#genuinely any interest i might have had was ruined by how nasty those fans are being so like. good job!

[labwebs]

🕸alright i need dinner and to stop scrolling on tiktok before i get into more fights about how bg3 fans need to chill a bit and realize that a handful of ridiculous reactions is not the entire fandom soooooooooooo mutuals like this post for a starter

[shipcestuous]

Oh lol, that ask about hypocritical Daemyra shippers hit so hard, I couldn't help but cringe/laugh in sympathy. I'm so sorry if that happened in a fanspace you frequent, anon!! But it really reminded me of one of the reasons I don't interact much with HOTD fandom besides besides reblogging art and memes and discussing the show with a friend.

See, I like a lot of different ship in HOTD, and you'd be hard-pressed to find any I actually dislike even if I am indifferent to some. So it's especially weird to me when shipwars between Aemond/Alys and Aemond/Helaena fans turn from "Our ships is canon in the books!" "Well, our ship might still be canon in the show!" to declaring that Aemond/Alys would necessarily HAVE to be depicted as abusive on one side and bashing the brosis shippers as degenerate freaks for daring to ship incest in a show where the main canon ship is uncle/nice on the other. And then I've also seen at least a couple of Aemond/Alys fans take that even further by preemptively worrying that the greedy, nasty incest shippers will take their ship and make it all about Oedipal onesided Aemond/Alicent undertones... which, as much as I love both ships between troubled younger men and witchy older women AND momson ships, and as much as I am that rare breed of shipper who enjoys multiple interesting ships being connected together by one of the characters involved having a type or unrequieted feelings or other stuff like that, I could actually sympathize with because having fanworks and discussions for your ships overtaken by another ship you don't even like does suck. But again, why the weird focus on the incest angle in the show where THE MAIN CANON SHIP is uncle/niece?! XD

And that's not even mentioning the hate I've seen other people spew about, again, Aemond/Alicent AND Aegon/Alicent. "Something something why take genuinely fascinating parent/child relationships and "warp" them into incest," as I'm sure you can imagine. ... it actually reminds me of people crying out in outrage over slash ships, or even some friends-to-lovers het ships with dynamics that go beyond typical Hollywood ideas of romance. The assumption that adding a romantic or sexual element, even just in fanon rather than canon, will necessarily "ruin" a well-written, interesting relationship - rather than allow fans to explore it in new contexts and settings, appreciating its complexity and nuances while looking at them in a different light and through different means.

And then there's all the Modern AU Daemyra fics where they're not related... which may of course be entirely motivated by a simple wish to explore the dynamic between Daemon and Rhaenyra without the burden of legacy and the mess of family drama weighing on them, just enjoying their passion without additional complications. But it does make me chuckle in a vaguely exasperated way giving everything else...

Sorry for the rant. I'm not really mad about it, as I'm used to doing my things in my own little corner of fandom, but sometimes it does make me want to ask those people "you DO realize we are all watching the same Dragon Family Incest Show, RIGHT?!" XD

[x]

I hate to see fandom bringing out the worst in people when, in theory, it's not impossible for us all to just be having fun and enjoying our show. In theory, in a perfect world, we could all just ship and let ship.

What I really wish some people on tumblr would learn is just how to keep their mouth shut. Some thoughts you can just keep to yourself. Maybe the world would be a better place if you didn't say the thing. A lot of the hate I see just snowballs. One Aemond/Alys shipper says something negative about Helaemond, a Helaemond shipper remarks on it - this is just an example - then that remark gets traction, leading to someone saying something negative about Aemon and Alys, and now all of the sudden both ships are under attack and there's a ship war. If Person A had just not made that post, if Person B had just ignored what Person A had said, it might not have gotten ugly on such a big scale. Never underestimate the power of just ignoring.

And of course when you've got incest ships in the mix, the other side is going to come out in full force to condemn it. That might work in other fandoms, but this is ASOIAF, and this is the incest show. The incest shippers are not crazy.

The assumption that adding a romantic or sexual element, even just in fanon rather than canon, will necessarily "ruin" a well-written, interesting relationship - rather than allow fans to explore it in new contexts and settings, appreciating its complexity and nuances while looking at them in a different light and through different means.

THIS.

Like shipping something romantically is some eraser that comes along and erases everything that's unique and interesting about a relationship. Um, no.

It creates new layers!

Modern unrelated AU:

[diego-hargreeve2]

light in the dark

Part Two

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy (Netflix)

Ship: Diego Hargreeves x Original Character

Warnings: Language, abuse (emotional and physical), mental illness, violence and, in later chapters, smut.

If asked – although that was a rare occurrence – Diego made it clear he was out working the city at night to get rid of scum and save lives - in that order. He wasn’t here to take care of people, he wasn’t looking for responsibility, he was just cleaning up the streets.

And if he had been looking to save somebody, logic surely suggested he start with his family - although he was pretty sure they didn’t need it. Luther was a big boy who could take care of himself, Allison had spread enough of her rumours to craft a perfect life, Klaus frankly didn’t seem to want any help or intervention and Vanya had cut ties with her nasty little novel. He should be glad for all this, not having the burden of his siblings and their bickering, and he certainly was sure he hadn't been looking for a replacement sibling to take on as a responsibility.

