#The Sore Losers (1997)

[xeneric-shrooms]

BIG NEWS! I CAN SCREEN RECORD!

[cryptidofthekeys]

Ya know

ever since I did that poll on the Spam Plush vs Bob Plush

I swear to god ever since Bob lost-

each time I've woken up in the morning, Spamton's nose is a bit crooked or bent ever so slightly

[swampflix]

The Sore Losers (1997)

I recently saw Guitar Wolf perform at a crowded, raucous dive bar and was impressed by the band’s continued ferocity.  The Japanese garage-rock trio has been around for as long as I have been alive, but they’re rocking and rolling as hard as ever, shredding & crowdsurfing through neighborhood venues the size of living rooms.  Meanwhile, it took me two full days to recover from just one of their…

[sisterspooky1013]

Only One Choice, Part 2, Chapter 11

Read it here on AO3 / Tagging @today-in-fic

From: fmulder@fbi.gov

Sent: May 2, 1997 8:06am

To: dscully@fbi.gov

Subject: Back in action?

Hey Scully,

You make it in okay today? How are you feeling?

Thanks for letting me hang out with you yesterday, even after I broke into your apartment and crawled into your bed. I hadn’t seen the Price is Right since the eighties so that was a real treat. I remain impressed by your ability to guess the cost of a dishwasher.

From: dscully@fbi.gov

Sent: May 2, 1997 9:15am

To: fmulder@fbi.gov

Subject: RE:Back in action?

Hi,

Yep, I’m here and operating at roughly 95% capacity, which is good considering that a fairly advanced decomp was first on the roster this morning. It’s quite a way to start your day, let me tell you.

Thanks again for coming to my rescue, though I remain embarrassed by whatever I may have said or done while under the influence of fever.

If you liked watching The Price is Right with me, just wait until we catch Jeopardy. If me sick and delirious didn’t scare you off, that surely will.

From:dscully@fbi.gov

Sent: May 2, 1997 9:30am

To: mreyes@fbi.gov

Subject: RE:RE: Coffee?

Hi Monica,

Sorry I missed your email, I’ve been out sick the last couple days. I started feeling unwell shortly after we had coffee on Tuesday so I hope I didn’t inadvertently pass it to you.

I’d love to grab coffee again, perhaps next week? I’ll touch base on Monday, have a good weekend.

Dana

From: fmulder@fbi.gov

Sent: May 2, 1997 10:01am

To:dscully@fbi.gov

Subject: RE:RE: Back in action?

I’m glad to hear you’re on the upswing. Does this mean you’d be available for a night out tomorrow?

I would actually very much like to watch Jeopardy with you, because I will definitely leave you in the dust.

From: dscully@fbi.gov

Sent: May 2, 1997 2:26pm

To: fmulder@fbi.gov

Subject: RE:RE:RE: Back in action?

I think I’ll be game for a night out. Are you going to tell me what you have in mind? At the very least you have to tell me what to wear.

Challenge accepted, Mulder. I hope you’re not a sore loser.

From: mreyes@fbi.gov

Sent: May 2, 1997 3:50pm

To: dscully@fbi.gov

Subject: RE:RE:RE: Coffee?

Hi Dana,

I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been sick. I feel fine, so don’t worry about that.

Next week sounds perfect, I’ll watch for your email.

Take care,

Monica

From: fmulder@fbi.gov

Sent: May 2, 1997 4:17pm

To: dscully@fbi.gov

Subject: RE:RE:RE:RE:Back in action?

Wear something comfortable that you can walk around in. Can I pick you up at 6? The rest will be a surprise.

I think we both know that the categories will heavily influence who emerges victorious from Jeopardy. If anatomy and physiology is on the board, I concede that you will kick my ass. But if someone goes rogue and puts cryptids up there,watch out.

From: dscully@fbi.gov

Sent: May 2, 1997 5:32pm

To: fmulder@fbi.gov

Subject: RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Back in action?

See you at 6.

If “cryptids” makes its way onto the Jeopardy board, it may well be a sign of the end times.

[ofblair]

welcome aboard, blair reinhart, student #38. we are excited to set sail with you !  has anyone told you that you look like halston sage? according to our records, you hail from san diego, usa, prefer she/her pronouns, are cis female, and are here to study computer science. we also see you received a spot on the ss university because of your online lottery win — we won’t tell anyone. during your first few weeks here, other students said you were tenacious, intuitive, but also vindictive. it sounds like you spend most of your time at the games deck. upon checking your luggage, we noticed you packed your childhood teddy. hopefully your roommates don’t steal it!

hi friends !! please bear with me through these trying times of figuring her out, hopefully she won’t be too all over the place for the first lil bit. i’ll (eventually) work on a more detailed bio but for now here’s all you need to know about blair.

