#dexter plot holes

[glauces-notebooks]

rewatching night at the museum for the first time in a while and wow. i missed this film.

[thr0wnawayy]

Who would the 10-13 1A members that died in the MLA be, if MHA had any actual stakes? I really liked your Kaminari idea, so I just wanted to explore it with you. It would have realistically made UA/the heroes look a hell of a lot worse and the villains look a hell of a lot smarter if they went for the angle of "the best heroics school in Japan is using child soldiers!"

I know for the heroes, it should have been Pixie Bob and Gran Torino in addition to Crust. Endeavor also should have died because it would have actually given the story actual stakes - Japan is now in shambles and the new #1 hero/heavy hitter is dead. Oh shit, what are they going to do?

Firstly I feel I should clarify that both 1A and B would lose some team members as both classes were thrust into war with basically no real training. Although for the sake of plot 1A would lose vastly more.

With that stated, let us begin.

I know for a fact that Koda is dead.

Truthfully, there is no way someone as bulky as him (with the addition of his poorly designed costume) would be even marginally capable of outrunning Shigaraki's Decay.

His quirk (Anivoice) gives him zero advantages and being in Jaku (a city under evacuation) would only add to this.

We also mustn't forget that the rubble by itself was also capable of disintegrating anything it touched. Putting all that together and given how close he was to "ground zero", his chances of survival are slim to none.

Additionally, everyone who found Midnight's corpse is either dead or brutally injured.

Midnight's body is isolated in a decently foliage heavy area, with plenty of hiding spots and vantage points making it all too easy to set an ambush.

Our merry band of MLA/PLF mercenaries simply have to bide their time, wait for the shock and horror to settle in and then strike.

Sero, Kirishima and Setsuna are easy targets (with Setsuna being the farthest from the bait) their backs are turned and mentally are either distant or "vacant".

If Momo didn't recover from her grief and get off the floor, it's game over.

However. She would likely manage to fend them off long enough to escape (thanks to her intelligence and dexterity), although not without some scars. (eyepatch momo, anyone?)

Mina might be able to hold them off due to her acid but will eventually falter because (as you mentioned) Aizawa's a shitheel.

That brings us up to 5 students so far (if we include Kaminari's death) that have died due to UA's (and the HPSC's) crippling negligence.

I'm a tad hesitant to add Tsu here but it's unlikely she'd survive. (even if she does survive the wave, she'd likely die in the crossfire)

Comicman, because yeah he's unimportant.

For the Villa Raid team it's important that we cut some heroes in order for this scenario to work.

Edgeshot is dead, likely fried to death by Electro-lite.

This would cause the raiding heroes to become discouraged and overwhelmed.

the MLA's gear is more than a match and combined with their years of fighting and tactical prowess. It's not even close.

Simply put; divide and conquer.

Mineta's dying for sure. His costume restricts his (torso and leg) movements and makes him standout like a traffic cone. That guy with holes all over his body is likely the one to snuff him out.

Ojiro is dead the moment the MLA members use numbers to overwhelm him, no amount of martial arts will save you from getting jumped.

Mines dies because his quirk (Twin Impact) suffers from the Flect Fallacy.(Overwhelming the quirk will break it). So pretty much any MLA member could be the one to kill him

That sets the score to 11 total student deaths (8 for 1A, 3 for 1B), not a good look.

We know the rest, Dabi kills Enji for good.

Skeptic publishes a video along with Dabi's exposé that reveals UA is using child soldiers and that the HPSC forged paperwork to allow this.

And the crowd goes wild!

The reactions would be brutal, national if not global criticism from every angle.

The entire raid and evacuation effort would be considered an immense failure, the villains remain at large to gather their numbers and most civilians would be left homeless and displaced.

The hero that everybody placed their bets on turned out be a child/wife beating eugenicist who bought (and later assaulted) his wife when she was only 17. Only to be killed off by the very child he left to burn.

The (global) outrage partially stems from the fact that if it weren't for Dabi, no one would have known otherwise .

The number 2 hero is an (attempted) murderer and seems almost irritated at Enji being outed, the world stage takes this the wrong way and opts not to aid Japan.* What pisses them off the most is his uncaring attitude.

Considering them a lost cause when Shigaraki not only breaks everyone out of Tartarus but also manges to kill AFO by sheer force of will (and wanting to see his friends live as they please)

Rei's speech/conference serves as the final nail. Going into immense detail of the pain she and her children suffered at the hands of Enji. (If their were any doubts Touya was her son, they were killed here)

When asked if anyone knew, she finishes her speech off with revealing that some heroes and staff knew about the abuse and chose to look the other way. Causing the room to burst into an uproar.

*(explaining why Japan was allowed to fester for as long as it did without intervention, something Hori failed to explain)

Parents begin pulling out their children in droves, not wanting to risk their kids getting drafted, others quit by choice.

Shiketsu and Ketsubutsu don't put their students on the front lines (they aren't stupid). The commission is unable to force them due to their, "unique" situation.

The heroes that quit are harshly criticized by the public and media (and usually fairly too), pointing out how shitty it looks (and is) for heroes to suddenly abandon them as soon as things get serious.

Class 1A is left to pickup the pieces with 8 classmates killed (+ Bakugo) the events of the last week have shocked them to their cores but perhaps there is hope.

Of course they're left to pick up their predecessors mistakes, again.

Midoriya would still go rouge, albiet he would stick to his principals. He's made a disturbing connection between Bakugo and Endeavor and it haunts him.

(I should add that Bakugo's death is portrayed for the selfish play it was)

Midoriya likely driven by the need to ensure that he doesn't lose anyone else. His anger at AM would probably stem from the fact that he is putting himself in danger for someone as "expendable" as himself.

I could see the two having a heart to heart that Midoriya is more than his quirk once he willingly returns.

Some additional information:

Bakugo dies permanently, because Edgeshot was killed by "Electro" earlier (even then I'm not doing the writing atrocity that is the "Jeart".)

For heroes I'd like to add Jeanist to the roster. Gigantomachia should have swatted him and his airship like a fly. This means the top 3 are dead, adding to the chaos. This also prevents the old-gen from taking up space.

The High-End Nomu beat the tar out of Miriko, leaving crippled at best and a paraplegic at worst. (That is assuming they don't kill her).

Fourth Kind is killed when, like Ojiro, he is overwhelmed.

Your absolutely correct, Gran Torino and Pixiebob are eliminated, joining Crust.

Twice actually lives, though I would keep that ambiguous until later, he wouldn't get out unscathed of course and would probably need to be put into a coma while his injuries heal.

Himiko's revenge plot now has additional stakes as she promises Twice that she will return to him. (before he's medically put under)

This also fuels the PLF + Spinner, vowing to do right by their ally and friend.

Dabi would have disfigured Hawks upon discovery of his attempt on Twice's life, no more cosmetic scars. Just good old fashioned brutality.

