#A History of Alien Invasions Part I | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kathaynesart · 6 months

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I remember when you first started Replica and I haven't been here in a hot minute!

May you please do a debrief of what it is, the characters and their relationships.

I want to be able to give my friend (who I finally dragged down into this TMNT rabbit hole) a good explanation of your wonderful comic!

(⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

Aw thank you so much! Hm… I suppose a summary would be good to have on hand. For the uninitiated with no context, here is the basic elevator pitch:

The year is 2044 and the last remaining Resistance of Earth has just fallen to the alien invaders known as the Krang. In a last ditch effort to save the planet, Casey, a freedom fighter is sent back in time to undo the events that first led to the invasion. While he is ultimately successful in his mission, the state of his original fallen timeline remains unknown. The last of the freedom fighters, his family, perished to ensure his safe escape, leaving their world to the mercy of the Krang.

Which brings us to the ultimate question: when you already know the heroes are doomed to fail, what can be gained from being told their story?

For the rest below, I’m going to write with the assumption that the reader has some basic knowledge of the series and the film because I feel that this story is best enjoyed with proper context.

SUMMARY

Replica is a story meant to answer many of the questions the first 4 minutes of the movie left us wondering. It’s to explain the basic history of the bad future timeline and how it came to be. The plot focuses particularly on the later half of the apocalypse, all with the intention of leading up to the opening scene where the Krang wins and Casey Junior is sent back in time to fix the mistakes that Leo and his family could not.

It’s to answer questions like:

How did Leo get injured?

Why is Mikey so old looking?

What were these characters like in the future?

What happened to Raph, Donnie, and April?

Where is big bad Krang Prime in all this?

How did the Resistance finally lose to the Krang?

Did they plan to send Casey back in time in advance?

What happened to this world/time-branch after Casey Jr was sent into the past?

MAIN CHARACTERS

For the most part, the cast is comprised entirely of characters from the series. My goal is to keep this as canon as possible, so no new OC's... save for one (kind of).

Omega Bootyyyshaker 9000 is where this story starts and ultimately where it ends. He is a brain scan AI of Donatello, created to act as both a support system for the Resistance after the turtle’s untimely death and also a key component in a plan that will hopefully put a stop to the Krang should the Resistance fail. Omega is great because he adds some much needed levity to the story, acting a bit more like the aloof but silly teenage Donnie (a side affect of not having to experience the usual physical weariness that comes with being an organic, aging organism in an apocalypse). However, he also adds more weight by being the thing that is supposed to outlast all of them and act as the last line of defense for the remainder of the universe. He claims to merely be a "replica" of Donnie's mind, but whether he's just a digitized scan, his own AI person, or somehow connected to Donnie in a deeper way has yet to be seen.

Leonardo Hamato: the man, the myth, the legend. Casey Junior spins tales of how great his sensei was in the movie, but in this story we really get to see Leo go from his lowest point as a pawn for the government, crushed by the shame of his past actions, to his greatest height as the leader of the Resistance. He is going to fail a lot in this story... but ultimately his greatest success is overcoming his own inner demons and coming to terms with being the father figure he had never asked to be. He cares deeply for his family and Casey... but he thinks he'd be a horrible dad.

Michelangelo Hamato: the only other surviving turtle to see the end of the world. He is the emotional bedrock of the family and a stand in therapist when he's not being a silly little guy. His mystical powers are unparalleled, but in his attempts to regain his lost Ninpo he taps into something far deeper, leading them down a path that intertwines the destiny of their doomed future and a past that has yet to occur.

Casey Jones Jr: a sweet boy taken in by the Hamato family. He strives to become a great warrior like his mother (Cassandra) and his Sensei (Leo). We are going to watch him grow from child to teenager as he slowly takes on the roll of being a fighter in the resistance. Through it all he must walk an unsteady line that allows him to find the strength to weather the storm but retain a certain spark of hope that helps keep his family going.

April O'neil: Commander of the Resistance and another honorary Hamato family member. She is the voice of reason and most emotionally stable of the family. Even after dealing with so much loss, she keeps a stiff upper lip as well as cold and calculating mind that always puts the colony's wellbeing first and foremost.

Donatello Hamato (deceased): The story begins shortly after Donnie’s passing during an infiltration mission against the Krang. He was dead set on planting a probe behind enemy lines that would allow them to spy on the Krang’s movements. However it seems that he had a secret agenda in planting something that would work as a final doomsday weapon against the Krang. What that is exactly, we do not yet know. The man self-destructed in a last ditch effort to avoid being interrogated by the Krang as well as a final attack to injure Krang Prime.

Raphael Hamato (deceased): The eldest brother who sadly passed away many years ago in the fight against the Krang. A boisterous but considerate man whose death sapped a great deal of the fighting spirit out of his brothers. His absence is greatly felt, but he might not be as far gone as he seems.

Krang Prime (One): Our big bad of the story. He is the leader of the Krang that has latched onto this planet like a cancer, using up its resources and assimilating its population. However, unlike the hundreds of planets that have come before this one is particularly personal. He doesn't want to merely assimilate but utterly destroy the descendants that caused his imprisonment thousands of years ago. His current state is unknown after being last seen with Donatello at the time of the man's self-destruction.

NEED TO KNOW DETAILS

All Resistance fighters have tiny self destruct bombs in their brains so that the Krang can not probe their minds to find out the Liberty Colony's location. They go off automatically after Krang infestation reaches a certain percentage, but can also be set off via voice command.

Donnie's brain bomb was far more potent because of the amount of information he knew. He did not want to risk the Krang getting any part of his mind.

The Krang have been searching for the resistance in a frustrating game of cat and mouse which has only become more difficult now that the Resistance easily knows their every move by using Donnie's probe.

Central Park Colony: now destroyed, but was once the last massive human colony in North America, housing both the EPF (Earth Protection Force) and US Government. Racism was a huge problem as most yokai and mutants were either quarantined, tested on, or used as living weapons in the fight against the Krang. It has since been destroyed.

Liberty Colony (aka the Resistance): grew from the ashes of the Central Park Colony. It is comprised of the survivors and lead by Leonardo, April, and several others. It is much smaller and more militaristic, but treats yokai, humans, and mutants equally.

Artificial Intelligence (like Omega and Shelldon) are able to fend off the Krang assimilation that people and tech would normally succumb to. It is for this reason Omega is used as both a protector of the Liberty Colony and operator for a majority of the vehicles so that the tech can no longer be easily taken over by the Krang during attacks.

Leonardo and Michelangelo (as well as Donatello's) Ninpo have all been stripped from them by this point in the story. While Leo can not tap into his family connection at all, Mikey at least has regained the ability to use some of his mystic powers.

Mikey's mystic abilities however come at a price. Since he can not tap into his Ninpo and the fountain of energy from his ancestors, he is instead using his own life force to cast his spells. It is slowly draining him.

TIMELINE Can be viewed HERE

SOURCE MATERIAL The video that inspired this all can be viewed HERE

Hope this helps! Sorry it's a bit long, tried to break it up with images. At least there might be a few interesting bits of information other readers may not have noticed. I snuck in a few things that haven't been mentioned yet, hehe.

#rottmnt replica #replica #rottmnt #kathaynesart #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #unpause rise of the tmnt #q&a #save rottmnt #unpause rottmnt

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tenebraevesper · 5 months

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Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 1)

Welcome to the first part of my personal elaboration on the topic of why ''Prime!Shadow is peak Shadow!'', or in other words, why Prime!Shadow is one of the best written iterations of Shadow's character.

Will I try to make proper arguments for his character writing? Of course. Will I also be biased as hell just because he's my favorite character? Absolutely!

So, if you can handle both of that, we should dive in!

Before I start, I suppose I should give a brief overview of Shadow's character and how he had been handled through the years. The general consensus seems to be that Shadow was at his peak as a character from Sonic Adventure 2 to Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (as well as Pre-Reboot!Archie Comics during Ian Flynn's run), being someone who was deeply traumatized by the death of his sister Maria Robotnik, had his memories manipulated to get revenge on humanity, only to sacrifice his own life to save the world Maria cherished, losing his memories in the process and trying to carve out his own path, only to finally solidify his role as a protector of the world, even if his methods aren't always the most peaceful ones.

So, where does the idea of edgelord Shadow come from?

Yeaaahh... let's just say that Shadow's own game, Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), didn't do him any good in the character department, because it seems that all that people remember was that one time SEGA decided to give Shadow a gun and let him deal with an alien invasion. The confusing story routes didn't help either.

In time, Shadow's character went from a complex and layered character to something akin to Vegeta (no offense Dragon Ball fans!), much to the disappointment of everyone who understood character before he underwent this transformation. Also, I'm not counting Boom!Shadow in this because Sonic Boom is a different universe and its own thing, but I won't argue against the fact that Boom!Shadow's characterization as a complete jerkass didn't do Game!Shadow any favor either. That's not even mentioning the Sonic IDW Comics, where Shadow had many mandates tied to him that even the writers found it annoying to write him (although with the most recent arc where Shadow was shown, it seems that the mandates have loosened a little).

Of course, I might be missing out on some information, but this is the general gist of the history of his character. So, when Sonic Prime revealed that Shadow would be one of the major characters, you can bet that I was nervous about how he would be written and I decided to keep a close eye on his characterization; and honestly, I went from genuinely pleased to excited when I realized that Shadow was being written as a very compelling character. Not only that, but he also appeared to have gone through subtle character development over the course of the show.

Starting from the very beginning, I'm certain that you remember how Shadow's first appearance was basically him punching Sonic at the end of Episode 01: Shattered, a very impactful first impression that left us with more questions and headaches. The following episode, Episode 02: The Yoke's On You, gives us more details in regards to why he punched Sonic, seemingly out of the blue.

Shadow's proper introduction kicks off with him searching for the Chaos Emerald... and I have to ask, when was the last time we even saw Shadow genuinely smile? Was in the Mario & Sonic at The Olympic Games franchise? I don't really remember.

In any case, being clearly happy about finding the Chaos Emerald, he speeds off, only to suddenly sense that something is wrong and is met with a giant blue pulse of energy (released during Sonic's fight with Dr. Eggman) and a vision of Sonic using the Paradox Prism energy.

''Sonic!''

This expression just screams ''Something bad is going to happen and it's Sonic's fault! I'm going to kick his ass before he does anything stupid!''

We then follow Shadow as he searches for Sonic, clocking him square in the face for something he hasn't done yet. Eh, I'd say that this one wasn't really deserved.

Even before Sonic starts explaining his relationship with Shadow, we immediately get an understanding of Shadow's character. He is serious, works alone, quite fast and powerful, prefers to fight over talking things out, is willing to do anything to protect his home and clearly has a history with Sonic. Sonic proceeds to add how Shadow is his biggest rival, a buzzkill and that he totally roller-skates.

''They're air shoes!''

Did... Did Shadow just break the 4th wall? Did he just make a joke? Dude, not even Boom!Shadow got to do that and Sonic Boom was the epitome of wall breaking!

Yeah, let's just say that my jaw dropped when I heard this, realizing that Shadow's character in Sonic Prime will be different than what we got used to see.

So, after knocking the Rings out of Sonic (I mean that literally), Shadow questions him about what he has done, with Sonic pointing out how Eggman is the bad guy, clearly confused about why Shadow is attacking him.

''You literally shook the world!'' ''That's because I'm good! And powerful apparently! Jealous?''

After a bit of teasing from Sonic, he and Shadow get into a race, during which I had noticed something. While Sonic keeps teasing Shadow (and also having fun fighting him), Shadow tells him to stop and listen for once.

''Clearly you're angry, which is normal,... but I'm supposed to be on a bit of a mission here, Shadow!'' ''What mission?'' ''None of your business.''

Sooooo, have you noticed it too? Because there is something very telling in this interaction. If you haven't, I'll let it play out until the end. Anyways, to continue, Shadow knocks Sonic into a rock, with Sonic confirming another aspect of their relationship.

