#This post brought to you by a Doctor Who episode.

[thefaeriefeatherdark]

I think that there is something interesting in sci-fi about how we view Sapience and others view sapience because ultimately it’s going to be sort of subjective, but it’s a fun idea to mess with.

Like where is the thing that separates us from animals? And what happens when an alien shows up and has a different view on that and we end up not passing their test.

[youngpettyqueen]

I think Doctor Who being my first plunge into sci-fi as a child was like. the best decision possible. growing up imprinting on a show that is full of continuity bullshit, constantly retcons itself, and just keeps the "yes, and?" bit going with every season, has truly made me impervious to things like inconsequential plot holes, absurd references, and missed details. something has to be truly egregious for me to actually be annoyed about it because otherwise ill just find it funny

[allthoseotherworlds]

It's honestly pretty frustrating sometimes how I feel like so many people say they love Martha, but mostly what I actually see people saying about Martha is how much she probably does/should hate the Doctor for not returning her crush, or sometimes how much people hate Blink/Family of Blood/Last of the Time Lords because they were hard for her.

And like, the former of those is frustrating because a) Nobody is obligated to return someone's romantic feelings, b) Being oblivious to someone having a crush on you might suck for the other person but is not actually a moral failing and c) Martha was sad about it but like. She didn't leave because she was furious at the Doctor for not returning her crush? She left because she knew her crush wasn't reciprocated and wasn't going to be, but couldn't get over it on her end while travelling with the Doctor. And also because the past year had been pretty traumatizing for everyone, including her and also the Doctor and also everyone else who was on that ship thing.

Anyways

I just wanted to talk for a bit about the things I like about Martha, or that are interesting, that are unrelated to those points above.

I think she's the first companion in New Who to join Unit, and I think still the only one to be a medical doctor with a strong scientific backing. Which is cool!

I think it's interesting that in the first episode she appears in, her family is shown to be kind of messy and kind of frustrating, and it feels like that's something she's a little glad to be getting away from for a bit when she travels with the Doctor (though it's not the reason she travels with them). And then, at the end of the season when her family is in danger she prioritizes their wellbeing enough to snap at the Doctor about it. If I remember correctly their phones were tapped or something and it wound up making things a bit worse, but I appreciate the nuances of her relationship with them and how important they are to her despite the messiness.

Despite all the ado made about her crush on the Doctor, I really loved how she really seemed to get the point of travelling with the Doctor. I think that she nailed both the joy and excitement of the unknown, and the compassion and sense of care that motivates the Doctor's travels, and which I think is vital to all of my favourite companions.

It also contrasts in interesting ways with how her personality shifts after she stops travelling with the Doctor - she still cares about people's wellbeing and seems to value the things she learned while travelling, but working with Unit and Torchwood does make her more military, and then of course doing freelance alien fighting (? or something?) in the End of Time.

I think Martha and the Doctor are an interesting duo because they contrast each other in interesting ways. They're both compassionate, hopeful but practical, and good at what they do, but they reflect those qualities in ways that almost, but don't quite, fit together nicely. They don't conflict, really, but they're not quite sustainable either.

They work well together and care about each other, but they're too similar in some ways and too different in others to ever quite see eye to eye, which is why they end up going in different directions. And I think that's not anyone's fault, or indicative of any deep flaws in either of them. Or even really a tragedy, because Martha seems to be doing new and interesting things every time we see her, with plenty of options available and a decent rapport with the Doctor whenever they show up.

Anyway this got way longer than I meant it to. Tldr: There are so many more interesting things to say about Martha than just "She must hate the Doctor". Here are some of them.

[the--highlanders]

do you guys KNOW how frustrated this thing makes me. like it's literally from the regiment that jamie would most likely have been in AND the story lines up so well with the plot of the highlanders and I'm just. constantly itching to retcon the episode a little bit in my head and make this the standard

but no!! the serial kind of depends on the standard being prince charles' rather than nust a regimental standard!!!! and it kills me every single day

[illprotectyou-hearteyes]

I love so much when Doctor Who pairs its best writing with the stupidest aliens they've got. Not even your average level of silly for a Doctor Who alien; the ones where they take their own low bar and go digging. Then plop the rotting fungi they excavated right in the middle of devastating character development and the rawest dialogue your 14-year-old self had ever heard. Peak television.

[redeemed-wren]

Classic Who explores ideas, New Who explores morals

classic who is like 'i see this trend, lets explore what might happen if that trend continues and let the audience figure out what it's talking about and come to their own conclusions.'

new who is like 'this trend is BAD and i'm going to PREACH A SPEECH about why it's going to RUIN EVERYTHING' and it's so much more exhausting

[riverofrainbows]

Stories that are about the dark evil scary heretic secrets are sort of funny when you learn a bit about early church history etc and learn just how much was considered heresy. Oooohh the big scary heresy of "maybe Jesus was a combination of human and godly in a slightly different way"

Truly terrible.

