#its only wed
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Alex in any DND team or anything really: I'll fuck anyone who tries to kill us!
Lilly'y: Alex...don't...you mean you'll kill any one who fucks with us?
Alex already halfway into a bedroom with one of the enemy guards who's eye we just shot out: I know what I said.
#dnd shenanigans#its been a long week#its only wed#Alex wilson#oc#dnd#silly#don't worry she's gonna off him eventually#huhuhuhu#one way or another#I missed rping as this crazy bitch#rogue bard#shinanigans#sex drugs rock and roll#shes a simple creature
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Feelings Thawed
Character; Cater Diamond
Content; Fluff, gender-neutral reader, pining, ice skating (to various degrees of success)
Word Count; 650+
Author's Note; This is a present/thank you to my mutual @i-like-forgs. I hope you enjoy this ice skating scene with Cater, and that you get to skate soon!
As a reminder, do not put my work â or others for that matter â into AI as it steals. Link to Masterlist
The brisk wind bit at your nose, and you pulled up your scarf, trying to keep away the offending wind. Around you it was a winter wonderland, all made possible in the temperate conditions thanks to Cater, who was filming you skating around on the frozen pondâs surface.
âYou know,â you hollered, making sure that you caught his attention, âyou should join me! Itâs fun!â You came to a stop by the pondâs edge, where Cater was standing with a large thermos.
Cater just shot you a wink, handing you the thermos. âThis is for you though, silly!âÂ
He was deflecting, you could tell; behind that bright and cheery smile that he always seemed to wear around others, you knew when there was something off with Cater. You accepted the thermos though, and took a sip of the spicy apple cider, still piping hot.
You gave him a look and pulled lightly on his coat sleeve. âYes, but itâs more fun with others, come on Cater!â You stepped back onto the ice, and slowly skated near him, waiting with an eager smile.
He looked at you, and then back at the ice, but he stayed standing in the light snow, shooting you that smile. âBut I canât take photos if Iâm out there with you!â He scratched at the back of his neck.
Liar. âCater,â you looped back around and stepped onto the bank, balancing on your skates, âdo you not know how to skate?â
Caterâs smile turned sheepish, and his âahahaha, looks like my gig is upâ chuckle made its appearance. He had been found out. âNever got the chance to,â he hid his face slightly in his scarf, either to keep the cold at bay or to hide that his cheeks were turning pink. âSo Iâd just slow ya down.â
You took his hand into yours, âWell, I could teach you if you wanted. Just a warning though, youâre gonna fall on your butt a lot, might get a few bruises.â
Cater looked down at your entwined hands. Mittens and gloves separated your skin from touching one another, but Cater could swear that he could feel the sensation nonetheless through the layers of fabric.
âYou would? Even if I pull you down with me?âÂ
The last question wasnât just about the ice skating; Cater didnât want to force you to do anything that you didnât want to⌠and that included being his friend. His heart seemed to whisper stronger emotions though, but he didnât want to ruin what the two of you had.
You walked him out to the ice, and the both of you swiftly fell down on the ice, hard. But you just laughed and got right back up again, âWell, we did just fall. There isnât anything scary about falling down; yes it stings and might leave a gnarly bruise, but in order to move forward we have to fall and get back up. So yes, is what I guess Iâm saying.â
Cater looked up at you, the sun illuminating you and the snow glittered behind you. You were holding your hand out again, waiting for him. And Cater took your hand.Â
It took him a while to get the hang of it, and he fell down quite a bit, but every time he fell down you helped him back up. And by the time that the sun was setting in the west, the both of you were cold, and both were going to wake up tomorrow with some bruises. It was fun though, which is all that mattered⌠but that whisper in Caterâs heart was by now singing, and maybe he would listen to it, but for now, he was happy with how the way things were, and he wouldnât trade it for anything in the world, especially with how much you had smiled today. Your smile and knowing that you had fun with him was enough.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tags; @eynnwwyjth, @ithseem, @krenenbaker, @silvers-numberonefan, @twistwonderlanddevotee, @xxoomiii
#twst#twst x reader#twst x gn reader#twisted wonderland#twisted wonderland x reader#twisted wonderland x gn reader#cater diamon#cater diamond x reader#cater diamond x gn reader#i decided to let you decide how reader feels about cater since it allows for various possibilities#also decided to go with cater since i only had the dorm headcanons with him; and he deserved his own drabble#i hope you like this when you get the chance to read it ryo ^v^#thank you for your support; even if it does give me a mini stroke when you break my tumblr notifications#decided for spicy apple cider as its something i can see cater liking (not super sweet but still warm to keep you warm in the cold)#this is also a thank you for crashing a mutuals wedding and stopping a union; i used my writing as enticement to stop it <3#let's see how the cater simps react to this; hoping you guys enjoy!
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the young wolf
#robb stark#game of thrones#a song of ice and fire#got#asoiaf#mine.png#feeling despondent about the stark siblings again#like hey wdym robb was only 16/19 at the red wedding. how am i supposed to just go on with my day after remembering that#also i was tryin something new with this its like 50/50 colored pencil and digital#i kinda fuck with it this was a lot of fun#blood tw
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binding vow
#my art#jujutsu kaisen#jjk#megumi fushiguro#fushiguro megumi#megumi#fanart#jjk fanart#done....collapses#up until 3am last night n sitting fr another 8 hours today to finish....#g o d#the things i do fr him.....#let it no longer b said that i only do elaborate paintings rife with symbolism tht feature gojo. megu my one true muse#as is Correct and Just#real talk tho i was just sketching th things i wanted to include without giving much thought to the Themes#w the exception being the spider lilies lmao I Know What Those Mean#but i ended up with a REALLY good life/death/marriage/loyalty thing going on????#w the lotus/spider lily being purity+rebirth/death#((not 2 mention 'far from the one he loves' like HELLO?????))#also w the temari balls being associated w femininity but having him dressed in groom's attire#like???? 90% unplanned but i ended up both cooking And eating#also happy 2 report that betta fish were kinder 2 me than the koi were :) no trouble from these lil guys#in fact everything abt this piece kind of came easily beyond the initial colour swatch??#thank u fr being an easy subject megu ilysm im sorry abt all the death imagery i dont mean it pls focus instead on th Life imagery :((((#i put a ring on it so u gotta wake up.....cant leave yuuji @ th altar ....#SPEAKING OF THE RING IK ITS ON THE RIGHT HAND we've been over this and its Okay#if i read a single comment .........#sorry 2 that one person who was like 'the next binding vow better be at itfs' wedding' ik this probably wasnt what u meant#but it did inspire me smile :)#anyway i need 2 stop looking at this its been over 24 hours
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strange old men!! theyre married for tax purposes (and gay purposes but thats less important)
[image description: a drawing of human designs for coach z and bubs from homestar runner. coach z is depicted as a lanky pale-skinned older man with a tooth gap, a five-o'clock shadow, and balding curly light brown hair with a grey streak through it. bubs is depicted as a bulky, dark-skinned older man with short greying afro hair and a short beard. end id]
#bubs is totally hiding some tattoos from his Cool Guy Days under that sweater#also to me he is blind in his right eye#also also its Sorta implied through jokes?? but to me coach z is intersex#they get divorced sometimes for fun. then they get remarried so they can keep getting wedding gifts#the ultimate scheme#i think that means i only have 5 main cast members left#i am wondering if i should make the cheat a human. or if he should be a weird cat or something#hes got human intelligence obviously but sb still calls him a pet so idk#i guess i can just. ignore that#he can be sb and sm's weird bestie that basically lives w them#doc talks#my art#homestar runner#hsr#h*r#coach z#bubs#bubz#today has been a very productive day of drawing homestar runner characters
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Putting some guys in some fancy outfits
#i just think any time theyd have to go to some place nicer to run scams kremy would enjoy dressing his boys up#i saw some ppl drawing them in suits and i just really wanted to draw frosty in a less western style suit#also i saw a drawing of gideon and kremys wedding where kremy had a sick skeleton coat and i said yES#morning frost#gideon coal#kremy lecroux#once upon a witchlight#ouaw#coalecroux#they get all dressed up and like 10 minutes into the thing theyre attending gideon has shed half his cloths and unbuttoned his shirt#also pls notice frosts little mlem. he is kitty he has to have little kitty mlem because its my drawing and i choose the fun#didnt have any particular ideas for grinko and torbek sorry fells :(#i think Gricko refused to wear shoes so kremy made him stay outside of whatever place they were heisting to stand watch instead#kremy says they have to drink with everyone else to fit in and not offend everyone but then him and gideon just get shitfaced and do no sca#they get out and grickos like alright guys whatve we got and kremys like oh shit right uhhh#i think gideon kremy and frost would be a disaster trio#just gideon and kremy fucking around and frost desperately like guys pLEASE we had a PLAN#clawing at the floorboards as they drag him into whatever dumb fun theyre having too#frost and kremy are the brain cells but gideon makes kremy dumber in a way that only works out when its just the two of them#my art
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charles and erik h*lding h*nds before getting executed in that one comic :/
girl i CANNOT stand them THEY ARENT EVEN IN THIS RUN BESIDES THIS
(Secret Empire #10)
#snap chats#i do not know the plot of this comic at all i literally just hunted this down so i could source it#FOR THE PEOPLE. I DO THIS FOR THE PEOPLE. DURING CLAAAASSSS đŁď¸đŁď¸ <- we're talking about SNL its nothing important#BECAUSE I REPEAT I GET MIFFED WITHOUT SOURCES#anyway .... if anyone wanna read this run .. go ahead ... its only 10 issues#its cap centric so if he's your guy. Heyo đ¤#as for the REST of us freaks ... I Cannot Stand Them of fucking course theyre holding hands while theyre being hanged#as far as i know this is literally their only appearance and ofc its to be zesty#this may as well be their wedding picture WHY IS CHARLES SMILING LIKE THAAAAAT i hate him <- i love him
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Ian x Debbie + just hashtag gay ginger middle children things
#shamelessedit#shamelessnet#shameless#ian gallagher#debbie gallagher#giffedđ#s11#s7#s5#s4#s10#s2#s6#02x10#04x10#05x05#06x02#07x04#10x12#11x09#shameless us#i will never shut up about them (threat and promise)#the wedding gif -oof- we're not gonna talk about okay one day ill go back and make that shot my bitch but for now it has defeated me#ive been learning some upgraded software and hoo boy oh boyoboy howdy#it was a little touch and go there for awhile#if the bottom gifs dont sync then i dunno its gods problem now#do not repost gifs - reblogs or tumblr gif search feature only thanks!
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ok so icemav where both of them are great in the kitchen BUT Mav is awesome at making meals and Ice excels at making sweets. Bonus points if when one of them is left alone too long, the other stress cooks/bakes.
