#dot and bubble review

[esonetwork]

Doctor Who: Dot and Bubble Review | Earth Station Who

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Doctor Who: Dot and Bubble Review | Earth Station Who

In this episode of Earth Station Who, Mike F, Michael G, and Mary are joined by guests Janne McKamey, Alan J. Porter, and Romona Schnitger to dive into the Doctor Who episode “Dot and Bubble,” examining its commentary on social media and the impactful twist ending. They explore the emotional depth, character development, and societal issues presented. The episode’s monsters, psychological horror, and practical effects are also discussed, along with setting details and foreshadowing. Additionally, the panel pays tribute to the late William Russell (Ian) and speculates on Susan’s role in the new series. Tune in now for the excitement and adventure of our review of ‘Dot and Bubble’ exclusively on the Earth Station Who Podcast!

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[itsclydebitches]

Love it when the kinda half-formed observations you make about an episode finally come to the forefront.

Watching the start of "Dot and Bubble": Hmm, everyone in this episode is very... white.

Halfway through: The Doctor certainly continues to stand out, especially in that bright red sweater amongst all the pastels

Lindy freaking out about the Doctor and Ruby being in the same room together: I suppose that could be due to some cultural taboo about interacting in-person when everyone is supposed to communicate via bubble, but that doesn't track with what we've seen of her work day...

The "twist" that the chronically online, all white, super rich, entitled to the point of satire, willing to sacrifice others without hesitation, oh so eager to colonize people living in a literal bubble (TWO bubbles) are *gasp!* actually, devastatingly racist...

Yeah, that's not a twist. That's all deliberately interconnected. The episode didn't suddenly move from an argument about social media use to an argument about racism; the two historically go hand-in-hand.

[ohmerricat]

alright. dot and bubble. here goes

interesting to see a totally unsympathetic “protagonist”, that’s a brand new angle the show has never tried before. ncuti shines — probably the first time fifteen’s Blackness has had a tangible impact on his perception in the world, now that’s a wake-up call for mr. “i’m not even human, just walk like you own the place” in a similar way to what the witchfinders proved to be for thirteen. the doctor’s been moving through the world as a white man for 2000 (?) years of his life, so… the slow laugh of disbelief switching to a yell of pure helpless anguish is a FANTASTIC display of his feelings at that moment, in the face of a complete lack of control he so rarely finds himself in.

on a pacing level, it felt a bit drawn out at times (you have to be doing something wrong for me to say that about a 45-minute episode) like some scenes were just there for filler i.e. ricky bashing the dot with a stick while lindy types the code numbers for a solid two minutes, or that’s how long it felt anyway. maybe my attention span is the problem. the motivation of the slugs and/or dots is… unclear… however i 100% stand behind their radical solution to the issue of this sundown town. #teamslug

[nellie-elizabeth]

Doctor Who: Dot and Bubble (14x05)

Wow, holy shit. This season keeps getting better and better.

Cons:

I really only have one tiny complaint, and it's that I wish the walking thing had been done a little differently? I think, allegorically, the idea that they all need arrows and instruction to be able to walk around when they have their bubbles up all the time is a good idea. Like, often when I'm driving somewhere I should know how to get to on my own, I still pull up the map on my phone just as an extra sense of security, or because I never bothered to fully memorize which side street to turn down or what have you. So it makes sense on that level. But the part where Lindy is literally running into poles and desks and stuff read as a little too ridiculous. I wish it had been a little less literal? Like what if instead of running into stuff, it's that Lindy is overwhelmed by the variety of things she's looking at around her, constantly distracted and overwhelmed, and she needs to mutter instructions to herself in order to force herself to walk, and she still takes the sharp 90 degree turns everywhere because that's what she's used to. And then when faced with a monster right in front of her that's blocking her most natural path towards the exit, she freezes up and can't figure out how to make herself find an alternative route right away. That would work better than the scene where she's literally just running into a pole multiple times.

Pros:

But honestly! What a fucking stunning episode, with one of the best... I guess you could say, "twists", of any Doctor Who episode I can ever remember seeing. I'm not talking about the computers turning on the citizens of Finetime, I'm not talking about the home-world being taken over and not coming back to save everyone. I'm talking about Lindy and the others rejecting the Doctor's help at the end of the episode. That scene is an all time classic, instantly, I just know it.

But first let's back up and talk about Lindy as a character. I think this episode hinges on the way she toes the line the whole episode - you don't understand at first if Lindy is an example of her society, the same as everyone else, or if there's something special about her. Is she an exception to some rule, or just a coincidental POV character? She's terrified, but she tries her best - I was moved by the moments when she realizes how truly helpless she is without the bubble and cries out "I'm so stupid!" You feel a certain sense of connection with her utter helplessness and fear. She's so coddled, so trapped in her bubble, literally, that everything new and scary seems hostile to her.

So... she can be forgiven for not instantly trusting the Doctor and Ruby, right? Right? I mean, they're strangers who came out of nowhere, and she has no idea what's going on. She's just a girl in a socially dystopian scenario where everyone's so addicted to their phones that they've shut out the rest of the world, and she needs help!