[foone]

The worst part of working at the Dimensional Nexus is that we don't get the regular internet there so you can't just watch your shows on Netflix or whatever. We gotta stick to analog media, since the digital stuff doesn't deal well with the temporal flux (the analog stuff doesn't either, but it's usually just a fuzzy image for a second, while your computer just crashes).

Everyone brings in their favorite media from home on old analog tapes (or laserdiscs. They're analog too! And we've got a couple hardened players on the lounge, so we can watch them).

Anyway while you're on-base (which could be for months or years), all your (video) media consumption ends up being on CRTs and piles of tapes you brought or traded with coworkers. Most people bring in a second suitcase of tapes so they'll have something to watch.

I brought in some letsplayers I stuck on a few VHS tapes (yt2vhs is a great program), and box sets of Star Trek: TNG and DS9.

About a month in, the trades really open up, as everyone has watched their own tapes and wants more. I got a good deal on a laserdisc of the Soviet version of... Well, nevermind. But let me just say, in my defense, the author of the books never went off the deep in in that universe, and the Soviet version wasn't made with her cooperation, anyway. I know that's sometimes a little difficult for people from the 91-verse to believe, but that's not the author's reputation in the rest of the Nexus.

Anyway I traded my TNG episodes for VOY. I've seen TNG a dozen times, so I figured it was time to go back over VOY.

It seemed to be pretty similar to what I remembered (other than them killing off Seska of all people at the beginning of S3? Who kills off your series's main villain?!) but at the end of S3 I hit the big divergence between our universes:

Seven. They introduced him early on in Scorpion, part 1, earlier than I remember.

The storyline goes mostly the same, with just a little less 7/Janeway romantic tension (do they even get together in this version? I'm gonna have to wait until season 5 to find out!)

Harry Kim lives in this version of Scorpion, too. I'm not sure why that is, they were clearly setting him up to die? Probably some executive meddling or something. I don't have access to Trekpedia (especially in that universe!) to check.

But yeah. This is one of the universes that got the twinky Seven instead of the catsuit-girl version (Not that this version wears any fewer catsuits). They got 9 seasons instead of the usual 5, so I'm excited to see if those extra ones are any good. When I was picking up the tapes I was surprised how many there were, and Josh told me in his universe they get home in season 6 and the remaining 3 seasons are a sort of spin-off/reboot done when Orbita took over from UPN.

Can't wait to see how that goes. More Star Treks need a post-script season (or three) made in the USSR!

Anyway I'm already looking forward to finishing this because I've already gotten a lead on a copy of TNG where Yaphet Kotto said Yes to the Picard role (sadly that version doesn't have the quintessential Jeffrey Combs as Riker, but I hear some people swear by the Gregg Marx Riker).

Still looking for any copies of the Kim Miyori-as-Data version of TNG. That one wasn't as popular (not it's vault! They had the US Doctor Who and both the Star Wars shows to go up against) so it's less likely to be brought in, but I'm always checking video libraries whenever I'm in that universe. Someday I'll find it. I found that fucking CED of the Walken A New Hope, I'll get the girl!Data TNG one of these days!

[longwuzhere]

My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Easter Eggs

Welcome to another week of My Adventures with Superman! We got a heist episode with some returning characters! Hell yeah!!!!

My Easter eggs lists for season 1 is here if you haven't seen it!

My season 2 episode 1 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 2 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 3 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My season 2 episode 4 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 5 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 6 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My season 2 episode 8 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 9 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 10 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

Spoilers if you haven't seen the episode

After what happened in episode 5, Amanda Waller puts Metropolis in martial law and has sent out the HDC, the Human Defense Corps. her military personnel roaming around and harassing innocent civilians.

The HDC makes its first appearance in Human Defense Corps, in its own limited series back in 2003 where they were a military unit that fights back against extraterrestrial forces [Cover art by Clement Sauve, Juan Viasco, Guy Major]. They have been folded into the US military to help fight back against New Krypton in Superman: War of the Supermen #3 (2010).

Also if you want to see what crazy shit Amanda Waller is doing in the comic book universe give Absolute Power #1 (2024) a read and you will see how ruthless she can get. Out on July 3rd. And just look at that amazing cover art by Dan Mora too and he'll be doing the interior art too with the fantastic Mark Waid as the writer! Also give their World's Finest series a shot too!

