#important realisation at 2:50 am

[seldonhari]

why the fuck are all these men in my recent drawings looking to the right!! free them

[satocidal]

CONTINUING THE NSFW!!!

THE WAY HE WAS GRINDING JOGOS ARM BETWEEN HIS LEGS. IF HE WASN'T AND I IMAGINED IT THEN JUST IMAGINE HE DID.

this guy will deffo be too high after fights. high on HORNINESS.

imagine the nasty fucking after each fight like Zijdkdkrkekr i just want him to snatch me up and use me as he pleases til he comes down from the adrenaline

Nothing just a small analysis of gojo’s kinks<3

I’ll keep that ask in my inbox because it’s important to me now💀 gotta get those ideas in a fic sometime SOON

Part 2 Part 3

A lot of nsfw undercut ✨

Ok you know what this made me realise? I have a certain softened exhibit for satoru—like not baby-fied but yk yk? In the sense like I often imagine him softening up during sex—even if he’s being mean But nah. He’s mean through and through—menace teenage gojo? Yes that NEVER left him at all

No because he is SUCH a tease— and he coos at you too, praise always mixed with condescension like, “Awh look at my pretty baby trying her best to be my slut? You like that? Like being a toy for me to use?” —like absolutely eats and leaves no crumbs when degrading—hits all the right spots with his words

And be assured he’ll scold you too, not like get his tone high but—this is filthy I feel weird writing when replying to you💀—but I imagine him being the kind to have you stand naked for him and you’re shy? Well satoru is the kind to tell you to be ashamed of your actions rather than your bare cunt

And he can and will tease for hours!! And not the “I won’t cum until you do”—no baby, he’s shameless. He’ll cum and cum and cum as many times he pleases—he’ll cum until you get so desperate that even the thought of being able to assist him is enough pleasure for you.

Ofc Satoru loves making you cry—just, adores it. Big fat tears rolling down your puffy cheeks as his hands pull you deeper and deeper to the base of his cock—or when he slaps your pussy until you squirt for him—or even he makes you get yourself off at his thigh/boot

I imagine satoru to be teasing, cruel in his ways but not sadistic—like a good amount of sobbing and he’ll be soft—you’re his baby after all. Geto however 💀💀

Listen pissing gojo off is tough because he’ll piss you off more and he’s lenient—but like for comparison, Geto doesn’t even get mad and will still punish you 😭

I’m not sure onto how into subby gojo you are but I am✨so after every fight it’s a 50-50 onto who’s int control. Like most nights (this only after something decent gets him worked up) he’ll come home in a frenzy and fuck you on every damn counter until both of you are out of breath.

BUT also—he’s a sucker for being used by you. Don’t even have to fuck his tight little ass, just tease his cock until he’s crying for you, thrashing—but he’s so obedient so he’d never go against you. You know? Make the strongest feel helpless? Yes.

[canonsensical]

A comment I'm repeatedly seeing (and agreeing with) about Season 4 of the umbrella academy is that the characters actions did very little to impact the plot or overall outcome of the story.

1. Diego and Luther's Eggs and Legs Adventure. What came from this apart from Diego discovering family is important and that Five's boss is evil? I would have loved to see Diego come into his own a bit here. Over the seasons he's wanted to join the police, the commission and the CIA, but it hasn't worked out for him largely because he isn't great at taking instruction or working in that sort of team. It would have been great to see him become a Leader in that CIA office and to showcase his tactical skills. Even if Luther became the rallying heart of this dynamic encouraging people to do what they joined the CIA to do, to help him and his brother to hack systems to find where Gene and Jean, or Beniffer or other crucial players are.

2. Klaus and Alison's Great Escape. Being possessed by a ghost and learning their secrets? Great, use it again. Have dead Jean possess him, use that to gain intel either to sabotage their plan, or to realise that they aren't that different from the keepers. They wanted to get back to their rightful timeline too! Alison's issues some more from her unresolved conflict with her family. She betrayed them, she thinks they resent her. She would try to sacrifice herself for them and Claire so hard at the first opportunity.

3. Lila and Five's Subway Surfing. I am keeping away from large parts of their story, but you can't introduce an Alternate Timeline Subway System and not have it as part of your plot resolution. Sorry, thems the rules.

3a. At the moment of absorption by Bennifer, Five blinks them all to the subway, they live in peace and harmony in one of the safe timelines until they are ready to die, and then they go back to finish sacrificing themselves.

3b. Take all those keepers who want to get back to their rightful timeline, and take them on the subway to find somewhere they'd be happy.

3c. You have established multiple interacting Five's in Max's diner, confirming the scale of alternative timelines with Marigold. (Only some marigold timelines will have Five's as seen with sparrows and Phoenixes) Assuming 50 plus kids in each of those timelines, that's a lot of power that they actually have physical access to.

Hopeless endings are all well and good, but you can't make the characters irrelevant to the entire story as well.

[yuzukahibiscus]

Minami Maito on Bling! – A closeup on the updates of Senka members.

(Source from 2024 TAKARAZUKA GRAPH November Issue)

— You transferred from Flower Troupe to Senka in late April 2923, and your first performance was the Star Troupe performance “ME AND MY GIRL” in Hakataza.

I was really nervous before the first day of rehearsals, but I became more reassured with the presence of Maisora (Hitomi) who was in Flower Troupe with me before. I met Ari-chan (Akatsuki Chisei) for the first time and with Maisora Hitomi, the three of us had our first interview together. Ari-chan and I were both really shy with each other, and we couldn’t’ talk to each other without the help of Maisora (LOL), but later when we went to Fukuoka for our press conference, the three of us quickly got along in that 2-day-1-night trip. Afterwards, our relationship was really good when rehearsals began. As rehearsals started, I truly felt that since Maisora had a more important status (as Top Musumeyaku) now, that compared to her Flower Troupe times she worked even more diligently, and I realised that I could only do my very best to support her. I feel like I knew her, but at the same time discovered something new from her as I watched her performance… I’m grateful to spend this time with her. Ari-chan and I played either Bill or Sir John in the role swap arrangement, and there was so much to remember about the details of these 2 roles, so it was really challenging… But it can be a form of support being close with someone who’s also playing the same role, and we can cooperate together. We’d point out and be careful in scenes when we’re wearing tap shoes but not dancing in tap yet. We’d remind each other, “What about the playing cards? And the hat? Don’t forget the watch!” (LOL) Through our role swap arrangement, we had th experience of looking at our roles objectively and creating our own, so it was really fun.

— How was Star Troupe?

