#rany talks about other things

[amxrany]

From the River to the Sea: Palestine Will Be Free

I know I'm not as active as I used to be in the past, but I want to use my voice to tell people to stand with Palestine. What is currently happening to them is the denial of human rights and a genocide still going on which is done by Israel. Lives have been lost and people still refuse to open their eyes that this problem, can lead to so many more.

What I am simply asking of you is to boost the voices of the victims, and treat them as humans not a statistic. If you cannot donate money to charities, there are still plenty of ways that we can help them.

Here are some of them:

Boycott companies who support Israel, such as not buying from them (the post included explains why trying to boycott all companies at once is not possible but if we focus on some then there will be more of a significant impact)

2. Repost anything that will help strengthen the voices of Palestinian people

3. When sharing news, make sure to check your sources to prevent the spread of misinformation and disinformation, because it will spread fast

4. DO NOT TREAT THIS AS A TREND, DO NOT BE A PERFORMATIVE ACTIVIST (like clogging up the tag #freepalestine with things not related to the situation), what Palestine needs is ongoing support from people who truly care; not support that will just last for a couple of hours from people who are looking for clout

5. DO NOT GUILT TRIP PEOPLE INTO SUPPORTING PALESTINE, it will just scare them and cause them to blindly support sources that possibly spread misinformation

6. You can also reblog/retweet the art made by artists all around the world who show their support for Palestine, as it expresses their sorrow and empathy about the situation

From our own little ways, what we are doing is strengthening their voices through various means such as the internet, I will also provide a link to websites/organizations where you can help aid Palestine; if you can do it, then go do it.

But I want to end this post the same way I started it:

From the River to the Sea: Palestine Will Be Free

[katoska]

If Conrad hadn't been lying in Lucky Day and had just been mentally unstable, how do you explain his treatment of Ruby during his "reveal"? How do you explain the "ha, gotcha" at UNIT? Conrad and his friends sure acted like it had all been a big prank to use Ruby to get at UNIT, and I doubt they are all insane, so what was that? Though, tbh, I don't really understand what the rubbersuits were supposed to prove, anyway. UNIT very obviously did not fake these aliens.

I'll agree that Conrad seems a bit erratic, but that could just be bad writing because DW likes dramatic villains. It doesn't follow that he's just misguided.

Thank you for your ask. I'm gonna assume you've caught up with my previous posts about Conrad being a real conspiracy nutter, not a grifter (I ought to tag those). Not sure if this is going to make sense if you haven't.

I actually had some thoughts about that scene because the rubber suits tripped me up, too. I think I found an interpretation that works, but let's first get to Ruby:

tldr: The rubber suits were meant to cause doubt about UNIT/aliens in Ruby because Ruby seemed brainwashed, and then when it became clear that Ruby had a direct line to Kate and was on first-name basis with her, Conrad flipped.

I think Conrad's sudden cruelty to Ruby actually makes more sense under the reading that he genuinely believed UNIT was an evil organisation who faked aliens to scare people so the people in power remain in power, than if you believe that he was a grifter who faked a weeks-long relationship for his podcast, got his friends in on that plan, sort of admitted this live on camera and then was mean to his fake girlfriend still live on cam, while his ThinkTank friends are in the background wearing rubber suits.

As long as you don't believe that plan had really been about exposing UNIT to the world, that is.

Grifter or genuine conspiracy theorist, this plan wouldn't make him - or Think Tank - look good, has some massive holes, and is too morally shitty even as ends-justifying-means for me to believe that he'd get a whole friend group in on it. Which is why I think that that - it being a big, planned stunt - was a spontaneous lie to save face after a prank went wrong. It worked as accidental PR because Kate made the huge mistake of arresting them, and that arrest got backlash and got more people thinking that aliens could be faked, but I don't think it was planned that way, because the plan, frankly, would be dumb. If they thought UNIT was faking aliens bc aliens aren't real, they'd have assumed UNIT wouldn't show up for other people's fake aliens. If they thought UNIT was legit - which assumes that whole friend group is grifters - they all chose to mess with the Men in Black for a stunt with uncertain payoff and very real risk of getting hurt, so that'd be a terrible grift.

What I think happened is, Conrad and his friends did play that prank on Ruby, but it was to disprove aliens to Ruby by showing her how easy it is to convincingly fake those. Same as when Harry Houdini went around showing people the mechanics of doing a "seance", except Houdini afaik didn't pretend to be a medium and went "sike! Do you see now how fake this is?" to vulnerable people who believed they were going to talk to their dead spouse, cause that would be a bit fucked up.

I assume Conrad was supposed to play innocent to the end since the goal was to make Ruby doubt in aliens/UNIT without breaking up the relationship. Which, again, still fucked up, esp the "I can be the Doctor for you" part (which again does not fit the Big Planned Stunt narrative), but what can you do to deprogram someone if you can't trust The System? Fuck knows what "the Doctor" gave her, or what normal doctors would do if she went in for therapy now that most people seem to believe UNIT's narrative.

Cause, look, going by conspiracist!Conrad's POV, Ruby would've seemed extremely brainwashed. Conrad came into contact with a substance, next thing he sees a monster, then sees Ruby complaining about getting the same goo on her and hears her talking about monsters (and having visited the Beatles). He sees "the Doctor" give her some other substance to keep the monster away. Conrad spent alot of time researching UNIT, going as far back as the Yetis at least (1967, different "Doctor", different "friends" of the Doctor; we know some of his friends are never seen again), and then weeks listening to Ruby about her Season 1 adventures, about Goblins and Space Babies and getting trapped in a bass and about Gods, and how the Doctor is wonderful but she feels traumatised by her experiences, and he nods along while looking disturbed, because she sounds delusional. Like, even by Doctor Who standards, Ruby's adventures were bonkers. Conrad then literally stops his friend from interrogating Ruby about UNIT because Ruby was so upset in that scene, which doesn't fit at all with the mean dickhead - whether grifter or deeply unethical "journalist" - he later seemed to be.

The dickhead only came out after it became clear to him that poor, apparently brainwashed Ruby had a direct line to UNIT, could get them to ride in guns blazing, and was on a first name basis with Kate Stuart. This, to a paranoid alien-disbeliever, would not have looked good. It would have looked like she'd been In On It with UNIT all along, and had been dating and lying to the leader of anti-UNIT ThinkTank to throw him off their scent. Was Conrad or ThinkTank actually so important that UNIT would try to honey trap them? Ofc not, but try telling a conspiracy theorist that. I mean, a part of him knows that he's not important enough for them to take notice ("You don't even remember me, do you?"), but little logical inconsistencies like that would get in the way of his delusions of grandeur. So I think his evil monologue was basically a "Aha, you think you were tricking me by lying to me, pretending to like me to spy on me, but I was actually tricking you to spy on you! I never liked you anyway!" But I think him telling his friend in the pub to leave Ruby alone shows that he had cared about her, I don't see another explanation for that scene, cause it fits neither the "fake dating as unethical journalism for a good cause" nor "lying grifter" theories. It looks like he saw Ruby's pain as genuine - albeit misinformed - and didn't want to add to it.