✘ STATS.

name: blair sophia reinhart

nickname: bee or reinhart but nicknames are reserved for the people closest to her.

birthday: november 13th 1997 / scorpio

sexuality: bisexual/biromantic but has a strong preference for women. like 90/10

relationship status: single

positive traits: intuitive, tenacious & valiant

negative traits: manipulative, vindictive & domineering

✘ ABOUT.

she was born and raised in san diego, california but blair never really had a place to call home while growing up. she bounced around from her parents to her grandparents to her aunts and uncles, no one ever fully committing to raising her. she was kind of just an inconvenience tbh. she was too young to completely grasp what was going on in the beginning but as she got older she began to see that her family didn’t care for her much at all and in turn, she didn’t care for them. *insert that cliché angsty rebellious pre-teen here*. blair started getting into any and all kinds of trouble she could find ie; drinking, skipping school, shoplifting, crashing at a friends house for days on end, mostly just for the hell of it or because she was BORED but also because she wanted to see how far she could go before someone noticed and reprimanded her. (no one ever did.)

her grades were never the best but they were good enough to ensure that she could get into college and as far away as possible from san diego and her family. when she heard about the ss university cruise-liner she just knew she had to get a spot on there. her parents were by no means rich and she would never receive a scholarship so the online lottery was truly her only chance. blair had never been one of the lucky ones so she took matters into her own hands and hacked into the whole system, rigging up a win for herself. (okay but think penelope garcia from criminal minds just a whole lot meaner and angrier).

she has that fuck everyone and everything mentality when it comes to p much anything apart from her major and a few close friends. she's a huge computer geek but keeps it lowkey. she can and will hack into anything/everything. she hopes to become a technical analyst someday. blair truly loves the classes she’s taking and for the most part, tries her best. whatever that may be.

she’s cold and hard to crack, not wanting to let anyone in fearing they’ll just end up leaving her the same way everyone always does but she’s the ultimate ride or die bitch and will do absolutely anything for the ones she loves !! like if you take the time to get to know her she’ll probably show up at your door with gifts just to show you her appreciation. she’s not so good with words but gifts??? and even though she may not seem like the friendliest of the bunch she’s very outgoing and charismatic, always down for whatever. like she’s ACTUALLY fun, will never miss a party and lowkey always needs to be included. deep DEEP down she seeks acceptance and approval. she knows she’s a bitch but she’d rather hurt than get hurt y’know ?? she’s a very competitive person, huge sore loser. gets super angry when things don’t go her way.

she also knows how to get exactly what she wants and can be super manipulative. doesn’t care that she’s two faced and will fake a friendship/crush if it means she’ll benefit from it.

✘ FUN FACTS.

she brought her stuffed teddy along with her and it’s literally all she has left from her childhood. she definitely hides it, though.

big fan of “that’s future blair’s problem” and lemme tell you, future blair has A LOT of problems.

literally keeps a list of names of the people who have wronged her at any capacity. idk what she’s doing with it tho. always out for revenge

firm believer that seinfeld is the best show ever made.

lowkey little spoon.

secretly enjoys painting. she won’t let anyone see her do it but she’s p talented and it’s just a great escape and a great way to let all of her feelings out without punching a wall.

anywaaay, that’s all i have for now. i know she doesn’t sound super inviting but i PROMISE she’s not that bad !! hmu on here or on discord @ aubrey#7709 for plots. i don’t have a w/c page yet but just know that i am down for absolutely anything.

[ladyreapermc]

Birthday Challenge Day 8 (1997)

Requested by: anon

Song: Wannabe by Spicegirls

Wordcount: 545

Warnings: Fluff

Pairing: Henry Cavill x Reader

Henry should have known something was up from the get-go. She hated going to pubs. Clubs, yes, she could dance and let loose, but pubs? Sitting down and just talking? She wasn’t all that fond of that so when he asked her if she was up for it, for a night with his mates, and she said ‘sure’, he should had realized something was wrong.