(The fear of losing Twice may have dug up the past memory of losing his mother after Enji drove her to the brink. As Dabi cares deeply for both [even if he won't admit it] ontop of the fact that it's a "hero" that's trying to take them and he betrayed them).

Overall this world is going to be one wild ride with a very different ending to what Hori gave us.

It is a story not of heroes and villains, but of ideals and goals. It asks the question:

What is it to save?

A few additional notes:

Momo would likely have a revenge arc as a sort of parallel between Izuku and Himiko. However it wouldn't be as bland as what we got in canon with Mina.

The mercenaries aren't mustache twirling supremacists, no. Here they're cold, calculated soldiers who are strictly tactical. Midnight was "nothing personal, just business" to them.

They serve as a dark mirror to Momo's shift in personality during the war, as Momo reverts to her initial cold confidant personality and kicks it up to 20 as she hunts them down.

Midnight's killer even points out midbattle on how Momo was sexualized and she doesn't even know it. Telling her at one point: "You may see them as an equal, they see you as a display"

The battle isnt treated as a victory either, while the Momo and her squadron win, the gravity of the situation isn't ignored and Momo actually listens to her opponent's critique.

[graspingremlinhands]

So @milk-powrit asked me to draft why I didn't like GxK, to which I decide to oblige.

DISCLAIMER: Those are my personal opinions; of a fan of Monsterverse since 2014 and a nobody with any competence in analyzing media, save some common sense and maybe rudimentals??

Also I already hugely disliked Godzilla vs Kong so my discontent had a part in how I enjoyed the movie.

To conclude English is not my first langauge and even in my langauge, debate is not one of my strenght.

Spoilers alert; so skip or I kindly suggest to block the tag: Godzilla x Kong spoiler.

Let's start with the first thing: I don't enjoy how the tone of the movie shifted so drastically from Kotm to GvsK.

In this post, a youtube user explained better than me why the shifting tone felt like a downgrade. If in Godzilla (2014) Godzilla was introduced by hearing his foot stomping on the ground. It was heavy, massive, it reverbered on the glass of the airport. It felt natural, realistic. How a creature that BIG would move in the real world.

As the user said Realistic =/= Seriousness. Godzilla can be goofy. But Monsterverse!Goji was estabilished in a setting, that was the real world.

In both GvsK and in GxK Godzilla does not feels natural. Was necessary for Godzilla to evolve, to be more nimble, when already in GvsK was already moving in a way unnatural?

Or pulling the 0 gravity fight? What purpose had the evolution, if in the end it was not even necessary. Had really improved his fighting skills? They were the same, on earth and in the hollow earth.

2 reason: I've seen around posts about how media litteracy has gone bad; in some ways about people can no longer sospend their belief and calls anything a plot-hole.

But I think that one thing is suspending the belief but another is the director of the movie making the plot moving from point A to point B without telling the audience how.

For example: Suspension of belief: They had the Beast Glove ready to use, because Monarch was already working on it ✅

But why Jia is the chosen one of the day? How the Iwi in hollow earth knew of Skull island? How the shard to control Shimo works? Why Godzilla would respond to the distress call of the people who fought against him? Why Mothra has a connection to the iwi, in particular. Since in Kong: skull island there's no reference to her? How Jia flew back on Earth with Mothra, without dying for the gravitational pull?.

Not everything has to be the viewer's guess that's what I'm saying.

3 point: Shimo and Skar King are as much wasted potential as it was MechaGodzilla was in GvsK.

Skar is menacing yes, has the ability and dexterity of a formidable foe. He's vile and disgusting, oppressing his clan (let's call it that) and he's even an abusive father. All of these things: but as a villain he's really that dangerous?

He was introduced as this terrible tyrant, a danger to the world. And he wasn't even trying to go on Earth; he went up by accident basically. Because the Iwi had to play with gravity. Or should I believe him, forcing his subordinate moving rocks was to build a staircase to the upside?

And Shimo, sweet girl. She looks so horrible. Her white scales don't blend in for anything. Like she was photoshopped last minute. Her powers do damage I see. But her being presented as one or The first Titan do actually mean something to the plot, to the character? Or a simple red-herring to made her more interesting than she actually is?

Because at the end of the day SHE IS A PET!!

"Oh Kong now has found a mate, so cute". My brothers on earth, she goes on four, is used as a mount the all time and she kept panting the whole time. That's a pet, the old dog you have to force inside when it snows.

It was pretty disappointing.

Last but not least the reason I personally dislike Wingard take on the Monsterverse, which is the point you could probably throw away all my arguments, compelling or not because it's really a ME issue, who don't think no one'd agree and I don't blame anybody for it.

I HATE HOW WINGARD DECIDED TO PORTRAY GODZILLA.

I don't hold nothing over him for having Kong as his favorite. That's personal taste, I respect it.

But when it comes to at the expense of the other protagonist, it rubs me so in the wrong way.

On this point I don't know if I want to discuss it further, but boy I do have to complain on this topic.

To summarize I'm mad Godzilla doesn't get to have the same introspection and grace is allowed to Kong, knowing he can to (if you read the Dominion comic. But since they are only distributed in the US not many does. OR should care about it. Cause I'm first a supporter of the idea that if a media is not capable to give all the informations in like the Movie, you the audience should not have to pay for more. So basically the Novelitation are cool but also a scam)

That's all I had to say about it.

Hoping any of this uphere is comprehensible. If in the end I only sound like a rambling idiot I accept it. This movie is too stupid to be too mad about it.

I'll just ignore it

[fuckyeahfightlock]

20 questions for fic writers 2023

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

207

2. What’s your total A03 word count?

1.2 million (!!!)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

BBC Sherlock (Sherlock TV, ACD), Doctor Who/Torchwood, Black Sails/Treasure Island, Maurice (film/novel), Raffles/Raffles TV, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, Dexter, The Sandman (comics), Versailles, The Untamed, MST3K

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Imposter Art and Nature Boyfriend Material Eight and Fifty Nights Wind and Winter

No surprise three of those are from the same series (my most popular one). I kind of feel like The Imposter is my fandom legacy, which is fine by me; I'm proud of it.

(they're all beauties, in my eyes)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I started out responding to every one. I barely do anymore, only because when I was writing long, chaptered fics, it became overwhelming. Lately I get many fewer, so I do respond to some. I tend to reply to comments on non-Sherlock fics more now, because the fandoms are smaller and I like to gas us up a little!

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Am and Was, the final story in my fight!lock series Bleed So Pretty, ends with a double suicide.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably All Said and Done, the happy ending for the 1920s stately home series, Dawn Before the Rest of the World. But a lot of my fics have happy endings, even most of the angsty ones.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have! Very early on someone got very angry that AUs even exist, and took it out on one of my stories (maybe it was the first AU she ever read???); she mostly complained that I was writing Them out of character, which is probably true to some extent, but everyone has their own tolerance levels for that kind of stuff, so, whatever. Someone got very angry that one of my missing-scene fics based on a novel included verbatim text at the beginning and end (context being necessary to the bit I wrote in the middle), even though I made that VERY CLEAR in the beginning notes; she was not satisfied and felt I was a plagiarist, which to me is not a concept that even applies to transformative works, so again, whatever.

