(Other than the really weird bit about "Male presenting Doctor") what were your thoughts about the specials?
pretty mixed bag, pretty messy, but good overall. i think they were very obviously a nostalgia trip for people around my age lol and it worked! i loved seeing tennant and tate back onscreen together, their chemistry hasn't aged a bit, and honestly just watching doctor who that wasn't written by chris chibnall was a breath of fresh air. they weren't boring, like seasons 11 and 12 were, and they didn't go too far off the other end into nonsense like flux did. characters want things again! the show can let itself just be silly! i was literally cheering out loud when donna and the doctor were just saying random scifi gobbledegook at each other for like a solid several minutes during the star beast.
the structure of the specials kind of baffles me. i love wild blue yonder--i think it's definitively the best of the specials as a standalone, it's absolutely fantastic, creepy and atmospheric and bringing things around to RTD's strength, which is well-written characters interacting with each other and letting good actors just act. but at the same time i dont understand why it exists? it feels like...idk. imagine if you watched the star wars original trilogy but instead of the empire strikes back the middle film was just a feature length film about luke and han surviving on an ice planet with no reference to anything that happens in the last film except the two characters' relationship. and then the next film was still return of the jedi, unchanged. it felt like that
i liked all the weird campy silliness of the star beast and the giggle, and they were both very fun! neil patrick harris gave a fantastic performance, there are a lot of very memorable sequences from the giggle, but it's very very all over the place. so many threads get kind of picked up and go nowhere. the toymaker's haunted house dimension goes nowhere. RTD's eyerolling social media commetnary goes nowhere (thank god tbh but yknow im illustrating something here). even the toymaker kind of goes nowhere, after ncuti gatwa shows up he's bascially an afterthought who loses by dropping a ball. obvious parallels to david tennant's first episode with that ball scene could be made, but just... aren't. it feels like load-bearing sectikons of the plot and themes were cut out to make room for a backdoor pilot for the stupid fucking UNIT spinoff
oh and it goes without saying i fucking hate all the UNIT wank in the star beast and the giggle. i hope space nine eleven 2 happens to their stupid fucking avengers tower i cannot stand kate stewart who is constantly a murderous bonehead (in the giggle alone she gets two pepole killed by not listening to the doctor and assuming that this teleporting godlike entity could be restrainted by Two Guys) who is both in and out of universe just a boring nepo baby with no merit of her own
um. i still dont know what happened with the regeneration. i think the implication is that when david tennant dies hell time travel back to become ncuti gatwa inside himself--at least the rehab dialogue seems to make that implication. but it's not really explained or explored? baffling. i do think that fourteen getting to settle down and live a peaceful life with his friends is cute.
oh yeah and the ask said other than that but goddd there was some good stuff in the star beast and honestly with the state of the UK media i will take any perspective on trans people that includes baseline human erespect but some of those lines made me cringe so bad. anyway overall i am cautiously optimistic for the future of the show--oh ncuti was fucking great did i mention that i instantly bnought him as the doctor he owned the scene, the moment he was there it was clear he was the protagonist, and i liked the church on ruby road well enough too--i am cautiously optimistic but i worry that a big UNIT-shaped tumor will devour huge chunks of it and it'll be annoying. also russel t davies is like 60 and i just dont want to hear what he has to say about twitter so im not looking forward to dot and bubble
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people need to realize that clear and explicit death threats are the one thing you can’t weasel out of…you can get away with a lot of implication and metaphor but as soon as you say “i’m gonna murder…” with your name and face attached, you’re basically cooked, no matter how noble your cause is. i don’t know if it’s because the internet has cheapened death threats, or because it has incentivized competitively hyperbolic language but like…yeah…if you literally say you are going to kill someone, you’re gonna have a bad time
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In spite of Schuylers black eyes, I have still a part for the public and another for you; so your impatience to have me married is misplaced; a strange cure by the way, as if after matrimony I was to be less devoted than I am now.
Alexander Hamilton to John Laurens, September 16, 1780
I was just re-reading this quote for the first time in a while, and realized it’s got some unique qualities that point to its integrity as a piece of evidence.