But he had been just so glad that she agreed. Henry had spent the last few weeks out of the country and he wanted to see his mates, of course, but considering he just got home, he was in that mood that he hated the thought of being away from her for longer than a few moments. So, he let that blind him to her devious ways.

He had never been to this place before, One of his friends suggested it and they were having a trivia night of all things. About World of Warcraft. Henry got immediately excited because he loved trivia. Yes, he was that much of a nerd, so he wanted to sign up for the entire table. And then she went for the kill.

“How about we make it interesting…” she took a sip of her cocktail.

“Like a bet?” Henry asked, one eyebrow cocked, and she nodded.

“Loser has to sing whatever karaoke song the winner chooses,” she glanced briefly at the machine by the stage, and there it was. The sweet, angelic smile barely disguising her devious intentions.

“Alright,” Henry accepted with a smirk, already tipsy due to too many pints and maybe a tiny bit overconfident. WoW was, after all, one of his favorite games. “Deal. No google though.”

“Obviously,” she snorted, handing her phone to one of his friends, and Henry did the same before they shook on it and her smile turned into a wicked grin. “I’m gonna crush you, babe.”

And that was exactly what happened. Henry should have never underestimated her. She was like a sponge whenever she put her mind to it and from the way she was spewing facts that he had never heard before and the widening grins of his mates, this entire thing had been carefully planned beforehand.

“No!” he stood to the side of the stage as she showed him which song she picked for him, mic in her hands. “Absolutely not.”

“Are you backing out of a bet, Cavill?” she asked, one eyebrow raised and a smirk firmly in place. “Who knew you were such a sore loser.”

“I’m not…” Henry trailed off with a huff. “This is payback for the Un-break my heart thing, isn’t it?”

Her eyes glinted with mischief as she got to her tiptoes, lips brushing against the shell of his ear.

“I told you to delete it…” she kissed his cheek, a soft touch in contrast to the malicious intentions. “Now get your ass up there, sport spice!”

And she slapped Henry’s butt when he sighed in defeat and stepped on the stage, the introductory notes of Wannabe blasting through the speakers.

The spotlights blinded Henry for a moment, but when he finally adjusted to it, he wasn’t surprised to see all of his friends with their phones trailed at him. Might as well get this over with.

xxx

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[taewoongfmd]

𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭.

born on january 15, 1997 at 7:13am, woong is a capricorn — he views life as one long race, and he can never make up his mind about whether he should sprint as fast as he can or save up his energy ‘til later on. focused on success and independence. he wants to be seen as someone valuable, and he’s willing to step on others to make it happen. 

sun in capricorn — poor self-expression, inclination to be uptight, views life itself as a competition. stuck somewhere between not giving a damn about what he does or doesn’t do and wanting to be on top at all times. competitive, which leads to bursts of extreme effort followed by periods of nonchalance.

sore loser. doesn’t matter if he loses in a true competition or in a board game; he’s gonna be a bitch about it.

doesn’t know how to have fun.

ascendant in capricorn — not necessarily self-centered, but definitely self-focused. cares more about making himself succeed than helping others succeed. often said to be “too serious” and, to people who don’t know him, his default expression can even look a bit sad. deep thinker.

moon in aries — deep-rooted feelings of inferiority. always thinks that he needs to prove himself, whether or not he’s actually being evaluated. bragger, show-off, whatever. 

mercury in capricorn — values introspection, but somehow still seems out of touch with himself and with others. lots of deep, serious thoughts, but extremely poor communication skills. rarely says what he’s thinking, and at times, it’s almost like he expects people to read his mind. gets upset when he isn’t understood.

venus in capricorn — very, very cautious in getting close to others, whether romantically or platonically. a fear of betrayal and rejection means that woong would rather spend the rest of his life alone than admit that he’s in love with someone or let someone become his ‘best friend’. privacy, privacy, privacy; it’s one of his biggest values, even though it leads to plenty of loneliness. spontaneous people scare him the most, though he was the same way just a couple years ago.

mars in libra — passive-aggressive. doesn’t have enough self-control to soothe his temper, but lacks the communication skills needed to outright say when he’s bothered. tends to beat around the bush, but even when his point is acknowledged, he’ll be like “no, it’s fine”. eye roll.

no one’s a mind-reader, but you better learn how to read his or he’ll riot!!! (quietly, while saying that everything’s good :))

jupiter in capricorn — focused, serious, self-reliant. “it’ll happen because i have a plan”. doesn’t waste time on useless, time-consuming side-projects. looks at the bigger picture and thinks about what will help him the most in the long run.

doesn’t accept handouts.

saturn in aries — always on guard. sensitive to criticism, likely to lash out when he feels like he’s being attacked/cornered, even if it’s all in his head. feels like he has a lot to prove, so he can be a show-off at times. not above lying to make himself seem better than he is in whatever way necessary.

overall, independent, withdrawn, competitive. a very serious mindset that results in him clashing with most of the people around him because he isn’t spontaneous, he isn’t fun, and he hates to see people living in ways that he doesn’t understand. difficult to understand, difficult to get through to. poor communication skills. “better left alone.”