''Ughh, I know, we're fighting again. Don't worry guys, I'll calm him down.''

We now know that this certainly wasn't the first time they had a fight and it won't be the last time. Sonic points out that, whatever beef they have, they aren't going to settle it this way. While Sonic is right, I will admit, I had to gush over the excellent animation and fight choreography. X3

Sonic then hears an explosion from the cave where the Paradox Prism is and tells Shadow that he needs to get to his friends, only to get punched for his troubles.

''Learn to focus!''

Now that the flashback is over, what exactly is going on between the two?

First of all, the main thing I have noticed is that both Shadow and Sonic seriously have a problem with communication. Shadow knows Sonic is about to do something stupid, and from his actions (aka choosing violence over talking) he is trying to prevent Sonic from doing whatever he was about to do. It does paint Shadow as a bit of a jerk, but Sonic isn't completely innocent here either.

An observation I had made was that Shadow probably knows that if he tried to just talk to Sonic, Sonic would either blow him off and run away or just tease him back, which was confirmed when Shadow asks him on what kind of mission he is with Sonic responding that it's none of his business. I imagine that there were previous events where Sonic was doing something stupid and Shadow tried to stop him from making things worse, and that violence was indeed the answer to Sonic's antics.

If Sonic had explained to Shadow what the deal is, I'm certain that Shadow would help him out. Perhaps Shadow could've told him about his vision, but going by Sonic's behavior, Sonic would probably not listen to him.

This brings me to my second point - this moment establishes that, if there will be character development for Shadow, it will be mainly through his interactions with Sonic and them learning to work together and listen to each other, something I'm really excited to talk about in later episodes.

The flashback continues in Episode 03: Escape From New Yoke, where Sonic does the old ''Hey, look behind you!'' trick and Shadow falls for it, hook, line and sinker. Sonic knocks him into a wall and speeds off to where his friends are fighting Eggman, leaving Shadow to recover and follow him.

I do like how Shadow just shakes his head here. Even if he doesn't say much, you can clearly see what it is going through his mind. He's angry at Sonic, but acknowledges that this is just typical for his blue rival.

in Episode 07: It Takes One to No Place, we see that Shadow manages to reach the Paradox Prism cave, just as Sonic is about to shatter it.

''Chaos Control!''

Unlike Sonic's friends and Dr. Eggman, Shadow manages to use Chaos Control, preventing him from being shattered just like the others.

''Sonic!''

Instead, he finds himself floating in The Void. I'll leave what happened to him in The Void for the next part, but what is important to note is that he cannot enter the individual Shatterspaces, but he can communicate with Sonic every time the latter gains enough speed to use the Paradox Prism Energy.

''Sonic, it's broken! It's all broken!''

Sonic is at first freaked out, thinking he's just hallucinating. I suppose that explains why Sonic keeps ignoring him in any subsequent appearances, despite Shadow trying his best to contact him and trying to explain him what to do, like telling him how he's lost in The Void and for Sonic to keep moving and to not stop (which also leads Sonic to find out how he can travel between Shatterspaces).

I suppose this can also be interpreted as ''Sonic leaves Shadow on read''. X3

Once Sonic accidentally gets out of No Place in Episode 08: There Is No Arrgh In Team, he is confronted by Shadow, who is absolutely furious. Not that Sonic notices, given how he had a really rough day himself.

''Shadow? Ugh, I don't have time to deal with whoever you are. I just wanna go home.''

''Home? Home doesn't exist anymore BECAUSE OF YOU!''

Considering what Sonic had done, yeah, this punch was definitely deserved.

As I said above, the first eight episodes are here to establish Shadow's character, his relationship/rivalry with Sonic and his own flaws (mainly the lack of communication on his part, choosing to fight Sonic instead) and it is clear that in order to overcome those flaws, he will have to work with Sonic (calm down Sonadow shippers, we didn't get there yet), something I'm excited to explore in the second part of this analysis.

#Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 2)

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

#Ten's Thoughts #sonic prime #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonadow prime #sonadow

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talenlee · 3 months

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Goblin, Vandal, Sugg

Every word you’ve ever used comes from somewhere. The structures you use to discuss ideas is informed by ideas that came before it. I’m not getting all Sapir-Worf about this (and if you don’t know what that is, you don’t have to know because it’s probably not true), but rather wanting to draw your attention to the way the world you live in is in part defined by the words you use. If you’re an English speaker, there are ways you describe food that are a byproduct of French invasion centuries ago. Words like ‘technocrat’ and ‘hyperspecialised’ are constructions that borrow from how intellectuals used to use Latin. Your swear words are almost all from the poor working class, and used to describe sex, god, or excrement, and that’s not how all swear words work in all cultures!

Your world shapes your language.

In any given fantasy setting you work on, you don’t usually have the same linguistic history to justify why the people there talk like we talk now. In fact, to be completely fair, they probably don’t talk like us at all: you have fantasy languages, across fantasy constructions. Any given phrase a character in your world says is probably not using the exact same words as we are and we’re all working with a sort of fictionalised fantasy that makes the concepts reasonably translate across.

There’s a whole treatise then about how we handle Native American names and loanwords that we italicise like etouffee.

Point is that you have words, in your world, and you can attach stories to them. You’ve probably seen me talk about Orcs and how they relate to language and stereotypes, along in my long post on the word ‘Orc’. Here’s another set of examples I like for my world of Cobrin’Seil, as they pertain to the best little evolved raccoons, the Goblins.

The word ‘Goblin’

In Cobrin’Seil, most people speak two languages. Most people who speak only one language speak Common, and Common is full of loanwords from other languages. ‘Orc’ and ‘Beast’ are well known loanwords. There is a word that has risen in prominence throughout all the common-speaking countries in less than seventy years, and the word it displaced is still even in functional and legal use.

The word is both new and old; new to common, but an old word to the language it’s from. This word is Goblin.

Goblins are by no means new. They’re one of the three great old cultures of the world, a social symbiote culture that pretty much exists in any given settlement of any size. It’s usually seen as a sign of health that a community can sustain Goblins — in the same way that communities that lack pets are probably culturally alienated from all the cultures that do keep pets — and if you encounter an enclave that lacks goblins, it’s often because that enclave is specifically for a purpose and has done proactive things to drive out Goblin presence. Goblins are a culture that’s as old as Orcs, older than Ogres and even most of what you’d consider modern-day Elves.

But the word Goblin was not a word in common language and descriptors that was used in dictionaries and education and technical words, until what are known as the Peoples Reform. Not People’s Reforms – but the legal system of the Eresh Protectorate (which tends to set precedents most of the rest of the world follows) formalised the idea of Peoples. For most cultures, this didn’t make a lot of changes, but it did peel out of the laws one of the largest and long-standing carve-outs for Goblins that eroded the idea of their own cultural identity and heritage. The word Goblin is encoded as the term Goblins use to describe Goblins.

Linguistically, Goblin is a funny word. It’s an omniterm; without modification, it serves as noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb and preposition and it does so in entirely intelligible ways to those contextually familiar. The sentence ‘Goblin goblin goblin goblin goblin’ is a meaningful sentence describing a party taking care of a third party because they see the commonality they have with one another. Good luck making that make sense in a sent letter though.

Goblin is possessive; in a lot of ways it can be translated to the common term ‘us,’ with some wiggle room. It’s also a comical non-answer; guards asking a Goblin ‘what are you doing?’ will often get the answer ‘goblin,’ which in this case means something like ‘being myself and doing what I should be doing,’ which is an answer but it is also unhelpful, and you have to understand how goblins communicate to get a handle on what that might mean. Goblin language is simple but contextual and it tends to highlight that goblins are extremely prosocial. Goblin language makes very little sense without the context of who is talking and about what.

There’s a real truth to the fact that many Goblins who have taken to theatre or art will write dialogue in Goblin but stage directions in Common.

But the word is new, legally, but the people aren’t. What was the change? Well, prior to the Peoples Reforms, the term the human kingdoms used for the people known as Goblins was the term Vandal.

The Word ‘Vandal’

You can’t kidnap a Goblin.

Legally, I mean.

This isn’t because Goblins were protected under the law, no no, the laws were way too racist for that. The crime was that, wherever you transported the Goblins to, the people didn’t want Goblins there, so you were committing a crime by inflicting Goblins on them. Basically, it was considered a crime to take a Goblin from one place to another, because the place the Goblin arrived didn’t necessarily consent to the presence of a Goblin.

The term for transporting a Goblin was based on an archaic term for Goblins that operated on the assumptions that Goblins were just a problem and a pest brought into any space. They were known as Vandals, a term hypothetically meaning all nonhuman troublesome cultures including Gnolls and Bugbears, because if those people arrived in a place, they’d wreck things. Funnily enough, Gnolls and Bugbears got removed from this term over time because they would usually, if it rose to legal levels, be committing much more dire crimes, and also, guards didn’t like just bullying them at random, since they were very big and tough people by comparison to the much smaller Goblin. Over time, ‘Vandal’ came to mean ‘Goblins, and behaving like a Goblin,’ and that association meant the legal term got ensnared around it. Ultimately, dropping Goblins off in a space that did not want them was the act of Vandalism. Vandal then, was a term used to not to refer to the Goblins themselves; much funnier, instead, it was the legal term for a person who committed the crime of nonconsensual transporting of Goblins.

During the Peoples Reforms, since this law already existed, the crime of Transporting A Goblin Nonconsensually remained on the books, but Kidnapping, as defined under laws, had its historical Goblin Carve-Out. Nowadays, kidnapping a Goblin is typically treated as Vandalism (Kidnapping), because tidying up old and technically incorrect laws is a lot of a pain in the butt. This even applies when the Goblins are lawyers, who as it turns out, delight in getting non-Goblins in trouble for ‘Vandalism,’ which is a catch-all term under Eresh law for ‘general goblin-like behaviour.’ And we’ll talk more about what makes something Goblin-like in the context of Cobrin’Seil another time.

The word ‘Sugg’

But there is a word, ambiguous in meaning and origin that exists in common, that most people know and that word is ‘sugg.’ It seems to indicate a sort of laziness, a restful state. If you see a Goblin curled up on a pile of playing cards, ears out, eyes closed, you might say ‘can’t use those cards, there’s a goblin sugging on it.’ Or ‘sorry man, I’m pretty sugg.’ The word is extremely ambiguous but it has a thread throughout it of being:

Indulgently lazy

Very relaxed

Overwhelming and absolute

The thing is, nobody’s too sure what it means, and when you ask people who would know, they tell you to ask a Goblin. Goblins, after all, are where the word comes from. In fact, if you ask the right goblins in the right trail you’ll find that while Goblins use the word ‘sugg’ in the same way, they think it comes from Common. Why?

Because Goblins got the word from this thing they found in established human communities. There’d be a nice small dark box, full of paper that you could just curl up in and nest in, and on the outside of the box, there’d be a notice: SUGGEST IN BOX. So they assume the Goblin who enjoys that box the most must surely be their sugg-est Goblin. Which meant paying attention to how they all sugg, and from there, the neologism was born.

Now, non-Goblins and Goblins alike use ‘sugg’, each convinced they got it from the other.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Cobrin'Seil #goblinposting #Goblins #World Building #Games #Making #Media

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timeagainreviews · 5 months

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Dance, Magic Dance: The Church on Ruby Road

With the return of Russell T Davies we were given a “new” Doctor Who logo with their revamped take on the classic diamond logo. The diamond logo is everywhere now. Books, web content, episodes, and more are stamped with it. Everything except for the “Doctor Who: The Collection,” blu-rays which continue to display the Jodie Whittaker era logo. The reason for this is simple- spines. Most people display books and physical media with their spines facing outward. If you were to change the font on those spines, they lose their uniformity. For some people, that shit is infuriating. It’s not just Doctor Who fans either. The infamous plastic Homer head box for The Simpsons’ sixth season DVD is still controversial. If Doctor Who fans can get upset about a blu-ray spine, then imagine how they might react if you were to change the Saturday time slot to a Sunday. Or even more brazenly, imagine changing the Christmas episode to a New Year's Eve episode. Should be super easy, barely an inconvenience. Right?