The episode's title is a reference to Ocean's Eleven. Ocean's Eleven is a 1960s heist movie about Danny Ocean, who he and 10 other associates of his team up together to rob several Las Vegas casinos. I first watched this movie when it was remade in 2001 starring former Batman, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon and have watched the later 2 sequels and the Oceans 8 spinoff starring Sandra Bullock as Debbie Ocean, Danny's sister. Fun movies if you haven't seen them.

Later in the episode, Lois plans on stealing the Jump Drive Ship from S.T.A.R. Labs and the design of it kinda reminds me of...

the space ship that brought Superman to Earth from Superman the Animated series. Also a good Superman cartoon if you need your Superman fix when waiting for new MAwS episodes!

Lois and Jimmy head to Leslie and Rory's place to hire them to break into S.T.A.R. Labs to steal the ship. I talked more about them in here and here respectively. Nice to see the both of them as a couple during the final day of Pride Month! #LoveIsNotForCowards

And speaking of queer couples, when later in the scene Rory decided to "leave the mission" Jimmy brings along Mallah and the Brain to help steal the ship as well! I talked a bit about them here and here.

Mallah and the Brain recount to everyone their multiversal hopping and I talked about the DC multiverse here and Mallah finally gets his beret to match his comic counterpart and the Brain looks just like a Dalek from Doctor Who.

Not surprised that the MAwS crew are Doctor Who fans.

As Leslie details out a plan for them to steal the ship, we see that one of her sources has told her that the guard has a family member at Silver Age Nursing Home.

So for those not in the know, comic book history is divided up into eras. From 1938 (Superman's first appearance in Action Comics #1) to 1956 is considered the Golden Age, the Silver Age was from 1956 to 1970, the Bronze Age was from 1970 to 1985, and the Modern Age was from 1985 to now.

Specifically, Silver Age of Comics was from 1956 to 1970. It began thanks to the success of the reintroduction of the then newest Flash, Barry Allen who debuted in Showcase #4 (1956). This era of comics is much more focused on science fiction and thanks to that a lot of powers and origins of superheroes now have a science/science fiction element to it for example the then new Green Lantern, Hal Jordan received his Green Lantern ring from a dying extraterrestrial, Abin Sir and Ray Palmer a.k.a the second Atom gains his powers from a white dwarf star matter. This was also the era where the Justice Society of America from the Golden Age was reimagined to the Justice League of America.

When Lex gets a surprise visit from Waller and Slade, he decides to show them Project M and explains what it is and shows off its capabilities when they go hunting Lois, Jimmy, Mallah, and the Brain. and based on what Lex says and the subtle design of the Project M robots, we can assume M is for Metallo like what AmerTek and Thomas Weston was developing in episode 3. I talk more about Metallo here.

And with that we finish the Easter Eggs and references of the episode! Come back next time to see how the gang free Clark from Brainiac and see what happens next for Kara after her realization of what happened!

My Easter eggs lists for season 1 is here if you haven't seen it!

My season 2 episode 1 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 2 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 3 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My season 2 episode 4 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 5 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 6 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My season 2 episode 8 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 9 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 10 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[canyousonicme]

Doctor Who: Big Finish, Alex Kingston Team for New River Song Stories

Alex Kingston will return as River Song for a new round of Big Finish's Doctor Who audio dramas set AFTER "Silence in the Library."

Now that Steven Moffat is back writing for Doctor Who, fans are speculating about whether River Song will be back. Alex Kingston certainly hasn't made it a secret that she would love to play the character again. But River Song never really went away. She's been headlining a River Song series in audio dramas from Big Finish for years since she had her final story on Doctor Who. Now she will star in The Death and Life of River Song, a brand-new series of full-cast audio dramas coming soon from Big Finish Productions. It's like a whole new season of River Song adventures – and the latest.

In case you didn't know, River Song is an archaeologist from the 52nd century, born and raised to be an assassin, destined to marry her intended target, and to have many of her own adventures too – Professor River Song's very messy timeline began (or maybe ended) when she first appeared in the 2008 Doctor Who TV episode Silence in the Library. Since then, Kingston has reprised the role in her own series of Doctor Who audio spinoffs, including The Diary of River Song, which ran from 2015 to 2023. Now, in August 2024, she will return in a brand-new series, The Death and Life of River Song.

The first box set in the series, Last Words, is written by Robert Valentine. It begins with River, after settling down to an afterlife in the Library's computer core, finding herself waking up in Earth's future, her consciousness having been temporarily transferred to a new body.

Alex Kingston said that River's stories at Big Finish have moved beyond her death in Doctor Who: "We have gone post-Library! We've done another episode in the past where I was within the database, which I loved, and I thought that's the only way you could go forward with River, given her situation. So, I was actually really surprised when this box set came my way and that we are now so far advanced in the history of Earth that she is able to be brought out as data and put into a cloned body. So very, very clever!"

