#dr who does this well with regeneration

[limelocked]

"oh i wish there was something like dr who thats not dr who, same exact type of silly loner walks into plot and solves peoples problems in exceedingly weird setting" i say to myself, debating yet another new who rewatch

but wait

two cakes

i could write that

[unexpectederawhilesubmitting]

WARNING: DOCTOR WHO SPOILERS EXPLAINING REGENERATION SHENANIGANS

-------------------

okay so I was kind of not on board with the concept of bi-regeneration, mainly because of how it seemed like all of the Sad and the Trauma that the Doctor had undergone got kind of handwaved away? i'm all for ncuti's Doctor being sort of a fresh start/jumping on point for new viewers, but i didn't get how that could work if like, literally 40 minutes ago he was David Tennant being a sad wet puppy dog of a man

however, after rewatching it, i've realized what i think happened there, and it goes all the way back to something introduced with the 4th doctor's regeneration that was never explained: the Watcher

^this spooky guy

so, for those that don't know (or haven't seen every episode of a show that is over half a century old), the Fourth Doctor regenerates at the end of a story called Logopolis (he falls off a satellite dish, but that's not important right now). all throughout the episode, this weird figure, The Watcher, stands off in the distance, and even intervenes slightly by saving the Fourth Doctor's companion. there's not much given in the way of an explanation until the Fourth Doctor regenerates, saying "it's the end. but the moment has been prepared for..."

the watcher walks up, and gets absorbed in a super rad 1980's digital effect (never change doctor who), while his companion just gives us the not-super-helpful-for-lore statement "He was the Doctor all the time!"

then, in a crossfade, the Doctor goes from Four to weird-powder-man to Five

canonically, the Watcher is explained as a future version of the doctor that comes about in sort of a weird overlapping thing with the doctor's timeline, it's very wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey.

-------------------------

SO what does this have to do with biregeneration and satisfying character arcs/moving on from trauma?

Well, remember, Fifteen said this, about Time Lords doing rehab out of order:

so, here's the thing: Fifteen is the Doctor AFTER Fourteen (duh, I know?) But to be clear...Fourteen lives out an entire lifetime with Donna and family, gets to a ripe old age, and then, when his lifetime of healing is over, he gets yeeted back through his own timestream just to zoot himself out of David Tennant's chest.

Remember, his first words to Fourteen (after popping out of his chest) are "So good to see you! So good!", not the RTD classic "what?". He greets himself like he's almost expecting this, he then says "does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" which only makes sense if he's coming from a different point in his own timestream (remember, when two doctors interact, memory gets really weird, 10 and the War Doctor don't remember the events of Day of the Doctor until they live through them as 11).

SO TO BE CLEAR: Ncuti Gatwa is playing the Doctor AFTER he has spent years healing from his traumas. His Doctor is fine because Fourteen takes the time to rest and work on himself.

tl;dr: I didn't like biregeneration at first because I thought it looked like this:

In actuality, it looks more like this:

[doomsayersunited]

A Decade Of Doom!

I started this blog ten years ago to compile the growing evidence that our planet would not longer be able to sustain human life by 2050, thanks to our continued, capitalist-fueled efforts to destroy all the systems we rely upon to sustain life. The first thing I put up here was this essay, on February 20, 2014. Now, a decade later, I thought it might be "fun" to look at what's changed: 1) Earth Overshoot Day

In 2014, "Earth Overshoot Day" (the day that humanity collectively consumes more resources from nature than it can regenerate over a year) was August 19th. Now, in 2024, Earth Overshoot Day is August 1st, 2.5 weeks earlier. At this rate and assuming things don't accelerate (even though they are likely to), Earth Overshoot Day will be around June 17th by 2050. 2) Biocapacity Biocapacity is the amount of resources contained on the planet required available to sustain life, measured by area. In 2014, I calculated that the planet had a biocapacity of 1.7 hectares per person. By dividing the total available biocapacity today in 2024 with the current global population as I did then, it now appears that there are just 1.5 hectares of planetary resources left per person to extract all the materials needed to sustain life, as well as all the area available to dispose of waste. That's a 12% loss over ten years. At that rate, we can expect to lose another 30% of biocapacity by 2050, going down to just 1.05 hectares per person by then, and that's assuming that the rate of biocapacity loss does not accelerate further and that the global population suddenly stops increasing after a run of non-stop increases spanning five centuries. Oh, also a reminder that the average human requires 2.7 hectares of land to sustain its current consumption habits/levels. So. 3) Individual Conservation To illustrate the futility of individual conservation at this point in the apocalypse, let me give you an example: If you were: a fully-vegan localvore living in a one-bedroom apartment with nine other people and using 100% renewably-generated electricity; who did not ever use motorized transportation of any kind or buy new clothing, furnishings, electronics, books, magazines, or newspapers and recycled all the waste you generated that was recyclable, you'd only require 1.4 hectares of biocapacity to sustain yourself. That is close to the kind of lifestyle extremism it would take to live sustainably. Deviate from that level of stoicism even slightly (say by living in a two-bedroom apartment with three other people instead of a one-bedroom apartment with nine other people and taking a single, four-hour roundtrip flight, once a year) and you're now consuming 1.6 hectares of biocapacity, which means you're using more resources than the world has available for you if everything was divided evenly among everybody. Of course, biocapacity, like all resources, are not divvied up evenly among everybody, which is why there are currently 114 different armed conflicts happening worldwide - the highest number of armed conflicts since 1946. 2023 was the most violent year in the last three decades. 4) Other Signs Of The End Times In my 2014 essay, I referenced the work of geologist Dr. Evan Fraser, who studies civilization collapse. In his book Empires of Food, Dr. Fraser noted common signs of a civilization about to collapse, which began to appear about two decades before it all goes completely to hell. Those signs were: -a rapidly-increasing and rapidly-urbanizing population We've added 700 million people to the planet since I began this blog in 2014. And where is everyone moving to?

-farmers increasingly specializing in just a small number of crops " "As farm ecosystems have been simplified, so too are the organisms that populate the farm.  A farm that specializes in a limited number of crops in short rotations does not, for example, look for plant varieties that do well in more complex rotations with intercropping.  A beef feedlot operation wants breeds that gain weight quickly on grain diets and does not want cattle breeds that digest well pasture grasses and thrive in all year outdoor environments on the range." The result? Recent estimates put the loss of global food diversity over the last 100 years at 75%. Over the 300,000 species of edible plants that exist, humans only consume about 200 of them in notable quantities, with 90% of crop plants not being grown commercially. -endemic soil erosion Climate change and the need to raise more crops have combined to increase the rate of agricultural soil erosion globally. Back in 2014, when I started blogging about the end of everything, the UN had already determined that there was only enough fertile soil left to plant 60 more annual crops. So, by 2074, we won't be able to grow food, full stop. This of course comes at a time when the global population continues to increase, and with it the need to grow more food. If projections are accurate, we will need to increase food production by 50% over the next three decades to feed everyone. -a dramatic increase in the cost of food and raw materials When I started this blog in 2014, I noted that 2011-2013 had seen the highest food prices on record. So what's happened since then?

It's important to point out here that the current food price spike started in 2020, so if Dr. Fraser's calculations are correct, the food system will collapse sometime around 2034, taking civilization with it. I closed my debut essay on this blog with a quote from the (now deceased) climate scientist Dr. James Lovelock, who advised a Guardian journalist to "enjoy life while you can. Because if you're lucky it's going to be 20 years before it hits the fan." That interview was published in 2008. We have four years left to enjoy.

[spacebarbarianweird]

I Want to See the Sea of Fallen Stars

Summary: The events of the game through the eyes of Tiriel and Astarion

Pairing: Astarion x OC (Tiriel)

Thanks @themadlu for beta-reading!

Read on AO3

Masterlist

Headcanons

It hurts.

It always does.

His wrists are chained to the wall. Astarion’s bones are broken, and his flesh is flayed. From the little he can see through the piercing pain, there is no skin left on his body. 