If we go with the grifter interpretation, otoh, I'm supposed to believe he faked a weeks-long relationship (even the early clumsiness and the awkward moment after "if you have time for a quick one"??? Masterful manipulation, that one /s) for more subs and that he assumed that admitting on cam to faking the relationship wouldn't lose him fans. I'm supposed to ignore that he didn't take a medicine that he allegedly believed would work as advertised (anti-vaxx grifters still get their shots), and that he stormed UNIT HQ by himself even though grifters wouldn't do that. I'd have to take the obviously forced confession as true, and hand-wave multiple signs that the guy is not quite right in the head ("Did I imagine that?" re: being in the Tardis). Oh, also, I'm supposed to side with his abusive Mum and take her view that her son keeps making shit up as proof that he was always a pathological liar, even though we saw that little Conrad was being truthful and we saw him bring proof because he was clearly used to not being believed. Which is not surprising, because he was a kid, growing up in the Whoniverse, before aliens were acknowledged to exist.

And don't even get me started on what else people see in him based on the "grifter" interpretation. (Well, tbf, Wish World is repressive and conservative, but that's bc it's meant to invoke doubt in the Doctor specifically, so he gets shoved in the closet and has a boring office job and has to listen as Conrad taunts him on his way to work that UNIT employee Jo Grant the Doctor's companions leave him and his adventures behind to get married and have babies. And yet, when the Doctor himself said "you'd be saving [Kate by marrying] her", it did not cause a slip for him, cause yeah, he does consider a domestic life safer, at least compared to some jobs).

[natequarter]

totally silly pitch for a doctor who series:

the dalek toaster: the doctor discovers the daleks are manufacturing ordinary household items when he stumbles upon a dalek toaster in the house of his new companion

a taxing job: having put the dalek toasters behind them after investigations come to a dead end, the doctor and companion must stop an alien scheme to take over britain via tax fraud

it's behind you: some sort of fucked up psychological horror episode which makes sure you will never look at curtains the same way again

marvin (or, the second to last of the time lords): the doctor stumbles upon an accountant with a mysterious fob watch. the companion stumbles upon a plot to invade scotland (to mix things up). the two dovetail when it becomes clear that the guileless "marvin" is somehow at the centre of the scheme. things turn violent when marvin opens the fob watch, revealing that he is in fact narvin and the doctor is exactly as annoying as he's always been

god save the king: the doctor and companion go back to 1553 (quite by accident) to visit... well, they were going for elizabeth i, but hit edward vi instead. the doctor is trapped helping the dying king, whilst the companion must solve the problem of killer robots in tudor london themself

the dalek of the rani: the finale. the doctor discovers that the dalek scheme from the first episode is due to the rani genetically engineering daleks to be capitalists (by accident. she was actually just trying to make them more hateful). when it's over the doctor and the rani quietly agree they'll never talk about this or each other again

[BONUS MINISODE] braxolotl: the doctor's brother has been turned into an animal. can the doctor turn him back before it's too late?

[zigazone]

Here are the Ring of Belief Pixie Hollow Website descriptions for all the movie fairies (I sadly don’t have tink 😢) Found these on a post on Facebook and they were in Spanish so I had to translate them all.

Anyways Enjoy!

Queen Clarion:

My talent is...

I am the Queen of Pixie Hollow

My friends say that...

• I am loving, majestic, and regal

• I am very wise and kind

• I am an old friend of Fairy Mary

A little about me...

"I am majestic and timeless, but I have a wise and ancient soul. I am sensitive to all matters in Pixie Hollow, and I notice when things go wrong. I see great potential in Tinker Bell and encourage her in everything she does."

My best friends are...

Fairy Mary

My nickname is...

Queen Ree

My favorite flowers are...

Orchids and calla lilies

My favorite color is...

Gold

My favorite possession is...

My locket

My favorite place is...

My chambers in the Pixie Dust Tree

My favorite thing to do most is...

Write on my scrolls

My favorite food is...

Pixie Hollow Cake, chocolate and fig cake

I like...

A good sense of humor. Peace and prosperity.

I dislike...

Fairies who don't believe in themselves or each other.

Shhh... My greatest fear is...

The unknown

Fairy Mary:

My talent is...

I am the teacher of all the Fairies.

My friends say that...

• I am thorough and disciplined

• I am an old friend of Queen Clarion

• A boisterous teacher of the young fairies

Queen Clarion says...

“Fairy Mary is constantly hovering around like a plump hummingbird, making sure everything in Pixie Hollow is under control. She often tells me her problems because I am her best friend and mentor. Her commitment to discipline reflects her interest in caring for all the fairies.”

My best friend is...

Queen Clarion

My favorite flower is...

Yellow jasmine

My favorite color is...

Violet

My favorite belonging is...

My blue feather pen

My favorite place is...

The conservatory

My favorite game is...

The pop quiz

My favorite food is...

Cake (all sweets)

I like...

Discipline

I don't like...

Fairies who don't listen

Shhh... My biggest fear is...

Disappointing the Queen

Silvermist:

My talent is...

I'm a Fairy with a talent for water - I can control, move, and manipulate water.

My friends say...

• I'm friendly, optimistic, and trustworthy

• I like to calm my friends down and resolve disputes

• I'm good at talking to Tinker Bell

Fairy Mary says...

"Silvermist always looks on the bright side. She's a peacemaker and acts as a calming influence between Tinker Bell and Iridessa. When Tinker Bell is in trouble, Silvermist always helps her."

My best friend is...

Iridessa, Rani

My favorite flower is...

Lotus

My favorite color is...

Ultramarine

My favorite possession is...

The small, magical fountain in my room

My favorite place is...

Floating ponds

My favorite game is...

Sliding down my water slide

My favorite food is...

Cucumber soup

I like...

Bathing, watching the water run in the stream

I don't like...

Screaming

Shhh... My biggest fear is...

Disturbing others

Iridessa:

My talent is...

I'm a Fairy with a talent for light - I shape, bend, and create illumination.

My friends say that...

• I'm bright, intelligent, and disciplined

• I tend to think Tink is clumsy and absent-minded

• I'm sometimes too nervous

Fairy Mary says...

"Iridessa is the star student in my class. Sometimes she has a hard time trusting Tinker Bell - after all, she studies hard and Tink just does silly things! But when it comes down to it, she's always willing to help her classmate."

My best friends are...

Silvermist, Fira

My favorite flower is...

The Sunflower and the Starflower

My favorite color is...

Lemon yellow

My favorite belonging is...

My beautiful sparkling crystal

My favorite place is...

Morning Glow Meadow

My favorite game is...