Producer David Richardson added: "When every single day during the recording, your leading actress says "This script is brilliant," you know you're onto a good thing. Even better, at the end of the last day, Alex popped the script in her bag and announced that she loved Last Words so much she was taking it home to keep and treasure."

The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words is now available for pre-order exclusively here, either as a collector's edition four-CD box set for £29.99 or as a digital download for £22.99 per volume. Big Finish listeners can also pre-order a bundle with Last Words as well as Volumes 2 and 3 of The Death and Life of River Song, which are both due for release in 2025, for just £80 (collector's edition CDs + downloads) or £66 (downloads only). [X]

[poisonousquinzel]

It's not surprising that Batman: Gotham Adventures #43 is one of the BTAS comics that I really appreciate, I will always love a good Working With Bats plot, but I wanna talk about the background they gave for the "Villain" that includes Harleen. I've found that while Harley definitely gets mischaracterized a lot ((looking at you Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti))

Harleen is rarely written well and in character.

The actual "Harleen" comic is an outlier and I appreciate how it handles their sessions, Joker's manipulation and her fall is shown outright. There is no doubt that this is not a Love Story, and the followup bits that the creator has posted over the years lays out the relationship and Harley's mindset. It's a good read before "Harleen: Red" [Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red #1]

So, I wanted to talk about the issue with how she's written in this specific plot line.

"Wha..."

"Hello, Doctor Quinzel. Remember me?"

"How could I forget? Heh...So...Whatcha been up to?"

"Studying you. Plotting, planning...All those times we were locked up in Arkham together. You, of course, going in and out while I stayed...and stayed...and stayed...

You never even glanced in my direction. And you never stopped talking. It was so easy to find out all your plans, your secret hideouts. I've thought about nothing but getting revenge on you."

"Hey, give a girl a break, willya! It was my first day on the job!"

"It wasn't just your first day! You saw me every day for weeks! I kept saying I was innocent! But you didn't listen to a word I said--All you wanted to talk about was The Joker!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing! Who wouldn't want to talk about him all day long? He's dreamy! Besides, everyone in there says they're innocent. Heh...I should know..."

"That's exactly what I mean! You ignored me, kept me locked up in there...All because you had a crush on some sick lunatic!"

Harley hasn't appeared more than maybe 10 times in comics at this point, her origin is an episode itself. Having part of her background so egregiously mistold is absolutely beyond me.

It feels as if the creators were forbidden from reading previous material I stg 😭

Truly, it's not that hard, it's one comic. Why would you include something tied to Harleen and then not bother to read the origin comic where we see her.

It wouldn't even be that hard to keep it aligned with what we'd already been shown.

Have it so Miss Smith was in there during her first few weeks of having him as a patient, when she started her sessions with Joker.

While at first she had hope that Dr. Quinzel was going to help her and get the situation sorted out, and at first it did seem that way, but... something...changed in the doctor during the weeks that followed.

then in the days right before Harleen was to finish the paperwork that'd sign off on her release, Joker escaped and he got recaptured by Batman after a couple days. He got brought back like this.

And it caused something to crack in Dr. Quinzel.

The paperwork went onto sit unfinished and unsubmitted on the former desk of a now wanted criminal accomplice. When she gets reassigned, she hopes things will be able to go quickly since Dr. Quinzel had been seeing her and logged her info, but goes on to find that a lot of her latter entries were incomplete. The hand copies of her notes had been confiscated as evidence or destroyed during the events of her break in.

Hell, even just have it so when Harleen was frantic in her rush back to her office after they took Joker to the hospital ward

in her haste to get her car keys, she knocked over the now cold cup of coffee from that morning and didn't care that it spilled over her desk & papers because Dr. Quinzel was never going to step foot inside these walls again.

Because this plot line taking place during her first few weeks at Arkham is plainly just impossible. With the way Harleen is written, it's apparent she's already falling.

But it took 3 months until she was able to have a session with Joker. Am I supposed to believe that Harleen, from the very start, was a lovesick fan and was so open about it that it would have became common knowledge within Arkham? Something she talks to patients about??

"It took nearly three months of pleading before Dr. Leland finally gave in and let me do a session with The Joker.

She told me he was an animal, plain and simple. A fiend who enjoyed twisting the minds of those stupid enough to trust him.

I was determined not to be taken unaware, and studied up on all his jokes, tricks and gimmicks."

That's three months of her reputation, her first impression, being formed into "Kinda Real Lovesick For The Joker".

That would get back to Dr. Leland. There's no way in hell she'd ever have approved of sessions between them if she didn't have faith in Harleen's abilities as a psychiatrist and her passion for helping the patients.