#icemav#tom iceman kazansky#pete maverick mitchell#Ice has come home to Mav making 3 new pots of soup on top of the 3 absolute BANQUETS he's already made#Mav has come home to ice decorating his 3rd wedding cake after he mades like 6 plates of cupcakes#they both know how to make weed brownies navy rules be damned#slider and goose came by one time to look for them both and devoured them#Ice and Mav came home to them crying over a nature documentary cuz âthe butterfly's only live a week Mavâ and âstfu Ice its not funnyâ#im so normal about this i swear
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Day 7 of bloodweave week: wedding
#yes i'm late yes its only a sketch#and yes it's the wedding scene from twilight#bloodweaveweek2024#bloodweave#gale dekarios#gale of waterdeep#astarion ancunin#astarion#astarion x gale#gale x astarion#bg3#bg3 gale#bg3 astarion#baldur's gate 3
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not to be racist against the French or anything but why has every French man I've ever met been allergic to getting off his ass and helping his wife do literally anything at all at big family events
#like#there are literally 14 french men here#theyre sitting around watching their fucking wives bust their asses off to prepare for this wedding rehearsal#the fuck#is wrong with you#get off your ass and at least grab some fucking proseco from giant#the only man whos doing anything is the groom and im convinced its bc hes only half french
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thomas wayne au excerpts - things that could've been part of a grander fic except there's no grander fic
thomas wayne au - an au i made last year where danny is literally just. thomas wayne. his full name was Daniel Thomas Fenton and he started going by Thomas Nightingale after he was disowned. because of course. here is a link to the first post if anyone wants to see a more in depth view of the au (its also the start of me using the âdanny fenton is not the ghost kingâ au lmao
additional info: bruce is the result of a failed cloning attempt from vlad - vlad used a combination of danny's dna and an unnamed girl (Martha's) to make him to try and balance out the ectoplasm use. this resulted in a slightly liminal but otherwise completely human and stable baby boy. Bruce is, by all accounts, Danny's biological son. Danny named him Bruce
Danny was 24 when he died, he took in Bruce when he was 16. He is, so far, a single father in this au. (But if I WERE to add martha she wouldn't be sam or a DP character but rather a separate character on her own.)
Essentially they would go as:
Martha, 19: water does terrifying things to corpses
Danny, 19, half ghost: *heart eyes* really? tell me more they're morticia and gomez your honor
---- Like starlight -----
Bruce's father could light up a room. He was like a sun, his gravitational field could just pull you in, and before you knew it you'd be orbiting around him like one of his many planets.
He's seen it in action before, in the rare moments Thomas Wayne would allow him to accompany him to the socialite events he went to; the fundraisers; the charities. Bruce, as tall as his father's waist, would cling to his leg and watch as people drifted towards him and his star-blinding smile.
It's fitting that his father's favorite thing in the world were stars, he fit right in with them.
As an adult, Bruce has tried copious amount of times to mimic him. To try and capture a fraction of that light, that charm, in his own act - but here's the thing. Thomas Wayne wasn't made of starlight only in front of the cameras, he was made of starlight outside of it as well.
(So when older socialites laugh and tell him he's so much like his father, Bruce just thinks they are liars. They've only ever seen the Thomas Wayne his father showed them, Bruce is nothing like his father.)
In the manor, whatever room he stepped into seemed to brighten, and maybe it was just Bruce's own child-memory fuzzing it to raise his father onto a pedestal, but he stands by it. His father was a solar system, his very own galaxy. Bruce was just the lucky planet that was close enough to orbit him.
--------- arrival time ------
Ancients, ancients, what the fuck convinced Danny to ever go to Gotham of all places? Crime Capitol of the world? He's not sure, but he's been wandering around the country for the last few months, swapping between flying late at night as Phantom, and taking the busses and trains when he had the money, and was too exhausted to fly.
And of course, what convinced him to come here with his kid no less, who was just at the cusp of turning a year old? Whose curiosity of the world was growing greater by the day? Who wanted to look around and explore, and was growing tired of being held at all hours of the day by his father.
But he was going to be held, at least for as long as they were in Gotham for. He didn't trust the stuff on the sidewalks, and he didn't trust the people walking on it. Bruce was tiny, and Danny would lose his mind if he lost him in a crowd.
In his arms, Bruce whined and wriggled, pushing at his shoulders in the signature way he did when he wanted to be let down. Danny tightened his hold, and adjusted his place on his hip.
"I know, bumblebee." Danny muttered, resting his chin on Bruce's small head. His hair was still thin, but it was dark and soft, and tickled his throat a little. "But not yet, I need to find somewhere for us to stay first."
He needed to find somewhere for them to stay, permanently. He couldn't keep living like this, and he couldn't let Bruce grow up like this either. Constantly moving, homeless, unsure of when he was going to eat next? It wasn't good for him. But he needed to find a city he liked, and after that? He wasn't sure. Where did he start?
But Bruce doesn't like his answer, he whines at him, louder, and his wriggling increases. He wants down, he wants to move. They were in a new place again, he wanted to explore. He's too little to fully understand what his dad's saying. "Dada." He said, his voice thick with the accent of a child first learning to speak.
"I know," Danny repeats, stressing the word as his eyes flitted about. There was a park nearby -- maybe he and Bruce could stop there for a bit. Bruce could move around, and Danny could figure out his next move.
It was getting dark, he didn't want to be out in Gotham when it was dark. Shuffling, he moved the inside of his jacket to wrap around Bruce better. It was getting cold, too. Last winter with Bruce had been hellish - Bruce's liminality meant that Danny's immunity to the cold hadn't been passed down to him. Danny had spent all winter terrified that Bruce was going to get sick and die. He didn't want to go through that stress again, especially now that Bruce would be moving.
He hoped they could find new living arrangements soon.
---- dniwer eht klolc - clockwork's conversation ---
Laughing quietly as Bruce ran out of the room, Danny turned his attention back to the mirror, his fingers curled around the knot of his tie. They'd been planning this outing for weeks since the movie was first announced, and Danny wasn't going to let anything ruin tonight.
Humming under his breath, his hands fell from his tie and he steps back. They were leaving in half an hour, at best, but experience from the last six years has taught Danny that he wants to be ready before then.
In his reflection, the clock behind him stops ticking, and a wave of nothing washes over him, a subtle shift he's gotten used to that was the sensation of time stopping. Ticking, soft and coming from all four sides of the room, filled his ears.
Danny's smile drops. And behind him, Clockwork swirled into existence like a blackhole reversing its pull. "Don't go out tonight, Thomas." He says, his voice stern.
That wasn't happening.
He reaches up to push back a loose strand of hair out of his face. "Does something happen to Bruce, Clockwork?" He asks, his voice deceptively calm. That would be the only reason he would postpone tonight. If it endangered Bruce, then he would just have to break the news to him that they'd have to go tomorrow.
In the reflection, Clockwork's lips thinned, pressing together tersely. He looked tense, the grip on his staff was tight, tighter than Danny's seen it before in recent years. And it worried him a little.
Clockwork is silent for a few seconds, hesitant, before he finally speaks. "No, Bruce will be fine." He says, and uncharacteristic of him, he shuffles, "But--"
Ah, good then. Danny's smile returns briefly across his face. Then it could be something Danny can handle. "But nothing then, Clockwork." He says, interrupting the Ancient firmly. He leans back slightly to look over himself again in the mirror, before going to undo his tie. He's changed his mind about it.
"Boo has been looking forward to our movie all week, I'm not crushing his hopes by changing my mind last minute." In just a few seconds the tie was off his neck and tossed onto bed behind him. And Danny was reaching over the dresser beside him to grab a pearl necklace, he normally didn't wear it, it belonged to Mrs. Wayne and he inherited it after she and Mr. Wayne passed away last year. It wouldn't hurt to wear it for a special occasion like this.
Clockwork's lips tightened, and his shoulders tensed up. "Thomas," He says lowly, "Please."
...Clockwork never said please. Danny's never heard him say please in the last ten years he's known him. This... must have been pretty serious -- but, his core tugged at him. He couldn't cancel without finding the reason why. Bruce was so important to him, Danny couldn't break his heart with this without learning why. He wouldn't allow it, and neither would his core.
He hooks the necklace around his neck and turns to face Clockwork, frowning deeply. "Does something happen tonight?" If he knew the reason -- he just needed to know the reason.
Clockwork stares at him, and something that Danny can't catch appears across his face. "...I cannot tell you." He says after a long moment, his voice quiet.
That... is not the answer Danny wants. He won't cancel.
He frowns. "If something happens tonight..." He says slowly -- Clockwork said that Bruce is unharmed. That must mean Danny was able to handle it. He allows himself to smile reassuringly, and he steps forward to clap a hand on Clockwork's shoulder. "Then I will handle it, alright? I promise."
He gets no response back. Clockwork's expression unreadable as he nods silently - Danny's anxiety curls in his gut. He's being so unlike himself. But he shakes Clockwork's shoulder gently and steps around him, leaving the room.
After a minute, he feels time return to normal.
#dpxdc#dp x dc#dp x dc crossover#dpxdc crossover#dp crossover#dpdc#danny fenton is not the ghost king#dc x dp#dp dc#dp dc crossover#dc x dp crossover#danny is thomas wayne au#danny calling bruce 'bumblebee' >>>>>#he adores his kid man. absolutely loves him. he'd give him the world on a silver platter if he even so much asked.#dont have many tag thoughts for this au unfortunately. its pr straight forward considering danny is going to die when bruce is eight#left the movie they went to see pr ambiguous since mark of zorro came out in 1940#only thought of it now that danny wore the pearls as i was writing this. just for the extra reference to canon#single dad danny#martha and danny would fall in love with each other via hyperfixations. they'd be engaged by the time they died.#their wedding would be in a month - little bruce was gonna be ringbearer at his dad's wedding :) and he'd already be calling Martha mom#danny: CW said bruce was unharmed tonight so everything will be fine :) i will handle it.#danny: dies and becomes a whalefall - and thus incapable of returning as a ghost to watch over bruce#yeah clockwork meant physically unharmed. he was in pain while talking to danny - his boy was gonna die tonight and he was never gonna see#him again bc danny wasnt coming back as a ghost.
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The Media Overanalysis (O)Mega Essay: Why Rogue Is The Bad Guy. Duh.
Code Mauve. Sorry, youâre a mutual and directly responded, so now you get The Post. It was bound to be someone eventually, and it was you. Itâs nothing personal. You were just the first to dare my parapet.
@icantleave replied: rogue definitely isn't the master because the master is simply incapable of cosplaying someone this genuine and unlike himself, his disguises are always essentially very him with a few traits hidden or amplified.
Either there is a psy-op and Disney aired a different version of this or a solid quarter of you got brain broken by American Mr Darcy- no donât try and run, get back here. The only running youâre doing is this essay equivalent of a 10k.
You are intelligent. All of you. And yet what the hell does this mean? ârogue definitely isn't the master because the master is simply incapable of cosplaying someone this genuine and unlike himselfâ
Weâre going through this episode. All of it. This is not actually an âit is the Masterâ post, it is a âbut at the very least he sure acts like the Master wouldâ post, which is the above premise. But also just in general that Rogue is The Bad Guy.