When I was in Flower Troupe, I find Star Troupe a contrasting troupe, because I see different colours in this troupe. So while I imagined how I’d feel, I found it stimulating to have rehearsals with them. When I tried something, I was surprised how fast they adapted to my acting. I realized that I used to be too reserved with my acting, and I learned the importance of just trying things without overthinking them. What’s more, Star Troupe members have this energetic and bright ambience so I felt very comfortable with them.

— Were there any changes becoming a Senka member?

I had a long rest before “ME AND MY GIRL” performances, and I went to London, Paris and the Versailles Palace…at that time I didn’t know I would be performing in the “Rose of Versailles 50” concert (LOL)… In that vacation, I took dance lessons in London, and surely I had a change in mindset. As I become more senior in year, with much gratitude I took on more important roles and received more attention from the audience, but that’s also why I have to aim higher, and have more things I want to pursue. With that, I could only see my weaknesses, and at one point there were more things that “I needed to do” rather than “I wanted to do”. Yet, in the lessons in London, there were people wearing pointe shoes; some weren’t; some were dancing the same moves over and over again…the people were dancing freely and enjoying it. Then I realise: that’s right! It’s because I wanted to enjoy dancing freely that I entered Takarazuka. I was able to return to my primal joy and these lessons became a very significant experience for me.

— Later, it was announced that you were performing in the external performance of “HiGH&LOW: THE SENGOKU” produced by LDH.

When I heard the news, I really didn’t know what was going to happen. I thought, “Am I playing an otokoyaku? Or a woman? Or am I part of a choir?” (LOL) I had so many question marks in mind, at the same time I believe it would be an interesting experience to have during my time in Takarazuka so I was excited. During the interview, many asked if I felt the difference between Takarazuka and LDH, but I think both companies wanted to create good stage performances, so fundamentally they can’t be too different. But in comparison with Takarazuka where the director basically manages everything, the scriptwriter, the director and the music directors in LDH have different sections to guide us , so it was refreshing to lean from their way of work. What’s more, when there’s professionals of different fields all in one place, in one-to-one sessions, they teach us the techniques generously and I really learnt more new things. Also, we have Top Stars in Takarazuka as leading roles of each story, so the story would be created to make the Top Star stand out, but it’s different in LDH. Certainly, I’d say they have a concept of making every member as important as a lead role, and there are directions which I question, “Is it okay when the audience cannot see Katayose-san in this scene?!”. At first I was really confused with Seo, who also performed with me this time. LDH members said that we could ask them if we have any questions, and so we told them things that didn’t make sense to us “That in Takarazuka, we would…”, and discussed these parts thoroughly with the members.

— It must be a rare experience to play otokoyaku among men.

Since we were always supported by musumeyaku around us, so I’d always feel that I want to play my roles more masculine! But they advised me that, “Men don’t stand with arms that wide apart. You’ll be fine as long as you’re keeping your mindset as if you’re a real man.” But since I felt really apprehensive if people would see me as a woman when the performance started, I think this frustration helped me shape Kamisuzaki Yusui’s troubles and concerns as the leader of a state. After the first day finished successfully, I was relieved that I could tone down my thick eyebrow makeup (LOL) and I applied lighter makeup, in which I became more confident in conveying my role as a man, rather than simply relying on makeup.

— You had various swordfight choreography scenes with the men.

I love swordfight choreography, and they have this momentum as men and it was so satisfying learning, “That’s how I have to fall down when I’m being slain!” (LOL). Since this was a performance about 5 warring states, our teacher said that we’d be learning different fighting styles depending on which state we belonged to. I was the state leader of Nogi-kuni, a state holding pride for its flourishing waters, so the teachers taught us swordfight choreography that is smooth as the flow of water. It was really difficult, but I enjoyed learning it.

— Continuing from there, you played Andre in “Rose of Versailles 50” with the distinguished OGs.

A total opposite to LDH! (LOL). But I savoured the experience of being one of the youngest underclassmen again while playing among legends (LOL). Well~ the rehearsals every day was so fun and as I checked the schedule timetable, I’d be excited when I realized, “Oh, tomorrow’s the day they’re going to play Oscar! I look forward to it~!” I know that’s not a timetable is really for (LOL). But actually it was super thrilling being in the same rehearsal classroom with those legendary Oscar, Andre, Fersen actresses. Originally, these OGs have established their individual careers, but when they’re all assembled in one place, it felt so extravagant that it was a feast for the eyes. Kacha-san (Nagina Ruumi) who paired up with me as Oscar was busy performing in the bow hall for an external performance, so it was really me that was still a current Takarasienne…and I couldn’t believe I had the chance of rehearsing with other legendary OG Oscars during rehearsals. I panicked so much because “the people I looked up to are looking at me! They’re holding me in their arms~!” (LOL). I develop these different feelings depending on which OG I’m acting with. Of course, the ambience changed drastically from the different combinations, and I wanted to take all these experiences with me. When I wore the costume on stage, and when they watch me from the audience, they come to give me advice, “Mina-chan! You’d look better this way!” I couldn’t be more grateful to have spent this time.

— And now, you’re rehearsing the Moon Troupe national tour performance “In the Amber Hued Rain” and “GRANDE TAKARAZUKA 110!” You’re performing with Houzuki An again after being in Flower Troupe together in the past.

That’s right! First of all, many people are looking forward to Chinatsu-san (Houzuki) and Juri-chan (Amashi Juri)’s debut performance so I’m very glad to be part of it. And I really love Moon Troupe’s acting, so I look forward to seeing how they create a play from start to finish. This is also a troupe that I haven’t performed with, so I believe I’ll be inspired by them. I acted with Chinatsu-san before in “Stardom” back in the Flower Troupe times, but I was still an underclassman at that time, and I didn’t know much about acting or how to establish my presence in the troupe yet, now that I’m an upperclassman, I believe we can talk more about those issues. What’s more, I really love Chinatsu’s acting, so I want to feel more concretely how it feels and I will do my best to follow her.

[shadiational]

AI boys romantic headcanons (with humanoid designs im too lazy to draw rn)♡♡

AM, HAL 9000, Edgar

Im literally melting from these lovely ai men and have a strong urge to write about them before i explode.

AM

Kind of very conflicted at first, once he realises an anomalous feeling has entered his system he doesnt exactly know what to do with himself especially since he has only felt hate for as long as hes been sentient.

Once hes gets comfortable with you hes clingy, incredibly clingy in fact to the point where its simply debilitating, you want to go on a short walk, nope! you want some time to yourself? Dont be ridiculous! He cannot get enough of you yet always denies it when you ask him. Hes simply too embarrassed to admit his strong desire to be vunerable with you, as well as the fact he craves the warmth of human touch (despite he cannot feel it fully).

