#[Behind the Musings]

[butchtateandtackle]

never seen before hidden journal page from when ford was in college

[protect-namine]

liu xiao is kind of a pathetic loser isn't he. I say this with love. I hope he keeps being like this. yeah sure you can play 5D chess but you can't even get xia fei to like you. smh you're not that cool liu xiao.

[jacketpotatoo]

I'm stealing this from my lit teacher but he posed that something certain characters in arcane s2 missed were 'Zuko Alone' moments. Moments where characters took an extended amount of time to introspect, face the consequences of their actions, and connect with the wider world. This, to me, is why Caitlyn's arc wasn't as effective as it could've been. After a switch-up, after a big 180 like hers, it is simply necessary to track the progression of her arc. It's easy to say "In hating you, I've hated myself" and "no amount of good deeds can undo our crimes" but when you don't see her face the Zaunites or acknowledge the class-privileges she exploited, it all rings a little hollow. Arcane usually does a good job of tying the personal with the political and I think that's hidden in Cait's arc. She works as a character when you're understanding her actions in relation to her love for Vi and forgiveness of Jinx. She doesn't if you think of it on a wider socio-political scale. It's just a little odd when the show is such an arbiter of 'show don't tell'. That line has to do alot of heavy lifting. Alas, what time restraints does to an arc.

[naggingatlas]

'thats not his role in the story!' hm i wonder what the point of it is then. hm i wonder what the dead pixel scene means. hm i wonder what wrong organ are trying to say with the context of 'awesome male friendship' and 'corporate hell where the only woman onboard is constantly under ridicule, abused or forcibly forgotten yet is the catalyst' if not this. hm i wonder how curly's physical agony being a direct parallel to anya's mental agony, stripped of voice, agency, just like her, and being forced to watch what happens while not doing jack shit, just like he used to, plays a part in this. i wonder what the moral of him being the final girl says about living with the consequences of your inaction, because of sentimentality, because of status, career and social. hm i wonder whatever the fuck this game was trying to say. hm i wonder what else is on this person's blog Oh Lord there's yaoi penice.

[tangents-within-tangents]

Thinking about the song "Ship in Port" by Radical Face and clones

Thinking about the line "Farewell to the chains we were born into" and what that can mean for the clones

Thinking about how "But I have always stayed in place/Under that old illusion that it's safe" could equally describe Hunter, Echo, and (s1+2) Crosshair's complete opposite approaches to the Empire and post-war life.

The way Crosshair clings to his identity as a soldier of the Empire

And Echo as a soldier of the Republic

But Hunter puts his identity as a soldier behind him

Crosshair fights for the Empire to gain purpose

Echo fights against the Empire to save his brothers

And Hunter decides the Empire is too strong to even try to oppose

"A ship in port is a safer one"

"but it's not the reason it was made"

"So forgive me if I wander off"

"And forgive me more if I just stay"

Thinking about what The Bad Batch could have been if it had more fully explored the differences between those ideologies

(Thinking about what The Bad Batch could have been if it had dedicated more screen time to the 'reg' clones within the Empire and the underground network's fight to free them , instead of just sidelining Echo and Rex for a hypothetical clone rebellion show we might never get)

[my-t4t-romance]

pro tip for watching a haunting in venice: being in a theater that's inexplicably empty increases the creep factor by like 20%

[marztapatan]

Art i did for my mootie 💙💙 Omega with their horrorbrew Parasite. Their ship name is bio terrorists.

[megamindsecretlair]

Every single one of my moots is GORGEOUS. GD, I love this app. Pat yallselves on the back one time for the one time 👏🏽

[majestativa]

Madame Li.

[expectiations]

The Husbands of River Song is not and has never been about the Eleventh Doctor being a deadbeat, distant husband (gross mischaracterization by the way) and the Twelfth Doctor being the "better, more mature, affectionate" husband.

It was about River Song. It was about River and how the events in Manhattan took such a toll on her. It was about letting us see River dealing with grief the way The Snowmen showed us how the Doctor coped after losing believing he had used up all his time with River.

Looking at THORS now with The Ruby's Curse in mind, I get the instinct (for lack of a word that I cannot remember) that the Manhattan incident Blue Roach read from River's diary was not the Manhattan episode that we saw in series 7.

On that note, I'd also like to bring up the fact that the Doctor grounds River and River grounds the Doctor. As Tree talked about in one of her tags, River's empathy is more cognitive than emotional and after musing on it for a bit – considering that the Doctor can no longer go to Manhattan (which may have changed in later series but I wouldn't know at the moment because I have yet to overcome series 7b) and that River does spend time with her parents in Manhattan post-TATM, would the latest Manhattan incident in River's diary be the funeral for Amy? Amy's death? Perhaps even Anthony's? I mean, we already know Rory died five years earlier than Amy. So, knowing how deep River's love for her mother is, it's not too farfetched to say that River spent that time with them. River was by their bedsides as they drew their last breath.

Then Rory's gone, Amy's gone, Anthony's gone. Where does that leave River? Where is the Doctor? (sulking on a cloud on top of Victorian London? trying to figure out the mystery of his newest companion? all while constantly mentioning a certain Professor Song who actually turns out to be his dearly sort of departed absolutely beloved wife?)