I doubt Harleen would have kept her job longer than a few weeks, frankly, if she was like she's written here. Because that's a liability??? It would be beyond careless for Dr. Leland to have not fired her immediately upon finding out she was so enamored and in love with one of the most dangerous people in there.

Cause there's a chance she'll break him out,,,,, like she did.

-

Also, as a bit of a side note:

"All those times we were locked up in Arkham together. You, of course, going in and out while I stayed...and stayed...and stayed..."

This comic is after this & this, Harley has broken out certainly, but she has also been released.

If someone with a record like her can be rehabilitated, then why the fuck was this poor woman still in there?

It's mistaken identity with a ridiculously common first & last name. It's a criminal who is going "back" to Arkham.

So why in the years she "I stayed...and stayed...and stayed..." not include basic patient identification? Like finger prints? a headshot picture? a description of what the woman they're looking for looks like?

It's been years, why would this woman be ignored and left to rot in there? This comic isn't even trying to make Arkham out to be horrendously incompetent.

But that's how it is???

What possible crime could the woman they're looking for have committed to justify this? To justify them, seemingly, overlooking her solely because the original psychiatrist [who left in an outlandish way] did not sign off that she needed to be released?

It says that she was stopped for speeding and taken back to Arkham for that. Why on earth would someone be taken to Arkham Asylum for a fucking speeding ticket?

If the Criminal Jenny Smith is a bad enough dangerous criminal that it warrants an immediate arrest and incarceration, then it's outright neglectful for there to be such a lack of fucking documentation about her!??? Like a basic description? Or photo? Or finger prints at least??

Its said she's released because they caught the real Jenny Smith, so they had to have had something to go on besides the damned name?? To prove that this was the real one they'd actually previously had in Arkham and that it was a mix-up.

-

uhhhhh so anyway <333 just an example of the inconsistency with Harleen's characterization that I noticed and wanted to make a post about<33

this is my energy trying to read her appearances sometimes ✌️

Comics: Batman: Gotham Adventures #43, The Batman Adventures: Mad Love

[purplehalnw]

So, while the Chibnall Era was certainly not as bad as I saw some people saying it was, it was definitely not good. A big problem is that there is just a lot of missed potential. There are lots of elements that the writers didn't take advantage of or expand upon enough which ended up making the story and the characters pretty boring in my opinion. So, a lot of my rewrite ideas will be expansions of those underutilized elements.

Also, let me preface this by saying that I am in no way a professional writer, I am just a teenager with a dream. I've tried to organize my ideas as much as possible by presenting them character by character but it still may be a little messy.

Graham:

-His wife Grace should die helping/saving people after having spent at least half a season with the Doctor (not just one episode)

-The Doctor will feel guilty for having put Grace in danger and not being able to save her. Ryan will blame the Doctor and be angry while Yaz and Graham will be understanding and not blame the Doctor. Graham will reassure Ryan that all of them were aware of the risks that would come with travelling with the Doctor and that Grace died doing what she loved which was helping people.

-Graham's cancer will return and he will die from it. I think it would be interesting to see a companion die from something more normal when other ones have died in the most devastating ways possible. Graham's death can extend over multiple episodes which would show the characters' developing reactions to the fact that Graham is going to die.

-The Doctor will have a crisis in which she tries to make sure that Graham has lived a full life by taking him on as many adventures as possible due to the fact that other companions who died were so young and thus didn't get to experience as much. However, Graham will tell the Doctor that he is content with the mostly quiet life he has lived and that he has accepted the fact that he is going to die because at least he'll be going to the same place where Grace is.

-Also, I posted these ideas on TikTok as well and someone suggested another idea in the comments: The Doctor will obtain a cure for cancer from the future and offer it to Graham. But Graham will reject it for several reasons. One, Graham thinks that he has lived long enough, and he'd rather die this way rather than die suddenly and unexpectedly from something else. Two, the Doctor says she can't give the cure to anyone else before the time it's invented because of you know timeline shenanigans she can't interfere with. So Graham thinks, "why should I get the cure while no one else does? That's unfair". Third, Graham wants to see Grace again.

Ryan:

-Ryan will feel inclined to mend the relationship with his dad because he is the only blood relative he has left since Grace died. However, he won't reconcile with his father in the end. This'll instead be the moment Ryan accepts Graham as a father figure and calls Graham his grandfather.

-His dyspraxia will be touched upon more than just with throwaway lines about how he can't ride a bike and struggles with climbing ladders. There will be moments in which he is underestimated by some of the other characters, maybe Graham, which Ryan will obviously be frustrated by and will serve as a way to show how those with disabilities are often coddled and infantilized. Also, the Doctor will relate to him because of her own neurodivergence (especially since I've seen dyspraxic people point out how the 11th Doctor moves reminds them of themselves) which will strengthen their bond.