It had been six years since Doctor Who last aired a Christmas special. While I have come to appreciate the importance of a Christmas episode within the fandom, I argued in favour of the change at the time as I am not the biggest fan of Christmas. I have history with the holiday, like many of us do. New Year’s Eve also pertains to time, so it made some sense. And for as cheerful as they tend to be, Doctor Who Christmas specials were becoming a graveyard of regenerating Doctors. I get that Christmas is about renewal, but watching the Doctor die on Christmas isn’t my jam, especially if they’re surrounded by a bunch of tacky Christmas decor. Only one other time do we see a freshly regenerated Doctor at the beginning of a Christmas episode and that was David Tennant in “The Christmas Invasion.” It also consistently ranks as the best of the RTD Christmas specials. Though I believe “The Church on Ruby Road,” may soon challenge that.

Before I get into it, I want to preface this by saying I was on my third flute of Buck’s Fizz by the time the episode started. I don’t usually drink alcohol when I’m about to watch a film or TV show. I once went to see Terry Gilliam’s “The Brothers Grimm,” while drunk and it was a bad time on two fronts. But this was Christmas, I was feeling a bit jolly. I only mention this because I may be a bit fuzzy on the details. It’s funny then that the details are another reason I’m feeling a bit fuzzy. Last night, when I should have been asleep, I was researching runes, glyphs, and symbols in an attempt to identify the symbols drawn on the Doctor’s fingernails. That’s how intriguing this new era of Doctor Who is- it’s got me doing research into the early hours of the morning.

Where I first noticed the symbols drawn on Ncuti’s fingernails was in the below promotional image. They looked like some fan had put them there, but when I saw that it was official, I felt a stir inside. Part of me mourned for the kids who have parents like my mom who would see those symbols, call them Satanic and forbid them from watching Doctor Who. The other part of me questioned their function. I know Ncuti Gatwa is an avid follower of the zodiac, so I was braced for it to be that simple, but I had hoped it was something more. In my research, I had trouble finding an exact match for the two clearest runes in the picture. The character on his ring finger looks a bit like the number three in Psalter Pahlavi or like something from Linear A. While the crescent shape on his middle finger looked a bit like the alchemical symbol for platinum or the zodiac symbols for the Sun and Moon. When you’re a time and space travelling alien, your zodiac and table of elements must reach beyond our solar system. They could be alchemical symbols for Dalekanium or the zodiac symbol for Gallifrey. Maybe with this new magical Whoniverse, the Doctor now writes talismans on his fingers for protection.

It’s an enchanting prospect that we get to discover this new magic through the eyes of a new Doctor and companion. There’s a sort of levelling of the playing field for us as fans to come into this new chapter of Doctor Who slightly off our bearings. Who better to lead us through the chaos of magic than the Doctor himself? If his fingernails are a sign of this change, then he’s already got a leg-up on us, which is an exciting place to be as an audience. It’s so easy to be a pedantic know-it-all when the answer is always “Aliens,” but what about all those times a wizard did it, or in this case, the Toymaker?

Our introduction to Ruby Sunday was a bit surprising. Leaving her on a church doorstep felt like a page out of the Steven Moffat playbook of fairy tale magic. But also grounded in the character development we got with Rose, Martha, and Donna. Ruby’s backstory is a mystery, but her agency is not. Ruby has friends, a band, and a family. We’ve known her for 55 minutes and I already have a decent grasp on who she is as a person. She has a compassion for Lulubelle which goes beyond being kidnapped by Goblins. You can see she feels a kinship as a fellow foundling. She knows how it feels to feel disconnected from her history. Similarly, the Doctor can look at both Ruby and Lulubelle and see himself on their faces. He too was adopted after being left behind.

I enjoyed this aspect of the story as my own family is touched by adoption. My mother found out she was adopted after her adoptive parents died. Coincidentally, she had already adopted a little girl from China a year or so prior. I now have three adopted siblings and I love them all. It means a lot to me to see them portraying Ruby’s family as a realistic depiction of an adopted family. Her adoptive mother, Carla, is as good a mother as one could hope for. When she admits she was nervous about Ruby finding her biological mother, it’s understandable. She doesn’t want to ruin the beautiful family that started when Ruby came into her and her mother Cherry’s lives.

The Davina McCall scene may be the weakest part of the episode. Aside from the prologue, it’s basically the first scene, and much like the other opening scenes in the RTD2 era, it’s a bit wonky. The dialogue lends itself to Ruby’s nervousness being interviewed, but “foundled,” is a bit too close to fondled for my tastes. It’s VOR all over again. The main takeaway from the interview is that Ruby was the baby left at the church (no surprises there) and that Davina’s people are going to try to find her birth parents. Sadly, as we come to find out, Ruby’s parents prove to be untraceable. The interview is cut short when the mics begin picking up the sound of Goblins. I feel like the only reason they were Goblins is because pointy-eared mischief makers called Gremlins ruining Christmas was a bit too close to a certain ‘80s movie. Better to go for a story with musical numbers about Goblins who steal babies for the Goblin King. No ‘80s movies infringed there… wait a minute. I kid of course, there’s nothing wrong with paying homage to the classics.

Before we get too far from the interview scene, I want to talk about Denzel. No, I don’t mean America’s sweetheart, Denzel Washington, I mean the sound guy. Was I drunk, or did Ruby mention he asked her out? I’d heard rumours she was going to have a bit of a love triangle with her boyfriend and the Doctor. I wonder if it’s not him. It would be weird to have a sound guy with a unique name who gets mentioned again if it’s not going to come back into play. I think this might enter the territory of the controversial aspects of the season that Millie Gibson alluded to recently. It’s funny then that the part of me that finds any of that controversial is the part of me that hates the idea of the Doctor being romantic with companions. I’ve never enjoyed it. Rose and Ten? Blech. Yaz and Thirteen? Snore. Representation matters, sure, but what about asexual and aromantic representation? I get that people might fancy the Doctor, especially when they look like Ncuti Gatwa, but I hope the Doctor continues to ward off any advances.

Speaking of representation, I would like to take a smidgen of a moment to talk about Trudy. As a trans woman, it was nice to see her living her best life. Simply letting trans characters exist is better representation than what we got in “The Star Beast.” They didn’t even pat themselves on the backs about it in “Doctor Who Unleashed,” as I worried they might. Regardless, some cis people think that any trans representation is shoving it down their throats. They reject the reality that for many people, trans people are a part of their daily lives. If your average person took the time to learn people’s pronouns, they’d see we’re everywhere. We’re not trying to shove anything in your face. Trust me. You’re not our type.

As I said above, it’s nice to see Ruby’s life play out over this montage. You learn a bit about her life and what she gets up to. Though when I heard she had a band, I was hoping for something more punk than Christmas standards. Ncuti dancing on the dancefloor was joyous, a word which I find myself using about him a lot lately. I love the embracing of his Scottish upbringing with his kilt. When I read RTD’s Doctor Who Magazine article talking about the Doctor dancing, I worried a little bit. Sure, the Ninth Doctor proved the Doctor dances, but I worried the scene would make the Doctor feel too sexy or too human. The Eleventh Doctor’s terrible dancing garnered the name “The Giraffe,” because it was so unflattering. But the Fifteenth Doctor pulls it off in a way few others could. However, I do still take issue with one aspect of that scene and that’s Ruby leaving her drink unattended in a busy club. There are worse people than Goblins mucking about with drinks, Russell. Let’s make a good example for the young members of the audience.

The montage of the Doctor watching Ruby from afar was actually a note from Disney. Test audiences wanted to see the Doctor earlier, and I don’t disagree. In the words of Werner Herzog’s Mandalorian character- “I want to see the baby.” It also explains why we recently saw footage of Ncuti punching through a snowman head when principal photography had ended months ago. This, of course, was due to further meddling from the Goblins, who appear to be everywhere now. They’re like bedbugs who pass from person to person. I loved the line “A pram at midnight. Really?” Such a cheeky Doctor already. Gatwa gives vibes of previous Doctors throughout the entire episode, but the snowman head scene gave us one I didn’t expect. The Doctor telling the policeman to ask his girlfriend to marry him reminded me of the Eighth Doctor’s penchant for fortunetelling. Only this time, he’s not weirdly omniscient, but rather making a wild assumption after his sonic pinged a diamond ring, which is a thing it does now, evidently.

The Doctor’s new sonic screwdriver has been a bit controversial, because what isn’t in this fucking fandom lately? I get the argument that it’s just not to your liking, that’s fair. But I’ve seen some monumentally dumb takes on the subject. I saw someone complain that it wasn’t shaped like a screwdriver. I hate to break it to you, but none of them have been shaped like a screwdriver. Show me on the Third Doctor’s where you fit the Phillips head. I’ve also seen people complain that it looked like tech from the early 2000s. So their biggest complaints are that it looks weird and out of time. How inappropriate for an alien time traveller. Regardless, I loved seeing Fifteen using his assorted gadgets. His intelligent gloves feel like a natural fit amongst his classic instruments and I can see them coming in handy further down the line. There’s also something about seeing the Doctor pull out the psychic paper that brings it home for me. It’s like seeing the Doctor square off with their first Dalek. It makes them feel complete. I know RTD said they’re giving the Daleks a rest for a bit, but I hope we do get to see Ncuti officially call one a “detty pig,” before he bows out.

The Goblin ship was a great way to introduce us to the new magical aspect of the Whoniverse. Not just because it’s fantastical, but also because the Doctor wasn’t able to use his shiny new screwdriver on it. Had it been a normal spaceship with metal and wires, he would only need to point and click. But this ship is all wood and rope, rendering the sonic mostly useless. The Goblins force the Doctor to learn the science of luck, but the ship causes him to learn the language of rope. I adored watching Ruby and the Doctor bicker while he was busy learning about the ship. They’ve not been together five minutes and they’re already getting tied up by baddies. They have an instant Doctor/companion relationship and it’s obvious why they were paired together. Furthermore, Ncuti’s detachment from the danger of the situation, coupled with an admiration for the Goblins’ tech was pure Doctory goodness. I could easily see Tom Baker fiddling with rope while Sarah Jane complained that he was goofing off.

Because of the charity release of “The Goblin Song,” many of us had become intimately familiar with it before the episode. What I doubt many of us were expecting was for Ncuti and Millie to join in on the singing. While I’ve not heard anyone complain about this, I’m sure someone has. To me, it worked. For starters, it’s a Christmas episode. Secondly, the Goblins have a band. It makes sense that the Doctor would try to win them over by speaking their language. It seems to work as the Goblins dance along with the Doctor and Ruby. Much of their logic seems dictated by whimsy. They sing and dance. They cause mischief. And they are attracted to coincidence. It’s not just that Lulubelle is a baby, it’s that she’s flavoured by happenstance. Both she and Ruby are foundlings left on Christmas Eve. It’s like the sound of a dinner bell for these little munchers. While the singing and dancing worked for both the scene and the Goblins, I hope RTD continues to use it sparingly. While I expect to see it return with the Beatles episode, I don’t want the concept to wear out its welcome. Doctor Who can afford the odd musical episode, but let’s not go crazy.

With Lulubelle saved, the Doctor and Ruby get her back home before Carla or Cherry ever notice she’s gone. This gives the family a chance to meet the Doctor, starting with Cherry. Cherry’s reaction to the Fifteenth Doctor was an understandably thirsty one. RTD kind of wrote himself into a corner by casting Gatwa. It must be exhausting to begin every scene with “The Doctor enters the room and people are immediately enamoured.” He exudes charisma in a way that makes you stop looking at David Tennant. Remember the bi-generation scene? Little known fact, but Tennant was also in that scene. Another enjoyable aspect of the Cherry scene was seeing the Doctor flirt back. I know I said I dislike a romantic Doctor, but it was nice to see it with someone more age-appropriate. I kid, but what I did like about the scene was that he spoke to her as if she were a young woman. Because for him, she is. And even further, it didn’t feel like that cutesy old people flirting like “If I were younger,” bullshit. It makes sense that a time traveller would find whoever a person is in the present the most important. You can travel to the past or the future, but it all pivots along you in the present. We stand outside past and future versions of ourselves. To me, this is why the Doctor is compassionate, he sees the pivot people are capable of making. Can you now pivot beyond a dark past into a bright future?

