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And whose choice reveals she definitively has a favorite child.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a story about the horrors of having a mother who’d rather die than be in therapy

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And somehow Rogue's super-hell fate isn't even the thing I was most sucker-punched in the gut about, in regards to going into these RTD2 seasons with good faith and being disappointed at nearly every turn. I have to get some DW thoughts out, I think. It's a long one, so I put under the cut. TL:DR is

Disappointed by RTD2 era DW which feels like I'm being gaslit by an entire IP.

Verada Sethu is an incredible talent, and if I had a nickel for every time a prominent long running sci Fi series show horned her character into terrible misogynistic tropes in 2025, I'd have two nickels....

Ncuti Gatwa was the bright light of the season. Beautiful, effervescent, charming, what a delight as the Doctor.

"The Story and the Engine" was the best of this run.

My knee-jerk reaction to Rose Noble, as a transgender person myself, was deep discomfort that never quite resolved....there's something slightly *off* with how I feel RTD presented her I never quite managed to land on, beyond that I think it was really problematic to insinuate that Donna absorbing feminine magic while she had a child in utero is why that child "became" a girl...but I have lost a lot of my tolerance for transgender "discourse" because of a lack of good faith critical thought and conversation...I don't even know what I'm saying besides, did other transgender people feel that way?

Also, while DW has always been campy, it's also often made some kind of social statement. And yet I feel this entire run lacked the fangs or impact of any true statement or positionality. A problem would be introduced, as of to say 'look how aware of the social contexts we are,' only to ignore or refuse to contend with what that issue actually means or would impact. Like Rogue's arc, for example.

The "problems" I think his character seems to address:

1. That the Doctor never says they love their companions to their faces. Heavily implied to mean romantic love (see the famous Ten/Rose sequence) but not always.

2. Having a canonically confirmed queer element to the Doctor. I.e. diversity/representation, etc.

But what the narrative actually DOES is more important, to me, than saying something exists on the page. "Look, we confirmed the doctor was queer by having him kiss Rogue and say he loves Belinda to her face!' yes, and that's nice, sure, in 2025, but here's why I have a problem with these things:

1. While the longing and angst is certainly an intentional element in storytelling, the let the Doctor tell their companions they love them thing, when juxtaposed with Thirteen's appearance and commentary regarding her romantic love for Yaz, which I think was pretty clearly stated "it would be you," but I digress...if the core of these longings is romantic queerness, then the Doctor saying he loves Belinda, whose own ending is so....awful, doesn't actually address what the desire for the 'I love you" commentary actually WAS. It's a bit like saying retroactively Dumbledore was gay the whole time...and like I do think it's important to show and express platonic love, but I think that message is lost by refusing to even acknowledge the lurking spectre of queer desire present since original DW. 15 talking about his love for any other companion, especially non romantic ones like Graham, could have assuaged me here.

2. Rogue. In a lot of ways the episode mirrored Ten's "The Girl in the Fireplace," which was also heavily implied romantic/sexual that ended without Ten getting his happily ever after, too.

Except in that case, his love interest went on to love a fulfilling happy life where she was the consort to a powerful man who she seemed to hold in high regard, even if she did have true feelings for the Doctor.

And Rogue...went to hell. He isn't dead, but he isn't coming back any time soon.

And I can't help but feel like the conservative issues I had with RTD1 era and Moffat era in general have been enhanced by Disney's corporate sanitization?

'look at all the diversity' but what does that actually MEAN? The beat episode of Ncuti's run WAS written and directed by the people whose story was being told, and you could tell! It was incredible! And it wasn't *trying* to make a point without understanding what it's core context is in the world of 2025.

Finally, I have all these feelings, and I am deeply upset by these seasons of a television show, because I want to belong to the IP's I love, I want them to cling to me, too. If I didn't love it, it wouldn't hurt.

poor rogue saved the world from compulsory heterosexuality and is still chilling in gay super hell (only other occupent: castiell)

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Ben Starr, having quite a year in my household.

Ben Starr did Such an amazing job as Verso and I just had to redraw him based on this pic of Ben…. And also because man, if anyone deserves some happiness it’s probably Verso 😅

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This is how my dissertation has been progressing.

"just write a little every day" ok but what if i write nothing for 3 weeks and then suddenly type like i’m being hunted by god

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HUGE NEWS! MERCH DROP! There’s still time to get QLL Swag for your pride plans this month, and hey, enjoy them for the rest of the summer too!

We’ve got a black ball cap hat with the QLL logo on it and a navy blue tank top with the words “READ TRANS BOOKS” in our pinkpunk lettering. Both are $24.99 and all proceeds go back to QLL and back into keeping the library running. And, as usual, these are union made in the USA by Worx!