So he wasn't sure why he found himself returning to the shelter the next night to check on Eve. Sat in the car, staring at the building, one hand flipping a knife back and forth by the handle - the motion so easy to him that it was clear how often he did this, how regular a habit it was - as he considered.

It was one thing to have met her randomly and helped her out. Another to go inside and ask for her. Even knowing this he got out the car and walked up to the door, sheathing the dagger as he rapped at the wood with gloved knuckles.

Eve was surprised to be asked for, one of the volunteers sticking their head around her door but when she found out her visitor she wasn't sorry, and offered a smile - far more of a greeting than Diego managed, as he merely inclined his head slightly.

"Figured I'd come check on you. Make sure you're ok" he said, affecting a lack of concern.

Eve wasn't great at people skills and subtle cues, but even she could guess that if he was as tough and uncaring as his exterior had tried to project yesterday he wouldn't have returned. He hadn't been looking for the Others, he wasn't excited to meet her - but he didn't, after one meeting, hate her. That felt like some step forward in this city, something that could even be built into a friendship. She could hardly answer his question in a negative though.

"Sure. They've been kind, it's nice here" Eve told him. That wasn't a lie - the place was clean and didn't try to shove religion down the throats of those who sought refuge under its roof.  There had been worse places she had stayed. Good manners and convention meant she could hardly say otherwise in earshot of those who worked here though. In truth, not even just manners. Eve had been thrown out of places before for the crime of offering even constructive criticism.

Realising the reason for her reticence, Diego nodded toward the door. "Coffee?"

"Sure," she said, breaking into a sunny smile that revealed her overbite. Turning he grabbed the door, partly because his Mom didn't raise him to be rude and partly because he did not need his image being ruined by it becoming apparent that he, like just about anyone else, would look pleased at such a positive reaction.

Leading the way to his car (Eudora told him it could hardly be counted as a car, more rust on wheels, but the old girl worked just fine in his opinion) he threw open the passenger door before heading around and jumping in the driver's side.

The silence after the doors closed was awkward, and Eve slid her hands under her thighs to stop herself fidgeting, sat on her fingers so they couldn't betray her. This city wasn't her home, but wandering its streets meant she had a fairly good idea of its layout, and she watched out the window for the journey so she could be certain of her way back...just in case.

"Here. They make good pancakes" Diego offered when he pulled over and Eve glanced at him curiously before climbing out. He hadn't seemed like a pancakes kind of person to her.

"So, the place is ok?" he double checked as they slid into a booth opposite each other.

"Yeah, y'know, it's fine. As these places go" Eve added, shrugging. Shelters are a godsend in many ways, but at the same time experience taught her they were often poor, struggling to make ends meet, and plagued by people who were less than grateful. Anyone expecting five-star luxury would be horrified by the bunk beds, sparse furnishing, peeling lino and worn cushions but Eve knew it could be worse.

"As they go - you've spent a lot of time in homeless shelters?" he asked with a frown.

"I've stayed a few. So long as they don't shove their faith down my throat I count it as a win".

He chuckled at her words. The waitress halted the conversation for a moment to take their order, but as she walked away he glanced at Eve - once again sat on her hands and now staring at the formica tabletop - and asked, "Not a fan of religion?"

"...No". Not anymore.

"Just no?"

Eve sighed. Religion was always a touchy subject that could get people heated, but for her, it was more than that. It was complicated.

"That's a big question to ask somebody you just met," she said, shifting the topic and lifting her chin enough to meet his gaze. Diego didn't deny it, but he wasn't abashed by her feeble attempt at confronting him.

"You said you read my sister's book. That means you know plenty about me. I'd say questions like that just level the playing field".

"I don't know you though", Eve protested. "The book...I know what Vanya thinks of your upbringing and who you used to be. You left home at like, what, seventeen? So even if that was accurate, it's ten years old. People change. And as well...you can grow up in the same place, the same family, as somebody else and it's still completely different for you. The book - even the parts about you - are her opinion - right?"

Something in that statement worked. Eve wasn't sure exactly what she got right, but she could see the way he sat back in the booth, his shoulders relaxing a little and his face softening that it got through somehow. That for once she wasn't just a rambling idiot but had made sense and a connection.

"Right" he admitted, almost unwillingly despite the way his stance had shifted. "You still know more about me than I know about you though. If you came here to find people who 'get it'" - hands still resting on the tabletop but fingers lifting to offer loose, lazy quotation marks - "You're gonna have to tell me something kid".

"We're the same age". Literally the exact same age, she could have added but he just chuckled. Shaking her head slightly, enough that her hair fell forward from behind her ears and screened her face, she sighed and asked: "What do you want to know?"

"Where you from?"

"Idaho" Eve admitted. "A backwoods little town you'll never have heard of". Not a lie after all.

"But you'd never heard of us?" Diego seemed slightly incredulous at that, that the fame of the Umbrella Academy hadn't spread so far as to reach on her childhood.

"My family didn't allow television. Or magazines. Or radio for anyone but the...Father" she winced even as the sentence left her, the syntax all wrong and far too revealing. In her attempt to hide it - impossible, his eyes were already on her and brightened with interest - she attempted a joke. "Sorry to break it to you that your fame hasn't made you a household name all over". Not a good joke and neither of them laughed.