[fmdkangjin]

hi i’m mischa and this is ahn kangjin, the main dancer, lead rapper, vocalist and of course the maknae of MARS. i prefer discord but i’m always down for plotting in dms here on tumblr any time!

the golden maknae / maknae on top of poor MARS, kangjin does everything in his power to be the best he can be. self proclaimed golden boy, sore loser, resting bitch face, spotlight hog. loves being center and has a complex towards being loved and acknowledged by all. a perfectionist and methodical performer who picks apart his every move and performance.

takes everything very hard. we’re talking like as hard as park jimin in this clip, that kind of perfectionism and being hard on himself.

kangjin is the son of a very well celebrated gymnast and raised to be perfect, he was put into gymnastics, jazz/contemporary/ballet as well temporarily, and more. raised under a microscope, his father nurtured a bit of a (ok a lot of a) complex in him.

he has sleep apnea, insomnia and anxiety. on some meds, alternative remedies and a member of the ‘sorry you had to room with me bro’ squad for being an annoying roommate to any members shuffled into his room over the years. 

very different privately than he is publicly.

dancer first, rapper second, vocalist third, but he’s more passionate about his vocals than his rapping. and dancing is the only of the three he has even a little confidence in.

even so he doesn’t have confidence anywhere really.

all of his seeming like the proud golden maknae is basically a big stage show in itself. he’s afraid to be himself and show his true feelings. he very much has this train of thought that if he tries to be something, it’ll either happen eventually or people will just believe it and that’s a close second. if he acts like he thinks he’s great, he’ll either become great (he doesn’t think he is) or people will just believe it and that’ll have to be good enough.

has a very mature, gentle personality in reality. he was forced to grow up and never allowed to be a kid, so he’s not very playful or bold or bright. he’s very reasonable (for the most part), very reliable and cool. he can be very snarky and a little shit when he wants to be.

after all, he is a maknae on top for a reason. he’s been spoiled enough by hyungs in the industry to feel confident taking advantage of it. does he think he deserves it? no. does he still tease them and accept it graciously? usually. unless it’s something really truly loving and genuine? sometimes those types of things make him panic because they stir up his inferiority complex.

he also is afraid to seem blank faced or boring as an idol. as a trainee he was scalded repeatedly for competing with his fellow trainees and for his indifferent or uncooperative personality, combined with his unhappy resting expression. he heard so much about it over the years that he’s just afraid to come off that way. so it’s a lot of expectations he once again feels like he has to meet.

his performance presence is strong, his acting is weak, and his variety is fair.

he doesn’t care about writing or producing his own music or the music that MARS creates what so ever. he stopped caring so long ago, he’s so tired. he just performs for the sake of performing now.

he’s a jack of all trades. dance, sports, gymnastics, some instruments, he’s been through the ringer of parents with conditional love trying to make their kids into perfect little robots so he’s good at a lot. he would also say he’s not great at anything, always the maid of honor never the bride.

certified good boy, amazing boy, who thinks way too lowly of himself.

somewhere on the ace/aro scale, and doesn’t really prescribe to labeling himself other than to label himself as not labeled lol

accidentally ruining his relationships with his inability to love himself or think he deserves anything good in his life since 1997 

check out his profile, bio and plots pages.

[ticklyfluffstuff]

YTTL ocs

So All the ocs I have so far ^^ They’re under the read more

Kenji Ito

Age: 23

DOB: July 13th 1997

Personality: Kenji is a nervous lanky man, too scared and anxious to have a mean bone in his body. He is a gentle giant, standing at 6′5″. He has a sweet disposition that makes anyone around him smile. He doesn’t get angry and is afraid to.

Background:

Kenji was born into a toxic household because of his mother. Kenji’s father owns a music store and thats where his dream of being a musician bloomed. His mother was not supportive of his dream and belittled him. While his father was very supportive of his dream and wanted him to get to it.