-There will be flashbacks that show how Yaz and Ryan were friends when they were in school. The two of them became friends because they both felt like outcasts with Ryan feeling that way due to his dyspraxia and Yaz feeling that way due to her sexuality.

-Ryan's YouTube channel will be a greater part of his character instead of something that never gets brought up again after his first episode. He will constantly record his adventures with the Doctor and upload them to YouTube to honor Grace in a way. When Graham dies of cancer, Ryan will upload a video summarizing who Graham was as a person and all the amazing things he did.

-Graham's death and his thing about being content with the little things in life will make Ryan realize that he hasn't fully explored his planet and seen its full potential and beauty. This epiphany will make him decide to take a break from being with the Doctor to travel around Earth. This'll open up the door for episodes solely focused on Ryan along with a way to introduce us to more Earth adventure episodes with the Doctor. Plus, this situation will allow Yaz and the Doctor's relationship to develop more.

Yaz:

-Her sexuality will not be something that only gets barely acknowledged in her final three episodes.

-Yaz and Ryan will have dated in school but broke up due to Yaz's lack of feelings towards him and her mental health struggles which caused her to push him away which will explain why they grew apart.

-I know we all love Dan but I'm going to have to get rid of him completely. So instead, Ryan will be the one to confront Yaz about her feelings towards the Doctor.

-Yaz's implied internalized homophobia will be further expanded upon. Jack's 51st century values and feelings towards the Doctor along with the Doctor's nonchalantness towards gender will serve as ways for Yaz to accept herself more. A main thing with Doctor Who companions is the Doctor showing them things they didn't even think were possible, the same will be true for Yaz but in a different way.

-The issues surrounding Yaz being a police officer were only barely touched upon in the episode "Rosa" before quickly being brushed off and never brought up again. Her job in general hardly even plays much of a role, like she literally just quits off screen near the end. But now her being a cop will serve as a source of ongoing conflict between the Doctor and Ryan who will be ACAB. The Doctor will challenge Yaz's beliefs regarding the police system, similar to how she challenged Yaz's ideas regarding gender and sexuality.

The Doctor:

-While it is kind of nice that the Doctor's gender identity isn't really questioned and is treated as normal, I think there should be some more exploration of Timelord's concept of sexuality and gender. Are all Timelords fluid in gender and sexuality? Do Timelords ever have gender dysphoria or have gender identities that are different from their current sex? Is sexuality the same throughout every regeneration or does it vary? Not all of them have to be answered or completely answered but I would like them to be addressed.

-More lore will be given regarding who the Doctor thought was their biological family so that the Timeless Child plotline and the fact that the Doctor was lied to will have more impact.

-Instead of confining the Flux to only six episodes, it will be alluded to at around the same time the Timeless Child will be hinted at.

-The writers said that they intentionally wrote the 13th Doctor as autistic. There are several scenes where they emphasize how socially awkward she is and the Timeless Child plotline is used to explain the autistic behavior of hers which has been present throughout the whole entire series. All of this is nice but again it isn't used to it's full potential. The Doctor should be used to create allegories for neurodivergence. The reveal of the Timeless Child will be equated to say finding out you're autistic. The Doctor will be used as a way to show how autistic men are treated differently than autistic women with her eccentricities being met with more hostility than when she was a man. Ryan will address how the way the Doctor acts aligns with autism which will spark a conversation about the necessity of labels and who can use them.

-The Doctor's refusal to form strong relationships out of fear of them ending tragically will be a more present underlying conflict. The story of the 13th Doctor and her companions will end sadly with her pushing them away and leaving them on Earth long enough that they've gone back to their normal lives and have realized that there's nothing they can do except hope that the Doctor is able to sort her shit out on her own.

I have considered doing a rewrite of these seasons or something but again I'm not an expert writer. The only fic I've ever written is a 2,000 word character study and that one took me a long time to write because of how much a perfectionist I am.

[megabuild]

Here's Pixriffs' full post today along with links. ID/transcript under the cut.

Doctors Without Borders / WFP / MSF / IFRC

Today's Minecraft Survival Guide episode has been postponed in solidarity with a global movement calling for a ceasefire and end to hostilities in Gaza.I've been watching the violence unfold through the lens of media here in the UK, and conversations with my partner and friends - and while I try to keep my online presence light and entertaining, I don't want to turn a blind eye to this situation and I encourage anyone with a conscience to do the same.To be absolutely clear, I condemn the violent actions of Hamas and the rise of antisemitic sentiment in the wake of these events. With the same voice I condemn the disproportionate and shocking mass violence the government and military of Israel has brought to the civilian population of Gaza in their retaliation, the restriction of aid from Gaza with its continued assault, and the rising wave of islamophobia in the West Bank and elsewhere.