Pulling out a small knife from his sleeve, intrigued and yet even as brash as he was knowing the conversation had touched something she didn't want to talk about, he tapped it against the tabletop to focus himself. Fiddling, rolling the handle along with his palm, he skirted the subject very slightly. "But they knew about the other births right - that was like. International".

"Where I grew up is very isolated", the words spoken with so carefully they might have been glass. "They don't approve of contact with the Outside World so...no. They didn't know that I wasn't the only weird birth. There's lots they don't know"

"Sounds like a fucking cult".

"Pretty much". That made it sound as dull as she could imagine, and yet it still seemed to intrigue him very slightly. Looking away from her, watching the diner overhead lights in the dull steel of his knife as he toyed with it, Diego decided to give her...well, something.

"I can get that. Our Dad named us numbers after all". Eve's tone as she referred to her past was low, quiet, almost monotone and carefully calm. Diego, on the other hand, hid none of the scorn and underlying anger as he mentioned the man who adopted him.

Watching him, her expression soft and sad with understanding, meant that as he glanced over their eyes met - and there was something there. A connection of sorts, recognition enough, and Eve smiled without intending to. It was barely a beginning but a beginning it was. It was interrupted however by the arrival of black coffee and a plate piled high with bacon and pancakes.

“You’re gonna eat all that?” Eve asked, the words stunned and slipping out before she thought them through. If she had offended him, he hid it well, tucking the knife away and reaching for a fork.

“It’s hard work doing what I do” he told her.

“What is it you do?” Eve asked, genuinely curious as she slid her fingers around the coffee mug – an action most people did to keep warm, although it made no difference for her.

“You saw last night. I beat up shitbags. And box” he added almost as an afterthought before he began shovelling food into his mouth. She considered this answer for a moment, staring into her cup as though explanations floated on the dark surface.

“Why?” she asked, when her coffee proffered no understanding.

“Why not? The city’s going to hell. It’s full of bastards. I do some good. Actual good, not getting wrapped up in red tape and bullshit”.

Again, she studied her coffee before speaking. “It must be nice. To make a difference”. The look he threw her way revealed that for a moment he thought she was joking, mocking him like just about everyone did about his vigilante activities. There was nothing teasing in her expression, no biting edge to her tone, just honesty – and that warmed him a little, the corner of his mouth lifting in a smile.

“Yeah. Yeah, it is”.

I changed the title but I kept writing. I hope that people enjoy. 

@lovinglydiego

[emeryst]

➰ ( PARK JIMIN, DEMIMALE, HE/THEY ) *✧.:°░｡ —- is that EMERY STEELE?! you know them, right? they are the 227 year old SEELIE !! they’re known for being WHIMSICAL & COMPOSED - but i'd be careful if i were you because they’re also SHREWD & EGOTISTICAL.

*peeks in* hello it is I, ghost of the past here again. asdnf ok for whoever even remembers my very brief venture into this rp with this muse um sorry for disappearing life kicked me in the ass but here’s for round two!! ;; I’m actually superrr excited to get to do stuff with Em and yall pls come plot uwu

I’m gonna keep introductions to minimum-- I go by Fany, 26 years young, she/her most likely playing overwatch if you don’t hear back from me for a while. constantly melting from this damn heat my last 1.5 brain cells are doing their best O K

that’s good right.

.

.

.

yes.

so.

I’ll work on pages as we go don’t @me 

I’ve revamped this muse juuuust a tiny bit. here’s what you should know

looks 22 he’s stubborn and clings to youthfulness. sue him

tbh partially also bc people keep underestimating him and. that works to his advantage oops

goes by ‘em’ sometimes, or if you fancy using that to emery he honestly doesn’t care. some may only know him as ‘gemma’ but more on that later..

most important thing perhaps is to make it clear that emery is by no means his real name ( neither is steele ), nor the only one he has taken to using over the years, simply one he’s settled for currently. for the past, oh, 90 or so years anyway

no one knows his real name beside his mom, and the seelie queen I would assume. unless there’s a seelie ( or even a merperson ) who was around when he was residing in the faerieland

speaking of, he was born in the faerie realm and lived there for the first 20 years of his life with his mom ( 1790-1810+ )

never saw his dad much, for reasons I’m not disclosing here other than the man being an unseelie & involved in some shady dealings >_>

mom wanted to move back to korea where she had lived part of her life, naturally emery followed along mostly just to help her settle down and to see what it was like, ever the curious soul

she got her hands on some land and started a small business making lavish traditional clothes which ended up getting her a hefty sum of money over the years, while he was mostly helping and doing his own things on the side, going cross country for mundane as well as seelie business.

spent some good 30 years there before he decided to start travelling across globe. which is more or less what he been doing since then, not settling down for more than a max 10 years at a time really. now he’s been living in wilshire for a good 2 years