The "Iridessa" - a fabulous light show.

My favorite food is...

Meringue

I like...

Knowing the correct answer.

I don't like...

Making mistakes, shadows

Shhh... My biggest fear is...

The dark

Rosetta:

My talent is...

I'm a Fairy with a talent for the garden - I take care of all the flora and fauna.

My friends say...

• I love beauty and drama

• I'm very generous

• I'm likely to bring beauty into my friends' lives

Fairy Mary says...

"Rosetta can be a beauty-obsessed diva. While she may seem a little superficial at first, she is generous and loves bringing beauty into the lives of others."

My best friends are...

Fawn, Lily

My favorite flower is...

The wild rose

My favorite color is...

Pink

My favorite possession is...

My berry juice lipstick

My favorite place is...

Buttercup Canyon

My favorite game is...

Doing makeup and making pretty dresses with flowers

My favorite food is...

Caramel apples

I like...

Looking good and planting beautiful flowers

I don't like...

Getting dirty and Fawn making fun of me

Shhh... My biggest fear is...

Not being able to take a bath anymore

Fawn:

My talent is...

I'm a Fairy with a talent for animals - I understand and speak to all creatures, big and small.

My friends say...

• I'm rough and tumble

• I'm energetic and brave

• All my animal friends adore me

Fairy Mary says...

"Fawn is the jokester of the group. She does everything at top speed, and her friends can barely keep up! But she's also loving in her own way, and all her animal friends adore her."

My best friends are...

Rosetta, Beck

My favorite flower is...

Snapdragon

My favorite color is...

Earth tones

My favorite belonging is...

My pinecone**

My favorite place is...

Flutterby Forest***

My favorite game is...

Playing tricks on Rosetta

My favorite food is...

Clover salad

I like...

Playing with animals, doing tricks for fairies, playing games of any kind!

I don't like...

Having to sit quietly

Shhh... My biggest fear is...

Hurting any animal

The Tinker Bell Movie

Join Peter Pan and his inseparable friend Tinker Bell as they go beyond "the second star to the right and straight ahead until the morning" on magical adventures in Neverland.

Re-explore the island, Peter Pan's secret hideout; meet the unruly Lost Boys and defend yourself with sword and cape in battles against the ineffable Captain Hook and his band of pirates.

Relive these fantastic adventures in a 2-Disc Peter Pan Special Edition and be amazed by the Super Magical DVD Edition of Peter Pan: Return to Neverland.*

Discover, in these stories, the power of hope and faith, and remember that... "believing is only the beginning."

The Story of Pixie Hollow

Pixie Hollow wasn't always the small plot of land in the Neverland Forest. Once upon a time, it was a great kingdom encompassing forests, canyons, mountains, and lakes. At that time, it was a place separate from Neverland. To get there, you had to fly through a secret portal hidden behind a waterfall.

At that time, fairies lived in flowers, mushrooms, trees, and other places in the Hollow. There was no Treehouse. Enchanted dust wafted from this wonderful tree, giving the fairies the magic they needed to travel to the children's world and inspire them.

Me notes:

*I think this was their version of the return to never land pixie powered dvd that released in 2007

**it says “Mi Piña” in Spanish which is pinecone but it could also be Pineapple. Fawn could just have a giant pineapple.

***translates to Flutterwood basically but I’m pretty sure it’s just Spanish Flutterby woods lol

[bnxxshthealien]

y'all Mrs Flood is so obviously Susan at this point.

There are so many parallels between her and Susan Triad, the character we were supposed to think was Susan Foreman. That's who they baited us with. The Doctor thought Triad was his family, when his real granddaughter was living next door to Ruby the whole time. It was the OTHER woman who keeps appearing in every episode!

It was obvious that Mrs Flood was Susan even in Season 1. The Doctor explains regeneration to Ruby, saying Time Lords can "hide themselves away". He is SPECIFICALLY talking about why SUSAN might have changed her face. And in the same episode, Mrs Flood says "I'm always hiding myself away". DIVAS LISTEN ITS SO OBVIOUS

"but isn't mrs flood evil" it's called misdirection. And I would say that Susan has the right to be a little bit evil sometimes but then again freeing a podcaster might be crossing the line

Then again. Maybe this whole thing is just more misdirection. Mrs Flood is the Rani. Susan will be the next mysteriously appearing old white woman. Please. Just one more mysterious woman I swear it'll be her next time please Russel T Davies bring back Susan please

[crowleysgirl56]

Doctor Who Reaction and Recap time!

Episode 6: The Interstellar Song Contest.

OH. MY. SOMEONE. So anyone who follows me has probably already seen my multiple posts concerning certain reveals of this episode and let’s just say, it has certainly shook the Doctor Who community.

So, let’s hop straight into The Interstellar Song Contest.

As always, spoilers sweetie, to follow under the cut.

Ok, once again I’m not wholey satisfied with this episode, and most of that comes from the structure of the Doctor’s reaction to the Hellions and how these radicalised extremists have been portrayed. But I’ll get to that. First let’s stick with the positives.

- let’s talk about Graham Norton. I’m so glad he finally turned up on Doctor Who, it was about time! I laughed so hard. His appearance was perfect. If I want anyone to describe the destruction of Earth I hope it’s Graham Norton. We need a bit of flare and flamboyance with our doomed narrative.

- the pomp and pageantry of what is effectively Eurovision was such a great setting. Rylan turning up, the nod to his teeth, all amazing.

- I do love that Belinda was able to get into the spirit and have a little fun and her interactions with the Doctor is something we’ve badly needed for this season.

- Gary and Mike were hilarious and adorable. They are definitely all of us. Yes, we’ll do anything for you Doctor, and we’re not going to be discreet or chill about it.

- what a gorgeous performance by Miriam-Teak Lee. And I’m not just talking about her singing (although the performance in the show was pretty great too). Just such a great character.

- this episode was written by the great Juno Dawson. I’ve just finished reading the first book in the Her Majesty’s Royal Coven series and I’m obsessed, so I was expecting great things from this episode. It did not disappoint, though I will admit there are points of contention which I’ll discuss shortly.

- Susan finally turning back up! She’s been hinted at for years! What does this mean?! Will we see her again? Does her asking The Doctor to find her have anything to do with past characters who have said the same thing? (Rogue for example) And will she finally get her other shoe back?!

- and finally THE RANI! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! Years. YEARS! We’ve been saying for years “It’s The Rani” and for years we’ve been wrong, it’s never the Rani, and now we can finally definitely say “It’s the Rani!” Ok, so Mrs Flood, she’s been living next door to the Doctor’s companions for years. She’s been flittering around the universe doing mischief for years. What’s going on with that? I really hope the two part finale explains this otherwise I’m going to be very disappointed. But man, what a reveal, it was so exciting to see her FINALLY return!

