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insomniac-101 · 1 year

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So something that I often don't see people discuss is the manner in which the 9th and the 10th doctor's seasons are so intrinsically connected that it is almost impossible to understand a lot of key character arcs if you choose to skip it upon rewatch. The reason why I say this is because the moment you reach season 2, 10 is essentially the product of the development 9 achieves at the end of his season. To skip him, would mean that you also miss context as to the reason why Rose is so important and in turn, not understand the reason why their bond in particular is such a big part of the plot during the 10th's era.

Now bare with me, because I'm about to go off a bit lmao.

The first season of nuwho not only serves as an introduction to many of the key characters we see later on, such as: the Doctor, Rose, Jackie, Jack, Mickey, Harriet jones, etc. but it also serves as an introduction for the concept of the series as a whole. Prior to this, doctor who as a franchise had a reputation of being a geeky sci-fi show with no real wide spread appeal. Remaining as a niche interest to many, up until the reboot returned and reintroduced the show to a newer audience.

This is important to note because this is one of the main reasons why we see such a huge emphasis placed on the companions' lives in the reboot. Because RTD meant to expand the world of Doctor who and its audience, and by doing so, he strived to try a multitude of new plots that were otherwise never explored previously. This is why the romantic plotline of his season is so crucial to the story itself because he means to explore a facet of humanity not previously seen with the Doctor as a character. RTD essentially built this plot line from scratch, as the only other attempt at exploring such an angle was received negatively (The 8th Doctor's movie). So there's a degree of leniency that I give his writing In particular because like I said prior, he had no prior reference for exploring humanity to the degree in which the new series does.

The ninth doctor, when we meet him, is essentially a recluse. He is in a state of stagnation, implied to have been alone for some time after the war and it gives off the impression that he's no longer accustomed to being around people. He's often direct, rudely so and very standoffish to anyone that isn't immediately measuring up to his standards. This isn't to say that he isn't charming in his own way. He's sarcastic and when he tries, he can actually be very good with people. But the war still weighs heavily on his conscious and so, he views the world through the eyes of a soldier. Prioritizing the act of surviving rather than slowing down and actually taking the time to live life.

I mean, the man essentially meets Rose while blowing up her workplace and if that isn't concerning on its own merit than I don't know what is lmao.

A scene that sticks out to me the most about him in particular is when he looks at himself in the mirror for the first time. He notes that he has big ears, and from the manner in which he says it the implication that he perhaps has not seen himself in a long time is not lost to us. This coupled with the knowledge that he had indeed been seen traveling prior to meeting Rose, gives the phrase a more dark connotation that makes sense for his character.

I like to think that this indicates that the guilt of what he did to stop the war weighs so heavily on him that he could never bring himself to face his reflection. Because truly, to have gone so long without seeing yourself, not even in the reflection of a window or other surface is not something that is easy to do. Rather, it is something you have to go out of your way to do. Also it's important to note that his appearance is in fact a reflection of that weariness he feels. With his body, being older outwardly (appearing 40ish ) and his features being very sharp and serious. Even his hair is pretty short, much like how a soldier would keep it as a means of not wasting any time on worrying on something so inconvenient. His preference for darker colors and his constant outfit is also very noticably practical, not at all decorative like his prior bodies. This is purposeful, because it is what sets him apart from prior versions of the character and an easy way to visually see his most prominent traits.

Now with that out of the way, now I can discuss how 9 changes and what his relationship to Rose is like, so that one can better understand why Rose is such an important part of the Doctor's character.

From the moment the two meet, you can see he harbors an immediate curiosity towards her. Here they are, trapped in an elevator being attacked by a group of living mannequins and yet, Rose is almost unaffected.

That isn't to say she isn't afraid, she is, but her fear doesn't stop her from asking questions and demanding explanations. She doesn't shy away from him, rather she confronts him head on and even shows a level of concern for other people while she is actively the one in danger. It is enough to prompt him to ask her name, but not enough to involve her. Preferring to instead keep his distance.

It is not until another chance meeting that he gradually lets her in, allowing her to humor him with her curiosity and we see once more that he is in fact very good at socializing, but only with certain people. The reason why I stress this is because he often outwardly puts this front of coldness towards those that don't interest him. Rose was able to look past this front, and seems to look past his rather cold attitude towards other humans. He often stresses how inept they are, going on tangents about how they're nothing more than apes but she ignores it and tries to get at the core of the issue. That's why they mesh so well, because she is able to separate the fluff he inserts into his answers and take it for what it is. That isn't to say she's a doormat, she just knows when to pick her battles.

"do you know like we were saying? About the world revolving. It's like you're a kid, the first time they tell you that the world is turning and you just can't quite believe it cause everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning 1,000 miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at 67,00 miles an hour. And I can feel it, we're falling through space you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go.. that's who I am. Now forget me, Rose Tyler"

He is describing the manner in which he views the world. Unlike how a kid is unable to comprehend the vast truths of how the world functions and remains naive of it for a period of time, he is a man that was never given that chance to be unaware of how it functions to an infuriating degree. He sees the world for how it is, dark, unforgiving and so direct. Everything is calculated so precisely and he can't even begin to comprehend why anyone would see the good in it as it's just that, a planet.

But that's why he finds humans so interesting. There's a part of him that holds onto that hope that it is something more, that perhaps he is missing out on a purpose behind all the darkness. That's why he is running amongst them, to find a reason behind their way of thinking. To experience the world through the eyes of the hypothetical child, rather than the adult who breaks the illusion.

Not only that, but this conversation also let's us in on how touch-deprived he is.

For it is in a moment of vulnerability that he allows himself to reach out and touch Rose physically. Grabbing her hand for emphasis on how heavy this revelation burdens him. It's a cry for help in a sense, because he has reached the point where he has metaphorically "let go". Dropping her hand, to show that he is losing that last part of him that clings to that hope of finding something that will allow him to question his view of the world. He is miserable and lonely, because when you view the world through such a cynical lens it becomes all the more apparent that life is so lonely. If everything is doomed, then why go out of your way to care?

You see this in the way he remains unaffected by the reveal of Mickey's "death." Having grown so used to it, that he finds it off-putting to see that Rose is freaking out as a result. It happens everyday to people far more important so why give it any real weight if it's inevitable? Why ascribe a meaning to something that just is?

Remember when I mentioned it is implied that he was traveling on his own for a while? What places did he visit? The Titanic, the Kennedy assassination, the explosion of Karakota. These are all fixed points of time that are associated with absolute tragedies. But all the same, they're key points in life where the world remained cruel without reason. Thus fueling his very uncharitable view of the world and how it functions.

That's where Rose becomes key to his overall development. As a human, she inevitably views the world through the lens of that child. She doesn't know the ins and outs of the universe's processes, yet she continues living without ever really seeking to understand it better. It doesn't matter to her that the people around her aren't necessarily important in the grand scheme of things, they matter because they just do. She is capable of loving others and affording care to others simply because she wants to, not because she has to. She is confronted with alien threats the moment he walks into her life, and yet her view of the world and her existence doesn't really change. She does not harden rather, she curiously grows from it. Growing wiser and more aware rather than crippling under the discovery of another threat in the universe.

She is clinging to the understanding of the tiny little world she lives in, yet her hold doesn't relent. For she is not falling, to imply so would mean that he was right in his assertion that our existence is doomed. No, instead in the place of any real meaningful explanation about the world's existence is something so innately human: hope. An illogical thing to always maintain, yet she always seems to have it.

After all, it is such a confusing notion when you think about it. We have no reason to believe that things will improve, and that we'll be met with good outcomes. It's so metaphorical, not at all tethered to something practical like numbers and data and yet, even when the odds are against us, somehow we hope things will improve.

It's that aspect that he wishes he understood.

(i would love to dedicate a whole analysis on Rose in a separate post so for now, I will only focus on the Doctor and her role in his life)

This is why he takes her to the ends of the universe on their first trip. He's testing her, seeing if this will be enough to prompt a reaction out of her that fits his narrative. He also seeks companionship, to have someone understand what it's like to see your planet burn and to have yourself remain as the sole survivor. In a way, to justify the validity of his misery and guilt. She's affected of course. It's in that moment that she realizes, the scope of the universe and is faced with the undeniable truth that everything does end. It shakes her and you can see her sort of doubt her view of the world. No longer able to remain blissfully unaware of the big picture when it is quite literally in your face.

But something she has, and he lacks is a foundation. Rose still has her mother, someone to return to at the end of the day. She can be comforted by the people in her life while his inability to let anyone in, essentially stunts him.

When given the choice to spare Cassandra, he refuses. He lacks the capability of seeing past the evil, and assumes that there is no good in her. No second chances. An act that catches Rose off guard, who in spite of personally recieving the brunt of Cassandra's cruelty, she asks the Doctor to save her.

Eventually he takes her back to her time. He entrusts her with more information regarding the war and the death of his people. People pass them by, oblivious to his presence as he is wallowing in the sorrow of remembering. It's a metaphor, of sorts. While our two protagonists are brutally aware of the doom that awaits them in the future and they remain stuck in place reminiscing, the world around them continues moving on.

He is giving her every reason to run, to leave him behind and save the very last shreds of naivety she has.

But when he asks her if she wants to leave, to no longer accompany him on his adventures, she refuses. Because his confession puts it all into perspective.

He is hurting.

He desperately craves company: to have a hand to hold onto and keep him grounded as the world falls apart. Yet more than ever is she aware of her limitations; that she cannot undo what has been done to him.

And so, she does what she knows she can do to help ease the pain even if it is very miniscule. Tells him that he has her, and that his pain is one she can now share and understand. She offers him chips, not because it will magically make it all disappear but because it will distract him from the pain of remembering. It's also her favorite food, so no doubt she is trying to share that sense of comfort it brings her with him.

Such a human thing to not focus on fixing the bigger problem and instead focus on what can be changed in the current moment. They still have time until the end of the earth, so why spend more time dwelling on it?

That is her response to his question.

I believe the episode the unquiet dead is where he realizes the extent of his feelings for her. There they are about to be pulled apart by a horde of zombies yet Rose doesn't regret coming along. She tells him so and in the end all she asks of him is that they fight for their lives. Still clinging on to that bit of hope that they could get out of this, even if it is misplaced. To stay together in spite of their inevitable deaths is all she asks for, and he in turn tells her how glad he is to have met her. Assuring her that he is glad it's her that is there by his side as he clings to her hand like a life line. Somehow, having someone there to hold made the inevitable more bearable.

For a single moment, he remembers what it is like to not regret something.

But no, they live! Again and again, even if logically it makes no sense given how the world works. All the while, he meets more and more extraordinary people. With Rose, always reaching out to others as they embark on every new adventure. Thus indirectly providing him insight on the manner in which normal people are capable of doing brave and incredible acts even if it is at the cost of their own life. Their hope in a future for the people they hold dear, motivating them to put everything on the line if it meant that there was even a slight chance everything would be alright.

There's good in people, even those that outwardly appear to not be worth the trouble. And it's that potential he latches on to, and why he tries so hard to lend a hand when he can.

This is actually where the trend of the importance of knowing people's names starts, because the companions often serve as his connection to the humans around them. They ground his perspective, reminding him to not focus so much on the grand scheme of things that he forgets to look at the smaller details. This is why in the episode Midnight it is so tragic that no one asked for the stewardes' name. For up until that point, he knew better than to not at the very least humanize her (by asking for something as basic as her name, her story, etc.) rather than see her as pawn in the midst of the problem. That is the principal that Rose instilled in him and yet when left alone, he finds himself forgetting to do so. Thus, why he takes the revelation to heart.