I don’t want to name a specific timeline for where he’s been when cause yo if anyone wants to plot something that happened in the past in whatever country/city, I’m down! mostly boy’s been in europe tho. that said he has been in wilshire before too occasionally so a past plot based around the city could be done ( as long as it’s some 30+ years into past )

oh ye he’s LOADED

how he’s maintained that is another thing. from early age he’s been extremely interested in gemstones and their qualities and all that, how pretty you could polish them & adding his own magic into the mix he begun experimenting with making sort of charms out of them in the form of jewellery and soon found a genuine passion in the craftsmanship ( mean he went to work as a proper apprentice for years and all, under different people too ) and he’s amassed a pretty nice following of people who vouch for his ‘product’ being of highest quality and materials. or at the very least have heard of him by the name ‘gemma’. we’re talking of a sort of legacy garnered along 150 years of him doing this so.

word has gotten around within the downworlders circles as much shadowhunters, everything is custom made so you wont be able to just say oh I want this kind of thing and expect him to have it on the go oh no. it would take minimum 2 weeks. and he’s a strict perfectionist so even if you were fine with him applying some shortcuts while crafting pride alone would have him refuse

first of all you have to get in contact with him, which is harder than it should be these days since he’s not exactly advertising, though has been giving out business cards to select few cause they’re fun. so unless you specifically know him as the jewellery/charm maker ‘gemma’ honestly your best bet is to ask around the shadow market and someone might direct you to him

in addition to all that, he’s made a name for himself in the mundane world too by having lines of jewellery sold in boutiques all over for the last 30+ years. rumour is he’s retired - which is true - but nothing’s confirmed cause he’s an ass

no one knows it’s emery tho now cause with that whole thing he heavily altered his looks as well as what name he slapped on that entire thing when handling business. as far as mundanes know ‘jon kim’ has disappeared off the face of earth and he ain’t doing a thing to prove otherwise

ok so

lives close enough to wilshire in this huge ass 5 bedroom house legit cost him nearly 3 million oops

but listen, he needs the space for work ( has one room just for that ) and other stuff and a decent sized yard for gardening cause he’s growing all kinds of flowers & shit. some illegal but shh

actually no he legit has a whole lot of stuff some warlocks might need so ring him up aye. nothing comes free tho jsyk ;)

also may or may not have subtle glamours and all kinds of wards set around the property but don’t you worry about those

likes his peace and quiet too but is a highly sociable person. lives off gossip no lie. mostly bc he just borED

loves going out and just having fun with people in general, experiencing new things and sights, taking in the nature etc

does still visit the faerieland often enough to know what’s happening over there, though he’s a little removed from the inner circle of the seelies’. beside visits to the queen. he yet remains loyal to her and their people regardless how close or not he is to them now ( no but give him a seelie friendo someone pls ;w; )

he actually has come back to that realm several times over the years and in between travels, usually when there’s a war going on in the mundane world and he’s just. not in the damn mood to deal with that

now he’s also just. kinda unbothered by bloodshed?? doesn’t like participating personally but has witnessed enough in his lifetime it doesn’t really phase him

sometimes to the point of being unnerving like

during these past events/plot drops you bet he’s the one in a corner still sipping a drink and watching it all go down with mild interest, and annoyance bc thanks for ruining the party. again. wont lift a finger to help either. until there’s a weapon pointed at own face. in which case better start praying.

will prob try to stare them down first bc excuse you want me to ruin this outfit you absolute heathen

see he’s been trained to fight too although he’s def not the best among faerie kind but can hold his own. it’s less of fighting more just whole lotta evading and letting his opponent tire themselves out like an idiot. bc that’s more fun

actually has no problem with seeing the clave burn down. might be aiding in that in the shadows ( has some.. questionable connections ) but like. not. directly. not in anyway that could ever be traced to him anyway

doesn’t necessarily want an all out war tho. that’d be just a hassle but he’s tIRED of shadowhunters and their righteous asses and superior attitudes. will still play nice with them ( most of the time.. some of the time. ) cause gotta keep up appearances and hey the more allies he can make the better

doesn’t have much of a problem with other downworlders. might clown them but means no ill I promise. had one nasty run in with a small group of vampires in europe back in the day which at the time left him on the verge of death and kind of shaken over the whole ordeal so. gets stupid tense when there’s more than two vampires in the same room

he’s the kind who acts being ( tentative ) friends with most everyone who he meets but no one really knows him. very guarded about his past & secrets and keeps everyone at an arms length, tho it might not feel like he’s doing that cause. yeah. it’s not out of ill will or anything. well, most of the time. he’s just careful over who to blindly trust– which is no one

likes messing with people but can be kind too. it all depends what mood he in and what energy you giving him

not exactly charitable, with money or anything but if you need help he most likely will agree to lend a hand. tho again, may not be for free

deep deep down wishes he could trust people, even one person enough to just be real with them and open and shit but also is well aware how dangerous that could be so. chooses not to act on those impulses of affection or whatever when they rise. tries not to at least

pansexual as hell. also stupidly picky so good luck with that

doesn’t do relationships anymore *addareyousureaboutthatgifhere* but who knows. prefers to keep it casual if anything does come to fruition either way

probably has a handful of enemies cause uh. kinda may have stabbed some people in the back along the way but in his defence they totally deserved it so. meh.