Slowly, it starts regenerating—if he were allowed to feed, it would have happened much sooner, but the master has decided to make Astarion dance on the verge of madness. Whenever the blissful insanity is ready to take away his reason and mind, Cazador gives his favorite spawn a droplet of blood squeezed from a flea. 

It’s never going to end, is it?

Two centuries. Astarion counted. It’s 1492 DR. The world has changed within those years but nothing ever changes in the vampiric mansion. It’s always the same.

Always.

There was a time when Astarion prayed. He prayed to the elven gods, the powerful Seladrine. He prayed to the human gods, merciful and accepting.

Gods never hear. They especially don't hear the undead. Once Astarion was put into his grave, the gods forgot about him.

There was a time when Astarion hoped a savior would come. Faerun is the land of adventurers and heroes! How come none of them wants to challenge a vampire lord? 

There was a time when Astarion hoped there was a hero to get him out of this. Whatever his sins were, he paid for them fully. Why does he keep being tortured, raped, humiliated, beaten? 

He can’t even find peace in his sleep like other spawns! He is doomed to get into reverie and relive these tortures.

Over and over again.

Cazador orders Gaudey to unchain Astarion and he falls onto the dirty stone floor, shivering and weeping.

Cazador laughs and Astarion wishes for a final death.

**

“More ale!” Tiriel the Barbarian bellows. The people in the tavern cheer—and her pain sinks to the bottom of the mug.

By the time the tavern closes, Tiriel the Barbarian is completely wasted.

Well, such is her life. And it will always be, until she meets a monster who will finish her.

She just doesn’t belong.

She isn't human. Her family tried to kill her and she hopes they all die of some fever. She isn’t an elf—she learned it the hard way by encountering hostility from the Tel’Quessira. The groups of adventurers see her only as a means to an end. Someone who can do the dirty and dangerous job,the one who rushes first into a fight. 

People like her waste their money on prostitutes, paying for the bits of warmth they are deprived of. But the very thought of undressing in front of a stranger makes her sick.

Thirty-six-year-old, Tiriel bitterly thinks. No home. No friends. No purpose. It’s probably her fault because she has never let anyone close—the last man who approached her ended up with a broken skull.

She never fits in. And she never will.

Tiriel needs more ale to numb those thoughts.

And she needs another job.

Her innate wanderlust calls upon her, making the very idea of staying in a comfy inn sickening.

The notice board is pathetically empty. Seems like other adventurers have taken everything decent.

“Looking for a job?” a halfling waitress calls her out. 

“Yes. Do you have any?”

“My asshole of a cousin needs a fighter to accompany his caravan to Westgate. If you aren’t afraid of spending half a year on the road, he will pay you decently.”

“Is it on the shores of the Sea of Fallen Stars?” Tiriel asks to draw a map in her mind. It’s indeed far away from that wretched town—but gods! She will finally see the sea! Not a lake, not a river! The sea!

“Indeed. So, do you agree or not?”

“Yes! Of course, I agree! This ax is hungry for blood! When are we leaving?”

“In the morning. Well, I have something more for you—and if I were you, I would choose this,” the halfling leans on the bar table. “I have a friend in Baldur’s Gate,he owns a ship that traverses along the Sword Coast. It will take you three weeks to get there—just tell him I sent you, and he will hire you. Trust me, woman, six months in the company of my asshead of a cousin aren’t worth it. And adventurers can make a fortune in Baldur’s Gate.”

“And what if your friend doesn’t hire me? Or there is no friend?”

“Then you will have another rewarding job in the blink of an eye. And you can always return here and trash my tavern. Anyway the choice is yours.”

Tiriel grins.

“Well, the night is young! Bring me more ale!”

**

The mindflayer pod lets Astarion go and he collapses on a floor that resembles living flesh.

The master will torment him for his disappearance. He must get back, he must return!

Astarion presses his legs to the chest.

Is it a fucking spelljammer he is inside? The astral ships from the Wildspace? Aren't they just a story? A work of fiction?

He manages to stand up. He sees people locked in the capsules being slowly turned into disgusting mindflayers. 

He needs to get out of here. Now!

Astarion looks out - he can't be the only one to be “not transformed”. There must be others. 

“FUCK!”

A loud female voice echoes through the ship. 

“FUCK! I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE GONE TO WESTGATE! BUT NO, I NEEDED TO GO TO THAT WRETCHED CITY!”

Astarion carefully looks behind the corner. He doesn’t want to show himself yet.

It’s a half-elven woman with a two-handed ax. She holds it with a very clear message on her face, “I will turn you inside out if you dare to approach me.”

She is beautiful.

This thought invades Astarion’s thoughts. He never paid too much attention to the people he wanted to seduce. And he is sure he slept with much more gorgeous females.

But this one…

This one is a vision.

**

Tiriel could have easily gotten up from the ground but, for some reason, she doesn’t want to. The man who holds a dagger at her is weirdly handsome and she is sure she’s never met anyone like him.

Astarion.

Such a beautiful name.

And he doesn't resemble those elves she’s met before. There is sadness in his eyes, fear, desperation. He looks like a person who has been imprisoned for years and forgotten anything but how to survive.

And these curls of his.They must be so soft.

Tiriel has never felt anything like this—but she thinks she is in love.

**

Astarion feels like a bloody fool.

All his thoughts are occupied with Tiriel. How she laughs, how she talks. Whenever he closes his eyes he relives that night in the clearance,her skin, her warmth, her freckles, her moans. He’s had thousands of victims and he performed the same things over and over again

But he never felt so good, so blissful. He didn't even leave her side when she fell asleep.

She isn’t afraid of him. She doesn’t make him feel weak.

Her name sounds like a prayer.

Tiriel.

Tiriel.

Her name howls with the winds of Tunlan and jingles like fey bells. There is something delicate in it and something wild at the same time. He rolls her name on his tongue and jumps on his feet any time Tiriel wants to talk to him

She always talks to him first. She always listens. He…

He wants to be hers.

**

Tiriel is angry. Gods, she knows the cruelties of this world. She has heard of horrors that might happen…

But this…

This is different.

This is terrible.

This is unfair.

Astarion sits beside her, his torso naked. The symbols in Infernal carved in his skin make him look vulnerable and Tiriel has to suppress the desire to hug him from behind.

Now she understands why he is so bitter, so cruel, so distant. He’s been a slave for two hundred years and the world is hardly the same it was when he was alive. 

“I will help you deal with your master,” Tiriel says. 

Astarion squints his eyes. He is looking for a catch, she understands. The reward she wants.

“I will help you,” she repeats. “I promise”

**

Astarion doesn’t understand what he feels. 

Sadness? Anger? Pity? 

Tiriel lies on her back, pressing a bandage to a fresh bite mark. She lets him feed on her almost daily even though it affects her battle skills. 

He was abused as an adult and he suspects he wasn’t a good person back when he was mortal, but Tiriel was beaten and neglected as a child.

Astarion bends over and looks at Tiriel’s right ear—there is a thin line of a scar left by her drunk stepfather, a pathetic chieftain who never forgave his wife’s unfaithfulness and lashed it all on his “bastard daughter”.

“Astarion.”

“Hm?”

“Could you stay with me tonight?”

Her voice is weak, she is already half-asleep. His body reacts faster than his mind—to stay with her, with the warmth of her body! It sounds like heaven.

But what if she wants something in return?

What if? Hells, he can think about it tomorrow.

He curls at her side, putting his head on her chest.

Thump-thump-thump

Her heart is close; he can mistake its beats for his own.

**

Tiriel has to make an effort not to laugh. Did he really think he managed to fool her? Did he really think she didn’t know what he was doing? And he thinks she’s going to be angry?

Gods, and she thought he was smart!

“I care about you,” she finally says. “Deeply.”

“Really?”

This is the voice of a condemned person who has been pardoned.

**

Astarion is numb. There is a hollow emptiness inside him. He thought he would rejoice once his master was dead. He thought it would compensate for all those years of horror and misery.

But there is nothing but darkness.

Astarion hears steps. Tiriel approaches but doesn’t touch him. Years later, he will be grateful for that.