But I'm getting ahead of myself lol

It is when he is confronting the last of the daleks that he has to reconsider his beliefs of how the world had up till now functioned. He has been proven time and time again that the world is not always such a negative place, and that there is at times tranquility that could be found in the midst of the chaos. That the universe and it's inhabitants are capable of doing both good and evil.

So why is he so quick to want to kill the last of the daleks and cling to that cynicism he was beginning to reconsider? Here he is faced with a being who understands his pain, but in the form of his biggest enemy. It is not innocent, having been at one time capable of monstrous acts that caused mass suffering but...neither is he. There it stands defenseless and unarmed and yet he is the one threatening it with a weapon, just like Rose reasons. She is alive and unharmed, standing next to a dalek yet the active threat is not the dalek, it's him. He is tempted to kill it because his first instinct is to resort back to that hatred that gave him purpose for so long. The same poison the daleks used to eradicate the rest of his people. But is it truly incapable of being good, if not, then why is he any different? To give into the temptation would mean to validate that goodness could not be found everywhere. That if he followed the same mindset that once drove him to pull the trigger on everyone involved in the whole war, than he was doomed to become one of them. To repeat the endless cycle of violence and prove once and for all that he is a monster that cannot change.

Again the answer to the question is up to us to decide. But for him, there's only one clear answer.

No one else has to die. By choosing to not do anything he can live another day, without carrying the guilt of another being dying at his hands. Not because it has to be done, but because he has the option to refuse.

He can no longer assert that its existence as the final survivor of his race isn't important. That just because he hates it, doesn't mean it doesn't deserve a second chance like he got.

Really who is he to pass judgement, when there was a point in his life where he too was blinded by rage and the very narrow view he held of the world?

There is always a choice, and sometimes, the choice is to not take part in that decision.

And so that's what he does.

Rose takes on the burden for him, reaching out to the dalek in the same compassionate way he once did for him. Ordering the dalek to die not out of spite, but out of mercy because that is what the dalek wanted. A being born with the ultimate goal of surviving at all costs with hatred running through its blood, yet it's last moments are spent anguishing over all the death it caused. But unlike the Doctor, who strived to change as a result, he used up his second chance to end the pain. All it asked in return, was comfort or in other words...a hand to hold.

Or..so we think.

It's this ability to look past his biases that allows him to see the good in individuals like Mickey, Jack, and even Rose, when she inevitably screws up. He is able to grant them a second chance to prove themselves and keep them grounded, just like they did for him. His bonds to said people strengthen as a result and now he travels with a group of individuals he can trust with his life. People that can ease the burden and see the good in him.

Now the final episodes of his run is where the final test to his resolve to change is put into question. In a cruel twist of faith, history repeats itself.

Once again, he is given a choice: to let humanity die at the hand of the daleks, or end it all himself.

But alas he chooses not to give in. To not let himself become like the very thing he despises, because the alternative would mean witnessing the mass death of humanity at his hands. A group of beings he personally saw was capable of so much good, and was directly responsible for his change of heart. They reminded him that he was not above changing and that he could find meaning in simply continuing to find the good in others. He refuses, and so he seals his fate.

Yes he would die as a result, but at least he'll die knowing that he did all that he could. That he did not repeat the same cycle of violence that drove him to make the decision to eradicate all that he knew in an act of desperation.

He was free at last of the hatred that poisoned him for so long and it's due in part to the emotion that now stood in its place. Something he slowly cultivated throughout the span of his episodes: Love.

Love for humanity.

Love for Rose.

Love for himself. Because he finally did something he would not live to regret

" Before I go, i just want to tell you that you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And you know what? So was I!"

When he finally regenerates, it is done with the intention that his final act is not one of destruction, but love. This man, with the blood of so many on his hands, was able to forgive himself through the compassion extended to him when he was at his lowest. Rose a mere human, through sheer kindness, was able to motivate the doctor to keep going. To not hang up on the inevitabilities of life, and to find beauty in what was fleeting.

To have faith in the good of the people around him, even when it wasn't easy.

Most importantly, she reminded him that his journey was not one that had to be solitary. He could share the burden with others, and in turn, build genuine friendships that would help ease that loneliness he felt.

What makes Rose special to the doctor is not that she is inherently special. She is not someone of high status nor this faultless god that is capable of doing no wrong. No what makes her important to him is the fact that she was perceptive enough to realize that he needed help, and selflessly gave it at a time where he was at his lowest. She extended the best of humanity towards him during a time where he desperately needed a reminder that life was more than just pain. She never gave up on him, always assuring him that he was capable of doing good even when he himself didn't believe it.

This was not a bond forged on shallow appearances or attraction, no, it was a deep friendship in which both people involved grew to become better versions of themselves by the end. They just so happened to fall in love in the process.

Something I want to point out is that the reason why he has the courage to kiss Rose is because his love for her, he feels, is unrequited. He thinks this will be the last chance to show her how much she means to him in this body, and perhaps ever. He is insecure, you see that in the way he practically sneers at any man that looks at her yet he never makes a move himself. That is why he is deeply confused as to why it takes her so long to warm up to his 10th incarnation in the Christmas invasion. Going as far as to claim that she had given up on him. A behavior that to him, makes no sense as he was essentially tailored to her tastes. A pretty boy, just like the ones she showed interest in previously.

This is why he asks her upon regenerating what she thinks of his appearance and once again when he wakes up from his coma. He wants her to fawn over him but doesn't take into account that maybe, bursting into flames isn't exactly a normal human occurrence lol

But we see that that is not true. His looks were never something that bothered her. Because whenever she is made to make a choice between the doctor and someone else, it's always him. Even at the expense of what he would consider to be the safer options.

Rose loved him since his 9th incarnation. This is made evident in the manner in which she immediately asks him to change back once he regenerates into 10 (Doctor Who Born Again, Children In Need Special 2005).

"Can you change back?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yeah"

"Oh."

"Can you?"

"No"

(note: if you haven't seen this clip, I strongly recommend doing so as it adds so much context to the conflict explored in the Christmas special)

If she had solely loved him when he was 10, then she would have accepted him easily but she didn't. It took her the entirety of the Christmas invasion to understand that he was still the same man. This is why the episode focuses so much on 10 sort of dancing around her, trying to earn her approval by showing off how he's still the same man. Going as far as to pan on his face numerous times as he wistfully looks at her direction, all while he fights the sycorax as if to make sure that she is watching him be impressive. (it's something I realized upon rewatch, just how desperately he is trying to earn back her approval lol)

So with all of this in mind, nine essentially transforms into a new man. Figuratively and literally lol. A man that finds the joy in living again and meets each challenge with a curiosity akin to that of a child. He's fun, far less burdened (outwardly) by the death of his people and more open to meeting new people. He becomes what 9 physically believes to be the ideal image of a partner Rose would want, down to the wispy hair and handsome features. Not to mention younger, as if, physically representing the the burden being lifted from his body, thus de-aging him.

But with this new man that was born out of his love for humanity and Rose, there's a conflict that is more apparent than ever. Will he be able to overcome the implications that come with falling in love with a human?

This is where the conflict shifts, because with confronting this question he is left to actually take into consideration what it means to fall deeper in love with her. A scenario he previously only humored in fantasies because he was unaware that she returned them.

Had she simply loved him as a friend, it would have been easy to ignore it but no she had fallen for him too. So now he can no longer skirt around it. To fall for a human would mean to expose her to what a Time lord's life and perspective entails. How alien he truly is and how that especially affects the manner in which they communicate. This is explicitly said in the Christmas invasion, when her whole world shifts at the reminder that he is in fact not human.

"The thing is, I thought I knew him, Mum. I thought me and him were...and then he goes on and does this. I keep forgetting he is not human"

This is what series 2's main conflict is.

But it is far from one sided.

She in return, has to confront the inevitability of her death. Can she ask that of him, to put aside the pain and let her live out the rest of her days by his side? Once she outlives those she loves, would she become someone unlike herself?

Because now it's not a question of will they won't they, they know how they feel about one another. No, it's a matter of when.

This is why series two appears to have very little conflict between the two at first glance, but that's because the conflict is within themselves. Since ten was made with her in mind, they tend to operate very similarly and so they don't get in as many arguments as they did previously. Because again, ten exists from the changes made in nine. You cannot have one without the other,as they are the two sides of the same coin.

Another tid bit that must be mentioned is that 10's desire to be human can actually be traced back to 9's era. This is because the 9th doctor always made it a point to separate himself from Rose's family life. This is what causes him to have such a strained relationship with Jackie in the first place, because his refusal to take part in Rose's personal life directly interfered with Jackie's relationship to her daughter. Jackie does care for the Doctor. He is important to Rose and so she makes an effort to welcome him, even when he refuses.

But really from a few comments he makes off handedly in father's day, one can infer that the reason why he stays far away from their home life is more of a reflection of how he views himself. Like an outsider who cannot afford to get too close to the people around him.

After all he had this to say about the importance of living a life that is ordinary.

"i don't what this is all about, and I know we're not important -"

"who said you're not important? I've traveled to all sorts of places, done things you couldn't even imagine, but you two. Street corner, 2:00 in the morning, getting a taxi home. I've never had a life like that.."

You can't always trust the Doctor's words because he often puts on this unbothered front. But in this specific instance, he says this not as a means of diminishing it but rather being rather fond of the idea. To live the one adventure he could never have, sound familiar?

It's because of this that the 10th doctor makes an effort to be more involved in Rose's personal life. Extending his care towards her mother, and even spending the holidays with them. He even goes as far as to imply they were the closest thing to family when he tells Donna about it.

This long ass essay is all to essentially say that the idea of pitting ninerose, tenrose, and tentoorose against one another is rather pointless lol because they're all essentially the same ship but at different stages of their relationship. You cannot have the existence of one without the other because they all occupy the same man. All are equally valid according to the narrative and canon so please can we lay this useless competition to rest?

There's enough Rose to go around!

#10th doctor #doctor x rose #rtd era #tenrose #ninth doctor #nine x rose #rose x ten #ninerose #doctorrose #tentoo x rose #rambles #character analysis #retrospective #doctor who #someone should really take my phone away #cant stop thinking about them #this hyperfixation has me in a chokehold #timepetals #rose tyler

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coraniaid · 5 months

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You said a few days ago that you would have liked if season 7 went more in the direction of Help rather than the direction of the First. I know you're not a big fan of the First but I was wondering what you meant by that specifically, and what kind of direction you might have preferred season 7 go in overall?

I don’t have any good reason to think it actually happened, but I always get the impression from watching or thinking about Season 7 that the early plans for the season changed pretty significantly at some point after most of the first few episodes had already been written. (Perhaps when they decided that it would also be the last season? I’ve heard conflicting accounts of when that decision was made.)

If you go back and look at the then-contemporary discussions of the show, the whole season was initially marketed as something of a ‘year zero’: a return to the show’s high school era roots, to something much more upbeat than Season 6, to the original Scooby Gang as the focus of the show.

And just to be clear, I rather like Season 6 – it doesn’t always work, and I think some of the subplots are pretty dreadfully executed, and sometimes I respect the episodes more than I enjoy watching them – but it inarguably has a clear vision for the story it’s trying to tell, one that builds on and recontextualizes what came before it. But for the payoff for that season to land, we needed Season 7 to be different. To be less cynical, more hopeful. It needed to show us that Buffy was right to promise Dawn in Grave that things were going to get better.

And that sort of reset is what we got … for about half a dozen episodes. Then, of course, it goes rather horribly wrong.