That's layer one to what's going on here.

But underneath that layer, you start to notice other things pretty early on. We learn about Finetime, we learn that it's a place that only the most elite people send their children to work. We learn eventually that the very computer program running their lives has started to get sick of them and has decided to exterminate them due to the... inanity, the intolerable repetitiveness, of their pointless, vapid lives. This isn't a situation where everyone in the world is like these people. This is a situation where the wealthiest and most privileged have literally cut themselves off from experiencing anything outside of what they know, and it's a look at the reinforcement of certain beliefs that exist in that society, due to the extreme level of shelter these people are subjected to.

The way that privilege operates within the episode is also subtly and effectively condemnatory to the viewer, or at least to this viewer, in a way that really worked. I did note the whiteness of this world, specifically the white, blonde, stereotypically attractive, thin, able-bodied woman serving as our protagonist. She seemed to represent a type of person; she stands in for a type of ignorance and privilege that we recognize in our own world. But when that moment came at the end where Lindy and the other survivors reject the Doctor's help? You bet your ass I was scouring the background of the scene, searching for any people of color in the shot. I didn't find any. And yeah, it hadn't occurred to me that all the faces we see in Lindy's friend group, all the people we see in this whole world, were white - a white majority is burned into our brains as a default, it's what I, a white person myself, am accustomed to seeing on the screen.

I think the reason the scene at the end is going to stick in people's heads is because it's not a metaphorical bigotry the Doctor suffers in this moment. It's actual, it's in your face. These people aren't "symbolically" bigoted of the Doctor's otherness, they're literally just racists. They're fucking racists. And Lindy never was special - she only lasted as long as she did because her last name starts with a letter later on in the alphabet. She is utterly typical of the people in this world, and this world is a world of white supremacy, and that's all there is to it.

Ncuti Gatwa's performance of outrage and grief was absolutely stunning. I saw one reviewer talk about how it makes sense that the Doctor being Black hasn't been addressed on screen yet, as it would be a pretty wretched look for the show to cast this actor in the role and then have the character immediately suffer racism because of it. But at the same time, it should be addressed in some way, and here's the way in which it finally is. I was also moved by Ruby's silent grief. For the treatment of her friend, but also for the way in which something so evil and stupid and pointless is going to result in all these young people probably dying in the forest, all because they couldn't look past their ingrained prejudices to accept help from someone they deemed their inferior. Gatwa screams and laughs and it's clear that he's feeling so many things, such helplessness and bewilderment and frustration. I don't know how much the show will go into this, but it would be so interesting to have the character reflect on this moment where he realizes something completely arbitrary and out of his control actually has an impact on his ability to do his job well. The character has been a white man a bunch of times in a row, then a white woman, and now a Black man. The mind fuck of having direct evidence of how the world's prejudices work in all ways big and small... what an interesting avenue for the show to explore.

I should also bring up Ricky September, legend, gone too soon from this world, shoulda joined the Doctor and Ruby in the TARDIS and had a threesome with them, tbh. I love what this character represents. At first, he seems like the ultimate symbol of this vapid, image-obsessed, bubbled society, as he's shown mugging the camera singing twinkly little songs and being a sex object for his followers. But then we meet him, and he's a genuinely nice, thoughtful person who does his best to help Lindy. We learn that it's possible to live a life using the bubble for work and then logging off, learning more about the world through history instead of constantly partying and getting caught up in the moment. This story isn't really one about "kids these days on their phones with the TikToks and the blah blah blah." It's more about being entrenched in a loop, stuck with your head in the sand. And Ricky is someone who proves that there is a way to operate outside of that system. He's not necessarily a paragon of anti-racist virtue, but he's a dude who at least has taken some steps to push back against that automatic entrenchment, proving that such a thing can be done, even given the social pressures to sink into the reinforced bubble of prejudice. I also loved Ruby and the Doctor both having a crush on him.

And I love how his character winds up, a turning point where we're starting to realize that Lindy might not actually be redeemable as someone we need to be rooting for. Her sacrifice of her celebrity crush to the killer Dot was brutal, and it feels like such a good appetizer for the final scene of the episode, as the twist comes fully into play.

I think that without that final reveal at the end, this would still have been a good episode of Doctor Who. But with it, it's an all-time great episode. God, I already feel like I want to do a re-watch just to catch more of the build to that moment. I hope that next week we get more time with the Doctor, as we've had two Doctor-lite episodes in a row. But seriously - this season just keeps getting better and better as it goes.

10/10

[an-american-whovian]

• An American Whovian Reviews: 'Dot and Bubble' — by Russell T Davies.

It's the best 'Black Mirror' episode in a long time — by way of the eponymous time wizard. Seriously, every episode has been better than the last.

This was wild and dark. (Pun intended?)

RIP Ricky September — you were a real one.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ outta four stars.