ANIMAL LOVER. THEY CAN DO NO WRONG.

a hoe for quality fashion don’t even get me started. his style itself is all over he place but if emery is wearing it, safe to assume it cost a fortune

needless to say he wears a ridiculous amount of jewellery too most of the time you can hear him coming a mile away. avid fan of arm bracelets

as most seelies he also has a tattoo on his face. lets just, pretend it looks something akin to the shadow curving down his cheek an trailing along left side of neck and further down collarbones in this pic aight

tho a lot of the times it would be at least partially covered by makeup, which he uses regularly anyway

has a weird obsession with the ocean, and by proxy the merpeople so any of you guys out there hmu

tech-savvy. has all the latest stuff. also plays computer/console games cause why not, mundanes never cease to amaze him with their creations. not that he’s necessarily all that good but it’s for fun who cares

kinda all around restless and needs something going on at all times, even if it’s reading a book, attending to the garden, any small things

for him the whole bond thing seemed intriguing as well as spelled trouble but emery’s all about that also he was deathly bored aight plus may have a personal mission to carry out and any chance to fuck with shadowhunters is tAKEN THANKS

bonded with @urslashdw :  the chaotic gays™

wasn’t too happy to know the bond would last longer than a couple weeks, but has turned that into an asset. well, as much as it can be one. totally using her as an excuse to get to snoop around and may or may not be mildly manipulative towards her and using the connection to own advantage when possible but. ya know. has grown attached as you do so is a little torn over it.

I’m stopping here jesus take the wheel thanks bye!

so ye if any of you wanted to plot come at me~ don’t have any proper pages up yet bc i’m tired and lazy just ask me if you wanna know something. seriously, I love rambling about my muse I promise it’s no problem at all

guess there’s a few roles I wouldn’t mind seeing filled so here’s a bullet point list if anyone gets an idea or wants to brainstorm specifics!

friends ( very broad term )

old friend/acquaintance ( someone he goes waaaay back with )

business acquaintance ( whatever it may be )

old flame ( could have ended on good or bad terms, should have taken place a good while ago. bonus points if they still have a piece of jewellery em made for them )

booty call ( for convenience sake :p )

enemies/frenemies ( i feel this is just him with most shadowhunters?????? maybe he betrayed/tricked you and you’re just endlessly bitter. but look, it’s your fault for trusting him at all. em probably feels bad about it now???? or just classic hating each other’s guts )

literally anything??!

actually gimme someone who was in europe during the whole vampire attack shenanigans and helped him out ( em would feel indebted. )

also someone who may also be okay with bringing down the clave and they lowkey vibing. but in secret.

idk man the messier the plot the louder i get for declaring my love for it so bring it babes~

also omg if I had a plot with you then you’d want to actually.. you know.. put in action now I’d be okay with that lmao

[theotherscarmanthewoman]

Series 1 Review

Forty-three episodes later, Series 1 (Season 1?) is done and dusted. Before launching into Series 2 tomorrow with Planet of Giants, I thought it might be fun to do a little review of the story so far...

General Thoughts

Overall, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I’d seen most of these serials as a kid, though never in the right order, and watching them from beginning to end has given me a newfound appreciation for just how much excellent character development there is in the early years of the show. I have also become a diehard Barbara fan. Obv. 

From a feminist perspective, there’s been a lot to like, though there have been a few major issues for me. As far as the series regulars go, Barbara gets to do a fair amount of physically, emotionally, and verbally badass things whilst remaining a well-rounded character: she’s clever, compassionate, occasionally morbid, brave, pragmatic, imaginative, resourceful, and deeply flawed in an entirely non-gendered way *cough*AZTECS*cough*. However, she also nearly gets raped in The Snows of Terror, has men draw lots over who gets to murder her in Marco Polo (only to be victim blamed by the eponymous dickhead of the serial), and is often a victim of the well-meaning but mostly stifling paternalism of Ian Chesterton (though she does at least get to complain about it). 

Susan is more problematic, as she very rarely gets a chance to shine, and suffers greatly at the hands of writers who just don’t know what to do with her. All too often, she’s reduced to a plot device, which I suppose is how she started out, after all: she was a means of getting the humans onto the Tardis and introducing us to the Doctor. And while she had genuine and gorgeous character development in Marco Polo and The Sensorites (the latter in the face of serious patriarchal bullshit from the Doctor), she ended the first series as a means of getting/keeping other characters in and out of jail whenever it was narratively convenient for her to have a mystery headache. JUSTICE FOR SUSAN! There are also way too many episodes that fail the Bechdel test for a series that has two women in the recurring cast.

Favourite Serials

I am the kind of person who panics when there are more than five options on a menu, so obviously I cannot restrict myself to a single favourite serial. With this in mind, and with the proviso that none of these are entirely unproblematic, here are my top three (in no particular order):

The Daleks I love this serial for so many reasons: Barbara getting her shit together after the whole caveman debacle/having been given a serious fright by a Dalek for the first time in Whovian history, donning a pair of hexagon trousers, and going on to display her infinite capacity for badassery (see exhibits A, B, and C); Space Corbyn; the Daleks being established as Space Nazis; the birth of Team Tardis; hexagons; Barbara and Ian fighting (which I always enjoy); the Doctor giving Barbara hope in the first of many classic chats; and of course Barbara deciding that yes she will kiss that alien, thank you very much.