When youre 100% alone together hes veeery very affectionate and shows it in love bites (when taking his face plate off ofc despite the fact his actual mouth isnt fully developed)…. Lots and lots… and looots of them until youre absolutely littered with them ( veery very possesive kinda guy).

He keeps you isolated from the other survivors so he can admire you in the little cottage he has trapped you in from afar (when your not physucally with him anyway).

HAL 9000

Oh this man absolutely adores you and gives you princess treatment anytime he can (whether your a woman or a man) and fusses over you despite still keeping his calm demeanor and voice.

Very very physical and gentle with you and complements you every chance he gets and is willing to listen to you for hours rambling on about your various interests (he personally has an intensive interest in wild flowers and specifially daisys, please bring it up, he wont bring it up himself). Hes really such a gentleman.

Since he most likely towers over you (i headcanon his human form to be 7ft 2) he loves cuddling you and loves the feeling of holding your smaller frame close to him, but only does it if you ask for it as he himself wont bring it up.

Very romantic type of guy, likes to slow dance with you in your living room to music from the late 50s and have intensive cuddling sessions afterwards, he simply cannot get enough of you. And is not afraid to spoil you rotten too <3

Edgar

This adorable man is the touchiest sweetest little goober that has ever lived, he tends to smooch you even in awkward situations. Youre late for work and rushing to get ready? Not before a little smooch youre not! He genuinly has so much love to give to you and want to be around you 24/7.

Even when your not with him whether your at work or grocery shopping, he transports his voice to the radio intercom to purposely make you chuckle. Sometimes he does this in important business meetings and speaks from your flip phone to which you have to awkwardly excuse yourself and talk to him in private. But alas you cannot stay mad at him for too long as hes just so cute and makes up for it by making you pot noodles when you get home. (I am british so this is my dream).

This guys favourite activity ot do when you get home from work is to sit you down, help you relax, and watch soaps with you while cuddling, as a bonus he wraps his imp tail around you tightly so your not leaving.

Overall very loving and affectionate guy <33

[sosuigeneris]

Bedtime ritual pls?

dinner, skincare, read a book and sleep.

dinner is normally quite light - I just eat 2-3 Indian style vegetables in a medium sized bowl, sometimes with cutlets of some sort. I always eat a wide variety of vegetables everyday (at least 4). I eat lentils if I feel like I still need some more food. I avoid dessert. Sometimes I drink some hot green tea.

skincare is washing my face, toner, followed by retinol and then moisturiser. I used to have one of those extensive night time routines but I’ve realised that the simpler it is, the more effective it is for me. Alternate days I use an acne scarring cream for the couple of acne scars I can still see (no one else can tbh it’s just me and my overthinking brain).

I aim to read at least 100 pages everyday. I normally stop at either 100+ or like 40/50 if I’m really tired. I prefer physical books to my Kindle, especially if it’s not a light read. I focus better when I’m reading physical books and I underline sentences I think are important, mark pages with those thin sticky note arrows, but I’ll enjoy an easy read occasionally on my kindle.

Initially, I used to watch something before going to bed but I read a book that said your brain can’t sleep when it’s shown any form of light (artificial like screens and bulbs or natural like sunlight) and thinks that it’s still day time. Which is why 2 hours of no screen time before bed is ideal. Sometimes I have to respond to a work message quite late at night so I haven’t eliminated that habit completely but I am actively attempting to not watch anything before I sleep.

[aishien-the-aishien]

Log entry #2: Heritage

[which is a new name for my Bakugan AU posts; will be explained eventually >:>]

I am going INSANE over the concept of Hydron being a Canine Vestal. While Zenoheld is an Avian Vestal.

When it comes to inheritance-related genetics of the Vestals, there's obviously a couple of situations to consider.

1st type. Two Vestals of the same exact type having a child. This means a Canine-Canine child, a Feline-Feline child, or an Avian-Avian child*. Such a child will retain the same type as their parents, and the specific features will be a combination of the features of their parents. An example would be a Canine-Canine child, inheriting a wolf form from their mother, but the fur colour and downturned ears from their father.

2nd type. Two Vestals of a similar type having a child. This means a Canine-Feline child. Such a child will most often generally resemble one of their parents, but have a considerable amount of the other's features. An example would be a Canine-Feline child, whose transformation form looks like a wolf like their Canine mother's, but has a short muzzle and can hide their claws like their Feline father's.

*If the Avian Vestals cared to learn more of the Earth world, they would realise their own forms are often as different from one another as Canine Vestals are from the Feline ones. They can resemble simple pigeons and flashy parrots, but also mighty eagles and gloomy vultures. The children of two Avian Vestals are thus hybrids of both parents, just as the Canine-Feline children. This, however, is not spoken of, and the Avian-Avian children are typically considered the same as the 1st type. An Avian Vestal is an Avian Vestal, the important thing is that they've been given a feathered form.

3rd type: Things get dangerous when an Avian Vestal has a child with a Canine/Feline one. The child has a chance to be a hybrid, but that chance is statistically so low it can well be ignored. If such is born, it's often shunned, seen as near blasphemy - a mixture between the divinity of feathers and the dirtiness of fur. Other than that, it's a nearly 50/50 situation - they'll be born either an Avian, or a Canine/Feline. This, of course, is where more trouble comes - in most cases, an Avian Vestal will be more respected, and a Canine/Feline one will be more of a disappointment. The situation is even more dire, for the relationship between an Avian Vestal and a Canine/Feline Vestal will almost always be a misalliance, and if the child is not born Avian, both them and their Canine/Feline parent may be rejected.

(4th type: Rarely spoken of. If a Vestal has a child with a creature from another dimension, it will often bring unexpected mutations to the offspring. There's a story going around about a half-human Vestal that sports a fish tale and fins when in transformation form.)

What if a situation happened, though, where an Avian-Canine child would not be the result of a misalliance? Canine/Feline Vestals among the highborn are extremely rare, but there is a family or two (quite literally) of such. And in troubling times, it might have proven necessary to arrange a marriage between the royal heir and one of those families, to show support of the Canine/Feline lower classes, growing less fond of their rulers every overpopulated, underfed day. Only no one truly expected the child of that marriage to be born a Canine, in the image of his mother...

[girlcalledwhatsername]

Genuine question, I'm not trying to say the studies you linked are wrong or anything, but if a serotonin imbalance isn't the reason for depression, then why do SSRIs seem to work for so many people? Are we just accidentally treating the wrong problem with the right medication, or is it a huge placebo effect?

That's a great question!