When he was 10 his parents split up. He was in the custody of his abusive mother at the time. He suffered with the abuse until he was 14 and decided to live his dad.  As he was leaving, his mother physically beat him up to the point she made him miss a bunch of teeth and bleeding. She then made hurtful jabs at his smile that will haunt and make him self conscious for the rest of his life.

After getting to his dad, he was sent to the hospital and explained what had happened to him since his mother was not around him anymore. He was now at the custody of his dad and gotten a job at his dad’s store.  Kenji’s currently in therapy and has been getting better. But he suffers PTSD from the hands of his abusive mother.

Haru  Shizuka

Age 22

DOB: May 9th 1999

Personality: They are very quiet and stoic. They have a mild disposition and not very expressive.

Background: Haru has yet to reveal their story

Name: Yoshi

Age: 21

DOB: February 14th 1999

Personality: Scaredy cat, Has a rubber cross that they hold onto every time they’re scared

Backstory is unknown at this point.

Name: Veer Merlin

Age: 27

DOB: April 30th 1993

Personality: Stoic, Mostly apathetic, can be a tiny bit expresive

Backstory: Veer grew up with his abusive father but ran away from him when Veer was 13. Grandparents accepted him for who he is. He learned sewing from his grandma and grandpa. After graduating, he started work at the tailor shop near his grandparents and near his own house.

After all that, he started to make dolls for kids. He wanted to make them happy.

Name: Berry

Age: 21

DOB: July 7th, 1999

Personality: Cunning, fun, willing to have a lot of fun.

Names: Gabe and Blair

Ages: 25 and 20

DOB: April 2nd, 1995, June 22nd, 2000

Personality: Gabe- is a shithead, a good sport, mostly protective of his little sister.

Blair- Calculated, can be angered. Despite being blind, she knows BS when she hears it.

Backstory: Gabe and blair grew up in a loving household, which they’re both blessed to be with their parents. When Gabe was 11 and Blair was 6, the family was in a bad car accident. Gabe only had scrapes, but his little sister had optic nerve damage as she hit her mom’s seat in the back of it. As she was in hospital , Blair freaked out since her sight was gone. Gabe as he was a kid, he broke down by his sister feeling like he failed to protect her.

Today he and his sister are inseparable most of the time. Gabe grows VERY anxious when his sister is far from his sight or away. But Despite blair being a angry tiny gal, she loves her brother a whole lot.  

Floor masters

Name: Ankel

Age: Unknown

Height: 5��2″

Personality: Fun, likes to cause the fun games to be chaos, Likes to be sweet. Loves the participants socks so much!

Name: Ami

Age: Unknown (assumes 22)

Height: 5′10″

Personality: Loves to bully some of the participants, is a sore loser, gets moody.

[normallyxstrange]

Before being sired, Nancy was a typical spoiled rich girl. She rebelled against her parents by smoking, drinking, partying, and indulging all sorts of terrible behavior.

She attended high school before her siring. She was a junior. She was part of a popular crowd. 

When her sire/maker kidnapped her, she spent weeks locked up. He beat her, tortured her, raped her, and she endured all sorts of physical, verbal, and psychological abuse. When he finally did sire her, he left her to her torment, effectively dismissing her as no longer worth is time.

She harbors a hell of a lot of anger and resentment toward him. She hasn’t encountered him in a long while, and its probably a good thing.

Though she was sired when she was sixteen in 1997 and therefore considered a young vampire by most others, she’s very formidable and business savvy. This led to her eventually gaining her own following of vampires (her camarilla), and being both respected and feared. She is a natural leader and uses it to her advantage when handling the underground demonic black market dealings.

Some tend to call her the Queen of Hearts. She has a tattoo of the symbol on her wrist.

Nancy, even as a vampire, still has a habit of eating junk food though she has no need to eat human foods. She enjoys onion rings with spicy ranch dip and Doritos.

Sometimes, when drinking blood from a mug or glass, she likes to add cinnamon to flavor it a bit.

Nancy likes to go ‘shopping’, which is essentially her killing clerks and stealing whatever she wants. She also steals things from her victims.

She likes jewelry, but mostly bracelets, earrings, and necklaces. But she’ll steal anything of value, or that she likes.

She is a very competent fighter and will take whatever advantage she can to inflict maximum pain to her target. She fights dirty. 