She limps a bit—her face is covered in blood and bruises. Tiriel is exhausted and visibly wounded. He isn’t sure, but it appears she was in rage for the whole fight and it completely drained her.

Tiriel approaches the vampire lord’s body and contemplates for a bit.

And then smashed his ribcage with her boot. The disgusting sound of broken bones echoes through the chambers.

Tiriel spits on Cazador’s face and then picks up Astarion’s shirt from the floor.

Without saying anything, she helps him dress. Then she takes his hand and doesn't let him go till they reach the inn.

There, he collapses on the bed and curls in a fetal position. 

“I am going to be downstairs,” Tiriel says, covering him with a blanket. “Rest.”

“Tiriel.”

“What is it, love?”

“Thank you,” he barely manages to spell it out.

But for what? For saving him in the dungeons? For believing in him? 

For loving him?

Astarion doesn’t know.

Tiriel kisses his forehead as if he were a little child and leaves him alone with his thoughts.

**

Tiriel is scared.

It’s been too much. She was never fit to fight cultists, monsters, and dragons… and yet now she has to fight the mindflayers.

A kick in the stomach and she falls on the surface of the brain. She feels pain even through the armor and she knows there is an acid burn on her skin. The tadpole suppresses it, but it still hurts.

“Don’t you dare die!” Astarion helps her to stand up. “We will win this fight, you hear me?!”

She nods. She can barely hear anything because of the pain. Her ears ring, her throat burns—her rage… She can’t do it anymore. She is too exhausted. Whatever the source of her abilities is, it's been drained.

“Tiriel!” Astarion still holds her. “Tiriel, you’ve promised. We are going to see the Sea of Fallen Stars together. Remember?”

The Sea of Fallen Stars… yes… that faraway western waters known for pirates and treasures… and ancient cities… and forgotten islands…

“Yes… we are going to see the Sea of Fallen stars.”

***

The last rays of the sun wash the ground and then the world is taken by darkness. The distant lights of Westgate shine to the east.

The sea looks like a night sky reflecting stars and living up to its name.

Tiriel submerges herself in the salt water. Before she would never dare to swim naked—even though she is capable of protecting herself without armor and weapons, she still never felt safe enough.

Astarion approaches the water's edge but doesn’t dare to proceed.

“Come on! Those aren't running waters! They can’t harm you!”

He hesitates but Tiriel already makes him get into the water despite his protests. Then she jumps on him, wrapping her hands and legs around his torso and forcing him to put his palms under her bottom.

It’s been one year and a half since she woke up in that pod. One year and a half since she met him—her star-crossed love Tiriel is sure she was intended to meet.

She kisses him and Astarion answers with the same tenderness and love.

“I love you,” he mutters and kisses her neck.

“I love you, too, my heart,” Tiriel caresses his curls and smiles.

--

Tag list

@tugoslovenka @marcynomercy @wintersire @vixstarria @not-so-lost-after-all @ashiro20 @theearthsfinalconfession @herstxrgirl @starlight-ipomoea @micropoe10 @astarion-imagine-archive @veillsar @elora-the-slutty-songstress @fayeriess @lumienyx @tallymonster @caitlincat-95 @tragedybunny @valeprati @lynnlovesthestars @marina-and-the-memes @waking-electric @ayselluna @connorsui @asterordinary @darkarchangel96 @locallegume @brainfullofhotsauce @coffeeanddonutscafe @my-queen-rhaenyra-targaryen @queenofthespacesquids

[theconstellationprincess]

House MD is so special to me. Everyone is a flip there, all of them. They’re just all silly little guys.

House is- oh geez he regresses all over the place. No age range, just chaos. Wilson was the first to know, before even House, because House didn’t actually know what it was (very rare occurrence.) It’s hard to tell when House is small because he’s just *like that* all the time, but he has a few tells. He’s quieter, more reserved, but only sometimes. Other times he gets more energetic and paces and fidgets more. Wilson can always tell, and eventually Foreman gets there too, and 13 clocks it right away like Wilson. 13 always knows, always. House can/will caregive, but it’s not his favourite. Except for Wilson, and Chase, and 13, because they are his (not so) secret favourites. Even then, he’s still not… amazing at it. He’s Wilson’s go to, And 13s on occasion.

Wilson is- he’s my little guy. Oh my gosh. So both agere and petre. He’s just- he’s a puppy dog, sometimes. He’s a baby, and a dog, sometimes at the same time. Wilson learns about age regression from Bonnie, who was selling a house too a couple and they wanted a second bedroom to turn into a nursery, but a sized up on. She had laughed at it at the time, so had he, but he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. He did research, and when ‘ooh uh oh.’ Because he’s silly like that. Pet regression wasn’t even something he knew he did, he just viewed it as regression over a general term, House introduced him to the specific term. They are flips for each other, Wilson takes care of House (very well) and House takes care of Wilson (he does his best) and they are happy. Occasionally, Wilson also caregives for a duckling, and gets taken care of by Cuddy or one of the ducklings.

My brain is stuck on Taub so- listen- he’s just a little fella. Not that he’s short, because he is average height, but ooh boy. Sometimes the fact that he is physically shorter than everyone on Houses team makes his brain do funny things. Taub needs human contact, he needs a hug so badly, and really he wants to be held, but his self-esteem is low so he doesn’t let himself even consider affection from people. When Taub regresses, these reservations go out the window. He wants hugs and hand holding and for someone to rub his back as he cries, and he will ask, so hopeful that no one says no. If they do say no, he will go hide so he can cry by himself, because he’s very worried about guilt tripping people into liking him when small. He regresses pretty small I think, like 1-4 range, and he does not regress at work for ages, but eventually it happens. He feigns illness and hides at home.

His wife knows, how could she not? But she doesn’t understand it. When he moves in with Foreman, hiding it is both easier and harder. Foreman doesn’t really care what he does, but he does want to sleep well, so Taub stops the late night TV because nothing makes him regress more than the original Dr Who. Well, that and the staying up late because his brain is a terrible place to be.

Foreman finds out eventually, at around 3am, when he walks in on Taub crying as the Third Doctor regenerates, which wouldn’t have been super odd, if Taub was not clutching a stuffed animal with a thumb in his mouth. That was the first time Foreman hugged Taub, though not particularly willingly.

And Foreman tells Chase and Cameron, of course, and it makes it to House by the end of the next day. Taub is both relieved and extremely stressed when House doesn’t mention it.

Let me know if you want more House, or any specific characters for me to write about!

[oreo102]

What's your favourite episode of 13's run and why?

Ok! I surprisingly enough do have a favorite episode… but it’s by such a small margin I’ve made an executive decision to talk about 2 other of my favorites episodes and then a few honorable mentions and why I love them

I’m half sorry for how long this is, I’m fully sorry for the fact that it took a while to actually put my thoughts to words

We’re starting with my absolute favorite because that’s what was asked lol. The Power Of The Doctor is my favorite episode, the plot is fun but it’s really the characters that make me love it so much! Every character that shows up is used really well.

Yaz is absolutely the star of the episode. I love her in every episode but especially in this one she shines a lot. She takes charge so well and really does fill the docs shoes with flying the tardis and making the plans and all that jazz. Her interactions with everyone is amazing to watch but especially the master, their dynamic is so interesting to me! Mandip also does a great job portraying emotions in this one- her anger at the master, and sadness about 13 regenerating in particular is one of my favorite parts. Also yaz with a gun is hot, and I fully believe she woulda shot the master if he gave her a reason so this episode would be in my top five just for that

Speaking of the master! This is 100% his best appearance. The dancing, the outfit, his interactions with yaz being a mix of cruel and endearing, in a way? Maybe that’s not the right word… interesting at the very least. The way he talks to her like they’re friendly, like they both know the doctor very well… kinda like they’re two sides of the same coin, in a way?