The Edge of Destruction This is so ambitious and weird and wonderful, and of course contains that epic Barbara Wright verbal smackdown. The Tardis is alive and speaks in melty clocks and photographs (setting in motion a Tardis character arc without which The Doctor’s Wife would not have been possible), Susan is possessed and scissor-happy, Ian is in a ludicrously short dressing-gown, the Doctor learns to cherish his humans, the Doctor  gets crazy excited talking about the birth of solar system, the humanities save the day, and everyone learns about each other and therefore about themselves. Just don’t ask me whether it makes any actual sense.

The Aztecs Problematic as all hell, but so very, very interesting. Barbara’s hubris, Susan’s continued arranged marriage issues post-Ping-Cho, the Doctor and Barbara bonding over history and time travel and ethics, Space Bro antics, badassery, ruined lives (Autloc! Cameca!), and life-long lessons learned. A meaty historical with repercussions for the whole of Doctor Who.

An honourable mention must also go to Marco Polo, which drove me absolutely crazy at times (because it’s missing, because yellowface, because Marco being the actual worst and causing me to go on my first sustained rant about rape culture in Classic Who), because in it we got a glimpse of Susan’s potential as a character. Which got shat on from a great height in The Reign of Terror. 

Bring That Side Character Aboard the Tardis

Ping-Cho PRECIOUS CINNAMON GOLDFISH YOU SHOULD HAVE GONE WITH SUSAN AND YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SPACE (GIRL)FRIENDS FOREVER.

Ganatus His brother is dead, many of his friends are dead, and his planet is mostly fucked. Get that Thal aboard the Tardis so Barbara can show him just how much she doesn’t always do what Ian says; a whirlwind space romance would do them both a power of good. 

Character Development

The Doctor has had quite the journey, from the selfish goblin we met in a junkyard in 1963 who was quite happy to brain a caveman with a rock (and leave Barbara to die of radiation poisoning on Skaro) to the selfish goblin we met on a road in eighteenth-century France who was quite happy to brain a man with a shovel (on his quest to save his friends from the guillotine). The quality of his selfishness has been transformed because he now cares for two humans who have grown to care about him. He’s learned some manners, he’s learned about two other people, and he’s learning about himself.

Susan. Poor, poor Susan. She had such potential to be an interesting character, but alas she was served shoddily by writers who didn’t know what to do with her. She got to talk about home and what it means to be a wanderer in Marco Polo and The Sensorites, and she even got to stretch her telepathic legs in the latter, but alas her character development has suffered throughout the series. The one consistent thread for Susan is her increasing attachment to her human Space Parents, and her ongoing issues with saying goodbye. I have so many questions about Susan, but unfortunately none of the writers could be arsed to answer them.

I worry about Ian, actually, because he seems to have become desensitised to violence in a way that surely can’t be healthy for him. He also seems increasingly unable to function when he’s not being called upon to be Action Man (or indeed welded to the side of Barbara Wright). The weirdest example of this is when he thought all his friends were dead and he was stranded in eighteenth-century France, so he decided to become a spy for the counterrevolution just for something to do. At the beginning of the series, I disliked Ian enormously for his patronising paternalism; I don’t dislike him any more, but as I say, I worry about what’s going to happen to him when he finally makes it home and he has to function on an everyday level again without the psychological crutches of ‘I must kill the bad guys’ and ‘I must find/protect Barbara’. I also worry about his change of attitude from ‘I’m not going to do this because it’s wrong’ to ‘I’m going to do whatever it takes to get everyone out of this mess alive and I’m going to decide that whatever this involves is morally right’. And I think the turning point for that might well have been on Skaro where he managed to convince himself that asking the Thals to sacrifice themselves for the greater good was morally the right thing to do if he could find a way of thinking about it as helping the Thals to help themselves. I do love his Space Bro relationship with the Doctor, though. And his ongoing leftie streak.

Oh Babs. She’s really developed over the series, and what is excellent about seeing it in order is that it becomes clear that the Barbara we met in An Unearthly Child was Barbara on a (really) bad day. And yes, she went into hysterics over a dead pig. But very soon this self-professed unwilling adventurer was getting stuck in: no sooner had she recovered from a nasty bout of radiation sickness in a Dalek cell on Skaro than she was busy making mud pies to take out those malevolent pepper pots, embracing the local fashions, flirting with the locals, and taking on Daleks with rocks and a can-do attitude. She adapts to the situation time after time, and learns about time-travel and history the hard way, bonding with the Doctor and caring for her fellow travellers; if The Edge of Destruction is the Doctor’s turning point, The Aztecs is hers. But we also see that being surrounded by death is beginning to take its toll, as well as a nihilistic sense of the absurd that comes of having truly absorbed the lesson that you can’t rewrite history. Fortunately for Babs, the Doctor is actually there for her at these times, as we’ve seen from their ongoing time-travel chats. I think the biggest surprise of the series for me has been the relationship between the Doctor and Barbara, actually; they’re teaching one another to be better time travellers.

A note on shipping

I have deliberately shied away from overtly shipping Barbara and Ian in the recaps (though I’ve been less successful elsewhere), not because I don’t believe with every fibre of my being that they absolutely ended up getting hitched when they got back to Earth, but because frankly it’s more interesting when they fight than when they’re being cute. Also I’m saving a post on the many aspects of their relationship for after The Chase, as I feel like that will help me deal with my Feelings after they leave the show.