She likes to go to underground cage fights, mostly to watch, but every now and again she will participate.

Nancy hates people telling her what to do and might resort to an angry tantrum if she doesn’t get her way–that, or she gives the silent treatment.

She likes to hang out in demon bars and clubs, sometimes playing poker in the back room, but she very much would rather spend time in human occupied establishments.

She’s a sore loser too, so most people know to let her win.

Nancy’s hair is naturally more of a dark blonde color, but she uses bleach to dye it almost white blonde.

She actually likes animals and will sometimes take in stray kittens. It eventually goes off on its own when Nancy inevitably begins to neglect it.

As much as Nancy claims to hate demon pests, she sometimes keeps them around in the underground, or the sewers, and commands them like an army.

She can be mean-spirited and vindictive and sarcastic. Sometimes, though rarely, she can be kind and compassionate–most usually when it suits her purposes in some way.

She is very sexual, but is picky about who she will actually have sex with. She will flirt and seduce to get her way if necessary, but that doesn’t mean she will sleep with her victim or target.

Nancy knows a little bit of magic, but not enough to cast more than basic glamouring spells, illusions, and what most consider parlor tricks.

One of the vampires in the camarilla, Alexandra, was an accomplished witch before her siring and has been teaching Nancy. Nancy’s very adept and a quick learner.

She can sing and play guitar very well. She took lessons as a child.

Though she doesn’t do it often–and only when alone–she likes reading and writing poetry. Sometimes her poetry transforms into song lyrics.

She knows bits of Italian, French, Spanish, from traveling in her youth before her siring, and a little of Latin from spells. She also knows some demon languages. 

She likes blood, whiskey, and cigarettes–in that order.

[xeneric-shrooms]

GOOD SONG FROM THE MOVIE

[brothermarc7theatre]

Musical Monday

So the humorous thing about the 1997 awards season is that the Tony-winning Best Musical, Titanic, is the only one-word titled musical; the other three nominees are all two-worded titles. Is that humorous? Maybe just me? Well, either way, we are in 1997 and it’s Tony time! Four titles are in competition, but only one cruises into victory. This week highlights one of those sore losers. Here we go!

Musical Monday date: 2/19/2019

Musical: The Life

Book, Music, and Lyrics: David Newman and Ira Gasman and Cy Coleman, Cy Coleman, and Ira Gasman

Broadway Run: April 26, 1997 - June 7, 1998

Awards Won: Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Chuck Cooper), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Lillias White)/Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Musical, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Lillias White), Outstanding Music

Other: For the two Tony winners, this would be their first Tony nomination and only Tony win (to date).

Fun Fact: The Life had the longest run of the Best Musical losers of 1997. It’s also a rare title where Cy Coleman was also a Producer.

That’s it. That’s The Life. Until next week, feel free to give the score a listen, and if you ever get the chance to see this musical, do take advantage. Now, go see a show and support some local theatre!

[circular-time]

no i just

1) grew up watching classic Who when the Doctor was portrayed as a school dropout, a nobody, a cosmic hobo, and a bit of a loser compared to Romana. So my impression of the Doctor was an "everyman," an ordinary, fallible person doing extraordinary things. I chafed against the Doctor built up as the Chosen One who's somehow Special /Better Than The Other Girls/some kind of superhero.

So on the one hand, I like the open-endedness of The Other/The Timeless Child, which have the potential to shake off the show's calcification and take it in new directions. But on the other hand, I feel like it bigs up the character of the Doctor too much.

I'm torn on this point, ok?

2) Lungbarrow was released during a unique period of Who history when no one was minding the store. The BBC had pretty well washed its hands of the franchise and there was no quality control, so anything goes, kind of like the Spock, Messiah/ Price of the Phoenix era of Trek novels. I like that kind of experimentation, but I wish people would treat it as very loose Doctor Who, like the Sarah Jane Smith audios or Faction Paradox or Darvill-Evans' novel Asylum about post-Terminus Nyssa with the Fourth Doctor which simply does not fit all her other continuity, instead of treating it as equally as canon as the stuff that was at least somewhat vetted. I mean, at least some of the Cartmel Masterplan was actually on TV (PS I feel like Lungbarrow and the so-called Cartmel Masterplan shouldn't be conflated, either, although the one is obviously informed by and riffing on the other.)