13 is lovely in this episode. A) I ADORE the navy version of her coat and am so happy they brought it back in the inbetween cliff (or whatever that was) B) her regeneration might just be one of my favorite scenes, even if it pains me to watch (ignoring 14’s existence for this) and the hologram is so smart (btw does yaz still have that? Do you think it activates still?) also love the fugitive doctor appearance even if it was hologram form. Her comforting yaz, their conversation, the icecream <333333

Love ace and Teagan and vinder, they’re all great but especially ace is SO FUN and I love her interactions with graham(did they flirt?) who btw, I love that he was right back! Too bad Ryan isn’t there tho, it’s fun to see how the dr leaving affects the companions, the bitterness Teagan holds is definitely a really fun bit that I’m glad they included. Also Kate is amazing as she always is! Dan wasn’t that bad either but I’m still glad he didn’t stick around

Also! I really like the plot! I saw someone complain about having all 3 cybermen, daleks and the master in the same episode but honestly it was just super fun- and the master was really the main villain with the cybermen and daleks as minor/background/subvillains. I much approve fun plots over anything else and having the master dance to Rasputin is very fun!

Onto The Woman Who Fell To Earth!

Yes, 13’s first and last appearance are my favorite episodes! This will be much less in depth but I did recently rewatch this one so it’s as fresh in my mind as the first.

I really like how… snappy they all are, in a weird way? The fam kinda mellow out through the series, especially Graham. Theyre all somewhat aggressive in this one and it’s very fun! It’s too bad grace died… she’d have made a great companion

Also the plot, the plot is great. 13 making her own sonic, not remembering who she is but knowing she has to help people, picking up the first humans she sees (which she has a habit of throughout the series, lol), being super smart! Just lovely! Also her in a suit is hot

“I’m calling you yaz, cuz we’re friends now.” Is 100% one of my favorite quotes too

Also Swiss army sonic should’ve been a running gag, it’s funny! I think that’s everything- my thoughts on this episode are very disconnected but oh well

My third favorite: the witch finders!

I’m not actually sure why I love this episode so much? Actually yes I do, soaked 13 is hot- that’s not the only reason tho, promise.

The fam is great, as always, but especially yaz this episode. It portrays how kind she is really well! 13 experiencing sexism and being pissed about it is also really cool, I kinda wish we got at least one other episode where it happened but I understand why we didn’t . Also the king being gay for Ryan is funny as fuck and I didn’t notice it my first watch

The background(side?) characters are also really good- the possessed lady is a fun antagonist, and the king is wonderfully incompetent at his job.

Also 13 telling them not to interfere and then immediately interfering is fantastic. I don’t think I have much to say about this one? I just really like it

Honorable mentions!

The timeless children, solely for the scene with Graham and yaz being family and for yaz being halfway to the portal by the time Graham is done asking who’s first- tbh this is my least favorite appearance for the master and I think the cybermasters are stupid so

Arachnids in the uk I love yaz’s family, i love jade, i love that the bitch ceo gets schooled by women in stem and yaz’s mom, i like that when asked if she and the doctor are together yaz’s response is “we’re [just?] friends!” But when asked the same about ryan it’s a very emphatic “no!”, I love “more of the universe… more time with you.”

Demons of the punjab “we can’t have a universe with no yaz!”, young umbreen is so much like yaz it’s amazing, i love yaz in this episode (this, ive realized, doesn’t say much, I love her in every episode), the plot is really fun and again i love yaz’s family

The legend of the seadevils my beloved gays. The characters are all really fun, the plot is great, all the thasmin moments I love and they hurt my heart, and Dan has a stupid outfit!

Eve of the daleks once again: my beloved gays! The plot is so fun, and even though the side characters aren’t my favorite I still really like them

Fugitive of the judoon FUGITIVE DOCTOR MY BELOVED <333333 also Jack is cool

Oh also My least favorite is resolution because it’s boring. Ok I think that’s everything… hope you don’t regret asking!

[nortism]

doctor who liveblog pt 20

s4 ep3 planet of the ood

- yayay ood episode, my fav aliens

- GET HIS ASS OOD

- the doctor spends so much time fiddling with the tardis and yet he can do nothing to make the journey more comfortable

- i’m obsessed with her coat

- does he just carry a stethoscope around with him?

- omg the poor oods

- lets go ood revolution

- “doctor. donna. friends :)”

- omg the mega ood brain

- the brain ate him

- YOOO THE OOD WAS POISONING HIM

- HOLY FUCK

- HES AN OOD

- well at least they’ll take care of him?

- very ominous from the ood at the end

s4 ep4 the sontaran stratagem

- saw martha in the promo, i hope her and donna are best friends

- AWW SHE GOT ENGAGED TO THE NICE DOCTOR MAN

- aww they’re talking shit together <3

- she’s a doctor!!!

- oh she’s perf to me

- oh no there’s a man in the soup

- why’s the robot sexist?

- aww donna no

- ok i’m also a great big outer space dumbo

- nooo martha

- MARTHA GET AWAY FROM THE SOUP

- he’s such a nerd i love him

- fucking grammar police over here

- “intruder window” made me laugh

- omg they’re cooking a martha in the soup

- oh protective granddad i love him

- NO GRANDDAD

s4 ep5 the poison sky

- yes then donna’s mum

- “that’s my girl!”

- i need them to calm down with the sexism

- omg they nicked the tardis

- nooo ross

- yes then donna noble !!

- ayyy empty child reference

- the marthas are unionising

- yayay ya donna!!!!!!

- bro is fuming about those guns

- oh fuck the kid died

- nooo the tardis is stealing martha

s4 ep6 the doctor’s daughter

- i’m glad we’re getting some answers because the doctor saying he’s a father has been bothering me i won’t lie

- donna and martha my sillies

- ok they did not answer my initial question, this is a new daughter

- also very bizarre to watch when you know that’s his wife irl

- he’s a dilf and a milf?? what can’t he do??

- the one day year old is fucking brutal

- also crazy how she was born with eyeliner on

- yes then dr martha jones!!!

- is she a baby timelord??

- aww a baby timelord

- martha and her hath friend

- ayo she’s got way more rizz than her dad

- NOOOOO NOT THE HATH

- what happened to his other kids???? wait the war stupid question 😭😭

- does that mean he’s had sex?? how do timelords reproduce??

- yoooo the war has been going seven days???

- ooo pretty garden

- OH FUCK JENNY

- can she not regenerate??

- can’t believe the invisible bullet wound killed her

- donna u are not gonna travel with him forever

- DOCTOR JONES

- HOLY FUCK

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

wild blue yonder

the tardis can regenerate itself...... !!! I mean, wait we knew that already kjhkjh but I just connected the dots now that... that means The Time Lords mined and mauled the child just to make their cars better, as well. Damn...

in classic who u used to have to use ur imagination to pretend everything wasn’t a wobbly set... now u have to use ur imagination to pretend everything isn’t a greenscreen :/

"is that who i am now?" the shocking thing isn’t that he is gay (that’s what donna interprets) the shock to himself is voicing how horny he is lol

Someone is gonna say gravity and that's gonna be fucking weird

"it would take trillion years to get that far” chills!

"no one is ever been this far. till us. and this ship" colonialism fiction dna shining thru

“you little streak” <3

"she'll move on" "not shaun, he'll go to that alleyway every year..." \ten at the alleyway to see rose parallel....

Ghost aroma!!!

blue and orange motif....…………… 13 aesthetic moments.... [13 and Swarm coded? / aka entropy/life coded?/donna and the doc...]

“maybe there's a tribe and they worship it… (…) time passes and the city falls... and there's the tardis" beautiful!! I'm could do somth w/ re: w/ the doctor and their companions. (eyes emoji)

"it got complicated" UNDERSTATEMENT OF A CENTURY #2

"The notion of shape is strange." "it limits" literally current architecture theory

This is so nofna solar system-core

love a classic “anti matter hates matter” story

[the no-bodies…?....cousins to the the could have been king ... with his army of never wheres…?]

This feels very [doctor trying to figure out their body in each regeneration] [intentionally?] this is so end of evangelion poster-core

"it’s strange enough my face coming back, but not this big" / [metaphor for reboots?]