I like Help in particular because it is, for me, the closest the show ever gets to delivering on that promise of a return to the high school era. It’s not quite a regression or a soft reboot: Buffy is still an adult with a job, even if she’s suddenly unexpectedly back in high school. Her more mundane responsibilities haven’t suddenly gone away. But now the job she has isn’t something she hates but has to do – it’s something that she actually has a calling for, almost literally, something that harks back to her getting the Class Protector award back in Season 3. In Help Buffy’s inhabiting the same world she did in the first three seasons, she’s still trying to save people, but this time with a new, more experienced perspective.

The episode feels very aware of the show’s history, too. There are nods to Lie To Me (a teenager Buffy knows is going to die because of illness, not anything supernatural Buffy can stop) and Reptile Boy (the cult trying to sacrifice a teenage girl to a demon for material riches) and Beauty and the Beasts (with Buffy herself taking on the role of Mr Platt, worried that Mike is going to turn out to be another Pete), and of course the whole episode is a callback to Prophecy Girl. Because Cassie – probably the show’s last great one-episode character (and yes, the actor comes back later but the person doesn’t) – isn’t just somebody Buffy is trying to save, she is Buffy: a Season 1 Buffy who struggles to make friends and has a supernatural gift she doesn’t like to talk about and knows she’s going to die heartbreakingly young. I don’t think it’s merely chance that Cassie’s big speech to Buffy about her destiny (“You think I want this? You think I don’t care?”) echoes Buffy’s own words to her mother in Becoming either (“You think I choose to be like this?”).

Plus, while the episode ties into the wider story arc – with Spike in the basement and hints that Principal Wood might be up to something and our first appearance of future Potential Amanda – the whole thing still tells a coherent, self-contained story. It stands on its own right; it makes sense on its own terms. it’s not just another installment in the long running saga of General Buffy and the friends she never talks to who later kick her out of the house she owns.

And I think there was a lot more ground there to explore, in the same vein as Help. At least a full season’s worth. There was so much more the show could have tried to do in terms of going back and revisiting some of the classic moments of the first three seasons from a more mature and more grown-up perspective, instead of summarily kicking Buffy out of her new job and then blowing the school up (again). If this season is about the future – about new Slayers being called, one way or another – then what does that mean? How else are Buffy and Willow and Xander engaged in the challenge of trying to pass on what they’ve learned about life on the Hellmouth to a new generation?

At its best, Buffy has always been in conversation with its past, building on ideas that were touched on in one season and asking the audience to think about them again from a different angle. And the beginning of Season 7 sets up the perfect stage to try to do more of that.

I’d have loved to have seen a whole season of Buffy trying to keep her students alive while also preparing them to go out and live in the world. Of Dawn making new friends and finding value in being herself, not just the Slayer’s sister or the mystical Key. Of Buffy and Willow and Xander really getting to know each other again, and having a chance to talk about everything that happened to them last year. A whole season of, in a way, seeing the show from the very beginning, but this time from the perspective of people like Giles or Jenny or Joyce.

But instead we got a lot of boring wank about an impossibly old super-god who can’t actually touch anything (but one who Buffy would definitely let Dawn die to defeat because this godlike being is so much more impressive and scary than Glory, trust us guys, please, we swear) and her army of interchangeable and personality-free super vampires (and of course Caleb, who’s somehow even more mind-numbingly boring than they are). Instead we get a second half of the season in which Andrew Wells has more screen time than Willow or Xander or Anya or Giles or Dawn. Instead we get to wonder whether Giles is the First and try to pretend to care that Spike has been hypnotized. Instead we get Lies My Parents Told Me.

Oh well. At least Faith shows up near the end.

#btvs #asks #thanks!

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vampyrsm · 2 years

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Bakugou is teaching you how to make cake and all you care about is when you get to lick frosting from his fingers

shakes you around. THIS IDEA, THE HAND KINK ... I'm going to go insane !!!! I was going to answer all my asks on the weekend but you sent this, and I can't ignore it

Bakugou is a secretly very good baker, whilst everyone knows how good of a chef he is. He keeps his baking skills on the down low, he bakes cookies, cakes, brownies, cupcakes, all of it. And you're his taste tester. This meant you got to sit front row at the kitchen island watching Bakugou work his way through different tasty desserts.

Today? Cake. He said it was for Kirishima's kids' birthday, something Kirishima had to practically beg Bakugou to do. Under normal circumstances, you would simply sit there looking pretty for him whilst he chatted to you about his day and your own in return. But he insisted you'd help him today, figured he might as well show you how to make a good cake since you keep asking so many questions.

"Then you have to make sure the batter is thick, and silky." He instructs, dragging the rubber spatula through the batter to ensure he himself was following the instructions. You couldn't help but nod along, staring at how easily his wrists twist and turn to ensure he's gathering all the batter. Your mind repeating the way he said thick, and silky.

He moves to divide up the batter, you idly following behind him and holding the pans he'd need and he doesn't seem to notice just yet how you're not paying any attention at all. His voice is so soft as he continues to tell you just what to do, and you know you should feel a little guilty for wasting his time but god; you want his fingers in your fucking mouth.

"Oi." he snaps his fingers, your eyes big and owlish when you look up at him, "Did you hear a thing I said? No? The fuck were you doin' then?" he answers whilst you shake your head, eyes drifting back down to his hands and he raises an eyebrow. "What?"

He notices the batter on his fingers from where he had to wipe the pan clean along the edges to ensure it didn't bake at an odd angle. He makes a move to grab a sheet of kitchen roll but you're grabbing at his wrist, and he's far too confused and a little surprised that you just grabbed him. "What're you do—" the words die on his tongue when your tongue presses against the pad of his finger, curling around the digit before you're closing your lips around his finger.

Bakugou can't stop the way his cock twitches at the way you're practically sucking his finger off, cleaning the batter off of his index and thumb slowly.

"There," you smile innocently when you drop his hand as if you didn't just turn him the fuck on. You turn away from him when he's still stood there rebooting his brain to try and catch up on what the fuck just happened.

He grabs your waist, pulling you back into his hard chest to duck his head low enough to let his lips brush against your ear. "Bedroom. Now."

#— alex has mail !#— user asmaechan #— bkg drabble

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real-total-drama-takes · 5 months

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the way that you think misogyny is over when you're a kid but you've been being forcefed it the whole time is crazy. Like I thought Susan B. Anthony solved all of my problems in the 1920s or whatever but like. it's everywhere. in music and school and cartoons it's just while. and racism too like. holy fuck.

ezekiel got punished for being a misogynist and that's all well and good, but then duncan gets away with EVERYTHING. like. from day 1 he was blatantly a misogynist. "what's for dinner woman?" LIKE HELLO why did they just say that? and not do anything about it? the entire show he was clearly not loyal at all to courtney like. he was so obviously flirting with heather all the time. and gwen too. I can't even explain how horribly misogynistic duncan was in the whole show.

and owen- oh my god. NO ONE TALKS ABOUT OWEN. the "double babe olympics", the "now it's just owen and two hot chicks". and so much like. NO ONE BRINGS THIS UP!!!

katie and sadie. anne maria. even dakota honestly. they were all just. misogynistic stereotypes. like hello. especially the way that anne maria is demonized when she did NOTHING WRONG. and this isn't limited to total drama but it drives the "the worst thing you can be is feminine" bullshit. like obviously you should be allowed to be masculine but I didn't want to be girly as a kid because I thought that meant I was stupid and one dimensional.

bridgette and geoff. okay. bridgette was absolutely TORN TO PIECES in this fandom for cheating on geoff. and you know what? I do think that's valid. BUT! EVERYONE IGNORES GEOFF. season two he was literally a demon like he was straight up evil he was worse than heather and NO ONE TALKS ABOUT IT these same people who love geoff HATE ON HEATHER for being so mean but hello geoff is RIGHT THERE he borderline was trying to kill people. and he ALSO cheated on bridgette. celebrity manhunt special, anyone? but no. apparently he did nothing wrong.

and I'm not even going to get into the love triangle.

and the racism like what this show did to leshawna is UNFORGIVABLE. total drama action especially and like I love the season but the racism is so rampant in it like holy jesus. and then like. every character of color is a stereotype ESPECIALLY IN GEN 1. the only gen 1 character I can think of that had nothing racist or like stereotypical to do with them is like. sierra. and then eva, even though she's not poc she's still a stereotype of east european people. I'm not going to get all that into the racism though because I am white and I don't really think I would be all that good to speak on it.

I'm also not going to speak about the fandom because this is already long enough but the fandom needs to GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER! it is okay to make mistakes, but what you need to do is REALIZE and BETTER YOURSELF! a lot of other people talk about misogyny in the fandom so please go read what they have to say too. I've seen popstart's posts and I think they do a wonderful job of speaking on misogyny and so you should DEFINITELY check them out. they inspired me to make this post.

but anyways. it doesn't even stop in the reboot. ripper and chase are just misogynistic and emma's whole character and it's just like. so bad. and then there's the whole "there's no homophobic characters!" like thanks terry wow. he can excuse misogyny but he draws the line at homophobia. after like what 15 years nothing EVER gets better because it seems like women are always the joke.

there obviously shouldn't be homophobia and racism but there also shouldn't be misogyny. and there shouldn't be pedophilia. it's so disgusting. and it needs to change.

#total drama #total drama 2023 #fandom takes

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faejilly · 11 months

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Shadowhunters prompt! Where the A/B/O thing means Magnus’s attempts to get Alec’s attention are really out there. Alec is charmed but baffled

so uh. I wasn't quite sure where to go with that, because Magnus & Alec's ability to try and communicate at dramatic cross-purposes is Very Them™️, but I usually think the a/b/o thing would make it easier what with pheromones and more defined gender/courting rituals? But then again it's not like Nephilim would have any idea how anyone else does things, and Magnus would be rather paranoid about crossing any lines?

Yeah. That totally works. Even if I failed to explain any of that IN THE FIC, hopefully baffled Alec is still entertaining? LMK if you want more, there's a whole lot more explanation in my head so I'm sure I can come up with something. 😅😅😅

That was Magnus.

In the Institute.

In a suit with a vest but no shirt and those boots and his hair, and Alec suddenly realized he was still standing with his arm raised from opening a door even though the door had shut behind him.

He was alone with Magnus in the Institute foyer and he was gorgeous and he smelled perfect, as warm and comforting as the incense that burned in the chapel without any of the cold tang of adamas-laced stone beneath it that always made Alec's spine straighten and nose wrinkle because that smell meant work.

Alec finally remembered to let his hands drop to his sides, and then realized Magnus had said something, and he was almost smiling and he was...

Holding out a bouquet of flowers?

Alec blinked.

"What."

He didn't manage to make it sound like a question, and he almost winced as Magnus' expression tightened, and he leaned back and he was further away and the flowers were gone, and Alec almost whimpered in disappointment.

"My apologies, of course."

And then somehow Magnus was bowing and he was even further away with a flourish of his hands and a twirl of his coat and the click of his boot-heels on the stone floor and Alec tried to reach out a hand because he still couldn't figure out what Magnus had said, he'd been too distracted by how pretty he was and how nice the flowers were but then he was alone by himself in the Institute with his hand hanging in front of him.

Again.

What.

Why.

Alec sighed, and stared up at the ceiling, as if that would give him the answer, would explain how his why are you giving me flowers when we haven't even rescheduled our date yet and I haven't gotten you anything? somehow come out as why would you think I'd like flowers despite the fact that Alec adored flowers and would love to tell Magnus that.

If he could just remember how to talk when Magnus showed up?

He'd managed to say yes when Magnus asked him out for drinks!