3) I probably wouldn't be prickly about this topic if, upon returning to Who fandom after an absence of a few decades, I hadn't seen a bunch of posts retroactively criticizing The Deadly Assassin, Arc of Infinity, and The Five Doctors, all stories I really enjoyed back in the 80s, for breaking canon and not being "proper" classic Who because they violated concepts established in Lungbarrow. Then it wasn't bally well classic Who, was it?!

That hit a sore spot for me, because the cancellation of Doctor Who was a formative event in my young nerd life. I was 18 when Survival aired. I went into mourning on the news it was cancelled in 1990. I held onto the hope of revival until after the 1996 movie, then, when that failed, I metaphorically locked my love for it away and put the key i storage. I never saw any Who books available in the states. Lungbarrow was published in 1997, literally half my life after the show ended. So for me there feels like a much bigger divide between "growing up watching classic Who with my family, friends, showing it to my college friends and lover" and "experimental fanworks some folks in the UK wrote during the wilderness years after it was over"... even if it's Marc Platt, whose writing I love when I'm not puffing up like Miette because someone's retcon-critiquing my Doctor Who.

You can certainly fault me for clinging to the past (although not entirely, since I'm a huge Jodie fan and quite enjoyed the past few seasons).

4) I wish I could remember who said this, because it's a comment about Lungbarrow that has strongly shaped my own opinion of Looms.

They argued that since Lungbarrow is so hard to find, most of us are getting Looms lore secondhand, which is a fair criticism. They argued that Time Lords had NOT "always stray[ed] from what we consider human and normal." Rather, the book portrays Gallifreyans as a heterosexual, cisgender, sexually reproducing species of male and female who were cursed with infertility by the Pythia. In desperation, they invented Looms as a technological substitute for sexual reproduction. The curse was finally broken when Andred and Leela had a child, and then Gallifreyans could go back to making babies via sex.

Again, I wish I could remember who made this argument, but the point was, at the time, many ace fans were celebrating Gallifreyans as ace representation, and this ace fan was saying, are we sure we want to embrace as representation something that equates asexuality with infertility and with a magical curse? I have failed to answer their first critique about getting my Looms lore secondhand, so I still haven't read Lungbarrow, although hints of the same lore appear in other Marc Platt like Cold Fusion and the Unbound audio Auld Mortality (which, as an AU, I adore).

But no, I am not comfortable with that. It makes Looms not so much an exploration of alternative ideas about gender and reproduction as a plot device in an all too heteronormative narrative.

But that's just my own opinion. I mostly don't post about Looms or the Cartmel Masterplan or the Oncoming Storm/Time Lord Victorious bombasticy, because they work for a lot of people. I prefer to post about the parts of Doctor Who that work for me.

"looms (and the cartmel masterplan) suck!" scared because someone else has an inventive and interesting take on gallifreyan lore/society that strays from what we consider human and normal are we?

[trustmeimawitch]

Nancy’s Headcanons

Before being sired, Nancy was a typical spoiled rich girl. She rebelled against her parents by smoking, drinking, partying, and indulging all sorts of terrible behavior.

She attended high school before her siring. She was a junior.

Nancy, even as a vampire, still has a habit of eating junk food though she has no need to eat human foods. She enjoys onion rings with spicy ranch dip and Doritos.

Nancy likes to go ‘shopping’, which is essentially her killing clerks and stealing whatever she wants. She also steals things from her victims.

She is a very competent fighter and will take whatever advantage she can to inflict maximum pain to her target.

She likes to hang out in demon bars and clubs, sometimes playing poker in the back room, but she very much would rather spend time in human occupied establishments.

Nancy’s hair is naturally more of a dark blonde color, but she uses bleach to dye it almost white blonde.

She actually likes animals and will sometimes take in stray kittens. It eventually goes off on its own when Nancy inevitably begins to neglect it.

She can be mean-spirited and vindictive and very sarcastic. Sometimes, though rarely, she can be kind and compassionate–most usually when it suits her purposes in some way.

Nancy hates people telling her what to do and will often resort to an angry tantrum if she doesn’t get her way–that, or she gives the silent treatment.

She is very sexual, but is picky about who she will actually have sex with. She will flirt and seduce to get her way if necessary, but that doesn’t mean she will sleep with her victim or target.

When her sire/maker kidnapped her, she spent weeks locked up. He beat her, tortured her, raped her, and she endured all sorts of physical, verbal, and psychological abuse. When he finally did sire her, he left her to her torment, effectively dismissing her as no longer worth is time. 