With the Laurens-Hamilton relationship, how many possible meanings a letter has is almost more important than what is said in the first place. This isn’t a quote that can be excused as humor or teasing or “how people wrote back then.” It’s a serious quote from Hamilton that talks about his relationship with Laurens, which we don’t have to many of. It’s not like the beginning of the April 1779 letter, which can be brushed off as “how people wrote.” It’s not innuendo that can be excused as “bawdy humor.” It’s a serious and non-flowery or sentimental sentence which contains many elements that point to a romance between Hamilton and Laurens. There is no other strong explanation for Laurens to be directly compared to Schuyler. (And especially the “black eyes” part-- in spite of something Hamilton is attracted to about his wife, he still has a “part” for Laurens...) The rest of the quote is even more implicating-- why would Laurens want Hamilton to be married so that Hamilton’s affection would wane? Why would their relationship need a cure if it was a socially acceptable friendship?
tl, dr: Because Hamilton’s writing is so direct and clear, with so few opposing interpretations, (but many implications!) or the ability to be construed as a joke, this letter is a pretty unique piece of evidence, and one of the strongest to suggest a Laurens-Hamilton relationship. (And good for refuting criticism.)
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Shinjiham is cute when it’s romantic but tbh I think i vastly prefer the idea of them being best friends instead. Like, neither of them really saw it coming and weren’t really looking to get another best friend (Shinji has Akihiko, Kotone has Junpei and Yukari respectively) but it happens anyway. Kotone takes a liking to Shinji much faster than she does anyone else and I’d say a big reason is just the fact that he’s so reserved that it allows Kotone to do most of the talking while he just listens and they love this arrangement cuz Kotone doesn’t get to talk about her own interests very much. Though I think some of her needs to talk to Shinji stems from this insecurity that he isn’t happy in the group and she has this people pleasing problem and wants everyone to be happy so she makes a much bigger effort to talk to Shinji. And it’s very unfortunate because Shinji intentionally acts cold and distant because he doesn’t want to form any attachments because he wants to die soon, but aaaaaaaagh dammit this girl just keeps talking to him and being sweet and encouraging him to engage in his interests and share them with the others and he just can’t seem to say no when she’s got those damn puppy eyes. And Kotone is just able to get him out of his shell by being persistent but not in an overwhelming way, she’s very cheerful and supportive of him. And Shinji is able to offer her support by encouraging her to talk about herself and by making sure she’s taking care of herself. They just click really well and make such a positive dent in each other’s lives and it’s all about basic acts of kindness going a long way you know?
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favorite flowers
or, how much can change without anything really changing?
Moon’s: Spider Lily || Crayon’s: bleeding heart
poll winners:
SUN
7…
SODA BEACH
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Porsche’s jealousy kind of stops being funny when you realize a big reason behind it is probably just how much Porsche needs this relationship to work out
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may i humbly request modern!gaang and being asked to write a piece of creative fiction for school? what would they write about? would they enjoy it? would it be any good? if anyone knows, it's you!
okay for the sake of limiting my potential scope i'm just gonna say that they all had to write a short story in prose for this hypothetical assignment (esp because i've already talked about them writing poetry and miscellaneous forms).
aang pens a very lovely and whimsical tale about a boy who goes exploring in a sunny wood and comes across various talking animals who say funny, charming, and sometimes deeply profound things about the nature of the world. think le petit prince meets winnie the pooh. it is a delightful read, but unfortunately his teacher thought it "needed more conflict." lame.
katara writes about a brave and valiant knight who goes off to slay a dragon to bring its head back as a trophy for his king, only to learn that the dragon was really just minding her own business, leading him to question everything he thought he knew about the monarchy, and ultimately beheading the king instead. her teacher deemed it "intriguing, but slightly concerning." (again, lame!!)
sokka writes a dark comedy about a horrible pathetic man who makes everyone around him miserable including himself because he refuses to adjust his insane principles even when presented with tangible evidence that contradicts his beliefs. at one point he commits a murder and gets away with it, leading his peers to argue that this character "needed to be punished more" by the narrative. sokka's just like "thanks... i'll keep that in mind."
toph writes a story about a girl who escapes a totalitarian society and goes to start an anarchist commune in the woods with other refugees. the fact that there are no rules and everyone does what they want is epic and she doesn't miss her old life at all even a little bit and they all live happily ever after the end. her teacher claims that "while her writing style is direct and incisive, the story ultimately lacks nuance."