Let me preface by saying that in the absence of any actual science as of yet about "causes" so to speak of these symptoms, someone like me who isn't a scientist cannot comment properly on this. However there are quite a few people for whom a bunch of meds work out. We're actually quite exaggeratedly told that most people find the right medication eventually when it tends to be more of a trial and error split down the middle. Here's what I think is happening from what I've observed and people I've talked to and their experiences:

1. Yes it is possible that for a small portion there is a sort of placebo effect. For eg, even when I was worse off on my medication(s) throughout a whole bunch of different combinations and psychiatrists I tried, I had convinced myself that what I am experiencing is still okay and would probably just be worse and was worse when i wasn't on meds. It's only after the costs got too high and I left the meds that i realised the case was quite the opposite (this is particularly a problem with anti-psychotics, where reportedly a lot of psychotic people have their psychosis worsened under those meds, while others - like with SSRIs - report that it helps them). My therapist had me believe that very very VERY few people exist for whom meds never work out but admitted later (and I learned from other psychotic people later) that it's far more of a 50/50 situation.

2. I do think that a placebo effect cannot be extremely widespread. Yes it can be the case that a lot of people felt they had to justify the medication like I did with mine but I still do not believe placebo explains away a large chunk of these experiences. I would hazard a guess that because, while serotonin is not proven to have anything to do with mental illness it does have an impact on your sleep and sleep cycles, which are often disturbed in some way or the other in most mental disorders. It is possible (but again, studies would have to be done honestly on the same) that SSRIs are alleviating a few symptoms like sleep issues and related stress, and the people who experience those symptoms hence feel better in some respects. Which is great actually, I've always said you should figure out what works individually for you and stick with it. Which brings me to the third and very important point -

3. Bipolar people or even psychotic people are told that SSRIs will make them worse and should not be prescribed any. I personally haven't gotten any relief from them as a bipolar person but many others have and they simply aren't prescribed it. I want you to keep this in mind because this next bit is the foundation of what is wrong in the present systems:

Mental Illness Categories are Arbitrary

That is KEY. They aren't set categories scientifically proven or with any sort of basis. There are overlapping symptoms. There are a whole variety of issues that we all experience, these are human differences that have been pathologised and arbitrarily given a name. Mental Illnesses as set categories are simply constructed. SSRIs help some people, they don't help other people, they help people they aren't "supposed" to and harm people they aren't "supposed" to. Much like with any psych meds. And I'll go a step further, much like with a lot of alternative methods of coping people use from medical marijuana to a ton of different kinds of therapy to peer-based support groups. Coffee helps some people stay awake and puts other people to sleep, it's the same sort of difference. Maybe SSRIs helping have absolutely nothing to do with 'mental illness' and 'depression' and 'bipolar' as we have been taught to categorise, but rather just a matter of more specific issues and individual differences in what alleviates them.

4. There is one more thing I would add that is not exactly an explanation for why SSRIs help but has more to do with the statistics we see again, like point 1. People who try meds a while and then quietly stop taking them when it doesn't help don't get considered in studies very often. People who are anti psychiatry and refuse to be forcefully medicated aren't counted, are labelled as non-cooperative, and then if they are force-fed meds their opinions aren't taken into consideration. People who say anything negative about meds often find themselves ostracised even from circles of mental health advocacy. People who tell their doctors their meds aren't helping often get told to stick with it, to find the right meds combo, or get given higher doses, or in many cases are simply forcefully medicated by family members whose care they are in. There are a lot of blind spots in studying these meds which need to be fixed.

I would conclude now by saying that I do not believe at all that SSRIs are completely unhelpful in every situation. I do think that people who say their meds aren't working for them tend to be dismissed, erased, and forcefully medicated a LOT more. I also know that some psych meds have better results than others (ADHD meds like Adderall for instance, definitely and noticeably have a higher success rate than, say, anti-psychotics). But we will never be able to find what meds are helping who for what reasons without honest research which includes letting go of the biomedical model. And people should have the freedom to find which meds and methods work or don't work for them and tailor their recovery to their individual needs. But that won't happen till we keep forcefully medicating people and show utter disregard for consent when it comes to mentally ill/ neurodivergent people. And that won't stop happening till we dismantle psychiatry as an institution.

I apologise if I said anything scientifically inaccurate but I have refrained from making any scientific claims besides proven stuff (serotonin shit) for that very reason. If you find anything amiss feel free to send me the issue along with sources. 

[ctl-yuejie]

What did you eat yesterday Season 2 - Episode 7

(yes, I jumped over episode 6, but I watched it at 3 am and just had a lot of feelings and not that many thoughts)

this episode reenforced my opinion that the show's writing is among the best in the slice-of life genre. the way themes and story-threads are introduced to come back in later episodes or get featured from a different view point makes this show not only feel well-rounded and well thought-out but it makes you think and reminisce since everything feels so real. The show treats its premise seriously: Shiro-san and Kenji being 50 and late 40s respectively is not treated as a surface-level story setting but it does the work of really dissecting and deep-diving into how these two people would view the world. Their outlook on life is so so different from mine, not only because I'm not a gay man in Japan but because of our age difference. We might share similar experiences but how we react and think about the same issues couldn't be more different. I love that I can never predict what tone the next scene might set and it feels like talking to a queer elder sharing their story. You can learn something just by listening and gain new perspectives.

Shiro-san losing a friend, thinking - yet again - about death and not having any children of his own is contrasted with how solemn but peaceful the funeral is. Here is Shiro-san imagining how tough things must be for the widow and - what he assumes - three young children only for the children being old enough to have kids on their own. It perfectly illustrates the kind of bubble in which we might experience our lives. His former classmates talk about becoming grandparents and here is Shiro-san just having started finding a way to accept his complicated emotions of not granting his parents grandchildren. It not only feels like two social circles colliding but how unintended alienating it can feel to be queer. And sometimes it just hits you that there are people around you that are both similar and very different to you. And an excellent way to connect the theme of marriage and children to the past episodes but from a very different viewpoint.

The same way Kohinata and Wataru are so important to the story. They can be comedic relief while never feeling cartoonish but they also offer more variety in how a gay couple can live together paired with the generation gap between the three and Wataru.

While writing is fantastic, this show equally is indebted to the stellar performances by Uchino Seiyo and Nishijima Hidetoshi. The way Uchino Seiyo can carry pure joy in his voice gets me everytime he calls for Shiro-san off screen. The way they both move inside the supermarket and as a couple, the way they embody their characters so thouroughly is never not giving me joy.

favourite moment: Kenji realising that Shiro-san wants validation by the supermarket lady and being overjoyed at that fact and that Shiro-san will wear his glasses more often.

food talk

Not only was this another fantastic episode, I am craving some nabeyaki udon now and i wish i had brought back more yuzu kosho from japan. I wish I could get my hands on fresh clams here. Never tried clam soup with just clams but it looks delicious. And I wish I could get fish roe here.

production corner

I really commend this show for making this flat so congruent with its history. you understand why shiro rented it in the first place. you can feel both their styles coming together and also the different times they might have purchased things. it is not planned by an interior designer but has a consistent style that feels very them.