[timeagainreviews]

Just wait until she discovers Tayne

[bartholomeacorsair]

Oh the sadness and anger in his eyes when he almost thought that he saved a "wrong world" and the time wasted that could've been used to save someone worth it 😭😭😭😭😭

[radiantlyrey]

Doctor Who Review: S1/S14E05 - Dot and Bubble

Note: this review is a little all over the place. I tried to cover the important stuff. Please let me know if this comes off as self-centered or whatever. Please.

Something is wrong in the city of Finetime. People are going missing, but the disappearances aren't really noticed. Lindy Pepper-Bean hasn't noticed, and it's only when she's contacted by the Doctor and Ruby Sunday that she begins to peek outside her bubble and find out what's really going on. Slug-like creatures are eating the people of Finetime, and it's up to the Doctor and Ruby to get as many people out as they can before the entire populace is devoured.

SPOILERS (and also discussion of my white cluelessness) AFTER THE CUT

At first blush, “Dot and Bubble” seems to be slightly preachy in tone, exhorting the apparent evils of living in a social media bubble (in this case, a very literal one) and relying on technology to the point that one's self-reliance disappears. From what chatter I've seen online, these parts of the story are meant to be a sort of riff on the usual Black Mirror plot of "technology bad". (Having never watched Black Mirror, I'll have to take the internet's word on this.) It turns out that this is a feint, because the episode is actually about racism.

It's at this part of the review that I have to be frank and honest with you: I did not realize this episode was about racism until I saw people talking about it online afterwards.

I'm white, and I didn't notice that everyone in Finetime was white until someone else pointed it out. And it's funny, because I do usually notice and am pleased when a show or movie I watch is diverse. But as "Dot and Bubble" has revealed to me, I don't usually notice when a show or movie I watch is populated entirely by white people, which means I've got some internal biases I've got examine.

In fact, me not even realizing what this episode was really about until someone else pointed it out says a lot about me. It says that, just like the people of Finetime, I live in a bubble. And I do! I live in a largely white town, and my few friends are white, and I mostly live in this bubble of whiteness and don't question it or try to expand my horizons! I like to think of myself as progressive, and I try my best to not be actively racist--but racism isn't just an activity! It's also, for a lot of people like me, a passivity. I benefit from racism every day as a white person! And I've never really stopped to examine this and what it means for me, nor have I thought about what I've got to change about myself and my thinking in order to let go of these internal biases and prejudices. “Dot and Bubble” called me out very effectively, and it left me with the realization that I have to do better.

And that's what Russell T Davies is trying to say with this story. Lindy and the other people of Finetime live in bubbles that are both literal and figurative--the digital bubble that holds their social media, the actual bubble that protects their city from the "Wild Woods", and the bubble of whiteness that permeates their entire society. On a rewatch, the racism throughout this episode becomes obvious. Lindy reacts with disgust when she first sees the Doctor, and she thinks everything he says to her is condescending. She thinks the Doctor is a different person when he reappears later, saying that she "thought [he] just looked the same". While she's much more lenient with Ruby, Lindy is still aghast when she realizes Ruby and the Doctor are in the same room. This plays into her speech to the Doctor in the final scene, when what has thus far been subtext becomes, all at once, text.

Part of what makes this episode so effective, I think, is in the way that it doesn't overtly focus on the racism. It doesn't make it into A Thing at all. Instead, the script and the visuals lay it out for us without drawing overt attention to it. The racism is there, but the episode waits for the audience to discover it. Compared to how previous episodes of Doctor Who have dealt with (or outright ignored) racism, it's a refreshing strategy, not least because it asks the audience to be aware of how their biases make them perceive things.

Another thing I found interesting about this episode is the way it positions Lindy (portrayed by Callie Cooke in an excellent performance) as the de facto main character of the episode. It uses her position within the narrative to obfuscate the primary theme a little; I know I was more inclined to forgive her shortcomings because of that. At first, Lindy just seems overwhelmed about her situation and maybe in denial that anything is wrong, but as the episode continues, that mask starts to slip a little, and then a lot. We learn that Lindy and the people of Finetime are, in essence, the rich kids of their homeworld, which explains a lot of her general attitude of snobbishness (repeatedly calling Ruby "stupid" for example). But when her Dot loses power and she's on her own, we start to see a little of what she's actually like. She thinks meeting Ricky September makes this the greatest day of her life (even though, as Ricky points out, thousands of people are dying horribly all around them). As the Doctor and Ruby figure out the methodology of the slug creatures, Lindy's overall self-obsession becomes clear. She wails that the creatures are coming after her, rather than realizing that she's just the next person in a very long list of people.

But the final nail in the coffin comes at the episode's climax. Lindy's Dot has gone rogue and is trying to kill her. Ricky fights it off, but it knocks him in the head to slow him down and comes after Lindy. Without hesitation, Lindy tells the Dot that Ricky changed his last name, and that the Dots and their creatures should have killed him much earlier in their alphabetical rampage. While Ricky is summarily killed, Lindy escapes and walks away to freedom. She lies about what happened to Ricky, and that, apparently, is that.

