanfic about. Anyway, my friend who got secret santa for me that year literally had the easiest job on the planet HAHAHAHA so I watched it on Christmas Day and it was so so funny because like. You probably are aware of how much damn lore this film has. Like I knew the names of most of the jaegers that aren't even mentioned in the movie, I knew about Caitlin Lightcap and Sergio D'onofrio, but I had NO IDEA what was extended canon and what was fanon and what was actually. Y'know. In the film. So when I watched it I was like BUT WHERE'S LIGHTCAP for most of it HAHAHAH, but yeah it was great. SO GREAT. Guh I love the concept of the drift SO SO MUCH it's absolutely fascinating and just. AHH!! So so good.

Anyway. Absolutely losing it, bless. Sorry this is all over the place, I'm very tired but my goodness. Yes. Talk to me about drift bonds any day of the week, I'm here for it. If you want cleanwhiteroom fics, you can find them here. I linked the other one above, but there were a couple of others I read too...like I read a LOT of fics, and this was before I had an ao3 account rip so I don't have it in my fic reading history. There was one called Occam's Razor that I read a lot of, but I don't think I finished it. OH but I also liked this one (that i thought I found but it turned out to be the wrong one, am looking again now lol), from after Pacific Rim 2!! Which, as a film, I mostly consider to just be like. A fanfic with an exceptionally high budget ksksksks so yknow. I don't hate it because I don't consider it canon as much as I consider anything outside the original film canon. ANYWAY LOVE YOU

[ahintofpanic13]

Every time I see 'she deserved better writing' I want pull my hair out.

Did these people watch the same show i did????

Extremely long rant under the cut. I was having feelings and had to put them somewhere! I'm sure i missed some things, but you get the gist

S11: Soft reboot of the show. All new characters & all new villians. A slower 'monster of the week' pace to allow the audience to adjust and keep up without the 59 years worth of conviluted, contradictory storylines, whilst still having character growth and a full circle story with Tim Shaw. Also dropping the first hints of TTC in ep2.

Bonus mention to Demons of the Punjab which i think we can all agree is an instant classic

S12: Ramping up the pacing. Bringing back classic villians and Jack Harkness. Introducing the Fugative Doctor and TTC storyline which allows for a broadening of DW lore - which lets face it, with a 60 year show is necessary! Also, lets not forget: Dhawan!Master.

13/Flux: Extremely ambitious, long form story that was written and filmed DURING. A. PANDEMIC. The first time in NuWho that a story has been broken over so many episodes. It was exciting, visually stunning and gave us a bunch of fantastic new characters like Vinder, Jericho and Dan. Was the ending rushed? Yes, no denying that. It needed a few more minutes to wrap up the fallout of what state the Universe was left in post-flux. Chibs has spoken about all the restraints put on them by the BBC, forcing them to make compromises with lengths/episode numbers. However, putting that aside, they managed to bring together all those seemingly random, chaotic elements from the first 2/3 of Flux in a way that actually made sense, and none of it felt perfunctory.

Which brings me back to 'Jodie was great but she deserved better writing'

So there are the people who hate the premise of The Timeless Child. Ok. Fine. This is a fandom where portions of it are still angry about the introduction of the Time War when RTD brought the show back in 2005. That was nearly 2 decades ago. I'm not surprised that TTC is something that they can't get past and i'm not even bothering to have that argument. As far as i'm concerned, if you are willing to accept all the other world breaking nonsense that has gone on over the last 59 years, then TTC is no different.

Did it get too preachy at times? (Orphan 55 i'm looking at you). Yes. But this is DOCTOR WHO. It's social commentary has never exactly been subtle! A handfull of dud lines of dialogue hardly warrant denouching an entire era.

Maybe a few episodes were not to your taste. DW jumps around so many different genres that this is inevitable. There are epsidoes that i refuse to sit through again - none from this era, but they do exist.

Maybe Jodie wasn't your favourite Doctor. That's ok. We all have our Doctors. And sometimes our views shift when we revist the show. That's the genius of a show whose lead actor regenerates. If this current itteration isn't really for you, the next one might be.

The biggest fault i can see with 13's era is that the occasional episode is excellent right the way through, but then doesn't quite stick the ending. S12 & S13 could both have done with 1 extra episode to give the storylines a bit more breathing room and that would have resolved this problem.

Previous era's (specifically NuWho since my knowledge of Classic is nowhere near as good) have hardly been without their problems - from the treatment/rep of women and POC, to some damn right nonsensical storylines (the tardis somehow dragging the earth back into it's rightful place in the solar system anyone?) but no one seems to denouch the whole of the show for those things.

So unless I am missing something massive (which is entirely possible i suppose), i can't see that anything the Chibnall and his writing team did during 13's run was any worse than what has come before. In many ways he grounded the show back to where it always was. A quirky, at times ridiculous show with some heart wrenching stories, historical romps through time and some bad guys that somehow manage to be silly yet menacing at the same time.