zuko pens a tragic fairytale about an empress who loses all her children to various causes, and ultimately kills herself. the style is very poetic and beautiful, but the story itself is so unbelievably sad that his teacher is prompted to ask "what was the point of this" and also "do you need help i can recommend a good therapist if you need one"
suki writes a story about a lesbian pirate who starts an affair with a bisexual tavernkeeper who is cheating on her shitty husband right under his nose. one day the husband finds out and gets violent so they kill them and serve chunks of his flesh to stray alley cats. her friends really enjoy this story, but her teacher doesn't understand "why everything suki writes needs to have such an agenda."
mai writes a story about ghosts throughout time occupying a single house together, haunting each other, every temporality overlapping in a cacophony of grief. while coherent, it is very dense, and most of her classmates don't bother actually unpacking it, so they mostly just complain about the non-linear timeline being "too confusing." (lame of them!) her teacher loves it though.
ty lee writes a series of diary entries from the perspective of a teenage girl. at first she's just talking about stereotypical teenage girl stuff, like the boy she likes and the mean things her friends said at the mall, but then at some point the narrator begins to realize that she is in a story, and her diary entries get more introspective and frantic and meta as she is ultimately crushed under the weight of her own narrative. her teacher deems it "brilliant" and suggests submitting it to literary magazines for publication, to which ty lee responds "haha no thanks ^_^"
azula writes about an ubermensch who is able to valiantly resist the liberal indoctrination of the pathetic sjws who are triggered by his inner strength and sharp intelligence. it reads almost identically to sokka's story (except with a vastly different prose style), but unlike sokka's, it is completely sincere and not remotely a satire. unfortunate.
yue writes a story from the perspective of an electron that doesn't know that its entangled but can sometimes still feel that it is connected to something else across the universe when it spins. it is a brilliant, poignant story about star crossed love and the significance of relationality across the cosmos, that neither her teacher nor most of her peers understand because "it all sounds too sciencey."
jet writes a story about a "really cool" alpha male whose girlfriend unfairly dumps him after their wannabe sigma male acquaintance who was jealous of him because he loved his girlfriend gets him cancelled for having said faggot on twitter once 10 years ago, but it turns out said guy who steals his girlfriend is actually a terrible person who treats women like shit despite posturing as a feminist for clout. sokka reads it and is like "wow, this would actually be a really incisive critique of performative male allyship and how any kind of man can be equally toxic and entitled to the women in their lives... if not for the fact that it is CLEARLY ABOUT ME and JET SEEMS TO THINK THAT I TOLD KATARA TO DUMP HIM BECAUSE I WAS SECRETLY IN LOVE WITH MY SISTER??????"
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Man I feel the same way. Seeing so many people say “I’m staying neutral! Think of Dream!” With this is… wild. This is a different story, it will never be the same.
like, it's such a different situation from dream? dream's situation involved a direct accusation, while this situation does not. and in dream's situation, if dream was being falsely accused, that doesn't make the situation without repercussions? like, the accusers would be in the wrong. there's a reason why legal action was taken (and continues to be taken in similar situations!) people are sitting here like "well if it's not him-" then she (and the people around her who clearly know the identity of the person in question!) are all collectively staying silent to throw him under the bus?? i guess?? and we're okay with the fact that an innocent man whose identity would easily be cross-referencable by the multiple people who have implied or outright stated that they know the identity of her abuser is getting his reputation thrown into the gutter for no obvious reason i fucking guess??? like
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not me in the middle of my break remembering how dirty they did my boy sander cohen in burial at sea
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🎵 Me: "Oh, yeah, no, we're not a disordered system. We're completely fine. None of what we experience is that bad, especially compared to what other systems deal with. We don't even have much amnesia now that I've stopped trying to suppress the others!"
Also me: *goes through a frequent oscillation between "I love my sysmates" and "I am losing myself and want to die" like a walking "this is fine"-dog meme*
If I recall correctly the definition of disordered plurality is that it causes "clinically significant distress." And I would call downswings in mental state that verge on suicidality "clinically significant distress." So yeah.... Maybe we are disordered, even if I'm practically allergic to admitting I might have a problem...