BRING ON SERIES 2!

[anxiety-trademark]

The week in review:

Raw 11/23 NXT 11/25 NXT UK 11/26 Smackdown 11/27

Raw:

Such a hollow promo by Lana tbh. “I’m dreaming, don’t wake me up.” ??? You were the sole survivor by proxy, it’s not like you did anything. Like good for you, but come on now.

I mean sure, hand out a title shot to fucking Lana, not like anyone else in the entire company cares about that belt. God I miss Becky.

“You may go home Raw women’s champion” HAHAHAHAHAAHHA sure.

“Nikki Cross blames herself for what Alexa Bliss has become,” she should, she straight up threw her hissy fit cuz she didn’t win the title, and then she bailed.

Now don’t get me wrong, I get that Alexa has been... possessed, if you will, by Fiend... but I’m not seeing any signs of Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to her and Bray. Aren’t they both trapped by Fiend in lore? Bray seems to genuinely care about Alexa. Am I off the mark here??

Oh my god this moment of silence for the fucking frog, I--

Topped with them laughing about his death, oooookay. I’m left speechless once again.

Commentators come back with, “Is Alexa Bliss too far gone...” LMFAO bye.

See I love this bullying Lana storyline cuz Nia and Shayna have no real reason to despise her 1/8th as much as they do. It simply boils down to ‘fuck Lana’ and like your typical high school bullies, they seethe when their victim succeeds at anything. It’s old school, believable, and doesn’t cross any lines that would upset parents or sponsors.

Also don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware that this title match is just a vehicle to advance the feud while involving Asuka, I simply wish the creation of the title match itself had been a bit more interesting. Lana’s dialogue ahead of it with both Sarah and Asuka just fell flat for me.

Omfg Asuka threw water on Nia and Shayna, bahahahah I can’t breathe. That might be the highlight of her entire reign, holy shit.

Negative points for her being floored by one punch though.

Well at least the segment ends with both Asuka and Lana standing, that’s not the worst.

Not much to say about this match, it’s really just Nia and Shayna bullying Lana lol.

I’ll give them this, there is absolutely nothing about neither Nia nor Shayna that is even remotely likeable. They play mean really well, and not ‘annoying yet funny’ mean like Bayley, just straight mean.

It’s not that I hate this submission ‘hold’ by Shayna, where she steps on the back of their neck while pulling a leg back, but I’m curious why she switched legs lmao. Awkward.

What a knee strike by Shayna to Asuka, whew that looked nasty.

Lmfao Nia took herself out by charging into the announce desk. I cannot. What a bump. Comedic bump, but a bump. Points.

Haha Shayna ate a rollup. A happy ending indeed. Lana sold that ending well, but it was a weird choice to have her and Asuka on the opposite ends of the ramp.

It’s been like 2 years and I’m still shocked Alexa never turned on Nikki.

This video is kind of just skipping over Nikki throwing her tantrum huh? Alexa played backseat cheerleader just to watch Nikki lose against Bayley 16 times and what did she get in return? Disrespect. Tsk.

Great package though. Points.

Nikki is so inconsistent. Internal conflict is valid, but she’s standing here claiming Alexa gave up on their friendship. First of all, this was initially instigated by Nikki. Second of all, she did nothing but trash Alexa’s boyfriend(?) when Alexa was nothing but kind to her after Nikki was a douche. She was confused so she gave Alexa an ultimatum, and now she’s pissy cuz Alexa chose him. This is toxic, I honestly have no sympathy for Nikki.

“I’m going to beat the Fiend out of Alexa Bliss” that’s... that’s not how this works... alright well you’re a shitty friend so, anyway.

Alexa slaps the back of Nikki’s hands and claims she won. I fucking can’t, she’s such a treat.

Lol Alexa’s just laughing at her.

My first introduction to Alexa was her as a master manipulator. Not a damn thing has changed.

Alexa has lost her god damn mind rofl.

*Bonus* online exclusive: victim Nikki, everyone. Why wasn’t this on Raw? Jesus they fill Raw with so many garbage replays while meaningful interviews to fill plot holes are put online. Dumb.

Lacey’s really running around calling Peyton “PeyPey” good lord.

I mean she’s right, Peyton was the weakest link. Just saying.

“10 sizes too big” shot at Uncle Melted Cheese.

I fucking love how Lacey pronounces “opportun-tit-ies” lmao. I thought it was an accident at first but honestly it’s great.

They have zero chemistry in the ring but at least they’re fun outside of it.

Highlight: I know I say Alexa every single week but shrug it’s Alexa

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NXT:

Alright Ember’s theme is wearing on me. She just has awesome theme songs.

Indi is really pretty and I love how she does her hair.

All nxt heels are the same; cowardly run from fights, slow methodical wrestling in the ring, recruiting muscle optional. It’s tired. At least be a good promo. Dakota is a good promo. She’s buyable. Actually where’s Dakota, I wanna see Dakota wrestle. No more Candice.

Holy shit that fall away slam onto Candice. Fucking THREW her ass across the ring. Whew everyone wave bye to Candice.