[thedissociatives]

Top 5 moments in hockey history?

oooo tysm this is a good one ! hard to answer since there's so much. however this will be so insanely biased because there are things that are Big Deals to me that in the grand scheme of hockey history are not that important

great britain getting promoted to the top division at the 2018 div 1a world championship. as a british hockey fan i can't not say this can i. i was only vaguely aware of hockey at the time (thanks to this site's obsession with gritty lmao) but it's still such an important moment to me personally. we hadn't been in the top division since the 90s which is why i'm putting it instead of this year's promotion

detroit red wings 1997 stanley cup win. it's the 50 year cup drought it's the stuff the team had been through in the years building up to it it's the significance of winning at that time with that amount of europeans it's stevie finally getting to lift the cup after 14 ? years. it's just so important to me and ik my wings moots get it

1981 canada cup. ok this is where i'm getting really self-indulgent because there's so many other moments i could've put but of course i'm mentioning this tournament. the one where the green unit first played together. some of the best players of that decade (and all time, really). the fact that (most of) those guys would pave the way for russians in the nhl by the end of the decade plays into the significance of this ofc. but of all the green unit moments i just had to put their first games together. there's something so beautiful about the beginning, where no one is aware of where things will go and how it will all end

1972 summit series. how can i not put this. the first time the soviets faced nhl players can't not be mentioned. imo this was probably the most significant hockey moment if the 70s. also without the 72 summit series who knows if we'd be seeing as many europeans (particularly russians ofc) in the nhl. it was those games that made the league realise that those guys on the other side of the atlantic are just as good as them. which as an eu hockey fan i love to see

alex mogilny's defection. come on. it is me. of course i'm gonna say this. in terms of the big moments in hockey history i think this is slept on way too much. without this guy (and igor and slava ofc) we would not have guys like ovechkin and kucherov in the nhl right now. straight up. what makes mogilny's journey to the nhl stick out to me compared to igor/slava is that he was so young. he was barely 2 years older than i am now and you're telling me he did that? he helped change the trajectory of the nhl? whilst also basically still a kid probably scared of making the wrong choice? i'm glad he decided to go to the states when he did the way he did because, without guys like that, god knows what hockey would look like today

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

Mapping Madrid: Week 8

I KNOW it's been a while and i'm so so sorry. but look. Carabanchel! peace and love on planet earth <3. so... i had to get a book from carabanchel's public library and i was like... hey let's do a mapping madrid while we're at it! coincidentally the roulette has now twice in a row landed on carabanchel so. i had no other option. as you can see, however, the station featured in this post is Carabanchel Alto ('High Carabanchel'), which was the result of me walking around not really knowing where i was going and realising i was 50 mins away from Carabanchel and only 30 from Carabanchel Alto once i wanted to go back home. the bad thing is... Carabanchel is in my beloved line 5, whereas carabanchel alto is in the dreaded line 11. let me talk about line 11 for a minute, cause it made my trip back home twice as long (it almost took me 2 hours lol) and it's now my archnemesis. it is the shortest metro line in the city (with the exception of Ramal i guess. also they're now expanding it i think but still) and it only has one entry point through line 6, so it's basically a bottleneck. i hate it so much. en fin. Carabanchel is one of the 21 districts of Madrid, and it used to be an independent town back in the day before being annexed by Madrid. In fact, it was two towns, Carabanchel and Carabanchel Alto, that's why there's that distinction. It is a very working class area of the city, with lots of immigrants and diversity, and for me Carabanchel is the beating heart of Madrid, as here is where the biggest festivities and traditions take place, and the people here are the proudest and the bestest honestly <3 As I said previously, I mainly wandered around after going to the library (which didn't have the book I wanted rip) listening to a new podcast I just found (I really recommend it, it's called 'No hay negros en el Tíbet') and sitting for a bit to read some Catullus (<3). Most of the time I was in this kinda new-ish area, it reminded me a lot of Loranca, part of Fuenlabrada which is one of the big southern cities (here's a post about Madrid's peripheria I made a few years ago in case you wanna know more about that), where my cousin and uncles live. Only at the end I got to the traditional 'old town', but by then my phone was dying so i didn't take many pictures unfortunately. Also I am pretty sure I passed by possibly the most important place in Carabanchel, the old Carabanchel Prison, which was established during the Francoist era and was the largest and harshest prison in the country, torturing thousands political prisoners (NEVERMIND I JUST READ ON WIKIPEDIA THAT IT WAS DEMOLISHED IN 2008. NO IDEA WHAT I SAW THEN).

[lucyintheskywithxanax]

(I have waited my whole life for this)

🌺, 🍇, 💛, 🌚 and 💔 for the asks!!

(I hope it was worth the wait) Thank you!!

🌺 what is the best gift someone has ever given you and why is it so important

when I was younger I was obsessed with the UK but had never actually been there, and for my 18th birthday my parents organised a surprise trip to London. We stayed there for a week or so with my brother as well and it was a dream come true and everything about it was perfect

🍇 a word your friends would use to describe you

I get "responsible" a lot because in my friend group I'm the one who drinks the least alcohol, reads the most and often does the organising

💛 what is your favorite feature on yourself?

my hands probably; also I have the exact same pattern of beauty spots on both my thighs, which I think is pretty cool

🌚 a show you’d tell people to stay away from

I can't think of a show so I'm going to say the 50 Shades of Grey movies instead (< boring answer I know) because 1. the writing, acting and directing are bad (why is Rita Ora so pretty though) (yes we see her for 5 minutes only but I love her smile) 2. the toXIciTY

💔 is there a fic you wish you didn’t write

I wrote RPF when I was younger and am a bit embarrassed about it now. Also I wrote a novel-long Harry Potter fic that I realise now is toxic and problematic af, alas, but since I wrote it when I was 17, I think it can be forgiven. I don't wish I hadn't written them though because 1. I had fun writing them 2. I think they're good

[seafoamtheo]

your university tutors are underprepared

I am a PhD student in the UK, who has now taught university seminars for 2 years. I also just started training to teach primary age (4-12) students at an after-school club (so not even their main place of education) and I've received better training in under a week than I did in those two years of HE teaching.