Take it as the Master cosplaying Jack; a Pantheon member whose theme is Roleplay who like the others has watched the show and is deliberately filling the void daddy created and getting in by cosplaying the Master cosplaying Jack (has to be doing both to be skilled at Roleplay ala Maestro and the Toymakerâs skills in their areas, else heâd just be shittily cosplaying Jack); or literally he is just baddie Chuldur #6 fanboy who wants to bang the Doctor he saw on TV cus heâs sexy and they get Doctor Who out there as well as Bridgerton. All the concepts are adjacent:
Baddie fanboy roleplaying as Jack to fuck-slash-fuck-with the Doctor.
Places people. Letâs take it from the top:
-We start with a scene showing someone (Chuldur #2) who wants to roleplay as the bad guy because that would be fun.
-(Bonus: the writers talking about themselves - âWonderful party, your Grace.â âSome are saying best of the season. A triumph. A new standard set. And I, of course, could not comment. But I think the real estimation of an evening is in the matches made.â I quite agree.)
-(We are also in Tredegar House, which you may recognise from The End Of Time, Spyfall, and other times in New Who. We like this place.
-There is electronic interference in Rubyâs earpiece. The Doctor scans this and finds itâs coming from Rogue. The Master is a frequent user of manipulative electronics both towards other people and to disguise himself. Put a pin in this, itâll come up at the end. â
-The Doctor meets Rogue to the backing of hit pop song, Billie Eilishâs âIâm The Bad Guyâ. The Master is a famous lover of fun pop, and being obvious to an oblivious Doctor. â
â
I wrestled with iMovie at midnight to put the lyric subtitles to this video and you are going to watch and appreciate it:
[If at any point you want out of this essay, all you have to do is come back to here and watch this video again while singing in your head along with the lyrics to receive a passing grade.]
-They deliberately work the lines around the music, not just thematically but so you can clearly hear what the backing song is. And made sure they kept the scene going long enough all the way into the next section just so they could keep the line: âI like it when you take control, even if you know that you don't, own me, I'll let you play the role, I'll be your animal.â Fuckâs sake. Most Thoschei song. Interchangeable freaks.
-Rogue is critiqued by the Doctor for not acting appropriately broody enough. The Master well known for being a fairly shit actor. â
-That is an American accent. This is a red flag for either being a Pantheon member, or the Master Dressing For The Occasion (which Rogue certainly has).
-âDo you practise in a mirror?â - him roleplaying would mean literally yes.
-âI didnât know the Duchess employs a court jester.â - Alexa please search every time the Master has called the Doctor some derivation of clown. â
-âOâŚKayâŚRude. Lord-?â âNot a Lord.â Our last outing with the Master was all about his psyche-destroying discovery of being made from the Not-A-Time Lord Doctor; and if he is Pantheon The Rogue roleplaying as the Master, then just chefâs kiss line. But I will be magnanimous this early in proceedings, and let you go âtechnically a valid meta read is saying that conforms heâs not a Time Lordâ. But the paragraph stands.
-He calls himself Rogue:
1. noun: a dishonest or unprincipled person. "You are a rogue and an embezzler" Similar: scoundrel, villain, reprobate. 2. noun: an elephant or other large wild animal living apart from the herd and having savage or destructive tendencies. "a rogue elephant"
If itâs the Master then straight up naming himself âThe Bad Guyâ is on brand. The Master is a Rogue Time Lord. That is what fandom has long called them - âRogues and Renegadesâ. The Master is shite at names, if you havenât had the pleasure of the Third Doctorâs company yet. Shitty anagrams, tenuous links to goals and character aspects, and crappy puns are the standard â
. If Pantheon, then his choice in lifestyle thatâs more about personally having fun (ultimately still Doctor compatible), with a group, in a non-competitive game which has no win condition other than enjoying the game, though rip to the NPCâs being played with as character, would definitely put him somewhat apart from the wreaking havoc on the universe others. If a Pantheon member, he literally did choose his own name from D&D.
-Just generalised throughout: Rogue is not actually suave. Some people find his secret awkwardness under the posh gear charming. The Master is not suave and is awkward, but desperately tries to style it out like he is anyway, thatâs just his character. â
-We kinda feel like weâre going into some Karny Shobogony kind of cave area, weâre not, but just for the hitting home that this is another Upper Class Gallifrey mirror for the season. You donât need to think the Masterâs involved for this, donât worry, wasnât in Dot And Bubble was he, but that was a clear enough mirror. A person appearing as a servant forces their way up the social ladder. If you like some mirror play and are really deep in your TC âwhat kind of person would name themselves Masterâ, youâre having fun. Also I canât see that type of death lightning without thinking of Simm!Master. Costly effect, but we went with it, and it does add some panache.
-Chuldur #5 is roleplaying Emily (this is used both in her disguise and out - potentially playing the same âcharacterâ. Weâll come back to this too, explore more later), who will be something of our Master this evening in the Gallifrey mirror if youâre going in for it. Also coincidentally is half the mirror pair with Ruby to the Doctor and Rogue. âEmily, please-â âBut you consume me sir. I think of you every waking hour and I hate myself for it!â yeah we know babe⌠Anyone else hearing Dhawan!Masterâs âI cannot bear thatâ?
-âI love these old skiesâ - all the stars makes it arguably sound more like a Flux reference rather than just light pollution. And we all know what event by who triggered that off.
-Finally we get more lines from Rogue, this has all been very one-sided. âDo you never stop chattering?â - a frequent refrain of the Master, who, fun fact has told the Doctor to shut up in every incarnation in New Who (and probably Old but this is the trivia I have) â
-If Rogue is supposedly wanting to stop the bad birdies, real weird he doesnât give an appropriately flying fuck about the mysterious lone shoe. And simply says âI suggest look for the other shoeâ like it doesnât matter with a shrug. Because the Master is stupid and shite at keeping in-character. â
Makes sense if heâs on the bad guyâs team though. Also Cinderella. Noticing themes in todayâs mirror subtext.
-They find it plus corpse. âAnd you knew. You didnât even flinch.â Actually wrong, the Doctor canât see behind him but we can. Rogue doesnât flinch at the shoe, or coming up to the body, but when the Doctor says itâs the Duchess, Rogue does a slight âohâ lean back, and then a sigh with a bit of a slump. To me this reads as a âoh you fucking idiotsâ for doing it this blatantly, but I wonât mark it, cus you could argue that ultimately maybe a bounty hunter might care more about the death of the duchess in particular and sigh about it etc. (Or he is Pantheon roleplayer getting annoyed his gang canât stick to a character and risking the outline going off-track and more bodycounty). âAnd you knewâ - Rogue doesnât keep eye contact but closes his eyes, opens them immediately up and a little to the side, thinking of what to say next style. ((This specific circumstance he couldnât have known about prior, cus the murder happens while heâs inside))
-âThis is a murder far beyond the technologies of planet Earth. It could only be done by someone brilliant.â âAnd monstrous.â [-horny flirting tone looking him up and down] âAnd ruthless.â âAnd contemptible.â Both: âYou.â He is the Master and in with the bird gang. No bounty hunter with a heart of gold is calling the murderer brilliant because also, may have been easy to miss, but the Doctor hasnât done anything brilliant yet unless you include owning a scanner and briefly infodumping about constellations. That is a Master talking about himself kinda line. â
-The Doctor thought Rogue was a murderer who was calling himself brilliant, and it only made him more horny, and proceeded to dance along with that little two-step. If Iâm Master-brained, whatâs he? Cus heâs usually only into one murderer. If that guy had snogged him instead of pulling the gun theyâd have fucked right then and there, that scene has so much sexual tension that should not be there.
-Edit - courtesy of @katoska: â#though dimensionally transcendental pockets would explain where he'd hidden that big gun in that form fitting outfit.â - And why wouldnât you have given him one of Jackâs guns, theyâre all smaller? But they made Rogue a huge one.
-âSo who do you think I am?â âI know youâre a Chuldur.â âThe shapeshifters? Ha, Iâve heard of them. Iâve never met one,â *tilting head back towards Rogue and smiling* âUnless I have.â Please, if nothing else, come out of this thinking at minimum he is bad birdie Chuldur #6. Maybe weâre rewriting Frobisher. Heavily, heavily rewriting.
-â[his ship] cloaked behind that shed.â Calling the TARDIS a shed. It was Three that technically said it but the Master has repeatedly expressed his disdain for our beautiful police box before so thatâs a Master-fitting line, be it intentional disdain or not yet. â
-Wonât call it a point, but he tells us he is a bounty hunter sent here to find them for the money. (Note: not kill - at the very least a bounty hunter would be bringing back the body to get, you know, the bounty). Aside from being a cheap and easy backstory itâs evidently morally bad, for all the Doctor literally goes âthat is soâŚcoolâ - which is absolutely not his usual position on bounty hunters.
-The thing he uncloaks the ship with? Same thing that controls the traps. How multitool. How sonic screwdriver. Or Laser screwdriver TCE as you prefer.
-His ship is a bird. It has wings, two eyes, and a beak. He is with the birds. He is The Bad Guy â
. He is using and familiar with the bird ship; or at the insane alternative a TARDIS that completely disguised itself both outside and inside as neighbouring bird ship. There is no good guy answer for why he is in a bird ship. We never ask how the birds got here. But it was probably the bird ship. Bird ship.
-Meta so I canât give it a point cus itâs beyond our scope but: âOh youâre the Duchess! Of course, I should have scented you.â Not immediately recognising one of your own species when you should have sensed them thank god thatâs not a mirror.
-His ship has an angular console in the middle of it with mirroring angular shape above it, the same taste in decor as the Master does with a TARDIS, like itâs almost designed to put you in mind of one, cute. â
-âThis place is a mess.â Dhawan!Masterâs TARDIS house and console room proper were a massive mess, these guys share housekeeping habits too. â
-âI live alone.â The Doctor notes this sort of ship would be piloted by two. Aw sad. Except heâs lying, heâs obviously lying, because he has dice on the table and heâs not playing D&D in his bird-shaped ship alone or with only two fucking people, is he? You need a group. Maybe of Bird roleplaying enthusiasts. Liar. Bad conduct. And failed to remove the evidence that contradicted the lie - dumbass Master behaviour. â
-Rogue declares âYouâre a killer.â And the Doctor goes âOh well,â before trying to sonic himself out of the situation, without actually defending himself against the charges. Maybe doesnât feel the need to. For some reason.
-âWhat do those things do?â âItâs a trap. Triform on.â Now that could easily be a Master when heâs being sexier line, complete with his classic dumbass behaviour of declaring to the Doctor that somethingâs a trap before actually springing it. â
-He says he is going to send the Doctor to the incinerator. Why? âUh heâs a bounty hunterâ Yeah. So why would he burn the evidence that would get him the money? Canât just rock up and say âI dealt with it I pinkie-promiseâ.
-The Doctor attempts to sonic his way out of the trap before it finishes charging. Rogue says immediately that itâs deadlocked. The one thing that stops a sonic screwdriver. You canât deny, that is the level of forethought the Master would manage to scrounge together. â
-Rogue scans the Doctorâs gadget, allowed in cus it doesnât recognise it as dangerous device (oh the old âtemporal grace fieldâ in the TARDIS, thatâs a nice little mirror), and apparently the scans say itâs a screwdriver. I canât prove this is a lie, but even we donât think itâs a screwdriver, the last one with 14 literally was so much not a screwdriver it couldnât unscrew screws, so unless it connects to the system with the name 15_screwdriver_1 again, feels too convenient. But a toxic Doctor fanboy would be able to identify what it was.