The setup to that step up senton by Candice was way too obvious.

Candice is too whiny.

Ah just as I’m beginning to get bored, Dakota comes out. It’s like nxt knows me.

Haha KO correcting Vic being a bad commentator.

See Candice isn’t even a bad wrestler, her style as heel just fucking blows.

Peeped that call by Ember.

Such a stupid setup to have Indi push Candice out of the way to take an Eclipse herself. It’s not like jumping in front of a bus. There was time. Whatever. I hate Candice matches 9 times out of 10 so there’s that lol.

...so is Toni a heel yet??? I’m guessing they’re going for “badass loner babyface-leaning tweener” for Ember, but Toni is not a tweener. She could’ve been, alas she is not.

Haha Toni is funny. Good, let her be heel. Maybe she’ll show some personality.

Alright but hear me out, what if we had a War Games team without Candice???

You did say we’d see a whole new side of you, Toni. Been waiting to see it though.

Wait back up, didn’t Toni attack Candice after their match recently?? Okay anyway.

“Rhea Ripley/Io Shirai? Doesn’t get any bigger than that.” True Rhea, now move up to the main roster plz.

Oh man Io’s basement dropkick fucking nailed Rhea in the face lol, oof.

“Where do I go from here?” TO THE MAIN ROSTER.

I don’t hate the tank and I don’t hate the idea of wearing a helmet, but those horns are super pointless.

Shotzi “pyromaniac” Blackheart. Stealing one of Alexa’s gimmicks.

It’s gonna be Shotzi, Io, Rhea and Ember, right? Who else would it be??

Rhea says she’s there to stay. Ma’am I stg if I have to wait til after wm to see you on the MR...

Me: super invested in Rhea cutting a fantastic promo and seeing how far she’s progressed as a well-rounded talent; Candice: “lol fuck you”

I hate Candice. I will fill this review with vitriol for Candice, I don’t care.

How... how did Io “steal” any victories from Candice? What help did she have? Is it drugs? Is Candice on drugs?? Candice you haven’t even held the title, shut the fuck up. Also all of y’all can sit down cuz only one woman on that entire brand has had a singles match at wm.

Oh shit they laid Io out. That’s a yikes.

In kf, the only threat to Rhea on that entire team is Toni.

I mean sure 4 people was way too much for Rhea to handle, but man they let her look pretty fucking good. The way she immediately slid out to give Raquel the high boot was smart as hell.

Dakota looks good. She gets style points.

Soooo Xia gets acting points, but what in the fuck is going on with her and Boa’s story...

Why do I have to see or hear Candice again? Jesus lord.

There’s someone else masked? *sigh* I don’t care, goodbye.

Highlight: Rhea’s promo that Candice ruined

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NXT UK:

I enjoy watching neither of these women wrestle, but at least Jinny’s persona is appealing and she has solid character work. She’s easy to dislike, so she gets heel-potential points.

Did they say Isla’s mentor is Nikki Cross? That’s... interesting...

So is this match gonna be interrupted by Piper? Probably not.

“This is an aggressive Isla Dawn,” well hey, maybe she actually started working on her stamina.

Jinny is vicious lmao.

Probably Isla’s best showing tbh.

I hate it when people jump off the top turnbuckle and then break into a slow, clunky roll, just to stand up and act as if their knee is tweaked. It’s so messy to me. Be smoother or don’t aimlessly jump off the turnbuckle.

Whole lotta yelling in the match.

Really don’t give a shit about a future Jinny/Piper match but okay.

Highlight: Jinny comes off as a vicious bitch, so that’s nice

---

Smackdown:

Oh snap Bianca’s graphic has some real potential.

Ayyyeeee it’s Captain Bayley. We starting our Bianca/Bayley feud?

oof Nattie straight outsmarted Bianca as the vet, there. Bianca friggin speared that ringpost.

“I think I did the world a favor, we got to see Bianca Belair shine,” she’s not wrong, Bianca was absolutely my mvp from SvS. In hindsight speaking from current day, Bayley really set up Bianca to be the upcoming star of this division, starting with SvS.

Oh snap did Bianca just call Nattie a bitch? How dare she, that’s Nattie’s only patented insult!

“You don’t want to get counted out again,” lmfao Bayley’s so annoying.

pppffffftttt Bayley inadvertently getting her ass whooped tonight.

Yeah somehow this is all Cole’s fault lol.

No, stop, no more “them” promos. Bayley cut this promo literally a year prior, we don’t need to hear it from Carmella, too. Besides, she was never necessarily a fan favorite that the crowd gradually turned against like Bayley was. It’s different.

WHAT SHOTS ARE YOU CALLING?? Is this about Reggie? Has he even appeared on screen yet?

Lmao Sasha beating her ass. Good for her. Looking good while she does it, too. Sasha in shiny silver... whew.

The wwe shop ad with the Riott Squad was worth a mention. They entertain me and they deserve tag titles. Not sure why wwe is still dragging their feet, but commit to them already, damn it.

Highlight: Bianca/Bayley seeds being planted

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*Smackdown shined the brightest this week. Short, simple, straight to the point. Left me wanting to throw on next week’s episode, which no other show accomplished.