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You know when Annie placed her hand on Smoke's chest, and then he put his hand over hers while looking at her? You know when Smoke opened his jacket and showed he was still wearing the Mojo bag she'd given him and she looked up to him with the most roundest, softest brown eyes ever? Yeah that.

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Merrin is the goat and I will take no slander.

Raised by ghosts and Night Brothers, though it's clear they always saw her as something separate and sacred, not of them, but above them, she manages to take in new information to understand the world around her without swallowing in her own losses? (The fight with Malicos)

She goes into the world to learn about it and herself, but always returns to Dathomir, becomes a hero in her own right and an integral member of the Hidden Path, a sister to Cere (Battle Scars) and even though she always had feelings for Cal, she waits to act on them until both he and she have accomplished enough healing to meet each other as equals.

She's powerful and clever, smart and fierce, funny as hell and intense. Canonically queer, too.

And when I think about the other two women in canon who survived the same even she did, the genocide of the Night Sisters, and it makes some sense, right? Asajj had a different path and she's slightly older, but you get the same kind of funny snark from her.

But Morgan Elsbeth? What a fascinating character. She's likely between Asajj and Merrin in age, though closer to Merrin. Also a survivor. They all use that word for themselves.

I dunno, I love the Night Sisters and I love Merrin especially.

I relate to Merrin, because if I was a mythical space witch, I would also be constantly saying unsettling things to be funny. The absolutely deadpan "I might need your blood. In case I get tired" with no explanation or joining in on Bode's attempted fake laughter. I stan her so hard.

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Came here looking for Eddie (and Volt, but mostly Eddie) art and am not disappointed!

i was complaining abt the lack of volt and eddie fan content rn and wanted to be the change i wanted to see or something so here are the doodles i made in equal amounts of passion and rage

both

bigger separate ones

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If season two doesn't lean into the lesbian angsty longing between the two of them, I swear....

Then again, I've been burned a lot by Disney in the past couple of years, and I highly doubt they'd actually confirm a ship of this nature.

Wolfwren is true in my heart, though.

I maintain they they should have been lesbians in the show

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Is BD-1 my fave SW droid?

Actually, maybe? I love Chopper, but BD is so sweet and wholesome, ya know?

IT'S PRIDE MONTH EVERYONE! And BD-1 is here to say that TRANS LIVES MATTER, full stop. If you have any flag requests, please let me know and I will tag you in the post!

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Did someone do this yet

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My beautiful horror protagonist... My pure-maiden-coveted-by-terrible-being coded main character.. the brightest sun that attracts the darkest shadow 🫶

(got distracted as im compiling refs)

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I have some half formed thoughts that rework the Elaine of Astolat sequence as Natasia...

And also I have questions about the original Merlin, whose death hasn't been discussed (in my memory?) but culturally is known for being quasi-immortal..

Man you know what is going to be REALLY funny in LB4? The conversation between Sel, Bre, Nick and Natasia….

Like:

Either Natasia intentionally slept with Erebus and never mentioned it to anyone.

She thought she was with his „human father“ but turn out it wasn’t him at all. We know Erebus can shapeshift without anyone noticing.

Either way this is…man this is fucked up. Does she know who Erebus is? Did she REALISE who her son is? Does she even know?!

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Confirmation Verso and Clea are into the same type of women, something something mommy problems?

okay I know I retired from Clair Obscur Discourse due to Evil however I do have one last question that isn't capital-D Discourse so it's technically allowed:

who do you think painted Golgra? like it was definitely either Verso or Clea, but which one was like "hey what if a gestral was Really Big and she Stepped On Me"?

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I am an Arthurian scholar, and I've been catching up on the Librarians now, over a decade later.

This is 💯 accurate and my favorite modern version of Excalibur. Flynn Carson IS worthy to wield it, I will accept no slander here.

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The thing I love about the Jedi series so much is the weight of grief that's palpable throughout.

Fallen Order is so much about being stuck in time, but so is Survivor, in an even more literal way.

The consistent refrain that every day is a new choice, and it's hard, and will always be hard, but that's what it means to choose the light?

That all these parallels are given. We start with Cal and Trilla of course, but Cal and Merrin are also reflections. Then we get into Dagan and Bode and Santari's influence...

External to the games Merrin is one of three explored Nightsister genocide survivors. She, Asajj, and Morgan Elsbeth survived the same event; so whenever I think of Cal/Merrin and how their mutual empathy and friendship blossomed into something beyond expectations, but the Ahsoka/Morgan parallel, also survivors, is so different.

I'm not sure where Cal's story will go from here, depends when they choose to set the last game. I don't want to speculate, but there are insane potentials what with the Hidden Path, the ages of Cal and Merrin, and the fact that both VA's could reasonably play live action versions of their characters through much of the current star wars timeline. Not always about crossovers, but the way Vernestra showed up in Acolyte after appearing in the High Republic books could be a template?

Anyway. Playing the games, loving the world, obsessed with Nightsisters.