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borzoilover69 · 3 months

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Post-game John and Jake dynamic is really slept on. Jake meets John and hes like “ok this guy gets it” and in similiar terms Jake understands where John is coming from.

Both John and Jake share interest, signature bluntness and coping mechanisms (fucking off and TOOOTALLLY not dwelling on what makes them upset) and dont really share the concern that other members of their collective friendgroups might have with a friend of theirs just disappearing. They GET it so if they dont talk for a while who cares? Its like no time has passed at all when Jake texts John asking if he wants to watch a movie and John (who hasnt responded to anyone in two weeks) texts back “yeah sure.”

Postgame John and Jake friendship is EVERYTHING to me. John will listen to Jake rant and deliver an honest to goodness clearcut opinion, pulling him back from some of his wilder ideas and thoughts, while Jake pulls John out of the depression rut that John no doubt falls into post-game after everything catches up to him.

John NEEDS to be doing something postgame or otherwise he just dwells. Jake needs someone who will entertain some of his ideas without judgement, but the willingness to reel it in. They would bicker about movies and chat for hours about it because who else gives a fig as much about movies as these two.

John will listen to Jake rant about his friends without much fuss and give an honest input about it how he sees it in a way that doesnt make Jake feel threatened. I think thsts something Jake sort of needs, someone disconnected from his little chaotic friendgroup to talk to without feeling as significantly judged. In turn if John isnt really talking to anyone count on Jake to have the optimal timing to invite himself over for a movie night or get John to go on an outing for him or help him with something, getting him out of his shell. Even in his subtle ways lending John a platform to talk about issues he might be facing.

If theres anyone who can understand the need to isolate while you deal with your problems without judgement, its someone who does the exact same!! I see it very much as “we dont need to talk about it but i understand where youre coming from so 🤝And i think thats so awesome. Jake and John friendship postgame friendship is so real to me. See my vision boy.

#homestuck #hom3stuck #jake english #john egbert #borzoi talks #borzoi meta #homestuck meta #but nooot really?#i need to draw propaganda #anyways theyd be the others numba one defenders.

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miicycle · 5 months

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The Kung Fu Panda Movies have always had Mr. Ping give the moral of the story, and I think about that a lot. Yes, Po is usually out fighting bad guys when realizing where he should be mentally and skillfully, on his own when he gets the point of teachings. Ping is such an important person in Po's life, just as much as Shifu is needed to help Po learn Kung Fu.

Way more under the cut!!!

Kung Fu Panda 1: "You are almost ready to be entrusted with the secret ingredient of my secret ingredient soup. And then you will fulfill your destiny and take over the restaurant [...]" - Ping

"Secret Ingredient of my secret ingredient soup" being an allegory for Dragon scroll and "destiny" being Po becoming the Dragon warrior and "take over the restaurant" as being Oogway's successor.

Then it turns out the scroll is blank. And Ping feels its a good place to tell Po about the secret ingredient. NOTHING. For something to be special, you just have to BELIEVE it's special.

So Po, not needing any secret scroll or any cool powerup, wins against Tai Lung by believeing in himself.

Ping made him believe in himself. And when Po fulfills his destiny of defeating Tai Lung, he's PROUD!

Kung Fu Panda 2: "Po, your life may not have such a happy beginning, but look at how it turned out! You got me, you got kung fu! And you got noodles!" - Ping (and almsot identical quote said by Soothsayer)

And

Po: "I gotta go. I'm the Dragon Warrior, it's kinda my job to save Kung Fu. And if I don't, what am I?"

Ping: "You're my son! ... Right?"

The message is pretty clearcut, but it's repeated very heavily in the movie. Mr Ping may not be his father, but he is his dad. No matter where he came from, Po is Mr Pings son through and through and he very much loves him.

The scene where Po has been knocked into a river and saved by the Soothsayer, she says the same thing that Ping does. He didn't have a happy beginning, but what matters is who he is, and what he chooses to do now.