-I donât know why we have a Sonic Monocular scene that cost us money and effort to produce when we could have just glanced across the table, but since all things that cost money in production have a reason, maybe the laser screwdriver style object we pan over? Point of interest but not a countable one, and either way the main argument is aligning character traits not convincing you he literally is the Master.
-âRoll for insightâ, he cracked a smile, so surprising it uncloaked the Doctorâs full Scottish accent. This is the first positive character trait we have seen. We are just shy of halfway through the story.
-Telling the Doctor to âRoll for insightâ after he sees the dice, is a dungeon Masterâs instruction.
-of course he likes D&D, he plays it with the birds on the bird ship, heâs sent the birds he plays it with off out to continue the game in Bridgerton, heâs being their dungeon Master in real life too
-Seriously if you think Rogue is genuinely just a good guy bounty hunter and we should believe that uncritically, why would they tell us he likes roleplaying in D&D so much he picked his name from it? He roleplays. Thatâs one of the very few things we know about him. Why not chess? Or Minecraft? He could have liked Tetris? Why would he like roleplaying in the episode about roleplaying if him roleplaying isnât relevant?
-The Master too adores roleplaying while also not being that great at it. Just putting that out there.
-âAnd it says that youâre wired for sound!â *sonics* âI Just Canât Get You Out Of My Headâ by Kylie Minogue plays. *Rogue looks up in full wide-eyed uh-oh then turns to the Doctor* âNow this is a surprise.â - I mean, yeah, it is actually. I mean why would there be such anachronistic music playing in a ship owned by a guy fromâŚwell funny I guess he never said and the Doctor never asked. Well from a species likeâŚwell alright uh guess we didnât do that either. Said âplanet Earthâ thatâs a pretty alien way of phrasing it. âHey but in the Whoniverse Britney Spearsâ Toxic is a traditional Earth balladâ, and maybe usually Iâd let it go, but this is the second anachronistic bit of music weâve heard, and the third we hear later is even more pointed to draw your attention to it. No. Itâs weird. You know who it wouldnât be weird to though? Our pop loving Master! And thatâs the most Thoschei Thesis Statement song in Kylieâs repertoire! â
(Or Pantheon sharing daddyâs Spice Girls thing for 90âs pop). The Master would also absolutely have forgotten to delete his playback history before all this and pull an âoh shitâ face not from embarrassment but cus he knows this looks fucky because he doesnât have a poker face heâs an idiot that panics the second anything in his plans ever goes wrong. â
-The Doctor mouthing: âBoy your loving is all I think about.â A sentiment thatâs cropped up multiple times now this episode. Also in a Master mirror. Mhm. Itâs a sickness babes.
-But hey weâre up to two positive character traits for Rogue so far - likes D&D and Kylie (both anachronisticly).The Doctor was willing to follow him out and blow him in the shrubbery for less, and honestly, respectable. âI just have a crush on prettyboy American Mr Darcyâ is a defence, not a good one, but still.
-The Doctor and Master with one turning the music on and the other trying to turn it off would be a scene, you can imagine it, donât lie, youâre imagining Missy and Twelve right now. (I think for annoyer-and-annoyed Three and Delgado could go either way depending on the episode. How appropriate for them.) â
-Also Rogue attempting to snatch the sonic screwdriver from the taller Doctorâs hand as he plays keep-away. Bitchy, gay, very character-breaking with the rest of the episode, deeply funny. The Master would. â
Then gathering himself, putting on the Iâm In Charge voice and holding out his hand for the Doctor to hand it over and he does. (Huh, have you guys as a whole watched Delgado? Is this what creates the âthe Master would neverâ? Cus actually if youâve not seen these two just be a bit silly with each other and think thatâs just fan characterisation that would actually explain a lot. Eh, but Missy and Twelve(/Clara) have some silly too, if not Three and Delgado level. Hm, to ponder).
-Psychic paper would also not work on the Master and he would say âit says âyouâre hotââ to fluster the Doctor. Also we know heâs lying about it saying that, because heâs the one saying heâs seen it written, yet immediately follows up as the Doctor babbles with, Rogue: âIs it âyouâre hotâ, or Iâm hotâ?â Rogue would know which word was written the funny ambiguity is only from the non-seerâs side on hearing the other person say âyouâreâ. â
-âSuits you, flustered, itâs a good look for you.â Finally we get some fun confidence - which only appears the second he actually gets an upper hand with the Doctor on the back foot. Like someone else we know. Also yet again we have the phrase âa good lookâ for you in this episode all about shapeshifting. The phrase is applied to Rogue by the Doctor, to the Doctor from Rogue, and among the birds to each other. It establishes an equivalence between them, which is odd if Rogue is supposedly the only one not shapeshifting and roleplaying.
-The boss thing, callback to the Meep. Again this isnât a âconvince you it really is the Masterâ thing, itâs character analysis that their traits overlap and he is a bad guy. But since weâre here, the Master is often technically working for someone else he intends to double-cross while thinking heâs ahead of them (nearly every time incorrectly), and we know he is/will be involved with the Pantheon â given this guy is a dice rolling gameplayer, the Master gambling and losing to the Toymaker, just vibes like itâd be out of order and future toothening imo â while thereâs nothing to say our hidden âThe Bossâ is Pantheon, Iâm gonna Occamâs Razor and assume both those plot threads tie together, and for now thatâs a reasonable way to explain how the Master got involved with the Toymaker at all.
-âIâm just so trigger happy.â Literally a Master line, and one we just had: âOh, shoot. I should've said, somebody needs to cut you down to size, then zapped you. I was just trigger-happy. I'll use it next time.â â
-Floating Doctor heads literally the Masterâs nightmare. Literally literally but I canât remember where from and âmaster nightmare floating head doctor whoâ gets you about as useless information as youâd imagine.
-Look. Rogue goes from confidently being about to kill the Doctor. The Doctor forces the scanner to show some other of his faces with the psychic paper, does his whole speech saying heâs ânot a Chuldur. Iâm something much older and far more powerful. A Lord of Time from the lost and fallen planet of Gallifreyâ (this is a special surprise that will help us later) âNow, let me go, bounty hunter. We have work to do.â It is cringe, it is up himself and lording over others which is nearly always punished, the Doctor uses his special Deep And Majestic voice, and our stoic confident Rogue is suddenly wide-and-starry-eyed and breathily says, âWow.â In the fakest response I have ever seen. Sadly I am not allowed more than one video. But oh my God, if you need a refresher itâs 18:14. And if you think it isnât fake, yes you need the refresher.
You canât be buying that OwO âWowâ. You think that was the turning point? I know Iâm supposed to provide better analysis, but the writing is cringe, the acting is completely counter to what it was a moment ago for both parties, is over the top, and you think a bounty hunter would do a 180 from that?? Why?? âOh youâre showing me the faces youâve been before, yeah, I know, youâre a shapeshifterâ. Nothing in the scanner says heâs a Time Lord, just the words from his mouth, why would he not be lying to save his own skin? And again, what would a Time Lord mean in the universe now? Who gives a shit, if you know what they are you know theyâre all dead and reasonable shot youâre happy about that. Failing even that, Rogue is working for the same Boss as the Meep - if the word Time Lord rang a bell itâd be cus Fourteen caused problems last time âbring him to meâ, surely. âWowâ uwu so cool! Really??? Nothing, not a thing Rogue has done so far, indicates he would be âWowâ to that. Not a damn thing.
Fakest response Iâve ever seen - Groff is actually a good actor so itâs supposed to be fake, at least one of the writers is award winning and may well be both, and Ncuti went out of his way to make it look like unnatural arrogance that doesnât fit with the previous acting choices either in this scene or the whole show so far. So either all these people were crap at their jobs, or, itâs supposed to smell like bullshit. Would the Master look exactly as fake going âwowâ because his character needs to have the heel-turn now? Yes â
. And that you pulled this speech in front of him would complete its vast circle of cringe and roleplaying.
And what happens next? We cut straight to Ruby and Cosplaying Chuldur #5: [Giggling] âWe canât keep hiding like this!â You guys are smart, donât pretend youâre not smart, if you follow me you know how good writing works, and are choosing to ignore the meta and mirrors and themes of the episode in a way you wouldnât with a normal Rusty-written one that youâd sit and deeply analyse. Different writers yes, but smart and capable and award winning ones. These arenât two disparate stories smushed together, theyâre the same story in different keys, thatâs the Rule One here.
Continuing, Ruby tries to convince High Society Lord- Lady that she doesnât have to marry another Lord but could be a normal person, and then the Lady says âIâll marry someone lesser, and smallerâŚit may not be love but perhaps a kindly smile at dinnerâŚand then a shared graveâ cus she doesnât want a normal person, thatâs what Ruby wants her to want, she wants to marry her kinda shitty Lord. Because thatâs what this fantasy roleplay is all about.
Okay essay portion over we got out of hand, bullet points, re-engage.
-A motherfucking owl hoots, with the subtitle âowl hootsâ, while Rogue recloaks the giant bird ship, giving us a second look at it again, making sure we get the full distance shot and shimmery cloaking effect to highlight the wings if they get lost in the shadows. Rogue. Is with. The birds. Itâs a bird ship. There is no good guy explanation for the bird ship and its D&D equipment that can only be used by multiple people in our episode about obsessive-roleplaying birds.
-Rogue has now packed. âWhat?â Rogue has now packed. He is now carrying a small bag, cross-body strap over his shoulder. We will not use anything from this bag or see him access it or acknowledge it at all. Heâs just brought it with him. Perhaps like he knows heâs not going to be going back to the ship again. Curious.
Dice Bag propoganda post
-âYou ready for this?â [low tone] âItâs not my first shed.â - woah woah woah, whereâs all the sparkle of a minute ago babes, I thought you were âOwO wowâ, if you know what a Time Lord is you know what a TARDIS is, but youâre not excited no mo? Or heâs doing it to deliberately make the TARDIS inside reveal cooler in contrast because he knows how much the Doctor likes this moment.
-âO my Godâ - haha namedrop. This happens to be Mastery behaviour cus this is just the Dhawan!Master pretending to be O entering the TARDIS scene. You were catfished by this before, come on babes. â
-âCome with me, and weâll be, in a world of pure imaginationâŚâ - what are you imagining babes? Are ya roleplaying son? Cosplaying? Engaging in a bit of the old fantasy right now. No? Heâs just feeling in a chocolatey kind of mood? Uhuh.