This episode is like the clamoring for us to get a castrovalva 2 escher-like world again next season

"that's not gonna work either" i love these idiots

"why does it have to be one last trip?" rtd ringing moffat / gatiss / gardner / etc and being like like -

ok but follow this reasoning: if the doctor is the same person bc they keep their memories (as the show makes a point of.... constantly) ... and if the memories make the person ... then indeed an entity that copies the memories is the same person, is it not? Where do we draw the line between who’s “real” and who isn’t, in this scenario?

A CREATION I DEVASTATED / literally watched WoM two seconds before this w/ ten all "everything i do just makes it happen" sdjsdkf this is what i mean when i say the doctor has never Processed anythingggg since that Bottom Pit moment

"it wasn't your fault" "i know! (but it stil sucks!!!)" me at therapy like

"WHY DOES HE NEED YOU?" me, Pavlovian tone: because he is lonely...

“when something is gone, it keeps existing” → highlight this!!!! this is gonna be the new thesis statement about Grief!!! this is gonna be The Point for the next 4 years lol

It's very fun to watch this after marath6ning all of ten's era bc it's like... that boy never processed any of that shit. did 11 process shit? did 12? 12 maybe a little but really i think they just got even more trauma (bill ): ) dkdksks and don't get me started on 13. basically what im saying is the doctor Never did get a break on between waters of mars up until now... [and i guess to go further never did get a break after since like....... freaking ghost light skskskskkjkj seven is still There. we don't think about that enough.]

Donna being a clone fucker is not a headcanon ever thought i had but im glad its been confirmed now "donma doesn't think she"s stupid" im sure rtd has launched this exact same rant on so some unwilling family members while browsing ao3 "stop copying and make up your own minds" social commentary / commentary on reboots again / core "individualism > society" dr. who 101 messaging

The not things are kinda.... cute? skdksk if they weren't murderous they look like ppl to hang out w/ and play videogames......

"what do you want?" "you tell us" fundamental doctor-companion dialogue....

"love letters don't travel very far" put a pin on that...

ok.... ARGHGHGHH LET ME THINK THINK THINK skskks me failing at CBT be like

What if the doctor is from our universe. what then the doctor being like we have to mill ourselves immediately feels very 13

this is like "what if turn left and midnight but they go through it together this time <3" fic "where the walls are thin and anything is possible" eyes emoji

"that copy was 99% donna" so maybe re:earlier... what the show is saying between copy vs real is that it's all about the x factor, the 1%....

CONCLUSIONS! lived up to the hype! i think it's a bit 13-era vibe in that it's clearly influenced by all the prestige space-base-isolation scifi we see in the ~cinema now every year. the aesthetic is hitting that vibe (and going to the root, there's also a very clear Alien influence). kinda wish we had more one offs just like this one :( bc i feel the other 2 specials have too much Work to do, so there's not enough time to do.Fun like lore and character stuff. Execution wise is very successful. the switcheroos work. the callbacks work. there's a lot of character stuff happening ("I just realized I'm still working through that!") but it doesn't interfere w/ the adventure itself. My one grip is there's a couple shots that do feel too green-screen-y, but overall the ep is visually amazing. def only a story you could do now. also I love that the NMDs were like "rtd is gonna retcon the timeless child!!! everyone hated it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and he was like "cool. now watch this" lollll king moments. rare moments where it feels like we live in the best timeline.

[marunalu]

This cover still puzzles me today, what's the real point of putting Izuku face to face with an adult All for one if there's no way that can happen, besides everything it's an AFO with the Final War Costume with his face fully regenerated but still with signs of the Helmet, it seems like an alternate reality where psycho's theory that All for one would get his face back before the war was true, maybe it's actually a small sign that his clone crack theory isn't as far from the truth as it seems first sight

So if you are interested here is a link of the full "afo clone theory" @psychomurderz @lurking96 and I created.

It was purely out of fun and we didnt even took it that seriously, but after a while I startet to rethink that ridicolous crack theory and it actually makes way more sense then it at first seems to be. Dont get me wrong, its still completly crack though!

But its not impossible. The nomu mocha created a clone of dr. garaki, so who says that afo cant have one too?! Garaki hinted that afo can change his appearance/his face (he mentions in the message he left for afo that he always liked afos OWN smile and his OWN eyes), afo is 200 years old and has dotzens of quirks in his arsenal, he even has a quirk with which he can change his own dna so no one can tell me that man never considered to get a clone quirk. And the fact that one of his nomus has a clone quirk and that garaki can create copys of any quirk he wants, shows its actually very likely that afo has a clone quirk himself.

Lets not forget that clone quirks are actually quite important in mha. Twice as the most well known example, then we have toga who can turn into other people by drinking their blood in other words turning herself into their clone. We have mocha who had a clone quirk, garaki who had his own clone, garaki hinting that afo can change his appearance, afo saying that "this body is of no longer use for me."

And then also the fact how much hori is a star wars fan and how important clones are in star wars. Kamino in mha was named after the planet kamino in star wars on which the clones were created, the very clones which were used as CANON FODDER (something you can get rid off like a body you dont need any longer?) in the CLONE WARS and then used against their will to wipe out the jedi! Afo was inspired after darth vader who was once anakin skywalker and who had his own clone soldiers under him and after he turned to darth vader stormed the jedi temple with the clones. One of the most beloved star wars characters boba fett is a clone. The emperor cloned himself both in the old star wars canon and the new, the old canon books even had a luke skywalker clone. So we can all see without a doubt how much of an important role cloning in star wars has and it all startet in kamino - and the place were all might and afo had their fight and afo used as an hideout is named after that very planet.

So while the theory DOES sound completly bonkers its NOT impossible for afo to have a clone. And if bakugou manages to kill the clone afo just for the real one to show up fully healed and in his prime while he actually never left his fucking office in the chrysler building in new york city I will lose my shit!

[butchtwelfthdoctor]

please tell me all about in the blood (no pressure, i am genuinely interested though!!!!!!)

AHHAHHAHHHHHAAAA YES OKAY THANK YOU ELI

OKAYYYY SO in the blood, doctor who extended universe book, i think it takes place pretty soon after the Silence in the Library arc cos that's mentioned quite a bit, and Donna's husband Lee (who was, i may add, i think going to be canonically trans but they weren't sure how to show that in a split second without it being confusing but he's trans in my heart) from the simulation is on Donna's mind a fair bit so my guess is it's pretty soon after that ANYWAYS, fairly standard doctor who plot, big problem with technology and people on earth and of course it's because Aliens. specifically its that internet trolls are dying and ofc The Internet gets worked up about that, but as more and more people start venting their anger online everyone gets more and more angry and they become hysterical and sometimes die. which obviously is a big problem they have to solve, i won't give away the plot but its fairly average dr who stuff.

BUT. OHH BOY THE CHARACTERSSSSSSSASASSaSSASaSAS i mean i love ten & donna anyways but they are written SO WELL like SOOOO WELL it's SPOT ON and it's so perfect because they do the same things they always do - the doctor is fully prepared to die (well. very painfully regenerate) just as he always does and uhhh actually maybe it's better if i take pictures there was a lot of frantic margin scribbling & underlining hehee

uhm. spoilers below. and very long post

my handwriting is nigh-on-illegible here i know but it says 'she remembers the Arachna-things [one google search later - Racnoss] from the Runaway Bride she knows he has killed people & that people get killed around him but... [long pause here as i thought of what to write. how do you justify that? greater good?] yeah i can imagine it really is easier to not think about it'.

this is just such an interetsing thing that they couldn't have shown in the show right, you can't show 'she didn't even really like to think about it' visually with the same impact. but like.... yeah. she saw him kill all the racnoss & still travels with him. moral grey areas flawed characters but.... the companions must do some serious mental gymnastics NOT TO MENTIOn the Doctor coping mechanisms or lack thereof.

^^but then there's this!! the hope!! he really can't stand people dying even when he is surrounded by it!! he has to hope!!!