I don't mind any comment except ones that boil down to "I don't like this," because there's nothing I can do about that. I can fix spellings and punctuation, sew up plot holes, and make other minor adjustments to the technical stuff. But if someone just comments that they don't like the story, I'm helpless.

9. Do you write smut?

Very much so! I have written entire long novels just as set dressing for smut.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Several! I decided as soon as Sherlock came out on BBC that it takes place in the very same universe (London, present day) as Doctor Who/Torchwood (so, aliens exist). So I crossed those over a bunch. Doctor Who/Torchwood also got crossed over with Dexter, and with The Sandman comics. ACD!Holmes crossed over with Raffles, based on a screenplay of a film featured on MST3K. Black Sails is already Treasure Island pastiche, so that counts though I'm not responsible for it.

(this legendary bitch was only a bitch from a legend in Treasure Island)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I was a victim of netscraping of the AO3 by various pay-to-read schemes, twice. But to my knowledge, no one person has like, copy/pasted my fic and put their name on it as the author.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

A couple in Russian, a couple in Chinese.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Twice. It's not really my jam.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Johnlock.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

A final story in my Road to Home series, a fix-it fic where Donna gets her memory back (which I began writing in 2013 or 2014). Now that she's got it back in canon, it seems even less likely I'll ever finish it.

(Russell T Davies accepted it maybe a little TOO hard)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Right now, discipline (mine, not in my BDSM AU characters')

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've done it, probably not 100% correctly or well, but I try really hard (not just google translate! I consult native speakers!) to get it right. Generally I recommend keeping it to a minimum unless you learn the trick where AO3 lets you hover a cursor over text and you can put the translation in the pop-up. Too few people are multilingual.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I wrote self-insert Duran Duran bandom fic starting when I was 12, in 1984. My first fic on the AO3 was a Sherlock fic.

(my first husband, John Taylor)

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Don't make me choose! I can't choose a favourite child. Today I was writing on One-Man Advantage, so that's a fave because of recency bias, but I was also thinking about Stages, so that's a fave because when I think of it my heart aches. The Re/Formation of Billy Bones is a fave because I love the backstory I created for him and I think I wrote it well. At Depth is a tiny hidden gem. I love all the Christmas ones and all the snowed-in ones. I love the kinky ones and the fluffy ones and the ones with OCs. I love some I've forgotten about. I love'm all.

Thanks for tagging me, @onesmallfamily !

[agentnico]

Trap (2024) review

M. Night Shyamalan seems like a nice dad.

Plot: In M. Night Shyamalan's latest outing, everyone in a large city is in a frenzy. Why? That's because they're up and ready to watch a concert performed by famous pop star Lady Raven. Two of her fans, a man named Cooper and his daughter Riley, attend the concert with high spirits, but things slowly begin to change their tune. Amongst the screams of adoration and sounds of applause, the concert itself has a hidden identity: a front to fish out an infamous serial killer known as The Butcher. With security cameras rigged, armies of policemen with weapons at the ready, and police vehicles surrounding the venue, will anyone survive their concert experience or is there more to The Butcher than meets the eye?

I bloody love M. Night Shyamalan! As a director that is, not as a person as I’ve never met the guy. He could be a real stuck snob for all I know. But as a creative voice in the movie industry I absolutely adore him, as this is someone who to this day has not let the Hollywood machine change or mould him and has stayed true to himself and his style of art form. Granted he does make a lot of crap, from the fascinating beach-that-turns-you-old concept stuck in a goofy and stupidly executed Old to The Happening where he somehow managed to make a tree be the ominous bad guy. And even then I cannot hate the guy as he’s evidently so batshit crazy that I have no choice but to love it. As even at his worst he still manages to come with such unique and outrageous concepts, and of course is also well known for his ridiculous third act plot twists, so even his worst film can still offer some level of entertainment. Except for After Earth. F*** that movie and also f*** Jaeden Smith ya tosser!! Mind you, I’ve never seen After Earth.

Trap is so silly. Like on every level, from each scene featuring a thousands plot-holes, characters talking like unreal people as if they are in some alien reality, random crap occurring for the sake of it…. It’s all absolutely absurd. Josh Hartnett is the glue that holds it all together, as his unhinged performance of a psychopath trying his best to act like a happy fun loving guy only to seem even more like a serial killer was truly hilarious. Also, I found myself kind of rooting for the serial killer? Like what kind of weird Dexter crap is this, Shyamalamadingdong?? I’ve been Stockholm syndromed into liking the bad guy! But anyway, Hartnett is a hoot and honestly he needs to be in more films! Saleka as the pop singer is alright. Her songs aren’t that great nor is her acting, though I do find it super endearing that Shyamalan made this entire film just to give his daughter her big ‘Eras Tour’ concert moment break and to boost her music career. What a sweet papa.

This movie very much is reliant on how willing you are to suspend your sense of disbelief, and on what level are you able to stick with Shyamalan’s shenanigans. This isn’t a particularly good movie, nor is it a bad one, but it’s extremely entertaining from beginning to end, even if the ending does get a little too off the rails. That being said one aspect that was actually phenomenal was the cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, who’s a frequent collaborator of Luca Guadagnino’s. There are so many ludicrously delicious frames here, and I admired how each conversation was shot, as tight and intimate as possible while capturing every foolish and panic-induced character response.

Also shout out to Kid Cudi who rocks up for less than 5 minutes of screen time to drop the mic, eye-fuck Josh Hartnett for no other reason other than it’s Josh Hartnett and then drop the best line of the whole damn movie - ��I specifically said I wanted honeysuckle sour kombucha, bitch!!”

Overall score: 6/10

[clochanamarc]

before i post the starter call, i'm gonna enclose a lil example of what the 2024 arc starter might look like, bc i suck at explaining it! just to recap, the plot is centred around the growing dark magic that's corrupting the universe and stemming from aisling's old family estate in ireland, and the suggestion that the conduit for this dark power is actually one of aisling's kids, so she's trying to find a way of fixing that, but the kids are getting involved too, and it's just a bunch of potential things that could happen! so below the cut is a little sample for u; bon appetit!

thick black lines gouge into the apartment walls as they open the door. a strong scent of burning wood and heavy ozone cloud the very air, finding fresh homes to dwell in in the fabric of their clothes, the tresses of their hair. on the far side, in the breakfast nook, remains only a gaping hole, steel and brick melted into a black edge that devours what had once been the dining table.

aisling stands perfectly still, examining the claw-like scratches in the walls, the tremulous ceilings, the fragile floorboards underfoot. they won't have much time. an episode of such magnitude... the entire universe will be arriving to stare and inspect and pass judgment in mere moments. these eerily quiet minutes are more precious than anything in the world. " be careful. " these are the only words she can find that are capable of manoeuvring her stunned and bone-dry mouth. she's already stepping nimbly down the hall to her left, disappearing into the first of the bedrooms without another word.