On December 8th the UN Security Council voted almost unanimously to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Only two countries dissented - the UK, which abstained from the vote, and the USA, who blocked the call for a ceasefire with their power of veto. The last successful exchange of Israeli and Palestinian hostages came at the previous ceasefire, and with it came an opportunity for organizations to reach displaced Palestinian civilians with aid. Now any further ceasefire is looking increasingly unlikely, with humanitarian and aid organisations like Doctors Without Borders (MSF) calling this "a vote against humanity".

In recent weeks my partner and I have contacted our local member of the UK Parliament, who has been pushing for the UK to support a ceasefire and humanitarian aid access to Gaza. I encourage you to contact your elected representatives, and donate to aid organizations the UN World Food Programme (https://www.wfp.org/), MSF (https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/), and the Red Cross and Red Crescent (https://www.ifrc.org/), who are working to provide assistance to civilians on both sides of this conflict.

I recognize it's a huge shift from light-hearted family-friendly Minecraft videos to messages like this - but having seen the amount of families affected by this conflict, families who deserve a chance to raise their children in health and in peace, I wanted to share a message of compassion. I hope for a lasting and meaningful peace and will continue to support organizations which are working towards that goal. Survival Guide will return on Wednesday.

Much love.

Pix

[expectiations]

River Song returns from the dead

Alex Kingston stars in The Death and Life of River Song, a brand-new series of full-cast audio dramas, coming soon from Big Finish Productions. 

An archaeologist from the 52nd century, born and raised to be an assassin, destined to marry her intended target, and to have many of her own adventures too – Professor River Song’s very messy timeline began (or maybe ended) when she first appeared in the 2008 Doctor Who TV episode Silence in the Library. 

Since then, Alex Kingston has reprised the role of River numerous times for Big Finish Productions, including in her own series, The Diary of River Song, which ran from 2015 to 2023. And, starting in August 2024, she will carry on the role in a brand-new series, The Death and Life of River Song. 

The first box set in the series, Last Words, is written by Robert Valentine. It begins with River, after settling down to an afterlife in the Library’s computer core, finding herself waking up in Earth’s future, her consciousness having been temporarily transferred to a new body. 

Alex Kingston said: “We have gone post-Library! We’ve done another episode in the past where I was within the database, which I loved, and I thought that’s the only way you could go forward with River, given her situation. So, I was actually really surprised when this box set came my way, and that we are now so far advanced in the history of Earth that she is able to be brought out as data and put into a cloned body. So very, very clever!” 

Producer David Richardson added: “When every single day during the recording, your leading actress says “This script is brilliant”, you know you’re onto a good thing. Even better, at the end of the last day, Alex popped the script in her bag and announced that she loved Last Words so much she was taking it home to keep and treasure.” 

The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words is now available for pre-order exclusively here, either as a collector’s edition four-CD box set, for £29.99, or as a digital download, for £22.99 per volume.   

Big Finish listeners can also pre-order a bundle with Last Words as well as Volumes 2 and 3 of The Death and Life of River Song, which are both due for release in 2025, for just £80 (collector’s edition CDs + downloads) or £66 (downloads only). 

All the above prices include the special pre-order discount and are subject to change after general release. 

Please note that Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mail-out of collector’s edition CDs may be delayed due to factors beyond our control, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.

[infiiniteazure]

Author's Note: Before we begin I'd like to make a couple of pre-reading clarifications, this fanfic is based on the canonical events and characters from the Modern Warfare 2 comics.

enjoy♡⸝⸝💌⊹。°˖ Warning: Mention of post-traumatic stress disorder, violent situations, content that may be disruptive or disturbing.

—I am the death of everything you know and love.”—

His cold hands sweated at the impending horrible memories of what his life once was, as if all those months were reflected in the lines of his palms and every scar on his arms.

The sensation of those images flowing before her eyes as if every second in that place was replicated by the fears in her mind, her breathing began to hitch as her body trembled gently.

As if every second in that white four-walled room could contain all the flashes of the episodes of torture committed in Mexico.

Agitated breathing, tight chest, trembling hands, flashes of horrible memories of Mexico, of his family, of his father, of all those comrades who died by his side.

The door to the room would open softly, bringing Simon out of his thoughts in a hostile manner, his senses would be alert, as if attacking an enemy.

His breathing would continue to be agitated, the intensity of the symptoms was getting worse and worse, and the deterioration of his mind progressively worse.

A true living dead, as if his mind had been detached from his body at that moment in which he had been betrayed by his own companions.