The meeting between Carla and the Doctor was less flirtatious. Carla seemed open to this eccentric Doctor while keeping a concerned mother’s distance. The ironic thing is that not only is the Doctor like Ruby and Lulubelle, but he’s also a lot like Carla. Both of them know the weight that comes with what the Twelfth Doctor would call “duty of care.” Like the Doctor’s long list of previous companions, the photos on Carla’s fridge tell a story of lives touched. This is why when things go bad and Ruby disappears, the missing photos on the fridge cut us to our core. Michelle Greenidge floored me with her performance here. Seeing her claim her life is great because she has no responsibility was harrowing. We’ve seen her real truth. She’s a centre point of light illuminating the lives of many, not this selfish woman in it for the paycheck. Even Cherry now feels forgotten in the other room, waiting out the clock. This is a reality the Doctor cannot tolerate.

Not only are the Goblins little baby-stealing monsters, but they’re also time-hoppers, whatever the hell that means. How it differs from time travel probably has more to do with a Time Lord’s concept of elegance than anything else. But like the Daleks, I doubt Goblins have much of a concept of elegance. If anything it’s a warped admiration for coincidence. And if a baby Lulubelle isn’t a viable meal option, then the other side of that coincidental coin, baby Ruby, would have to suffice. After all, I’m fairly certain if they don’t feed the Goblin King soon, he’s going to start wooing Jennifer Connelly at a masked ball. The Doctor travels back to that church on Ruby Road. Tears still running down his face, we see the mysterious woman leaving Ruby behind. Is it her mother? Is it a younger version of the mysterious Mrs Flood? Is it Ruby herself? The Doctor doesn’t have the time to go chasing after her. He has Gobbos to stop.

Floating above the church steeple like Bowser’s airship, the Goblins begin hauling Ruby onboard. The Doctor climbs to the church roof where he puts the last spark of power in his intelligent gloves to the test. Instead of climbing up to the ship, the Doctor begins pulling the ship back down to earth by its rope ladder. However, the ladder is more likely to give out before his gloves do. So in a last-ditch effort, the Doctor brings all of his weight down using the gloves’ ability to increase mavity (I know) on the ladder. The ship plunges onto the church steeple which stabs up through the hull and into the belly of the Goblin King. With his influence and magic now dispersed, the ship and all of its Goblins disappear with it, leaving baby Ruby in a freefall. No pressure. The Doctor of course catches her using the gloves to cushion her fall. It was all a pretty lucky gamble considering the steeple could have just as easily hit Ruby, but luck is now a tangible thing, so maybe it was lucky. You could say “The Doctor killed a guy,” but you could also say this was the Goblin King’s second chance, and as you remember- “No second chances.” It would appear that the Doctor is still that sort of man.

With the Goblins gone, neither Ruby nor Davina McCall will be plagued with bad luck. Davina even gets so lucky as to have the Doctor appear just in time to prevent her from being brained by a Christmas tree star. The pictures on the fridge are back, and so is the giant crack the Goblins left when they attempted to kidnap Ruby. It makes you wonder just how Carla and Cherry will fair with squirrels getting in through the roof while Ruby is off exploring all of time and space. Does insurance cover acts of Goblin? Who knows, maybe Kate Stewart will stop by with a restoration team. All the Doctor would need to do is make a call. Mrs Flood returns to commend the Doctor for a better parking job. Is it just me or was that a subtle hint of disability representation? A subtle reminder not to block the pavement for the elderly and disabled.

I liked that the TARDIS appeared to invite Ruby inside by opening her doors to her. You could say the Doctor flipped a switch, but he was busy doing his fourth costume change. I like to think she was giving her seal of approval. I never quite understood why the TARDIS didn’t like Clara. It seemed to come out of nowhere. The TARDIS was like, “I dunno why, but I don’t like this bitch.” I guess you could say the whole Impossible Girl thing made her competition, but now it’s just starting to sound like Moffat writing women. But the TARDIS and Ruby? Just gals being pals. Sisters before misters. Empowered women empower women. Yas queen.

In the end, we’re left with Mrs Flood comforting her neighbour Abdul after he sees the TARDIS dematerialise. She gives the camera a devious smile as she says “Never seen a TARDIS before?” This of course is the classic Davies Easter Egg. He knew the fandom would blow up. And dammit, after almost twenty years of saying it, it had better be the Rani. Some people have said Romana or Susan, but she feels a bit more sinister. Besides, if it’s Susan, I’m going to be disappointed because Carol Anne Ford is still alive. If it was Susan, we’re owed a flashback to her regeneration. The reason she feels slightly sinister is the way she gaslights Abdul about the TARDIS. She yells at the poor man like he parked the thing in front of her house even though she apparently knows what it is. Conversely, she could be nobody we’ve seen before. Perhaps she’s an Eternal or “the Boss.” Either way, I’m intrigued.

Ncuti Gatwa is finally the Doctor. It almost feels unreal to be able to say that. Not only have we waited a long time to say it, but what an exciting Doctor he is already. He brings an invigorated energy to the performance. He's full of charm and I can't picture many Doctors pulling off a curtsy as well as he did. I’m still waiting for him to get a bit scary, but his amazed reaction to seeing Goblins about to eat a baby shows me he’s capable of it. I would like to see them show his age a little, but there’s still loads of time. His conversation with Cherry gave us a glimpse at the ancient being behind his eyes, but I would like to see more. While the Doctor may still have hang-ups about his past, it would appear his time with Donna was a time of emotional healing. The Doctor isn’t afraid of his emotions and it’s been a bit of a revelation just how much I like that. This Doctor wears his hearts on his sleeves and it’s surprisingly refreshing. It’s a far cry from “I'm still quite socially awkward,” and I couldn’t be any happier about that. We have a new Doctor. A new companion. New rules. Is anyone else excited for May?

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raphaellight · 20 days

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One scene to break us all

I grew up on Star Wars. I'm more of a new era fan, with prequels being always a part of it. Also, as a kid I was watching Clone Wars series on television. It definitelly made both my idea of the world and humor more dark than psychologist would consider healthy, although I have my own opinion on refusal to expose children to tough themes in media, but thats not what I want to write about. I want to write about a scene that I can't really recall having much interested in when I watched it as a kid yet now, I can watch it over and over with tears crumbling every time I see it.

Why didn't it affect me? Affect us? Why was it that in the past it felt like an exposition? We can account it to my small brain not really comprehending what's going on, waiting for a cool duel between Anaking and Obi-Wan among the fires of hellish landscapes. But I think there can be a deeper cause. One that was explained in quote accounted to Joseph Stalin. "One death is tragedy, thousand is a statistic"

Execution of Order 66, without any Star Wars uniwerse background, is about the scale of events that happens in the movie. I heard that scenes used in that sequence were primarly planned to be at the begining of the movie to showcase scale of Clone Wars, notify a viewer about how all of galaxy is raging in fights between clones and droids. They scrapped that idea and used it to showcase the scale of Palpatine's victory over Jedi: all around the galaxy, with one sentence, Sith Lord wiped out hole Jedi Order we came to know thruout the prequel trilogy. That's what I mean by exposition. It's shocking and terrifing on it's own, but ultimatly, those were just the events. Emotional weight was put in the Jedi temple.

So what changed? Why is it now that I watch order 66 I can't help but shed at least one tear?

As I said, I was watching Clone Wars on television. But it was occasional, when I have the time and hit the right channel at the right time type of watching back then. Then I watched it preety much from beggining to an end when I was a bit older, but it still didn't feel that close to home, as it was way back when it was still ending on Yoda and his little journey. Even then tho it already altered my perception of the movies.

Then came the time, the year 2020, everyone will remember as the year pandemic hit. But fans will know it was also a year of the finale release, Clone Wars season 7, featuring phew side plot-lines, Echo, Bad Batch, martez sisters and Darth Maul. But most importantly, it finally got to that point. It finally allowed us to hear "Execute order 66" in the show. And as it did, it did justice to what Order 66 represents. The end of an Era.

By connecting the Clone Wars show, by putting it right into the events of ROTS, it symbolically made all of that happen thru out the show part of the Prequel Trilogy for good.

Now we don't see sexy, blue alien chick getting blasted in the back. We see Ayla Secura, kind yet tough master that helped carrying Anakin after he took explosion onto his chest, getting shot multiple times by Commander Bly.

We don't see weird looking brown Jedi getting shot down by clone pilots on some airy planet, we see Master Plo Koon, the one that brought Ahsoka to Jedi Temple, dying before he could blink.

We don't see a long headed man, concerned about wookies in previous scene, confused at clones. We see Ki Adi Mundi, man that almost died in the second invasion on Geonosis and bickered around with Anakin and Ahsoka, terrified of the sight and feeling that his clones are out here to kill him.

Thousand deaths is a statistic. It's the exposition of scale. It's how the history is written in the book. The war took thousand of innocent lives. That is important on it's own. But you won't cry over it. You will cry over a death of the ones you cared about. Over the ones you got to know.

At the beggining, when I said about watching Order 66 scene, I lied a bit. I ment watching the extended edit, fan made, connecting all the scenes happening in the universe that were ever made for screen. I'm still waiting for any cinema to release the Revenge of the Sith movie that starts from that episode in season 7 Clone Wars, then follows both story lines of Anakin and Ahsoka together and when it gets to Order 66, it puts all the scenes possible, even cut scenes from Jedi Fallen Order, as it too crushed my heart, when I realised what's going on when Kal high fived a clone on his way.

Order 66 started as a statistic about thousand deaths. Years have passed however, allowing us to witness characters truly involved in it to the point where the scene, being not far from two decades old now, is more heartbreaking than ever before.

Follow for more star wars content and may the force be with you

#star wars #star wars prequels #clone wars #the clone wars #the clone boys #jedi #jedi survivor #jedi fallen order #the force #ahsoka tano #order 66 #tcw #swtcw #commander cody #tragedy #grief #plo koon #ayla secura #anakin skywalker

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whiskerknittles · 2 months

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The fantasy subgenre poll a couple weeks ago went well so I was curious what everyone thinks about scifi subgenres!

Once again, no “OP, you forgot” category because I’m well aware there are many more subgenres (and sub-subgenres) people love, but I think the majority can fall somewhere within the parameters above. If I did miss a major one, tho, please tell me in the tags!

Interpret this as you will - you can pick the genre which you think has the best overall body of work, the one with your very favorite work, the one that has the most potential… whatever feels right :)

#tumblr poll tuesday #tumblr polls #polls

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royalsweetteaa · 2 years

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Different paces

Pairing: Dark!Steve Rogers x reader

18+ ONLY | MINORS DNI

WARNING - the following story contains: non-con, explicit smut, dark themes, overprotective/obsessive/delusional behavior on Steve’s part, kidnapping, captivity, angst, breeding kink, misogyny, mild violence, mentions of eating issues & depression.

Summary: You are Steve’s first close friend in the modern world outside of the avengers and his hero work. You take notice that Steve is overly protective of you, and it affects your daily life. Steve isn’t pleased when you insist he stops looking after you as much as he does.

Steve panted lightly as he stepped the last flight of stairs up to your apartment. He had just come back from a mission with his new acquaintance, Natasha Romanoff. Recently he has been teamed up with her to do missions as it was necessary for Steve to have a companion who had experience within SHIELD’s new line of work.

He found her to be overly skilled on the field of the new world compared to him, and he was to learn much from her to up his game on missions. But after those rough missions, he was back to explore the daily life of being a 21st century citizen of America. And there was no better way to explore it than being with you, the woman who he considered to be his first modern friend.