OPTIONS ( roll a d20 to determine success or failure, anything at or above the corresponding number is a success, anything lower is a failure! ):

follow aisling to the left to find a lead in the kids' rooms. ( d14 )

stay in the main hallway to keep an eye out for incoming forces. ( d10 )

[ DEXTERITY ] go to the hallway leading right, out to the living room balcony to survey the damage from the outside. ( d16 )

[ WISDOM ] approach the dining room and search the destruction for evidence. ( d17 )

[thesocietyporg]

Okay I’ve watched Ghosted and here are my thoughts!

(that nobody asked for 😅).

Disclaimer, this movie gets a pass because it reunited Chris and Sebastian (and Mackie) and because Chris is SO DARN PRETTY with that beard and fluffy hair. 🥵

Firstly I’ll start with what I wasn’t so keen on and get that out of the way:

( don’t go into this movie expecting high art, don’t think too deeply about anything on screen and you won’t be disappointed)

- Almost all the problems I had with the movie I attribute to the bad script and bad direction (Sorry Dexter and co 😬).

- Unfortunately the character Chris is playing is let down by the writing, at times he’s just an unlikeable character.

- I wish they could have found a better plot device to get him to London and involved with Sadie’s mission without resorting to him stalking her . I think it would have been better if Sadie and Cole had been kidnapped near the end of their first date and Cole was just dragged along for the ride (and just ditched the whole ‘Ghosted’ concept- the title didn’t really pay off anyway)

- They made Cole a walking red flag 🚩 basically

- And I’m sorry to all the fans of Chris and Ana together, but I just don’t see the chemistry that all the other characters are talking about. Note: if you keep telling the audience that they have chemistry and sexual tension it doesn’t make it more believable 🫣

- I know it’s a rom com, but at times it’s just really saccharine and cheesy, especially at the beginning.

- The wigs are terrible and very distracting at times 😅

- Overall I think the movie just takes itself too seriously, it would have been much funnier if they had gone down the route of being a spoof and satire.

Okay now onto the things I loved about this movie :

- Chris is unbelievably hot, he looks really good here and I can’t wait for all the talented people on tumblr to gif it to death

- I think Ana and Chris did the best with what they had to work with. I think they could have given much better performances if they had better material.

- I think Chris showed good comedic ability at different points throughout the movie (and with stronger direction would have been really good and consistently funny) I think he was plenty believable as a fish out of water, naive and slightly goofy, small town boy !

- Seeing Chris as a farmer really did things to me 😩 why does he look so hot in waders standing in water?? In a beekeepers outfit ??? Seriously this man can make anything look hot 🥵

- I thought the actress who played his sister was really good 😊

And the main event !

Drum roll 🥁 we got a SEBASTIAN CAMEO !!!

The movie is at its best when they aren’t taking themselves too seriously - that’s why the part with John, Seb and Anthony is personally my favourite part.

Seeing Sebastian back on screen with Chris, looking like a stucky AU was like fanfiction come to life (that’s why this movie gets a pass regardless of messy plot holes 😂) . I don’t know what else to say that hasn’t already been said, but it just makes me so happy 😁

Seb proved again that he’s good at the comedy schtick! (I really hope his action-comedy movie happens now🤞🏼) and he also looked sexy as hell with the tousled hair and bangs. They both are truly too beautiful for their own good, on screen together they are powerful and overwhelming (that’s why he had to die so quickly 😉) PLEASE release behind the scenes of this!!! Dexter, I know I called your directing crappy, but pretty please 🥺

Also wtf was the Ryan Reynolds cameo?? It wasn’t even funny and completely unnecessary

[ao3feed-xicheng]

obsession thy name is love (执迷不悟)

by cloudrecesses How had he ended up crouched on the floor of the Hanshi, his legs splayed wantonly as Lan Xichen’s dexterous finger traced his twitching hole, glistening with Lan Xichen’s slick? Jiang Cheng’s memory was fuzzy, his mind hazy as he clenched on Xichen’s finger as it popped through his tight entrance. He whimpered at the unfamiliar intrusion and moaned as it slid deeper into him, rubbing and nudging within him as if searching for something. or big dick omega Lan Xichen bitches and breeds a newly presented alpha Jiang Cheng. (first part was originally posted on Twitter as a thread) Words: 6866, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī (Cartoon), 魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī (Audio Drama), 魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī (Webcomic), 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Lán Qǐrén Relationships: Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín/Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén Additional Tags: Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Dubious Consent, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Bitching (omegaverse), Top Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Omega Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Bottom Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Alpha Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Omega Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Omega Verse, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Anal Play, Implied Mpreg, Pining while fucking, Dark Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Cloud Recesses Study Arc (Módào Zǔshī), Loss of Virginity, Virgin Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Overstimulation, Edgeplay, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén Has a Big Dick, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén Has a Breeding Kink, Rimming, Mating Cycles/In Heat, no beta we die like jiang fengmian, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Dacryphilia, gege kink, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Manipulation via https://ift.tt/7RkifY0

[gorgothsworld]

see i loved the finale of dexter nb. i think the glaring plot holes aside, which honestly were sloppy and unforgivable, it sums up nicely. i think harrison was playing him the entire time, the way dexter used to with others. harrison’s extremely detailed plans of violence. being able to manipulate everyone around him into situations where he gets to be the hero. every time dexter confronts him about it, he lashes out and plays the victim. we don’t even have proof that he was homeless or that hannah was dead.

i keep thinking about him crawling through audrey’s window silently. she’s confused so he gives a sob story, hoping she’ll comfort him. when it goes his way, they’re kissing and you can see his knife in his back pocket. he’s climbing through her window to harm her, or that’s his plan if he doesn’t get what he wants.

he’s been manipulating dexter since day one. he was stalking him in the woods days before they met. he knew about his dark passenger. the ultimate revenge kill, where he gets off with police help. his desire to hurt people extends into his good intentions.