Personal preference is personal preference, but if all you can say is 'jodie deserved better writing' but then can't actually explain what you mean by that then i'm sorry, but all that leads me to think is that you can't deal with the fact that a show which has historically been led by white cis men is now being led by someone else. Let's be honest, Jodie and Chibs shaped this iteration of the doctor together. The main story beats are done by Chibs and the writing team, but the show is led by Jodie. Her fingerprints are all over the characterisation and the tone of the era. So saying you 'love Jodie but hate the writing and think she would be great under any other show runner' is just a good line to throw out in order to not say what you actually mean.

Now i'm closing this rant off with some fun GIFs because this is my post and i can do what i like!

This dork i stg:

KATE! When i tell you how much a yelled when she turned up:

And Thasmin, because *weeps*

[fratricideknight]

Do you have a favourite sam hair era? Mine was in season 1 and 2 when it wasn't that long yet but still had the cute curls at the ends

don't even get me started! (sorry for how long this is. there's a tl;dr if you don't wanna read.)

just the fact that sam has longer hair is a gigantic plus with me. i love his hair so much, it looks so soft and gorgeous. i'm really enamored with that anime-esque style, so when a physical man (and a real one, bc jared) manages to pull it off, my heart is instantly stolen.

as for specific standouts: season 1, as you said. it's just so cute! and the bangs never reappear so i'm particularly fond of them. season 1a especially, when his hair curled up so much at the ends, with the gorgeous lighting which made him look so good - *chefs kiss*. i love it when they let his hair go curly, which is why i think his pilot hair is cute but i prefer the overall s1 hairstyle.

i adore the s3/s4 hair, too. i view it as an improvement on the s2 hair, but idk, maybe that will change when i rewatch. the side part is probably better suited to him than the bangs as he gets older, and the little curls stay (esp. in s3), so it's a win.

i love the longer hair. s7 was dragged down by the sideburns and was too straight imo, as far as i can remember, but season 6 had its moments! maybe that's just because soulless!sam was hot, though, lol. as for the king of long hair: i. love. the season 8 hair. both 8a and 8b had their moments. i haven't watched it in a while, though. all i remember is that he glowed. i would have loved it if they let his hair go full wavy, even for just half a season, but it had the flicks so it passes with flying colours.

s9 hair was cute, too, because it was allowed to curl! a little, anyway. let this man's hair curl! tbh, though, by this stage everything becomes kinda fuzzy. i need to rewatch these seasons to get a grasp on the hair (i wish). s12 was kind of a return to form (?) with more structure than the preceding seasons so that was cute; all i really remember is the time he dressed as a priest and it was hot but i feel bad admitting that. also he looked really cute in a sweater in the same episode. you look good in anything, but please wear something other than flannel, sam. s14 hair was kinda similar (i think) and he had a beard!!! for a few episodes. so that was fun. i like the beard tbh, just not too long. dean deserved to burn for 40 more years for telling sam to shave it.

tl;dr: i love the longer hairstyles, but s1 is probably my favourite atm bc i love the bangs and i love s1. my fav varies, though.

thank you for giving me an excuse to ramble about sam's hair 💕

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

2, 14, 23, 25? <3

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

oh honestly im mostly looking forward to being done with writing rn hfjhjg ive been doing nothing but thasmissy for 2 months straight at this point and i need to finish like 2 more scenes. so i suppose the technobabble im doing in one of those scenes bc it's really fun to find words to put in it. even though it takes forever. and then i wanna take a little break. ive still got a series of like weird sex fics somewhere on the backburner i might go do that (it's like, 13/tardis, yaz getting off to gallifreyan anatomy textbooks, yaz with the hologram in 13x5, and another one i cant remember rn, oh yeah something with the robot master and shalka doctor, but i cant write them so idk. i think it would be fun to write robot sex though)

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

either when i hit post and ao3 tells me i forgot the title (bad titles). or else it just ✨Comes To Me✨ at some point during writing (better titles). not the question but these are my favourite titles: kerblam it!, wondering about the perspective of the person who confuses interbellum with no man’s land, auto-tromperie à deux, or: the double-slit experiment, and the thasmissy one which will be called playing doctor <3

23. What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest?

s12 fic where yaz gets basically seduced by the master because the master is willing to give her answers the doctor wont. she finds the doctor's phone and they start texting. they both find something in each other that the doctor is unable to give them. the doctor when she finds out is So Mad. shes like hes dangerous!!!!1! but theres this possessive undertone you know? ive had scenes of that on my computer since like summer 2020. it's never gonna get finished but thats okay because i think most of what i thought was interesting about that fic i incorporated into thasmissy in some way. also i think it ended by yaz getting killed by a cyberman and the doctor beating the master to death for it so fkjghjkghgfjh too sad to finish tbh. it wasnt even the master's fault it was both their faults she was angry at herself so she killed him. and then sat with him until he regenerated. while yaz i think, stood there as a cyberman. anyway! fucked up! not my style

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

when im writing some weird gross visceral time stuff and looking in thesauruses and going on etymology dives and finding fun connections between words that i can use to make more subtext. and making up new ways to use words and sentences so i can make them hold more connections. increase the meaning/word ratio you know? thats the most fun

okay bonus found that fic. i had 2000 words. heres how it starts:

It starts with dying.