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the final scene. The people who escaped from Finetime have decided to strike out for the wilderness. The Doctor offers to take them to safety in the TARDIS, but Lindy and the others reject him for no other reason than that he's Black, and that's unacceptable to them, and against the "standards of Finetime". Ncuti Gatwa has been a powerhouse thus far this series (excepting "73 Yards", which he was barely in because of prior filming obligations), and his performance in this scene is electric. The Doctor desperately tries to get the Finetime group to come with him, but they walk away, taking their boat down the river. He laughs in disbelief that turns in an instant to anger. He leaves in the TARDIS with tears on his face. He could be mourning the people of Finetime, but it seems more likely to me that he can't believe they care more about maintaining their prejudice and racism than their own survival.

This ending is what cements the greatness of "Dot and Bubble" as an episode. It doesn't end happily. There is no fanfare of success. The Doctor couldn't save the people of Finetime from their intolerance. It's a bit of a bummer, but it needs to be to drive home the primary theme. Racism is insidious, but it's also a choice, and people like me have to choose to be better if we're all going to survive.

[dwimpossblog]

Dot and Bubble - Spoiler-Free review

When Lindy's friends start disappearing, a mysterious Doctor and his companion start appearing in Lindy's social media! Our spoiler-free review of Dot and Bubble is here! #DoctorWho #DrWho #NcutiGatwa #FifteenthDoctor #SpoilerFree #DotAndBubble

This review is a spoiler-free review of Dot and Bubble. The spoiler-filled review will drop after the BBC One broadcast on Saturday night. Dot and Bubble is definitely a story that feels as though it would not be out of place in Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror as it gives us a very dystopian view of a future dominated by technology, in this case, the titular Dot and Bubble system. This is…

[geekpopnews]

Review | Doctor Who: Ponto e Bolha (Dot and Bubble)

Chegamos ao 5º episódio de Doctor Who, "Ponto e Bolha" (Dot and Bubble), e com certeza temos outro ótimo e impactante episódio. #DoctorWho #NcutiGatwa #DisneyPlus

Chegamos ao quinto episódio de Doctor Who, “Ponto e Bolha (Dot and Bubble)”, e assim alcançamos a reta final da primeira temporada do 15º Doutor. A série vem se tornando um enorme sucesso de público e ao mesmo tempo trabalhando com temas que agregam ao canône do universo whovian. Vamos iniciar a review destacando a ausência do Doutor na maior parte de dois episódios consecutivos desta 2ª Nova…

[bleghxy]

GL Manga Recs:

Summary: Mizuno, the daughter of a mayoral candidate, is desperate to escape the suffocating pressure and scrutiny of smalltown life. Chayama, the heiress of the tea company Chayama-en, is adamantly walking down the path laid out for her, despite being forced to atone for her family’s apparent misdeeds. Yet in the bubble of the school’s third floor guidance counseling room-away from rumors, watchful eyes, and their feuding families-they’re simply Mizuno and Chayama, two teenagers who find comfort and hope in each other. But when the outside world tries to tear them apart, the two must find a way to protect their relationship and, more importantly, themselves…

Review: This was such a good read!!! They live in a hell hole and basically find solace in each other and it's just so good. I recommend this a lot! Do look up the trigger warnings for this.

Status: Completed

Yuki and the Authoress by Yuu Nagori

Summary: Young cafe worker Yuki dreams of romance and a life far more wonderful than her own, but has no way to do anything but hope for the future – but a chance encounter with the beautiful, mysterious authoress Azuma Beniko, a woman who seems to know love like the back of her hand, might change the very way she looks at the world…

Review: They're so cutee!!! I genuinely wish it didn't get rushed near the end but I still liked it a lot.

Status: Completed

This Monster Wants to Eat Me by Naekawa Sai

Summary: “I’ve come to eat you.” So softly utters the mermaid Shiori as she emerges from the sea and takes high school girl Hinako by the hand. Hinako lives alone in a town by the sea and possesses an unusually delicious body that is irresistible to nearby monsters. To ensure that she matures to the best condition, Shiori seeks to protect Hinako—all so that someday, she can devour every piece of her. What will become of Hinako’s feelings as this looming unjust death closes in on her…?

Review: I have so many thoughts about this manga! It's doomed yuri and has horror elements! The characters are also very well written! I highly recommend this! However I do recommend looking up the trigger warnings before reading this.

Status: Ongoing

If We Leave on the Dot by Ayu Inui

Summary: Yukawa comes into the office and always hangs up her coat on the rack; most others just sling it over their chairs. That may be because Yukawa is proper, but maybe because she loves receiving handwritten notes from her coworker Mizuki. Until recently, Yukawa only knew Mizuki and her sweet vanilla scent from afar, but one day she was able to befriend her after a mix up with their coats. Since then, Mizuki communicates with Yukawa and asks her to go out after work via pen, paper, and coat. They never make plans ahead of time, nor do they even know each other's phone numbers. As Yukawa navigates her feelings and learns more about Mizuki, will their relationship blossom into more than whatever it is right now?

