#anyway i have beef with the whole concept of redemption

[codenamesailordarillium]

so guess who ended up rewatching (well skipped around a bit) the dw s3 finale after looking at & reblogging that gifset just to pay proper attention to fetus daddy satan mr ellis and ended up with unexpected missy feels bc of the final confrontation between sandshoes & simmy?

like literally tho .. every note of missy’s eventual redemption had the roots set up here. i don’t particularly like simm!master (only really in the context of his perverse crush on missy bc that’s what it takes). but despite the whole deal with the doctor declaring he’ll take responsibility for him & him petulantly refusing to be locked up & babysat, therefore choosing death .. is exactly what happens anyway with basil & missy. 

10 says maybe it’s time for him to actually stay in one place & be there/care for someone. simm!master throws a wrench in that idea immediately & then the rest of 10′s era & spilling on into 11′s are defined by his running away from things, but then later on, that’s precisely what 12 is able to do (some a lot of which i will attribute to darillium bc this is me okay). 

missy is imprisoned in the vault, forced to finally contend with her myriad, infinite crimes with nothing else to do. it’s not hard to guess that that’s exactly what simm!master was terrified of, yet missy is the one who has to confront themselves within that mental headspace. she’s the one who has to be brave about it and finally face the drums music. and it’s awful & difficult but she actually does it & 12 notes her progress. it’s a good thing, everything about it leading up to her eventual sacrifice. it really strikes a chord with me that moff took that sliver of a story arc suggestion rtd came up with and actually made it plausible & meaningful & important for both the characters & the viewers

that’s what particularly makes it sting big time once we bump into dhawan!master. i’ll admit that whole business is why i’ve once again stagnated in my watching of 13′s era. but i don’t feel like it’s wrong to point out the really really shitty implications taking the master, having them actually reflect on the trauma they’ve both inflicted & endured and then redeem themselves as a woman only to immediately have them revert to their old ways as soon as they’ve been regenerated back into a man. regardless of the intent, it’s a bad look. 

on the one hand you have 13 figuring out her new identity & something of an attempt to be nuanced about the realities of her being seen as a hero/authority figure on her adventures when for the longest time it was just assumed because to all appearances, they were a man. but it’s immediately fumbled when juxtaposed against an implication that redemption, actually attempting to repent for one’s past immensely harmful actions is relegated to the lady version of the master, only to be completely undone once they’re a man again.

the fact of the matter of dw is that even tho modern fandom has very extensive & nuanced headcanons about time lords & their society’s relationship to gender, much of what is presented to wider audiences in the show proper is still going to heavily draw on most ppl’s perceptions & understanding of gender, specifically within the bounds of gender binary. and the concept of the master as they were initially conceived in the 1970s was steeped in concepts of toxic masculinity. the master denigrates the hell outta women up until the point they finally become one.

i have no beef with sacha dhawan himself, he’s literally an actor who was hired to do an iconic role in a popular tv show. that’s his job, that’s a pretty amazing opportunity, he’s doing what he’s supposed to. i take issue with the casting of a man, even if he is an actor of color (bc hey actresses of color exist), but ultimately even if that couldn’t be avoided, i could’ve done with at least keeping consistency with the characterization.

cause dhawan!master’s immediate return to that unflinching earlier characterization is also a return to that toxic masculinity. if he’d have been given a direction as a version of the master who’s post-redemption & trying to figure out how to exist in the new state of mind they’d obtained, it really could’ve been interesting for me. but none of that matters, all that time spent on missy’s redemption might as well have not even happened. the master’s a man again, meaning he’s got to be an unrepentant aggressor who causes meaningless suffering like destroying gallifrey again, because nothing. fucking. matters.

it’s bleak and rather hopeless, because dw is supposed to be about hope. and chibs, whether he wanted to or not, created a narrative where it doesn’t matter if you try to do good & improve yourself, you’re always destined to be despicable & you will never change because evil is simply just In Your Nature(TM). also regretting your past actions & feeling guilt for it are icky silly girl feelings or something.

i don’t begrudge anyone who enjoys dhawan’s performance, it’s clear he’s just having fun with it and i understand why that’s appealing to others. but these are my frustrations that i’m always gonna have with the direction the character arc was taken in and i don’t know that there’s anything that will make it any different. 