An endless dark. Without direction or sound or exit. Where air isn’t air and she doesn’t know how she’s still breathing. Where she can’t be alive because she can’t feel her heart beating.

“Okay, PC Khan. Nothing to worry about.”

It starts with dying.

It doesn’t end with it.

The Doctor pulls her out.

Its warm in australia. The heat crowds around her when she steps out of the glass cage, lapping at her hands, her face, curious, tentative, playful.

A Soft grip on her arms guides her to a chair, to reality, to being alive.

Someone presses a cup of tea into her hands. Large brown concerned eyes ask her if she's hurt.

She later learns his name is o. She later learns it isnt.

and this is how it ends:

His eyes switch to her as soon as he realises what this result of their actions is. Eyes big and hungry, apprehensive on the edges, mouth twitching but never reching a grin. Both stock still her eyes are still on the cyberman. One breath. Two breaths.

His eyes widen slightly when her attention shifts to him. Eyes dark and pushed too far like the chasm beyond the cliff. When she steps forward theres no delay in his step back.

Silence as the only witness of the last two children of gallifrey. The physical sounds of a body breaking and abody being broken.

Sound of breath and fists and one scream when she breaks his arm.

When she stumbles off of him, sitting where she lands, stopping moving further rather than sitting, silence still her only witness, he hasnt moved in a while, hasnt made a sound in a while. She watches until he starts glowing. Then she gets up and and without looking back walks away.

She finds the cyberman who was yasmin khan and says with a voice that is the oppoiste of what her hands just did, tender and regretful and soft, "yaz" because they were friends. And because no other words she will ever string together will be enough to make okay what she did to her. But the words press to her lips anyway. sorry doesnt change what she did. Sorry would be an insult.

"Your family will know"

Im sorry

"You wont be forgotten"

Im sorry

"You deserved better than you got"

Than i did to you. Im sorry

"Thank you yaz."

Im sorry

"Goodbye"

Im sorry

"And im sorry"

She zaps her sonic and the cyberman falls.

[drawthething]

Hey! It's me again :D

I wanted to come up with a fun ask (you can definitely take your time on this one, especially because I've seen you've gotten quite a few asks lately). I don't know, I was hoping we could maybe do that ask trade you brought up during my last one! (Am I doing it right??) Especially because I'd love to talk about this topic, I do have a few thoughts of my own on it that I don't want to flood here.

What are your thoughts on the Bob's Burgers Movie?? I was actually lucky enough to catch it in theaters, so that might've affected my perception of it a bit. Did you enjoy it? Did you really dislike it? Are you somewhere in between? What are some things you liked, or things you would change?

Ahhhh heyyyyy!! Back at it again with your glorious asks! Thank you 🥺♥️ And you ask about the movie 😭 lemme grab my notes real quick

I LOVE the movie! Honestly I'm so grateful we get a murder mystery instead of... whatever they give us in s12. It wasn't too far away from the show itself either and felt like it's made for the fans which I appreciate. I laughed a lot too, my favourite parts've gotta be Tina's reaction looking back and forth at Grover during the car chase. Like, precious awkward girl 😭. Also the way she tries to throw away her barrecklace but it keeps sticking pffft, same energy! Overall the storyline's super fun I love it

And the SONGS. I listened to Sunny side up summer on loop for weeeeeks it's not funny! Bobs music is always superb so it's not too surprising the movie's full of total bops, but damn did they deliver 🤌 The animation is obviously glorious, I kept rewatching the dancing gigs cuz, like, look at those muppets wiggling and bouncing 😭

I definitely love that Louise gets to be the center of the film, they finally let our girl use her infinite brain's grey matter to solve a murder case and her character arc is so so good. Bob & Linda are obviously super mega sweet. Like, like we get a flashback scene 🥺? And, and the hole scene 🥺? "punch droopy Bob in the nuts" scene? Pffft. Plus a whole lots of fun moments between them and Teddy (living for Teddy & his oliver bar/food cart 🤌) Tina's arc is cuuuute, her little scenes with Jimmy Jr just bless my heart :] Gene's done dirty though 😐 boy barely gets to shine. But he's himself and that's also enough to appreciate him I guess :/

I do want more of the side characters tbh. Most of them pass by like a funky little cameo and that's it (them precious Wagstaff kids are barely there and where on earth is Gayle??) But it's a movie so maybe focusing on a limited number of them would be... better 😐? One last thought, like, this one haunts me in my sleep every. single. night: what were they thinking not including Jimmy Jr in the credits aka, you know, the dance sequence??! The DANCE SEQUENCE??!