Only then he'd had to chase Clary and apparently Magnus thought that meant something other than literally having to chase Clary because she didn't have the sense God gave sheep.

Izzy or Jace were going to manufacture a disaster and call Magnus to clean it up just to find out what was going on between them, and Alec hated to think how much of a catastrophe they'd manage on purpose, considering the chaos they pulled off all the time mostly by accident.

He hated even more that he was half-tempted to create a disaster himself so Magnus would stop thinking he'd done something wrong and disappearing to regroup before Alec's brain could reboot after seeing him.

How the fuck was one person that attractive, it should be impossible.

Maybe he could write a letter and throw it at Magnus the next time he showed up?

He heard the door he'd come through open, and the stutter of boots as someone had to shift to avoid him where he was still standing by himself right in front of the door.

Alec sighed again. "Yes, Yoshino?"

"I was uh." Yoshino somehow still looked perfectly composed and reasonably elegant in her leathers even as she shrugged and side-stepped to get around him. "Just going out for coffee. Want anything?"

Alec shook his head. "No, thank you."

"You... all right sir?"

Alec lifted his brows at her.

"You've got that smoky cedar smell thing going on, and that usually means you're about to do something on purpose that terrifies the trainees more than their own reckless stupidity, and I just want to know if I should get some extra bold beans to stash in the kitchen for the rest of us so we can keep up."

Alec snorted and shook his head again. "I promise not to scare the trainees."

Yoshino's nose wrinkled as she stared at him. "Two bags then, got it."

He blinked, and she turned and left, and he allowed himself a grin as the door swung closed behind her. That was probably a good idea, actually. He could use the kick to help him figure out a new approach.

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denimbex1986 · 5 months

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'Saving Kylie Minogue from a bridge was not in Colum Sanson-Regan's plans when he turned up as a Doctor Who extra.

But David Tennant was not around, so someone had to do it, and producers thought Colum looked like the doctor.

"I've saved Kylie, flown the Tardis, held the screwdriver and had Billie Piper look deep into my eyes and tell me how much she loved me," joked Colum.

"I asked the producer 'Why am I putting on the doctor's suit? They replied 'Well, David Tennant isn't in'.

Now a father of two, Colum was earning some extra cash before his first child was born.

"I didn't know what was going on," recalled Colum of when he arrived on the set but was ushered past the "cold bus" where the extras usually hang around and was shown to a posh trailer.

The 10th Doctor had to leave the set for the 2007 Christmas special Voyage of the Damned, and producers needed a Tennant-alike for some extra shots showing his back.

So they improvised and Colum, then 31, stepped in to the suit synonymous with the Doctor since the world's longest running sci-fi TV show rebooted on the BBC in 2005.

Colum, now 46, had been asked by producers to be on set early but he had no inkling that his time (lord) had come.

"All of a sudden I was standing with the suit there, and I was handed a script and told 'You're gonna need this'," recalled Colum. "I was thinking pinch me, what's going on?

"Then I went for a haircut and a little Australian lady passed me dressed in a French maid outfit and said hello. I did a double take and realised I was there with Kylie Minogue."

The Australian singer and actor was a Doctor Who superfan and had asked for a part, which was humanoid waitress Astrid Peth, a one-off companion of the doctor.

"I was a bit star struck, for sure," he admitted.

His first work in Voyage of the Damned - where a starship replica of the Titanic is on collision course with Earth - was an action-packed scene where killer robot angels launched a deadly attack.

"There was a bridge, and the killer robot angels were trying to shoot, so I had to stop Kylie from falling over," recalled Colum.

"I had to hang on to her and pull her back from a precipice. That was the first thing I had to do in the morning."

The author and musician had a gig with his band that weekend in Leicester. As Kylie almost sang, he couldn't get it out of his head that he had worked with her - and we should all be so lucky.

"We got in the car and I said to my bandmates, guess who I've been working with this week?" said Colum, who lives near Cardiff.

"We'd been driving for almost two hours and had nearly hit Birmingham and they still hadn't guessed. I had to tell them! They're like 'absolutely no way'. It was so bizarre."

To Colum's pleasant surprise, producers were so happy with his work and lookalike skills, they asked him to play the Doctor again in the 2008 episode Journey's End - this time as his clone in the final episode of the fourth series.

That meant he had to be in the same scenes with Tennant, Billie Piper, John Barrowman and Catherine Tate, making her final appearance as a regular.

"I got to fly the Tardis in Journey's End," recalled Colum, who is originally from the Republic of Ireland.

"Everybody was gathered around the central console of the Tardis. We all had to have our hands on the machine and flying controls. Everybody was on that episode. There was a real buzz.

"I got to hold the screwdriver - they were very protective and kept taking it off me."

Colum was then involved in an emotional scene where Rose Tyler, played by Piper, had to say her final goodbyes to the doctor.

"It was an amazing and surreal experience.

"The nicest thing I have to take away was getting to work near David Tennant. I loved it. He was a thoroughly lovely, lovely guy and so professional. I think that was my favourite thing about the whole crazy time."

This weekend sees Tennant and Tate back together for Doctor Who, reprising their roles as the Doctor and Donna Noble in The Star Beast on BBC One on Saturday evening - but Colum will be back on his sofa with his family at home.

Husband to Kerry, singer and guitarist of band Goose, a creative writing lecturer and author of books like The Fly Guy, The Tall Owl and Other Stories, Colum has limited time for more extra work - especially after having his own trailer as the doctor's double.

"I'm looking forward to the show on Saturday with the return of some fantastic actors," added Colum.

"As a fan, working on the show was incredible and it's only strengthened my love for Doctor Who."'

#Doctor Who #Voyage of the Damned #60th Anniversary #Kylie Minogue #David Tennant #Billie Piper #Rose Tyler #Journey's End #Colum Sanson-Regan #Astrid Peth #John Barrowman #Jack Harkness #Catherine Tate #Donna Noble #The Fly Guy #The Tall Owl and Other Stories

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last-ofthe-starks · 2 years

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HOTD episode six easter eggs and thoughts

Out the gate I immediately noticed the difference in the cinematography, the first two scenes are all one take and it’s incredibly impressive. As the show runners stated, this was meant to feel like a new pilot episode for the series as we reboot with new, older versions of actors. As a book reader, it worked for me. As a non-book reader, I’d be curious how it felt to watch.

The relationship between Rhaenyra and Laenor is established so quickly and with so few words. Their conversation following the birth of Joffrey makes it very clear that not only is Laenor fine with the arrangement they have, but he is often tone deaf and oblivious to Rhaenyra’s daily life. We see that the two are companions but it’s made clear that Rhaenyra is still the stronger of the two personalities, and understands the larger game being played here. It was also interesting to see that the naming of their third son was not a mutual decision in which Rhaenyra agreed and showed great sympathy for Laenor, but a last ditch effort by Laenor to have some input in his own life.

Fuck you Criston Cole. His smug face just irks me, so very well done by Fabien Frankel. The one critique I have over this is that his clear and utter hatred of Rhaenyra and her children is not properly fleshed out. Right now with the time jump, it doesn't give a clear motivation for his anger; many viewers of last weeks episode still interpreted his anger at Rhaenyra incorrectly, and believe it was due to him being in love and heart broken. In reality it stems much deeper than that, and I think the viewers would have benefited from at least one conversation (likely between Criston and Alicent) where he makes it very clear that it was not so much his heart being broken by Rhaenyra that turned him, it was her disregard for his honor and his perceived understanding that she did not care for the consequences of their actions. In reality it takes two to tango and you could see very clearly that he had many opportunities to stop and didn’t so, sorry Criston. I do not feel bad for you.

Moving right along, fuck you to Alicent and her faux concern when Rhaenyra enters her chambers. WHAT A SCENE and introduction to Olivia Cooke’s Alicent. Her character has an interesting arch over the course of this episode, starting with sheer cruelty in order to make a point that her husband refuses to entertain or acknowledge. Because of this rejection of the truth, Alicent is closing in on wits end. In her mind, the search for honor and truth trump the love a father has for a daughter, and Viserys dishonors them all by allowing Rhaenyra to get away with her actions. And I can’t say she is wrong, because Rhaenyra has dishonored her family, and has been able to get away with a lot thanks to Viserys’s protection. But he is the King, and Alicent will do everything in her power to try and undermine and sandbag him, including this shitty scene where she pulls Rhaenyra from labor to present her child to her. To me there is no excuse for that.

Ah, Viserys. Man is looking ROUGH in this episode and Paddy Considine deserves an award for wearing all those prosthetics. Viserys is a wonderful grandfather and father in this episode (in that he clearly loves his children and grandchildren beyond measure) and it’s a shame how in the dark he is. Or rather, how keeps himself there by choosing to look the other way when it comes to Rhaenyra. There are still glimpses of him not being completely oblivious (like accusing Aegon of being the mastermind behind the pig), but overall he continues to create problems for himself and everyone around him.

Speaking of the kids and grandkids, this is the new era of this show finally appearing on screen and I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed. With 10 years between this episode and last, there is a ton of information missing here, but they showed us rather than told us who these kids were. They allowed us to see their personalities in the short amount of air time each had individually and the dynamics of them all were clearly presented.

Jace and Luke are adorable little fire crackers, and it’s interesting to see how they appear to get along fine with Aegon and Aemond at the beginning of the episode. Then we start to see that they tend to side with Aegon since he is the clear leader, and alienate Aemond. Aemond is presented as a very insecure, shy boy and that is what motivates his storyline moving forward. With next to no dialogue I picked up on that. Next is Helaena, who is depicted as a very learned girl with interests likely considered perverse for the time. She is an important character and this is the first time we see her properly so I am curious how she will be presented next time. She also makes an interesting comment “he’ll have to close an eye” which is incredible foreshadowing.

Aegon is a twat. But I do like that we can clearly see that before Alicent’s interference, he was friendly with Rhaenyra’s kids and a typical oblivious teenage boy with no real understanding of his role. The actor did a great job with him.

The CGI on Vermax in the dragon pit is incredibly well done, once again they are killing it with the dragons, including our first sighting of Vhagar.

Daemon and Laena are a power couple like no other and I love the sequence of them racing their dragons, looking all happy. It only that happiness were lasting. Similar to Rhaenyra’s storyline, all looks like Daemon’s life has been happy and care free for the past 10 years, but the longer we watch the more cracks we can see in their relationship.

The triatchy has made an resurgence, and the lords of Pentos are offering Daemon and Laena a home, and their loyalties in exchange for the protection of their dragons, and while Laena wishes to leave Pentos and return to Driftmark to raise their children and return to the responsibilities they inevitably hold due to their ancestral houses. Laena wants her children to be raised Dragonriders amongst her people, not the Lady of a large home in Pentos that does not truly belong to her. Alternatively, Daemon is clearly enjoying the peace that Pentos is offering him, and whether that is because he wishes it for himself, his family, or simply feels the need to stay away from Rhaenyra is still unclear.

In the books, it is said that Daemon, Rhaenyra, Laenor and Laena were all friends, especially Laena and Rhaenyra. It was said they would spend a great deal of time together, and that Rheanyra would visit Laena and Dameon on Driftmark often. With the show, it is implied that none of them have seen each other in all the time that has passed, and likely that Daemon and Laena fell off the face of the earth, with few people knowing their true whereabouts. This will effect how next episode is portrayed because Rhaenyra was grieving Laena as well when her and Daemon meet again. In the show, it looks like that might not be the case (unless they imply that Rhaenyra and Laena had seen each other in those 10 years and had been friends).