- love the touch about being THE Rani and Mrs Flood is merely A Rani. Gives everyone that distinguishing fact that David Tennant is merely A Doctor now, and no longer THE Doctor.

- The bi-generation was a surprise. I’ve taken this to mean now all the Timelords will bi-generate from now on (oh holy crap, I can’t wait for The Master to show up again. How great would that be!)

- and finally the Tardis doors blowing off its hinges at the end of the episode! What a cliffhanger! So hyped for next week’s episode now!

Ok. So let’s get into the not so great parts.

- the mavity bit is getting old. I’m sorry it was silly and fun for a while, now it’s just become stale and irritating. Can we stop with that please.

- I don’t quite understand how everyone got thrown up into space but still survived. I know there was some quick explanation for it, but I didn’t quite follow.

- how was The Doctor able to just revive himself, even if Susan was somehow involved. I get the feeling that won’t be explained and that was just annoying.

- how was everyone saved so easily and yet Mrs Flood had to regenerate? Like, it’s super great she did, but it felt really unearned.

- nitpick about the destruction of Gallifrey. The Doctor (and everyone) always assumed it was destroyed in a single moment, but the 50th anniversary special proved that’s not what happened. Gallifrey was saved, and suspended in a single moment in time. Then it came back at the end of Capaldi’s season with Clara. Then The Master destroyed it during Whittaker’s era. And we didn’t know how he did it (pre-emptive angry fist shake at Chibnall), because it never fully got explained. Maybe it was a single moment? But The Doctor didn’t find out how. It would be great for story to be explored more. Anyway, that’s my little nitpick there.

- another small nitpick, in The Well no one knows about or has heard of Earth. They don’t know who humans are. It’s like they never existed. And yet in this episode Graham Norton tells us about the destruction of Earth, and the interstellar song contest was essentially one of the only things that survived the Earth (kind of weird in itself but I’ll give it a pass). So is The Well set so much further into the future of this episode so that traces of human history disappears? Or just an oversight?

- ok, lastly, the story involving The Hellions and how The Doctor reacts to what Kid is doing. I get the feeling that this story was probably inspired by certain current atrocities and active conflicts involving a larger power and a scapegoated nation (we all know which ones). The Corporation could have very easily been set up as a Big Bad (I actually got confused and thought they were Villanguard. Frankly, they could be the same entity), a giant corporation plundering a planets’ resources for financial gain and then casting the inhabitants to be murderous violent criminals through the use of targeted propaganda is some high level evil shit. Which is why I’m slightly horrified that The Doctor would not truly understand the horror of his actions against Kid (I mean yes, he definitely stood back and realised what he was doing, but only for the sake of Belinda’s reaction. He doesn’t take into account what it was about Kid that made him this way in the first place), and at least be sympathetic to the reasons behind why Kid has become radicalised. Ok, threatening to murder 3 trillion people even with your incredibly sad and traumatic background is no excuse and still really fucking horrific. But there is nuance to why he’s doing what he’s doing. He’s not just a cartoon evil villain bad guy (like Conrad from Lucky Day, and you can read my comments about why his characterisation isn’t great here). Seeing The Doctor go full on Oncoming Storm mode is always great to see, but the fact that he didn’t stop to think “why” this has happened at all seems wildly out of character. And to just tie it back to the destruction of Gallifrey, seems odd, especially when we now know it wasn’t The Doctor who was responsible. Was he really just comparing Kid to The Master? A person The Doctor has an extremely complicated relationship with? Coming back to The Corporation, wouldn’t it have made more sense for The Doctor to utilise the broadcast of the contest to tell those 3 trillion people just exactly what The Corporation did and what they’re still doing? Actually make some proper change? Sure, Cora singing in the end bookends the episode about it being a song contest, and it gives her the power and the voice to tell her own story. But did the song actually do anything in the end? Did it actually make a difference? Tell people what was going on? What really happened to her planet? The idea that The Doctor then still shows no sympathy towards Kid, that final glance seemingly setting up some kind future conflict or continued cycle of revenge just seemed unnecessary. And the implication that The Doctor appears to therefore be on the side of capitalism (Kerblam anyone), has once again left a bad taste in my mouth.

Sigh.

Whether the positives of this episode outweighs the negatives I don’t know. I was still very pleased with most of it. But I feel like the overarching story should have been resolved a bit more in keeping with what we know about the characters.

I’m giving this one 3 and a half stars out of 5. Cannot wait for the two part finale!

[chaoticmentalitystrawberry]

I don’t usually make Tumblr posts but I have the wildest theory for the most recent Doctor Who episodes.

I think The Rani was meant to be the Master but somewhere between Season 1 and Season 2 it got changed.

And I have a lot to say about it.

Season 1 hints

Season 1 of the New Who was filled with reference to The Master. Off the top of my head, Maestro playing his theme; attacking with drums; calling the one from 72 yards the worst prime minister the UK's ever had, the Skye Boat song and the Missy quote from Boom.

RTD has a history of doing this, in 10’s second season he hinted at Saxon so many times, plastering his poster everywhere and various calls to the prime minister or Mr. Saxon.

However the second season has had not a single reference to them, not even in passing, almost like They're intentionally avoiding anything that could be constituted as a Master reference.

Mischaracterisation

The Rani hates Galifrey. From Old Who, she has hated them since she got exiled for her experiments. And what's another thing, she isn’t running a single experiment and she isn’t regarding The Doctor with contempt as she usually does. She’s treating him like Missy does in fact, flirting with him, dancing with him. “We were lovers, we used to dance.”

The Master is the flirt with The Doctor type. From Missy kissing him, to the Spy master calling her dear. Even The Saxon Master was flirting with him. And don'ts get me started on the older Masters, from Delgado calling him “My Dear Doctor” repeatedly.

Disguise

Disguising herself in order to follow The Doctor around the universe is pulled straight from The Master’s book. From Mr Saxon, to O, to Missy pretending to be a robot, the disguises are a classic Master plot. The Rani has disguised herself once in her history for information from The Doctor.

The plot

The plot of releasing Omega to create a new Gallifrey is a very Master plan. The Rani has expressed her hate for Time Lords every since she was expelled from Galifrey for her experiments. She is a scientist that wants to run her experiments.

Where's a quote that says “Unlike the power-hungry villain archetype of the Master, the Rani was a ruthless evil scientist who wasn’t interested in ruling the universe as much as she wanted to understand it, no matter the cost.” I don’t see how any of this Omega plot is in understanding the universe.

Where's a quote that says “Unlike the power-hungry villain archetype of the Master, the Rani was a ruthless evil scientist who wasn’t interested in ruling the universe as much as she wanted to understand it, no matter the cost.” I don’t see how any of this is in understanding the universe.

On the other hand The Master continuously returns to it to try and rule it. Also taking over the entire Earth and hypnotising the entire population is also a very Master plot compared to the Rani. He literally hypnotised most of the UK as Mr Saxon whereas there’s no hypnotised in the Randi's past.