And the montage plays everything hes done up until now, but also empathizes the moments between Ping and Po. The last thing he sees in his mind is Ping being a dad, because he is Po's dad! Whatever happened before doesn't have bearing for who Po chooses to be. So when he chooses to be the son of a goose and the Dragon Warrior, nothing he finds out can change that.

Because Dragon Warrior or not, Po is Ping's son! Right?

Kung Fu Panda 3: "He's hurt. He's confused. And he still has to save the World! He needs both his dads." - Ping

"I realized that having you in his life doesn't mean less for me. It means more for Po." - Ping

And

"I'm not trying to turn you into me. I'm trying to turn you into you!" - Shifu

(Love how often Shifu and Ping mirror each other's roles btw they're both so important)

So these are a little less on the nose, but again super important. No matter what Po is going through, he still has to fulfill his destiny, and giving him support while he does so is the best they can do. Ping was initially worried of Li Shan stealing Po away, but realizes that bonding with his biological father doesn't take him away from Ping, just more love and support for Po.

But also, Po learning that he doesn't have to change drastically to reach his true potential. When Ping and Li Shan stand on the small platform and tell Po that they can help, along with all other pandas, Po has the realization that he can't turn them into him, just as Shifu can't turn him into Shifu, or Li Shan can't turn him into a typical panda.

Ping doesn't say a direct quote to mirror Shifu's, but he did initiate talking to Li Shan after Po and Li Shan had the liar reveal. Li never had the experience of having an arguement with his child, but Ping obviously does. So he takes it upon himself to keep being the rock that Po can lean on by talking to Li Shan and helping him realize that they have to be there for Po, no matter what happens.

Because again. Po is hurt. Po is confused. But he still has to save the world. He needs both his dads.

I love Ping so much for being a good dad in this way. He really plays well as a support character and is such a good parent. Yeah, Po may not fit the mold the way Ping expected (taking over the noodle shop etc) but hes still so proud!!!

#kung fu panda #kung fu panda 2 #kung fu panda 3 #kung fu panda trilogy #kfp #kfp2 #kfp3 #kfp po #kfp ping #kfp li shan #Long post #text post #mii talks #kfp character study i guess #kung fu panda character talk #mr ping

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nattikay · 6 months

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All Known Minor Omatikaya Characters

for the purposes of this list, "minor character" is defined as either a.) a character who exists in the comics but is not mentioned in the movies, and/or b.) a character who is named in the movies but does not have a speaking role.

SYLWANIN* Neytiri's older sister. We don't know exactly how much older she was, but based on the art in the Adapt or Die comics it appears to be at least 3-4 years. The RDA pursued her to Grace's schoolhouse and killed her after she and a few friends set a bulldozer on fire to protest the clearcutting, which event caused the school to get shut down. She was the original tsakarem (tsahìk-in-training) as well as Tsu'tey's true love and his original betrothed. Neytiri inherited both her position as tsakarem and engagement to Tsu'tey after her death.

NEYTEP and ANUK Sylwanin's friends, who were also killed in the schoolhouse incident. Their names are mentioned briefly in the Tsutey's Path comics, but we don't know much else about them, nor have any known images of them.

TAKUK One of the group of young warriors Tsu'tey is training throughout the Tsu'tey's Path comics, which I will refer to from here on out as "Tsu'tey's apprentices" for brevity's sake. He appears to be the top student among the group, as Tsu'tey is often asking him to take the lead.

KA'ANI Initially introduced as one of Tsu'tey's apprentices in Tsu'tey's Path, and one of the two who completes his Iknimaya alongside Jake. He's seen again in The Next Shadow comics and seems to be a good friend of Jake's (cheers him on during their Iknimaya in A1; defends him against Ateyo and Artsut in The Next Shadow).

SAEYLA One of Tsu'tey's apprentices, and one of the two who completes her Iknimaya alongside Jake. Has a crush on Tsu'tey, but he rejects her. (her hairstyle is different between the comic and the movie scene, but Tsu'tey specifically names her and Ka'ani as the two who are doing Iknimaya with Jake).