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The way some people talk about Vicky’s writing in comparison to the new team kinda reminds me of how Pokemon Anime fans miss 4kids a lot and swear that if the 4kids dub kept going then the anime would have been infinitely better, and then you see how much of a meme some parts of the original dub were plus different fandoms with 4kids dubs wanted their heads on a stick. And it’s like yeah comparatively the new team is worse and the ogs got a raw deal but lets not get ahead of ourselves- itd still kinda suck
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I'm trying not to use "hypothetical" in my peer review of someone's op-ed on nuclear energy but how else do I address: "but how about the elderly person that gets poisoned from growing a carrot in their contaminated ground? Science at this point has not documented the long-term effects of nuclear energy and has left many questions unanswered."
yeah alright. let's go ahead and use the evidence of no evidence ig
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he's so _ for writing this then never making gay sex relevant in the text
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Remembering that time I reblogged a post about women being unfairly demonized in media and someone replied on my blog with fucking Mohg. Yeah Mohg. Let's just shimmy past all the women in Elden Ring and make this about Mohg.
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Scott Pilgrim is, I think, the best example I can think of for establishing a setting's Nonsense Limit.
The setting's Nonsense Limit isn't quite "How high-fantasy is this". It's mostly a question of presentation, to what degree does the audience feel that they know the rules the world operates by, such that they are primed to accept a random new element being introduced.
A setting with a Nonsense Limit of 0 is, like, an everyday story.
Something larger than life, but theoretically taking place in our world, like your standard spy thriller action movie has a limit of 1.
Some sort of hidden world urban fantasy with wizards and stuff operating in secret has a nonsense limit around 3 or 4. A Superhero setting, presenting an alternate version of our world, is a 5 or 6.
High fantasy comes in around a 7 or so, "Oh yeah, Wizards exist and they can do crazy stuff" is pretty commonly accepted.
Scott Pilgrim comes in at a 10.
If you read the Scott Pilgrim book, it starts off looking like a purely mundane slice of life. The first hint at the fantastical is Ramona appearing repeatedly in Scott's Dreams, and then later showing up in real life.
When we finally get an explanation, it's this:
Apparently Subspace Highways are a thing? And they go through people's heads? And Ramona treats this like it's obscure, but not secret knowledge. Ramona doesn't think she's doing anything weird here.
At this point, it's not clear if Scott is accepting Ramona's explanation or not, things kind of move on as mundane as ever until their Date, when Ramona takes Scott through subspace, and he doesn't act like his world was just blown open or anything, although I guess that could have been a metaphor.
there's a couple other moments, but everything with Ramona could be a metaphor, or Scott not recognizing what's going on. Maybe Ramona is uniquely fantastical in this otherwise normal world.
And then, this happens
Suddenly, a fantastical element (A shitty local indie band finishing their set with a song that knocks out most of the audience) is introduced unrelated to Ramona, and undeniably literal. We see the crowd knocked out by Crash and The Boys.
but the story doesn't linger on the implications of that, the whole point of that sequence is to raise the Nonsense Level, such that you accept it when This happens
Matthew Patel comes flying down onto the stage, Scott, who until this point is presented as a terrible person and a loser, but otherwise is extremely ordinary, proceeds to flawlessly block and counter him before doing a 64-hit air juggle combo.
Scott's friends treat this like Scott is showing off a mildly interesting party trick, like being really good at darts.
The establish that Scott is the "Best Fighter in the Province", not only are street-fighter battles a thing, Scott is Very Good at it, but they're so unimportant that being the best fighter in the province doesn't make Scott NOT a loser.
So when Matthew Patel shows off his magic powers and then explodes into a pile of coins, we've established "Oh, this is how silly the setting gets".
It's not about establishing the RULES of the setting so much as it is about establishing a lack of rules. Scott's skill at street-fighter battles doesn't translate to any sort of social prestige. Ramona can access Subspace Highways and she uses it to do a basic delivery job. It doesn't make sense and it's clear that it's not supposed to.
So later on, when Todd Ingram starts throwing around telekinesis, and the explanation we're given is "He's a Vegan" , you're already so primed by the mixture of weirdness and mundanity that rather than trying to incorporate this new knowledge into any sort of coherent setting ruleset, you just go "Ah, yeah, Vegans".
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