[wykart]

Do you also love Clara and I just didn't know it? *eyes the banner artwork I've only just noticed along with one (1) recent post* Because if I managed to follow someone who loves Clara by ACCIDENT I'm gonna be pretty proud of myself lol

Oh you mean you don’t know about my 120k fanfic all about Clara and my hcs about her and my thoughts about her character except it’s also about the timeless child plot from s12? (idk how far you’ve watched) but yes!! I love Clara! There’s so many things that don’t make sense and are under-utilised about her (like the entirety of series 7 bc that could have been So Cool) but I really love her character. It helps that 12 is my favourite doctor so I think they are a fantastic doctor and companion duo. Series 8 and 9 are truly underrated gems and I will defend Hell Bent specifically to my dying breath.

[oatflatwhite]

I saw you're watching Criminal Minds and I wanted to recommend a blog I used to check in on when I watched it back in the day. It's matociquala on livejournal under the tag geeks with guns. She always had such interesting things to say about the show, like:

theme, and the ways one establish and work with theme, are really hard to discuss, because theme is the part of a narrative that does what Ursula LeGuin describes as "using words to talk about things that cannot be discussed in words." And usually, thematic elements, expecially in television shows, tend to be simple and binary and easy to digest. Banal. There are good guys and bad guys, and the good guys are right and the bad guys are in their way.

This show is not doing that. It does, in fact, have a thematic discussion rather than an ideology, and the discussion is expanded and reflected back on itself every week. And they've even managed to explain the discussion in the title of the show.

and

And then there are the meta-narrative games. The thematic discussion it undertakes, about the nature of free will and personal responsibility, which alone is brilliant. The way it deconstructs its own genre--the thriller--in a number of interesting ways. (The Person In Peril often rescues him or herself. The Person In Peril is fairly frequently male. The Villains… aren't. They are often terribly pathetic people who have been brutally betrayed, time and time again. The Question of Evil.) The lovely lovely dissection in The Big Game and Revelation regarding violence-and-shock-as-entertainment, in the middle of one of the most viscerally horrible hours of network television I have ever seen. Not because the violence was graphic, or extreme, but because it was real violence, and heartbreaking with it. It was, in fact, far less graphic than many things I've seen on TV.

And it hurt so very much more, because it was pathetic.

Individual episodes, especially on a plot level, can be heavyhanded. But this is the show that can humanize a terrorist at the same time it demonstrates just how evil he can be, that is shockingly responsible and humane in its depiction of the most nauseating things they can get away with on prime time, that allows characters to break, and fail, and to be wrong, without becoming villains.

very cool, thank you! i'll make a note to check it out!

truly i have a lot of love in my heart for criminal minds, as frustrating and sometimes terrible as it can be. i first watched it about 8 years ago?? when s10 was airing. i dropped off around the s12 mark but often do rewatches from the beginning up to whenever i get tired of it. that or i rewatch my favourite all time eps - special shoutouts to true genius, north mammon, revelations, derailed, and 100, among many others.

there are such great throughlines in the show despite the moments they seem to be forgotten, because they'll always come back round. it's impressive for a procedural cop show. and even though some of their eps are as you said heavy handed (sometimes a tad insensitive/uncomfortable, especially when handling mental illness) they do put the effort in, and it pays off.

[dirtydancingdean]

✨ fic recs ✨

ok so back in like 2014 i watched supernatural for a solid 3 years until they killed kevin and charlie and i got bored of the bmol storyline. now im here again let’s not talk about it. BUT during this time i accumulated a Lot of fic and in the past two months i’ve gone through all 213 of my bookmarks and gone through like every rec list made after s12 in order to read fic set during every specific season while i rewatch the show. because im insane <3 im on s8 rn and wanted to share my list of favourites from each season so far as well as my favourite aus ! they’re all generally nsfw so minors be careful, and also check the warnings ! and i will update this when i finish s15 <3

aus

asunder by rageprufrock (23.8k, e, background samruby)

obviously the most perfect thing to ever exist. 

and this, your living kiss by opal_bullets (56k, m, background saileen)

poet dean fic need i say more. part dean studies if dean studies was elaborated on lovingly in detail for 56k words, part gorgeous and beautiful poetry, part incredibly clever commentary on meta and fan allusions, and part stunning exploration of the relationships in the show turned on their heads.  

one white little lie by komodobits (11k, gen)

this is SOOO cute. cas is so embarrassing i was covering my face the entire time i was reading it. if u want to be cheered up. read this. 