The whole episode starts off by making it seem like Rhaenyra and Daemon are both doing okay within the lives they chose, but it’s clear by the end of the episode that this was a.) not the case and b.) certainly isn’t now. During their conversation on the roof, it is clear that Laena and Daemon marriage is not perfect. Far from it actually. And it seems like it’s slowly been unravelling over time. Like we saw in the previous episode, Laena was aware that she was not going to compare to Rhaenyra for Daemon, and had come to peace with that. I hope we see more insight into Daemon’s feelings about the marriage in the next episode, and that he is able to repair his relationship with his daughters.

Speaking of which, this notion that the episode has a lot of false portrayals of happiness is mirrored in Daemon’s relationship with his daughters. The first time we see this family they all look so happy, we see Daemon teaching them how to speak High Verlyrian, kissing his wife’s belly and unborn child, and seemingly being a good father figure to them. But then Rhaena lets it slip that he ignores her, and you can tell something is going on with Daemon beyond his political desires to stay in Pentos.

When Laena is giving birth to their third child my heart broke. This whole scene was explained very differently in the book. In Fire and Blood, Daemon and Laena are already back on Driftmark when she goes into labor. And she does give birth, to a stillborn son who died only a few hours later. After the birth, she is so severely weakened that she remained in bed for three days until she died. It was rumored she attempted to fly Vhagar one last time but collapsed before she could reach her, and that Daemon carried her back to bed. I don’t know how I feel about the change made on the show but with her earlier comment about dying a Dragonrider’s death, I get it. But choosing to make this character commits suicide rather than letting her pass away the way she had in the books seems like it was done for shock factor more than plot.

They really went for a one two punch with Laena then Harwin leaving, and then the fire at Harrenhal. Honestly, justice for Harwin in more than one way. This dude was an amazing man, the scene with him and his father made me feel for him so deeply. Then the scene in the courtyard where he defends his two sons against Criston was another great scene where he did so much without saying hardly anything. You can tell that in an alternative world, he and Rhaenyra would be raising those boys together, teaching them how to be brave warriors and living a happy life.

Lyonel Strong resigning as Kings Hand is SO BAD for everyone wow wow wow. Larys is quickly learning how to play the game and it’s clear he has no issue breaking and bending the rules to get himself in a better position. By arranging meetings with the Queen, he has his finger on the pulse of Kings Landing and can see where he might be of use in furthering the chaos. His allegiance is with the moment. When he arranges the murders of his father and brother, it is so that Alicent is in his debt. She did not directly ask for him to commit this crime, but he twists her words and implies that it was for her benefit so that Otto can be restored of hand of the king. As a retult, Larys has the ear of the Queen and is now the heir to Harrenhal in one move.

Lastly, I love Emma’s portrayal of Rhaenyra, I couldn't take my eyes off of them, I found them to be wonderful. Olivia Cooke was great too, but her version of Alient definitely felt a lot different than Emma’s. I could recognize Milly’s portrayal in Emma's moreso than Olivia’s. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but an observation.

I also needed more Daemon in this episode, so I guess we will wait for the next one, which looks wildly good.

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eat-a-dicker · 1 year

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the reception to the reboot of clone high has been very interesting to say the least

there were a lot of people claiming abe was a "sweetheart" who wouldn't use slurs casually and respects women and it misses the underlying satire that he sucked ass the entire time

towards the end of the first season clone high was taking the gloves off and starting to not hold back about how much abe actually sucked

clone high season 1 didn't focus on the shittier aspects of abe until late season 1 because as a parody show meant to make fun of teen dramas at the time, there was a very specific way you were supposed to view abe

but rewatching the show it's obvious that he ignores joan's advances willingly and with full knowledge of what he's doing, simply because, and this is the big kicker here,

abe doesn't know what he wants from people.

the upbringing that abe has did not prepare him for healthy emotional conflict resolution and leaves him in this perpetual state of not knowing how to get what he wants, it's even harshly featured when abe's father rebukes him pretty harshly for not wanting to date and have sex with cleopatra

he's also extremely selfish and is constantly putting himself first unless his friends are thrown under the bus by his actions, this is reinforced all the time throughout the first 7 episodes, but especially when joan joins the team under an alias

abe is extremely shitty to the character joan is masquerading as all because cleo is paying more attention to the facade than him

hell in the raisin's episode, when abe's conservative parents try to stop him from smoking raisins, it's clear that they do not emotionally connect with or understand their foster child

the thing about a character like abe is that he WOULD use slurs and DOES have horrible opinions about women because he was raised in a culture that perpetuated toxic masculinity with him and clone high was rather bold for ripping apart the facade of "nice white suburban guy"

and it's impressive that the leak of the first episode pretty much made this it's goal, to see if abe will be able to unlearn the terrible things he was taught the entire time

#clone high #clone high spoilers #clone high season 2 spoilers #i talk

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teddyonbumblr · 4 months

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Ninjago oc lore dump: Lyall Ambrose Garmadon. This one's a long one lads.

Lyall Ambrose Garmadon- a Norse name, meaning faithful, but chosen because it sounds like the word 'liar'. His middle name is meant to match Lloyd’s middle name ‘Montgomery’, ran by a few friends and ‘Ambrose’ was the popular name line up.

Basic information

The second hybrid son of Lord Garmadon and Lady Misako, twin brother to Lloyd. He's lost track of his own age, but he was forced into a 14 year old body at the age of 8, brought on by the Tomorrow's Tea. Lyall is aloof and cunning, battle-hungry and proud, inheriting his mothers wanderlust. He’s not an elemental master, but a skilled swordsman. He’s also not a ninja, instead taking on the mantle of the Jade Samurai, loyal guardian of the Green Ninja. Lyall is very close with his brother, preferring to always be with him, to the point that outside forces have to tear them apart. He becomes chattier when he’s with his family. Lyall is trying to fit into his grown up body the best he can, but he's lacking in the empathy and lying department.

Playlist:

Childish War - Kradness

Two Birds - Regina Spektor

Christmas Kids - Roar

Little Dark Age - MGMT

Run Boy Run - WOODKID

Voice headcanon:

S1-S7: Masaru Daimon, Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls

S8-15: Shuichi Saihara, Danganronpa V3

Season 1 and Season 2:

Age 9. A bratty kid with a wooden sword and an ego too big for his body, Lyall aids his brother in releasing the serpentine and trying to take over Ninjago. He went to Darkley’s with Lloyd and dubbed himself his knight in black sweaters. The two released the Serpentine from their tombs and were taken in by Pythor’s charms. Lyall was also subjected to the effects of Tomorrow's Tea, making his body 13. His body stops growing as he mentally progresses.

Season 3; Rebooted:

Age 13, mentally 10. Lyall focuses his time and energy on becoming a samurai under Nya. He stays behind with his mother in the family monastery in order to protect it.

Season 4; The Tournament of Elements

Age 13, mentally 11. He doesn't show up much this season, as he wasn't invited. He wasn't with Lloyd while banishing Garmadon to the Cursed Realm, and is distraught afterwards.

Season 5; Possession

Age 13, mentally 12. Angry, vengeful and rasher than ever. He's still grieving the loss of his father and Lyall remains on edge at all times, if one more bad thing happened he'd never recover. Morro attempts to convince Lyall that he’s always been in the shadow of the green ninja. There could be some parallel between the two.

Season 6; Skybound

Age 13, mentally 12. Lyall was unfortunately caught early on. He wasn’t framed for any crimes, but he was cornered by Nadakhan the djin and convinced that Lloyd already made his wishes, and that Lloyd’s last wish was to be with Lyall forever. Lyall’s first wish was to join Lloyd, to make their problems go away, and was transported inside the staff. Like everybody else, Lyall doesn’t remember what happened during these months.

Season 7; Hands of Time

Age 13, mentally 13. The twins have finally caught up to their bodies and Lyall is a lot more confident with the whole samurai thing. He seems to be very angered by the snake-like Vermillion warriors though.

Seasons 8 and 9; The Sons of Garmadon and Hunted

Age 16. Lyall starts off on the same page as everyone else, blind to the deception of Princess Harumi. Although he doesn’t take kindly to her. Royalty be damned, she’s getting WAY too close to Lloyd, so he’s playing big brother and sizing her up until she reveals herself. During the events of Hunted, Lyall is understandably mortified, but becomes quiet and completely unfeeling towards anybody who isn’t his mother or brother, because nothing else matters any more. He is temporarily separated from the resistance due to a swarm of cultists, and during this period he comes across a camera that was used for shooting the daily target. Lyall takes it and has found a way to hijack the airwaves for a short time. His broadcasts start off normal but get progressively more unsettling, until he sneaks his way in and out of the main tower and records Harumi and flees. He despises Harumi and Emperor Garmadon, and lost it when Harumi proclaimed herself his daughter.

Season 10; March of the Oni

Age 16. Lyall is again, mostly silent. He wears his hat low and his face mask up at all times. He’s always between Lloyd and Garmadon. Lyall has also disowned the revived version of Garmadon. He insists that his father resides in the Departed Realm, that he died sacrificing himself to the Cursed Realm and has been gone for years. Nobody is quite sure where the defense starts and the denial ends. He doesn’t look in the direction of the man, choosing to look at Lloyd, Misako, Wu, or a wall. When Lloyd presumably died in the Tornado of Creation, Lyall was sent over the edge and became hysterical and inconsolable, even after Lloyd woke up.

Season 11; The Fire and Ice Chapters

Age 18. Lyall is not present in the Never Realm because of his lack of any elemental powers. He’s angered by this, being the first time he’s ever been barred from a mission because he doesn’t have any powers of his own.

Season 12; Prime Empire

Age 19. Requested to stay by the side of P.I.X.A.L and Zane, Lyall accompanies the nindroids on their mission to find Milton Dyer. He participates in the whole 'noir detective' bit, but he isn't as committed as Zane is as he can’t quite master the accent.

Season 13; Master of the Mountain

Season 14: Seabound

Age 19. Lyall is not invited to Shintaro and does not travel to the kingdom. He stays behind and grinds the ninja’s games for them instead.

The Island:

Age 19. After endless begging, Lyall is allowed to join the expedition to the Storm Belt. He wasn't captured by the amulet keepers, having escaped the stone monsters. He meets up with Lloyd in the cave his brother hid in.

Age 20. Absolutely devastated at the loss of Nya. In his grief he doesn’t touch his armor, she was the one who taught him to be a samurai after all.

Season 15; Crystalized

Age 20. Lyall is actually the first to achieve an oni form. While 'trained' alongside Lloyd, he chooses to just ignore whatever Garmadon says and do what he wants as an act of rebellion. During the invasion of the Crystal warriors, Lyall gets hopped up and pissed off, unlocking his Oni form. He just kinda starts killing anything that moves. He still hates Garmadon with a passion though.

Dragon’s Rising:

Extra: As the Jade Samurai, Lyall gets visually more expressive. He's moving a little faster and talks with his body more.He has a pair of wired earbuds hooked up to an old iPod that sits in his belt (Acronix style) that he blades hyperpop and heavy metal with during fights. He likes to play tabletop games more than anything else.

Age 24. Lyall was caught up in the aftermath of a strong merge quake, separating him from the rest of the ninja. He wanders the newly merged Ninjago as the Jade Ronin, searching for his mother.

#ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago oc #teddy's lyall #lyall garmadon #lloyd and lyall au #teddyonbumblr

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comicaurora · 2 years

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Got told by a friend who also reads the tumblr that my ramblings about Doctor Who are the same as you with ReBoot: "endlessly trying to get people to watch a show just so you can have someone to talk to about it" as they said. and I wanted to ask how you managed to get people into a show they are put off from due to being told about it a lot? also what are your thoughts on Doctor Who and it's 60 year history?