The soft voice of the woman who would cross the door would slowly make him understand that she was not a danger.

—Mr. Riley?—

Simon would look up and realize that this was not the old woman who normally brought him his medications or took him to his sessions with the doctor.

Instead it was a much younger nurse, subtle and friendly looking. Her movements were soft and subtle, as if deep down she knew how terrified he was of the presence and interaction with other people.

Her gaze was empty and her soul hollow, as if her body was merely a vessel with no purpose. —Mr. Riley—

That voice would again ding his ears, capturing his attention.

—Miss Robinson is a little busy today, so I'll be your nurse today.— Her voice was soft, like the petals of a tulip in spring.

Simon simply would not respond, his gaze remained static on the woman's face.

The woman looked quite young at first glance, a significant and noticeable gap between the nurses who normally took care of him in that hospital, old women, with wrinkled and grumpy faces.

Although in a way Simon did not blame them, having to live with someone like him on a daily basis was really difficult.

Many times the psychotic outbreaks caused by the malfunctioning of his thoughts, that constant sense of danger made him hostile and dangerous to those around him, Simon knew that he was as much a danger to himself as to those around him.

The woman held a clipboard with information in her hands, the documents specified each piece of information about the soldier, along with a huge mark in the upper corner where the status of “Dangerous Patient” was indicated.

—Mr. Riley? Mr. Riley, you need to take your Midazolam.—

[locke-esque-monster]

There's a part of me that wants to think that House MD is a spiritual successor to Mash (which is a whole separate post). It's fascinating to me because outside of one brief reference in the early seasons to Trapper John, and the whole similar "POV of the patient" episodes, there aren't really any references to Mash within House. And frankly, I'm surprised their aren't unless it was deliberate on the part of the creators. But I honestly prefer to believe Greg House within the confines of the show itself is actually an old Mash fan.

Picture it with me, will you...

A young 13 year old Gregory getting obsessed with the show. In part because it's anti-military and anti-authority sentiment pisses off his dad. But he also loves it's mix of drama, goofiness, and quick-witted banter.

He mostly gets to keep watching it because his Mom also likes it, it reminds her of the quick banter of old screwball comedies of her youth.

Sixteen year old Greg being torn between appreciating the accurate harsh reality of killing off Henry Blake, and the fact he wants to write angry letters to the studio on behalf of his mom because the episode made her cry.

Do you remember in Sherlock (2010) how Mycroft brought up that Sherlock had the mind of a great thinker, but chose to be a detective? And his original hope was to be a pirate? I think of that when I think of how Greg became a doctor. He was never going to be the empathetic doctors he saw on Mash, but the show did infuse an interest in medicine he never quite shook.

Imagine Greg at 24, exhausted from med school and a little choked up watching the finale of a show he's spent half his life watching.

Greg starting our his doctor's career with a hatred of doctor's coats like Hawkeye hated uniforms. He knows it's a cliché for doctors of this era to love Mash so it's his own dirty little secret. The thought of wearing a Hawaiian shirt one day has crossed his mind, but is ultimately rejected because it's not worth the teasing, or really his style.

Greg brings his love of banter and hatred of authority right into his work environment. He also has had no problem mixing the bleak with a sense of humor, maybe a residual effect of so many episodes of Mash.

He also maybe took Henry's season 1 speech about doctors not being able to save young men from dying maybe a bit too seriously, and that mixed with his own cynicism has helped inform his distance from his patients.

House meeting Cuddy and him taking great joy from their Margaret/Hawkeye "pushing back against authority but also kind of flirting" . He knows it'll never work, but damn if it isn't fun. It's fantasy straight out of his teenage years.

His ducklings (Cameron, Foreman, Chase) are his other assorted characters of the camp to bounce off of - the Radars, Klingers, and whatnot. He'll run circles around them verbally, but they have the potential to surprise him with a good idea or a clever comment.

When he met Wilson, it was like meeting his own tentmate in the Swamp. He maybe envisioned a little of having their own Swamp when he convinced Cuddy to move Wilson in next door. He was always sure Wilson was his BJ, with his commitment to his wives - even if maybe he went through them like Trapper did with nurses. But when Wilson left after Amber's death, he wondered if Wilson was maybe really his Trapper all along and his BJ didn't exist. When Wilson came back, House immediately thought back to BJ coming back to Hawkeye in the finale.

Wilson is the only one, other than his mother, who knows of his secret love of Mash. Wilson is also fond of it (he maybe internalized Hawkeye's commitment to his patients). And he sees a bit of Hawkeye in House's sense of humor. They occasionally watch it together and will makes jokes about it when the team or Cuddy aren't around. That said, Wilson has to convince House every so often that "No, we're not building our own still."