Nancy knows a little bit of magic, but not enough to cast more than basic glamouring spells, illusions, and what most consider parlor tricks.

She can sing and play guitar very well. She took lessons as a child.

Though she was sired when she was sixteen in 1997 and therefore considered a young vampire by most others, she’s very formidable and business savvy. This led to her eventually gaining her own following of vampires (her camarilla), and being both respected and feared. She is a natural leader and uses it to her advantage when handling the underground demonic black market dealings.

Sometimes, when drinking blood from a mug, she likes to add cinnamon to flavor it a bit.

Though she doesn’t do it often–and only when alone–she likes reading and writing poetry. Sometimes her poetry transforms into song lyrics.

Nancy loves jewelry and wears several pieces of it but mostly rings, necklaces, and bracelets.

She knows bits of Italian, French, Spanish, and a little of Latin from spells. She also knows some demon languages.

She’s a sore loser.

She likes blood, whiskey, and cigarettes–in that order.

[wrestlingisfake]

When you look at how wrestling fans respond to faces and heels, it’s important to see beyond one-dimensional thinking, like “face = hero = good” or “heel = villain = bad.”  That misconception exists in all sorts of fandoms, but it’s easiest to deconstruct in wrestling.

In any conflict, the face is the one who has your sympathy and a heel is the one who doesn’t.  (We can quibble over face vs. face and heel vs. heel, but in almost every case you’d be at least a little more pleased if one side wins than the other.)  Just because a character has your sympathy doesn’t necessarily mean that character is pleasant, or good, or heroic, or even right about anything.  A righteous, innocent character can just as easily be put into a position to not have your sympathy.  For example, Breaking Bad presents a fairly compelling justification for Walter White to abandon his principles and be a drug dealer, so a number of fans came to root for him and hate his wife for interfering.

A recurring theme in old Hulk Hogan matches from the 1980s is that Hogan (the babyface) would inevitably take a cheap shot or two during a match and Jesse Ventura (the heel color commentator) would point out the hypocrisy of this superhero doing anything immoral.  You can go back and decide Ventura was right and Hogan was wrong, but the bottom line is that the fans would decide Hogan’s opponents had it coming to them, and resent Ventura for making them think critically about that.  So there are no hard-and-fast rules for what a face can and can’t do without becoming a heel, or vice-versa.  It’s not about a moral code carved in stone, it’s about reading the crowd each night and figuring out how to be with or against them.

This reasoning applies even in the vaunted Attitude Era.  In 1997 Vince McMahon famously declared that WWE would evolve beyond "good guys vs. bad guys.”  Just a week later, Steve Austin (the ultimate antihero) couldn’t even beat up Santa Claus without painstakingly establishing that it’s not the real Santa, because he was mean to a child, and that makes it okay to clobber him.  Austin may not have been a good guy, but he was absolutely a face playing to the wishes (however dark) of the crowd.

Since the Attitude Era, WWE has used this moral ambiguity as a crutch, so that if people reject the nominal faces it’s because there are no true “good guys” anymore, and everything is a shade of gray.  This might be fine as an experimental booking philosophy, but in practice it amounts to an excuse to play to the audience WWE wishes it had, instead of the one sitting in the building.  (I’m all for the idea that John Cena is a “secret heel” if you don’t like him, but if so WWE is pretty bad at cultivating “secret faces” to oppose him.)  The reality is that the business still requires faces that the fans actually like, whether the fans’ sympathies makes sense or not.  The only thing that’s changed is that the audience is bolder about finding their favorites in unlikely places (see: Bryan, Daniel), and WWE is more brazen about ignoring that when it’s inconvenient.

So when we look at the Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman feud, where both men have now tried to murder one another with ambulances, which is the face and which is the heel?  I suspect WWE wants turn Braun face, based on how they presented him stoically shaking off his injuries and refusing help.  Roman, meanwhile, lost the ambulance match fair-and-square, then attacked Strowman for no purpose except to be a sore loser, then made excuses for his actions, and then demanded a title match coming off of a loss.  Roman wouldn’t be the first face to attempt vehicle homicide, but he’d definitely be the least sympathetic.  That doesn’t mean it’s right, or fair--Roman’s taken a lot of grief from Braun, and you can argue Braun had it coming--but it does mean a lot of fans will probably be looking elsewhere this summer for a top babyface.

[sewerhawk]

The Sore Losers (1997) dir. John Michael McCarthy