#brotp: i'll scratch his eye out #long & rambly but really needed to get this off my chest for a long time #zima watches dw

[gideonisms]

But also, I don't think harrow is going to be "redeemed" as such or that she needs to be for the narrative to work. It's not a story all that concerned with pain/death as a punishment for evil or a force for good. Like desire in these books, death is a neutral force, inspiring some characters to commit even greater evils (john himself is example number 1, but also cytherea, mercy) while inspiring others to change (harrow is one of the only examples here). Redemption is about doing something to atone for your past or suffering a pain that makes you a better person but harrow is not doing any of that. That's not what her choice is about narratively because if it was, it would be necessary for her to actually remember her past and what she's done to gideon. The choice is, harrow can stop using someone else for her own gain, and that will bring her no reward, not even the memory of having changed as a person. OR she can continue using gideon and her whole society will validate her. And she chooses to stop. It's not about the pain or the death it's about the choice itself. And it's not even really about the choice, it's about the fact that gideon still exists. That is harrow's whole justification, she doesn't give a fuck if she's going to be a better person. Because the story's not about becoming a better person, or if it is, that's incidental to the main point which is being an alive person who was supposed to be dead

#like. it's about gideon #anyway i have beef with the whole concept of redemption #mainly i think it's vague af #and it's one of those terms that's so clearly based on an understanding of morality which i think we should question #it's useful for analysis only if we're specific about what we mean by it and even then it rests on so much background christianity that like #if you question it even enough to get specific about what it means you have to start questioning your whole belief system #it's a jenga tower of a term #and like i think in her writing muir has divorced herself a bit from conventional christian systems of morality #she references them but i think she's more riffing off them than playing into them #the emperor is also god for a reason you know? #anyway anyway #rambles #will abi ever shut up? a question people have been asking themselves since i was old enough to type

[texanredrose]

Concept: PowerRangers!RWBY AU.

Because Zearth is a wonderful influence and because I can, some quick thoughts on the subject. I’m probably gonna catch flak for this. Potential spoilers below.

I really like some of the concepts from the new movie.

THE RANGERS:

Red Ranger Ruby - Misunderstood mechanical genius, tries really hard to pay attention in class but usually gets distracted by ideas for new schematics, aces all the courses anyway. Leader of the team, tries to analyze the situation before issuing orders or acting, is totally down to be a superhero. (GLYNDA routinely catches her trying to disassemble the T-Rex Zord; the first time was cute, the subsequent ones resulted in extra training.) Commonly believed to be a guy by public.

Blue Ranger Weiss - Alpha Bitch of the school by force of habit, kind heart under the frosty exterior, rebels against father by getting into trouble at school despite having no real desire to break the rules. Lancer of the team, acts on instincts/feelings most of the time and rushes headfirst into danger, prefers the adulation that comes from being a Ranger than the faux recognition due to her family’s standing. (Constantly mistaken for her sister by adults, or compared to her, but recognizes this is something her father’s practically trained others to do and not Winter’s fault.) Commonly believed to be a guy by public.

Black Ranger Blake - Intentional loner, attends classes but always gets caught reading her own books instead of focusing on the coursework, transferred from another school where she’d fallen in with the ‘wrong crowd’ and resolved to refrain from personal attachments to prevent the mistake from repeating. Heart of the team, always most vocal about collateral damage, takes criticism of the PR’s actions to heart. (Parents are reluctantly happy that Blake’s fallen in with the others because, though they’re always getting into trouble, it seems mostly harmless and Blake’s happier now than before. They could do without the occasional knock on their door from police saying they found Blake & company somewhere restricted- again- but it’s a small town and trespassing is almost expected from bored teens.) Commonly believed to be a guy by public.

Yellow Ranger Yang - Golden child with a reckless streak and always getting into various forms of trouble, hometown hero beloved for sport proficiency alongside all star Pyrrha Nikos, would love to be recognized for being smart on her own merits instead of being ‘given’ the grades due to her athleticism. Mom of the team, would rather stay out of the spotlight. (Secretly hates that she can’t wear her hair outside her helmet, both because alien tech does not account for human hair volume and because it would be a dead giveaway to her identity. The others think that wouldn’t necessarily be true but Yang is adamant; no one has hair like hers.) Commonly believed to be a chick by public.

Pink Ranger Jaune - Starts off as an insecure lacky to Cardin, the school’s Alpha Male bully, but breaks free from them and starts hanging out with RWBY after Inciting Incident, gains confidence in himself and becomes a genuinely good friend to others, has a penchant for collecting comic books. (Often unintentional) creative thinker of the team, very good at making observations that help the others come up with ideas for defeating enemies, initially very upset about being the Pink Ranger but comes to accept it. (After becoming the Pink Ranger, becomes a very vocal defender and supporter of anyone deemed ‘not normal’, especially by Cardin. Nearly starts a physical altercation with Cardin every week for calling him out but rarely gets into the fight himself, usually because Yang or Weiss throw the first punch or Ruby or Blake are able to diffuse the situation.) Commonly believed to be a chick by public.