^^ platonic doctordonna moment!!!!! i love them so much heheeee but also Lee.... oughhhhh

^^ SUCH A DOCTOR MOMENT he HAS to carry on for the sake of THE WORLD even when it means Donna is at risk

^^handwriting id - 'see THAT is such a Doctor moment - just like ' 'yeah i knew for ages', lied the Doctor' - he doesn't tell people things b/c he doesn't want to upset them & he hopes that if he doesn't mention it it wont happen. if you see your own grave you have to be buried there etc. & it's maddening for everyone but also kinda tragic'

the doctor was hiding that what Donna thought was going to fix the problem wasnt going to work b/c then she's get upset & angry, which spacey stuff blah blah is whats currently killing people - but Ten (teh Doctor in general) does this A Lot, not saying everything he knows because he thinks it's going to upset/panic/hurt people/

^^ THIS!! he needs his best friend!!! without saying anything & over the phone, Donna can tell!! ajsnjansh i just love them so muchhhh

^^ (they were back in london in present day) the Doctor feels guilty about pulling Donna from her normal, safe life, even though like she wanted to he probably couldn't have said no to that if he tried - and putting her in mortal space danger - but also completely removed from her normal life. she doesn't live like Clara, who fits weeks of time travel in time to show up to work, she's missing out on Normal Life. she's not at home. Sylvia knows she wont be staying for dinner.

sorry a lot of this is kinda depressing BUT i promise you there are joyous bits too! the Doctor is canonically a Kate Bush fangirl!!! and donna has to stop him drinking coffee cos he'e hyperactive enough as it is lol. and -

hehe

[earthy-delite]

||✧.* A guide to moon phases for shifting *.✧||

DISCLAIMER: what's written in this post does NOT mean you can shift only in some phases of the moon, and not in others. You can always shift. This post is for those people that would like to use the moon's energy to aid them on their shifting journey.

🌑 New Moon or Dark Moon — NEW BEGINNINGS 🌑

New beginnings Positive changes New ideas

The New Moon brings renewal and regeneration, and it's the best time to begin a new habit. It's a more introspective time and represents new beginnings as you plant seeds for the future, inviting you to take on challenges, to set intentions and begin implementing changes that will lead to powerful results.

This phase is very good for shifting, along with the Full Moon, especially for those who are new to it, since aiding in change is its main characteristic, but also to start building intention to shift.

🌒 Waxing Crescent — SET INTENTIONS 🌒

As energy is rising, the Waxing Crescent if the best time to set new intentions and goals for your journey. Now that you know what you want, you can start planning how to move towards it.

This includes thinking of your DR, new scenarios, writing down manifestations and so on. It may be good to make a vision board or start a manifestation journal.

🌓 First Quarter — TAKE ACTION 🌓

Now the action starts to happen.

It's likely that you will face some challenges in this phase, but do not waver: it’s a time for pushing forward. It is a test of commitment to the initial goals and allows you to understand where you came from and where you need to go.

The First Quarter Moon is a perfect time to assess your intentions and decide what part of your plans needs to be revised.

🌔 Waxing Gibbous — REFINE 🌔

This is the moment to refine your goals, intentions and ideas. If what you started under the New Moon is going well, this phase rewards your hard work. If you're having problems, you should take a step back, reassess, or reach out for assistance.

If you want, try new methods, search for new strategies and affirmations, and most importantly set a healthy mindset.

🌕 Full Moon — HARVEST ENDEAVORS 🌕

Highest energy Increased psychic ability Best time for shifting

The Full Moon is the phase with the highest energy of all, a time to harvest the intentions and wishes of past moons. Everything you worked for will now pay off. Since this is the culmination of everything that you’ve started since the new moon, it’s advisable to take the day to rest.

Plus, your psychic abilities may be more awake, so listen closely to what you intuitively want to shed, let go of, and release.

The best time to shift, along with the New Moon.

🌖 Waning Gibbous – INTROSPECT 🌖

Energy is fading, time to take a step back and look at everything you accomplished. Acknowledge that your efforts in the past month have been worth it: not matter the outcome, you're now one step forward in your journey. Give yourself the appreciation you deserve.

🌗 Last Quarter – LET GO 🌗

The Last Quarte Moon is a good time to work on overcoming any obstacles you are dealing with. This is a cycle that can be quite empowering, as you're letting go and releasing all of the things that you want to get rid of from the Full Moon. Rethink, get rid of things that don't help you (such as methods or strategies that don't serve you well enough). Work on affirmations and meditation, try to pinpoint what could be getting in the way of your shifting journey.

🌘 Waning Crescent – SURRENDER 🌘

At the end of the cycle, it is time to rest. Don't run yourself, calm down and practice self-care.

It's a good time for reflection and introspection. What have you learned, gained, and seen since the New Moon?

[gallifreyanhotfive]

*more warning for me talking about my watching the show fic*

Anyway, context:

I did not expect that much interaction on my silly sleep deprived post! ❤️

As some of you probably know, my original plan was to go into Storm Warning after The Giggle, but I didn't know what to choose after that, which is what I was trying to figure out while writing that other post.

Anyway, I've been doing some thinking...

PROPAGANDA (probably gibberish but my brain is evil rn)

TV Movie: 7 regenerates into 8 because of the American Healthcare System. The Master is a goo snake. He slithers into a new body and proceeds to want the Doctor’s body the whole damn movie. Post regeneration sillies. The Master literally roars like a wild beast. 8 kisses Grace. He fuckin FORGOR. 8 talks about his father for a little bit. Half human????

Night of the Doctor: 8 regenerates into War. Lots of interesting ties to the EU. Short but devastating. This guy pretty much does himself in. Depiction of common perception of Time Lords at the time

Storm Warning: CHARLOTTE POLLARDDDDDDDDD. 8 gets a new companion! He is whimsy and so much more, but there is a foreboding sense to it. RAMSEY THE VORTISAUR. 8 talks a little bit about the Academy Era. Both this and the TV Movie would eventually lead to Zagreus.

The Conscript: 8 gets forced to be apart of a Time War recruitment camp under the threat of Ollistra doing something to his companions. Very good depiction of Time Lords being used as cannon fodder. YOU ARE NOT SONTARANS. Disturbing Gallifreyan nationalistic song. 8 makes everyone's lives difficult. Daleks daleks daleks

Day of the Vashta Nerada: Gallifrey is trying to weaponize the Vashta Nerada for use in the Time War. This doesn't end well. Pretty much everyone dies! Enter GIANT Vashta Nerada and enter the Nerada Vashta.

A Heart on Both Sides: NYSSAAAAAAAA. Nyssa is on The Traken providing hospital relief to those affected by the Time War. She has a helper named Dr. Foster (wink). They go to the planet Reeve, which is incredibly anti-Gallifreyans because the High Council has been blowing up their factories. Time Lord spy. Anti Gallifreyan graffiti and the use of Praxis gas, which almost kills 8.

The Lords of Terror: companion Bliss wants to go visit her parents, only to discover it has been covered in a big dome. 8 gets tortured yet again. Are the Daleks or the Time Lords responsible for this atrocity? Gallifrey is a fucked up society.

In the Garden of Death: 8, Bliss, and the Twelve are in a Dalek POW camp. Oh no they forgor everything! The Daleks torture the heck out of these guys. These amnesiacs briefly wonder if 8 is a bad guy. Interrogation on Interrogation on Interrogation

Mary's Story: Two 8s collide with Mary Shelley and Co at Villa Diodati. First an older 8 who has been affected by vitreous time, leaving him in horrific shape (burns, muscle, bone....I'll spare you the details) to the point where he literally dies for a little bit. Gets electrocuted and turns into basically Frankenstein's Monster. Young 8 turns up, finds these really quite embarrassing, saves the day, and takes Mary on as a companion

[being-of-rain]

My thoughts on Wild Blue Yonder! A little late because the time between the 60th anniversary episodes almost exactly lined up with a visit from my girlfriend. We had a great time, and watched this episode together, but I didn't want to take enough time away from her to write this!

When I saw some EU fans joking about how the episode was going to be an adaptation of Scherzo, I wasn't prepared for how many similarities it had. And it was soooo good. I love some really fucking great Doctor Who. I loved the horror aspect, I loved the duologue aspect, I always love a mystery opening act where the Tardis team has to search for clues and theorise about where they've landed. Oh and a shape-shifter who takes on someone's whole identity and thoughts is a concept that always tickles my fancy.