RTD and other erasures

Everyone talks about Robot Revolution being the poor man’s cyberman plot. But with this realisation, I believe it was meant to be a cyberman episode that was changed for some reason. It has the same hallmarks of a cyberman episode, with the resistance, with turning a human into part robot.

RTD recently quoted The Master “Peoples of the universe: Please attend carefully.”. And he was the first writer to bring the Master back in the newer seasons with the Saxon Master. I think he was going for another return and had to change it but kept the whole storyline the same and just replaced the Master with the Rani.

I don't know why this has happened, whether it was some other influence or not. But it doesn’t matter. This storyline was written for The Master and they were replaced by the Rani.

Now where does this leave us? In a dire place. I don't hate the Rani returning or any older villains returning and I don't hate the New Who. But what we have here is a plot written for one villain that was given to another. That has now introduced this old villain with the characterisation of another. This is the new generation of Who, some people’s first iteration of the show. And they are messing up long established characters for some reason. I don't know about anyone else but I don't feel good about this.

If you have anymore to add to this theory, tell me more.

(And thank you to my partner Vic who had to listen to all of this conspiracy theory through voice memos of me rambling)

[rapha-reads]

Alrighty, allons-y! Finally found the time to sit down and watch Lux, and what an episode! I'm more and more convinced that RTD is preparing us a really meta story arc, as in, we're definitely going to come out of the screen at some point, and Lux is just an appetizer, to throw us some crumbs and make us think now that it's done, it can't be the big thing. Anyway, live commentary:

"You're a Time Lord!" - "Let's go home to Gallifrey" - Belinda is Rani / another Classic Who Time Lord theory intensifies. Also the whole thing where she's like "so there's no other Time Lord coming to help us" after the cartoon moment: 1, how does she know about Time Lords, 2, who else but another Time Lord would be wary of relying on the Doctor and want another Time Lord's help, especially a Gallifreyan one?

Belinda going "out of my way, let me see 1952" was super cute. Girl may want to go home bad, but she's definitely going to enjoy the trips in the meantime.

And the Doctor going "better that nobody sees us as we are in 52" - Fifteenth definitely learned from Thirteenth. Sexism, done, ah, now let's do racism. We only need the queerphobia now to complete the trifecta (genderfluid Doctor when?).

"This time of night, who's looking?" Ooooooh. Putting my money on Logan the diner boy is queer.

"I have toppled worlds. Sometimes I wait for people to topple their world." OOOOOH. Not only is that River's Doctor, the one that makes whole armies turn around at the mention of his name, but that's also one hell of a deep commentary about the Doctor: even he has to wait for the times to evolve.

Nooooooo, don't tell me. Nooo? Come on. ANOTHER ONE? Another Pantheon god? I mean, I was expecting it, but not that soon. Also I'm pretty sure Lux is not one mentionned by Harbinger in the last series. Can't remember his name in her list. You know which ones I'd like to see? God of beasts the Mara, and the threefold deity of malice and mischief and misery. Because these two are speaking of deeeeep folklore. Anyway this ain't the place, but one day I'll write a word or two about it.

Holy shit we're going SO. META. Lizzie, Hassan and Robyn are SO on brand. Wish that were me tho. But "Blink" is such a boring answer. Yeah, it's amazing and a cult classic, righteously so, but come on. Be original. Say... "Gridlock", the death of Face of Boe. "The God Complex", a deeply complex episode about faith and fear. Or "Hell Bent", the Doctor in front of himself, without artifice.

Wait. The music. The music when they're talking with the Whovians, guys, that's Eleventh's music, unless I'm wrong, and I'm not wrong, I know all of Eleventh's by heart, that's his sad theme. Yep, it's either "The Sad Man With A Box", or "The Mad Man With A Box", series 5 soundtrack. Is Murray Gold reusing old leitmotivs or is there a reason why this one in particular? Because, the title is quite evocative. Are Gold and Davies trying to tell us something about Fifteenth? Music is really important, in any media, but moreso in Doctor Who where it's been particularly peculiar since the beginning of Fifteenth's run (Maestro, Ruby being in a band, even the Toymaker's laugh). There's definitely a reason why this particular theme at this exact moment. Are they hitting at the Doctor's not being real?

Aaaaaand I just notice there are already video essays talking about that on YouTube, so disregard all of this and let's go watch the videos.

Ah, obligatory Mrs Flood cameo. Girl who are you what do you want and how do you manage to always be where the action is?

All in all, gotta agree with the Whovians at the end. Solid episode, a good 7 out of 10, for sure. Love the meta aspects, love the love shown to the fandom (RTD knows who he's doing this for, after all, crew and cast, they were and still are one of us). Love Belinda warming up to the Doctor, and the Doctor respecting her more and more.

Next episode looks like the scary sort. The teaser made me think a little of the Bill and Twelfth one where Twelfth loses his sight, "Oxygen". Deep space trip with monsters and horrible life conditions, yey!

[amxrany]

YOUR GIRL JUST GRADUATED RAAAAAAAAAA. Finally moving to another chapter of my life, I remember starting my tumblr journey around senior high school and now here I am. I want to thank the mutuals, friends and other people that i interacted with for being a part of my life. Now that I'm going to college, I want to step forward knowing that there are people out there who enjoy the content I make. Even though I know that there will be a time where my tumblr won't be active anymore, just know that there is a part of my heart reserved for you guys 🩵

[a-minke-whales-tale]

The Struggle of Misanthropy

I find myself often struggling with feelings of Misanthropy, they are to me not feelings I particularly like. I know where they come from and why they exist, and even though I do not like them, I understand where they come from and that it is not unreasonable for me to have them. (Continued below the break - Length: 2078 words)

I find that often the community has this push against misanthropy and for particular positivity of humans and humanity, even to the point of shaming those of us who have those feelings including from trauma and hurt. I have a couple friends on here who have expressed either in general or to me that feeling that they have to hide those feelings or worry I will react badly to it. I feel it myself worrying about expressing particular anger for things done to me.

I do think there are multiple types and levels of misanthropy, and it seems likely we are using the same word for different experiences, and perhaps I am using this word wrong. I had discussed this topic after some back and forth with Rani on the subject and determined that we were more or less talking about different aspects of the same word but maybe there is another word that better describes my own relationship with humanity.

There is that misanthropy that seems to take the form of ecofascism, of humans being a virus or particularly evil or destructive. There is misanthropy that takes the form mainly of a belief in superiority in themselves over the humans for various justifications. There is the misanthropy that stems largely from hurt from the actions of humans to the individual themselves that seems to come as fear and distrust and discontentment towards them. I am certain there is a lot of other varieties and there can be crossover between them.