[nagaficat]

NAME: Deirdre Chalphy-Velthomer

BODY

height: 5′4/162.5cm

strength ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

dexterity ★☆ ☆ ☆☆

health ★☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (I think all of the fucked up dark magic she's been hit with plus being pregnant with the antichrist has left her with a very weak consitution)

energy ★★☆ ☆ ☆

beauty ★★★★★ (gestures at the plot of fe4)

style ★★☆☆☆ (points docked because her style is very much dependent on who the main man in her life is and a woman should not live that way)

hygiene ★☆☆☆☆ (now that she's out of Belhalla she is turning back to her weird forest tendencies and will use the same soap for her body as she does for her hair. She needs her lady's maids to keep her in check or she'll be covered in leaves and grass stains)

SKILLS

perception ☆☆☆☆☆ (running straight toward the red flags)

communication ★☆☆☆☆ (she's great with it when the things are happy!)

persuasion ★★★★☆ (who's gonna tell her no)

mediation ★☆☆☆☆

literacy ★★★★★

creativity ★★★★☆

cooking ★☆☆☆☆ (she's out of touch with having to do it)

tech savvy ☆☆☆☆☆ (uses tech like a boomer I'm sorry)

combat ★☆☆☆☆

survival ☆☆☆☆☆ (someone else will protect her she doesn't need this)

stealth ☆☆☆☆☆

street smarts ☆☆☆☆☆ (again she's running directly to the red flags)

seduction ★☆☆☆☆ (she is not trying to seduce, you'll just fall in love with her)

luck ★★☆☆☆ (This is a tough one. Because like yeah, she had some fucking awful shit happen to her but also like it could have been So Much Worse.)

handling animals ★★★★★ (Disney Princess moments)

pacifying children ★★★★☆ (four stars because I don't see her being particularly good with children with behaviors)

MIND

intelligence ★★★☆☆

happiness ★★★☆☆ (She thinks everything is perfect!)

spirituality ★★★★☆

confidence ★★★☆☆

humor ★★★☆☆

anxiety ★★★☆☆

patience ★★★★☆

passion ★★★★★

nice         ★☆☆☆☆     mean

brave       ★★★★☆     cowardly

pacifist     ★☆☆☆☆     violent  

thoughtful ★★★★★    impulsive (looks directly at her marriages)

agreeable ★☆☆☆☆     contrary

idealistic   ★☆☆☆☆     pragmatic (my delusional queen)

frugal        ★★★☆☆     big spender (she doesn't understand money so she will throw it around but also she doesn't need much to be satisfied either)

extrovert   ★☆☆☆☆     introvert

collected   ★☆☆☆☆    

AMBITIOUS / possessive / stubborn / jealous / decisive / perfectionist

SOCIAL

charisma ★★★☆☆

empathy ★★★★★

generosity ★★★★★

wealth ★★★☆☆ (she doesn't have access to the Grannvale treasury anymore so idk sdjfhds)

honest   ★★★☆☆ deceptive (She is only just now trying out lying but she has dug herself into a pretty big hole of lies)

leader   ★★★★★   follower

polite     ★☆☆☆☆  rude

political ★★★★★  indifferent

BELIEFS

higher power ★★★★★

fate/destiny ★★★★★ (teehee)

magic ★★★★★

soulmates ★★★★★

good and evil ★★★★★ (she mostly believes in just good but I feel like that counts)

luck ★★★★☆

PRIORITIES

family ★★★★★

friends ★★★★★

love ★★★★★

home ★☆☆☆☆ (She isn't particularly tied to the physical concept of home but more the people in it)

health ★☆☆☆☆

praise ★★★★☆ (She wants to be liked and loved)

justice ★★★☆☆

truth ☆☆☆☆☆ (It's ok to lie and be lied to if you're trying to protect someone!)

power ☆☆☆☆☆ (This is for her boys not for her and she is perfectly fine with that)

fame ☆☆☆☆☆

wealth ☆☆☆☆☆ (Someone will take care of her she doesn't need to think about this)

others’ opinions ★★★★★ (please love her)

[didierleclair]

A GUILTY SMELL

The novel by Philippe Claudel, L’archipel du chien, Stock, 2018 is current. It's about illegal migrants and a guilty smell. The story is simple and the scenes are constructed with dexterity.

We are on an island whose geographical contours give the appearance of a dog with all its fangs bared. We met the doctor, the mayor, the teacher, the priest and two repair people, anglers. A volcano, the Brau, dominates the island. It is coughing and is reminding the farmers and anglers of its existence. There are grunts, a few jerks but no eruption.

The island does not produce anything substantial. Only vineyards, olive groves and caper orchards are cultivated there. That said, the mayor and the doctor are working on a hotel complex project. They rely on the thermal waters of the place to attract tourists and bring life back to a place, which is in agony. In fact, young people leave as adults to look for work on the continent and never return.

This archipelago, which could be French, Spanish or other, is the scene of a contemporary drama. Three bodies of Africans wash up on the beach of this remote place. What to do? The retired teacher who was walking her dog on the beach calls the mayor to decide what to do next.

Philippe Claudel weaves a plot somewhat resembling a detective novel without being one. Certainly, people died but the cause apparently seemed to be drowning. The mayor and his cronies agree to bury secretly the “Niggers” to use the priest’s term in order to avoid harming the hotel complex project.

The only discordant voice is that of the teacher. He calls for the arrival of police officers and a judge to carry out an investigation and find the underlying cause of this matter. Upset, the mayor declares that he is the authority capable of deciding the fate of these blacks. His friend, the doctor, concluded after a quick examination of the bodies that there were no signs of suspicious deaths: the Africans were victims of the sea.

The three bodies were buried in one of the burning holes near the volcano without further ado. The author, with patience and tenacity, reveals to us the connivance of the mayor and his friends in making this unfortunate event disappear from their daily lives. Only the teacher moved by an inflexible moral conscience will express his disapproval.

He ends up causing problems for the mayor who wonders how to stop him from snooping around. Then, Philippe Claudel features a police officer. Who brings him in? Nobody really knows. He is there, that is the main thing.

The man drinks a lot without showing any lapses in his reasoning. He releases satellite photos revealing compromising images. We see the mayor throwing, with the help of anglers, the three bodies of the Africans into a volcanic hole.

The mayor feels surrounded like an animal about to be trapped. The teacher, on the other hand, is delighted at the arrival of a police officer and announces to the mayor that he intends to give a detailed report of what he knows about the African affair.

In the meantime, a pestilential smell invades the entire community. The rotting bodies demand justice and summon the hungry scavengers around the crater where they are released into the twists and turns of the earth.

To prevent the truth from coming to light, the mayor instigates allegations of pedophilia against the teacher, which causes great commotion. The police officer will confront the teacher following these accusations. The accused, locked in a room, quickly loses control of the situation to the point of not knowing how to defend himself and prove his innocence.

It is here that Philippe Claudel decides to unravel his story. He tells us that the police officer is not one, just an envoy of hotel investors worried about the way the mayor buried the Africans. There will therefore be no formal accusation against the notables.

Then, the mayor and the doctor decide to release the teacher, claiming an error in the accusations of pedophilia. Nevertheless, the teacher died in the room that served as his detention cell, asphyxiated by carbon monoxide. Did he kill himself or did he block his window to stop the cries of hatred of the peasants mobilized against him? There is no answer to this.

The author writes: “It took a few days before we managed to start pretending again. Trying to get back to the ordinary course of things. Everyone repeated the gestures they knew how to do. We exchanged unimportant remarks. We didn't talk about the Teacher again, even though we kept thinking about him (...) »

Now, a curse is upon the archipelago. The sailors return empty-handed after ten days of fishing, the doctor now travels with a handkerchief under his nose because of the nauseating odor of corpses that he smells forever and the mayor has aged overnight having only skin on bones.