One of the few nitpicks I have is that I'm not quite sure how the countdown/shifting corridors and the robot connect: if they're part of the same self-destruct system, why is the robot seemingly much older than the ship? If they're not part of the same system, why is there a countdown to the moment the robot presses the button? Why not just have the ship destroy itself, and why would the ship need to 'reconfigure itself to become a bomb' if it had a self-destruct? But (much like Heaven Sent, which the solitary shifting setting is reminiscent of,) the small logic hiccups don't really take anything away from how good the episode is.

A slightly larger nitpick is that the ending isn't the strongest, with the TARDIS coming back right when and where the Doctor was thinking that it should, and then the Doctor realising he picked the wrong Donna because of a miniscule detail (that the audience couldn't pick up on, so it feels a bit of a cheat and a cheap emotional shot). So some of RTD's most common flaws there, but again the negatives really don't stack up to much compared to the quality of the rest of it. Also, I didn't notice the Tardis screen at the end that showed a scan of Donna's arm until my rewatch, and, in classic me fashion, it put me in mind of a random Dr Who EU story. In this case, Project: Nirvana where the Doctor reveals that the Tardis automatically scanned someone coming onboard and flagged an eldritch-monster-shaped issue with her. It does make me wonder if the Doctor thought to scan Donna himself, or if the Tardis did it (and he took the credit, perhaps trying not to think about how he might never have noticed).

But that's enough with nitpicks, what are some other fantastic bits? The throwaway phrase "goosebumps like Braille" is rad as hell, and would've made a great episode title I think. I've had ideas before about the Doctor's compulsion to think and solve problems in front of him being a direct threat, so it was cool to see that idea here. The Doctor worrying about 'invoking a superstition at the edge of the universe' at the end was a vague but incredibly compelling hook for future plots, and infinitely more interesting than the Meep's final line from the previous episode. I love all the tiny subtle ways the not-things were off and unsettling, as well as all the ways that were so over-the-top that I was laughing through my shocked horror.

The Timeless Child and Flux references were fantastic peeling back of the Doctor's emotional walls, and it was nice tying in with what is technically the show's previous season, even though it came out 2 years ago now. Also... it's a little hard to mention those references without dunking on Chibnall in comparison, who didn't tap into the Doctor's emotional state anywhere near as intensely in several years as this episode did in one scene (You could tie this into the Doctor regenerates into what they need/opposite theories, with Thirteen being a relatively repressed Doctor and Ten Point Three being a relatively expressive Doctor). It was particularly nice to have the show actually establish what the consequences of the Flux actually were, because god knows Thirteen's episodes weren't interested in doing that. On my rewatch of series 13 a few months ago, I was amazed at how basically every element of the Flux is confused and contradictory, and at the end my brother and I were convinced that the Ood in the Division ship (or God Ood as we started calling him) must have reversed the very almost total destruction of the universe, because the show simply refused to acknowledge any of that destruction itself. I guess they split the difference and said half the universe. But unpicking the bizarre illogic of the Flux is a whole other post.

Keeping in mind that the next episode hasn't come out yet, Wild Blue Yonder feels wildly out of place in the middle of an anniversary trilogy. A trilogy where the bookends are RTD modern-day blockbusters filled with fan-favourite character returns and niche villains from the show's long history, and the middle is a limited-cast sci-fi psychological/eldritch horror. But that absurdity detracts from the episode in absolutely no way whatsoever.

And speaking of absurdity; the mounting hype and talk of big things happening in the next episode, on top of bringing back a long-forgotten old villain and a long-awaited new Doctor, is just making it more and more ridiculous that the episode is called The Giggle. I can't wait for it though, I'm really enjoying these specials.

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, 120 (Apr. 11, 1988) - “The Arsenal of Freedom”

Teleplay by: Richard Manning & Hans Beimler Story by: Maurice Hurley & Robert Lewin Directed by: Les Landau

The Breakdown

The USS Drake has gone missing after being sent to investigate a planet (Minos) whose entire population has ALSO gone missing; so naturally the Enterprise has been sent to figure out why there are so many missing people connected to one planet.  On a probably-unrelated-note, it turns out the Minosians were arms dealers who sold super advanced weaponry, but I’m sure that won’t be relevant to the following 45 minutes.  Anyways, the Enterprise arrives at Minos to find zero signs of life, except for a hailing frequency originating on the planet’s surface.  Obviously Picard accepts the call, but it just turns out to be one of those un-skippable YouTube advertisements for a highly advanced weapons system, and Picard is like “That was weird. We should send some people to the surface to check that out.”

For what must be a first for this ENTIRE crew, Tasha makes a rational security decision in convincing Riker to keep the away team as small as possible, in the interest of general ship safety (since there is absolutely no sign of the missing Drake, which I honestly think is a MUCH bigger red flag than Picard is making it out to be).  Riker agrees (taking only himself, Tasha, and Data), but gets himself caught in a statis field almost immediately, so Picard throws caution to the wind and beams himself AND Dr.  Crusher down to help out… somehow.  Although, credit where credit is due, Picard does have the foresight to leave Geordi in charge of the Enterprise with orders to abandon him and the away team if it means protecting the ship.

Naturally all this leads to a double-jeopardy situation.  Down below, the away team keeps getting attacked by little killer drones that regenerate-and-adapt every time one gets shot down; meanwhile separate drone starts attacking the Enterprise, slowly picking away at the shields (oh, and it can cloak, making it tough to kill).  Geordi finally figures out a way to outsmart his mechanical nemesis by using the displacement of Minos’ upper atmosphere to reveal the drone’s location.  At the same time Picard conveniently falls into a pit that happens to contain a control panel that activates the holographic salesman (from the aforementioned automated message) who prompts him to finalize the purchase of their killer drones, in order to “end the demonstration”; thus completing what has apparently been a VERY high-stakes sales pitch. 

At this point it’s been concluded that the Minosians accidentally created a killing machine that was so effective it accidentally murdered their entire species, in addition to anyone who came poking around.  Since the Enterprise is now safe, and the mystery of the Drake’s disappearance is solved (in that the crew are confirmed to have met a nightmarish end), we can chalk this up to another happy ending!

The Verdict

There’s something to be said for a straightforward adventure story, and ‘arsenal of freedom’ successfully delivers on that front.  I can’t say there’s enough going on here for me to classify this episode as one of “the greats,” but it makes good use what it does have.

The highlight of this episode has to be Geordi’s command of the Enterprise.  It’s nice to see some genuine progression for a character that I’ve often felt gets overlooked, made all the better by the fact that I found his solution to the drone battle refreshingly plausible!  Usually when Star Trek is dealing with cloaked adversaries, it gets resolved with some kind of tachyon-scanner-upgrade-techno babble.  That’s all well-and-good AS LONG the writers also take care not to abuse such genre-conventions (which is another matter entirely), but I still tend to prefer solutions that adhere to the laws of physics.  As for Geordi’s time in command, I also appreciate how this episode builds on his previous experiences, in throwing him a greater challenge to overcome.

The away team’s adventure definitely makes up the weaker half of the episode, but even that is at least cheesily entertaining, avoiding any glaringly cringy moments.  My main criticism would be over how convenient Picard’s discovery of the control panel was, allowing him to call off the drones; but this is far from the most egregious deus ex machina on a Star Trek show, and it certainly won’t be the last.

But yeah, fun stuff.

3 stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

I’ve gotta say, the skies of Minos are a beautiful shade of bluescreen- I mean blue.

TNG always suffered from a “women character problem”, in that the writers seldom knew what to do with them, so I was pleasantly surprised with this episode.  It’s not so much that writers did anything groundbreaking with the ladies here, but this has been their best overall use of them up to this point, by my reckoning. Tasha is shown to be competent and reliable, Crusher is able to keep her wits about her after she’s injured (even getting some added backstory), and even Deanna’s council to Goerdi isn’t half bad (which is really saying something for these early episodes).  The show still has a tremendous amount of work left to do in this regard, but it’s at least a tiny step in the right direction.