In my experience convincing someone to try a show is like 20% your actual pitch and 80% them. Your pitch can help them decide if they might like the show, but it's up to them to decide if and when they'll actually watch it. They need to be in the right headspace, have the right kind of schedule, nothing else eating their attention, etc. Some people just don't do bingewatching, or they only do bingewatching and need to block out a long weekend to power through. And since I know a lot of artists, sometimes they react to media in unpredictable ways - an episode will hit them just right and suddenly they're off on a tangent and can't even think about watching TV.

It can be a bit frustrating if you really want to talk to them about it right this minute, but honestly I've had some very nice discussions about media with people who haven't tried it, and I've been on the other side of that dynamic as well. I first got into Leverage because my dad used it as an offhand example when describing a frustration he had with longform media (that characters wouldn't be allowed to overcome their personal issues because they made good drama) and it intrigued me at exactly the right time to make me want to check it out. Hell, the entire point of the Detail Diatribe format is one of us rambling an explanation of what makes a piece of media so cool or so annoying to an audience surrogate who hasn't seen it.

I have had luck offering to watch shows with people before - I sat through the first three episodes of The Owl House with a friend recently and she really liked it, though last I checked she hadn't watched more since. I got another one into Transformers Prime by just showing the Starscream episodes which I knew would hit just right. The downside is sometimes I'll be told that they haven't watched more since because they like watching it with me specifically, which is both very sweet and mildly frustrating.

But when it comes to the actual pitch, in my experience it's good to zero in on the parts you personally really liked and the parts you think they specifically would really like. For Doctor Who, I loved the RTD portrayal of 9 and 10 as "lonely gods," and I really liked the angsty character drama, but to get someone into the show I'd probably show something like Blink, which stands on its own with a very simple yet scary monster premise, or Vincent and the Doctor, which highlights the historical angle, is incredibly emotionally impactful and also stands on its own without needing much overarching context or understanding of the show. Neither of these episodes show the parts of the overarching story that I liked, but they work well to communicate the general vibes without needing too much outside context, and they're about as good as the show gets.

As for Doctor Who specifically, I was watching New Who as soon as it started because my parents were so into it (which meant I had nightmares for months about that fucking gas mask zombie two-parter jesus christ) and I really liked the 9 and 10 runs, with a slight preference for 10 because he was a little less grumpy. I stuck through the whole 11 era even though I kinda stopped liking it after Amy and Rory left, and I finally tapped out with 12. The problem was I was watching Sherlock around the same time and was starting to notice Moffat's habit of rewriting all his heroes into deeply unlikable turbochad megageniuses and then turning directly to camera and saying "isn't he wonderful? if you don't agree you're shallow." Because it's a really good sign when you kick off your season by guilt-tripping your audience into watching!

Even that didn't fully wreck it for me, but I remember the exact episode that made me go "yep, think I'm good" - series 8, episode 5, "time heist." The Doctor and friends wake up in a weird room with some strangers and no memory of how they got there, a hooded figure on a screen tells them they all agreed to get their memories wiped to rob a bank and that they all have doohickeys that will instantly "shred them to atoms" that they're supposed to use to avoid capture by the telepathic minotaur thing that'll melt their brains if it catches them. Now, rule number one of character deaths is "if it doesn't leave a body, they're not actually dead," so I figured the doohickeys were teleporters, and the hooded "architect" pulling the strings from a TV screen was probably a recording of one of the memory-wiped characters pulling the strings - most likely The Doctor, what with him being the genius master planner type. These twists aren't particularly complicated. I cannot stress enough how simple "The Doctor orchestrated a mildly clever way to break into a secure vault without the telepathic minotaur thing finding out" is. The part where I tapped out is when The Doctor went off on a long-winded, very impressed monologue about how ingenious this whole scheme was, culminating in the big reveal that the brilliant architect who orchestrated this entire scenario was in fact……… The Doctor. Obviously.

My tolerance for authorial wanking is very low, and while a lengthy monologue by the hero about how smart the hero's plan was is tolerable when the hero is an egotistical genius about to be taken down a few pegs by the narrative, a lengthy monologue by the hero about how smart the writer was for writing the hero's plan is another animal entirely, and it circles around to being frankly insulting when the plan is that basic. "I put on a hood, recorded a video, wiped my own memory and then watched the video. Truly my genius is unparalleled on this or any other world."

So yea, that's about when I called it off, and why I wasn't particularly surprised when Sherlock season 4 turned into an unmitigated tire fire. I watched a few episodes after The Doctor regenerated into 13, but I kinda fell off the wagon after it started looking like none of the characters were getting arcs I was interested in following.

Historically, Doctor Who hasn't been good, it's been fun. I've watched some snippets of Old Who and found them difficult to stick with. It's had an astoundingly widespread cultural impact, but it's one of those things I don't really get, and because the show changes so much from season to season and Doctor to Doctor I think it makes sense that most fans are really only fans of very specific eras and doctors. If the whole show changes out from under you, it makes sense you might not be as invested afterwards - that's just the nature of the game when the franchise has been running since 1963.

#asks #not aurora #media recs #doctor who

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sepublic · 1 month

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It's kinda funny seeing people mourn the original concept for The Lego Ninjago Movie, which involved the ninja traveling back in time to stop the Great Devourer from biting Garmadon, and fighting snake warriors. Because we still kinda got that, in the very same year no less?

Hands of Time is an interesting case in that it's kind of a transitional season, the end of an era; It came out the same year as The Lego Ninjago Movie, and was meant to take up the Winter slot before TLNM showed up for Summer. It was our last season with the traditional designs, and for a while our last season with a Weekend Whip-style remix of intro, before TLNM and led to a soft reboot in the Oni trilogy. The Oni trilogy gave us updated designs based on TLNM's, under the original plan of attracting new fans from THAT continuity over to the main one. I believe it's even jokingly implied within the show that the butterfly effects from the time travel of S7 led to the S8 redesigns! And Legacy kinda contributes to that idea...?

The point is, 2017 was a strange year for Ninjago with a lot of change, even in different writers who temporarily replaced the Hagemans, who eventually did leave for Wildbrain to take over. One could argue Hands of Time was created as a way to pad out time between Day of the Departed and TLNM's releases! And Day of the Departed drew a lot on prior Ninjago entries, so it was like a whole year just waiting for TLNM to premiere before applying it to mainline Ninjago canon.

And I think that applies to Hands of Time, because a lot of it is based on that old TLNM concept I mentioned earlier! Early designs for the snake warriors from the first draft of the film were repurposed for the Vermillion in Hands of Time. It was a story about time travel, and so is Hands of Time. The Great Devourer plays an important role, being the incident the ninja are trying to prevent in TLNM's first draft, and in HoT, the mother of the Vermillion horde.

Obviously there are differences; TLNM's first draft centered around the past as the primary setting of the story, and it was about the heroes trying to undo a past evil. Whereas for HoT, time travel isn't achieved until the last episode, and it's about villains trying to undo past good. But a lot of the concepts were clearly carried over and repurposed, because they were perfectly good concepts drawing on previous ideas mainline Ninjago already explored (snake warriors, the Great Devourer's legacy, time travel).

A few years later we even got the Golden Hour short, which continues the story of HoT just a bit more, and has Wu almost allowing Acronix to unwittingly prevent Garmadon from being bitten by the Great Devourer; The original goal of TLNM's time travel draft. And probably how that draft would've ended, if Lego had rolled with that plot instead.

So while some are insisting TLNM should've been about this original concept, it's ironic to me because we technically still did get that first draft, in the same year as TLNM, right before it! So 2017 really is the year of TLNM, all of it, even Hands of Time. And as I said with Day of the Departed, it also draws upon a lot of past Ninjago events, lore, and concepts, such as the Serpentine War, Elemental Masters, Great Devourer, and Chen alluding to Ray and Maya. Krux was introduced via his alias in Day of the Departed. It kinda feels like a remix, like the Legacy and Core lines we'd later get.

That again gets me back to the idea that it's almost as if Lego was trying to do a final callback/retrospective on classic Ninjago as we knew it, to prepare us for a new era heralded by TLNM, and they used up basically a whole year as they waited for the people working on TLNM to figure things out. Before DotD is Skybound, which is technically retconned, and that makes Possession feel like the last big arc for Ninjago (before TLNM) that brought new, lasting things and wasn't worried about being second fiddle to some other production. It did give us ghosts, the sixteen realms, and establish Nya as a primary ninja. Possession is also the latest in terms of Legacy representation; Skybound, Day of the Departed, and Hands of Time are left out.

#ninjago #hands of time #the lego ninjago movie #meta

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miraculousbatofold · 2 years

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Day 4 JayTim Week 2022

Day 4: Free Day

Alpha/Beta/Omega Soulmates

Jason grinned as the light on the door lit up green. This was too easy, especially since they hadn’t removed his codes out of Titan’s Tower’s system. Honestly, it was kind of sloppy, but Jason wasn’t going to begrudge his good luck because shutting down the Tower and communications just got a lot easier.

His replacement was here alone. Sixteen year-old Timothy Drake, sent to the Tower by the bat after Jason made a few colorful remarks on what he would do to his replacement. It was a bit annoying having to travel to San Francisco, but it also made things easier since no one would be around to stop him.

Jason stalked through the Tower’s halls looking for Robin. Everything was the same from when he wore the scaly panties and that only served to rile him up more. But he was going to show everyone that you don’t put children into brightly covered costumes to fight another man’s crusade.

Coming up on the door for the replacement’s room, Jason grinned sharply under his hood as he brought up a booted foot and kicked the door in. Robin turned sharply in his desk chair, sweats and a t-shirt at odds with the mask on his face. The mask that was Jason’s until he died, the green in his vision sharpening at that thought pushing him forward with a growl that was haunted through the synths on the helmet.

“Yer a long way from home, replacement.” Jason growled.

“Hood, I could say the same about you. What brings you to San Francisco?” Tim froze, before tilting his head, “Replacement?” He asked, puzzled.

Jason reached up, unlatching the helmet, revealing glowing green eyes as he grinned at the frozen Robin. Dropping the helmet, Jason drawled, “Yeah, replacement. I was here first and you swooped in to take everything once I was gone-”

Tim interrupted frantically, “What? No no no. I only stepped in because Batman was going off the rails. He didn’t-”

But Hood cut him, “Don’t lie to me! Batman replaced me and he’s going to see why you don’t put children in costumes that other children died in.” Jason growled, stalking forward as Tim scrambled back.

Tim reached up tapping on his mask to slide the lenses out of the way, ready to explain and hopefully stop this- miscommunication or misinformation- whatever it was from happening so Jason would know he was missed. That Bruce didn’t replace him. Though looking up, violet-blue eyes met green and the world lurched as Jason and Tim felt something click. Both froze as they stared at each other in shock, Tim watching in amazement as the green in Jason’s eyes faded to jade flecks within turquoise.

Jason blinked, looking at Tim as he seemed to gain his bearings. Because, just fuck, what was he doing. Now that the green had washed away in the wake of his soulbond snapping into place with his repla- Tim, with Tim. Why did he think it was such a good idea to take his anger at Bruce out on Tim? Honestly, who does that? Everything was trying to reboot and make some semblance of sense. Jason had come here to hurt, to kill his soulmate. He really needed to get out of here.

Jason took a step back, just as Tim took a step forward making both of them freeze. “Jason?” Was asked timidly and he had no clue what to do. But Jason nodded, slowly in apprehension which turned to alarm as tears started streaming down Tim’s face. Jason was reaching an arm out before he even thought about it and then had the teenager on him hugging him through the sobs.