Review: This was soo adorable! It's an office GL. It's very wholesome. They communicate a whole lot and they start dating very early on so there's lots of dating content!

Status: Completed

Kurai Mori, Shiroi Michi by Chiyu Yoshida

Summary: In a small, lonely country town, a depressed young woman has a bittersweet encounter with a blind girl.

Review: This felt very incomplete. I wish it had more of a better epilogue but it was still a good read.

Status: Completed

Mizuiro Cinema by Hiyori Otsu

Status: Completed

Summary: Aqua Blue Cinema is about an actress and a girl she meets through unusual circumstances.

Review: A very cute read!

If you want more GL recs:

[betaorionis-fr]

I spent a good amount of hours working on this trip/advisor mimicking dragon bio template. link to my f2u asset thread, there's an auto-coding google sheet linked from there.

detailed image description under the cut.

[image: a screenshot or part of a dragon bio made to mimic a website. the header reads from left to right Tripadvisory, "Where to?" in brackets to resemble a search bar, Discover, Trips, Review, gem emoji, Gems, Sign in in square brackets. the line below reads Singers Cliff, Hotels (underlined and bolded), Things to Do, Restaurants, Flight routes, Travel stories, and then a kebab menu (three dots spanning a horizontal line). the next line, between two divs, reads: Windswept Plateau > Singer's Brook > Singer's Cliff. beneath that, in large bold text is the title "The Windflower Inn" - flush to the right on the same line is an @ symbol and a heart symbol. below the title are three more lines of text. the first begins with four green star symbols and a green dot then it sats 10 reviews | #1 of 8 small inns in Singer's Cliff. line 2 is an address, and line 3 is a speech bubble emoji and the text: Write a review. right aligned text reads (check availability). at the bottom of the screenshot are four images, a large one to the left, and three smaller ones to the right. the first, large, image is of a winding dirt and stone path leading through a garden to a cottage; the topmost small image shows a warmly lit tavern table with a plate of bread; the middle small image shows part of a bookshelf, and the lowermost small image shows a blue rug with a fancy light blue design on it. /end id.]

[liillyliilly]

Shirts To Victory

sawamura daichi x reader words; 2504 synopsis; trading shirts with you so you can take your test never ended up feeling so good

Sawamura Daichi is mature.

Sawamura Daichi is responsible.

And most importantly, Sawamura Daichi is caring.

She, however, lacked a lot of those things. Especially the whole being a responsible person thing. And that’s how she got into her current situation.

The thing about Karasuno is that to be honest, Karasuno’s academic expectations were a bit strict.

You have to wear your uniform when taking tests. And she had a natural hatred against the uniform. And she was just naturally forgetful. So, when the testing season comes around she ends up in a predicament.

The class was clearing out, and Daichi sat at his desk, reviewing some volleyball notes since he had a free period next class.

“Hey, Daichi.” She had a few classes with the brown-haired volleyball captain. Naturally, she became acquaintances with the boy.

“Oh, hi.” Daichi has never been one to be flustered, especially with the pressure of having to stay calm as a captain.

Something about her made him feel all bubbly inside. Like the way Nishinoya acted when he received a difficult serve. Or how Suga felt when he was called in to be the setter. His feeling was likely the same as Hinata’s when he could finally land a quick attack.

“So, I’ve got an important question for you.” She pondered if Daichi would care to even listen to her. She was never truly close with him, but his demeanor comforted her. She is sure that he also made other people feel that way.

“I might just have an answer.” Daichi shifted his body to face her. That’s when he noticed it. She wasn’t wearing the uniform, she was wearing a pair of black slacks and an oversized lilac blouse.

The bell rang out for students to head to their next class. At the sound, she turned visibly distressed. She set her hands on Daichi’s shoulders, forcing him to make eye contact with her. Daichi swallowed thickly, he had never been this close to her before and it was making his body burst spots of heat dotting up his neck.

“Quick! Switch shirts with me so I can take my test!”

Daichi swore he could just faint.

“You want me, to-to switch shirts, wi-with you?” Daichi choked out. The words felt like peanut butter in his mouth, sticking to his teeth.

“Yes. And my math test is starting soon. So well, strip.” She felt her face heat up. Maybe asking Daichi to help her with something like this would finally overtake tripping her toddler cousin as the worst experience of her life.

“Oka-okay.” Daichi stood up and reached behind him to tug on the collar of his shirt. She quickly turned around, covering her face with her hand.

“Here.” Daichi slid his black shirt off and onto the desk. Crossing his arms, he turned around so she could take off her shirt.

Soon, she was sitting in her math class wearing a large shirt that smelt strongly of volleyball and evergreen. And she knew that Sawamura Daichi would never be getting this uniform shirt back unless he happened to try and pry it from her cold dead hands.

Daichi sat wearing the tight purple blouse and covering his face in embarrassment. At least he was alone in the classroom.