BATTLE BRIDGE:  This is only the second time we’ve been shown the Enterprise’s saucer section separating from the rest of the ship.  It’s a pretty cool feature that will be seldom used, but it’s an effective way to sell the raised stakes of a given situation, and thoughtfully applied here.

[dzthenerd490]

File: Re-Animator

SCP: AEF

Code Name: Elixer of False Life

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: Samples of SCP-AEF are created by the Department of Technology, Alchemy, Science, Magic and Warfare and contained at the Level 2 area of the Biohazard Labs of Site-AE. Samples are kept in eight separate vials all of which are kept in a biohazard box stored in one of the freezers of the Biohazard labs. Any testing with SCP-AEF must be approved by at least one Level 3 Clearance staff member. Dr. Haselhurst is often the one heading these experiments revolving SCP-AEF alongside his new lab partner Dr. West. All their experiments are in accordance with Project Lazarus so their work must never be interrupted.

In the event of a containment breach involving hostile Groups of Interest, all samples are to be destroyed and Foundation staff who are aware of SCP-AEF's formula including Dr. West are to be protected by Foundation security assigned to them. There must be at least 5 living researchers that know SCP-AEF's formula.

Description: SCP-AEF is an anomalous chemical with a glowing green texture quite similar to a glow stick. The chemical is highly mutagenic with the anomalous ability to fuse organic material together and bring it to life. Testing has shown the chemical structure to be vastly complex and quite similar to what Glutamate, Adrenaline, and Acetylcholine if they were fused together with some added elements. Despite these being common chemicals of the brain, they do not work well when fused into a single chemical and are not the ONLY chemicals of the brain, which is believed to explain the volatile effects of SCP-AEF.

SCP-AEF is a chemical can bring life to otherwise dead organic tissue but not without consequences. SCP-AEF has no regenerative capabilities so when someone dies mainly form brain damage they will be brought back to life with the same damage. Unfortunately testing has shown that when someone dies and is injected with SCP-AEF their "Steam" gets corrupted and become a "clone" of the soul. As such, SCP-AEF does not resurrect, it only replicates the imitation of life. Because the "fake soul" is now in control its more like a newborn that forcefully takes the memories within the brain of the corpse. As such it's not uncommon for the resurrected corpse to act they are suffering with multiple mental illnesses at once and have random tendencies for violence. Unfortunately, no matter how fresh the corpse is the result is always the same and it can only get worse with higher dosages.

Surprisingly SCP-AEF can also fuse dead organic tissue together in a kind of Frankenstein like fashion with no stiches needed. It's even possible to gather random limbs and have them fuse together to create a single organism without the need of brains. Though this normally leads to them having insectoid or animalistic like behavior. Such behavior includes running around randomly, randomly knocking down objects, and even randomly attacking other creatures around them. Testing has also shown that injecting too much SCP-AEF into a single corpse can cause the cells to not regenerate but over mutate leading to limbs and organs becoming their own living beings and able to move around and grow on their own.

SCP-AEF was discovered in 1985 when the [data expunged] University reported their hospital being flooded with patients suffering from psychotic personality disorders and were supposedly already confirmed dead. Foundation agents went to investigate and found that the "patients" really were dead but supposedly back to life. Foundation agents were able to find [data expunged] under a pile of mutant corpses. He revealed himself as the creator of SCP-AEF and said he could perfect it with time. Foundation agents took him in into custody as well as the corpses.

Extensive testing with the corpses as well as interviews with [data expunged] allowed Foundation staff to understand the true nature of SCP-AEF. Despite his contribution [data expunged] was responsible for the disaster that took place, so the Ethics Committee requested he be processed into the Foundation as D Class. However, the O5 Council instead pardoned his crimes and had him processed by the Department of Strategic Redemption, He is now a Level 3 Researcher within the Department of Universal Affairs - Afterlife Division as well as the Department of Technology, Alchemy, Science, Magic and Warfare - Biology Division. Shockingly, he has become good friends with Dr. Haselhurst. They both have become interested with each other's work and have combined their research in hopes of furthering their goals.

Update 1994 - Under the order of the Department of Strategic Redemption, SCP-ACT has joined in on contributing resurrection and biology experiments with Dr. West and Dr. Haselhurst. The O5 have backed the projects with unanimous vote preventing the Ethics Committee form intervening.

.

SCP: Horror Movie Files Hub

[shuttershocky]

how does one approach toron mine 7? even after the nerf i can't seem to make it work

Alright so here's the thing, even after the nerf (and the nerf is huge by the way, at Danger Level 20 enemies used to have +160% higher max HP and +20% more DEF than they do now) Toron mine is still a lot of bullshit entirely due to its stage design and enemy comps being a brutal mix.

To make life easier, I strongly suggest bringing at least one of the three gods of Toron Mine. These are: Leizi, Suzuran, and Goldenglow.

All three of them have the same strategy: equip S2, then stack 5 Snipers with equipment A to get +200 ASPD for them to use (Leizi will need Module Level 2 as well.)

Goldenglow has the widest range and very high damage with her RES ignore and drone crits, Suzuran hits 3 targets at once while slowing and inflicting a 20% fragile debuff on slowed enemies, while Leizi with a level 2 module is just legitimately one of THE strongest carries in SSS, her bouncing attacks, slows, gigantic +150% ATK on S2M3, and her module recharging SP on unblocked enemies make her recharge extremely quickly.

Just one of these three can carry your team to the boss, but having all of them in the squad with a proper amount of snipers is the easiest way I can think of for scoring Toron Mine's secret medal.

Now on to Toron mine LT-7 itself. This map is a killbox, and needs you to set up in a particular way so that everyone in the stage specifically attacks inside that killbox.

The black lines show the enemy routes, red arrows show possible ranged damage placements, green arrows for crowd control placements, and orange for a melee operator that has a wide AOE attack such as Mlynar S3, Gavial S2, Tequila S2, etc. I've also included the Ifrit tile in case you are using Ifrit (block as necessary), though I wouldn't recommend bringing her from the start since she's not quite as good in the previous stages.

Here are a few things to note:

The top lane goes first. These enemies are going to be mostly Breakers who are super speedy, so it's important that you either set up a ground defense early, or can full stack 5 snipers and get that upper left red arrow set up immediately (I recommend placing Leizi here if you have her.) Take note that regenerating junkmen will join the Breakers eventually in this lane.

The leftmost green arrow is the optimal place to put Suzuran with S2. Take note that Suzu will still need to charge her S2, so it's not wise to set her up as the first damage unit as these Breakers WILL come in droves and run fast,

The right green arrow is a place where any ground unit with an AOE attack like Mudrock can slap at the enemies passing by, but a really strong pick here is Ethan, whose bind can really save your ass, especially when he has ASPD buffs.

The rightmost red arrow needs the biggest amount of Arts damage. This is where I put my Goldenglow, though other Arts DPS options can work as well. The bottom lane only comes into play in the latter half of the stage, but after the usual Breakers, you will see Demolitionists cross here. These are the biggest threat of the stage, as their large base DEF gets turbo high when buffed by Danger levels, and their attacks can deal AOE splash damage and kill your ranged units as well (which is why I advocate for not blocking the bottom lane and simply trying to control it)

If you happen to be able to spare the extra resources (like say, you got super lucky in the card draw and set up your ranged damage and control easily), this is where the orange arrow comes in. Liberators are my favoritechoice here as they're extremely DP cheap while also being blockless when not attacking (and thus not being murdered by the breakers and junkmen), though someone like Gavial the Invincible or even a second specialist like Mizuki can do wonders. I like buffing them with guard equipment B (+20% ATK and +20 ASPD) to get that ASPD boost.

TL;DR

This stage is bullshit, prepare for Breaker waves early.

Bottom lane spawns Demolitionists (Defense Crushers with exploding hammers), plan Arts DPS accordingly.

Try to set up the ranged DPS in order: the top leftmost red arrow (make sure it can kill the top lane waves), then the leftmost green arrow, then the rightmost red arrow. Improvise your defenses until you can create a killbox with those three units.

Let me know if you need more help!