MARU One of Tsu'tey's apprentices. Talks Saeyla out of trying to pursue Tsu'tey further; refers to her as "child" which might imply that she's a bit older than the others, though it could've also just been her making a jab at Saeyla's behavior.

ATAN One of Tsu'tey's apprentices. Died in the attack on Hometree. (I know the hairstyles do not match between the two panels (based on the stripes I'm actually wondering if the left one was a mislabeled Takuk/the designs got mixed up), but the character is directly addressed as "Atan" in both panels so...let's say he just got a haircut ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

NEKAWN A child from the clan during the events of A1, who Grace addresses briefly by name during Tsu'tey's Path. Would be an adult by the main timeline of A2.

ATEYO and ARTSUT Tsu'tey's parents. After the events of A1, they attempt to assassinate Jake by convincing their other son, Arvok, to challenge him to ritualistic combat, and then secretly poisoning Arvok's blade. When Jake survives the attempt, they are exiled from the Omatikaya as punishment, after which they seek to join the Mangkwan** clan. Artsut in particular also apparently has some sort of long-standing beef with Mo'at, though we don't get the details on what caused it.

ARVOK Tsu'tey's younger brother. He is first briefly mentioned in the Tsu'tey's Path comics, then plays a much larger role in The Next Shadow. He looks like an adult in The Next Shadow (which takes place two weeks after the end of A1) but is referred to by Tsu'tey as "a child" in Tsu'tey's Path (which is concurrent with A1), so he is probably actually a teenager. His parents manipulated him into challenging Jake to non-lethal ritualistic combat to contest his claim to the olo'eyktan title, but Ateyo and Artsut secretly poisoned his knife (Arvok himself had no intention of killing Jake and his parents knew he wouldn't go through with the plot if he'd known). Ateyo and Artsut go on to frame a confused and startled Arvok for the attempted murder when the blade nicks Jake and he faints. The truth is brought to light in the end, but Arvok feels complicit anyways, and wants to be included in the punishment--in fact, he is the one who suggests exile. The three of them leave the clan together, but later that night Arvok abandons his parents to forge his own path (good for him honestly they're toxic as heck). His current whereabouts are unknown.

YEYONGO A mother who reluctantly allows her injured child to be treated by the human scientists in The Next Shadow.

NINAT A woman from the clan, who Neytiri briefly describes as being a good singer.

PEYRAL A woman from the clan, who Neytiri briefly describes as being a good hunter. We don't have any images of her as far as I know.

TARSEM Jake's successor as olo'eyktan when the Sully family flees the clan.

. ENTU and RALU Lived thousands of years before A1. Entu was the first Toruk Makto; Ralu was his best friend and adoptive brother after Entu's parents were killed by a thanator. Their story is told in the Cirque du Soleil show Toruk: The First Flight.

*this spelling actually breaks Na'vi language rules as y is not supposed to act like a vowel; presumably it was decided on before language was fully developed. That said, "Sylwanin" is technically still the "official" spelling and likely will never be "corrected" in canon material...but if we're going by the language rules it should really be "Sìlwanìn" ("Sìlwanin" would also be a valid spelling but the way they pronounce that last syllable in the movie sounds more like nìn than nin to me).

**the name of this clan also breaks currently-known Na'vi syllable rules, as "kw" is an invalid consonant cluster; it should be something like Mangkìwan. I suppose it's possible that the "Mangkwan" have their own dialect where kw is allowed, but I think it's more likely just an error on the writer's part (wouldn't be the only time the comics have made a little slip with the language--The High Ground spells "skxawng" as "skwang" 🙃)

#avatar #omatikaya #na'vi #i dooooon't even know how to tag this i feel like listing out all the characters individually will make it so clunky lol #and not like people are gonna be browsing tags for half these characters anyways ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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altschmerzes · 9 months