-âIâm in love!â - Now isnât this a 180 on the character? From so reticent and âmost serious man on earthâ to loudly declaring his love for the ship. Which just so happens to be the Doctorâs number one kink. And what does the TARDIS do in response? She growls. Rule one basic storytelling - the new boyfriend is evil, we knew cus the beloved dog growls at him. Rogue said he was in love and she growled. Gave Jack a bar, an ensuite, and let him tinker with her insides. But to Rogue she growls. Baddie. â
-The TARDIS lights are in a red-and-white checkerboard pattern. Our dimensionally transcendental TARDIS is literally a 5d chessboard. I wonât count it, but come on.
-Speaking of dimensionally transcendental, thatâs exactly what Rogue called her. Yet didnât anticipate a TARDIS thirty seconds ago. It takes work to argue he knows about dimensionally transcendental spacetime ships but not know of TARDISes that Time Lords travel in, but does know enough about Time Lords to be dazzled by them when he clearly isnât of earthly Lords. Much easier to go âehâ keeping the story straight when youâve got extra knowledge youâre pretending you donât have, but also need to come across as intelligent, is hard. Weâve all played D&D or at least Letâs Pretend. Itâs hard. Lying is hard.
-After a quick âand so cleanâ back-and-forth, Rogue runs up the stairs, hand on the bannister and leans on the railing. The TARDIS growls again, louder, like a whale. Like she did in the episode with the Not-Things, and with The Maestro. (Arguably her âPantheonâ noise?) Both of them notice. Rogueâs expression immediately turns from an awed open-mouthed smile to blankness, with a head tilt and turn, slowly coming back. âWhat was that?â The Doctor claims indigestion and she doesnât like bounty hunters. Not true of the ones with hearts of gold. Weâve seen her with Jack, and River, and she adores them. âItâs the moral void - no offence.â So youâre admitting it. Stating it directly. Heâs not got a heart of gold, the omnipotent spacetime ship can see that heâs a moral void. That is what you have said. â
-âAnd this, from the ancient and fallen world of GallifreyâŚWhere the hell is that?â *buzzer* Wrong. You tried to be clever and arenât - that wasnât the line. The line was âlost and fallenâ not âancient and fallenâ. Oh but Gallifrey is ancient though- *buzzer* He says in the same sentence he doesnât know of Gallifrey. And yet, he got all wide and starry-eyed over a Time Lord, when he is saying he knows nothing about them. Why? Because he canât keep his character straight pun intended, which is a character trait of another undercover ex-agent we know. â
-âWell I might take you one day.â - bananas response by the Doctor for multiple reasons. âIâll take you to my lost and fallen homeworldâ ok what? Second, Fifteen has for once been very open about his loss in this regard, said repeatedly that itâs gone, and how much it hurts him. Said it to Ruby, to Carla, to complete strangers. But here heâs out of character. Why? Maybe heâs roleplaying one that doesnât hurt. Maybe because he thinks itâs the Master and is fucking with him. But Iâm going with the roleplaying and saying what this character feels. Fucky from the Doctor rather than Rogue.
-âIn a few minutes it will no longer be a deathtrap, you are welcome.â [Rogue casually] âWhy, what does it do now?â This is all important but also pause to reflect for a moment on whether the character we saw up to this point would have handed his essential survival and work gear to a shapeshifter who claimed to be a Time Lord with zero proof and let him just modify it however. âHeâs just a very trusting bounty hunter, is all.â I mean he wasnât at the start of all this though, was he.
-Doctor boundaries: I canât let you kill it, âSo instead we will transport it to a random barren dimension, no-one to hurt, no way back.â Passing over the obvious, the Doctor is the one programming this. We agree weâre probably not literally installing a randomiser onto the device, weâre just randomly picking one and assigning those coordinates. How do you know itâs barren? Oh the TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental we just reminded people, so she can probably see, sheâs picking it. Ok. âŚSo thereâs no reason she wouldnât have a record of what she set it to. Thatâs information we should have. Ok. Which are the letters Rogue says. Ok. What about your bounty job? Not even a response to the no-killing? Or that this seems worse if anything? No. Just ok. Weâre saying that a lot in this episode. Ok. Just going along with things. Ok. I know what that word means. Ok.
-âWho did you lose?â âHow do you know?â âCus I know.â Cus we covered this earlier actually when he mentioned the usually two-personâs for captaining an asteroid hopper. Forgot? No worries Rogue, been a long ten minutes. No attempt to make a proper backstory just stares at the Doctor like a cow looking at an oncoming train and goes, âThere was- âŚYeah. We travelled together, we had fun, you know. And then a day came along, and at the end of that dayâŚI lost them.â Now if this was the Master youâd be saying no shit he canât provide details and only parrot what the Doctor always says in these situations, he is a moral void, bro has one friend and only knows what itâs like to love that one friend obsessively, he canât even empathise enough to improvise a backstory that feels realistic. Maybe only lies have details but you can argue my guy didnât even commit to a gender. Itâs also a valid read to assume heâs just short on words at losing his fellow they/them bounty-hunter crook friend. Maybe the OwO Time Lord thing is enough to make him open up a little even if the Doctorâs done nothing to earn that trust yet. But both work just fine, if it was the Master itâd be how heâd do it. â
-âWhat about you?â The Doctorâs expression hardens here. Maybe cus it just hurts. Maybe for other reasons. [coldly, we linger on him] âI lost everyone.â Rogue still with too-wide-cow-train eyes . âBut at the party I saw you with that woman...â That tone. And how we immediately wave his âBest Friendâ aside. Look, again itâs a watch the scene. These two are good actors, theyâre excellent. And down to the âhuhâ head tilt before Groffâs line with every microexpression he is radiating a guy playing a role while still trying to poke his roleplaymate in his open wound with a stick. There has never been just one layer in anything in the show so far why would it start now in the episode about cosplaying people to death do you part, why? Why?? The one mirror everyone can accept is Captain Jack and he was literally a con man. This is a con man you are being conned. If you look at his face and think heâs being earnest you are extra weak to con men do not give strangers your credit card details. Didnât you have jerk friends? We all had jerk friends. That is the expression the jerk friend made when they were just asking questions *blink* *blink* donât get upset. Or Groff is a garbage actor. But he isnât. Just the character heâs playing is crap at acting. Go back and watch O, the cow-eyes are textbook liar, any liar, but especially the Master â
. Theyâre doing a scene, it is diegetic. The acting is diegetic.
-âYou donât have to stay a bounty hunter, [beat pause] Rogue.â You can say itâs just cus he knows Rogue isnât his real name but the Doctorâs usually fine with that sort of thing. âYou could travel with me[âŚ]the worlds I could show youâŚâ âAnd what if I like what I do? Would you travel with me?â âThat is quite an argument. ((No it isnât he doesnât like bounty hunters)) Iâll tell you what, when we both get out of this, letâs argue across the stars.â This is the Doctor and Master scene, we do these scenes every incarnation all the way since half-share in the universe, you donât have to think heâs the Master but we know these lines damn well are. â
-They nearly kiss but the TARDIS cockblocks them with a beep of being finished with the rewiring, because again, she doesnât like the moral void, and does not want the Doctor to stick his dick in it. And what does the Doctor say as he steps back from their almost kiss? âThe trap is ready.â
-[Rogue is sans new bag for the indoor scenes here, I believe this is just a costuming error that happened from them probably reshooting the dancing a bajillion times, it will come back when theyâre back outside again and in every subsequent scene onwards]
-They meet back up with Rubes and Roleplaying Chuldur #5. Ruby asks a very good question. âOk, but what does anyone get out of killing these people? I mean I know theyâre posh nobs and all that, but we found the housekeeper dead. I mean why would anybody do that?â And the Doctor, instead of saying âitâs how they steal their bodies theyâre shapeshiftersâ says the meta-important answer first. âThe dance. The drama. The emotion.â THIS IS ABOUT GALLIFREY. High society here is a mirror for the aforementioned fallen Gallifrey. The Master didnât just genocide the Time Lords, he killed every Shobogon/lay-Gallifreyan without Child-stolen regenerations, he killed every TARDIS, every living thing on the planet. Why? The drama.
-âItâs cosplay. All of this is cosplay.â
-The Doctor turns to a non-plussed looking Rogue and says: âYou said that a Chuldur comes to a planet and tries on people like outfits just for the fun of it.â âŚWh- when? When did he say that?? (Iâm being facetious - he doesnât). Also does that seem rich coming from the âmultiple costume changes per episodeâ Doctor? Mirrors.
-(If the background music here is Vitamin String Quartet I donât recognise it unfortunately. Fun Fact, I used them exclusively as background music for my own wedding, cus I thought itâd be fun for people to try and guess the songs if things got boring and itâd be a conversation starter. Ate my wedding cake to Poker Face. We like resonating with the universe here.)
-âThose TV signals beam out across the stars.â âWhat are these T-V signals?â I canât add more than one video, so if youâre not willing to take the description on faith itâs 24:45. But watch Rogue here. He slightly turns to her with a little glare and that exact same frustrated little sigh he did with the Duchess corpse earlier. Dungeon Masterâs stupidest soldier? Cus youâd think if he was annoyed she was being anachronismatised (real word), heâd have given the Doctor the shut up glare but doesnât give him bother for it at all. Maybe heâs just a conflict averse bounty hunter. But thatâs what the Master would have done, he has low lackey/idiot friend tolerance. Both reads valid. â
-The Doctor dances, we know what thatâs a metaphor for and what episode itâs from. Good thing Rogue knows all the moves ahead of time.
-Just putting the reminder here cus thereâs no clear place - I go with Master because Dungeon Master, Iâm A Bad Guy, the mirrors *gestures at everything above* etc. but mostly because this is a deliberate attempt to cosplay Jack. Thus it requires someone who has watched the show. The Pantheon, the Master seems like a good bet, however, could admittedly be Chulder #6 (and theyâre just supposed to be a very strong but purely mirror for the Master) and because of their different dimension-ness has watched the show on TV and has figured out how their self-insert is gonna bang the Doctor. But one way or the other, our baddie here has seen Doctor Who The TV Show in the same way the birds watched Bridgerton and this is an intrinsic part of this that shouldnât be separated. That we have a fanboy who is deliberately cosplaying Jack and invoking him and references to that episode is important.
-Rogue: âSo what is this ancient Earth tradition of cosplay?â No-one said it was ancient (twice now), no-one said it was Earth, no-one said it was tradition, even Ruby had to clarify âso you mean itâs literally dressing up and playing at Bridgerton?â Rogue almost certainly already knows what it means. And we know the birds do. This is our baddie having fun. Because as the Doctor says next: âOh, Rogue. Itâs when fans dress up as characters that they like.â (Point to Pantheon, because roleplaying the Master would be dressing up as a character from Doctor Who that they like).
-General note again: both prior to but especially 13âs era really spent some subtext time building up the whole âThe Doctorâ and âThe Masterâ are roles they play. If you know you know. Weâve been continuing on Chibsâs themes. Just reminding.
-The Doctor takes the male i.e. leading position judging by the other couples visible. As per traditional Thoschei.