I do not think humans are inherently evil or even uniquely destructive beyond their numbers and intelligence. Heck the penis worm may have ended the Ediacaran. Nor do I think the bad things humans have done to myself, and others, is something inherent to them. Humans are a very communal species who only survived off their collaboration between each other and other animals, but now live in a very stressful environment that encourages individuality and often rewards cruelty. Painted Dogs similarly are very communal and cooperative animals in their packs but confined to captivity can kill each other. A similar story exists for orca as well especially during the earlier days of captivity. Nor do I believe myself superior to the humans. I do find these first two types of misanthropy rather frustrating, but still like my own experience, it seems mostly to come from hurt people, people who have been abused by humans with power over them, people who have been isolated from their communities. I do not think most people come to hating humans just from the blue. My companion for instance does often echo the humans are a cancer idea from their own pain. It is at times frustrating, but I understand at least where it comes from, all the pain within them.

For myself I experience the third type. I do not hate the humans, but I do not particularly like them. I fear them. I distrust them. For me, the humans are in charge, and I have to obey them. They control the food; they control where I live; they control what happens to me and how much I hurt. If I obey them then things will be better for me. I am allowed to live outside of a hospital because I have been good and obedient. I am allowed to have my own life because I have been good and obedient. The humans have hurt me, and they continue to hurt me.

One of the common retorts to this is that it isn't fair to humans to judge them all for the actions of a few. The problem is it is not just a few, and it is not something in the past, it is something ongoing still. I still have to take pills I do not want that keep my body in this human form to be able to live outside a hospital, and if I did not take them I would be put away again and forced still to take the pills, and every step I refused to comply would only result in greater restriction until I complied or could no longer resist. It is true though only a few humans hurt me directly, only a few humans twisted my body into this shape and only a few humans did everything that was done to me in hospitals. But how many humans work in those hospitals supporting those doctors? How many humans enforce the will of those doctors and hospitals? How many people support what was done to myself and others, think that it is right and best for us, or sometimes even a gift? How many people think that what was done to me was necessary? How many think it is just how things are, maybe it isn't great but it cannot be changed? Not all of these people are equally culpable certainly, but the number of people who support this system which hurts us is really very high and I see it constantly all the time, even in just the small jokes people make. While only a few humans hold immediate power over me, in every human, or creature that fills the role of a human, for me is fear, is a need that I must obey, for they have an incredible power over me to hurt me if I do not give them what they want, and that if they do hurt me, even if they broke the rules of their society, no human would ever help me. For me, complete submission to the demands of the humans (at least externally) is the only way for my continued existence and my presence to be tolerated, and the pain I am given to be minimised.

Do not think therians are excused or immune from this; many therians do the same to us as well. I do find many therians extremely human. I find often their concerns, their desires, and their biases are often very human just with a little bit more. I know a number of people have described therianthropy as essentially human+. Therianthropy is a pretty wide spectrum of experience, and it is not inherently wrong to be on the more human side of that experience, I am simply unable to relate to it, but because of the biases many of them carry, they often hurt those like me, and you reading this may perpetuate things that do hurt those like me.

I have never really felt welcome in the therian community despite being here for near a decade now. It was not until around two or three years ago I felt comfortable to call myself a therian. I have schizophrenia and clinical zoanthropy (often shortened to CLCZ here), or those are at least the humans’ explanations of what I experience/d. The community has for a long time not been good to zoanthropes. I have been unwelcome in a lot of communities and it was often made clear to me over and over my experience was not the same as theirs. In order to be tolerated generally it had to be a fairly accepting community, normally of older therians, but with the caveat that if I ever described my experience I would have to play down my experience. I would have to always reassure everyone that I knew I was experiencing a delusion, and that none of it was real, not like their experiences were. I have been continuously isolated from what is ostensibly my own community, and in a community of outsiders, still an outsider, at best merely tolerated at the edge, but still an interloper in -their- space. In an almost mirror of a phrase I see often from therians of “too human to be with animals, to animal to be among human,” I am too human to be among my kind, but still too animal for many therians.

Things have gotten a bit better in the past decade, and particularly so on tumblr of people becoming more open with things like physical non-humanity. I am happy to have joined here, for one the relative anonymity means I can sometimes talk back, sometimes try to fight just a little bit and be heard, but also for the connections I have made, particularly with Dune, Sonar, Xem and Ike. I am very happy to have met other CLCZs. I do not feel so alone, there are others like me out there, and there are others like me on here, others I can connect with finally.

Still despite this, discussions of us not being welcome come up often. Anytime physical non-humanity comes up it does often come to demonising CLCZs as insane, dangerous, or needing serious help. Similarly, too many therians seem very eager to throw CLCZs under the bus when it comes to justifying their existence, particularly to the broader public and anti-kin. For the most part I can avoid it, but still, it keeps popping up. Even among those who do defend us and accept us, there is still a price for us to be tolerated. Many times, the justification why CLCZs are acceptable (particularly in the context of discussions of P-shifters) is that we acknowledge our experiences as delusion and that it is important that we tag our posts with unreality and delusion. Some people will say that those tags do not mean that the experiences are not real they just do not occur in -Reality-. For me at least I read it that the price of being tolerated is still to say my experiences are not real, my past and the things done to me and others is not real. I am tired of having to deny my own experiences as genuine for the comfort of others, I am tired of having to double bookkeep in every aspect of my life, including the places that are supposed to be safe and an outlet for me. I know what the humans think of my condition, and for that matter many therians, but I think I will stop tagging my experience with unreality and delusion, because they are not. I often think to drop the label for myself for feeling unwelcome and instead just use zoanthrope, even if that does not accurately capture myself either as it is still a word given to us by the humans for a delusion, but at least it is my community where I am welcome.

The truth is though, I do not hate the humans. I desire very much reconciliation. Still, as I am being actively hurt by the humans how -can- there be any reconciliation? I am very fortunate to have a few therians and even a couple of humans in my life I can be pretty open with about my experience. I know reconciliation is possible, but even with these close humans and therians (who for me fill the role of a human), I feel that I must obey them to be tolerated, not for their own actions, but for the scars on me from the actions of many humans.

Someday I will return to the water – I cannot survive in the wild – and likely I will go into a tank. I hope, when I do, I will be with my other cetacean friends. The humans did do me a number of kindnesses and made me clever enough that I can more or less fix my body and return to the water. I think only once there can reconciliation begin, with the main point of obedience removed and the cruellest damage the humans did to me, that of being forced to be human. I know that life as a captive cetacean would not be perfect and would carry with it many struggles and pain, and I have no doubt the humans will still hurt me some, I do not expect that others will never hurt me again – I will still often have to obey the humans, but now more as a cetacean than a human. But at least back in the water I could be myself, from the water I could look up at the humans on the edge of the tank and know that I survived and I persisted and I am free. Perhaps I may even bond with some kind trainers. In time those deep scars across me will start to fade – and with it that anger, that fear, that distrust. Though those scars will never fully heal, they will begin to look like the scars on many other captive cetaceans and we -can- reconcile at last.