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so, ferngully the last rainforest, right. insane movie about how deforestation is bad and we gotta protect the environment and all living things matter and should be valued. great message. insane film. also a movie i autism-imprinted on as a child with no access to a tv aside from a portable dvd player and a dvd case. anyways so i haven't seen this movie in a really long time and i just watched it again and i have some observations.

nobody in this movie has nipples. it is incredibly distracting. they got all these little fairies in the woods and none of the boy fairies have shirts and they also don't have nipples. they got the pecs like a dolphin's belly. i found this SO DISTRACTING.

yes he was voicing the personification of pollution and deforestation but also tim curry. listen. i have never been inclined to use this phrase before i don't like it very much i just think it sounds bad but i do have to say there is no other way to put it but tim curry put his whole pussy into voicing hexxus and the result is that the personification of pollution and deforestation in this film can absolutely get it because he DID put that tim curry steez into the role.

hey remember that time that robin williams voiced a cartoon bat who did a whole song and dance number about the evils of animal testing. and it kind of ruled?

there's a biker gang who rides flying beetles. they're not fairies bc they don't have wings. what are they? don't worry about it.

there's a song where the personification of pollution and deforestation sings about how much he loves clearcutting machinery while he puffing on diesel smoke and gasoline and oil and it is literally two minutes of pure sex appeal. i can't explain it. tim curry did not have to go that hard but he did and the result is like. listen. i can't explain it.

this makes the fact that nobody in this film has nipples even weirder. like no we can't have nips on these little shirtless fairy men because that's too horny for our young audience. meanwhile tim curry just poured raw sex appeal into the villain song. the ship has sailed.

remember the time that bigol lizard chases this little man who's been shrunk to fairy size around and sings a song about how he's gonna eat him.

why is his name 'zak.' why did they spell it that way.

robin williams also did the absolute most in his role in this film. like. batty's lines are so... some of them had me in hysterics.

i am obsessed with the ending shot where my man zak here has just had a life-altering experience with the forest fairies and understands that all living things have value including the trees and has vowed to remember this lesson. he walks off with his logging company buddies and is like come on guys. things have gotta change. this is a great ending for this kids' film and i do gotta admire this dumbass's dedication to single-handedly dismantling the logging industry, i, uh, i do also think there are gonna be some, uh, hurdles along the way.

#ferngully #ferngully the last rainforest #idk if anybody remembers this film but #tim curry didn't have to do that #and yet he did gd bless

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psygull · 2 months

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hey! I couldn't find if you've already got this somewhere - have you got a list of movies you wish more people would go and watch? feels like you've got a real varied refined palate for movies, thanks have a good easter weekend 🥚

hello and thank you! i recently answered an ask with a list of horror and sci-fi movies i recommend (which can be found here) so here's some more that aren't either of those. also look up content warnings for these beforehand if you watch any

Brick (2005) is a neo-noir with all the trappings of the genre (femme fatales, murder, weird lingo) set in a california high school. scrappy, clever, and the directorial debut of one Rian Johnson (see also Looper (2012))

Clearcut (1991) is a thriller about logging, indigenous land rights, environmentalism, and what happens when nonviolence fails. intense and thoughtful, raises a lot of questions but leaves them up to you to answer

likewise, First Reformed (2017) is a psychological drama about a pastor of a church that's been reduced to little more than a tourist attraction having a crisis of faith and ALSO dealing with environmental crises as well. this one's BLEAK but so good. i still think about it frequently

The Proposition (2005) is a western set in the early days of australian colonization. a lawman gives an outlaw nine days to hunt down and kill his older brother, or his younger brother will be hanged. it's about colonialism, civility, and the gruesome violence underpinning all of it. and it's starting to gather flies (also nick cave wrote the screenplay and the soundtrack, so you KNOW it's good)

Moonstruck (1987), to change up the tone completely, is a wonderful romcom starring nicolas cage and cher. i dunno the best way to pitch this one, it's just really well written and fun and good. extremely new york movie

that's a few i've been thinking about recently! i could keep going but five is a good number to end on

#ask #psygullisms #i suppose this counts as #filmposting #brick #clearcut #first reformed #the proposition (2005)#moonstruck

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steampunkforever · 7 months

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When I see (American, online) leftists post Guillotine memes about politicians and then turn around and plead with the very government they threaten to further disarm them I begin to question if they can really back up their rhetoric. After all, the deadliest things they're throwing at politicians are milkshakes. Power comes from the barrel of a gun, so why are you begging the bad guys to take away the means to a revolution?