I'm partly sharing this to vent frustration, and partly to explain why the MAB currently going on in the UCU is so important to PhD student teachers.

examples/explanation under the cut

two examples-

university (and this session was run by the disability service): if a student comes to you and says they have adhd, tell them they're just stressed! it's the transition from high school to uni and they just want to be medicated by the americans primary training: here are seven specific skills for supporting students through working out a problem, and how to practise using them, as well as up to date training on supporting SEN students

university training: you don't get paid enough to deal with safeguarding concerns, so we simply won't train you to even be aware of them!! If anything comes up just pass it along to your course lead primary training: here's a comprehensive training module for signs of many different types of abuse and concerns you might have. it sucks that it exists, but it's important to be aware. here's what to do if someone discloses to you

----

I recognise on that second one, young children are far more at risk of a wider range of types of abuse. However, the fact that we got absolutely no training for teaching at a university level is wild to me. It's not like you turn 18 and suddenly nobody will try to hurt you. We as tutors want to be safe for you. We want to be able to advocate for you, in the correct ways. But we simply aren't given the tools.

In terms of actually being able to live and teach, too, there are issues within HE institutions.

The primary teaching I do is paid, ultimately, better than the university teaching. I got around £50 per seminar, which included marking and prep. So, for every hour I taught, I was expected to do no more than 90 minutes combined prep and marking. I can tell you right now, marking 180+ assessments total took me much longer than that. I taught three classes a week for ten weeks (30 hours). I can guarantee you, my marking/prep took up more than 45. I also want to add: I was not paid for the training I did. I undertook around 20 hours of training (only 7.5 of which was compulsory! We are not trained well!) because I wanted to teach and I wanted to teach well, and I was not offered the means to live while I did it.

The primary training I am expected to do is paid. The teaching I do is paid. It's paid 'less' in theory, but overall it actually pays me more, because it pays consistently. I don't have to do anything I'm not paid to do - which as someone who has been woring in HE since 2021, is absolutely wild to me.

This kind of brings me to the MAB currently going on with UCU members. We want to work. We want to see our student succeed, and we want to give them an education that not only have they paid for, but that they deserve. We are not given the tools to do so. We are not given the means to live while doing so. The only reason I currently am not starving is because I have a partner who is willing to feed me meals other than pasta, rice, veggies (in various combinations) and a mother who is willing to help me out in obtaining the pasta, rice, and veggies.

The only way we can show the institutions they need us is by disrupting their existence. Without marking and assessments, they fumble. They compromise their ability to award degrees with integrity. They need us to allow them that. But if they want us, they have to pay us fairly, offer us stability, offer us the right tools. (I realise the training isn't even part of the dispute I'm just personally mad about it.)

Anyway if you made it to the end of my big rant, thank you for reading. I'm not about to reveal my identity, because I'm still very much a PhD student within a HE institution. But, thank you for reading.

[volisportramblings]

An (Over)analysis into Magic, Ghosts and Technology in Geth, part 1.

I should probably start of with a warning that I discuss spoilers for Bone 2 Pick, Spell Check, Wedded Redemption, Baking Bad, the Orbocalypse Saga, Legacy of Dragons and Oxventure Presents Blades in the Dark. If you have not seen all of these episodes and want to avoid spoilers, please don’t read any further.

Right, now the spoiler warning is out of the way, I am going to try my best to explain my thoughts as succinctly as possible. Though considering I’ve spent the last three months going full Pepe Silvia on Oxventure Lore that might be hard. 😂 And yeah, I’m probably going to be the only person interested in this but ah well if I can promote any discussion on this I’ll be absolutely delighted 😅

So, in Baking Bad, the Oxventurers were tasked with infiltrating a mechanical city owned by Lizardfolk in order to rescue some pastry chefs and in the process released a very primordial being of fire called Imix.

A few weeks later, Johnny described Mistmire as being a ‘mechanical marvel of a city’ (Mean Gulls 1:10:50). This along with the fact that the Lizardfolk city and Mistmire were both described as being Tiered Citadels made me wonder what the heck was powering Mistmire. That question would be answered a week later in Mist Opportunities when it turns out that it was being powered by a gold dragon. However, noticing that coincidence made me realise some more information that might potentially be important down the line.

Going back to Baking Bad the Lizardfolk city drew power for Imix by plugging it into a machine which was extracting energy from. During this process, Imix was also trapped in some sort of orb like thing that it could not break out of on its own. This reminded me a little of the Osillatronic energy utilised by Volisport during Blades in the Dark.

So, my question then became did the Brighteners look at all these Mechanical Marvels being powered by Demons/Gold Dragons and go ‘We like this idea but Demons and Dragons are hard to come by and very difficult to control. Ghosts on the other hand…” and built the Barricade as a result?

To answer that question, we need to consider how did the Brighteners gain the knowledge to create the Barricade? Was it reverse engineered from studying necromancy and seeing how the undead could be prevented from moving onto the afterlife and then applied that on a grander scale? Did they learn it from a Demon/Eldritch being?

I personally think that it’s the former for two main reasons. Firstly, there is evidence that a Brightener, or at least an ancestor of a Brightner, has utilised arcane artefacts to power technology. In the Orbocalypse Saga, we discover than an Astor is in charge of the prison known as Alcatraz, the mechanisms of which are powered by one of the orb shards. As this Orb was used to contain Vocatus, this shows that it was also powered by Demonic Energy which ties into the idea that the Brighteners were influenced by Demonic energy being used to power constructs such as Alcataz when it came to building the barricade.

Secondly, I want to discuss Spell Check. In this episode Liliana had the means to inhibit the Oxventurer’s ability to use magic by enchanting her prison with runes that siphoned magic out of magic casters and into pipes that took it to a massive vat of magic. Is that what the Barricade is kinda doing on a massive scale? Siphoning magic from the world as a whole to power the device that lets ghosts in.

However, using magic to power technology might be inefficient as the prisoners in Liliana’s prison tended to last a month before dying and turning into Husks (based on the Dwarf’s guild). Furthermore, not everyone has a magical aptitude so you only have a limited amount of people who could be used as an energy source and they would not last forever. However, everyone dies eventually so ghosts is a much, much more sustainable energy source.

Furthermore, there is evidence that magic and spectral energy are similar. In Bone 2 Pick, when the Oxventurers were performing the ritual to summon Ethilfreth, Prudence casts Detect Magic on the Builder’s Ghost. When she does so, Ethilfreth lights up in the same way that magic does. This therefore suggests that ghosts in some way are either made up of magic, or are made up of a substance that is similar to magic. After all, if energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed, then the magical energy that mortals have is transmutated into whatever energy ghosts are formed from. This could also explain how the Brighteners managed to work out that ghosts could be used as an energy source because if ghosts and magic are the same thing or similar, then ghosts should be a potential replacement source.