Sugawara was looking for his best friend, and after looking around the gym, he figured his best bet was to go to Daichi’s class. And when he saw his best friend in the blouse he just knew that this was a prime example of the lengths he would go to.

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Daichi, where’d you get the shirt? I might want one of my own.” Suga tapped his chin with his pointer finger.

“Stop it.” Daichi turned and faced his best friend. “I’m doing a favor.”

“The things you do for love.” Daichi shrugged.

When school was over, Daichi and his shirt thief met in his classroom.

“Thanks, for everything. I mean it.” She picked at the rim of the shirt, “Most people wouldn’t even think of doing that.”

Daichi put a hand behind his head, messing his hair up. But she still thought he looked great.

“Well, I guess I’m not most people then. Because I would do it all over again.”

“Really?”

“One hundred percent.”

“Do you want your shirt back?” She offered, feeling slightly upset at losing the piece of Daichi she had grown attached to.

“I have plenty of others. You can keep that one.“ Daichi cringed, realizing just words made him sound like he didn’t want back something she had touched. “Unless you don’t want it that is.”

“Oh, I want this shirt. Daichi, you can keep my blouse. I was meaning to get rid of it anyway.”

“I think I look pretty good, Purple is kinda my color, don’t ya think?”

The pair laughed and kept joking about the situation until Daichi had to go to practice.

Wearing the blouse.

And she walked home with a couple of her friends.

Wearing the uniform top.

“Hinata, how much of that did you see?” Daichi rubbed his eyelids in exasperation.

Hinata always managed to be in the wrong place at just the wrong time. He had seen the shirt exchange and heard the conversation post-shirt exchange.

“Well, um, I honestly didn’t mean to listen in on your conversation with that girl. I just wanted you to give me a few critiques on how to improve my defense.” Hinata jumped up and down trying to explain his side of the story.

“Hinata. I will not hesitate to tell Kageyama not to throw you any more balls.”

Hinata saluted Daichi and marched off to where Kageyama was warming up.

Daichi smiled to himself, looking down at the blouse before changing into his jersey. Carefully folding the blouse he put it into his sports duffel bag.

“Okay! Let’s get started!” Daichi clapped his hands bringing all attention to him.

That wasn’t quite the end of his time with her. Kiyoko made sure of that. She had had enough of Daichi retelling the same story about her friend, she ended up cleverly crafting a solution. At least this way, there would be a new story to hear.

She honestly didn’t know what compelled her to accept Kiyoko’s offer. It was her massive crush on Sawamura Daichi doing all the talking and agreeing.

“Wait? You want to go, in place of me, with Daichi to the sports festival?” Kiyoko hesitantly holds out the packet to be filled out for the Festival Participants. (Kiyoko contemplated her potential in taking an acting class.)

“Yeah, sure! What’s the worst that could happen?” She gave a toothy grin and happily took the packet from Kiyoko.

“I would have Yachi go, but she promised to help Hinata and Kageyama study. And I’m busy trying to get some documents filed away for the Volleyball Club’s next training camp.” Kiyoko lets out a sigh but quickly recomposes herself.

“The sports festival can’t be that bad! All the captains go with their oldest manager and compete in games for a fundraiser, simple as that.” She felt confident in her ability to do the games. They were straightforward and made her want to participate instead of just watching them happen.

“As simple as it seems, I’m just letting you know now, Daichi has a fierce passion for victory.” Kiyoko shivered and then shook her head, “It is unparalleled. So you might want to start conditioning yourself sooner rather than later.”

After bidding the gorgeous girl farewell, she went home.

She inspected her teeth in the mirror, before speaking the words that had been rumbling around in her brain. “Daichi can’t be that bad. Can he?” Scratching her head, and putting the matter to the side.

When the month had finally passed, it was now the day of the official Karasuno Sports Festival Fundraiser.

She had worn what Kiyoko had given her, a simple t-shirt with Volleyball printed on the back in a bold font, and a pair of orange shorts with black stripes down the sides. Pulling her hair up, someone tapped her shoulder.

Sawamura Daichi. Volleyball Captain. Perfect male specimen. And of course, the only boy to ever grasp her attention for longer than a week.

“Nice to see you again Daichi.” She shook the hand that he outstretched for her.

“When Kiyoko told me that you were going to be taking her place, I was pretty excited.” Daichi admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“When Kiyoko asked me to take her place I was excited too! I’ve always wanted to be in the Sports Festival, but it just never worked out.”

“Well, I earnestly hope you and I can properly represent the Volleyball club.” Daichi began to stretch, she mimicked his motions.

To be frank, she was glad that the boy's outfits were what they were. A t-shirt with sleeves stopping at the end of the shoulder, and shorts cropped at the mid-thigh.

If Daichi was being frank, he was worried. He kept thinking about the conversation he had with Kiyoko a month ago.

“Are you sure this will work?” Daichi didn’t plan on Kiyoko taking it upon herself to get him alone with his shirt thief.