Tackling indigenous rights and neoliberal centrism, Clearcut asks the same thing. In a failed system that breeds injustice, why aren't we doing what needs to be done?

Clearcut is a film rich in questions. Unlike many movies surrounding the ideal of native land rights, it has no clear(cut) ending, choosing instead to leave the audience with questions that it chooses not to answer.

The film focuses on a bleeding heart neolib lawyer who has lost the court case contesting a logging conglomerate's deforestation of native lands in Canada. Out loud, the lawyer wishes he could murder the logging company CEO. Enter Arthur, a native of nondescript ancestry who serves as the monkeys paw and curls each finger. "You want to kill this guy?" Arthur asks "Why not?" And so he kidnaps the CEO, throws the lawyer into a boat, and takes them all on a nightmarish trip full of torture and unspoken philosophical questions.

The main conflict of the film comes from the Lawyer's staunch devotion to his centrism. His mantra "we'll appeal in court" rings hollow as everyone around him universally acknowledges this act as a useless gesture. If the lawyer would just take the knife, give the CEO a couple stabs and go on about his day the film would be much shorter. But he doesn't.

Instead, we watch in a dreamlike haze as Arthur makes the lawyer face the harm that justice requires, the torment compounding with every sequence the lawyer refuses to abandon his pacifistic ideals. "You wanted to debark this man like a log? Then help me peel the skin off his leg." Clearcut is a film about putting your money where your mouth is.

As the lawyer insists on this sympathetic neutrality, it becomes clear who the helpless handwringing benefits. There's lots of talk, but its all noise, serving only to build up the status quo, providing a space for vocal dissent but no change. The lawyer can protest the beatings and blood of the logging operation, but will not step in to prevent them. Who does this help?

He will not pick up that gun. The CEO gets out alive, and none of the guilty get arrested. Clearcut posits that to surrender the monopoly of force is to admit to the legitimacy of the monopolizer, an endorsement through obedience.

The movie leaves you with so many questions, but chief among them was "is it worth it?"

#filmposting #clearcut #film #cinema #theres a lot of nuance to this film I'm not communicating #its a film about a lot of things

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forthegothicheroine · 2 years

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One of the reasons Clearcut stuck with me as a horror movie is because the primary question “What do you do when nonviolence fails?” is one I don’t have an answer for. And to its credit, the movie doesn’t present an unambiguous answer to it either.

(That said, I did have to close my eyes during a brief torture scene, so if you’re like me and that’s hard to watch, be warned. It makes perfect sense in context but yikes.)

#clearcut #torture cw #horror movies

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aetherictree · 1 year

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The new DnD movie has the best worldbuilding I've ever seen in a fantasy show or film, simply because the land around Neverwinter was *used* for something (sheep pasture), there were clearcut parts of the forest because they need wood, and they walked through wheat fields.

And I only realised this on my second watch, which was totally not motivated by wanting to see the tiefling again (btw, all characters who are born different and suffer in childhood for it are neurodivergence coded, I don't make the rules. Also she has an affinity with animals which, well...).

And it's increased by desire to actually play it. Only ever done play by post.

#dnd tiefling #honor among thieves #fantasy #worldbuilding #neverwinter #doric the druid #dnd doric #changelings

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variousqueerthings · 5 months

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

that's good political theory

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

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

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

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

#im watching nu!who #im watching capaldi who #episode thin ice #the measurement

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