In this story, all the innocent people die. The three Africans and the teacher. As for the guilty, they macerate in brackish water of moral guilt.

Philippe Claudel's mercantile, racist and cowardly characters are condemned to smell their cowardice like the rancid odor of a sin never atoned for.

Philippe Claudel acts as neither judge nor accomplice. He returns each character to his conscience, even those who have none.

The disappearance of the false police officer is a sleight of hand, which allows him to avoid being held accountable to justice. This is the only untoward incident in this story. Some readers would have preferred that a real investigating judge take up the case.

Philippe Claudel warns us from the beginning of the book: “I’m bothersome. I am the one from whom nothing escapes. I see everything. I know everything. However, I am nothing and I intend to remain that way. Neither man nor woman. I am simply the voice. It is from the shadows that I will tell you the story. »

A narrator in the shadows recounts the unpunished crimes of modern times. He cannot bring himself to condemn his fellow citizens. After all, he probably lives on the archipelago. It is possible that he was in the teacher’s classroom, that the doctor saw him grow up.

The story is beautiful and realistic; the writing is elegant and precise. We are entitled to a false police officer, a fair teacher, a racist priest, a cowardly doctor and a profiteering mayor. Philippe Claudel could have reversed the roles. They are humans, that is all.

For Philippe Claudel, the prison is the island in the shape of a dog, all fangs exposed.

Didier Leclair, writer.

[noblehcart]

❝ Just fear me, love me - do as I say and I will be your slave.❞ (for Rook — batb/Labyrinth au? 👀)

@delanuit

"You haven't the slightest clue what you want do you?"

Her head delicately tilted up from her seat on the cushion whilst her host and near jailer hovered above and beside her. Brown eyes peered through dark lashes as she drank in the detail of his mask for a moment then met his eyes that seemed both pleading and adoring. That seemed demanding and agonized. Endless yet void.

He was a creature of unmeasurable power and yet an entirely limited man.

They had been at this dance of theirs for weeks. Her earning glimpses of her husband at twilight before he was locked away and her evenings were spent in the presence of the fae wanting to be entertained by her stories in his quarters. All the while the two did battle across the chessboard in the midst of her tales. A challenge of her own magical ability of creativity and dexterity of mind to maintain both night after night in the glow of their lamp and candle light. He posed question after question, waged battle after battle ceaselessly all the while she weaved and defied attacks and deftly managed plot holes and storylines weaving her own magical world as best as her mortal self could.

It was as exhilarating as it was exhausting. More than once after dawn had crept in and he stepped out of the room had she passed out asleep before sometimes being gently roused to return to her own room. Sometimes she wasn't woken and still found herself in her room...recently she found she wasn't moved to her room at all, but to his bed and rather meticulously tucked in. There was a ghosting of a sensation of cool fingers brushing over her cheek, but she couldn't be sure what was dream and what was real. It was a difficult thing to discern in this labyrinth of a castle that was his domain- what was glamour, what was magic, what was real and what was her own delusions. Yet somehow she couldn't help but find the grasp he had claimed to be solid and she couldn't help but wonder things she'd have refused to think when she began her first night here.

She came to rescue her husband. She came to bring him home with her.

Yet here was Erik, the lord of this domain asking her to stay.

Fear me. Love me. "There is no fear in love."

She said carefully and continued on speaking in quiet defiance as she waited to hear his rage and frustration. Perhaps even despair. But maybe...maybe for once this fae was tired of tricks and lies...maybe he'd prefer the honest human truth. "Love comes with free will, Erik. Love doesn't do as you or I say. Love doesn't turn people into slaves. "

Gently she shifted to stand from her seat and step closer to him, noting the small distance between them as she looked up and spoke openly throwing caution to the wind because if he did not understand now then she wasn't sure he ever would. "If my husband's love was a cage do you think I'd be here? If Nadir were just a slave to my whims do you think that I'd care? Erik-"

Her fingers reached to interlace with his tugging him closer gently as she spoke. "Love is breathtaking freedom. It is the most tormenting pleasure and sweetest pain that one can experience because of the choice that you and they make. Love does not abandon, nor fear...so do not ask me to abandon my husband, Erik. New streams can form from a river from deep undercurrents through a terrain thought impenetrable; like you have within me...but I am still the river that is connected to the stream that bought my husband to me."

[lilmackiereads]

One Day (2009) by David Nicholls - Spoiler Filled Review

In addition to this review, a spoiler-free review of the book will also be posted if you haven’t read the book or watched the movie. While I recommend reading the book, I didn’t like the movie. See that version of the review for why.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

There are many parts of this story that are a bit cliche. Boy meets girl, they have crushes on each other, spend the next grand amount of time avoiding their true feelings for each other, they get together. YET, the end of the novel was very unexpected and the emotion and the humor these characters had toward each other was so moving. Nicholls said loud and clear: This. Is. A. Drama. Tragedy. NOT. A. Romantic. Comedy. The dialogue was top notch and I honestly had to look up quite a few phrases and words because I am not familiar with all of the British jargon. 

Plot and Structure: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I also liked that he split the book into smaller sections based on the ages of the characters as each section was a new turning point or challenge in their lives. The bits of literature preceding each section were well-chosen and foreshadowed major events and themes. Docking points only for the cliché plot aspects that all romance novels do to make the tension last longer. I like that we see into each year of their lives, but some years not a lot happened, and I would have been okay with skipping a few extra years into the future.

Part 1 - Early to Mid 20s

I really related to Emma in Part 1 of wanting to do all these amazing things for the world like protesting and volunteering and traveling and then realizing that you have bills and have to work a demeaning customer service job. Life sucks ass sometimes and I’m sad for her that she was stuck in that emotional and financial space for so long, but happy that she was brave enough to quit the restaurant and do more for herself. I was irritated with Dexter because I had to work to put myself through school and I know wealthier students who had a free pass and gap year like him that just grind my gears. On top of that, Dex getting quasi-famous for basically being hot and annoying just made it worse.

Nevertheless, I really wanted them to bang out the tension they’d had those couple of years during their trip to Greece, but alas, dreams didn’t come true for any of us. I thought the skinny-dipping scene was super fun and steammmyyy!

Part 2 - Late 20s

I think that the hardest part of this book for me to get through was Part 2 because a lot of it revolved around Dex’s grief. His downward spiral with mood-influencers like sex, drugs, and alcohol while his mom was sick was all too real for me as I am someone who has a parent with cancer (luckily, I never went down this path like Dexter, but there are a lot of people who do who can’t get out). It is hard to see him hurt himself that way because it’s already written and can’t be changed. As a reader all I could do was watch him tumble even further down the rabbit hole and it sucked.