“Of course it will. She is undeniably the most helpful girl I know. She wouldn’t hesitate to take my spot.” Kiyoko kept sweeping the gym floor as Daichi paced back and forth in front of the entrance. The cold morning air slightly relaxed him.

“But won’t she get curious about Yachi not taking your place, I mean if you can’t go, it would make the most sense for Yachi to go instead?”

“I got it covered. Daichi, you got this. Just don’t overwhelm her. A fundraiser has the word ‘fun’ in it after all.”

“Who told you that one?” He knew full well that Tanaka had been saying lines like that all week.

“It doesn’t matter. Just, wait. You have a month to memorize any icebreakers that you want to use. She’s an easygoing person, just have a good time.” Kiyoko explained. She thought that Daichi was going to accidentally drive himself insane from all the thinking he was doing.

“So, what’s your favorite color?” Daichi offered as the pair started walking to the first event.

“Let me think.” She tapped her chin before raising her finger into the air to imitate a lightbulb moment. “Black. And you?”

“Oh, definitely black.” Daichi had asked for conversational advice from Suga, who said that Daichi should try and find a lot of common ground between the two.

“Really? That’s cool! We have the same favorite color.” She felt relieved that Daichi was trying to keep talking to her, even if it seemed choppy and somehow memorized.

“First event, three-legged race. We just have to stay in front of the track team. Got it?” Daichi picked up the rope from the equipment table.

“The track team? Aren’t they supposed to be fast? Because it’s, well, it’s the track team.” She pouted and wrung her fingers in nervous excitement.

“Sure they’re fast, but they probably aren’t as good at communication. We are.” Daichi explained while tying the rope onto his right leg and her left leg.

The pairs had begun lining up at the starting line. The red track looped around the soccer field, and they needed to run one lap. She thought back on all the times she made excuses in gym class to get out of running the mile. Maybe she should’ve done conditioning like Kiyoko suggested.

They won the three-legged race.

And they just kept winning things.

The egg toss, (Daichi named the egg, and she kept it in her bag for the entire festival.)

The paintball competition, (When they had won Daichi hugged her and lifted her up into the air. After realizing this, he turned red. But she took a paintball and broke it, painting her cheeks with two stripes of orange, then doing the same to Daichi.)

The speed eating, (As it turns out Daichi was allergic to the type of pancake flour used, but he still was able to beat out the wrestling team. She got to use an EpiPen for the first time on another person. It was a bad decision for him to eat the pancakes. “But hey! We still won”, Daichi had exclaimed.)

Throughout the day, Daichi found it easier to hold a conversation with her. And even though Kiyoko had warned her about his scary determination to win, she found it completely adorable. Especially when they won a game and Daichi let out a loud “Yes!” and pumped his fists.

At the end of the day, it was a victory for everyone involved.

The principal started a dramatic drumroll to announce the winner.

Daichi had reached out and gripped her hand tightly. The sounds of people hitting their hands make a rumbling drumroll blocking out any other noise.

“Are you nervous we won’t win?” She asked because that seemed to be the only reason why Daichi would be holding her hand. She could feel the calluses from receiving volleyballs against her hand. She tried her best to get her voice loud enough so that Daichi could hear her amongst the drumrolls.

“Nope. I know we’re going to win. I just wanted to hold your hand.” Daichi gave her a blinding smile. The kind that made the rain stop falling, the sun shine more brightly, and the kind to make her fall harder than before.

“Volleyball Club!”

The crowd burst into applause, and Daichi could see his team going crazy in the stands.

Nishinoya had started jumping up on Tanaka’s shoulders. Asahi was crying. Suga was doing an encouraging dance with Ennoshita and Yamaguchi. Even Tsukishima had an upturned smirk.

When the field was cleared out, they sat in the middle of the field basking in the sunset. Daichi had offered to walk her home earlier, but she had insisted on them watching the sunset.

The way the sun faded from view, painting the sky in streaks of reds, oranges, and yellows, then blending into purples and blues, was the way that Daichi felt. The colors mixed so perfectly and satisfyingly that he wanted to sit there forever with her next to him.

“Daichi.”

“Yeah?”

“I am aching.” She moved her arms like they were noddles, earning a low laugh in return.

“Me too.”

“Daichi. Do you think it was a bad decision that I ended up being at the sports festival with you and not Kiyoko?” She didn’t want to bring down the mood with her negativity, but she wanted to know the truth. If Kiyoko would’ve been a better partner than her. Even though the answer might hurt her, she wanted to know.

“I have made a lot of bad decisions today, but spending my time with you was not one of them,” Daichi confessed. And in one quick motion, he took hold of her hand once again. And he swore he wouldn’t ever let go.

[pluralzalpha]

There's a question surrounding the arseholes people of Finetime in "Dot and Bubble," and whether or not they're actually human or some kind of parallel alien society. I discussed this at the end of my review but here's my thoughts:

Firstly, they have human, indeed western first names, and their surnames are similarly western or are unusual combinations of English words. They use the Latin alphabet and have a society that appears to be an extension of how our own is developing. However, there's no mention of Earth - which might be the Homeworld but this seems unlikely - and when one of the colonists is dragged off by a slug, they appear to leave a trail of blue blood. It might be slug slime, but it isn't really presented that way.