“You’re alive! You’re alive and I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I couldn’t live up to what you were but that's okay because you’re back and that means everyone will stop being sad.”

Jason brought his arms down and around Tim, hugging him back, frowning at how small Tim was even as part of him was glad because Tim being small meant he could protect him better. Jason mentally smacked himself for that thought but continued to hold the little bird whose sobs were petering out when an amazing smell hit him. Roses and petrichor, it smelled like a forest, deep and earthy with floral hints mixed with something that was purely omega. Jason wanted to drown in it, pressing his nose into Tim’s hair. Belatedly he realized that now that their soulbond had been sealed, that meant that he and Tim were going to go through their presentations and if he had to guess, Tim might have gotten the short end of the stick as the omega while he is the alpha.

This was way too much to process at once. First there were the, concerning, things Tim had said about not being enough. Second, he and Tim were soulmates. Third, Tim was beginning his presentation heat if the way he seemed to bury his face further into Jason’s chest and comment on him smelling good were any indication.

You know what, some of those issues were future Jason’s problem. The soulmate thing would need to be talked out, as well as whatever Tim was trying to say about the Waynes. Right now, Jason was going to focus on settling the both of them in to ride out Tim’s heat.

Decided, Jason slowly pulled Tim away even as he whined. “I’m not going anywhere. Imma take my weapons off and then we’re going to lay on the bed and go to sleep, yeah?”

Tim nodded, blinking slowly as he watched Jason shuck his holsters and knives, before kicking off his boots and motioning for Tim to climb on the bed. Jason followed, curling around Tim and tucking his head under his chin. Tim turned so he could put his face in Jason’s throat and they stayed like that. Jason felt the younger boy drift off to sleep, breathes evening out. Sighing Jason laid there wondering if the universe might be laughing at him. It figures that everything was going fine until this moment, but he was glad in a way. But dammit, all of his plans were going down the drain now weren’t they? He’ll have to figure something else out, he supposed, looking down at the sleeping figure of one Tim Drake, his soulmate and matching pair. The omega to his alpha. Maybe it wouldn’t be all bad Jason mused, slipping off to sleep as well.

#jaytimweek2022 #jaytim #jason todd #tim drake #alpha/beta/omega dynamics #a/b/o au #soulmate au #a/b/o soulmates #omega tim drake #alpha jason todd #myfic #my writing #titans tower #titans tower au

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gale-gentlepenguin · 2 years

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ML Reboot: Miraculous: Heroes of Miracles: Lila Rossi

-Out of all the characters in the reboot, Lila is the biggest change in personality.

-Lila’s backstory is that she moved to Paris with her mother Lindie Rossi. Who works for the Italian embassy and she has been all over the world because of it.

-Lila is really Agent Volpina, one of the 19 students of the zodiac. Lila was the only one to pass her final exam, and become an agent, one that was meant to fight miraculous users and claim their miraculous.

-As Agent Volpina, her outfit represents that of a shinobi (think Anbu from Naruto meets Hunts clan from American dragon meets Foot ninja from Tmnt) She has gear that allows her to make holographic illusions that look real. She also has a belt that contains several weapons and gadgets made to help even the playing field against those with a miraculous.

-She chose the Code name Volpina as she felt she specialized in illusion.

-Unlike in Canon, Lila does what she can NOT to stand out. Being Chloé’s friend worked out as she could blend in with the other underlings and still had some pull in the school. Though she was nicer to people and refused to pick on Marinette.

-Lila is incredibly deceptive and usually has false proof of her lies seem off base. Though she always tries to keep it realistic.

-Lila does wish to be a normal girl, but knows that the Zodiac protect the world and must stop the malicious order from reforming… or so that she was taught.

-Lila has headaches whenever she doubts her mission, flashes and images of things that don’t make sense at first…

-Lila first appeared late season 1, unlike in canon, she doesn’t get akumatized right away. It isn’t until she is cornered in season 2 when she clashes with Rena Rouge that she truly becomes Volpina. Which was all according to plan.

- Agent Volpina is the one that saved Hawkmoth during the events of Heroes day. Bringing him to Masqué. As instructed by her “mother”.

-Agent Volpina has her mind dispelled in season 3, revealing that she was under the effects of the snake miraculous. Lindie rossi was the snake miraculous user, the one that took her from her birth family. Which is what the memories were trying to reveal. Her life was a lie.

-Lila found herself at a crossroads, still feigning hypnosis and only after fighting queen bee did she come to realize that she couldn’t go back. After giving Ladybug the bee miraculous. Lila disappeared.

-Lila is absent for the first third of the season. She had went back to place where she had been trained. There she encountered 3 of her old classmates, now Agent Hound, Agent Stripe and Agent Boar. (The episode is basically Lila’s “Zuko alone”)

-Lila barely escapes and ends up at the doorstep of a familiar face.

-Lila eventually returns and helps fight against Miss Hiss. Which she first becomes Bella Bee.

-Lila stays as Bella Bee most of the season only becoming Lila again after Zodiac has been defeated.

-Lila is the one to put a stop to “The School” Miss Hiss set up. And she left her in the collapsing building of the zodiac HQ.

-In Season 5, Lila is now Lila Bustier, adopted by the teacher that saved her life and is doing her best to figure things out for herself.

______________________________________

Funfacts:

-Lila is the first character that joins the hero team that knows Gabriel is Hawkmoth and Shadow Wing.

-Lila is the Last member to join the miraculous team officially, but is the second to last to get the miraculous she will use for the rest of the show.

-Lila is actually the youngest member of the team, being several months younger than Marinette.

-Lila speaks the most languages of the group. English, Italian, mandarin, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese.

-Lila’s faux mother’s name Lindie is a double reference

-Lila is the second most adaptable person in any given situation, save for Marinette/Ladybug

-Lila is aroace, which is something she discovers in season 5.

-Lila is the least experienced using a miraculous, but is the most experienced Fighting against miraculous users.

-Lila’s favorite food are Olives, and often has them as a snack, her least favorite food is Raisins.

-Lila has the longest hair in the series.

-Lila views Kagami as her closest friend.

-Despite both having a Fox motif at first, Lila has no issue with Alya and both get along quite well.

-Felix is the most untrusting of her, but gets past it after they save Amelie from some remnants of the Masqué organization that kidnapped her.

#miraculous: heroes of miracles #Lila rossi #Lila bustier #ml reboot #Gale boot #ml reboot idea

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oreolesbian · 2 years

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okay—thoughts on the tennant reveal

for one: a lot of people are calling tennant the fourteenth doctor. he’s not. just…full stop, he’s not. he’s confirmed for only three episodes of the next season. ncuti gatwa is the fourteenth doctor.

two: for fans of jodie’s run (of which i would include myself!), i’ve heard of lot of people saying that introducing tennant takes away from jodie’s final episode and ncuti’s first episode. and while i understand that feeling—every regeneration episode is meant to be a fresh start, an overshadowing if you will. especially when it’s a switch between showrunners. as the head writer leaves, they leave open big gaps for the next showrunner’s planned storyline to keep viewers engaged. it’s smart marketing. think of the big switch from rtd to moffat or the switch from moffat to chibnall. huge tone shifts bc, as many dw fans consider, these are eras of the show—new starting points that basically soft reboot the show.

three: doctor who has always relied on references to its past material. even in ten’s run! there were callbacks to older seasons from the original series—they brought back sarah jane—they even did crossover episodes between companions. it’s not that shocking of a thing to see old doctors come and go

four: every regeneration scene is always trying to one up the previous. as an audience we know what to expect from regeneration scenes so the writers are constantly trying to think up twists to catch us off guard. the doctor regenerating into a past regeneration? yeah! i’d call that a surprise! do twists make for good writing—not really—but it’s not new for doctor who and it certainly isn’t done with some malicious intent towards jodie or ncuti. plus—most of this is set up for the 60th! the 50th had huge plot lines with old doctors meeting each other too!

finally: introducing tennant back and rtd as a showrunner is exciting for a lot of people. does nostalgia come into play here? absolutely. but it is undeniable that under rtd, the show was super strong. moffat ran during the infamous superwholock era, but the show notoriously lost a lot of viewership post-matt smith’s run. jodie’s introduction + the introduction of a new showrunner picked viewership up a bit more for sure..but once it became clear that chibnall’s writing was…subpar at best..viewership declined. hence why we saw them pulling out all the stops in series 12 to bring viewers back, and sadly giving jodie barely a final season and more a series of specials.

i do genuinely believe that under chibnall, regardless of who was playing the doctor, this would’ve happened anyway. jodie was a magnificent doctor, and her portrayal is by far not the reason why people have disliked her run and look forward to rtd’s writing. rtd has done more than just write a very beloved era of doctor who. he’s also just a very strong showrunner/writer in general. is he perfect? no! but he has a strong track record which fans know of and trust..which gets them back.

so he brings back tennant and catherine tate to bring people back in—for marketing security—and then he gets to go all out with a new era…starring ncuti! this fresh spark is exactly what the show needs, regardless of what you thought of the past three seasons. and does it suck that we have to draw on older seasons to make that happen? of course. but will it (hopefully) lead to some amazing stuff down the line? i do genuinely think so.

so please don’t take people the wrong way when they say they’re excited for the new era of doctor who. it’s not to undermine jodie in any way, and she will be missed. she, in my humble opinion, deserved a stronger showrunner for her run, just as i believed peter capaldi deserved better marketing for his season (cause there was some decent writing in there. series 10 is super underrated).

here’s to a new doctor! ncuti gatwa, i’m ready for you king! 👑

#doctor who #russell t davies #david tennant #jodie whittaker #ncuti gatwa #dw spoilers

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gamesception · 9 months

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Sception reads Cassandra Cain #5

The Batman Chronicles #18 written by Devin Grayson, pencils by Dale Eaglesham

I've kind of gone over this in the past, but whatever, it's been a while. So Huntress / Helena Burtinelli was very briefly Batgirl/Batwoman during No Man's Land, while Batman was outside of Gotham trying to use his money and influence as Bruce Wayne to get the government to rebuild the city instead of walling it off, and for a while continued under that identity with Batman's approval after he returned. She was always meant to be a decoy/red herring by the editorial staff - as they had to announce the upcoming Batgirl title long before introducing the brand new character who would be headlining the book, but I honestly think this was a mistake - and more importantly just kind of mean to her fans.

Because Helena honestly made too much sense as Batgirl. Her character had originally been conceived as an alternate universe Batgirl who was the daughter of Bruce and Catwoman/Selina Kyle, a version of the character that was unceremoniously killed off and then erased from existence during the Crisis on Infinite Earths mega crossover / continuity reboot. So this is already a character and fan base who were hard done by before she was re-imagined as Helena Burtinelli, a version of the character who has at times been poorly treated in her own right. Elevating her to the mantle of Main Continuity Batgirl would have been long overdue justice to her fans, and a promise that the character would be treated better going forward.

And it was all just a red herring so the new character reveal could be a surprise. Not only had editorial not suddenly found their long missing respect for the character, they thought so little of her that her entire character could be jerked around for a cheap stunt.

Worse, as Red Herring Batgirl she was now in the way and had to be removed for the new Batgirl to take her place, and the way that went down was also pretty much bullshit, making Helena look like a coward for not even trying to save people under Batman's protection from Two Face's gang and making Bruce look like a monstrous asshole even by the Batman standards of the time. I really should have talked more about in the write up for Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120. Oh, well.