-Lights dim in our usual diegetic/non-diegetic playing that weâve been doing. Soft point to Pantheon - remember if The Rogueâs theme is Roleplaying it must be a double bluff for him to actually be being skilled at it, and he is cosplaying the Master cosplaying the Doctor, with the conceit that the Doctor gets this but not that itâs someone cosplaying the Master, thus heâs winning. If he is Pantheon this is the only potential evidence of fuckery besides having brought non-native-dimensional creatures into ours, which we do have other explanations for.
-âWe need to have a big fight so one of us can storm out and the Duchess follow us.â âThe Chuldur cosplay, not me.â Mhmm. You had D&D dice. But regardless if you buy that, we have now spontaneously swapped from engaging starry-eyed Personality B, back to Personality A: strong and silent.
-âHow dare you my Lord! You would ask me to give up my title? My fortune? But what future can you promise me? *Rogue shaking his head, not good at deviations from the script, nor is the Master fwiw* â
âYou cad! Tell me what your heart wants, or I shall turn my back forever!â âIâŚâ Fifteen whispers, âSay anything.â If you are not internally writing the pre-show Doctor/Master fanfiction I cannot help you. Jo describing the Master like a jilted lover or whatever the hell it was. But at least here, with admittedly a little open-mouthed smirky smile, Rogue gets down on one knee and offers his ring. (From non-marriage hand, 4th finger, donât completely see him pull it off but he was wearing it in the dance scene). If we are re-writing history with this cosplay, which given the Doctorâs reaction he certainly seems to consider it meaningful, thatâs definitely what the Master would do here. âThis is what I wanted you to do back then.â â
-Obviously the Master has used that sort of flat-topped large round ring before, weâve had the callback to it with the red-nailed woman and the tooth just recently. The insignia is not entirely decipherable. Most default Iâve seen is an angel (Master coding, especially if weâre wearing it upside-down hoo), Iâve also seen a ârod of asclepius with 3d coiling tailsâ (A Doctor fanboy who has come prepared for this moment), and just plain bird of some kind given the little wings.
-The Doctor says a very genuine âSorry I canât- âŚI ca-â and runs off. (Which definitely happened the first time). This almost certainly isnât River trauma, Twelve wore the implied wedding ring until it fell off when he regenerated. And weâre just supposed to be making a scene and this is an obvious way to do it - heâs already nearly kissed him and invited him, the Doctor put relationship on the cards, and could easily still be haha fun joke but you are still coming right? If it was just Yaz Making Everything Feel Like Touching A Hot Mind Stove then the near kiss feels like that would have been included in the trauma reaction. So presumably engagement based triggering specifically. Probably not from Cameca either. That had cocoa involved.
-Rogue seems a little surprised at this reaction. Fair all round, the Master might not have expected it either, but also the sort of thing a fanboy might not have been able to pre-empt - it wasnât in the show after all.
-They actually join back together almost immediately and they run outside, so it wasnât that overwhelming.
-âOh, we must play them!â - no âahaâsâ from the peanut gallery, we already saw the birds can potentially not recognise each other in costume, and in the baddie camp (bird ship, heâs in a bird ship) we can be pretty sure that Rogue didnât arrive here looking like Mr Darcy since none of the others were pre-costumed and just nicked people when they got here. (number 2 shows they didnât pre-organise characters - ânice costumeâ). If Chulder #6 - nicked a guy. If Pantheon - conjured himself a bespoke Darcy form. If the Master potentially still body-stealing or simply weâre cloaked - remember the electronic interference from the start that pointed the Doctor to him specifically rather than the Chuldur? Dhawan!Master previously cloaked himself, plenty of scope there. (Why would the Master need to cloak? If the Doctorâs already familiar with his form. Either from other plans or the fact that, well, thereâs a world where this could literally still be Dhawan!Master.)
-The Master nicks bodies by the way, for New Who-onlys. We havenât actually done it for a while, and for earring interference reasons I donât believe weâre doing it now, but itâs actually a Classic Who staple.
-âNow keep the Duchess talking, a Chuldur is strong, and if she starts to change you it wonât stop.â First, now thatâs a meta, second, do we want to add a sketchy point for the gendering of the Chuldur? Cus weâve seen one of them explicitly say theyâre fine with different bodies (âoh I wanted to be the Duchessâ)? Hm. Itâs an assumption on thin ice but Iâll allow it. We donât ask Rogue why he knows so much about the Chuldurs considering theyâre different dimension beings. There are non-problematic options there to be sure. But will say that Dhawan!Master was previously messing around with different dimension beings hoping to find out if they were what the Doctor was, got trapped in their dimension at the end, and these ones are literal shapeshifters. If it is the Master, he has plenty of reason to be here with them and know a lot about them. â
If he is a Chuldur, well, obvious reason.
-[Rogue now has his bag back on. This is why I believe itâs a costuming error it wasnât on indoors just then - the TARDIS and real outdoor areas were obviously filmed in very different times and places, the fact the bag travelled to both is suggestive that it was clearly supposed to be a part of his outfit at this point. BTS: the indoor and outdoor scenes were obviously filmed at different times, (3 weeks of night shoots oof) theyâre not actually walking in and out of the building. But itâs also a deliberate costuming addition after the ship because he wasnât wearing it in the night scenes where heâs holding the Doctor at gunpoint or anything. Tl;dr - no bag before the âWowâ heelturn in the ship, carries bag after.]
-Thereâs not one but multiple of the Chuldur shapeshifters. A âfamilyâ according to Rogue. (Who are playing two characters that are getting married. Oh Doctor-Master mirrors, never change). Something youâd think would be on the bounty hunter note - are you just getting paid for the first one? Can you claim extra if you make multiple runs? These are important questions. Or not.
-âI want to be the Doctor.â âŚHow does she know itâs the Doctor? âUh, the Duchess was introduced to him earlier.â Yeah. The Duchess. Who died. Childur 1 was still the housekeeper when that happened. She knows who the Doctor is.
-Doctor-Master inverting with the âRun.â âIâm the one who usually says that.â Our beloved theme returns to us. Of course maybe itâs just the cosplaying self-inserting whatever could be any baddie by which i mean really only Pantheon or Chulder #6. Bird ship. The Master was literally cosplaying as the Doctor the last time we saw him, like physically in the Doctors clothes. And probably underwear. Does anyone in this essay smoke weed?
-âBreaking spines! Removing tonsils! Live vivisection!â Gallifrey Time Lords mirror previously engaged, re-engage plus Timeless Child. But we uh havenât had them do any of that stuff yet and they already suck people dry (donât. I think itâs meant to be a kind of bolus, if you know your birds of prey) so I donât know why this line is here. Actually maybe I do - now theyâre roleplaying playing scary beasts hunting prey, doesnât mean theyâre actually going to do any of those things. Removing tonsils stands out. âŚWe have a rogue (canât say that now. Odd?) line from Ruby at the beginning about falling over in front of a fit dentist, the Masterâs in the Toymakerâs gold tooth, tonsils feel adjacent, itâs almost certainly just funny, and it is, but if that bangs any bricks together in someoneâs head go to town.
-I think the âbreaking spines! removing tonsils! live vivisectionâ line is there to showcase that they are roleplaying Baddies. Because while murdering, they have done literally nothing like that, and itâs the sort of silly thing a child would say when playing a monster trying to think of the nastiest things a monster could do). âWe still have the big finale wedding to come. And then⌠London. We can play our games on a magnificent scale. Parliament first, then royalty. I can be King. And we can start wars with the French and the Spanish and the Portuguese, and everyone who doesnât look British.â This is their spitballing Season Two. As another point to all being one character and that them being Secret Monsters may be accounted for in the game - Emily is always called Emily whether humanning or in bird form.
-The Doctor and Rogue hide in the carriages. (Matilda style). If youâre building that pre-show Thoschei story, hiding from Time Lords in a TARDIS was probably already there, but if it wasnât, now it is. Or hurr durr hiding in a carriage is funny I donât know.
-âBack to the house. We must advance with the wedding! That should get them out of hiding.â âŚBestie? What does that mean? Why would that get what we were led to believe that you believe are âtwo random interesting people one introduced to you earlier as the Doctorâ out of hiding? They have skedaddled so as not to be eaten by birds, right? Theyâre gone, lassie, why would they come back? âŚUnless she already knew who a character called the Doctor was before they were introduced? And that the Doctorâs M.O. will bring him back? Cus theyâve been watching more than one show.
-We modify the transporter: âI can make this transport gate carry four.â âWhat if thereâs more?â âRightâŚSix. Six maximum.â How convenient. Personally donât feel that worry is realistic for the character to have (while acceptable to write), and that if Rogue was as he was originally portrayed, he would be saying âWorst comes to worst, I could alwaysâŚâ *lifts jacket* *Doctor has brief moment of distracted horniness* âNobody is going to be shooting anybody.â But heâs so perfect pacifist for the Doctor so quickly, I guess he just never would. Of course if heâs on their side, especially if also a Chuldur, heâs not wanting to kill any of them.
-Also feels like a Dungeon Master-whisper in the ear the Doctor just goes with: What if thereâs more birds? *sets it to 4* What if there were more. *immediately sets it to 6 skipping 5 entirely*. (We talked about Missyâs comment of there always being a way out being potentially meaningful re: the Masterâs traps for the Doctor; and counterbalancing the Doctor giving them a way out âcome with me donât be evilâ. This would be a fun thing to do with that. Trying to create and order a good story and satisfying conclusion based on the Doctor and other playersâ choices - pure DMing work at its finest.).
-âAnd I thought I was interesting. A bookish little wallflower risking it all for a secret love⌠But you. You are wild, and brave, and rude, living a life of adventureâ again you donât have to be team Master to enjoy the Gallifrey mirror. The potential in these mirrors for the Master is mmm gorgeous and Iâm so here for it. Going back in time to when One ran away with Susan and slapping him for not proposing because he would have come with you, we could fix the universe, we-
-Question, cus Iâm bored and this has become sort of a general analysis essay: When the birds transformed there were at least some people inside who screamed, you hear them. âŚWhy is the party still here and going on and everyoneâs chilling. Eh maybe Dot And Bubble explained that. Or maybe it was delayed screaming at seeing the gays. Thatâd be a Time Lord mirror. A marriage proposal probably gets you arrested for public indecency.
-The birds speak English, French, and German. Or at least a few words thereof. Multidimensional telly and Iâm surprised itâs got foreign channels? How anglocentric of me. *shakes head*.
-âThis is the endgame, Chuldurâs leave no witnesses ((yes they do they just abandoned bodies everywhere)), theyâll slaughter everyone.â If heâs not a bad guy then why, why the fuck, did he spend about fifteen minutes fucking around and not shouting âIf we donât stop the Chuldur theyâre going to massacre everybody the second they stop having fun! Yeah, Iâm bringing the gun!â like you mention this now??? Of course he mentions it now, heâs building dramatic tension because he is like our favourite dramatic bitch. â
-R:âIâm sorry.â 15:âThey got her.â Ruby cosplaying as a Chuldur cosplaying as Ruby (see you thought my Pantheon cosplaying as the Master cosplaying as Jack was too much - we did double-layering in the episode itself) enters the room. Rogue gives his line but immediately turns away and watches only the Doctor and his reaction (who stares for a moment then gets up and walks away). Autism collective that we all are, this:
is not an expression of someone whose heart is breaking for his new friend. Just so weâre clear. Which is an odd choice for a new love interest - no sympathetic pain, eyes closing, not even a pat on the arm. Heâs just observing what the Doctor does, and then gets up and follows the Doctor out. â
If heâs a good guy (heâs not, bird ship) youâre not selling him well. And if heâs a bad guy turning noble, he doesnât have that part down yet. (Also Rogue said heâd tried looking for Ruby but theyâd locked the doors. They manage to get through the section theyâre in just fine. YMMV. Not enough on its own imo).