So, if they're not human, they have developed in a way that parallels humanity remarkably closely, to the point where they've duplicated "Itsy-Bitsy Teeny-Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini." More likely, they are human, and the blue blood can be explained away by their having mixed with an alien race at some point, something we know is common in the future. This would make their desire for "racial purity" particularly ironic.

While the social media technology has a near future feel, the overall atmosphere of the story is more like the New Earth era, which might mesh with the mention of a year as Five-Dash-Five. However, both the mingling with other species and the resurgance in racism fit with the 51st to 52nd centuries, the latter being the origin of Krasko in "Rosa."

My conclusion: a human society with some alien interbreeding in the past, 6th millennium AD.

[roxannepolice]

The thing about Ricky September rising to the top of the chart as the most controversial aspect of Dot and Bubble is interesting, because... welp, as many people have pointed out, he's the surface level white twinky manic pixie nuwho Doctor at their most op on steroids. I've seen people comparing him to s6 Eleven specifically, but the offhand remarks about how much he knows, the interest in history, and most importantly, the proper introduction as the handsome guy who leads our protagonist away from cheap looking monsters and then runs hand in hand with her... that's Rose, the episode. The reason people took a liking to him is because he literally echoes the main character of the show we're watching. He's the Doctor doll in this sci fi dollhouse. That's why it's so shocking when Lindy uses him as cannon fodder.

So the fact that he's no less racist than everyone else in Finetime fits into the general concept of this episode as unpacking the naturalised racism of Shakespeare's Tempest/Forbidden Planet sf conventions, that Doctor Who, and the Doctor themself has been guilty of (welp this is what you get for thinking it's a good idea to turn a brown guy over to WWII villains or not filtering for racism when you random generate a time and space you will hide in with a black companion - you watch aryan bubble folks go to their deaths you bent ass over tits to prevent; not for many people this would have been karma doing its job, but for the Doctor it is).

But I don't think... the show wants us to hate itself, or its main character. Like, there are reviewers clutching their pearls over another cult text getting written by people who hate it, but. criticism isn't hatred, it's often an expression of love, and perhaps one of the highest forms of self-love. Which is why it caught my attention Ncuti Gatwa looks extra-doctorish in the last scene. Yes, clothes are surface, but in a visual medium they're a message too. Fifteen has been the most clothes changing Doctor we've seen so far, and he spends most of the episode in a more everyday casual shirt, but he dons the extravagant yet stylish tartan knee length suit for the end. And he does a Speech(tm), too, and helpless shouting, and finally a stern face (which ironically enough reminded me of fury of a Time Lord Ten). And like, he's not ignorant of why Finetimers look at him this way. They always knew, just never were on the practical not abstract side of the deal.

So Ricky the Doctor Doll works not only as a meta textual self reflexive parody, but also a contrast. Not so much as a "but see, this show, or even this era is not like other girls" masturbation, but more as a reflection on what makes this protagonist who they are. Yes, maybe s6 Eleven was op-ed too much, but that's not what made any Doctor, including this one, who they are. From this perspective the concept that Ricky would not have helped anyone from outside the in-group is... ironic considering how much of a separate chaff from grain sentiment there comes about in response to the Doctor's radical - and often pragmatically wrong! - kindness. Yes, the rationales for when they "should" be less merciful are more solid than skin colour, but I think this element of "this guy is what you WANT the Doctor to be, and not just visually" is there. Can't help thinking of how the destruction of Gallifrey - both in s1 and s12 - gets hailed as "yes, that's what the show is telling us is the RIGHT thing to do, just in general, not to prevent a specific outcome!". Meanwhile Fifteen keeps calling it genocide and remains wistful.

[kris-py-president]

(Dot and bubble Review)

HO. LY. SHIT.

Ok you guys know how I said I loved Boom, and I loved 73 yards? Yeah no they pale in comparison to Dot and bubble. That was just. Just.

Like I get that we didnt have any big lore drops or anything but I think that's part of what made it so good? We got a little taste of Susan Twist, and then nothing. The rest of the episode was just ✨️the episode✨️.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love it when the doctor is angry. And the laughing that turned into anger was the icing on the cake for me. Because 14 tries to be so happy and carefree and relaxed. But underneath that facade, he's still that same broken Lil guy (gender neutral) that we love so much.

I also love how I can totally see this world happening. It's so futuristic and yet SO close to our current reality that it feels very believable. Part of it was the slang that was used during the episode. It all felt natural, not like some writers made up some silly words.

GAAhhhh and it made me FEEL THINGS. The anger. The betrayal. I caught myself going "wtf is wrong with these people" and then realizing that I DO SOME OF THAT SHIT. It made me want to go sit in a creek and listen to birds like I used to when I was a kid, before I got a phone.