He met you at the art museum where he came with the intention of learning about modern art from the course of the decades he has been gone. He was almost appalled by the simplification art has succumbed to become, but he found it fascinating nonetheless. That was when he met you, a guide of the art museum. He found you to be endearing as you explained to what looked like a group of college students about the history and meaning behind each artifact. As he listened in, a new perspective behind the artworks was given to him, and he found himself being appreciative of the art than he was when he first saw them.

He decided you seemed kind enough to interact with, and he wasn’t met with disappointment. In fact, him making the first move of reaching out to you is something he considers one of his best decisions of his life. He could tell you didn’t know who he was, and yet you gave him the time to show around the museum and further explain in detail behind whatever art piece interested him.

This blossomed into a beautiful friendship, and even when you learned who the guy behind the glasses and cap was, your nature didn’t change. When he wasn’t doing heroic work, he would often come to pay you a visit or meet you at a place where you could teach him more about the world’s progressiveness.

“Thanks for inviting me, Y/N. You’ve done a nice job decorating your new apartment, I must say.” Steve complimented.

“Oh, thank you! Yeah, I put a lot of effort into this place before I settled. I wanted to feel like I was coming into a home, y’know?” You said, and showcased the plants and the paintings on the wall. “You may sit down, Steve. I’ll bring in some cookies and tea.”

Steve politely thanked you and sat down on a chair. He leaned his head up to relax his neck and inhaled a deep breath. The smell of freshly baked goodies filled his nostrils and he sighed in delight. He could get used to coming to your place after a mission, being greeted by you at the door while something was being made in the kitchen for the two of you to eat.

He thought it was a pity you weren’t his wife, but then again, it was never too late.

“So, how was your day? Didn’t have any trouble at the museum, did you?” Steve asked, raising his voice high enough for you to hear from the other room.

“Nah, it was boring. Not many visitors this time, but it’s expected on summer days when everyone would rather go to the beach. I don’t blame them. Besides, I think people subconsciously try to avoid being inside during the day after that alien invasion that happened in New York a month ago.” There was a slight pause as you turned off the oven and took out the cookies. “Gosh, it still feels strange to say that. A few months ago I wouldn’t have believed myself if my present self told the things I have experienced. Who would have thought Captain America would end up being one of my best friends after coming back from being in ice for 7 decades and later fighting aliens, alongside and against gods? Nothing surprises me anymore.”

“Now you know how I feel.” Steve cackled.

You came back with a platter of cookies and tea, and placed it neatly on the table. Steve thanked you once again, before taking a cookie for a taste.

“So, how was the mission? Must have been more exciting than my day I would assume.” You said, following it with a giggle.

“Not this time. We were talking to some analysts about how we could with more preparation assemble the team when a new ‘Avenger threat’ is on the rise, and how we can better organize ourselves to prevent less damage impact the cities and dangoured habitats. Of course, when it comes for the unexpected, it’s hard to plan things accordingly, but there are definitely methods one can follow suit.” Steve explained.

“That’s definitely worthwhile to consider. I can imagine preparations for the unthinkable is widely focused on after what happened. Makes me wonder what could possibly be the next big thing.” You pondered, and sipped some tea.

Steve left it with silence as thoughts of worry clouded his mind. He had thought about how you could easily be impacted by whatever huge thing was on its way to make trouble on earth. You were lucky when it happened last time, but what about in the future? It made him so uneasy to think of it.

“Y/N…have you still considered about that thing we fought over once? You know, the thing about moving to a more secure place? I have this bad feeling something’s coming real soon and I really don’t want to risk something happening to you…”

“Do you have confirmation about an upcoming threat or is it just a feeling?” You asked for more clarity.

Steve bit his lip before he looked up at you, not having the heart to lie to your face but tempted. “Not confirmation per day but….” You dipped your head with a sigh, thinking ‘here we go again’.

“Steve…we’ve had this conversation before. I’m not moving to some vacant compound because there might be a risk of this side of town having an attack by God knows what. A meteor could strike any moment and no compound could protect me from that.” You argued, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

But Steve was too stubborn to leave it at that. He had a face expressing clear bitterness. It made you internally sigh of what was to come.

The last time you had this talk - which was days after the alien invasion, Steve was almost hysterical about the whole thing. You had given in on staying at one of the secret safety compounds of SHIELD for a week, and this was when Steve first brought up about his concern which came out very over-protective and demanding for your taste.

It wasn’t like he could stop you from returning for work, especially since your district hadn’t been affected in the slightest. Then you decided to move to an apartment which was by one mile closer to downtown New York compared to your previous apartment. You only knew this piece of information because Steve had measured it, and he had protested about you doing anything other than moving closer. Still, you persuaded him into calming down and he eventually let go of the topic, and you hadn’t talked about it since then, - until now.

You really couldn’t blame him though. He had seen and fought things which threatened human society as we know it, and you had learned of the loss of his best friend during the Second World War. You had figured as much that you meant a lot to Steve, because all of his friends from the 40s were either in their late 90s or had passed away. This made you assume you were one of few - or perhaps his only friend from present time. You figured he had trauma that stemmed from this, and so you felt nothing but bad for him.

But even though he had your sympathy, it couldn’t excuse his way of pressuring you of removing yourself from your daily life. It just couldn’t work as simple as moving to a smaller town, earning less and loosing a job you quite frankly liked. Therefore, you were sure not to withdraw from your standpoint.

“Well sometimes even the smallest measures of ensuring your safety can make a difference, Y/N. I’m telling you - living this close to downtown New York isn’t safe. You should live on the outskirts where I know you will be safe. Where if an attack was to happen, it wouldn’t be as hard for me to find you.”

Again you dismissed him. “Steve, stop it. I have a job, friends and family in this area. I’m not going to leave it all behind because of your fears. We just need to hope for the best that we are safe from any kind of disaster.”

“Y/N, you should listen to me. You shouldn’t be here. You should be somewhere no harm can come your way. Wether it’s another town or safer house, I really think it would be best if-!”

“I’m actually being serious, Steve.” You deadpanned. “Drop it. Now. I don’t want to hear this anymore and the door is right by the corner so if you feel like arguing, you might as well leave.” You walked back to the kitchen to put what you used to bake in the dishwasher.

“Hey, don’t have that tone with me. I’m only trying to protect you, Y/N. Why can’t you understand I’m trying to look after you? We literally had an alien attack and a supposed ‘god of mischief’ attack the whole city! You could have gotten killed!” He said while he stood up to follow.

Steve’s outburst pushed your limits and you just about had enough of this. “Well, you know what? I’d rather die living with friends and family than living in imprisonment! Life is unfair and if I die during a zombie apocalypse or whatever crazy stuff, then so be it! Honestly Steve - I don’t even recognize you as the sweet guy I met a few months ago! I understand your concern but this is borderline obsessive-!” You were cut off when Steve’s strong arms pushed you against the wall, with the other moving to your neck.

Steve’s teeth gritted and he saw red. You whimpered as his hand tightened around your neck, squeezing to test the limits of gripping so tightly around it. “You better watch your mouth, doll. It’s obvious you don’t value your life as much as I do, and that is deeply concerning. If you don’t want to take my advice anymore, I’ll simply have to force my hand.”

You held on to his arms and tried to claw him away but he wouldn’t budge. “S-Steve…let go-!”

“No. That’s exactly what I’m not going to do, Y/N. You really can be so ungrateful, you know that? One of many things women can be criticized for in this day of age when offered protection.” He spat.

“I’m going to take you to a place where no one will find nor harm you. I adore you too much to let you die in vain. I could never forgive myself if something were to happen to you…” he rambled the same thing for what seemed like forever. His grip started to loosen up when his face came closer to yours.

Tears spilled down your eyes. Steve had tricked you with his nice demeanor, and was now threatening to hold you in his imprisonment. You cursed yourself for never seeing beyond his facade. Now you were helpless against the strong super soldier who you once called a friend.

“You’re crazy….I’ll never forgive you for this..” you whispered, still digging your fingernails into his arms but it was no use. The stealth suit draped his arms with rich material, making your nails barely dig into his skin.

“Maybe I am crazy. But I can’t help myself anymore. I can’t loose you like I lost everyone else.” He stated.

It confirmed what you had thought all along, though you never knew those fears would turn him like this.

“I’m taking you home, sweetheart.”

He put his mouth on yours, devouring you out of breath. You whimpered into his mouth, your vision getting blurred from the new tears.

You tried to kick him off, but his body was too firmly pressed against your body, you couldn’t make a single move. Your arms were held to the side by Steve’s strong arms, making it impossible for you to claw away from his face.

You squirmed when he carried you around his shoulder, and you finally had your arms free to hit his back.

“Let me go! I don’t want this, Steve! Please, don’t do this!” You begged, but your pleas went deaf to Steve’s ears.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. Everything will be fine now. Just relax…”

You heard him rummaging through his pocket, and before you could look over your shoulder, you felt a sting in your neck. Darkness overtook you before your eyes, and you were out before you knew it.

2 years. 6 months. 8 days.

That was how long ago you were taken from your home and into a secure located cabin, not having any contact with family and friends, and having all data of your existence removed.

You often wondered how they felt. How your family were dealing with the fact that you were once a part of their life but not for the rest anymore. Steve had made sure of it that there were no traces of you with the help of Tony Stark and his techy ways of manipulating registered data. From your hospital and health records, your birth certificate - every trace was removed. It was as if Steve had planned on doing this all along with how prepared he was to move you to this place. There was nothing left of you outside of this cabin, and it isolated you in a way you never knew was possible.

Steve had been on missions a lot, keeping you alone in the huge cabin in the middle of nowhere. He had never told you where you were located, leaving you to imagine all the places you could be based on the crowded trees the cabin slotted itself in the middle of.

When you were alone, you had little to do in the big space. Steve had given you all kinds of things to keep you entertained, but you didn’t have the will to entertain yourself.

There was a small gym he had set up just for you to train if you wanted. He had given you art supplies, which was the only thing you found joy in keeping yourself occupied with. Otherwise, there was no reason for you to live anymore other than staying alive. Though at certain times, you couldn’t help but feel death was the only way left to freedom.

Suddenly, the main entrance door opened with following marching steps who you recognized as none other than his.

“Sweetheart, I’m home. I bought you new acrylic painting and canvases! You made such pretty paintings last time and I want to have more at my office. Reminds me of how much I love you, doll.” You heard Steve chirping as he came closer to where you were.

He had the tendency of rambling about things, not bothering to assure you were actually listening. That tendency had occurred with time when you stopped talking to him. Stopped responding and fighting him.

There was a time where whenever Steve opened the front door that was otherwise locked with the highest security, you would jump him and try to get out. You fought him with all your strength, hitting him until you were drained of energy. Of course, the hits didn’t affect the super soldier in the slightest. He would let you hit him until you gave up, and would then carry you to your room and teach you a lesson. Humiliating and inappropriate lessons.

You had once broken the glass table when Steve was trying to have a regular conversation about his day. You were so angry at him for ignoring your misery, and so you would vandalize the house and scream at him to let you go.

He had expressed disappointment for such behavior, and had you over his knee where he spanked you in a total of 40 times. You could barely stand up with how sore your ass got, and you would lay down for days to heal from that session.

You hadn’t put up any fights since then, leaving you being a soulless person with no will to live.

He came over with bags of supplies to the living room where you laid on the couch. He kept on talking about his latest mission, not sparing a glance as he put all the stuff at the corner of the room.

“-It’s insane how SHIELD has developed the latest technology, I think even you would be impressed if you saw -…..Y/N?“ he stopped when his eyes finally gazed at your form.

You hadn’t eaten a lot nor drunk anything for a few days. You were pale from the lack of energy you have consumed, and it had resulted in you staying on the same spot for a long period of time. You were also noticeably skinnier, which in no way looked healthy.