-âMadam. Your Grace âŚYour Birdiness. I cannot sanction wedlockeâŚbetween creatures from Hell.â They let the vicar be the one with the banger line, damn. Only one with a spine. Dead obviously but getting a high-five from some angel out there. (Me turning that into a vicarâs reaction to being asked to wed the Doctor and Master, whatever the fuck they are.)
-Speaking of which, here we explicitly see a Chuldur kill a man and copy his outfit but not his face. The Chuldur. Have no difference. Between body. And clothing. *flashback the Not-Things, and Fourteen regenerating* If you werenât sure they were mirrors, you should be now.
-âHow long do they live for?â âChuldur?â âMhm.â *Rogue comes up from behind to stand alongside him where he can see him.* âThey have a lifespan of about six-hundred years.â âGood, good. Thatâs a long time to suffer.â A slight negative in âthis can be validly read as the Masterâ behaviour, because this yields only a tiny expression change of a slight raise of eyebrows, not a wild-eyed smile, and I donât think the Masterâs been able to restrain himself that well since he was Delgado. God what that man could convey with an eyebrow. Also weâve all agreed that the funniest thing is that the plan doesnât even change, he just knows how long their torment will last now and is happy about it, and if you ever need to explain the horror underpinning the Doctor itâs that.
-Now this is a hell of a thing to reveal about yourself to your brand new love interest and companion. That youâre down for some serious torture. Thirteen went well out of her way to be a monster only when they couldnât see her. (Works nicely as a soft threat though. âIf youâre involved with killing mine, I will torture you til you die or the sun doesâ. Good to have boundaries in a relationship.)
-âTaste his inhuman scent.â - A) Nice double-meaning line considering *gestures above*, B) Confirmation she knew earlier the Doctor wasnât human, and so combining that with the belief he would come back if they started the weddingâŚ
-âAnd I am one of a kind.â âHe is quite uniqueâŚâ Hold this in your mind weâll be back to it in just a minute. *
-The birds immediately recognise the transport trap, by name, and that thereâs only one third of it. Which would make a lot of sense if Rogue and the birdsâ ship are the same bird ship so theyâve seen it before. Canât be that theyâve encountered Just A Bounty Hunter Rogue before - he âdidnât knowâ there was more than one, thereâs no visual recognition, and previously it led to an incinerator not something escapable from.
-That we donât see presumably Rogue placing the other traps, not even a glimpse of someone shuffling in the background, is to me extremely interesting. Not only like with the Carla flashback scene, playing with the unseen, but perhaps critically that this certain someone might know where the cameras areâŚ
-Were you going âwhy donât they just take their shoes offâ when they got stuck in the triform? Well makes sense that they didnât now, right?! Cus we know now thereâs no difference to them between their clothing and their skin! âŚAdmittedly RubyâŚhopefully is fine and as humanâŚwell maybe not humanâŚhopefully sheâs whatever she was at the start of the episode. I, uh, maybe would mark that down as a concern though.
-Rubyâs chemistry with Lady roleplaying #5 was rewarded by attempted murder as Emily sought to turn into her. That happens a lot here. Letâs not worry about them as the partner mirror for Doctor-Rogue. Or what just happened with Dhawan!Master and 13. If you consider âPoker Faceâ to be obviously meta-relevant here but âIâm The Bad Guyâ not earlier, question yourself.
-* I told you weâd be back. âShe smells like a Chuldur.â âIdiot! Itâs a false scent from that cheap psychic jewellery!â - The Doctor smells unique but this doesnât mean they arenât palling around with the Master. Weâre specifically given a reason for this to not be an issue and well, I guess that would explain why she gets earring interference when Rogueâs around huh? If theyâre using the same technology. (Same goes for a Chuldur faking being a human etc.)
-Do I believe the Master could perform a firemanâs lift to yeet #5, yes surprisingly, he is actually physically strong, a fencer, rower, and itâs been noted before. (Ainleyâs six pack haunts me still). Dhawan!Master in particular has lugged corpses. Itâs only running he doesnât do/have stamina for. However, do I think he would risk it in-situ just for cool points? Donât know. However, for this free bit of mental torture to work, the final bird has got to be in the enclosure. If itâs not all or nothing, then of course the Doctor would release Ruby. To get the Doctor to have to choose either to kill his companion or the world? He would carry the earth like Atlas. â
And thatâs what he immediately proceeds to do with no hesitation. â
âDoctor, press send. Weâve only got one chance.â âI canât.â âPress. The button.â *The Doctor openly, loudly panicking* âIt will send Ruby!â âNo, Doctor, itâs fine.â âNO! No! No! No!â âIf you donât press send, the Chuldur will escape and Ruby dies anyway.â
The Rogue that you think is real is not doing this. Is not convincing the Doctor to kill his companion. He is taking out his gun, and shooting the struggling birds while they are still stuck to the glue trap. Itâs not a nice thing. But it is the Heart Of Gold thing. But heâs not that. Heâs just The Bad Guy. â
âTheyâll kill us. Then this house. Then London. Then the world. You know that. You absolutely know it.â
He doesnât. The Doctor doesnât know a thing about the Chuldur other than that they are shapeshifters and what heâs seen. How does he even know what London is?? And he wasnât there for the scene where the Chuldur said it themselves.
He canât have logicked that out. There were a few deaths sure, but one housekeeper and a duchess not only isnât âthese are extremely dangerous and fast killing machinesâ-worthy, that leap doesnât make sense.
Itâs not even true in their possibly-just-roleplay Baddie Plan. âAnd weâll start wars with x y and z and everyone who isnât British! Bloodshed, cannons, gunpowder!â, like that is a lonnnnnnng plan. Like I said before this situation is no âwe donât have time to run away and regroupâ thing, theyâre slow killers, and especially with Ruby with battle mode engaged she at least would be fine. But itâs that taking over London bit. Very specifically. He claims he hasnât met them, doesnât know how many there are, heâs not admitting to any prior knowledge of these guys. So the only way he comes up with that line is if he already knew what they wanted out of their campaign in the first place.
They have not yet proven any more dangerous than any human gunman, in fact less, they clearly canât spray bullets, they kill one at a time and so far only people theyâve wanted the appearance of in some way. They have been in rooms crammed with people who survived the encounter. Are you going to have to leg it to the TARDIS to regroup? Yes. Would people die? Sure. But probably not her, sheâs fast and has a battle bot controlling her movements. Multiple posh nobs have died already and we only got a little sad over the housekeeper. Our hearts will survive. The one putting the pressure on the situation is not the Chuldur. Itâs Rogue. There is no time limit. No rush. Itâs waiting for you to press the button on the Laser TCE- I mean control stick. But Rogue is not giving him a second to think. â
*Rogue approaches, step by step.*
âSo can you do it?â
GUYS, your supposed hero is TORTURING the Doctor, who is fucking ugly crying his two broken little hearts out. â
âCan you lose your friend to save the world.â
âI am very sane and staring at you in a normal way the normal amount. Choose to kill your friend yourself, or choose to allow the genocide of every person on this planet including her. I want to see you choose, choose, choose.â
âOk, but what does anyone get out of killing these people? I mean I know theyâre posh nobs and all that, but we found the housekeeper dead. I mean why would anybody do that?â
âRemember how we used to run through those streets as children? The alleys where we'd hide from Borusa as we skipped classes? All gone now. Come on, ask me why I did this.â
*Sobbing Doctor shakes his head, making his decision* [quietly] âNo.â
*Rogue with hitherto unseen tenderness, wiping one of his tear away* âI know.â
No, he doesnât! If he is a random fucking bounty hunter he does not in fact know that. He knows because he already knows the Doctor. From real life or from being a bad guy who just kind of likes to watch TV - which actually I guess does describe the Masterâ
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*Rogue kisses him. Because a tortured ugly crying Doctor is hot to him.* â
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(If I need to explain why the Master snogging the Doctor here, or the fact that he genuinely loves him in his own twisted way, you canât be helped, or maybe were just a Ten viewer when you were 8 so missed stuff, and have watched nothing else in the show and just stumbled back in here - go watch Twelve thereâs Simm!Master in it for you, and Thirteenâs second series onwards).
Live âAbout To Be Ripped Apart By Murderous Birds In Another Dimension If She Even Physically Survives The Tripâ Slug Reaction. Ruby straight up like âwell at least he wonât be aloneâ, babes weâre gonna get you some sertraline, a psychologist, itâs gonna be ok, youâre worthy of life, weâre gonna get you help, we have a therapy circle.
The grin and hoppidy-skip jump Rogue does here when they break for air and heâs holding the Laser TCE/controller is a level of happiness we have yet to see from Rogue. A still cannot do it justice. (40:17 - though if youâre going, may as well watch the whole torturing scene from 39:00). Itâs a bit more than a wee smile.
Then Rogue leaps over and knocks Ruby out of the triangle! Something he could apparently have done at literally any time before or during torturing the Doctor to his breaking point!
Why can he do this when she is molecularly bonded to the floor? We donât know! Itâs not explained! But he clearly knows his fucking device doesnât he?! Why didnât he tell the Doctor at any point that it would be possible to get Ruby out with a thing called a matter exchange? Who knows?! Maybe it slipped his mind til the last moment? The Doctor being the one to take her place would sure have been an answer, but oh well!
âMaybe he didnât want to risk his life for Rubyâs unless he really had to.â - Then thatâs shit hero and love interest behaviour isnât it! But since it says âMatter Exchangeâ Iâm pretty sure he could also have knocked Ruby out of the triangle using that vicar corpse on the floor a few feet away, then neither would have to die! So he must be real sure heâs gonna be ok! â
Heâs so happy and chill. The music is happy too. Rogue jauntily throws the bouquet - ahh look whoâs next to be married *wink*. This is the happiest and funnest and most genuine heâs looked the entire episode. Almost like he got exactly what he wanted! â
âFind me.â *click*
Ruby youâre such a dick, why couldnât you be as happy as him? If youâd trusted the Doctor to find you instead of you die by bird and/or dimensional anomaly before he got there this could have been such a peppy scene the whole time. Itâs almost like Rogue is absolutely certain heâs not going to die doing this. You know I know a character whoâs been transported to a different dimension at the end of his episode before and got out of that just fine! â
Almost like this was the end of a live D&D session he was hosting. Thatâs a wrap everyone, great job. Just imagine what Iâve got in store for us next week. Good thing the car transports all six of us together! Well done for not panicking, screaming, or interrupting what I had going on with the Doctor at the end, and trusting this wasnât going to teleport you into an incinerator. Thanks for playing along, excellent improv as always, Iâll be marking your RP points highly.