Zwem ver, zwem vrij, kleine walvis, zwem voor altijd

~Kala

[timecrayon]

there is so much negativity in this fandom. here are some things i liked about this new episode:

(spoilers under the cut)

it was a genuinely pretty fun plot and it tied up all the loose threads

good utilisation of the side characters (SIDE characters, i admit that putting belinda in a box is lazy at best and racist-sexist at worst)

ANITA!!!

genius use of the time hotel (yes it's deus ex machina, but who cares? where is your sense of whimsy?)

the whole scene where the doctor comes back and unit remembers was peak doctor who

ROSIE!

"I WAS A HOUSEWIFE" i love you mel

the discussion between the doctor and the rani at unit felt very consistent with her characterisation, she's not a villain bc she's evil, she's a villain bc she doesn't CARE

the whole rani/mel thing

PROJECT INDIGO!?

mrs flood fucking off when omega comes back and the doctor just going "oh thank you" all exasperated haha (why couldn't the rani have done the same tho?)

controversial, but i like that omega didn't come back properly, he should be saved for a story where the focus is actually on him

the doctor put the star certificate back into space, it's such a small detail (amazing that they fumbled the continuity of this season so hard, but THIS they somehow remembered)

the scene where they pass poppy's jacket back and forth was SO GOOD

NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! IT'S SO SO GOOD

(also side note bc i feel like nobody talked about it: the doctor has a very strange pained expression on his face when ruby talks about poppy as if he does remember and just doesn't want bel to know, he even winks at ruby knowingly)

i know mother!belinda is super controversial (i have a whole post about why i don't mind it as much as other people) but the point of "poppy is just one person, but she deserves to exist" is VERY doctor who and absolutely in line with the doctor's values

15: "i would have expected the other one. he is always turning up ..." lol

13: "we never really change, do we?"

IN ISOLATION, wow was the last scene between bel and the doctor well written and amazingly acted

belinda's inconsistent ending and ruby's adoption storyline unfortunately get caught in the cross-fire, but the themes of infertility and child loss as the through line of this episode are actually well handled and very poignant

look, you can hate mother!belinda all you want, but SHE GETS A HAPPY ENDING! OKAY?

i loved the little callback to the star and the doctor saying it was a joy, bc i feel like that's what ncuti's doctor was really about

[mattandsaraproductions]

Reality War things, roughly in order:

But… Poppy is from the future? The spaceship with the fucking space babies? Why are the Doctor and Belinda still going “this is our kid” after being pulled out of the fake reality? And if this isn’t Space Babies Poppy, why aren’t the Doctor and Belinda more freaked out by sudden baby? Neither of them going “I have a kid now?”

Too many characters. Stop it with the “we want a UNIT spinoff” characters. They take up time. Worse, it means every present-day story becomes a story with all these useless characters. And while you’re at it, can we write Kate Stewart as anything other than “remember my dad was is Doctor Who?”

You know what? I’m with the Rani here. Fuck these people I want the Time Lords back.

If I had two nickels for every time RTD brought back a good villain and turned them into a stupid CGI creature easily defeated, etc etc.

Murray Gold release the fucking S10 soundtrack stop reusing cues release the fucking S10 soundtrack already.

“We’re not going to settle down” to reality being rewritten to force Belinda to settle down and “I can’t travel because I have a kid.” Hey Ruby if you care about Poppy why don’t you become mum to her. No but seriously: why isn’t the ending to this that Ruby takes care of Poppy? Why, if she’s the one who cares so much about this kid, why doesn’t she take Poppy in? It even works coherently with her caring about this child because she herself is an orphan. But no, let’s rewrite Belinda’s history so she’s now happy having a child and always had a kid. And the thing that RTD just doesn’t seem to understand is how weird fucking what it is to suddenly have a child. A biological child? Belinda should be freaking the fuck out from the moment reality is re-established. But oh well, her happy ending is the same reality that the fashy podcast bro wrote for her. Okey dokey time for Rose to come back I guess.

Oh you know what? Replace Ruby with Belinda in the climax, her confronting Conrad instead (“you made me have a kid! With the Doctor! He’s gay, mate!”)

Jesus Christ but Jo Martin was right there. Paul McGann would have been nice too. Matt Smith, if we’re doing stunt casting in numerical order. It’s pretty clear that Gatwa deciding to leave was last minute. But people have been talking about a surprise regeneration for years, going “hey wouldn’t it be cool if we get Famous Actor for an episode?” And instead of like, Helen Mirren, we get David Tennant for the 60th and now Billie Piper?

I genuinely want to know the behind-the-scenes of these past two years. Why say goodbye to Ruby last season only to bring her back and sideline Belinda this season? How much with Mrs. Flood, all the gods bullshit, mavity, etc. was planned in advance? And what in this episode stands from whatever it originally was before Gatwa decided to leave? (the pictures of them dancing for example)

[abster05]

Doctor Who Wish World Spoilers

I have SO many questions right now

The commentary wasn't too bad imo , ike about the way that disablied peoply, women and queer people are thought of by the right wing, but I see why people say it was heavy handed. I would have liked it if the episode was a bit longer so that we could delve more into that. Like the way Ibrahim reacted to the Doctor calling him beautiful felt like it was done to point out the homophobia that existed in that society but then was very quickly moved on from without any other example of it, or the Doctor instinctively feeling that it was wrong for anyone (let alone Ibrahim) to be saying that, and that not doing much to snap him out of the delusion. (Straight Ncuti's Doctor was actually the scariest part of the episode fr, fr)

Would have liked to maybe see Rose in this episode to see what her life would haev been like. Because if there was any group whose treatment under the right wing should be called out and explored then it should be the trans community given how absolutely fucking insane transphobia has gotten in this country recently.

But I digress.

Still funny to me that Belinda basically called the police like "Hey, my husband's gay can you come and pick up please, ty"

Verada's acting this episode was amazing tho like damn. Her reactiosn to every time someone told her she doesn't have a daughter actually made me feel it to my core. Also the fact that in the trailer for The Reality War she's still looking for her and calling her her daughter makes me worry about my sanity at the end of the next episode.

What the actual fuck was Rogue doing here? Like obvs happy he came back but like context is important people!!!

Where is he?

How does he know about the table shit??

How did he get a message through???

If this was all a tactic by the Rani to get the Doctor to doubt, then another weird thing tables will be doing is going out the window when I throw them.

Talking of ploys, that better be what the Rani was doing with the whole "Were we lovers?" thing because that woman does not give A FUCK about that man.

Literally almost said in front of my whole family that it should have been the Master but then realised I wasn't in the mood to recontextualise a key relationship in a tv show they grew up with.

OMEGA. RETURN OF THE KING.

Seriously though I was dead set on the Trickster but this also slaps because he's SUCH a cool character. I only hope that they find a way to utilise both him and the Rani in the finale because I do worry with how all these questions can be answered in a meaningful way because there is a lot happening at once.