I was excited at first when Emma branched away from Dex and started dating Ian because he’s a bit of a goober, but he’s really nice and fun (just not funny). When Dex started parading sexy Suki in front of Emma and bullying Ian I was SEETHING.

I definitely think Emma did the right thing cutting Dex out of her life because he was being an ass and so full of himself, which is sad because he was masking his grief. IF HE HAD JUST BEEN HONEST WITH HIMSELF AND HER---- ugh, I’m wasting my breath.

I was broken (again) when Emma dumped Ian. I get it, she didn’t love him, but she treated him like shit and all he ever wanted was someone who loved him just the way he was. I’m glad that Nicholls showed us that Ian got a happy ending in Part 5. 

Part 3 - Early to Mid 30s

Looking back at Part 3 there was SO MUCH to unpack here. It feels like three separate parts within it because it has adultery and marriage and parenthood being added into the mix. 

When I found out that Emma was working as a theater teacher (cool) and trying to become a writer (even cooler) and sleeping with the principal (not so cool) I wanted to scream: GIRL, YOU NEED SOME GIRLFRIENDS TO HYPE YOU UP AND GET AWAY FROM THIS YUCKY GUY. I could have been her Hype Girl. Oh well.

When Dex met Sylvie’s parents and played that stupid game, I had second-hand embarrassment for him. Yikes. I felt bad that he was so out of place and bullied when he was starting out with Sylvie, but at the same time he was doing that to Emma for years with her and Ian so I was somewhat satisfied that he got knocked off his high horse. 

I feel like literally the worst thing that Dex could have done was getting married to Sylvie and telling Emma about it in such a public place (coward) instead of dealing with his grief and being single for a while. Adding a baby to the mix was like going from the frying pan to the fire. Oi. Boy loves himself some drama. I think he ultimately became a good husband and dad in Part 5, but Sylvie. Is. Not. His. Match. As seen with their on-again and off-again relationship with each other and Dex’s other on-again off-again relationship with alcoholism.

Ok, so I low-key was so tired of Dex’s shit that I just wanted Emma to stay in Paris with the sexy Jean-Pierre and leave Dex in the dust but nOOooOOoOoo. It’s fine. Where’s my A.U. where Emma was right about Dex and he’s fat and bald with a zillion ex-wives and she’s married to JP?

Part 4 - Late 30s to Early 40s

Something I appreciated in Part 4 was that even though Dex and Em FINALLY get together, it’s not all smooth sailing. It’s not a “happily ever after” and I think this is super important because it is so honest. Getting divorced and married is hard, and even harder with a kid (Dex), especially to someone who has never been married or had children (Em). They have known each other for almost two decades, but they had such different interests and addictions throughout their lives that they had to come to terms with (they didn’t) and never fully showed each other that dark side of themselves. I think it’s a great lesson because Nicholls is showing that even the perfect person for you is not going to be perfect all the time because we are all imperfect people with our own problems. 

I wish I hadn’t seen the movie before I read the book because Emma’s death would have hit so much harder if I didn’t know it was coming. It definitely would have been a moment where I would have had to reread the passage because she is just going about her normal routine and is killed out of nowhere. The shock factor would have been devastating since they had just officially gotten together and most romance novels have the “happy” ending.

Part 5 - Mid 40s

My favorite part of the entire story was in Part 5 which seamlessly went between the night they met in 1988 and the mid 2000s when Dexter reflected on the photo of him and Emma from their hike in 1988 to Arthur’s Seat. Dexter choosing to bring his daughter, Jasmine, there was a sweet and humorous moment that Emma would have loved. An honorable mention is when Sylvie and Dex’s dad help clean him up after his drunken night trying to ease the pain of being a widower. It pulled at my heartstrings to see the kindness of Sylvie despite her jealousy of Emma and later when Dex and his dad bond over being widowers. I also liked that Sylvie got a taste of her own medicine when she found out that while cheating on Dex with Callum that Callum has been cheating on her with someone else. Ha. Ha.

Characters: 4 out of 5 stars

The way he wrote the characters made it seem like they were real people who actually did know each other for a long time. It is hard to write three-dimensional characters, so kudos to Nicholls.

Even though I prefer first person, I think his choice of third person limited made quite a wonderful story to go back and forth between not only Em and Dex, but also Ian, Sylvie and a few one-scene characters. At times I LOATHED Emma and Dexter when they were whining or making terrible choices, like dating the wrong person to avoid loneliness, drinking to drown out the sadness, staying in the wrong job because they’re unconfident, and lying to each other. At other times I wanted to give them a hug and a kiss and tell them I was proud of them, especially at the end of the story when Dex FINALLY got his shit together. 

I think my favorite character was actually Ian Whitehead, who is Emma’s partner for a time. I admired his desire to go for his dreams even if they were a long shot, his loyalty to Emma, and his choice to take the high road in the end. There was one point that I didn’t like his character when he and Emma were fighting about the breakup, but to be honest, if I was in his position, I probably would have felt the same way if my significant other was in love with their best friend and not me.

Themes, Motifs, & Symbols: 3.5 out of 5 stars

St. Swithin’s Day:

I wasn’t familiar with St. Swithin’s day on July 15th other than the fact that it’s also my mother’s birthday, so I will now use it as more of a marker for the year ahead. While the mythos is more in regard to summer weather, I considered it more of a symbolic reasoning of whether or not Dexter and Emma were going to have a good or bad year. For instance, many of the rainy days it seems that the whole next year that they had terrible experiences while on the sunny days their lives seemed to be getting better. For instance, it was raining on the day Emma died and then Dex had a rough year ahead while other years that it was sunny were years where on the sunny days where when Emma and Dex had lots of love in their lives, whether it be with each other or others. One of the best examples of this is when they go on holiday together in Greece and get very flirtatious with each other but are too coy to do anything but skinny-dip. 

Yin and Yang:

Toward the beginning of the book, Dexter gets a yin and yang tattoo while on holiday. In my opinion, it greatly resembles their differences and similarities to each other. Not only does it represent their personalities and how they complement each other, but it also seems to foreshadow that when one of their lives was great, the other’s was terrible. Together they are strong. Apart, not so much. They were two halves of a whole and they needed each other to balance.

Making a difference:

The first lines of the novel are these quips between Em and Dex:

E: “I suppose the important thing is to make some sort of difference… you know, actually change something.”

D: “What, like ‘change the world,’ you mean?”

E: “Not the whole entire world. Just the little bit around you.”

This theme is super important throughout the whole story as they both take on the world in their own ways and I had to go back and re-read the first page again after finishing the book to really understand and enjoy the impact of the theme.

I think both Emma and Dex made an impact on the “little bit around” them, but just not in the ways they expected. Dex wanted to be a famous media professional and life-long womanizing bachelor, yet he ends up becoming a divorcee (and widower), has-been tv-presenter, and a single dad. Emma, on the other hand, became a children’s author instead of an activist or journalist and never got to have her own biological child despite becoming interested in motherhood toward the end of her life. She didn’t publish anything Nobel Prize winning or Earth-shattering like she wanted to, but she did shatter Dexter’s life for better and for worse. 