And then the Doctor screamed âIâll find you! I promise Iâll find you!â it was very romantic, and then he got out the sonic and started scanning everything for traces, anything, he was still upset and panicky of course, I mean his new love interest had just snogged him and given his own life to save Rubyâs. But Rogue had believed in him to do this impossible impossible task so he would. So he and Ruby ran back to the TARDIS as fast as they could, maybe sheâd picked something up or *gasp* she was the one who configured the trap in the first place so maybe there would be a record of what random dimension she chose! Except she wouldnât let them access it for some reason and she kept growling and the Doctor was crying with anger and-
No wait, none of that happened, sorry, not sure why I thought it did.
Actually the Doctor went to comfort Ruby and her comfort him, sombrely put the bouquet down where Rogue was. (And left the trap technology behind. So got engaged and invented a glue/tarmac trap.) The Doctor remotely sent the Bird Ship to orbit around the moon, âso it can waitâŚas long as it takesâ. In the 19th century. âŚBabe, you know they can see the moon, right? They have telescopes. This is a mavity waiting to happen.
(Genuinely choosing not to think about how we last left Dhawan!Master messing about with the two moons in the 1900âs, Iâmma be real, I donât know what was going on and when there, hope it doesnât fit in actually because Iâm not gonna get it. If heâs the Master he turns up, thatâs all I ever need to know.)
-âCanât we use the TARDIS and go find him?â Ruby asks. Good question. If the TARDIS can determine whether a dimension is uninhabited or not thatâs definitely gonna narrow it down. Maybe she could outright search for him? If she, you know, didnât hate his moral void.
-âThere are as many dimensions as there are atoms in the universe.â *Ruby arm cuddles* âAnyway! It is what it is, so onwards, fine, next.â So is it âas long as it takesâ or are you not even going to try and find him? That and the bouquet really feels like youâre giving him up for dead and just hoping he finds his way back himself some day. Itâs not what you were told to do. You can wear that ring and salute the sky with a smile all you like. He said âFind him.â Bad fiancĂŠ behaviour.
Cus the thing is, here is the âuwu small bean Rogueâ paradox. If this is just a normal guy, heâs not making it back on his own. Heâs dying to the birds. The Doctor isnât looking for him, and Rogue clearly didnât think he could return on his own - he says âFind meâ not âIâll be backâ. So if you believe weâre going to see Rogue againâŚheâs going to not be a normal guy, but be the type who can survive and make his own way back from a wrong dimension surrounded by free murderous birds. *piano rendition of The Cat Came Back starts playing* â
But luckily heâs not normal. Heâs a man/bird with so much forethought he knew he wasnât going to be coming back to his bird ship and took whatever it was that can save him from a teleport trap from the spaceship with him in that bag. Always have a getaway plan. Thatâs Masterful thinking. Unless you just think he wanted his wallet and keys on him â
(Point against Pantheon though - pretty sure being able to move reality around doesnât require props. But then D&D. Maybe he just likes props.)
-âDoctor, you donât have to be like this.â âI have to be like this because this is what Iâm like.â And in our story about roleplaying, shouting out our longtime theme of the most important roleplaying of all, that we follow a character whoâd rather be called Lulubelle playing The Doctor���. Doctor Who is a show.
-The fires whole and reflected and internal everywhere, like our Gallifrey mirror is on fire.
-Final additional literal-meta that may be of interest: the costume designer said Ncutiâs outfit is designed as a nod to Three - the original Thoschei pairing origin. We canonise Shalka!Doctor - famously and frankly exclusively known as âthat animated one who made a robot boyfriend Master to be his Companionâ, with lines in the episode Cornell said was indeed intended to suggest a relationship there and would have continued had that pilot been picked up. Relevant or not weâll see.
And to all those who read that and yet still think that I am just very cynical and mean, and he really does have a single heart of gold, heâs just got flat affect and is socially awkward and autistic maybe and-
His ship IS A FUCKING BIRD. OWL HOOTS.
đ You did it! You read the full analysis! Great job! You passed Media Overanalysis, Rogue Edition. I told you it was a 10K. Look at how much you just read that had already been effectively covered in the first minute with just one thing.
âIâm The Bad Guy. Duh.â
(âI am now convinced, but do you have a blessedly far shorter essay about why a Chuldur/Pantheon The Rogue perfectly cosplaying the Master cosplaying Jack would be the way to go?â Why yes I do, strawman.)
Assorted later Additions:
Pantheon!Rogue: Why the bird ship?
Maybe thatâs why the shipâs so fucky actually, DMâs love their props, this is about playing D&D In The Real World, so maybe he got one originally, short hop standard Asteroid Hopper. but now theyâve just kept (perhaps Pantheon-magically) editing it over time as the campaign and rule of cool needed. Appearance, better space travel, time travel etc. âIt should look like a bird!â ââŚYeah! It should look like a bird! Great idea Emily, weâll work that in!â Of course if heâs a Chuldur this is justâŚtheir ship. Maybe classicly upgraded.
What might Rogueâs original plan for the Chuldurâs live D&D Session supposed to have been:
We know they were going to have a big wedding, but maybe that theyâre also Baddies going to take over the world muhahaha! Cus they went into that monster-playing real quick and also they said that the panicking and screaming is their favourite bit - so there must have been a plan to include that after the wedding part of the game! They thought the wedding would lure The Doctor out so there must have been nefariousness in it or else why would The Doctor be drawn out? They were playing Baddies! So, thinking like what our lead bird would want for a moment, if you were to DM that, maybe heâs both playing the bounty hunter sent to catch them âŚBut maybe also was going to do an âI Object!â scene too. Their faces in that scene, theyâre so excited. Letâs say Rogue doesnât know the Doctor was coming in advance. Heâs already got âIâm The Bad Guyâ playing if this wasnât a live magical edit on seeing him. Oh, maybe thatâs why he chose to look like Mr Darcy. Maybe he was going to woo one of them - a good reason to already have the ring. Cus a big wedding canât go right, thatâs not drama, thatâs boring. We know heâs probably cloaked - not only do they not recognise him but we have Rubyâs earring interference pointed directly at him (same tech frequency problems?) and even mention the psychic jewelleryâs ability to mask a scent with a false one. So he was an NPC just meant to turn up and add some of their beloved drama. So heâd woo a Chuldur, heâll object and then he would reveal himself as a bounty hunter with his Big Glowy Gun and trap! It was a dastardly trick! You knew he was a Rogue and a cad all along, you just let yourself fall for his deceit! *teleports to ship rather than incinerator* BRO. Even the birdâs D&D plot would naturally be the âI was tricking you and am actually your enemyâ twist!
Post-Empire, The case for the Chuldur Phoenix: Rogue being (unbeknownst to himself) the Master cosplaying a Chuldur cosplaying the Master.
#meta#mine#rogue#pantheon rogue#cosplaying til death do we part#longpost#i mean it#you wonât open it twice#this is a full episode breakdown barring what i missed or forgot#your rebuttal papers on why heâs not a bad guy will only be accepted with:#-a paragraph on âIâm A Bad Guyâ and your position on its relevance#-full explanation for his bird ship and d&d equipment in need of a group#and why it does not relate to the roleplaying bird group#or rogue himself roleplaying#-an alternative and whole-episode spanning reasoning#of what the ârealâ link between both halves of the plot are#if it is not âboth these groups are cosplayingâ#âin pursuit of a weddingâ#-and a short creative writing piece where you detail#rogueâs thoughts during the entire torture scene from firemanâs lift to *click*#-and most importantly the esquivalienced misspelled codeword#in the âiâm the bad guyâ lyric video
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Are you really regretting it? I just think so many people are blessing us yet we are deceiving them. I feel bad. We are just putting up a show. Don't be so serious.
Follow Your Heart (2024) 1.06
#follow your heart#é˘ĺżčŽ°#cdramaedit#userdramas#cdrama#asiandramanet#cdramasource#perioddramaedit#dailyasiandramas#song yi#luo yunxi#tuserjade#samblr#lextag#mymymy#ep 6#ROMANTICISMMMMMM#its only in the single digit eps so you knowwww this is gonna be a mess lololol#love a fake wedding love a fake couple that acts like a real couple they just cant see it yet lololol#the fact that he has facial blindness just adds a lil extra sweetness to this scene#he doesnt really know what she looks like but he can feel? the beauty or idk how to say ittt but i lovee the idea of it#this whole thing was just yesssssssssssss#them semi arguing during the ceremony and them under the sheet thing was deliciousnessssss#they are both so pretty and i cant wait for the real reallll#i didnt expect the truth of it all would come so soon but it did and it was swift :(
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Varadha touching his nose ring while looking at Deva, remembering the time when Deva himself that put it there for him with his own blood in his hand, remembering the fact that it was Deva who protected and kept his "little honor" intact.
#salaar#varadeva#prithviraj sukumaran#varadha rajamannar#devaratha raisaar#what deva didn't know was the fact that putting a nose ring on a mannar yourself in front of many people as their witness#was considered as wedding ritual#that's why Varadha was holding his breath because there's also blood in deva's hand to seal the oath#lol in Varadha's heart he considered himself a married man#but Deva didn't know that#no one told him#this is obviously made up custom I think in my head lmao#funny scenario in my head is that Varadha was staring so intensely at Deva wondering if he should stop him or not#contemplating in his head if he wanted to be married at such a young age#but in the other hand he didn't want to embarrass Deva in front of many people because he was determined to put the nose ring himself#every mannar knows that Deva was Varadha's husband as well#the only one who's left in the dark was Deva perhaps if he told his mother about the detail his mother might tell him#he clearly told the event after his mother asked him how did he got the electric scars#but of course between Deva and Varadha both never mentioned the part where Deva put the ring on#that's why the first thing that he did when he met deva was to run into his embrace#he was like I didn't have to feel like a widower anymore my husband is here after 25 years alive and healthy#then he also didn't hesitate to sleep on Deva's lap#he is his husband after all#who's going to tell Deva that he's a married man#thinking about older Varadha trying his best to give a hint for Deva to consummate their marriage#they have waited long enough#25 years he has been waiting for him and he only has a little patience left especially if his Deva has grown into such a fine strong man#Deva of course never shy away from Varadhaâs touch#but he also never do it more than that only a cuddle and a kiss on his neck one time and never more was he not into varadha the same way#just imagine the misunderstanding the chaos the pining and just how confused they both feel like bad communication at its finest
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đđđ đđđđđđđđđ
sketches & timelapse under the cut!
#my art#dnd#ocs#siblings siblings siblings siblings siblings#these characters names are puns on danse macabre and grim fandango#so totentanz is the only other equivalent of the same idea that im aware of. so now a totentanz is what its called when theyre together :)#hey this is one of maybe like 2 or 3 times ive drawn gogo NOT having a crisis of some kind.#do you guys remember the wedding dressing room mirror piece. this has the opposite energy of that#i should compile all the pics they appear in together at some point they matter so much to me and i want to see the journey
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