Steve immediately rushed over to you in worry, seeing that while you were alive, you weren’t doing well. “Y/N, we’ve been over this before, you need to eat regularly. You can’t starve yourself to death.”

As he rushed over to the kitchen to grab some food and water, you mumbled “maybe that’s the idea”. He heard it of course, with his super soldier hearing. When he returned to you, he gave a look of disappointment.

“It’s about time you get it together. I know you have been experiencing certain mood swings in the course of staying here but this is not healthy nor acceptable.”

“Neither is it to keep me here forever!” You snapped. “I haven’t been outside for fresh air in almost three damn years, Steve! I’m going to die miserable either way!”

Steve sighed and held the cup of water to your face. “Drink.”

You leaned your head to the side, not wanting to face him at all.

“Y/N. I’m serious. Drink the water and eat some fruit.” Steve said with a warning tone.

You knew that tone too well to know if you didn’t listen there would be unwanted consequences.

Steve held your jaw and tilted it towards him again, and helped you consume the cold beverage.

“There you go….now eat some apple and grapes. It’s good for you.”

You took a few pieces and ate it carefully. Steve smiled gleefully at your cooperation and stroked your shoulder with care.

“I think it’s time we think about having children, Y/N.”

You abruptly choked on a piece of apple, making you cough hard. You stood up from the couch as the coughing didn’t seem to tone down while laying, and Steve did nothing but chuckle as he hit your back a couple of times.

“Easy now, I wasn’t suggesting on making one right now. I’m just talking about the foreseeable future. I think it would be good for you to become a mother. For you to have a proper purpose. I understand it has been hard being here all alone for so long, and I think maybe having a kid or two would help you feel less lonely.” He said ever so lightheartedly. “Plus, my dream has always been to come home to a wife and children. My dream is only halfway complete.”

You gave him a confused glare. “Steve, we aren’t even married…how does saying ‘halfway through’ even make sense-!”

“Because you don’t exist otherwise. What difference does it make if I say we’re husband and wife?”

Your blood turned cold by his harsh words despite the lack of rude demeanor. The fact that he wasn’t denying his doings and talking about it in a casual manner always made you stiffen with fear.

“I’m not ready for kids, and it would be selfish to have kids just for the sake of not feeling lonely. Do you want to have kids and have them locked up in here as well? For them to not learn what the real world is like? How do you think that will work?” You said with challenge in your voice.

Steve frowned at your questions. It was as if you had burst his bubble of a romanticized reality where he and you could be happy, but you made it clear it wouldn’t work with his overprotective mindset.

“You’re looking way too deep into this. It’ll work. You’ll be fine raising the kids here while I do missions, and I’ll take some time off to spend time with all of you. It’s going to be just fine-!”

“No it’s not going to be just fine, Steve.” You interrupted him once again. You knew he hated when you did but you had just about enough of his foolery. “You’re naive and we’re not having kids.” You said finally and stood up to leave the area.

He crossed his arms around his shoulders and followed you with his eyes as you were on your way to the next room. But like any other disagreement, Steve was just too stubborn to leave it at that.

“Well, you know what happens when you don’t listen to me, doll. I’ll simply have to force my hand.” He murmured, more to himself.

You heard him come right behind you and pull you by the waist. He dragged you to the bedroom, and you regained will to fight by hitting him with closed fists on his chest, despite knowing it’ll do nothing. You wanted him to know you still resented him.

Steve threw you onto the bed and towered you before you could move away.

“Let’s practice making babies, sweetheart. I need to remind you how important you are to me. How your existence alone provides the opportunity of us becoming a loving family.”

You shook your head and decided to correct him. “It’s an opportunity for you, not us. There is no ‘us’ anymore. Hasn’t been for three years ever since you betrayed me, Steve…” you said quietly.

You knew this was happening no matter what you did, and so you tried to make yourself go numb while Steve did his work of preparing you for the deed.

You have had sex with Steve a few times - enough times to know it’s best to be done with it. The less you protest, the quicker it ends, you concluded.

He unbuttoned your silky shirt and gave wet kisses along your jaw, slowly moving down to your chest while he squeezed your breasts smoothly.

“You’re wrong. You always are. You only make yourself miserable. I thought you would eventually see how good we can be together when away from this terrible world. But maybe having kids will make you see it. We will hope it does.”

He undid his pants, straddling you with his thighs while he undid his body armor.

“I’ve missed you, love. I always look forward coming home knowing no harm has come to you….you have no idea how much hell I have witnessed, and each time there’s a woman there - harmed and helpless, I think of you. I think of what could have happened to you if you were still out there. There’s too many bad people out there. Too many who could hurt my girl…I can’t let that happen. I just can’t.”

“Steve…just, don’t talk..” you bluntly demanded.

By now, he had removed your sweatpants and was in the process of removing your panties, hooking it with his index finger as he slid them down from your bare legs.

“Oh, so my girl likes to talk back when I’m telling something personal…well okay then, if you want to make love right now, we’ll skip right to it.” He spread your legs apart and aimed his cock at your cunt.

He pushed in with less caution than any previous time he has taken you. Instead of waiting for you to adjust, he started to thrust in medium tempo - not too slow but not too fast. It hurt a little regardless, because his size was abnormally large compared to the regular size.

“Hngh, Steve…” You moaned with curled toes. It was hard to hate the sex with him. Because you were alone and frustrated all the time, sex was the best relief with the closure and the pleasure that came with it.

It wasn’t always like that. Steve used to be somewhat bad at sex, but had recently upped his game in terms of technique and focusing on how to make you feel good. He had a way of making your brain completely numb of thoughts, and send you in a temporary escape from reality.

“I know, baby doll. Feels good having my cock inside your baby pussy, doesn’t it? You’re tiny cunt’s squeezing my cock so well, sweetheart.” He groaned.

He wiggled his hips to seep in further, and his cock did a repeating pace of fucking into your cervix. You moaned with whines almost pathetically and let him take you the way he wanted to.

“M’gonna cum inside and breed you, baby doll. Mmmh, you’re going to look so sexy with a round belly and swelled breasts, my love…fuck, I can’t wait.”

He gave you a few kisses as his cock did its work of pleasuring your cunt. He put his thumb on your clit, making you whimper with stimulation.

You clenched around him hard with purpose of driving him to his peak. That always seemed to work.

“Doll - fuck! Ahh, M’gonna cum…” he announces. “Ohh, just a little more…m’bout to make you a mama….”

He thrusted in with less gap, making his fat cock constantly make room in your pussy. Your fingernails were clawing against Steve’s back as you approached your orgasm of the night. Your back ached against him as you came with a howl, and Steve made sure to muffle them with his lips. His hips rolled a couple of times more before he came as well, filling up your cunt with his spend.

His balls were pulsating as cum was being injected into you, filling you to the brim. You were held in place until his balls was emptied. He breathed through his nose harshly as he pulled out, making his seed unleash from your pussy. Cum trickled down and made a mess on the bed, but none of you cared to take care of it right now.

“Mmmm you did so well, baby doll. I’m sure this will take...” he whispered to you while caressing your bare stomach.

He pulled the blanket over you and wrapped his arms around your waist protectively, already being sent to sleep. He murmured an ‘I love you’ into the shell of your ear. You didn’t return it.

Streams of tears had already set through your face as you were hopelessly thinking of how after all these years, this was the beginning of a bound misery for life. One you would have to share with your kids.

Note from author: yeahh this turned out so depressing but I felt like going for an angsty direction with little hope for the reader.

(Poor thing ;-;)

Anyway if you have made it this far; thank you for reading! Hearts & reblogs are appreciated!

#dark steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x reader #chris evans character fanfiction #chris evans x reader #chris evans dark fic

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void-ink-studios · 1 year

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New batch of Incarnations AU designs! This time, we have the bunch I call the Redeemed Star Allies! All of the Star Allies that were once villains! Are they on Kirby's side? Their own side? Who knows! But at least they're not invoking the wrath of eldritch abominations anymore! Lore under the cut as always!

If you like it, reblog please!

Magolor: An intrepid little alien explorer, and a far off descendent from the Ancients. Originally after the Master Crown as a journey of discovery and cultural heritage, the allure of the crown and the Dark Matter within corrupted his heart. After getting kicked around by both the Star Family and the alternate dimension purgatory, he now peacefully dwells on Popstar as a researcher and inventor, looking into the past of the Ancients and making trinkets for the citizens of Popstar. And maybe make some money on the side.

Marx: An oddball, even among Popstar, Marx was everyone's punchline, always laughed at rather than with. Until he discovered the rumors of the Clockwork Wishing Star, and plotted against the people of Popstar. After turning the Sun and Moon on each other, and stealing Kirby's wish, Nova grants him the power of an Incarnation, becoming the unofficial Incarnation of Madness. Filled with overwhelming madness and nearly losing himself, Kirby hurls him into Nova, detonating the construct. He at least kept some of the powers as well as arms. He's still quite the trickster, but at least his antics are mostly harmless.

Daroach: The world renown gentleman thief, and kingpin of the Squeak Squad, Daroach strikes fast and glamourous. After hearing rumors of a great secret treasure in Castle Dedede, he decides to set his squad out on their biggest score ever. After a straining back and forth between the squad, Dedede and Meta Knight, and Kirby, Daroach finally opens the chest out of frustration, accidentally unleashing the ruthless Dark Nebula. After experiencing the madness of Dark Matter and the horror of possession, Daroach was thoroughly humbled by Kirby. He now lays mostly low with his gang of thieves but occasionally emerges to help either Kirby or the Meta-Knights. There seems to be some history between him and Captain Vul, however.

Dark Meta Knight (Umbra Knight): Both a villain and a victim, Dark Meta Knight is what could've been, if Meta Knight fell further into Nightmare's influence. The Mirror's Incarnation of Ambition, and a slave of the nightmarish Dark Mind, Dark Meta Knight was torn down and built back up as a weapon for invasion behind the Mirror. After being kicked around by both Kirby and Shadow Kirby (now known as Shade) twice, Dark Meta Knight confronted his counterpart from Popstar, breaking down his violent, lonely life. Meta Knight sees him as a brother he couldn't protect and tries his best to get him settled in a more peaceful life, both in Popstar and the Mirror world. Dark Meta Knight, for his rebirth, chose the new name for himself, Umbra Knight.

Susie: A girl once trapped in an alternate dimension, now head of the largest robotics company this side of the galaxy, Susie is equal parts intelligent and charismatic. She doesn't stick around on Popstar very long, or visit very often. But when she's planet side, she often collaborates with Magalor in technology (and bonds over the shared trauma of being stranded in another dimension). She carries herself with a degree of maturity not often seen on Popstar, hence why she gets along mostly with Meta Knight and his crew.

Taranza: Once a prince, now a king, Taranza is the current sitting leader of the Sky People, after the defeat of the tyrant Queen Sectonia. He's often seen at Castle Dedede, trying his best to broker some peace between these two kingdoms. He also shares with Meta and Kirby any and all information he's gathered about the Mirror, in an effort to bridge the gap and heal the alternate world. He has many regrets, especially with Queen Sectonia, and he tries his best to be a good leader and diplomat, to undo at least some of the damage he's done. He's inquisitive and curious, friendly now that he's on the Star Allies' side.

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 25 days

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New SpaceTime out Monday....

SpaceTime 20240506 Series 27 Episode 55

New findings point to an Earth-like environment on ancient Mars

A new study using data from NASA’s Mars curiosity rover suggest there was once an Earth liked environment on ancient Mars.

Could purple be the new green in search for alien life

A new study suggests that life on other planets with different atmospheres and orbiting different types of stars wouldn’t display Earth like forests of green.

HyImpulse’s SR75 rocket blasts off

Germany’s HyImpulse has successfully launched its SR75 sounding rocket on a test flight from Southern Launch’s Koonibba Test Range west of Ceduna on South Australia’s west coast.

The Science Report

Being vegetarian linked to a much slower progression of prostate cancer.

A new way of cleaning up per-and poly-fluoro-alkyls – the so called forever chemicals.