GLYNDA - Mechanical assistant of alien origins designed to maintenance the Zords and the ship containing Ozpin. Does not understand human humor and is convinced the Rangers are actively trying to sabotage themselves early on- Ruby disassembling the Zords, Weiss taking hits for others, Blake remaining reluctant to connect with the group, Yang getting angry and frustrated about the lack of team cohesion, Jaune freaking out over the color pink) but comes to trust their skills.

Ozpin - Former Red Ranger, defeated hundreds of thousands of years ago and living inside the spaceship’s computer, and resident master of vague bullshit. Doesn’t actually know how anything really works- the coins and Zords predate even his civilization- but pretends he does to instill confidence in Ruby. (Fails. Very much.)

Inciting Incident: Cardin starts some shit with Yang over their respective sports that starts a fist fight. Ruby tries to intervene and gets knocked into Weiss, who starts yelling at her, earning her Yang’s attention for messing with her sister and allows Cardin to make an escape. Blake just happens to be in the area- not paying attention to the surrounding incident- when an authority figure shows up, landing all four of them in detention, with Yang and Weiss believed to be the instigators of the fight. Wanting to get one over on them, primarily Yang (for giving him a wicked shiner) and Weiss (for turning him down), Cardin bullies Jaune into luring the four to a remote location under the pretense of pranking them. When Jaune learns what the “prank” entails, he instead warns them, and the five make an escape that incidentally lands them near the power coins, which they find and keep. Shenanigans ensue when the coins bond with them and give each strength and other powers.

BAD GUYS:

Corrupt!Green Ranger Salem - Former member of Ozpin’s team turned bad (because fuck Ozpin, I guess), resurrected by coincidence around the time the power coins are discovered. Fuck nuts crazy and loving it, but real chill around the murder spree part. Can create weak shadow warriors called Grimm, often taking shape of local animals. Can create bigger warriors from willing subjects. Prior to showdown with PR, sends out beefed up Grimm to track down her former accomplices. First of the evil triad.

Tyrian - Resurrected lackey who helped destroy Ozpin’s team. First baddy to get creamed by the PR. Keeps the tail, until he gets crushed.

Divatox!Cinder - Assisted in destroying Ozpin’s team, frozen in time in some unknown location and awoken by a Dragon Grimm. Finds a way to bring Salem back. Second of the evil triad.

Lord Zed!Roman - Assisted in destroying Ozpin’s team (but minor), frozen in time in some unknown location and awoken by a Griphon Grimm. Would actually like very much to go back to what he was doing before fighting Ozpin’s PR but gets roped into destroying Ruby’s PR team. Third of the evil triad.

Mercury, Emerald, Neo - Lesser baddies, Mercury and Emerald are created from their respective minerals by Salem to help Cinder, Neo from something else for Roman. (Salem doesn’t like Roman much. He’s aware of this. He wants out.)

Cardin - High School Evil. Bully, stereotypical meathead jock with a superiority complex, just a nasty dude overall. Maybe gets a redemption, maybe gets tossed into the ocean. 50/50.

Rest of CRDL - Lackies with varying degrees of objections to Cardin and his bullshit.

BONUS:

Green Ranger Penny - Initially assembled from copper to attend the school, get close to the PR, and betray them, Penny slowly becomes more in control of herself and gains agency thanks to being away from Salem’s direct influence. Initially given the Corrupt!Green Ranger power coin to fight against PR, breaks free of Salem’s control and joins the PR as the next Green Ranger.

White Ranger Pyrrha - Stumbles upon the White Ranger Power Coin (and, yes, even the talking sword) which came to Remnant as a comet, called by the other six. Is initially too intimidated by the other Rangers to approach them about joining their team officially (the sword does not help; the White Ranger has always been an individual force separate from the team, meant to only join the battle when things looked dire) but eventually Things Happen and she joins the team. The whole school is really confused as to why Pyrrha suddenly starts getting detention for really weird reasons.

Nora and Ren - After finally disassembling the Zords, Ruby managed to reverse engineer some of the ancient tech to create bring the Titanus Zord back to operational status.  Nora and Ren pilot it to assist the team after finding out the secret from Pyrrha, but do not have power coins themselves. (Nora still tries to take on the Grimm with a sledgehammer and it scares everyone how very effective that tactic is.)

Mr. Oobleck - Teacher at Beacon and constantly tasked with overseeing detention. He’s been following myths and legends regarding the PR- found in murals and paintings depicting ‘sky people’ searching for the coins- almost all his life and doesn’t miss the connection between the ancient depictions and the battles now commonly taking place near the city. Totally suspects he knows the real identities of the PR; constantly and conveniently leaves the classroom when the team needs to talk about serious matters. Also assigns them detentions for the most bullshit reasons. (He’s trying to help, really.)

#Power Rangers!RWBY AU #TRR ideas