broadway musical by griftings (12k, m)

this is genuinely sooo funny. big “castiel did you fuck the michael sword” energy and jimmy novak as that “am not against gays” tweet, plus jo <3

c-s-t-l by komodobits (90k, m)

i haven't read this in a while but from what i remember it was incredible and also had cassie <3 

rest is under the cut because it got long fhjfkfklf

pre-series/season 1-3*

a turn of the earth by microcomets (time travel, 95k, standford era, m)

i think everyone’s read this at this point but if u haven't. what are u doing. go read it. it’s absolutely everything i reread it in the week before the finale without remembering half of the stuff it talked about and i was a WRECK. if u think about standford era dean every day read this. cas punches john winchester in the FACE. 

geography by aeli_kindara (3k, teen and up, warnings for discussion of rape/non-con and prostitution)

not dean/cas but a really wonderful and needed conversation with sam and dean during 2x02.

season 4

so says the sword by komodobits (85k, e)

yeah. i dont need to say anything.  

consequences of falling by fayjay (37k, e, background samruby, warnings for rape/non-con)

THISSSS FIC. pls it’s perfect literally everything i wanted when i was watching s4 and obsessed with love as an act of worship + ruby and cas parallels. ruby and cas get drunk together! ruby says this: “dean and castiel sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes the fall from grace, then comes battling the hosts of hell and wishing that you’d managed to get your skinny ass laid before the freaking apocalypse”! what more could u want!

named by rc_machlan (94k, m)

literally the best fic in the world i am not going to say Anything if you love dean and angels and the mythology of s4-s5 that was promptly dropped, you absolutely have to read this.

four people ruby seduced & one she actually fell for (or: ruby's epic love affair with humanity in general and sam in specific) by tuesday (3.7k, e, samruby, ruby/jo)

this is more background deancas than anything else and does contain brief, not romantic in any way dean/ruby and dean/cas, but like. if u love ruby (which i do) u have to read this.

season 5

final fantasy by orange_crushed (1.9k, m)

endverse.....this made me want to die

the (mostly accidental) courtship of dean winchester by tuesday (11k, m)

a classic for a reason. really cute and soft and the handprint and cas beating dean up in 5x18 are angelic marriage rites. what more could you ask for.

the girlfriend experience by rageprufrock (15k, explicit)

of Course i mean of COURSE. thee s5 deancas fic.

strike me down and i’ll come back more powerful than you can possibly imagine by trinityofone (10k, gen)

post 5x22 dean and cas rescue sam from hell with the help of some special guests. PERFECT. the only valid good omens crossover.

season 6**

something stupid by zatnikatel (20k, e)

this broke my heart and put it back together. one of my favourite cas characterizations, takes place over s5-s6 and it’s just stunning. 

a crash course in someone else’s history by annie d (11k, teen and up)

s4 cas ends up in the body of cas in 6x20. fucking life-ruining.

season 7

make known by domesticadventures (16k, teen and up)

this is a really heartbreaking look at dean’s headspace near the end of s6 and throughout s7, and it’s really wonderful with a hopeful ending.

redemption road by a whole bunch of people (652k, virtual season, explicit)

oh boy. ok. know ur herstory ! this was written from 2011 to 2012 and it is thee s7 fic, a virtual season written by 17 fans all together. it’s very very long and it suffers sometimes from having being written a decade ago, but im making my way through it right now and it still fucking holds up. i really do recommend reading at least some of it, you can stop around halfway through and you should be fine.

season 8***

rinse, repeat by ias (3k, teen and up)

exploration of cas when naomi forces him to kill copies of dean and then his perspective in goodbye stranger.

my keeper by whelvenwings (5k, gen)

another goodbye stranger fic, this time with bonus artist cas!

though the course may change by imogenbynight (51k, e)

au after 8x23. i love this fic so much. dean accidentally ends up making himself have to go undercover with cas and pretend to be fake engaged. also, charlie and kevin. do i need to say more.

apres by imogenbynight (24k, e)

au after 8x23 where dean goes to find cas after the angels fall in paris 🥺

*i have found exactly one bela fic that i loved, and zero henriksen fics that i loved, so IF u have recs for those. i would appreciate that.

**mostly the s6 fics i read were uh...vampire dean fics...

***have found one (1) good dean/aaron fic but im still searching for the perfect purgatory crew fics 

[thirddoctor]

Dr. Whom spoilers

This ep reminded me of the Torchwood episode Fragments, which isn’t a bad thing considering that’s one of only two Chibnall Torchwood eps I actually like (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the other, if anyone’s wondering).

This series has maintained its momentum so far and I enjoyed the ep a lot. Even the Ruth stuff didn’t bother me much because at least it’s being handled in an interesting way that actually has an impact on the plot (and for the moment I still feel like I can headcanon around the TC stuff).

However, there were some janky effects (the Doctor floating in the time stream looked bad, sorry), and I worry younger views might have trouble keeping up with the plot, since I myself had to pay very close attention at times to grasp what was happening.

I’m enjoying the increased character focus, but if they can squeeze in some nice scenes for everyone here (well, except Yaz, but I’ll get to that) in the midst of all this plot, why did S11 and S12 struggle so much when those seasons had way more breathing space in which to do it?