Why people prefer their alcoholic beverages cold.

Skeptics guide to when psychics say the Russian invasion of Ukraine will end.

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States. The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science. SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research. The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network. Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor. Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. Later, Gary became part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and was one of its first presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually. However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage. Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently. StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016. Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #nasa #esa #astrophysics #spacetimewithstuartgary #starstuff #spacetime #nasa photos #jwst #hubble space telescope

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a-random-fan4444 · 1 year

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Hockey Stick brainrot is real. Have some ramblings! :D

(Also thank you so much to every single person whose rebloged, liked, or commented on my Hockey Stick stuff!!! 💕💕💕)

Part 1 | Part 2

Quick summary on “Hockey Stick”: Casey jr gets an emotional support animal, but the emotional support animal is Brother Kraang in disguise. Junior names his pet Hockey Stick.

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Casey Jr on the pet forums. His posting history is along the lines of:

“Is it normal for my pet to try to kill anyone who visits my apartment?”

“Is it normal for my pet to screech at midnight?”

“Do animals have a sense of morality?”

And respondes of:

“Yes, my own dog and cat have been acting similarly skittish since the alien invasion. Your pet just wants to protect you. I’d advice slowly introducing new friends to your pets, like through scent! Hope this helps.”

“Yes, all animals do this. I had a little mouse who was silent as well, a mouse, during the day but at night screeched like a banshee. The only insistence where this would be considering not normal is if your pet was a fish.”

“No, people may try and fool you into thinking it’s just cats that lack morality, BUT THEY’RE WRONG!!! My brother’s fish was planning to drown me, I don’t have proof BUT I KNOW I’M RIGHT!!!”

———————————————————

Hockey Stick being scared of the vacuum, Hockey Stick being afraid of the vacuum, Hockey Stick being afraid of the-NO WAIT! Both Casey Jr and HockeyStick being scared of the vacuum!!!

The sound the vacuum makes reminds them both too much of the sound the portal to the Prison Dimension made when it closed.

April has on more than one occupation vacuumed Casey Jr apartment while he and HockeyStick (hidden in Casey Jr’s hoodie as to not be spotted) hissed at her from the top of the fridge. Both have ear muffs on (HockeyStick’s mini earmuffs were provided by Mikey).

———————————————————

Both are discovering what it means to be “normal” by human standards.

Casey Jr adjusting to being in a world where he isn’t constantly on survival mode. Where his normal actions are now “paranoid activity”

Brother Kraang not existing in a dimension that’s nothing but vast emptiness and rubble. Pretending to be a normal part of a world that has a lot of biodiversity in comparison to the prison dimension.

Both are experiencing the beauty of planet Earth for the first time, and the joy of just being able to simply enjoy existing for the first time. (•,n,•) I’m making myself emotional.

AND both feel alone because their families are just out of reach!

Casey Jr’s family doesn’t exist anymore, the present version of them will never become the versions of the family who raised him.

Meanwhile Brother Kraang knows his siblings are alive and where they are, but he can’t do anything to free them.

———————————————————

Other Random Detail:

Casey Jr lives in the same apartment complex as Draxum and April.

The name “Hockey Stick” was a suggestion from Casey, she had a goldfish in her childhood named Hockey Puck.

Hockey Stick when first taken in by Junior was the size of a stuffed bear, but is slowly getting back to his regular size.

Brother Kraang despises all animals, they have very good intuition so they attack him on sight.

———————————————————

Little Plot Bunnies, Specifically the Kraang & EPS:

Prime Kraang and Sister Kraang know each other to be alive. They don’t know if Brother Kraang is alive.

Sister Kraang spends her time imprisoned thinking about how she’s gonna torture the turtles. Specifically how she’ll torture them in front of each other, making them give up any information of where her brother is. She misses her psychotic little brother.

Speaking of, the EPF (Earth Protection Force), is looking for “The Infector” (Kraang Brother). They have “The Destroyer” (Kraang Sister), and know that Kraang Prime has somehow been exiled from Earth.

Yes, the EPF can get Kraang Prime’s name right but not the other two. Sister Kraang doesn’t plan on correcting them anything soon.

Honestly I could do a whole spin off on Kraang Sister’s side of the story. While “HockeyStick” is getting belly rubs and napping, Sister Kraang is setting new records for how long a security guard can last before pleading with their superiors for a transfer.

———————————————————

And Finally, Art Time:

Casey Jr with HockeyStick (What are they looking at? 👀)

Brother Kraang shifting into his animal form for the first time.

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cipheramnesia · 1 year

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Some days it feels extremely difficult to have boundaries about christianity like, trying to just keep them there because I do not want that in my life, but it's so ubiquitous in western culture that it seeps into everything like a humid basement. It's not even about atheism, although it's a little bit about a fundamental intolerance for monotheism, but mostly it's simply too much of that thing and I need a quiet space in solitude from the cacophony of capital-G god and everything seemingly drawing on Jesus and angels and devils and hell as references.

Part of me understands at a distance that its a system that has extensive and complex cultural reach, which runs throughout human history so it cannot be simply or easily discarded, like any other number of widespread systems of belief or culture. It's not that simple and I'm able to understand the complexity of human development.

But it's alien to me also. Invasive, incompatible, anathema in all ways. It feels like being told sideways is up and down and back and forth. Like being forced to watch my step on the sidewalk and never look at the grass. A multitude choice question where every answer is the same and wrong. It is not part of where I live, but sometimes it's very loud and I cannot hear the sound of the world as it exists for me.

#there is so much it's hard to explain #but its so loud all the time and i need quiet

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adventure-showdown · 7 months

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What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

ROUND 1 MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

Living Legend

Synopsis

The world faces imminent destruction when Italy wins the World Cup! Can the fabled Time Lady Charleyostiantayshius save humanity from the dreaded Threllip Empire, or will her idiot assistant, the Doctor, ruin everything?

Propaganda

charley pretends to be a time lady with the doctor as her inept assistant. thankfully the alien menace they're dealing with is even more inept. for some reason it's set in italy after the 1982 world cup (nicolas)

The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50

Synopsis

The Time War. The Doctor has been injured and brought to a Time Lord field hospital. His body glows with energy, but this is no regeneration into a future form – instead, the Doctor’s past faces begin to appear as he flits haphazardly between incarnations…

Staggering to his TARDIS, the Doctor sets out to solve the mystery of his 'degeneration'. Who has done this to him? How? And why? From the Earth to the stars, across an array of familiar times and places, he follows clues to retrace his steps, encountering old friends and enemies along the way. Tumbling through his lives, the Doctor must stop his degeneration before he loses himself completely...

The First Doctor arrives in Victorian London amid a Martian invasion. But he discovers all is not what it seems when Missy appears…

Soon, the Doctor is propelled into a future incarnation – the Tenth – but he is not alone in battling Missy and her Martian invaders. The Paternoster Gang – Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint and Strax – are also here to assist. But can they offer the Doctor any help in solving his own degeneration mystery?

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The Bekdel Test

Synopsis

Back at the start of her imprisonment, Doctor Song becomes a guinea pig for an innovative new security system.

But it's her fellow prisoners she needs to be most wary of

Because it's early days for Missy, too. The Doctor is dead, and she is outraged that somebody else killed him first...

Propaganda

dear fuck the amount of developement we get we get from listening to these two? the drama and clever plots? missy and river working together?!?!! the touching character moments!! i am gnawing on this audio PLEASE go listen to it!! (tardiskinnie)

Oh No It Isn’t

Synopsis

"The King's balls get bigger every year!"

What could possibly go wrong on Professor Bernice Summerfield's investigation into the lost civilisation of Perfecton? Nothing, it seems — until they leave the planet and spot a dirty great missile heading towards their ship. But instead of oblivion, Benny finds herself plunged into the strange world of — panto.

Propaganda

first big finish! (anonymous)

The Eleven Day Empire/The Shadow Play

Synopsis

The Unkindnesses discuss the future over dinner; the Sontarans decide to give extinction a push in the right direction; Justine gains an opportunity by losing her 'closest friend'; Godfather Morlock makes his last appearance in Parliament, and spots a trap just in time to walk into it; the founder of the House leaves a legacy; and the doomed end up dancing on the walls while the Faction prepares for war.

Propaganda

The first two parter in the six part Faction Paradox Protocols. About how Justine aquifers the shadow of Grandfather Paradox, the one armed man and the Voodoo priest of House Lungbarrow, and begins her fight against Lolita the masters former TARDIS turned Time Lord turned History. The War in Heaven is the main setting of all these audios And Eliza is bi and Justine is so Trans but she has sadly massive amounts of internalised transphobia. They rock also the line “we could be Eve and Eve” loves rent free in my mind at all times. (Anastasia Cousins)

Smoke and Mirrors

Synopsis

The Doctor answers a psionic distress call being sent from England in the 1920s. There, in the environs of a fairground, he is reunited with an old friend: Harry Houdini. To Adric and Nyssa the name means very little, but to the Doctor's companion Tegan he is a legend. Escape artist extraordinaire, Houdini's reputation will last for decades.

But how come Harry knows so much about Tegan herself? Is it really just guesswork, as he says? Is Harry right to be concerned about the fairground's fortune teller, who claims to have supernatural skills? Both he and the Doctor suspect an alien influence they know of old.

What neither the Doctor nor his friends realise is that, somewhere in the shadows, a far more sinister and familiar presence is lying in wait for them...

Propaganda

Fresh and unique take on the celebrity historical! One of the best stories 5 has to offer! (@finalpam8000 )

#round 1

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scotianostra · 4 months

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On January 31st 1788 Prince Charles Edward Stewart died in Palazzo Muti, Rome, he was 67.

A longer than normal post, but he had a profound affect on events in Scotland, so it's merited......

Well he actually died the day before, but you’ll need to read the post in full as to why history gives this date!

With Bonnie Prince Charlie featuring in a number of my posts throughout the year I will cover the latter part of his life today, basically after Culloden.

When Prince Charles escaped from the battlefield at Culloden, he left almost all his personal possessions behind. During the months that followed he was hunted by government forces throughout the western Highlands and Isles. He was helped by many loyal followers, and this period gave rise to some of the most enduring myths of the rising.

I think it shows the loyalty he was given by the Highlanders that he managed to evade capture, over the five months after Culloden and no doubt execution. He was sheltered, smuggled from hiding place to hiding place, and given clothes and other items, by Gaels who risked their own safety to help him.

Charles eventually escaped to France and then Rome. Many of his followers were captured and some executed. Others were forced into exile and had their lands forfeited. The government was determined to eliminate the Jacobite cause once and for all.

The Highlands were disarmed and even highland dress was banned for a time. The breakdown of the clan system accelerated, while improved roads and forts led to more effective government control of remoter areas.

On reaching the safety of France Charlie sked King Louis XV for 20,000 more soldiers to help "finish the job”. The myth propagated by his Hanoverian enemies was that Prince Charlie abandoned Scotland after Culloden. The memorandum written by the Prince to the King of France on 5th November 1746 provides evidence, in the Prince’s own hand, that directly contradicts this myth.

In the letter,seen in the third pic, the Prince wrote: “I never lacked Scottish subjects ready to ﬁght. What I did simultaneously lack was money, supplies and a handful of regular troops; with but one of these three, I would today still be master of Scotland and probably the whole of England."

He goes on to claim he could have marched into London “unopposed" after his clear victory over General Cope’s troops at Prestonpans in September 1745 had he 3,000 more soldiers under his command.

At the time, Duke of Cumberland and the British Army were then in Flanders fighting the French and their allies in the Austrian War of Succession.

Things turned sour for Charles when the French and English reached a peace deal, where they recognised the right of King George and his successors to sit on the British throne, ending their support for the Stuart cause. Prince Charles was then expelled from France.

As far as the French Government were concerned, Prince Charles and his Highland supporters had served their purpose as pawns in their wider political game. The Prince had now become an embarrassment to them and was of no further value. Not that the peace lasted that long, both countries were at it again within ten years.