Re-readability:

Would I read this book again? Probably not because it is a very emotional book and rather long as it is single spaced and over four hundred pages. On the plus side, this is the best romance novel that I have ever read. I appreciate that is not super lovey-dovey gooey and gets into the real issues of cheating, drinking, family, self-esteem, depression, loneliness, and loss. It’s raw and real and isn’t unrealistic like those Fabio-model romance novels your naughty housewives read and war romance novels (ie: Nicholas Sparks).

[esonetwork]

Timestamp #279: Empress of Mars

New Post has been published on http://esonetwork.com/timestamp-279-empress-of-mars/

Timestamp #279: Empress of Mars

Doctor Who: Empress of Mars (1 episode, s10e09, 2017)

Long live the ice queen.

In 2017, the controllers at NASA are watching with bated breath as the space probe Valkyrie approaches Mars. The Doctor, Bill, and Nardole appear in Mission Control as the countdown ends and the first images return. Everyone is perplexed when the first sight of Mars is a message: “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.”

The Doctor tracks the message’s origins to 1881 and takes the TARDIS to Mars to find out how it happened. The Doctor, Bill, and Nardole explore the Martian underground and discover a campfire. Where there’s fire, there’s typically oxygen, so the trio removes their helmets. Bill accidentally falls down a hole to a lower level so the Doctor sends Nardole back to the TARDIS for climbing gear, but the TARDIS inexplicably dematerializes with him onboard.

As the Doctor rushes toward the sound of the departing TARDIS, Bill encounters a man in a primitive spacesuit and the Doctor encounters an Ice Warrior. The Doctor tries a ritual greeting – which seems to work – but is interrupted by a Victorian-era soldier who threatens the Doctor and calls the Ice Warrior Friday. The Doctor and Bill are treated to tea with Colonel Godsacre, Mr. Catchlove, and Friday. There they learn that the humans found the Ice Warrior’s ship in South Africa where they exchanged help in repairing Friday’s ship for rare gems. the Ice Warrior is named in honor of Robinson Crusoe, in which the title character rescues a native man who takes the name and becomes his servant.

The soldiers are mining with a Martian laser, but their efforts have borne no fruit. After tea, the Doctor relates his knowledge of the Ice Warriors to Bill – “They could build a city under the sand, yet drench the snows of Mars with innocent blood. They could slaughter whole civilizations, yet weep at the crushing of a flower.” – and Friday breaks his silence by telling them that he is old and wishes to die in peace. His statement is contrasted by his dexterity as he catches a falling plate with ease.

Nardole tries to pilot the TARDIS back to Mars, but the capsule refuses to budge. Reluctantly, Nardole releases Missy from the vault to help.

The mining crew bickers amongst themselves before finally breaking through to an ornate chamber. Inside lies the tomb of an Ice Warrior queen, and even though the Doctor wants to investigate, the soldiers are blinded by the riches within. They consider Mars part of the British Empire but the Doctor points out that they are the invaders here.

Sure enough, the sentries standing watch at the tomb are assaulted by the queen after they try to plunder the tomb. When they attack her, she dispatches them with ease. Friday arrives as a soldier named Vincey flees, and the Ice Warrior servant reveals that his people have slumbered too long. Mars is dead.

Vincey sounds the alarm and the troops rush into the tomb. The Doctor asks to speak, and Godsacre allows it despite Catchlove’s protests. The Doctor backs Friday’s claims as Queen Iraxxa asks Bill for her opinion. She and the Doctor explain how the humans saved Friday’s life, and even though she wants to fight for honor, the Doctor requests mercy. When one of the soldiers accidentally fires his rifle, the queen says that she’ll show mercy by way of their swift deaths.

The soldiers flee to the Ice Warrior superlaser that they used for mining, but only after Bill’s intervention does a fatal shot end up merely collapsing the tomb entrance. Catchlove takes command from Godsacre, revealing that the colonel suffered a failed execution for desertion and ordering Godsacre, the Doctor, and Bill to be imprisoned in the brig.

While the Doctor and Bill plan their escape from the brig, they obliquely explain themselves to Godsacre. Meanwhile, Catchlove plots an attack but is routed after the Ice Warriors emerge from the soil behind them. Catchlove uses Vincey as a human shield to escape. Friday burrows into the brig and asks the Doctor for help in ending Iraxxa’s madness as she awakens the sleeping warriors at her command.

Now free from the brig, Bill requests to speak to the queen as a distraction while the Doctor implements a plan. Bill pleads with the queen to stay her hand, but Iraxxa refuses. The Doctor aims the superlaser cannon at the cavern roof and threatens to entomb them all in the polar ice above. Catchlove interferes by taking the queen hostage so he can escape the planet. His cowardice is ended by Godsacre when the colonel shoots him.

Godsacre relates his story to the queen and is willing to sacrifice himself to save everyone else. She decides that he will die with honor in battle, but only at her side should he swear allegiance to Mars until his final days. When he does, the battle is done.

The Doctor hotwires the communication system to send a distress call to evacuate the Ice Warriors to a new planet. He is surprised to see that his old friend Alpha Centauri responds to help. The Doctor, Bill, and Godsacre return to the surface and leave the message on the Martian surface as a beacon for the incoming fleet. After that, the Doctor and Bill find the TARDIS as it materializes.

The Doctor is stunned to find Missy and Nardole inside. He’s even more stunned when Missy is compliant instead of defiant.

With the return of the Ice Warriors and the debut of the first female Ice Warrior on screen, we get far more connective tissue to the classic era than we did in Cold War. For one, the Doctor declares that he is an Honorary Guardian of the Tythonian Hive. For another, the Doctor finds yet another group of British explorers on Mars. Finally, we get the return of Alpha Centauri.

The amazing part about this very short character reprisal is that the producers were able to get Ysanne Churchman to voice her again. At the age of 92, she became the oldest actor to appear in the revival era, and her return was kept a secret until the episode’s premiere. In the age of the internet and fans who seek out filming locations to spoil casting and plot elements, I love it when Doctor Who can still keep secrets.

The story itself is a pretty standard exercise in the follies of imperialism and the stereotypical military mindset, both being mainstays of the franchise over the years. It’s not surprising considering that Mark Gatiss wrote this story as well as Victory of the Daleks and Cold War. This marks his final script (to date) for the franchise, but not his final appearance. The episode carries itself well with tense drama and excellent performances. It is a joy to watch.

I’m still curious about the TARDIS and her recent bout of autonomy. I wonder what she’s up to.

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Eaters of Light

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

[rayofsuunshiine]

Is the ketamine plot hole gonna be addressed? Because Dexter used M99 in Miami.

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show notorious for an awful ending comes back from the dead and has an even worse second ending