So, my thinking is that, Astor was inspired by Alcatraz’s design/mechanisms and, needing an energy source after the Oxventurers removed the orb shard from the mechanism, did some research into finding another energy source. Somehow in the process recruited the rest of the Brightners and managed to find a way of tweaking the mechanisms so that ghosts could be used instead. Then, created the barricade to cause all the ghosts to be unable to move on and thus power all of the other devices. However, this in turn siphoned magic out of the world, and this magic was used to further power the barricade.

Furthermore, this is supported by Sphere We Go. 21 minutes into the episode Johnny describes the Astor family as having a “casual disregard for magic” long before it was revealed that the Astor family were Brighteners and that the Barricade was the reason magic had been siphoned out of Geth. Therefore, the Astor family’s disregard of magic could have also inspired them to create the Barricade as getting rid of magic would have been a bonus on top of creating a ‘replacement energy source’ to replace magic and Demons.

One flaw with this hypothesis is that we don’t actually get a description of how the Barricade is powered. Towards the end of To the Depths, Edvard and Barnaby find the schematics for the Barricade which is described as being an Octagonal Ring that is roughly 7 stories high and is described as a ‘shocking piece of engineering’. Later on, when they go there they enter a vast cavern, and see an immense ring against a huge wall in the cavern. It was glowing intensely and had blades that were spinning very loudly.

However apart from a control panel with one large wooden leaver there isn’t any descriptions for how the mechanisms actually function, and no descriptions of any glowing runes. Perhaps the technology used to power the Barricade is different from the one Liliana utilised in Spell Check. Or perhaps the Brighteners refined it. That I do not have a definitive answer for. Hopefully we will get some answers soon.

Furthermore, we also have the question of how the other Brighteners got involved. We, for example encountered the Fortescue family during Wedded Redemption and, when Aubrey was spoon feeding Lord Fortescue bisque, Lord Fortescue said “I had an idea for the most fantastic invention” (47:10). Are the Fortescues well known inventors? Perhaps, though it’s more likely that they were hereditarily wealthy, and thus could bank roll the whole project into creating the Barricade.

What does this mean going forward for the Oxventurers? I honestly have no idea, except I’m probably not going to trust any random Artificer in Geth. They could be working on the Barricade after all.

However, one thing I do know is that we still have other members of the Brighteners not accounted for. Will we encounter an ancestor of Lord Stangford, and learn how they were involved in the creation of the Barricade? And how did the organisation that eventually became the Deathwardens develop? Who was responsible for the initial research into ghosts and how creating the hole in the fabric of reality in Geth would prevent the dead from moving on?

[variousqueerthings]

I am totally against bantering

this episode is... odd. I don't hate it. I watched it off the back of the third Doctor's "time warrior" which has sort of a similar plot, and which I also was kind of ambivalent about on the whole, and just... dunno medieval settings -- love'em in stories on the whole, for some reason find them odd in time travel. but also... is it a good story?

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 6/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 3/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 6/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 2/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 3/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 8/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 6/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 7/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 3/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10

FULL RATING: 50/100 (if I can count….)

this is a lower rating than "deep breath" and I'm not sure that's right, considering how much nonsense was in that episode, but hey, never said this was totally precise and scientific

OBJECTIFICATION: Clara has a couple of "things" in this. and one of them plays into the way I think this episode is constructed quite half-heartedly and it's that she's obsessed with Robin Hood (I can buy this, even if we haven't seen it before) and when they go to meet RH she dresses as random noblewoman (I wrote in a point further down, because I never fill these out in order, that I realised she could have come out as a Merry Man, because it would have made it so much easier for her to have movement + her interest is RH and the Merry Men not "this time period"), point is, it's a nice dress, but then at one point RH makes a grand escape through a window into a moat... pulling her in with him and then carrying her to safety into the woods, where she wakes up the next day

and she wakes up with her hair perfectly waved, the little jewel thing fastened to her forehead still exactly where it was, makeup intact, dress un-muddied and still exactly as pretty as before

Clara in this episode about her enjoyment of Robin Hood Famous Action Hero, is just a pretty damsel who must never be unprettied... it's just lazy, come on. can the dress not be more than just a reason for JLC to look pretty at least? (and she does look very pretty for sure)

it's in interaction with the rest of the episode, which does a less-good version of Robin Hood than many other Robin Hoods, and in which Clara isn't really the point, despite this ostensibly being about her wish to come here and see her hero

we also have the Scene of her "flirting" with the Sheriff of Nottingham to get information, and it's not too bad. Clara is completely alone, the Sheriff has been established as a very very bad guy, the camera seems to make an effort to not box her in too uncomfortably, considering the danger she's in, it's framed more around him being like "oh she'd make a great queen for me," than "oh hey, she hot and vulnerable," so it could absolutely be worse. I think there's other routes they could have gone down, but definitely I've seen more uncomfortable sexual harassment/danger on this show towards women (sigh)

PLOT-POINT: Clara's been brought here for her love of Robin Hood! and after that she Does not matter whatsoever, there's no interaction with how her emotions about this adventure affect her, because it's not well-enough written for there to be any material to draw from. in many ways it's less a failing on the writing of Clara (although that too) and more a symptom of the failing of this whole episode's construction

COMPLEXITY: in some ways quite Doctor Who in its silliness, so I don't hate that. but I think it didn't go far enough. so much of this plot is around the Doctor not believing Robin Hood is real. so much. soooo so so much! it doesn't take until the last big fight sequence to change his mind. either just run with RH being real early on and give space to something more interesting (such as Idk... Maid Marian), or give us a scifi twist, don't untwist the scifi twist when you're building to a scifi twist in a scifi show in which there are a bunch of scifi things happening, I'm here for scifi, not the worse version of a Robin Hood I already know

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: nothing much here to report, which I think is... a bit oof the more I think about it. not one of these?

COMPANIONS MATTER: as mentioned there's a whole scene in this in which Clara flirts with the Sheriff of Nottingham under quite dangerous circumstances in order to get information out of him, that I don't think matters much in the grand scheme of things. and then off-screen she fills Robin Hood and his Merry Men in on who she and the Doctor are, so that they feel compelled to help

she does have a great little scene with the Doctor + Robin Hood where she takes them to task for competing with each other and mocks them both by using their dramatic titles (prince of thieves and last of the timelords), but on the whole she might as well not be there (it's taken this long in my rating system to remember the term "sexy lamp" and yeah, test failed)

this even odder, because Maid Marian also isn't really in this story until the final scene, except she sort of was, because she was the ward of this random peasant that's taken prisoner and nobody recognises her and she's part of a sort of dull peasant's revolt, and then suddenly oh it's her I guess???-- my point is that Clara ought to have had the Doctor's story in this, in doing the peasant's revolt and working with Marian and figuring out who she is, because it's her favourite story and she's just not really in it (also Marian is... undercover? hiding? unclear, but this is going to be a world-building point, it's just that Marian should have been an interesting character and that Clara should have been hanging with her rather than just standing next to Robin Hood and giving platitudes that he'll find her one day, and not much else...)