So far Vinder is my favourite character. tbh, I feel like we’ve learned more about who he is as a person in three episodes than we have with Yaz in three seasons. I think he and Bel might end up being the highlights of this arc.

Dan and the Doctor both had some good scenes too - I liked the flashback with Dan and Diane, and I really liked that shot at the end where the Doctor stares at her reflection.

Yaz continues to feel kind of like an afterthought, though. I mean, yes, she was tied to the Weeping Angel subplot, but her scenes weren’t character focused like the others were. You could’ve swapped her out with anyone else.

Anyway, by no means a perfect episode, but I think it’s my favourite of S13 so far simply because I was really interested in everything that was happening. 8.5/10 and I’m excited for the next one because Maxine Alderton is co-writing.

[norahastuff]

Why do I love Cas’ arc but am so profoundly frustrated with it at the same time? Well from my understanding, for Cas’ arc, there was a 3 pronged resolution that needed to happen - that the show had set up to happen:

1) Cas’ guilt over all the damage he’d inflicted on heaven 

It’s been a running theme for years that all the angels hated him and felt like he had destroyed heaven and had abandoned them, not to mention all the rumours that flew around about his relationship with Dean (that they perhaps knew each other in the biblical sense - that��s barely even subtext, it’s just what all the angels and demons assumed.) That’s not something Cas every wanted, to be hated by his own kind, but I think what truly shook him to his core was his conversation with Naomi in 13x19 (a phenomenal scene by the way, maybe my favourite of the entire season) where he discovered that there were just nine angels left in heaven. Cas was devastated, and from that moment on it was clear that whatever else happened, Cas would have to play some role in restoring heaven. 

Now technically he did get to do that. That’s something right? Yeah sure...a 10 year arc that’s always been one of the primary conflicts for Cas as a character, that’s driven so much of his story, affected his relationships with Sam and Dean in very significant ways, a conflict that was very clearly being set up to be resolved as part of Cas’ character arc in a very tangible way since 13x19, was wrapped up with a two word acknowledgement: 

“Cas helped.”

So yes, that part of his arc was addressed but it was so thoroughly unsatisfying and not given any sort of narrative weight, it almost feels insulting. Those two words are the only allusion to Cas having any kind of agency or being a real character that existed on this show for 12 years. He deserved more than those two words.

2) Cas understands the power of love

Oh boy this one. Well we all know about this one. Bobo did a phenomenal job with this. As did Meredith Glynn, it’s her and Bobo who have been setting this up since s14 at the latest (if we’re talking about when I think they started pushing for an explicitly textual love story) but in my estimation since s12. You can disagree with me if you like but I’m just going to yell “mixtape” at you and run away. Anyway I’ve rambled about this enough in the past so instead of writing another 600 words on it I’ll just link to the last time I did that. The main point is to look at how much Cas had changed over these 12 years. His run on the show may have ended like it started, saving Dean Winchester, but Cas most certainly did not end up the same being that he was when he started. All those years ago he saved Dean for duty, this time he did it for and with love. The power the simple act of loving another person could have? The power in allowing yourself to fully feel it? Nobody understood that better than Cas.

This was satisfying. This made sense.

3) Cas gets to hear that he’s loved

And then we get to part three. How long have they been setting up this particular plot point for? How far back do I have to go? Ok to be fair, let’s stick to the Dabb era. How about when Cas told the entire Winchester family that he loved them? When Dean gave him a mixtape that Cas sort of kind of maybe but not quite recognised the significance of? When The Empty told him it knew who he loved and how there was nothing for him there? When Dean lost all ability to function without him and Cas knew nothing about it? When Cas wonders why he was brought back and Dean tells him it was because “we needed you back” and Cas concludes that he was brought back to prepare for war...when the truth was that Cas was brought back purely because of love? He was brought back because of Dean’s love, because of Jack’s love, but that’s something Cas is never made aware of. How about when Michael in Dean’s body tells him that Dean doesn’t care about him and only tolerates him because he feels he owes him for saving him from hell? Or when Michael continues to twist the knife and talk about how all Cas has done since then is make mistake after mistake? Or when in a moment of anger Dean says the same thing? And I don’t think I’ll ever forget when Jack says he know Cas loves him and he wants to love him back but he can’t, and Cas responds with “You can’t yet.” Did none of that feel like it was setting something up? 

Cas’ arc wasn’t just to learn that he could love without expecting anything in return, it was also to learn that he was loved without being expected to do anything for that love. He was loved for him. He wasn’t just needed, he was wanted. 