Without her parents (and her husband) to ground her, she goes on this maddened, grieving space Robin Hood spree. She seeks fun to fill in the void and takes up marriage as a hobby/side quest. Does she look for the Doctor? Perhaps. Yes, actually. Considering she crashed her latest sort-of-husband's ship onto a planet where she purported the TARDIS to be.

But... she's stealing the TARDIS. She could have just called the Doctor, yeah? So, she doesn't want the Doctor to know then. Well... yeah, considering she has two sort-of-husbands in hand.

So, River would just have gone on from one space Robin Hood spree to the next had the TARDIS not sort-of-stranded herself on Mendorax Dellora to make sure her Water stopped being stubborn and reconcile(?) with her Thief?

Also taking note of how River has read stories about them and knows that Darillium is purported to be their last night together (I could also bring up the fact that this is why I find it easy to digest the "River meeting regenerations of the Doctor younger than the Tenth Doctor makes sense and doesn't break cannon nor ruin SITL/FOTD" but that would take a whole other post). Does this River believe her time with the Eleventh Doctor has ended? The same way series 7b Eleven believed his time with older versions of River has ended? Is this all part of some grand fuckup in communication all thanks to their tangled timelines?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But has River not just been running from her family's death? Has River been running from her supposed last night with the Doctor?

"But River doesn't run." Oh yes. Yes, she does. She knows when to stand her ground. She knows when to charge. And she knows when to run.

"That's out of character for her." No, it's not. She's not invincible. She's this well trained assassin, yes. But invincible? No.

Invincible from the tendency to be blinded by their emotions? Obviously not.

River lies. And River runs.

She is not afraid of her death. She is afraid of the day when her husband, her Doctor, looks into her eyes and looks right through her. And it shouldn't kill her but it does. It did.

So she ran and ran until her bigger-on-the-inside Mum gently reached out and put her back together with the only person left who could ground her. Who she didn't recognize at first but still fell in love with (and would have loved even if he hadn't been revealed to be her actual, long missing husband). Who finally found out their last night wasn't just any night – it was a twenty-four year long last night. Who finally gave her a breather from all the running she'd been doing.

And oh what a night that was (it was the talk of the universe).

[a-perfect-parisian-day]

Anna Karina on the set of Alphaville, 1965

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

tbh i think that even unwinnable fights should be winnable. some of the BEST fights i've ever run as a dm were ones i built kill the players (in a fun way. I had some cutscenes prepped so even the loss would be a different flavour of win)- but then they were clever bastards and managed to either win the fights or pull themselves out of trouble. I think it's perfectly fine to plan for a fight that players aren't supposed to win, but you need to let them. if they can't win, they can't lose, and the meaning of that encounter is diminished. do that too many times, and they stop trusting you to give them roleplay prompts and start expecting to sit there waiting while you drive the story for them.

but if they can win... if there is always the chance to win, no matter how impossible the odds, then they ALWAYS have hope. they always get invested. they feel the big emotions of success or the big emotions of failure, and you fucking Win as a dm/roleplay prompter/lead bastard.

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

that moment when I realize I made Hyapollo into an acespec metaphor and Daphpollo into an arospec one :0

[sanguivorousmuse]

Why do people hate Bill? I love Bill so much genuinely why do people hate him. I’m Bill Williamson’s #2 DEFENDER!!!

[cobra-wives]

said it on discord, but i'd love to say it here - i feel like, if they choose to show kwon's death as kreese and silver's turning points - both as the ones who began the cycle of violence that he eventually got himself killed in - the symbolism of someone literally killing themselves on a knife meant to symbolize winning the prize is NOT lost on me and i love that storytelling choice.

"winning the prize" has always held the same messaging of the american dream that kreese and silver were originally aspiring towards - you're going to hurt someone, you're going to kill yourself in the process, but you have to get there so bad and it ties so DAMN WELL with the messaging of generational influence and the cycles of violence. kreese is emblematic of the darker facets of this cultural ideal, highlighting themes of ambition, competition, and the relentless pursuit of success, often at the expense of morality and compassion.

it's kreese's silver knife - the dagger he's attached to his never ceasing grudges - and it ending up lodged in his champion's chest.

it's tory asking if it's worth it - to win, even if you're putting your friends down - and eventually, choosing her friends.

it's kreese implanting those thoughts in her head about individualism - projecting his own feelings about his life, about silver and betrayal and lost friendship to circumstance.

this story may struggle at times with where it's finding the ground of its messaging, but the themes of violence and competition being associated with that of cobra kai, and nonviolence and camaraderie with miyagi do, are not lost on me at all. and if they actually move forward with this theming (and honestly, make something better out of whatever the hell they're doing to miyagi), they can close this story out in a really nice way.

[qqueenofhades]

It is supposed to be miserably cold and snowy this weekend (we are getting the full brunt of the incoming Arctic blast). So naturally, the (already feeble) boiler in my apartment building has selected this very moment to die. They are supposed to be replacing it, but their maintenance schedule is often, uh. Leisurely. I also don't have to go into work on Monday since MLK Day, so that will be four long days of brrr.

As such, I will not be doing much other than sitting inside wrapped up in blankets with the space heaters blasting and, we all hope, possibly writing more fic (seize the moment while it lasts, etc). I shall grandiosely imagine that I will finish BOTH a Land of Snow and Shadow chapter (which is more likely since I already have a lot of it written) AND possibly a second new Unknown and Static Strange chapter. (Zomgz.) We will see.