Speaking of. what the hell did that ending mean? What does he mean that Poppy is real and his daughter? Because unless the mf has been LYING for like forever and Poppy is somehow his kid and he just left her on a space station, I have no idea what the hell is happening.

So yeah. Gonna be thinkng baout this for a LONG time.

My brain is insisting on focusing on Rogue for some reason, it's like June 2024 all over again.

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

Thinking about how renegades are treated by ‘normal’ time lords, because depending on the specific one it can very widely

You have renegades like the doctor and the war chief, who are executed for their interference (and while yes, the doctors relationship with the time lords does improve somewhat after this, they do try to have him executed a few more times). But you also have the rani and the master, who seem to be largely left alone (like we even see that the time lords know what the master is doing and where he is and they just tell the doctor to watch out for him, despite that when they found the doctor they brought him back to gallifrey to be executed)

And then you have romana and brax, which are the really interesting ones to me, romana is just allowed to return to gallifrey, she’s allowed to go on to become president (and yes the doctor also is president at one point, but that’s because there were no other candidates), it’s clear that some don’t like her, but that’s far from the treatment the doctor receives. Brax is the one that really fascinates me here though, it seems that his semi-renegade status is known, the braxiatel collection doesn’t exactly seem to be a secret on gallifrey, and yet he was an academy tutor, he worked on a top secret project, he is a cardinal, all despite the fact that he has broken interference laws, he’s gone out into the universe and changed things, the only threat of punishment comes when he’s found to be talking with his other selves

I don’t really have a point here, this is just very interesting to me

[martinkhall]

Just caught the most recent episode of Doctor Who. I was under the impression it was coming out next week. Here are a few theories I have about what's going on with Belinda Chandra.

Timelord. Probably using a chameleon arch. That's my main theory because she used the word TARDIS before the Doctor did. Likely a Timelord that long term viewers will know.

As others have noted her calling herself The Nurse when she realizes The Doctor is his name is reminiscent of the rogue Timelord habit of taking a title instead of a name.

Three likely candidates.

Susan: Of course she called it the TARDIS before he did, she named it.

The Rani: She would finally be played by a woman of Indian descent to go with the Indian derived name. Sarah Jane Adventures also featured a character named Rani Chandra. Yes, Chandra is a common Indian surname but that's also the kind of hint the writers have liked to drop in the past. See the multiple times The Master or Master was used as an anagram in the name of a character or a thing related to a character who later turned out to be The Master.

The Master: The previous season saw the tooth he was trapped in picked up by a mysterious figure. They can't hold back on him too long after that tease.

Belinda is an usual name these days, looking it up I found sites claiming it's meaning as "pretty one" but more thematically appropriate for The Master "serpent", "beautiful snake", "bright serpent", or "bright snake".

While sites telling you what names mean should be take with a grain of salt if a writer is looking to give a name significant meaning they will likely be looking at similar sources to the ones I found by just asking a search engine what the name meant.

Chandra incidentally is also the name of the Hindu god of the moon, also known as Soma. I don't currently relate that to any of my theories (focusing instead on Rani Chandra pointing me the direction of The Rani) but maybe someone else can make something of that.

But while The Master has many serpentine qualities (especially as relates to the Biblical serpent) the snake related meanings of her name point me in another direction to theorize. One of the Pantheon of Discord that RTD has been playing with lately.

No, not Sutekh who I'm sure we're done with. For the moment at least. No, I'm talking about The Evil Ones. The Father of Lies. God of Beasts.

Mara: They were mentioned last season. According to tardis.fandom.com "It spread itself by manifesting within the Dark Places of the Inside, but it required a host in the real world before it could appear in its true, snakelike form."

I'm currently considering this the least likely as she currently shows no symptoms of Mara possession (although we have not seen her arm).

"Those possessed by the Mara developed a snake mark on their arm and had reddened eyes and teeth and the ability to share voices between themselves. In one case, they developed red, moulted skin. They had access to the Mara's hive mind and could be returned control if the Mara so desired, though this was usually done by the Mara to taunt people. The marks themselves could become real Mara, developing like a rash until they burst from the skin and infected anyone they touched."

I would be a fool to ignore the member of the Pantheon that actually takes the form of a snake when a mysterious figure has a name with snake associations though and will be keeping my eye out for signs.

I'm also sure that if any of my theories or anything similar is correct Belinda is currently unaware of it being the case and thinks she's just a normal person. I'm not calling her an active and willing threat and if she turns out to be Susan I'm sure that while she might be pissed at her grandfather for how things ended between them she's not going to become a villain.

The Rani could probably go either way depending on if she's developed more of a conscience since her previous two incarnations. And could be someone he could cooperate with short term to stop something worse. Like one or more members of the Pantheon of Chaos.

And my understanding is that if someone is possessed by Mara the snake thing using them as a host can just be removed.

So only her being The Master would be an almost sure fire villainous threat. (The threat in the case of Mara possession would be the possessing Mara not her.)

[haleigh-sloth]

All the Feelings

Yep. So manga didn't end how I wanted or anticipated, it's okay. Lesson learned lol. I will learn to live in fanon in my head lmao, it's an important life skill imo. I've never cared this much about a story, felt so much love for a story, I used to never even care how stories ended. MHA made me care about the stories I consume being good, actually. So I'm grateful, and MHA is good imo. I will just hold resentment for the last 15 chapters and pretend it ended differently lol.

That being said, I have no regrets. The impact this manga and fandom has had on my life is crazy. I've met solid online friends that have stuck around for years (wtf!) and I've met irl friends.

Like...2.5 years ago a group of online friends and I started a server. That server has been going strong ever since, it became a fun space for all of us to be goofy, be serious, vulnerable, whatever we needed at the time. And I'm so thankful! @mettywiththenotes @jecook @helga-grinduil @redphlox @transhawks @chocolate-biscuit @bootlickerhawks have been the best group to finish out this manga with. I can't wait to keep talking about all the manga to come in the future for us to gush over!

Julie (redphlox) and I met when we lived near each other in 2021 and have been super close friends ever since. Crossing state lines to visit each other, taking trips together, sleep overs, all the things. Best thing to come from this manga for me, life long friendships are precious.

@hamliet I've loved talking with you and Julie over the past couple of years! It's added so much to my life and I look forward to visiting in Boston one day. And squealing over Oshi no Ko in the near future.

Metty and Anya (helga-grinduil) sharing the Tomura and Izuku love with me until the very end. Metty and Cami (bootlickerhawks) having the best meme game, Hazel (jecook) and Cho (choco biscuit) having hilarious senses of humor and making everyone laugh.

Rani (transhawks), your humor is unmatched and your life perspective is always fun to hear. Watching Drops of God and Kids on the Slope together for weeks in a row is a core memory for me. Julie and I will see you in New York one day soon <3.