Cas got to resolve 1/3 of the main story threads that were set up for him, 1.5 if I’m being generous about point #1, which is still a hell of a lot more than any of the other characters, but it’s a far cry from being in any way satisfying. There’s definitely a point to be made about how by not letting Cas hear/learn that he was loved and valued (explicitly romantic or not) they did a true disservice to Dean and who he was a character and how deeply we know, and have been repeatedly been hit over the head with, he feels for Cas, but that point has been made many times in the past few weeks so I’ll just leave it at that.

Anyway, I know I’ve been contradicting myself since the finale about how I feel about how Cas’ story ended, so I figured it was worth it just to put it all together in one post to kind of make sense of it all.

[petitmonde]

So other than Camine, what are your fave rarepairs from any season 😊

Just like you cant pick a favourite cat, I had quite the problem picking favourite rarepairs. There's just so many good ones.

Well for s14 I can vibe with almost any ship that involves Jasmine, so I guess she's my perfect rarepair bicycle. Hell, I've even thought about making a series of all the s14 girls trying to (and most succeeding) woo and bed her. Gigi/Jasmine is also pretty nice as I've seen it around.

Oh and uh.... I kinda really really like Camden/Daya.

For s12 it's hands down Goodesport. It's actually the ship that got me bullied into getting onto Drag Race tumblr and back into writing again. I just love their dynamic.

I vibe with a ton of s12 ships actually, though listing them out is kinda exhausting. I guess special shout out to Sakurasport?

The super secret ship I have for CDR2 is Brooke x Synthia - mainly because I was immediately sold on the idea of sugar momma Brooke dominating the allegedly innocent Craigslist hooker Synthia.

I'm still contemplating AS7 ships, so far I'm vibing with Jaida x Monet x Shea, Yvie x Jinkx, as well as Jaida x Viv. What turns out to be my favourite at the end of the day is still a good mystery to me.

[thebraxiatelcollection]

Some spoilers below for the final!

-

I have mixed feelings about Chibnall era as a whole, but this series some ways has been better than s11 and s12 put together. I still find there are way too many plot holes involving the Timeless child, and my issue with s13, I get with six episodes you can only cram in so much,  felt it could have gone better if they stopped throwing in so many threads that went nowhere.

I also found it annoying with where they just jumped from one scene to another, without a proper breather. And when Vinder and Bel were reunited finally, that was kinda it? And I adore the Grand Serpent, he’s my favourite character by far as I felt Chibnall really had time to develop him, especially in Survivors of the flux, but the build up from Survivors of the Flux and his involvement with UNIT and Kate throughout the years, I really expected a better ending for him with Kate in the Vanquishers. 

And the Swarm and Azure....they mainly did a lot of talking and talking, and about how they knew the Doctor before her and what they punishments they were going to do with her once they destroyed the universe. Other than that, they were just kinda there? 

I liked the idea of Yaz, Dan and Jericho travelling together in the early 1900s. Jericho was a great character, and I liked his final scene, but again, I never really cared for Yaz and Chibnall for me has left it too late for me to really care for her character.  I hope maybe big finish will do some adventures involving the three of them at some point in the future? 

And the Sontaran being addicted to chocolate was ?? Whacky and cringe at the same time. 

For me mostly, I think the scenes with the Grand Serpent and the ones with Kate Stewart were my favourite by far this era. 

[beastlyanachronism]

Good Recap 2021

List a few good things that happened to you this year.

Thanks for tagging me, @prawns-are-cannibals !

1. I had three jobs this year but they overlapped incredibly conveniently such that I was never unemployed. Also they were all low-stress, work-from-home jobs - ideal. I can cheerfully put off career planning for a few months yet!

2. Got the vaccine. Seems mundane now, but this time last year it still seemed like a far-off dream. Also, managed not to get COVID!

3. Taskmaster S11 and S12 gave me that sweet weekly dose of inanity to cheer me up. VCM and Mike Wozniak being my particular favourites - the latter despite, rather than because of, his two infamous moments. Also realised that I hadn't seen S8 or S9 in full, and remedied that.

4. My laptop, which was ten years old, was staggering towards demise and I was disappointed because they don't make Sony VAIOs any more. But then I got the hard drive replaced and it's had a new lease of life ever since.

5. I went on a staycation (or. holiday as they used to be called.) and took a photo of an odd-looking butterfly. Subsequently looked it up and found it was a comma butterfly. They're pretty rare and I always wanted to see one because they're so weird looking, all raggedy. You know the way, towards the back of a nature book, there's all those really cool species that you never get to see? It was one of those.

I had a good year, all in all. I feel guilty about that, tbh, but still it's important to recognise good times when they happen. I'll tag @educatedinyellow @achilles-sulking-in-his-bunk @stormphoenix @carlodivarga-s and anyone who sees this can say I tagged them.

[laufire]

Rowena for the meme

Why I like them: how could I not??? She’s a great character, AND an absolutely enchanting woman. I could write (very bad, based on previous experience) poetry about her xDD. She’s gorgeous! And witchy! And dramatic! She hits my “older woman of dubious morality” soft spot AND has about everything else going for her lmao.