I wasn't a big Huntress fan, but if I had been it absolutely would have soured me on this new, unproven Batgirl character. In universe Helena would be more than justified in giving Cass a chilly reception. As far as I know, this issue is their first interaction, and I don't think I've read it before, so lets see how that goes.

despite the cover, and my long tangent above, neither Helena nor Cass is the actual focus of this issue. Rather, this is a Dr. Leslie Thompkins issue. Iirc she was a DCAU original, a doctor and surgeon in Gotham who did a lot of charity work, who knew Bruce since he was a boy. She knew Bruce was Batman, and basically served as the emergency doctor for the bat family in general. She appeared fairly sparingly in the animated show, but became a regular part of the comics, where she served as sort of a moral conscience for the bat family, constantly questioning their methods and use of violence. TV Leslie was a pacifist too, but that wasn't the primary focus of her character, and the change in focus and overuse in the comics did her absolutely no favors.

Because, of course, the Batman comics can't endorse the idea that the Batman is fundamentally a bad idea, so Leslie is inevitably put in situations contrived to make her wrong. Over and over again. And yet she keeps harping on about how violence is bad and the bat folks should stop hitting people who are threatening to blow up city hall or that punching a supervillain who is shooting up a crowd of civilians makes you just as bad as them or how the morally correct thing is to politely ask the Condiment King not to drown celebrity guest Gordon Ramsay in ranch dressing, and if he chooses to do so anyway well that's on him but at least your conscience doesn't have to be burdened by the indelible sin of hitting, because hitting is bad, and if you don't feel bad about hitting then she'll be sure to feel twice as bad for you, and she'll rub your face in her own misplaced guilt until you feel some by proxy god damnit.

Overall it was very insincere and turned Dr. Thompkins from the beloved character of the animated series, an all-to-rare rare surrogate mother figure for Bruce, into a smug self righteous downer and a nag.

This poor treatment of Dr. Thompkins in the bat books would eventually escalate into one of the most egregious and disgusting and frankly uncalled for character assassinations in the history of the medium, as bad if not worse than what Cass suffered. Eventually retconned, badly of course. Even so, I hope I get bored of this project and drop it again long before we get to the point where I have to talk about War Games / War Crimes in detail, because that was some of the most disgusting, reprehensible, and just plain mean spirited comic book writing in DC history - already a shamefully low bar - and the entire editorial staff responsible for it should have been banned from ever putting ink to page again.

But hey, here I am going off on ~another~ tangent, instead of looking at the actual issue in front of me.

So anyway, this issue opens on Dr. Thompkins having a nightmare where she pushes through a refugee camp, unable to help any of the people due to a lack of supplies, while stalked by a monster man - obviously Bruce - trying to take her away from the work that needs doing but that she can't do anyway, and maybe secretly doesn't even really want to.

Leslie's nightmare isn't far removed from her waking reality, as her little medical camp is under-staffed, under-supplied, and overwhelmed by sick and injured people from across Gotham with literally no where else to go for treatment.

Adding to her troubles, Zsasz was brought in to her clinic beaten to hell and with a conspicuous bite taken out of his side, and while he's unconscious for now he'll doubtless start killin' again as soon as he wakes up.

As dangerous as Zsasz is supposed to be, though, mostly down to sheer relentlessness, he's still just a guy? He's not super powered or anything? If Cass is in this book she should just beat him outright in any sort of physical fight in a rock-beats-scissors sort of way? Hrm.

Zsasz's injuries come courtesy of Killer Croc, who attacked Zsasz after he attacked a homeless man who happened to be Croc's friend. Now both 'Stumpy' and Zsasz are being treated by Leslie, and Croc's stalking the outskirts of the medical camp, torn between tearing through the place to finish of Zsasz and holding back so that Thompkins can treat his friend. He wants Leslie to just hand Zsasz over to him, but of course she can't do that.

Above I criticized the sort of moral dilemmas the writers often subjected Leslie to, but so far at least this feels more fair and Leslie's position doesn't seem as unreasonable. But despite his current injuries Zsasz /does/ present a threat to everyone at the camp, arguably even more so than Croc does. The GCPD group in No Man's Land is run by Gordon, at least in theory, but most of the cops are more loyal to this other guy who would immediately kill both Zsasz and Croc if he got his hands on either of them, probably 'Stumpy' too if he heard the guy was Croc's friend, so she can't turn to them. Honestly, she knows Bruce doesn't kill people, so the ideal solution would be to hand Zsasz off to Batman.

Speak of the devil, it's Officer Pettit. His deal is that since there's no legal system in No Man's Land, no way to put criminals/supervillains on trial, no intact and manned prisons to hold them in (that he knows about anyway), that anybody he deems a criminal should just be killed.

The classic conflict between at least this version of Helena and Bruce is that she's willing to kill people sometimes, whether for personal revenge reasons or if she just can't work out some other way to stop them from killing other people in the moment. And killing is something that Batman generally, and especially at the time, took a particularly uncompromising view of. In Batman's mind, if you kill you're a killer, and no better than anyone else who kills people. Never-you-mind that he's pals with the justice league and most of them, even Superman, have killed at this point in continuity. Within the pages of the bat books at least, Bruce's feelings on killing are as uncompromising and iron-clad as Leslie's feelings about violence in general.

Come to think of it, why wasn't that the reason Helena stopped being Batgirl? Like if she had fought Two Face's gang to try to protect the people in Batman's territory despite their overwhelming numbers, but in the end had resorted to killing some of them to save the people they were attacking. That would have made for a believable conflict between Helena and Bruce to justify their falling out, one that would have been more in line with their respective characters and wouldn't have made either of them come off looking quite as heartless and frankly unheroic as what the writers/editors actually went with.

But whatever, the point is that with Helena's looser stance on killing, it makes some amount of sense that she'd end up with Pettit after cutting ties with Bruce, at least temporarily. Eventually she'll realize that he's no good, but I guess that hasn't happened yet.

Anyway, Leslie agrees to let Pettit's injured officers into the camp if they leave their guns behind. They agree, and Huntress accompanies them and Dr. Thompkins while Pettit stays outside the camp with his health and armed men to hunt for Croc.

Once Helena realizes Dr. Thompkins has Zsasz there, though, she objects pretty vociferously.

It's one thing to endanger herself for her principles, but Thompkins is also endangering all of the other people there seeking her help. Also, yeah, comic Thomkins is kind of a downer.

Around this time Bruce and Cass show up, dropping off medical supplies they got from... somewhere, I don't know.

And there's their first meeting. And yeah, a justifiably cold greeting from Helena, though at lest she's not particularly mean or aggressive about it. It's Bruce she's angry at overall. The fist-bump as a hello for Cass is cute and on brand, and I like that we can kind of make out her facial expression despite the mask.

I like these handful of panels, with Helena shoving past Cass to confront Bruce. For one, we get a good sense of difference in size where Helena, a grown ass adult, is shown as clearly larger than teenage Cass, while Bruce towers over her in return. Its not just these three, there's also skinny fragile Dr. Thompkins, and various background figures in the crowd scenes. I have to give Eaglesham credit here - he knows how to give characters, including the female characters, different silhouettes and body shapes and facial features and body langue, and he effectively uses these differences to convey the characters' different personalities and emotional states. Like, Helena is annoyed at Cass, annoyed at how quickly she was replaced, but she's angry at Bruce, and Eaglesham really shows that in her facial expression.

We're here for Cass though, and I really like how she's drawn in that panel where Helena's pushing past her. Her proportions, the big head relative to her body size, the way her cape folds, etc. Between that and the offered fist bump panel, this doesn't just feel like Batgirl to me, it feels like Cass specifically.

As much as Bruce and Helena are on bad terms right now, Bruce is very much on her side when it comes to treating Zsasz at the clinic, and in particular when it comes to giving him a blood transfusion when donor blood is so hard to come by right now. Of course, there have been versions of Batman - versions I generally prefer - who would have taken Leslie's side on this, but NML Batman was a bit of a grumpy guss, so this isn't exactly out of character.

Pettit starts shooting at Croc, interrupting Bruce & Leslie's argument, and... I'm sorry, what the hell is with that panel of Cass's face there. Like, cheat and draw her face through the mask, or just draw the mask, either would be better than whatever that mushy mess is. And I was just talking you up, Eaglesham, what happened there?

On a more positive note, this bit where Cass asks Bruce through pantomime if Leslie is his mother is good. Very on brand, gets the idea across well, doesn't take ~too much~ more panel space than if she was able to just ask him in a word bubble. It's also a good example of Cass being empathetic to the people around her which is simultaneously one of her core character traits and in a sense also her super power.

Like, she's not at all the focus of this book, but so far both the writing and the art for her are pretty solid.

The distraction is fairly brief, and afterwords Bruce & Leslie's argument resumes, escalating to the point where Bruce is compelled to storm off and brood for a while.

As he goes, we get this interaction between him and Cass, where, on the positive side it's a continuation of the themes I liked before, the empathy, the communication through pantomime... and her face is a lot better in these panels than in that weird mushy one from before. But asking if Bruce is sad by tracing a big ole fake tear down her face with a finger is a bit hammy.

Of course, the moment Batman leaves everything goes to heck. Zsasz is up...

And Croc gets the drop on Pettit.

So Zsasz is threatening Dr. Thompkins and Cass & Helena rush up to help, but - and this isn't super clear from the art - but Helena goes to shoot Zsasz with her wrist-mounted crossbow. Yes, it's a gimmick weapon that looks like a toy, but her crossbow has absolutely been established as a lethal weapon in universe. Cass, whose 'no killing' policy is if anything even more strict than Bruce's, stops her from shooting Zsasz, which leads to a scuffle between Huntress and Batgirl, preventing either of them from intervening to help Dr. Thompkins. Which I guess explains why Cass being nearby doesn't just neutralize Zsasz as a threat, but it does make her and Helena both seem kind of dumb in the moment.

But making Cass and Helena hold the idiot ball for a bit must have been worth it in the writer's mind in order to give Leslie her Big Scene.

Believe it or not, Zsasz is unmoved.

Wont resist him with violence? What would you do if you weren't so morally upright, Leslie? Lightly open-hand slap him into submission? Like, if this scene could somehow happen in such a way where she actually had physical power over him, like if he was tied down and she had a scalpel or something, then the decision not to exercise that power might have some meaning, but the way this scene was set up it's not like there was anything she could do anyway. She's not even making a convincing appeal here.

By 'not resist him with violence' she means 'no resist him in any fashion what so ever' - not even physically stand in front of him to buy the people behind her a moment to run. Instead she literally curls up on the ground in the fetal position. Cartoon Dr. Thompkins was also a stanch pacifist whose moral convictions would have compelled her to help even a killer if they were in need, but she had more dignity than this.

Croc shows up to save Leslie while Cass and Helena are still busy bickering amongst themselves.

And afterwards Cass gives Leslie this super respectful bow like the reader is supposed to have been blown away by Leslie's great moral fortitude.

And Bruce gets over his big sulk just in time to catch Zsasz and drag him off to his secret prison, which is an absolutely normal thing to have.

...

So yeah, I got super sidetracked this time by how much I don't like the comic version of Dr. Thompkins, at least not the way she was portrayed at the time. But focusing specifically on Cass... they didn't do a bad job with her here, like, at all. She mostly looks cool. She's recognizably a teenager most of the time, instead of being drawn exactly the same as when Helena was in the costume. She's shown to be curious and empathetic and a bit stubborn and actually quite communicative despite being non-verbal. There's a bit of her individual personality showing through here even though there's like four or five other characters who are more central to the story being told than she is. I didn't really enjoy the issue overall, but I'm honestly pretty happy with Cass's portrayal in it specifically.

#sception reads cassandra cain #batgirl #cassandra cain #leslie thompkins #helena bertinelli #long post

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