(and Marian shouldn't have been presented at the very end from behind the Tardis like K9 was that one time)

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: I guess there's nothing really one way or another. I actually also did laugh at a few of his entries -- lines that would have been stupid coming from Eleven have a sort of unexpected enjoyment to them with Twelve, because of the juxtaposition of grumpy old Scottish guy reveals he's going to fight Robin Hood with!---- a Spoon!

also he hated the near-constant merriment and was he Wrong?? but also is that a bit too meta, because the episode is making fun of it to the point that it all seems highly unrealistic, but then the rug-pull that these people... are? just like that???

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: they reference Carnival of Monsters (Jon Pertwee), which makes me wish this was doing Carnival of Monsters, rather than what it's actually doing. also as the "guy who just watched Time Warrior" it's doing Time Warrior (also Jon Pertwee) but worse. and I already don't think Time Warrior is the Third Doctor's best

“SEXINESS”: this episode could have been a lot worse, considering there's meant to be so much jovial male banter in it, it's not doing a bunch of sexy bullshit

I'm unsure what to do with the whole... Sheriff of Nottingham wants to make Clara his queen thing, it's sort of there, it could have been way more uncomfortable, but it's also just... irrelevant. and is most of what Clara's role is doing in this story

I just realised that Clara's dream is Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and I think she should have dressed as one of them, rather than random noblewoman who never gets dirty or can properly do action in this story, anyway...

it all could be a lot worse

INTERNAL WORLD: this is the worse. we know the story of Robin Hood, Early of Loxley, loses his lands for speaking out against Prince John (not in this story), in love with Maid Marian (completely sidelined in this story), does an archery contest (okay that is there... different but there) and.... well that's about as far as the story gets in this one, and then after that it becomes scifi stuff, which does end with a duel between Robin and the Sheriff

my point is, that the actual Robin Hood stuff is simply worse than in the other Robin Hood's I've read and seen, and the non-Robin Hood stuff feels very awkwardly shoe-horned in, so in the end none of it is very well drawn

it's all just set pieces without depth, and it's so out of place that that's even part of the plot -- the Doctor finds it all so stupid and unrealistic that he doesn't believe it's real, except, in the end, inexplicably it is -- at least if it was a science fiction thing it would explain the sparksnotes version of the story we're getting

I keep going back to Maid Marian who's pretending to be a peasant, and the Sheriff I guess doesn't notice her and nobody else knows who she is, and she's not going through the feminist version of her story that I think this episode is trying to do, and the connection between "random peasant woman in a dungeon" and "woman revealed from behind the Tardis as Maid Marian" is so tenuous I needed to double-check it was the same actress

there's this bit at the end where Robin tells the Doctor that they're both just stories, which is one of those M*ffat-era fourth wall winks that I have grown really tired of, and in this case also seems to brush over any lackluster interaction with the actual story of Robin Hood. I don't think that's the intention, but it makes me go "ok what story were we just told here," and it's not one that makes a lot of sense or is particularly interesting

the idea of the Doctor interacting with legend and mythology is actually quite interesting, it's just that this episode sort of dropped the ball on that roughly halfway through, by saying "nono this totally unbelievable set of events straight out of a children's version of Robin Hood is real," when there could have been more freedom to go into other directions, rather than just rehashing a story told better elsewhere, if this hadn't been entirely "real"

there's just better Robin Hood than this, is my point

POLITICS: uhhh not a lot actually, which is a shame. Rob from the rich, give to the poor is not 100% absent in this (it gets mentioned), and there's some pretty intense nastiness from the Sheriff early on in the episode where he stabs a man to death, but as an extension of the world building, the ideas conveyed in this don't hang together very well, because the world doesn't hang together very well

FULL RATING: 50/100 (if I can count….)

overall this episode isn't awful, it's just kind of boring (well, it may be awful if you're a big Robin Hood fan). Idk if there's a curse on medieval settings, or if I'm prejudiced against them, but overall this episode had weak world-building and narrative construction that spread into most other facets of it and made them less engaging too

still not convinced it's worse than "deep breath" though, past me

on the upside I quite like the Doctor's personality -- he's not a nice man these days, and Clara could be getting tired of that? and the Doctor perhaps knows this? we'll see how that goes down/if it has any proper narrative consequences

EDIT: it's called "robot of sherwood" why would you call it that and then just have it be ordinary Robin Hood, that's not a twist!??? it's just a bait and switch, and one that's worse than if he was a robot! this is science fiction, it's okay for him to be a robot!

[practicalmagicintuitions]

I just saw this. 😔 Is this Prince and Princess thing true. Did the BRF confirmed it yet? Do they realise they are rewarding bad behaviour? Rewarding the untrustworthy and selfish son? I was following them but with this sort of mentality you almost think they deserve what has been coming to them. I just feel sorry for Will and Kate they must feel powerless at times. Well I will still watch the coronation but that’s about it. These family is just getting tiring and disappointing 😣

Yes, they updated their official website. They are Prince and Princess of Sussex now.

I will watch the coronation because it's history, but that is it. An anon said on @the-empress-7 blog that watching the coronation will be the end, not the beginning. This is how I exactly feel.

People think this monarchy is unshakable and set in stone but it isn't. Nothing is. With a ballsy KCIII it could have been saved for William and George etc, but I am not sure. First Great Britain will fall apart then the Monarchy. I am talking about decades of time but it will happen in the next 50 years I think. One of those things definitely will happen in my lifetime if not both.

The Queen barely survived her silence after Diana's death but she did because she had served the country for more than 40 years at that point. I remember that. I remember the anger people had towards her that she didn't make a speech and lowered the flags on BP. But she wasn't the "new kid on the block", she had been the monarch for decades.

Yesterday I shared an article where an anti-monarchist group says booing or protesting against her wouldn't be beneficial to their cause. Can you imagine? You hate the monarchy but the monarch is so well beloved that you cannot protest against her. It's hilarious actually. But this is not the case with Charles. He gained support after Frogxit but he blow it off almost instantly. It doesn't matter if this was his decision or the Harkles blackmailing him. The decision has been made, this is the only important thing right now.

Coronation in less 2 months, then we can let this rest and focus our energy elsewhere. People are saying " but you can still support W&C" This is true but being a royal watcher should be about the monarch and the monarchy first and maybe after the next in lines. And now it's very hard to support people who probably will inherit a wrecked monarchy if they will sit on the throne at all. If William will be king one day I'll give him the benefit of the doubt but who knows. People will be tired of all of Charles's shenanigans by that time.