Why I don’t: I suddenly can’t read.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): I still have a few left with her (far less than I’d like! I know she has a fake marriage with Sam in one though xD), but as of now it’s probably 13x12, where she tricks Sam and Dean (they never find out she’s the one who hired the two witches that rob the book from them lol), comes in to save the day~~, has a few bonding moments with Sam regarding their Lucifer Trauma TM -which leads to Sam sneakily letting her get away with the page she was looking for lol... Another great one is where she encourages her sweet grandson (who she liked!) to return to the past knowing he’d die there, to get revenge against Crowley for forcing her to kill the one person she’d truly loved (another child she’d actually loved like a son). This family istg xDDD. 13x19, where she sets out to defy Death and force her to bring Crowley back to life is another contender (theirs is a complicated mother-son bond lmfao).

Favorite season/movie: it’s hard to say because I’ve enjoyed all four so far (well, in terms of Rowena’s storyline at least. I have Opinions on s12 and s13 lol). But I have to say Rowena is about the first character I’ve fully enjoyed (so far) seeing joining the team after being in more antagonistic role, simply because it’s fun xD, and in that sense she was a breath of fresh air in s13.

Favorite line: oh man. She has so many. One thing I’ll say for these writers is that they took advantage of having a theatre trained actress and gave her GREAT monologues lmao. See all these lovely things she tells to Crowley lmfao:

“This demon asks you to equalize credit for his and another's work. Split the baby if you will. Well, then I would well and truly split the baby. I'd cut this pulling, pathetic, grade-grubbing git in two, literally. Then I'd nail his bloody halves to the doors of the court. A reminder to all not to waste the King's time! Whiners beget whiners. You can't reward behavior like that. Why, I never gave in when you asked for sweeties as a child no matter how much you cried. Well, you were a very chunky child, darling. A bit of a bloater.”

“You can't understand my disappointment or my pride. You don't know this but after I left you, after I was forced to leave you, I heard of your death. Your mortal death. I thought you were gone to me forever. Then, hundreds of years later and thousands of miles away, I find you: the King of Hell. And not by luck or accident, you made that happen all by yourself. You're not a mother. You can't know what that pride felt like. How huge it was. But can you try to imagine, for me? Now do you understand why it breaks my heart to see what a colossal numb nut you've become? You've got the crown but you're no ruler, not really. A sad, bored wee boy on the throne who'll flop ass up the second those Winchesters, hunters who'd as soon see you dead as have you to tea, ask you to. You're no king. Not any more. You're their bitch!”

“I hate you because, when I look into your eyes, I see the woman I used to be, before magic, before the coven, when I was nothing but Rowena, the tanner's daughter. A pale, scared little girl who smelled of filth and death. I hate you because, when you were born, your father said he loved me. Then he went back to his grand wife and his grand house, whilst I lay pathetic and half-dead on a straw mat - my thighs slick with blood. I hate you, because if I didn't, I'd love you. But love... love is weakness. And I'll never be weak again.”

Then there’s of course “You say that like it’s an insult. Nice girls, they’re pathetic. Here’s to evil skanks.” (to Dean, after he calls her an evil skank). And the iconique “I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE FOR BEING A CAREER WOMAN!!” (to Crowley, after he reproaches her abandonment of him as a child).

Favorite outfit: THIS IS THE MOST UNFAIR QUESTION I’VE EVER ASKED. Seriously, I literally spend all of her scenes making heart eyes at her looks, choosing is too difficult xD

This purple dress.

this blue one (just what you casually wear to break into a creepy house with your new frenemy Sam Winchester)

This purple dressing gown

This backless red dress

Everything she’s worn has been perfect for her, but I have a weakness for the long dresses.

OTP: Sam/Rowena is a great ship. Although if I’m honests, my favourite relationship of hers altogether is with Crowley. I love a good Bad Mom TM dynamic xDD

Brotp: see above. And I’ve enjoyed her (too few) moments with Castiel and Jack. Also Chuck lol.

Head Canon: I choose to believe she and Bela have crossed paths. Because.

Unpopular opinion: idek. Okay, I have one. You know how fandom obsesses over characters that SUPPOSEDLY have a hard exterior but are secretly softies, and that do terrible things to cover that and protect themselves (I’m looking at you Dean stans lol)? Rowena is the actual real deal here. Accept no substitutes xD

A wish: well, it would’ve been NICE if she hadn’t been so unceremoneously removed from the narrative in s15 (I mean, still a better ending than I would’ve hoped given the show’s track record, but I would’ve preferred to have her in the show moving the plot and all). At least it’s one of those endings with possibility~, so fics will be coming xD

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: the show is done and it could’ve been worse lmao. Dead with no possibility of return/no reigning position in Hell, for one.

5 words to best describe them: powerful, creative, meddling, striking, gracious.

My nickname for them: well, I keep calling her my ideal woman lmao.