At one stage, accepting the fact that as a Catholic he was unlikely to ever be crowned King Charles indicated to his followers he was willing to become a Protestant in order to accede to the throne. In 1750 he visited London incognito, staying at a safe house near Holborn and converted to Protestantism by receiving Anglican Communion. But due to his increasingly brusque and argumentative manner he managed to alienate himself from the French foreign minister in 1759 who was planning an invasion of England in the midst of the Seven Years’ War between Britain and France. After Prince Charles’ father James III died in 1766, Pope Clement XIII recognised James as King of England, Scotland and Ireland but did not bestow the same title on his son Prince Charles.

Over the decades as he grew older and bitter about his lost cause he turned to alcohol as his dream for restoring his lineage faded.

The Prince is known to have travelled around Europe in the years that followed, trying to garner support for another tilt at regaining the crown for the Stuarts, Often using an alias, he spent a couple of years in Basel, Switzerland as W. Thompson physician and ‘gentillhomme Anglais.’ He later spent time in Florence in 1774, where he was provided with a residence by Prince Corsini, he used the alias Count of Albany at this time. Charles's health deteriorated in later life, and he was reported to have suffered from asthma, high blood pressure, swollen legs and ulcers. He suffered constantly from his illnesses, which required him to be carried by his servants to and from his carriage.

After separating, she claimed that Charles had physically abused her. This claim was generally believed by contemporaries. The historian Douglas states that Charles had been drinking following Saint Andrew's Day celebrations, and after accusing Louise of infidelities, may have attempted to rape her, resulting in her screaming to the extent that the household servants intervened. In the years that followed, the pope awarded Louise half of Charles's papal pension, and Charles's international reputation was greatly damaged. He was said to live an increasingly isolated and unhappy life, especially after his brother Henry agreed to house Louise at his estate.

By 1783 his health was deteriorating swiftly to the extent that during one bout of illness he was giver the last rites. Although Charles recovered, he agreed to create a new will, and signed an act of legitimation for his illegitimate daughter Charlotte. Charles also gave her the title "Duchess of Albany" in the peerage of Scotland and the style "Her Royal Highness", but these honours did not give Charlotte any right of succession to the throne. His daughter stayed with him until his death, she herself only lived for less than two years dying unmarried at Bologna in November 1789

Charles died in Rome of a stroke on 30th January 1788, the cardinals stated officially that he died on the morning of 31st January, as it was deemed unlucky to have him declared dead on the same date as his great-grandfather, King Charles I, who of course was covered in an extensive post yesterday.

On his death, a cast of his face was made, and his body was embalmed and placed in a coffin of cypress wood. Adorned with the Order of the Thistle, the Cross of St Andrew, the Order of the Garter and the Cross of St George

On Charles’s death in 1788, his brother, Henry Benedict, became the Jacobite Henry IX of England and I of Scotland, it was with him that the direct, legitimate line ended on his death in 1807. By this time the beleaguered cardinal, who had witnessed the French Revolution (and lost the financial support of his Bourbon cousin in the process) had begun receiving an annual pension of £4,000 from George III – yes, from the very Hanoverian monarch or, in Jacobite terminology ‘usurper’, that his father and brother had fought so hard, and at such great cost, to remove from the British throne. Henry, unlike his father and brother, did not press his claim.

There is an interesting article about Charles in the Scotsman from a year ago, unlike most of the posts I have read about him in the newspaper it is actually very sympathetic and defends him in some ways, it is quite scathing towards Diana Gabaldon‘s Outlander, not all of which is deserved in my own point of view, the show, and books , are after all a work of fiction, and only draw on actual events.

https://www.scotsman.com/.../outlander-promotes-a-deeply...

#scotland #scottish #history #edinburgh #italy #rome #the stuarts

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leguin · 7 months

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finally had the time to write emails to my Elected Representatives this morning re: none of them supporting a ceasefire and all of them supporting continued military aid to israel. emails, like calls, and like a lot of protests, are a numbers situation - the important thing is the multiplicity of the action, not the details - but i ended up spending a while reflecting on the ways history repeats itself. the first protest i remember going to was in 2003, when i was 5, with my parents in san francisco, protesting the iraq war. i grew up with very explicit extended family conflict over supporting the war and the invasion of afghanistan - my parents were the only ones openly against it, and my mom's ~60 relatives on the east coast, some of whom had been very personally affected by 9/11, were appalled that anyone could be against National Security and Patriotism. i still have an email somewhere from my great-uncle that he sent to the family listserv saying anyone who disagreed with the war (my parents) should leave the country. it was that kinda time.

which was alienating, but i already felt alienated from all of those people for other reasons. the bigger thing was just growing up in the context of these wars that my parents and their communities didn't support, and the way their lack of support translated to nothing - nothing. there was nothing they did or said or could do or say that would've changed what the federal government did (or maybe there is and this is a failure of imagination on my part). the public support wasn't there, for a very long time. anti-war hippies in california were not winning the numbers game. so even more than the alienation was a great sense of powerlessness in the face of this unstoppable war machine.

idk what my point is here. the numbers seem different this time, and i hope the outcome is different. i'm glad i don't live somewhere where my vote in the presidential election matters at all - restarting border wall construction was the last straw for me with biden, and this is even more morally reprehensible and unsupportable. but i do feel like. idk. the way i felt paying my federal taxes the last few years having been up close and personal with the result of those taxes in 2020. i can't check a box that says 'do not use to purchase chemical weapons that will be used indiscriminately on me and my friends and my city or anyone, anywhere.' just that great sense of powerlessness.

#anyway i have to catch a train in 3 hours and am very not ready.#it does feel different this time.#the first protest my mom ever went to was a free palestine protest in the mid 80s...

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lokiondisneyplus · 10 months

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Disney has revealed that it has spent $141.3 million (£110.6 million) on pre-production and filming of the second season of its Loki streaming series as it attempts to reinvigorate its struggling Marvel Studios division after a string of critical and commercial failures.

No expense has been spared on Loki Season 2 which cost more in pre-production and filming than many big screen Marvel movies including Doctor Strange (£102.7 million), Thor 2: The Dark World (£99.4 million) and Guardians of the Galaxy (£91.1 million).

Due to debut on the Disney+ platform in October, the sequel to the hit 2021 series stars Tom Hiddleston as the eponymous Asgardian god of mischief. He is joined by Owen Wilson and a new addition to the cast, Oscar-winning Indiana Jones actor Ke Huy Quan who team up to stop a time-travelling conqueror called Kang.

Indiana Jones star Ke Huy Quan is joining Loki for Season 2.2023 MARVEL

Quan's role has been particularly well-received with one fan gushing that "this is the greatest thing to ever happen. I adore this man". Another described it as "like seeing an old friend. It is comforting to see him on screen." One fan even went as far as to say that Quan is reason enough for tuning in. "I was on the fence on watching Loki season 2 but I saw that Ke Huy Quan is in it and yeah...I'm definitely watching that." It is more than can be said for most of Marvel's productions this year.

The studio kicked off 2023 with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, a sci-fi film which opened in February and introduced the Kang character. Its domestic debut weekend box office of $106 million was the highest in the Ant-Man trilogy but then it fell by 70%, resulting in the biggest second-weekend drop in the franchise's history. The movie ended up grossing $476.1 million worldwide which was lower than both of its prequels. As we revealed, Disney spent $193.2 million on pre-production and filming alone.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was widely criticised for its CGI Photo courtesy of Marvel ... [+]COURTESY OF MARVEL STUDIOS

Just days after her departure, Marvel was rocked again when Kang actor Jonathan Majors was arrested on assault and harassment charges. He denies them and will get a chance to explain why when he goes on trial this month.

Then came Secret Invasion. Disney had high hopes for the streaming series which launched in June and was based on a beloved comic series about a race of shape-shifting aliens secretly invading the corridors of power. However, its serious tone, gaping plot holes and poor CGI put off fans leading to its crescendo becoming the single lowest-rated episode of any Marvel series with just a 7% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

As we revealed, staggeringly, it had a budget of $211.6 million. It explains why Disney's chief executive Bob Iger said in February that the studio needs to "reduce costs on everything that we make because, while we're extremely proud of what's on the screen, it's gotten to a point where it's extraordinarily expensive."

A total of 7,000 job cuts and $5.5 billion of cost-savings followed, but even that wasn't enough. Just last month, Iger told CNBC that Disney is slowing down when it comes to making movies and streaming series for its Marvel and Star Wars franchises. "You pull back not just to focus, but also as part of our cost containment initiative. Spending less on what we make, and making less," he said.

Season 2 of Loki was given the green light long before these comments and before Iger even returned to the helm of Disney in November last year. It shows.

The series was filmed at the historic Pinewood Studios just outside London as well as on location across the UK capital. It's a far cry from tinsel town and this shines a spotlight on the otherwise secretive cost of film-making.

Budgets of streaming shows are usually confidential as studios combine the cost of them in their overall expenses and don't itemise how much they spent on each one.

Shows made in the UK are an exception. They benefit from the government's Television Tax Relief scheme which allows studios to claim a cash reimbursement of up to 25% of the money they spend in the country.

To qualify, shows must pass a points test based on factors such as how much filming was done in the UK, the level of UK content and how much they promote UK heritage. Furthermore, at least 10% of the core costs of the production need to relate to activities in the UK and in order to demonstrate this to the government, studios set up a separate Television Production Company (TPC) there for each picture.

These TPCs have to file publicly-available financial statements showing everything from the headcount and salaries to the total cost of the production and the amount of cash they have got back.

The UK government's regulations state that each TPC must be "responsible for pre-production, principal photography and post-production of the television programme; and for delivery of the completed programme." Accordingly, there is no doubt that their financial statements show all of the costs of each series. It isn't even possible for studios to hide costs in other companies as the law also states that "there can only be one TPC in relation to a programme."

The companies usually have code names so that they don’t raise attention when filing for permits to film on location. The Disney subsidiary behind Loki Season 2 is called Limbo Productions I UK in a nod to title character's transient status. Its first set of financial statements were filed on Sunday and cover the 18-month period to October 31 2022 which is when filming wrapped.

They reveal that the company was handed a $27.9 million (£21.8 million) reimbursement bringing its net spending down to $113.4 million which is still far from small beer. The colossal cost dates back to the peak of the pandemic when much of the world was locked indoors addicted to streaming content. Disney was eagerly adding shows to its streaming platform in a bid to attract more subscribers than its rivals.

Season 1 of Loki was the most-watched Marvel TV show to date on Disney+ ©Marvel Studios 2020. All ... [+]COURTESY OF MARVEL STUDIOS

According to industry analysts Samba TV, Loki's first episode was watched by 2.5 million households in its first five days giving it a higher audience than any of Marvel's other streaming shows - a record which stands to this day. The streaming bubble has long since burst thanks to the easing of the pandemic and pure strings being pulled due to rising inflation. However, Season 2's budget could be more important now than ever. Disney doesn't just need it to succeed in order to give a glow to Marvel but to its entire streaming platform.

Unlike theatrical releases, which share ticket sales between studios and exhibitors, Disney receives all of the revenue from its streaming platform. Subscribers pay a single fee which grants them access to all of its new content throughout the year, with or without advertising depending on how much they pay. This makes it impossible to calculate how much subscription revenue is generated by each streaming show.

Instead, the total costs of the shows are deducted from the total revenue to determine whether the platform overall made a profit or a loss. The more subscribers it has, the higher the revenue and the greater the potential for profit. However, Disney wisely changed its goal of chasing subscribers in light of the bleak economic backdrop. Its aim now is to reduce the cost of the programming which also gives a greater potential for profit. It is badly needed.

Disney+ hasn't made a profit since it was launched in 2019 and made an operating loss of $659 million in the first quarter of 2023 alone. Disney has assured investors that the platform will be profitable by the end of its 2024 fiscal year and time will tell whether Loki Season 2's blockbuster budget is a help or a hindrance to that.

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